On Saturday morning, Principal Newman, Charlie, and a few more of the students in the detention group met at the rec centre to remove graffiti. Each student in the group were given a safety vest, paint scraper, paint roller, and paint remover. It didn't take more than about half an hour for the group to remove the graffiti when a car, blasting a Christmas rap on the radio, pulled up in the parking lot. Two college students, who were former students at Sycamore Secondary, filed out of the car.

"Mr. O'Reilly, Mr. Leary," Principal Newman greeted the two men. One was holding a basketball.

"You in charge of the gangbangers?" O'Reilly asked.

"They're students, actually, and yes."

"Keep 'em away from the car. It's new," O'Reilly ordered. "I don't need some delinquent kids scratchin' it up."

"They're not delinquents and don't worry about your car!" Principal Newman defended, just as Scott and Ella walked up to her.

"If I were you, I'd worry about your legs in those shorts," Scott called out.

"Yeah, I thought only swimmers shaved their legs!" Principal Newman added.

"Whoa, good one!"

"Good morning," Scott greeted.

"Good morning," Principal Newman greeted back.

"Brought you coffee."

"Thank you."

"Good morning, Miss Newman," Ella greeted.

"Oh, I'm sorry. This is my daughter, Ella," Scott explained.

"Oh, you're Charlie's sister, aren't you?" Principal Newman asked. "It's nice to finally meet you I believe Charlie's mentioned you and that you'll be coming to my school. I hope you're keeping yourself out of trouble."

"Yes, ma'am," Ella answered. "If it's not a problem, would it be okay if I help out?"

"Well, normally we do not take volunteers since this is a detention group," Principal Newman began. "But I'm willing to make an exception. Safety vests and supplies are over by the entrance."

"Thank you, Miss Newman," Ella said as she walked over to the entrance. "See you later, Dad."

"That's my girl," Scott praised. "Always eager to lend a hand."

"So you have a nice-guy side," Principal Newman stated.

"I'm a man of many sides. I'm a puzzle. I'm a Rubik's Cube with pants."

That made Principal Newman let out a giggle or two.

"A laugh!" Scott hinted. "An actual laugh."

"Dad, it doesn't come off," Charlie stated as he walked up towards them. "And why is Ella here? She doesn't need to be involved in this. She's just going to end up embarrassing me."

"It's not supposed to come off," Scott answered. "Hence you've got to be careful where you put it. Hence tagging is serious. Hence your presence here and she wants to help."

"Don't say "hence" any more, Dad. It's really annoying." Then he walked back to his group.

"Nicely done!" Principal Newman commented.

"How do you do it? I have enough trouble with two. You have hundreds."

Just then, a little girl about a year or two younger than Lucy in a purple winter coat and hat ran up to Scott.

"Hi!" The little girl greeted.

"Hi," Scott replied with a smile.

"I was really good this year."

"Is that so?" Scott asked as he got down on one knee. "Are you absolutely sure about that, Pamela?"

"I want a doll house and a swimming pool," Pamela requested.

"A swimming pool?" Scott repeated.

"I'm sorry," Pamela's mother apologized. "She just insisted on talking to you."

"It's not a problem," Scott reassured the mother. Turning back to Pamela, he said, "I'll tell you what. If you can promise me you'll be good, I can personally guarantee you'll have a great Christmas."

"Okay! Yay!" The little girl happily skipped off with her mother. Scott stood up and saw Principal Newman smiling at the scene.

"Kids get so nutty this time of year," he explained.

"Is she a neighbor or something?" Principal Newman asked.

"No."

"Oh. How did you know her name?"

"Oh, the necklace, it said "Pamela" on it."

"Oh, I guess I missed that. I'm gonna go check on this group."

As Principal Newman walked off, Scott heard a ding on his watch. Just like Bernard said, the level drops once Scott uses his magic. The level went from 10 to 8.

"You cost me, Pamela."

Once the graffiti had been removed, all of the detention group students headed home, except for Scott, Charlie, Ella, and Principal Newman. They stayed behind to gather up the supplies.

"Thank you again for your help, Ella," Principal Newman said as the two brought the supplies to her car. "You really didn't have to do that."

"That's okay, Miss Newman," said Ella. "I wanted to."

"Between you and me, please, call me Carol."

Ella smiled and nodded. She looked back to see if her father and brother were catching up with them. She noticed that Scott had a strange look on his face and he was looking at Carol.

What's up with Dad? Could he possibly be… Ella figured it out. Dad's starting to have feelings for Carol. With Christmas being a week and a half away, Dad still hasn't found a wife yet. I've got to do something….

That night at the Pole, Toy Santa was up and about wandering around the workshop. He had gone into the kitchen to get a drink. He had a mug of warm milk, then three mugs of cocoa. He still had no urge to go back to bed. After reading the Santa Handbook a number of times and thinking about how everything is currently running, he decided things need to change. He went over towards the wooden toys department, picked up a toy soldier, and walked over to the Pantagraph. The impostor sat down and started painting it.

"I just couldn't sleep thinking about all those rules," he said to the soldier. "Am I wrong? Am I right? Does it matter? Couldn't have been the three gallons of cocoa I had!"

Toy Santa put on the finishing touches on the soldier.

"But you understand rules, don't you? You're highly decorated. And look at that face. There you go. There's a face only a mom would like. I don't have a mom, so I wouldn't know about that. Now, it's time for the big event. Guess what? Son, it's showtime!"

He placed the toy soldier on the Pantagraph, shouting words of encouragement.

"You're in the spotlight. Get bigger with it. It's your big chance. I need a little help. I need a little muscle. I need a little nudge. Let's call yourself the little nudge! This won't hurt...except for the electric shock that goes through your entire body. I'll see ya on the other side!"

As he walked over, he turned the switch up to "Large and Duplicate."