Christmas Eve that year fell on a Sunday, and what a freezing Sunday it was there in Portland. Sure, it may have been a "Sun"-day, but the sun was indeed nowhere to be found. That day had a high of only 43 degrees, but with the cutting wind chill, it felt much colder than that. At least it wasn't a heavy, wet cold like it was in Massachusetts. If Evergreen thought Oregon winters were bad, the East coast was certainly a lesson to learn. He was glad that he had his enchanted cloak to keep him warm. The enchantment Habitatio had taught him had been going strong for days at that point, and he was indeed grateful to her.

Dad had picked him up again early that morning from the station and they went to have a breakfast of Dad's famous Texas style French toast and eggs. The eggs were always just the left-over French Toast mix, after using up the entire loaf of Texas toast. To Evergreen, they tasted like comfort, like love. He was always grateful to Dad and for all the effort that he put in with raising him. He understood that it took a very special kind of guy to step up for his kids. Dad was definitely that guy. He worked hard and played even harder, all in the name of the love that he had for Evergreen.

Their Christmas traditions were mostly focused on Christmas Eve itself. They went to the morning church meeting for their local congregation to listen to all the beautiful Christmas music provided by their choir and orchestra. They were both very outspoken lovers of music, and Dad was a drummer after all. They spent some time downtown near the Pioneer Courthouse during the afternoon. During the daylight hours, it was relatively safe to travel over there. They also took a trip down to Peacock Lane in Portland to see the Christmas village that was decked out every year. The free hot cocoa always hit the spot. They ended the night heading off to the Portland International Raceway to see the yearly holiday display put right on the racetrack that everyone could drive through, Christmas music blaring the whole way, the Quandary men harmonizing to all the familiar tunes at the top of their lungs.

By the evening, it was back down into the 30's and the wind really started to pick up. Evergreen's eyes were heavy, and he even fell asleep in Dad's truck. This time, he had no weird dreams about green women, flying monkeys, or living scarecrows. His dream had to do with a Christmas movie that they had watched that morning. "Home Alone," he maintained, must be watched sometime between Thanksgiving and Christmas Eve. One couldn't, in good conscience, watch it on Christmas Day.

He awoke Christmas morning in his own bed at their house. His cloak and his shoes were off of him, and he was wrapped up all cozy. It was a few breaths after dawn and a soft, orangey light was bathing both his north and east-facing bedroom windows in a splash of color. The Christmas lights, including a small Christmas train on the roof, were still twinkling. The only night of the holiday season that they kept the Christmas lights on throughout the night was Christmas Eve. Something about making it easier for Santa to see. Wait a moment, thought Evergreen; if wizards, elves, and fairies were real, then Santa Clause should be real too, right? He was only a far-fetched myth in a world without magic. Who knew?

He jumped out of bed, wrapped up in his cloak and tiptoed through the hallway and down the stairs to the family room. Immediately, the smell of cinnamon rolls enveloped him, surrounding him with the feeling of a familiar comfort. The Christmas tree was alight and was illuminating the otherwise dark room with red and green. The ornaments thereon were a hodgepodge of things that he had made in his childhood and others that were collected over the years by Mom and Dad. A larger, silver ornament with an image of an old, Canadian building engraved on it said, "Beautiful Victoria BC". Dad and Mom must have picked that one up on their honeymoon. The only sound was a slight electric tapping when the Christmas lights would either blink or change color. Beneath the tree were a fair number of gifts, considering it was only the two of them. Some of them, however, were for his grandparents.

Looking toward the fireplace, he saw his stocking that was so full, it couldn't hang anymore on the little thumbtack, so there it was on the floor, bulging with its red body and white trim. EVERGREEN was written in green (surprise) along the trim. Seta even had a small stocking full of a few things. Dad as well had a very full stocking. Evergreen wasn't sure who did that, considering Dad never got himself any gifts or anything like that. It was likely either Seta or maybe… Santa? He knew at least one of them was capable of such a thing.

He hefted his own stocking and carried it to the couch. He left it there while he went to the movie cabinet right next to their box TV to find a VHS tape. When he found the light green tape labeled 'How the Grinch Stole Christmas', he checked if it was rewound, which it was, and pushed it into the player. He grabbed both remotes, one to the TV, the other to the VHS player, and turned on both machines to start his movie.

"Evergreen." Came a small voice from near the stairs.

"Merry Christmas, Seta." Evergreen told his long-eared friend.

"Merry Christmas to you. What are you doing?" asked the bunny, as he rubbed his bleary eyes with his paws.

"I'm watching a funny Christmas movie about a village of little people who love Christmas and a grumpy, green hermit who doesn't, and the hijinks the hermit gets into."

Seta gave him a thoughtful look.

"Art imitates life." Seta said nonchalantly.

