A/N: Happy Thanksgiving, fellow readers! I hope you are all enjoying the story and I'm hopefully going to finish The Santa Clause 2 by Christmas. If you all have any suggestions for future chapters on any of the characters, feel free to leave them in the comments or PM me. Without further ado, on with the story!

After breakfast the next morning at the Miller house, Scott planned to decorate the house while Neil worked in his office and Laura was out Christmas shopping. Charlie had already headed off to Danielle's house to study for an upcoming test in one of their classes together. Ella offered to help since she was looking after Lucy, who was excited to play in the snow with her sister. Ella then decided to bring a thermos of hot chocolate for her dad to warm up and then help him with the lights.

"Do you need any help, Luce?" Ella asked as her sister was putting on her snow pants and boots in the kitchen.

"No, thanks, Ellie," Lucy answered. "I can do it."

"Yes, ma'am!" Ella joked, saluting her sister like she was a soldier. "So, remember, while you're playing, I'm going to help my dad with the lights first and then we can play."

"Okay."

Ella walked over to the fruit bowl on the kitchen table, grabbed an apple and sliced to to pieces, and headed for the door. She was going to give it to Comet, who was standing over by the trees in the backyard. Boy, were Ella and Lucy excited when they saw the reindeer in the backyard when Scott returned to Illinois. Comet gave Ella a lot of nuzzling kisses. Lucy asked her sister how she knew his name and said that Comet was her dad's pet.

Ella opened the door a bit and could hear Comet grunting at her father.

(Santa! That light isn't straight.)

"What do you mean it's not straight?" Scott asked the reindeer as he climbed down the ladder.

(It looks wrong.)

"Sure it's straight."

(Uh-uh.)

"Maybe your head's crooked."

(My head is not crooked! I know it's not straight.)

"You know, Prancer's not this picky."

(Yes, he is.)

Ella saw her sister coming and opened the backyard door. "Hi, Comet," the girls said together.

(Hi!)

Ella saw her father make a few quiet motions at his reindeer as her sister approached him.

"I've got something for you," Lucy told Comet as she petted his nose.

"Hey, Lucy, what have you got there?" Scott asked as she took out a Christmas Crunch chocolate bar from her little bag and unwrapped it.

"Oh, you got to be careful with the sweets," Scott gently warned his niece. "He tends to overeat."

"Don't worry, Dad," Ella reassured. "I brought an apple for him, too. "

"Uncle Scott, are you Santa Claus?" Lucy asked.

"What? Why would you ask me something like that?" Scott questioned back.

"'Cause you have a reindeer," Lucy answered as Comet ate the chocolate bar. "Only Santa has reindeer."

"Nonsense. A lot of people have reindeer."

"Name five."

Scott hesitated for a moment until he found his answer. "Well...most of them live in Finland. I can't pronounce their names. Besides, reindeer are too stupid to make good pets."

Comet shot an angry scowl at Scott.

"Well, I think you're very smart," Lucy reassured the reindeer. She let out a giggle when Comet nuzzled her on the cheek.

Ella petted Comet on the ears, getting his attention. The reindeer looked at her and Lucy thought she heard a little grunt. "Here you go, Comet. Some delicious apple slices for you." She handed over the slices and the reindeer ate them hungrily, then gave Santa's daughter a nuzzle as his way of saying "thanks."

Back at the Pole, Bernard and Curtis were walking outside the workshop with Toy Santa close behind them with the Christmas Handbook once again in his hands.

"Well, I think he's learning at an excellent rate," Curtis proclaimed.

"Oh, really?" Bernard questioned. "This morning, he ate a bowl of waxed fruit."

"Wait a minute," Toy Santa stopped in his tracks. "I need the naughty-and-nice list."

Bernard put a stop to that right away. "Nope."

"The handbook says I'm supposed to check it twice."

"Santa already checked it," Bernard argued.

"No, I didn't."

"The real Santa," corrected Bernard.

"I am the real Santa!" Toy Santa laughed. "I'm in charge here. I check the list twice. That's the rule. I like the rules. You know how I feel."

Bernard desperately tried to explain to the impostor that he was only here until the real Father of Christmas came back. "You're misunderstanding."

"No, I'm the rule-maker," Toy Santa interrupted. "I like the rules. Santa likes rules."

Curtis decided to step in before Bernard lost his temper. "I've got a good idea. How about we have some fun? It's good to have fun."

"Right," said Bernard as he tried to keep his cool. "Santa, look over there. See those elves? Go ahead. Go play some tinsel football."

Curtis simply explained the rules of tinsel football to Toy Santa. "If you don't have the ball, get it. If you have the ball, run to the end zone."

Toy Santa ended up tackling and taunting the other players after he got the football. He even chased one elf up the stairs to the workshop. It was the worst game of tinsel football Curtis, Bernard, and all of the others elves have ever seen. Curtis shook his head in embarrassment as Bernard sighed in exasperation.