Hoster's Note: We should omit the note VBG wrote after Chapter 10, because we all know by now that Brian Griffin is no longer dead as of S12E08 - "Christmas Guy". Also, like I did with "Now That I've Found You", I'm going to be combining the next two chapters to keep this fanfic at an even number.

Chapter 11 - An Explanation and a Solution

Barbara dipped a rag in a bowl of cool water as she looked at Santa. The poor man's coughing had eased a little and he stopped coughing up blood, but he was still very pale and very weak. Barbara wrung the water from the rag and placed it across his forehead.

"Santa?" she said. "Are you awake?"

"I am now", Santa said sitting up. "You know you don't have to stay here. Why don't you just do what the world's doing to me? Just leave me here to die."

"I would never do that", Barbara said as she walked to the fireplace. "You should know I'm not like the rest of the world."

"I know that", he wheezed. "I've been watching over the whole time."

Barbara's ears flattened against her head as she heard his words. She tossed a couple of logs into the fireplace, making the fire burn longer and warmer.

"If you were watching me, why didn't you ever help me?" she asked. "If you were watching me, why didn't you answer the only wish I ever wanted? Why didn't you take me out of those dog fights and take me somewhere safe?"

Santa sighed and looked at the fire.

"If I took you, then you and Brian never would've met", he said.

"What?"

Santa sighed and looked at her. Barbara looked shocked and confused. She and Brian wouldn't have met? What did he mean?

"If I had taken you away like you asked every year, you and Brian never would've met. Brian found you after you were kicked out of the fights. If I took you, you never would've gotten kicked out and Brian never would've found you. Does that make sense?"

"I guess it does in a sad sort of way", Barbara said. "So I had to suffer throughout my childhood to get my happy ending. One of those good things will come with time things."

"Exactly", Santa said patting her head.

Barbara wagged her tail smiling. Maybe Santa wasn't so bad after all. She walked over to the microwave and pulled out a bowl of soup.

"Well hopefully Stewie and Brian are doing the job right", she said as she sat with Santa. "Santa's little helpers will make this a satisfying Christmas until you recover."

"Let's hope so", he said. "I've never had a Christmas where there were now presents."

Barbara sighed as she looked out the window watching the snow fall.

"Brian, Stewie, don't screw this up."

Many hours have passed, and throughout that time, Barbara laid curled up on the edge of the bed as she and Santa slept. Although Brian promised, she had very little confidence he and Stewie would be able to deliver all the presents to the whole world. How could a dog and a baby do a job that only a man with magic could do?

Barbara's ear twitched as she heard rapid footsteps approaching. She opened her eyes to see Brian and Stewie rushing into the room, shaking her and Santa awake.

"Come on, wake up", Brian said. "We got to go."

"Go?" Barbara asked. "Are we going home? Did you guys deliver the presents?"

"No, we messed everything up!" Stewie said.

"What?" Barbara gasped sitting up. "What happened?"

"We started off at the wrong house, we completely wrecked everything, killed the family and let the reindeer eat each other", Brian rushed.

Hoster's Note: Actually, according to the audio commentary for "Road to the North Pole", the two parents in said family are "knocked senseless".

"Now the whole world will get no presents", Stewie said looking said.

"So Christmas is completely destroyed this year?" Barbara gasped.

"Not necessarily", Brian said. "Come on. We need Santa. We're going to the news station."

"For what?" she asked.

"We got to let the whole world know what Christmas is doing to Santa", he answered. "We couldn't do the job right. Now we know what Santa's going through. It's time we help him the right way."

Barbara helped Santa get dressed and helped him into a wheelchair. They rushed back to the sleigh which was now being operated by rockets. Brian, Barbara, Stewie and Santa got into the sleigh as Brian steered it toward Quahog.

The sun rose over the streets as dawn approached. It was Christmas morning at last. Peter got up and giggled as he ran down the stairs like an excited child. He stopped at the Christmas tree to see what presents he had gotten. Peter gasped in shock as he saw the space underneath the tree was completely bare.

"Lois!" he yelled. "There's no presents under the tree!"

"What?" Lois asked as she came downstairs.

Peter pointed under the tree sadly proving himself right.

"Oh my god" she gasped.

"Joe, did you get any Christmas presents?" he yelled next door.

"No!" Joe yelled.

"Me neither!" Quagmire yelled.

The Griffins turned on the TV hoping the news would clear things up.

"Good morning, Quahog. Our top story today: Santa Claus skips Christmas! Hopeful citizens worldwide woke up to disappointment this morning when they discovered no gifts from Santa under their Christmas trees. Local officials are going with the theory that everyone was bad this year. The investigation continues in this mysterious..."

"Wait!" Brian said interrupting the broadcast. "I know what happened to Christmas!"

He ran off-screen and brought in Santa who was being pushed in the wheelchair by Barbara. Everyone gasped as they saw Santa's condition. His skin was nearly a yellow color. He was incredibly thin in the face. He was connected to an IV.

"Santa Claus!" Tom Tucker gasped.

"That's right", Brian said. "This is Santa Claus, and you've got to listen. The reason that there was no Christmas this year is because this man is sick, very sick. He needs our help. He's been bludgeoned by years of greed and avarice. The workload of filling our Christmas lists has overwhelmed him. at the rate he's going, he may not make it another year! But there's a way for us to help him. if all of us, everywhere can just cut back on our demands and ask for only one Christmas present ever year, there may still be hope."

Tears came to everyone's eyes as they watched Brian. They couldn't believe things have gotten this bad.

"I know it's in our nature to resist sacrifices, even in hard times", Brian continued. "But, if we don't, we may have to give up Christmas all together."

"Well, folks, you heard it here first on Channel Five News", Tom said. "Looks like we have a choice: One Christmas gift per year for each one of us. Can we live with that?"

"Will you be okay if this works, Santa?" Barbara asked.

"Hopefully, people do the right thing if they want Christmas to continue", Brian shrugged.

Santa opened his eyes and smiled at Barbara, Stewie and Brian.

"Thank you all so much for helping", he said. "As a reward, next year, I promise to bring you that one special thing you want. Is there anything in particular you want, more than anything?"

"Just one thing", Barbara said. "It doesn't involve electronics or anything like that. It'll be something very special."

"Name it."

Barbara smiled and whispered in Santa's ear telling him the only thing she wanted for Christmas.