The next morning I was sitting on the couch reading my battered copy of Gone With the Wind for the hundredth time, and I was really getting into it. So when Mrs. Stanton said to help get the Christmas tree in the door, I said, "Be there in a sec."

"Come on George, push!" I heard a man at the door say.

"Oh, it's gorgeous, just bring it on right through here… Guys! Come and help!" Mrs. Stanton shrieked for the second time.

I finally marked my place and stood up. Instead of helping, I just kind of stood there and watched the adults struggle to get the tree downstairs.

"So this is Will Stanton, eh?" asked the fat, balding grey-haired man. He reminded me strongly of Santa Claus without the beard. Also, I took notice of Will for the first time. I was so absorbed in 19th century Atlanta that I didn't even notice him come downstairs.

"Pleasure to meet you," continued Santa.

"And you sir," said Will, shaking Santa's hand.

"With a birthday today as well," said Santa's friend.

I stared at Santa's friend. How did these strangers know Will's birthday was today? Stalkers.

"Yeah," said Will, a little surprised. "Yeah, that's right."

"Can I get you gentlemen something? Coffee, tea?" asked Mrs. Stanton, bustling around the kitchen.

"Actually, no… we shouldn't be stopping… there's so much to do before the storm sets in," said Santa.

"The storm?" I asked in confusion.

"Yes… bad weather on the way…" said Santa, trailing off grimly.

Storm or no storm, Will didn't care. He'd picked up his cereal bowl already and just stood there, eating. I caught a glimpse of the window- there wasn't a cloud in the sky.

"Well, you have a good day, Will," said Santa.

As Mrs. Stanton thanked Santa and his elf I turned to Will. "So."

"Sooo… what?"

"Sooo…. When are you gonna stop stuffing your face and open your presents? Don't tell me you forgot your birthday."

"Oh yeah!"

Abandoning his cereal, we went to the living room, where I dug out my gift from the corner by the fireplace. "I hid it there because it you would find it if it was in the attic," I said in response to his look.

"Heads up, Will," Max called from the upper landing. He tossed a green envelope, and thanks to years playing football, Will caught it. "Happy birthday, big guy," said Max as he came down. "I made a little mistake with the age, though-"

"No it's fine," said Will, but he looked a little disappointed

Then Robin and Paul came downstairs, also wishing Will a happy birthday. "Hey! Here's your present, Will," said Paul. "The second one comes on Christmas, there's two of them!" I watched as Will eagerly ripped it open.

It was a sock.

Unable to control myself, I burst out laughing. The look on his face was just too priceless. Will threw the sock at me, but he was grinning too.

"Here," I said, holding out my gift. "It's from me and Gwen, and I promise you it's not a sock!"

Out of the depths of the bag, Will pulled out a cylindrical metal container with a ribbon that I slapped on at the last minute. "Tess," he said, excitement creeping in his voice.

"Go on, open it!" I urged.

When he opened up the container, his face lit up like the Christmas tree. What Gwen and I got him was a watch- not the cheap one, but the really fancy ones with a stopwatch and everything.

"Tess, you shouldn't have!" Will exclaimed, taking the watch out and examining it.

"We knew everyone else would forget," I said, a little sadly.

"Thanks," he said, and attempted to put it on.

"Here let me help you," I offered, reaching over and wrapping the strap around his wrist. Right around then Gwen came downstairs.

"Happy birthday, Will," she said. "Like your gift?"

"Yeah, way better than everything else."

"So what's your wish?" she asked him, wandering into the living room with us.

"What?"

"It's your birthday. You're allowed to have a wish. Anything."

Will thought for a few seconds, then said: "Snow. You know, like what we used to get back home?"

"Yeah," we both said.

"I want lots of snow."

Later that night I continued reading Gone With the Wind. I made it to the part where Rhett bid $150 in gold for Scarlett before Gwen shrieked, "You guys! I got him! He's here! You guys!"

"Hey guys, can you hear me?" came a voice from Gwen's laptop.

"Steven!" all eight Stantons (and me) cried. We crowded around Gwen's laptop, all grinning from ear to ear. Steven was the oldest of the Stanton clan, and was currently serving in the navy. We hadn't seen much of him lately.

"Bros!" Steven called. "Gwen, look at you! You're becoming a heartbreaker! And Tess!

"Sorry I can't be there- as you can see, I'm busy defending the free world."

"We miss you, son," said Mr. Stanton.

"Very, uh, tropical, Steve," said Max, pulling out several brightly colored leis out of the box Steven had sent us.

"Oh by the way, all the gifts are gonna have a sort of Hawaiian theme," laughed Steven.

"Yeah, perfect for, uh, winter in England," I agreed, grinning.

"So how's my little bro, Tess?" Steven asked. "Has he caught a girl yet?"

I giggled. "No, but we caught him staring at one like a moron." Will whacked my arm, blushing furiously.

"Oh, and Will, your gift is different," continued Steven. "I was walking through the street market the other day and, I don't know, for some reason I knew it was for you."

"Thanks, Steven!" said Will, and made his way to the box.

"These are fantastic," laughed Mrs. Stanton, gesturing to her pink and yellow lei.

"Haha! Well, I enjoy the day and I wish I was there."

As the others began talking at the same time, Will and I wandered off to the living room to open up Steven's extra gift. Rolled up in a coil was a thick leather belt that looked roughly handmade. There were little pockets on it, as though designed to hold something small and round.