"Yeah, but the Grinch turns out to be a pretty nice guy. We won't get that lucky when we see green people in Oz." Evergreen replied.

They sat together on the couch for a bit until Seta's nose perked up and trembled, as if he was smelling something very interesting. It couldn't have been the cinnamon rolls, rabbits can't have, nor enjoy bread very much. He hopped off the couch and found his stocking. He reached in and pulled out a small package of rabbit prills and another of plantain chips.

"Merry Christmas indeed." He whispered excitedly, as he pulled the stocking to the couch and started tearing into it, as Evergreen did the same with his.

They watched the Universal Pictures film and laughed while Jim Carrey made a fool out of himself on screen. It had always been one of Evergreen's favorite films, Christmas or otherwise. The part where the Grinch powerlifted the full ersatz sleigh above his head made him a little teary every time. He wasn't sure why.

In no time at all, Dad came out of his bedroom. He was wearing black shorts and a matching t-shirt. He came out to find both Evergreen and Seta, their arms elbow-deep in their stockings. At that moment, they both looked like animals stuck in a trap. When Dad saw both pairs of their wide eyes, he chuckled deeply to himself. Evergreen was definitely his kid.

"It looks like Christmas started without me." He said, good humoredly. "Do y'all want breakfast? Or did you already finish your bag of chocolate coins?"

A pleasant, light-hearted laugh was shared between them. They all shuffled off to the kitchen for cinnamon rolls, breakfast casserole, and a bunch of fresh fruit. Evergreen put on some Christmas music to set the proper holiday mood. The meal was wonderful and there was a quite pleasant spirit about them. Dad started asking Evergreen about his school activities.

"Other than the obvious, what have you been doing over at that school of yours?" he asked, pouring himself a generous helping of eggnog.

"I have been broom racing and practicing for the play." He answered after tearing his cinnamon roll in half.

"Broom racing? Like track and field?"

"Yeah, k-kind of like that."

"And the play? Is all that repetition why you aren't stuttering as much anymore?"

Evergreen was taken aback because he hadn't thought about that. Their rehearsals were held a few days a week. Now that he considered it, he guessed that Dad was right. His verbal communication was leaps and bounds clearer than it had been that previous year. Perhaps that was also why he had been filled with a mysterious, underlying sense of confidence. He felt slightly more in control. If one had control of their body, they certainly were one step closer to having all the control they needed to succeed, after all.

After breakfast, they headed back to the family room, which was gradually becoming illuminated by the late winter sun. Dad went for his stocking and was legitimately surprised at some of the things inside. Dad didn't fill it after all, so it must have been Seta Claus, or Seta Paws, rather. Evergreen chuckled to himself as the image of his bunny in a tiny Santa suit came to mind. They opened a number of gifts and Evergreen was overjoyed to hand a very special gift to his dad. Evergreen had asked Andie to use her drawing skills to draw a realistic portrait of his mom according to what he remembered in his vision. He even got the Enchanted Artwork Professor Valkyrie Leblanc to animate it in the ways that wizard paintings and photos move as a special favor to Professor Woods.

"E.E.," Dad said, after opening it, "this is the best gift ever."

Dad cried some, Evergreen cried some and Seta marveled at the likeness that the portrait held of its subject. He remarked on Andie's skill and remarked that she must have had more magic in her than the wizard community likely gave her credit for. The face on the portrait kept turning its back and turning again, with fierce, blazing eyes. It was exactly the way Dad remembered her, apparently.

It was boxing day and Dad went to work, which he only did in the mornings, so he and Evergreen still had loads of time together. While he was gone though, Evergreen felt the need to secure the house a bit more than usual. Sure, the sigils in the driveway and the back alleyway were there, but he was something of a worrier, so that wasn't good enough. He easily made a sigil in the wall of his bedroom and flew down the stairs to Dad's bedroom.

Once there, he did the same ritual where his mind's eye had him flying over a seemingly endless forest. When he opened his eyes, the sigil was printed upon the chest at the base of Dad's bed. Usually, after a moment, the glow of the sigil faded, but in this case, it seemed to glow brighter, and a small burst of twisting air came up around it. Loose objects in the immediate vicinity of the chest were lifted from their places and rotated at amazing speeds, avoiding crashing into anything else, including each other. Both Evergreen and Seta shut their eyes tightly and covered their heads to be safe.

When the light started to fade, they looked toward the chest and the sigil was there, but not glowing anymore. However, on top of the sigil was a series of pieces of parchment that were handwritten. When they approached the pages, Evergreen read that they had something to do with wand lore. He realized the name written in the top right corner was Glinda. He picked it up and took it out to the family room to do some reading. It must have appeared for a reason. Magic always had purpose.

A/N: Thanks for reading! Here's two chapters as a treat. We are so close to the end of part one of the Evergreen Quandary saga. If you like it so far, please Kudos, comment, and follow!

EQ