Pulling up in the apartment building parking lot wouldn't have been alarming if Meghan hadn't seen several fawns waiting by the lobby doors. She exchanged a frantic look with Gordon before rushing toward the doors, glancing around for any sight of Santa's horrific brother. But everything was sound; the streets mostly empty as everyone had gone home for the night.

There were five fawns and a slip of paper lying on the dirty sidewalk beside them. A deep shudder of hesitance coursed across Meghan's body. She didn't want to pick it up. But knowing very well that if she didn't, it could get them killed, she stooped down to scoop it up. The fawns scurried farther away, frightened by her movement. Their tails flicked anxiously.

ɢɨʋɛ tɦɛʍ զʊɨċҡʟʏ օʀ աatċɦ ʏօʊʀ ċɦɨʟɖʀɛռ sʊʄʄɛʀ sɨċҡʟʏ.

Ryder crouched beside the fawns, carefully checking the collars around their soft necks. One bleated softly and nuzzled against his chest, to which he froze. He swallowed hard before looking at Gordon, one hand hovering hesitantly over the cuddling fawn's spotted back. "Um...four...four of them are new. The fifth one is Comet again. Um, their names are Dasher, Blitzen, Dancer, and Donner."

"That makes eight," Gordon said softly.

Carly smiled slightly at the little fawn cuddling against Ryder. "And which one is that one?"

Her brother looked down at the fawn. "Dancer."

Meghan slipped the note into her pocket and straightened back up just in time to spot a police car pulling into the lot. She inwardly groaned. Now what?

But surprise replaced her irritation when Officer Jyles climbed out of the car, his serious face grave. As he approached, Carly stepped in front of the five fawns, although her small frame did nothing to hide them from view.

"Officer Jyles," Meghan greeted confusedly. "I can't believe you came all this way to see us."

"Normally, a police officer in the local area would come, but this situation is...not normal," the young man explained, his brown eyes flicking to Carly's protective stance in front of the fawns. "Took me a while to find you though. But apparently it didn't take as long for your stalker."

"So you believe us now?" Gordon scoffed, folding his arms.

"I did from the beginning," he said with a terse nod of the head. "Thing is, I wasn't allowed to say anything until you spoke with my father."

Meghan cocked an eyebrow at him, a cold gust of wind ruffling her straight hair. "And who is that?"

"Santa Claus."

It was as if someone poured cold water over Meghan's head. The douse of cold emotions spiraled down her skin, stopping to burn away at her heart. "What?"

"Yeah," he said, rubbing his neck awkwardly. "I'm his son, Marcus Claus."

"So you're not a police officer?" Gordon asked, disbelief etching his stern features.

"No, I most certainly am," Jyles - Marcus - confirmed. "I wanted to be a police officer for years and was able to after my mom had another son to take over the magical business. I was more into logical things."

Meghan rubbed her face. "You know, I'm tired of all these shocks being sprung at us."

"And I understand." Marcus gave Carly a smile as she moved to stand by Ryder's side. "He contacted me and gave me your location. I'm here to help as best as I can."

"Yeah...that plead for your help has expired," Meghan hissed. "Good day."

Marcus shook his head. "Miss Byer, you're going to need all the help you can get."

"But not by someone who never helped us in the first place."

"Because I couldn't."

"And why couldn't you?"

"Because I wouldn't have been able to involve myself even if I wanted to," he explained. "My...monster-uncle-thing would have clued in on me right away and I would have been dead. To help you as police officer-y as possible was my best bet. However, Dad seems to have faith in you and thinks I can expose myself now. Five against one - and a couple dozen elves - is a good number."

Another gust of wind coursed through the air and Meghan shivered. "We...we should go inside."

As they proceeded into the apartment building without another word, not only was Meghan confused beyond belief, but the sudden plot twists to her life were beginning to hurt her head beyond repair. She rubbed her face again anxiously, glancing down at the fawns obediently trotting behind them toward the elevator. They must have known there were other fawns there. The one Ryder said was Dancer remained by his side, brushing against his leg. Her son didn't seem to know what to do about the sudden fondness the baby animal offered him.

When they entered Gordon's apartment, the sky outside was pitch black through the windows. Looking at the clock in the small kitchen, Meghan deflated as she read it. 9:00pm. "Carly, Ryder, you two should go to bed."

