I do not own.

"What are you doing, Rafael?" Rex asked as he watched his 12-year-old son walking around the room with a digital camera.

"I'm going to get a picture of Santa tonight. Then I'll show those guys at school that Santa is real." He said determinedly.

"Oh…" Rex gulped. He backed out of the room and into the kitchen. "Circe? We have a problem."

0o0

"Well, he is 12. We should tell him the truth." Circe said.

"We can't do that!" Rex protested. "That would ruin his whole childhood!"

"Isn't that a little over dramatic?" She asked. "It's part of growing up. You learn that not everything is what you thought it was."

"You really want to rob him of his innocence?" Rex countered.

"I'm not robbing him of anything. I'm introducing him to reality. I mean I stopped believing in Santa when I was 5 when I saw my grandfather putting on the suit. I mean, when did you stop believing in Santa?" She replied.

"Well, technically, I don't remember much about my childhood. But that's not the point, I would like Raffy to keep his childhood as long as possible." Rex said.

"I would like that too, but I don't think it's good to let him keep believing a lie especially when he's going to get made fun of at school." Circe pointed out. "Look at Violeta. She found out about Santa and she's fine."

Rex leaned back dejected. "I know. You're right."

"So, you'll go tell him." Circe said.

Rex looked up. "I was hoping you would."

Circe gave him a look.

Rex raised his hands. "All right, all right, I'm going."

0o0

Rex took a deep breath before knocking on his son's door.

"Yeah?" Came the response.

"Hey buddy, can I come in?" Rex asked.

"Sure."

Rex walked in. Rafael turned his swivel chair to face him while Rex sat down on his bed.

"So, what have you been doing, buddy?" Rex asked conversationally.

"Checking the battery life on the camera. I think I can get 6 hours of continuous filming. I think I can catch Santa." Rafael announced proudly.

"About that…" Rex rubbed his neck nervously. "You remember when you were little and you were afraid to go to the bathroom because you were afraid that you'd get flushed down the toilet?"

"I swear, I flushed the toilet this time! It wasn't me!" Rafael exclaimed.

"No, no it's not that." Rex shook his head. "It's… remember when you thought there were little, you thought mice running around in the car made it run?"

"This isn't about the birds, bees, and nanites again, is it?" Rafael sighed.

"Uh no, this is about Santa…"

"What about him?"

"Well, it's just that… " Rex began sweating. "Well, he's… he's…"

"Yeah, dad?" Rafael cocked his head.

"He's dead." Rex blurted out.

0o0

"Rex! What were you thinking?" Circe admonished her husband. They sat in their bedroom talking.

"I choked." Rex admitted.

"Well, there's choking and then there's traumatizing your child." Circe huffed.

"I mean, it's not a lie. Saint Nicholas who Santa Claus is based off lived in the 4th century so we're pretty sure he's dead." Rex said.

Circe's eyes narrowed.

"What? It's from the class I took in college." He said.

Circe sighed. "But Raffy knows there's no Santa now."

"He's taking it pretty well, I thought." Rex said.

"After he stopped crying." Circe added.

"I think he'll be fine. He's a resilient kid." Rex said confidently.

"We might need to make sure he gets something extra special this year to make it up to him." Circe said.

"Sure, whatever he wants." Rex agreed. "We'll make it the best Christmas ever. He won't even remember that there's no Santa."

0o0

Violeta walked into the living room to see Rafael playing video games.

"Hermano? You ok?" Violeta asked.

"Yeah, why?" Rafael replied.

"What's all the racket before?" Violeta sat next to him.

"Oh, dad told me Santa was dead." Rafael shrugged.

"But you knew there's no Santa years ago." She frowned.

"I know. But I figured if they think I'm traumatized I might be able to get that new VR game system." He said.

"Seems legit." Violeta said picking up a controller.

"You won't tell them?" He asked.

"No, but I get to play too." She replied.

"Of course." He nodded.

"You're still evil." She continued.

"I know." He admitted.

"Merry Christmas."

"Same."

I wanted to put this out earlier but just didn't have enough time. Hope you had a great Christmas or whatever you celebrate. Happy New Year!