"So what are we doing this Christmas?" Freddie asked his two best friends, Carly and Sam.

"Oh, right." Sam said, with a mouthful of ham. "Carls, can I stay here on Christmas...again?" Sam had never really spent Christmas with her mom. In fact, every year she spent it with her Grandma and her twin sister, Melanie, but after Melanie started going to Boarding School throughout the holidays and Grandma Puckette passed away, she started spending Christmas with her best friend, Carly and her brother Spencer.

"Sure, Sam." Carly smiled. "And what do you mean, Freddie?"

"Well, are we going to buy each other presents or something?" Freddie asked.

"I'm not sure...Sam, what do you think?"

"You honestly think I'm going to spend money on Freddie?" Sam and Freddie had an ongoing rivalry with one another.

"Well, we could have a ten dollar limit." Carly suggested.

"Sounds good to me." Freddie agreed.

"Ehhh, fine." Sam droned.

"So what do you guys want?" Freddie asked, in an attempt to keep the conversation going.

"Nothing you can give me." Sam looked at Freddie, and for a moment, it seemed meaningful. She looked almost...sad. Freddie wondered what she meant by "Nothing you can give me." He looked at her eyes, trying to figure it out. "Except maybe the gift of silence." She said, breaking the moment. "Now shut up and let me eat my ham in peace."

Freddie rolled his eyes. He wasn't quite sure why, but from that moment on, he was determined to get Sam the best Christmas present yet.

---

He knocked on the door. "Sam?" No answer. He knocked again. "Sam, are you home?!"

Eventually, Sam's mother answered the door. "Oh, hi, Freddie. Sam's out shopping with Carly. She wont be home for another half hour or so."

"Are you sure? She specifically told me she'd be home."

"Well, you never know with Sam." Her mother sighed. "If you like, you can come in and wait for her."

"Sure. Thanks, Ms. Puckett."

"No problem. Here, would you like to watch some television?"

He nodded and Ms. Puckett handed him the remote. Freddie liked Sam's mom. She wasn't an alcoholic or some hussy like everyone at school thought. She wasn't the crazy weird lady that Sam claimed she was. She was actually a really nice woman, and a good parent. He turned on the television, but he wasn't really watching it. He looked around at the baby pictures of Sam and Melanie posted all over the walls. He had seen them all tons of times, but looking at them just made him smile. He then noticed that the photo of Sam eating her first ham was no longer on top of the fireplace, but a new picture sat in its spot. He walked over to the fireplace and studied the photo. It was a picture of a little blonde girl holding a small, pink music box.

"That's Sam." Said Ms. Puckett, and Freddie turned around to realize she was standing behind him with a tray of cookies and hot chocolate. "She was six years old there."

"She looks so happy." Freddie said, eyes glued to the photo.

"Yeah, well, she loved that music box."

"Music box?"

"That pink box she's holding." Ms. Puckett pointed to the music box in the photograph. "It was her grandmother's. She gave it to Samantha as a Christmas present."

"Does she still have it?"

"Oh..no. She dropped it a month later. It was completely destroyed. Too bad though. That music box meant the world to her." Her mother explained. "It was the cutest little thing. When you opened it, this beautiful song would play, and the little ballerina inside would spin. Oh, you wouldn't believe how-"

Just then, Freddie's phone began to ring. "Hello?" He answered.

"Freddie, where are you?!" His frantic mother asked.

"I'm just over at Sam's house, why?"

"Maybe you've forgotten that it's time for your weekly cardiovascular walk?"

"Mom, I'm fifteen, I don't need to be taken out on walks."

"Oh, I'm sorry. Do you WANT a heart attack?"

"I'm not going to get a heart attack, Mom, I've never even eaten a cheeseburger!"

"I will not sit here and have my own son talk back to me. Now get home this instant!"

"Fine, mom. I'll be home in a minute." He hung up the phone and looked at Sam's mother. "I'm sorry, Ms. Puckett, I have to go now."

"Alright, Freddie. Say hi to your mother for me."

"Sure." He said, looking at the photo on the wall one more time. "Do you mind if I borrow this picture?"

"Go ahead." Ms. Puckett said. "Just make sure I get it back."

"I will." He nodded. "Thanks, Ms. Puckett." And with that, he left.