*casually slides in* Eyy, bet you didn't think you'd be seeing this again, huh? (Assuming anyone even still remembers this fic from two years ago)

I'd intended to get both this chapter and the third and final one up before Christmas this year, but... as you can see, it got away from me. Again. Ah well, enjoy your belated Christmas fic update!

Edit 12/20/2020: Oh gosh I just now realized I've been spelling "Santa Claus" wrong this entire time ._. I've fixed it where I can, but the editing document for chapter 1 is long since expired, so just... don't worry about it there, lol. Also, yes the fact that I'm working on this again does mean that the final chapter is actually actually coming out soon (assuming it hasn't already by the time you read this).

8:30 PM

Vincent's face scrunched up in confusion as he watched his brother rummage through the family fridge.

"Why do we need drinks to see Santa Claus?" he asked.

Sam pushed aside a carton of eggnog. "Caffeine," he replied without turning. "Keeps you awake, and trust me, we're gonna need help with that. I coulda sworn I had some – aha!"

Reaching in with both hands, he managed to grab three cans of Joja Cola. He pulled them out carefully and closed the fridge door behind him.

Vincent wrinkled his nose. "Eww, that stuff is all bubbly and weird. And Mom says it's not good for you."

Sam stuck his tongue out at his brother as he set the cans on the counter. "Says the kid who needs a daily maximum of gummies or else he eats himself sick. 'Sides, this is a special occasion."

Vincent huffed and crossed his arms. "I'm still not drinking it, soda's gross."

Sam smirked and ruffled Vincent's hair. "Never said you had to, kiddo. I've got something else for you."

With that he turned to the pantry and began a new search. This one only took him a moment before he found his prize: a box of hot cocoa mix. He extracted it with a triumphant flourish.

Vincent's eyes lit up, and he ran over to grab the box. "Aw yeah, this is way better than soda!" he cried, bouncing a little as he ripped the box open and fished a packet out.

Sam just smirked again and leaned back against the counter. This kid was so easy to please. It was kind of adorable.

He frowned thoughtfully as he looked around the kitchen. Would soda and hot chocolate be enough? He could probably manage to scrounge up a few sweets, but his mom would kill him if he overdid it and sent Vince on a screaming sugar rush.

Would Vincent notice if he got himself a cup of cocoa and added coffee to it? That was one of the tricks he'd picked up from Abigail way back when, and it had helped a little.

With that thought turning over in his head, he decided it was a good time to check in with her.

8:37

Abigail chewed her tongue in concentration and tried to steady herself on the ladder wobbling underneath her feet. Her balance restored, she reached up again to get a better look at the security camera in the corner.

This wasn't the first time she and Sam had considered this option, but it had been a few years and she was pretty sure her dad had switched to new cams since then. She felt around the base, searching for a way to get the thing down or at least point it in a more useful direction. No dice on the former, but maybe if she could get it turned to face the window…?

A chiptune jingle suddenly sounded from her pocket, and she reached down to grab her phone. A quick glance at the screen told her that Sam was trying to start a video call, so she descended a couple of steps and took a seat on the ladder before moving to answer.

"Yo," she said in greeting as Sam and Vincent's faces appeared on the screen. Vince was sitting on the kitchen counter behind his brother, legs swinging as he drank something from a steaming mug.

Sam grinned. "Hey Abbs. Any luck on your end yet?"

Abigail frowned and turned her phone to show off the security cam above her. "Not unless Santa decides to do some late-night shopping. These are the only cameras I can find, and there isn't a lot I can do with them."

Sam rubbed the back of his head with his free hand. "Yeah, we don't have anything that can be left running either. Looks like we'll be going low-tech this year." He smiled again. "You remember extreme cocoa?"

Abigail processed that for a moment, and then barked out a laugh. "Extreme cocoa! I totally forgot about that!" She hopped down from the ladder and added, "Honestly, I just swiped a couple Green Serpent energy drinks from Dad's backstock."

A thought occurred to her, and she paused and squinted suspiciously at Vincent through the screen. "…You didn't give extreme cocoa to the hyperactive kid, did you?"

Vincent looked up from his mug to stick his tongue out at her. "Coffee. Is gross," he declared with a sharp nod as though passing along a piece of sage wisdom, before returning to his drink.

Sam glanced behind him and snorted. "Yeah, and lucky thing too or that woulda been a death sentence. He's just got regular hot chocolate."

Vincent looked up and stuck his tongue out again, this time crossing his eyes for good measure.