Carly shook her head, wide-eyed as she stared at Marcus. "I won't be able to get sleep. And I don't want to be left out of anything."

"Carly," Gordon pitched in with a small warning to his tone. Carly sighed but trudged down to the bedroom door.

Ryder followed after her, but not before Meghan stopped him, turning him around to face her. She hugged him tightly, whispering, "Keep an eye on Carly, okay?" She kissed his pale cheek and smiled softly. "I love you."

"Love you too," he mumbled, glancing at Gordon. He stood to the side, watching the exchange. "Night, Dad."

Gordon blinked as Ryder rushed through the bedroom door and shut it behind him. Meghan's smile quickly grew more genuine at her son's words. Gordon smiled too before clearing his throat and turning back to Marcus who studied the eight fawns taking up the whole space behind the couch. They were huddled tightly together, sleeping peacefully. "I'm not sure if allowing you into our home is a smart move on our part, but for the present, we will trust you."

Our home. Meghan hid another small smile at his words. Marcus nodded. "I understand. But I really am just another police officer, and you can think of me as one."

It did relieve Meghan to have an officer nearby. If anything, his gun could come in handy for them. "Well..sit down." Marcus did as she said and she and Gordon followed suit, sitting across from him on the couch. Meghan reached into her pocket. "We got another note."

The young man reached for it and read it quickly, frowning slightly. "I told my dad that with his brother out and about, he should have been more careful with the fawns. Having them in the open was a dumb act. Of course - with them still learning to fly - they would drift off and out of sight."

"How do you think we can stop him?" Meghan asked.

Marcus leaned back, eyes still on the paper. "I don't know. We could corner him and I could get a good shot in, but he's stealthy. And with his elves following his every order, they could easily ambush us from the sides."

"Well, we have to kill him somehow," Meghan said. "And before he kills us...which is only a matter of time. Especially after telling me to give him the fawns. If I take too long, he'll come after us. That's what it said in the note."

"How many notes have you gotten since you came here?"

"Just two." Meghan rubbed her eyes tiredly. "Gordon, you took the other one from Ryder."

"Yeah." Gordon reached into his pocket and handed over a slightly larger slip of paper.

Marcus took it to read what it said. At first, a dark look shadowed his features before he was shaking his head almost humorously. "Out of every writing style, he chose rhymes. You know how ridiculously hard it is to believe a threat when it's rhyming?"

"This isn't a funny situation," Gordon said, but Meghan coule see the twinkle in his eyes at the realization. Meghan never even fully saw the rhyming. But now that she thought about it, it was, indeed, ridiculous.

"Yes, of course." Marcus's face grew serious again. "I guess it must be the jolliness that runs in the family."

Meghan nodded, but smiled to herself. "Rhymes."

Gordon released a hearty chuckle. "Looks like it. And you never noticed."

"You never noticed either," she shot back, shoving him with her shoulder. "But that doesn't extinguish the fact that the notes are pretty much death threats to us."

Marcus nodded slowly. "You know something else that's funny? He's given you chances to hand the fawns over without immediately resorting to murdering you so that the fawns would rightfully be his if he claims them. I guess he has some form of a heart in his chest."

"Yeah, like the grinch's heart before he went kind," Meghan said. Her shoulder pressed into Gordon's firm one.

Gordon nodded agreeably. When Meghan yawned, he looked down at her and studied her face. "You look tired."

"No kidding," she sighed. She knew there were dark bags beneath her eyes. "You don't exactly sleep peacefully when your life is on the line. Well...maybe you do."

Gordon ignored her last remark. Instead, he wrapped his arm around her, pulling her against him. She didn't even utter a complaint, which she probably would have done were it not for the current circumstances they were trapped in. They divorced for a reason and she was sure that nothing would change that. But the comfort of Gordon's arm around her was something she hadn't felt in over a year. She leaned into him, resting her head contently on his shoulder.

"We could always see what would happen if we did corner him," Marcus told them. "He's still mortal. A bullet to a vital organ would definitely kill him as quickly as it would a regular person."

"Yeah, but what about his elf companions, like you mentioned before?" Gordon asked.

