Story Summary: The twins spy on Santa.

Ages: Rhen (8) Lilah (8)

Christmas Magic

"I'm telling you, he's not real." Lilah whispered loudly and adamantly to her twin who was sat on the step below her. "It's just not logical."

"And I'm telling you it doesn't have to be logical." Rhen countered fiercely. "It's magic."

"Magic's not real."

"Is too!"

"Is not!"

"Is too!"

"Is not!"

"Is too! Mommy told me so and she never lies."

Lilah scrunched up her face and stuck out her tongue, unable to refute her twin's claim. Before she could come up with a suitable argument, a loud thump was heard on the roof.

"What was that?" Rhen asked, perplexed.

"I don't know. Maybe it was a bird."

The noise sounded again and the twins looked upward.

"It's Santa!" Rhen shouted with a grin on her face.

"That's impossible." Lilah rolled her eyes. "How many times do I have to tell you? He's not-"

Lilah was cut off as a bright light filled the living room. Her eyes grew wide and she looked back to her sister who wore the exact same expression. They simultaneously turned to the living room to find a man standing there. A man dressed in a red suit, sporting a white beard and carrying a large sack. No, it couldn't be...

"Santa?" Lilah squeaked.

"You were saying?" Rhen shot back with a smug grin.

"But...But...This is...This can't...How?"

"You sound like Daddy." Rhen snorted then turned her attention back to the man in the red suit. He placed a large pile of presents beneath the tree before making his way to the cup of red Jell-O that Rhen and Matt had put out for him.

Lilah continued to stare in shock as he ate the snack then turned toward their hiding place. Suddenly, he stared straight at them, grinned and winked. Rhen waved enthusiastically but Lilah couldn't move a muscle. "Santa" chuckled then touched his nose and the room filled with that bright light again. The girls had to shut their eyes against it and when they looked back, he was gone. The room was empty. If it weren't for the gifts under the tree and the empty Jell-O cup, Lilah would have thought she'd dreamt it all. But it had happened! She'd seen it with her own eyes. There had to be a reasonable explanation, though. There just had to be.

"Well, what do you have to say now?" Rhen demanded.

"It...it...it was Daddy! Yeah, that's it! And maybe the light was some sort of...of illusion?"

"Oh, come on!" Rhen said exasperatedly. "Didn't you notice that Santa was too short to be Daddy?"

"Um, well...It had to be Daddy. Santa isn't real."

"He looked pretty real to me."

"Yes, well, Mommy and Daddy were just playing a joke on you. It was Daddy, you'll see."

"What was Daddy?" came a familiar voice from the top landing and the girls looked up, eyes wide.

"D-Daddy?" Lilah stuttered. "How did you..."

"How did I what? Know that you were awake? Let's just call it a gut feeling. What are you two doing out of bed at this hour, anyway?"

"We were looking for Santa!" Rhen exclaimed with a smile.

"Oh, yeah? Did you see him?"

"Yep. And he ate the Jell-O, too."

Lilah heard her father snort and mumble something under his breath. She didn't say a word, however, still trying to reconcile the fact that her father was standing in front of her.

"It wasn't you?" she finally blurted.

"What wasn't me, Li?"

"Santa!"

"Me, Santa? No, baby, it wasn't me. Must have been the real one. Wish I'd seen him myself."

"You believe in Santa, Daddy?" Lilah asked in wonder.

"Of course, I do. Now, off to bed with you before Santa comes back to replace your presents with coal."

Lilah stood and slowly followed her sister to their room. If her dad believed then maybe there was something to this after all. She was going to have to carefully ponder the situation for a while

Daniel chuckled as he watched the retreating backs of his girls then went to his own room. Vala was sitting up in bed, holding a communication device.

"Walter just called," she told him. "Everything went off without a hitch."

"Of course, it did." Daniel answered, climbing into bed with his wife. "It's Walter."

Vala simply nodded, setting aside the device and wrapping her arms around his neck. "Merry Christmas, darling."

"Merry Christmas, sweetheart." Daniel softly kissed her before settling them back into the pillows. As he drifted off to sleep once more, he wore a happy grin. His girls were growing up bit at least they could believe in magic for a little longer.

The End