Abigail was barely paying attention at this point, though. She still watched the screen, but now her focus shifted back and forth between the image itself and the little camera just above, the gears in her head turning.

"Hey, what if we use our phones to try and record the big guy?"

Sam perked up at the suggestion, but then he frowned. "Maybe, but I think they would run out of memory space pretty quick if we just left them running."

Abigail hummed in thought. "We could save it till after midnight, when we're more at risk for falling asleep. Or just keep video chat up? That way if one of us goes, the other might still catch a look through the feed."

Vincent piped up then, jumping down from the counter. "We can hide them in the Winter Star tree!"

Abigail grinned. "I like the way you think, kid. Now the question is how to angle them…"

The conversation continued as she made her way into the house proper to set up, completely forgetting the ladder still up against the corner.

9:02

Flashing colors lit up Shane's face as he stared intently at the screen before him. He was almost to the end of the level, but this stupid bug hanging out by the last pit always got him. If he could just…

With a couple of careful hops, he managed to clear both the pit and the bug. He let out the breath he'd been holding… only for another bug to walk right into him and knock him out of the level.

Shane snarled in frustration and bit back a curse that would definitely have been heard in the next room. Deciding he was done with this nonsense, he shut off the game and started setting up his Code Sultan.

"Whatcha doing?"

Shane paused and craned his head to find Jas leaning over his shoulder, munching on a cookie. He let his hand drop.

"What's it look like? I'm playing a game."

Jas hummed in thought and squinted at the screen.

"But this is your room. You should bring it outside so we can watch for Santa while you're playing!"

Shane snorted in amusement and turned the game back on, ignoring his cheats for the time being. "Santa won't be here for hours. We've got time to kill."

Jas let out a small huff. "I guess." She watched him play silently for a few moments, but then all at once the remaining half of her cookie was shoved under his nose.

"Want one? Aunt Marnie made them freeesh."

Shane paused his game again and looked down at the proffered treat. Well, it was going to be a long night and he couldn't exactly down a beer with the kid watching him…

"…Sure. Cookie me."

Jas giggled at the comment and ran out the door while he got back to his game. After a minute or two, she ran back in with a small plate piled high with the things.

"Hey, I have an idea! We can do a multiplayer game with Vincent and Sam, and then we can all help each other stay up!"

Completely absorbed in the game, Shane just made a noncommittal grunt. The suggestion finally caught up with him, though, when she grabbed his phone and started scrolling through the contacts.

"Wait, no –!"

But Jas had already found Sam's number and hit the button. Shane let out a defeated sigh. We should swap numbers, he said. It'll help with work stuff, he said.

"Hello, Sam!" Jas chirped into the line. "Oh! Wait one second please, I'm going to put it on speaker."

Shane just glared at her as she set the phone down and mouthed You know I like singleplayer, but if she caught what he was saying she didn't show it.

"Hi Jas! Hi Mr. Shane!" Vincent's voice called out through the speaker.

"What's up?" Sam asked.

Jas sat cross-legged in front of the phone. "Shane was just playing a video game and we thought we could do something all together to help stay up tonight! Right, Shane?"

She turned her expectant gaze on him, and after holding out for a few stubborn moments he finally sighed in defeat.

"Yeah. Sure."

"Oh! Sure thing!" Sam replied. "You got Block Buster? I've got a server, and Abby's staying up too so she can play with us."

Shane perked up at that idea. "Survivor or Creative mode?"

"Dude, whatever we feel like. You want to build a mighty fortress and then see how it fares against the zombie apocalypse? I can make it happen."

Shane grinned. This might actually be fun. "Bring it on."

10:35

Abigail sat cross-legged with her laptop balanced on her knees and her back against the far wall. She swirled her mouse in circles, watching her character spin in place and trying to imagine how much longer it would take before the poor avatar had to run off some place to hurl.

Glancing down at the computer's clock, she called out, "Okay, time! Everyone, put away the blocks and step away from your masterpieces."

With that, she walked her character out from behind the 'judge's wall' she had erected for the occasion. She clapped her hands.

"Okay! The theme this round was 'Death from Above,' so I want to see what you did to defend your fortresses from flying serpents, winged zombies and the inevitable Pigeon Revolution. Sam, Vince, you're up first."

Sam's avatar was nowhere to be seen, but a moment after Abigail spoke, he made a dramatic exit from the steel door at his building's front.

