Disclaimer: I don't own Buffy, but I do own Sophie, baby Lily, and Echo the puppy :)

"So, let me see if I got this" said Xander from his place on the couch, bouncing the still grizzling Jesse. "Santa Claus, who we have now established is not a demon.."

"Because it turns out I had him mixed up with Zanterkloss, a demon who took advantage of the legend of Santa Claus to sneak into houses and disembowel children on Christmas Eve" said Anya. Faith glared at her. "Hey, I said I was sorry!"

"Anyway" Xander continued, "Santa fell off your roof and sprained his ankle, and now you guys have to deliver all the presents?"

"Yup" said Sophie, nodding.

"That is so cool!" yelled Xander, grinning. At that moment, baby Jesse once again began to cry, loudly. "Oh, don't cry buddy, Daddy's sorry he was too loud, he didn't mean to scare you.."

"He's not scared Xander, he's hungry" said Anya, rolling her eyes as she took Jesse from his father. "That's his hungry cry." Tara smiled as she watched her friend stand and carry the baby towards the nursery, whispering comforting words to him. Though she often complained about the sleepless nights and dirty diapers she had been faced with since little Jesse was born, it was obvious that Anya adored her son. The former demon briefly looked back at them, frowning. "What are you waiting for? Get going, you don't want to disappoint all the world's children!"

And get going they did. Thankfully facing no further setbacks, Santa-Faith and her three little helpers managed to complete the gift deliveries for America, and a number of other countries. Unfortunately, disaster struck once again when, while heading for England, the sleigh flew into a terrible snow storm, and Faith began to lose control.

"Whoa, reindeer, whoa!" the Dark Slayer yelled, tugging desperately on the reins. "I can't see a damn thing through this freakin' snow! Where's Rudolph the red-nosed reindeer when ya need him?"

"Rudolph isn't real!" Tara shouted through the roaring wind and swirling snow. "He was just the mascot for a lighting company!"

"Really?" Faith frowned. Tara just nodded. "Wow. Really learn somethin' new everyday, don't ya.. Whoa!" she yelled as the wing of a plane, unssen by them due to the storm, bumped the sleigh, giving it a jolt and sending the sack of presents flying over the back.

"The presents!" cried Sophie in horror. The little girl leapt into the back of the sleigh and grabbed the drawstring of the sack in the nick of time, but the weight of the thing dragged her over the sleigh's edge too, screaming.

"Sophie!" Tara screamed. "Faith, do something!"

"'Phie!" Lily wailed, bursting into tears. "Wan' 'Phie, wan' 'Phie!"

"Turn around, you stupid reindeer!" Faith growled. The reindeer turned, and, seeming to sense what was needed from them, went into a dive, pulling up just in time for the plummeting Sophie to land safely in Faith's lap. "It's okay, Little Red, we've got you" said Faith, hugging her tight.

"Thank God you're okay!" yelled Tara, joining the hug.

"'Phie!" cried Lily happily. Sophie whimpered.

"What's wrong, Little Red?" Faith frowned.

"I losted the presents!" Sophie sobbed. "They were too heavy, I couldn't hang on.."

"It's okay Sweetie, it wasn't your fault" said Tara comfortingly. "Anyway, we'd much rather lose the presents than lose you." Faith agreed wholeheartedly. Still, she couldn't help thinking that Santa was going to kill them.