"Behold, the Fortress of Unyielding Earth!" he declared, leading the group along said fortress' outer wall. "Observe the iridium-reinforced stonework and the thick steel barring on every window, a guarantee that all pigeon-based stealth missions will fail before they start. Feast your eyes upon the ballistae in the upper reaches, all strategically placed to defend our mighty castle in its time of need."

"I wanted to put laser turrets there," Vincent piped in, "But Sam said we didn't have enough time to make them convincing."

Abigail made appropriate humming noises as she took in the iridium dust decorating the outer walls and the rooftop constructions in the crude shape of ballistae. "Mm, yes, very good. Anything else?"

Barely contained laughter sounded from Sam's end of the connection, and as he continued to speak his voice swelled with mock gravitas. "Of course! You see, while I was finishing up the outer reinforcements, Vincent got to work on taming SEVERAL HUNDRED BATS to meet our airborne foe!"

"Behold!" Vincent cried, flipping a lever on the castle rooftop. A hidden trapdoor opened, and in seconds a dozen pixelated bats had poured out to flap around above the group. It was a good show, and Abigail was pretty sure she heard Jas whisper "Whoa," over the mic.

Abigail grinned. "Not bad, not bad. Though I must admit, I'm doubtful as to how well mere bats would fare against winged serpents."

"They're very well-trained bats," Vincent insisted.

"Mm-hmm, I'll have to keep that in mind. Okay, Shane and Jas, you're up."

"All right. This way then," Shane said, leading them down from the current fortress. Abigail frowned thoughtfully as they walked; she hadn't seen any more than the one construction. What was Shane trying to pull?

The five of them stopped at a hill by an empty field. "Okay," Shane started, "so since our main concerns are coming from the sky, I figured, why leave any risks open? No matter how much you reinforce them, windows and doors are still a liability. But you know what flying foes aren't gonna be built for? Digging."

With that, he walked around a couple of trees and disappeared into what Abigail now realized was a hidden opening. The others followed to find him standing in front of a button.

"And so it is that Jas and I present to you… The Bunker."

With a push of the button, another hidden door opened – this time leading downward. Sam hummed his approval, and Vincent muttered, "So that's where he disappeared to."

Shane led the group down into the bunker, which took little time as it was pretty plainly built. "As you can see," he said, "everything down here is good solid stone and the benefit of location. I focused most of my reinforcements on the roof and upper walls, but even that was more of an extra measure because of what Jas made."

Abigail smirked. "Oh? And what's that?"

"This way!" Jas piped in, making for the entrance again. Everyone but her climbed back out the hole and crowded around the hill, while Jas herself got into position next to another semi-concealed switch in the hall.

"You're welcome to head out a ways, stretch your legs, if you want," Shane said. His voice carried a rare note of mischief, though, and he stayed where he was.

Abigail wisely decided to stay put as well, and Vincent and Sam looked around at them.

"Nobody?" Shane goaded.

Sam let out a low sigh. "I am definitely going to regret this," he muttered before stepping out into the open field.

"Now?" Jas called up.

"Go for it!"

All at once, the ground above the bunker fell away to reveal a shallow pit underneath. A massive pool of molten lava lit up the entire area, and steel fence posts that Abigail guessed were meant to be spikes dotted the area.

"Waah!" Sam cried out as his character fell into the lava. "Shhhh- Shane!"

"Thank you for volunteering to test the lava pit," Shane replied casually, while Sam's avatar burned up behind him and disappeared to the respawn point. "As you can see, Abigail, it is a very effective deterrent against intruders."

Abigail was busy trying to hold back laughter. She had to remain the stoic judge, after all. "I can see that," she finally choked out in a half-even voice.

"That is the last time I turn Creative mode off for judging," Sam muttered as he rejoined the party, but even his voice betrayed amusement.

Abigail cleared her throat. "Okay, I've come to a decision. Your fortresses were both very well thought out in their defenses against the oncoming pigeons, but I have to admit it's hard to beat a lava bunker. Shane, Jas, you win this round."

Amid the ensuing chorus of cheers and groans, she placed her laptop to the side and stretched. "Anyway, I need to get my stakeout spot ready. You guys do whatever, I'll check in later."

"Yeah, it's getting to be that time. We should get ready too," Sam added in.

"Bye, everyone!" Jas chirped.

Abigail couldn't help but grin as she logged out of the game.

10:52

Shane was leaned back on the couch and messing with his own Block Buster game when Jas trotted up to him, an armful of blankets in tow.

"It's time for us to build our fort!" she said, holding up the blankets for emphasis.

Shane looked over the collection skeptically. "I dunno, wouldn't lying down in a fort just make it easier to fall asleep?"

That gave Jas pause, but the gears in his head were already turning. After scanning the room for a few moments, he picked out a serviceable corner and pointed to it.

"Why don't we put a couple high-backed chairs over there, and then take…" He paused to rummage through the pile, and picked out a thin sheet through which he could make out faint, shadowed shapes, "this sheet and use it as a screen? It'll serve the same purpose but give us more room."

Jas perked up at that, and immediately rushed off to grab the chairs. Shane smirked and swung his legs over the edge of the couch – it seemed they had work to do.

11:34

Vincent had finally run out of steam and conked out, but Sam figured that was okay. He intended to wake the kid up and see if he wanted to give it another go, but for now, he could use some rest.

For Sam's own part, he was still wide awake. Mostly because the cookies were burning.

Sam sucked in a hiss and opened a window to waft out the smell before it set off a smoke alarm. He'd pulled the cookies out of the oven as soon as he'd caught on, but he was pretty sure it was too late for them.

Ugh, and he'd thought he could at least handle a premade mix. They were double chocolate, too – his and Vince's favorites, and the color made it hard to tell how badly they were burnt and if any were still salvageable. This was why he hated cooking.

Well, at least the smell was starting to dissipate. He let out a huff and leaned onto the counter, drumming his fingertips on the surface.

A dramatic riff signaled that he'd gotten a text, and he took a look at his phone.

Eyyy howz the santa thing goin put up ur fone thing

Sam stared at the text for several seconds, frowning as he double checked the name attached to it. Shaking his head, he called up Abigail.

"Abby, how night drunk are you?"

He could practically hear her grinning. "I found out we have espresso! It makes extreme cocoa way more extreme!"

Sam frowned again in concern. "Please tell me you didn't also add in the energy drinks."

A snort. "Don't worry Mom, I'm fine. And that sounds like a disgusting combination." She let out a dramatic groan. "Uggh, I just wish he'd get here already. Which is why you need to set up your phone thing like we planned!"

She promptly cut the line at that, and Sam blinked. This was the last time, he decided, that he was gonna let Abigail do Santa Sighting by herself.

Glancing over at the charred cookies, he decided that was probably best for both of them.

12:20

Somewhere along the line, Shane had fallen asleep. He discovered this quite suddenly when he was awoken by the hard whap of a pillow to the face.

Groaning, he sat up and looked blearily at the clock, then over at Jas. "How are you still awake?"

Jas frowned, still clutching the pillow tightly. "We fell asleep, but then Vincent called and woke me up! Sam made them chocolate cookies to keep them up, and since Marnie's cookies from earlier are all gone I thought we could make more and try the same thing."

Shane yawned, stretching. "Using sweets to stay awake? Heh, Sam and Abigail are wusses is that's all they've got."

With that, he stumbled off of the makeshift pillow-cushion they'd set up behind their screen. Jas wrinkled her nose and asked, "What's that supposed to mean?"

Shane smirked back at her. "I just think we'd get farther with a little more… bite. You ever try pepper poppers before?"

1:09

Abigail shook her head in a desperate effort to stay awake.

It was dumb, really. She had been up much later than this before, but the stupid espresso had left her with a caffeine crash and she didn't have the stomach to try again.

It didn't help that her setup left little room to set up any more games or talk to the others. She had managed to tuck herself into a nice hidden corner behind the family's Tree of the Winter Star, but every shift she made bumped her up dangerously against branches and ornaments, and there was no room to bring in anything but a book and a small plate of treats.

Without changing position, she craned her neck to check on her camera setup again. Her phone was tucked carefully into the tree's branches, plugged in to keep the battery from draining. She still wasn't sure how long it would last, but she'd run out of other options.

Not knowing what else to do, she looked back down at her book. It was an old favorite, a tale of haunted castles and epic battles, but that might have been the problem. It was exciting, sure, but it was too familiar – too easy to drift away from words that were starting to blend together and imagine the grand swordfights and dark intrigue in a mind's eye that couldn't help but call to mind a dream.

Abigail sighed and set the book down, laying her chin on its pages. Perhaps if she rested for just a moment, it would give her the energy to keep going. She had her plan B going if it didn't, but it would be nice to avoid the slow pull of…

Sleep…

Just a little bit…