"They're tiny," the police officer said. "We just need to make sure they don't get near us and we're good. A baseball bat would work. Or a bowling ball..."

"Again with the humor?" Meghan laughed, her eyes drifting partly closed.

"Yeah, sorry, ignore me," he replied. "I blame my dad."

"He seems like a good dad," Meghan told him softly. Her own dad was abusive. It wasn't until she was nearly an adult that he sobered up after two years in jail. He was back with her mom, but things had never been the same between any member of the family. She still had the scars on her back as a result of his nights of fury; any object he could get his hands on being used against his own children.

"Yeah, but..." Marcus trailed off at a sudden sound. The knock at the door was firm and loud. The three adults immediately froze. Meghan lifted her head off of Gordon's shoulder. Was it...?

The three adults got up all together and approached the door slowly. Marcus slipped his gun out of its holster. Gordon looked at him and they exchanged brief nods before he swung the door open. Meghan jumped in fright as two familiar voices exclaimed, "Surprise!"

"Oh my gosh!" Meghan cried, pressing her palm over her heart only to feel the heavy pounding of it against her chest.

A man and a teenaged girl stood with grins on their faces, snow mixed into their messy, red hair and coating their shoulders. Meghan gaped at them, speechless, no words wanting to form even in her head. Luckily, Gordon spoke for them, his voice tainted with alarmed shock. "Brek? Gwen?"

The man's grin widened and he locked eyes with Meghan. "Surprise!"

A laugh escaped Meghan's throat. She threw her arms around his neck, hugging her little brother tightly before moving to hug her niece as well. She finally managed some strained words. "What are you doing here?"

"Well, Hawaii just wasn't great without you," Brek explained. "And there's only drama over there, what with our family having no experience in showing love."

"Well, I can't say there's no drama over here either," Meghan said, glancing at Gordon who just hugged Gwen impassively.

Brek nodded understandingly before turning to Marcus. "I don't believe we've met?"

"No," Marcus said, extending his hand. "I'm Officer Jyles."

Brek paused mid-handshake. "And...what business does Meghan have with a police officer?"

And just like that, Meghan gasped loudly as the remembrance of their current circumstance crashed over her like a heavy weight. She glanced between them frantically. "I'm sorry, but you can't be here right now, Brek!"

"What?" Brek stared at her in confusion. "We just got here. And it took us forever to figure out your location. Which, speaking of, what happened to your house?"

"It got burned down," Meghan said. "I'm happy that you came to visit, but now you need to leave. We can see you under better circumstances after Christmas." I hope, she added in her head.

"What's going on?" he asked, stumbling back a step as she tried to shove him out the door.

"Please!" she begged. In no way did Meghan want her brother and niece getting wrapped up in the threatening events taking place. It was bad enough that she, the kids, and Gordon were involved. If Brek and Gwen were added into the mix, she was not sure her sanity would be able to handle it.

Brek was the only member in her family who she actually got along with. Their bond wasn't as strong as Ryder and Carly's was, but there was something there, and that was a start. When their older sisters would be arguing and their parents fighting, Meghan would take Brek into the shop across from the house for some peace and quiet. They bonded that way. And as they grew up and the abuse began coming, they held onto each other for support.

"Where's Ryder and Carly?" Gwen asked.

"In bed," Gordon said. "I'm afraid Meghan is right. You need to leave right now."

"But we were hoping we could spend Christmas together," Brek said hopefully.

Tears threatened to sting Meghan's eyes. In the one break where she was not actually busy and had time for family, the family had to get wrapped up in the business of Christmas and Santa Claus's brother; whom she never even knew existed. And with their lives at stake, the painful feeling that this could be her last time seeing her brother and niece ripped away at her chest to try and breach her heart. She pulled them both into another hug, inhaling deeply to calm her nerves. "I'm sorry, but we don't have time. That's one of the reasons why we couldn't go to Hawaii in the first place. That, and money problems mixed with having Gordon here for the kids."

"We can help you out around here with what you're busy with," Brek told her. "It can't be that bad."

"Oh, believe us, it is," Gordon told him stiffly.

Marcus stood politely to the side, but when Meghan glanced at him, he nodded urgently. They needed to continue planning how to save themselves and Christmas. Meghan pulled away from the hug, but before she could say anything, Gwen's blue eyes found the fawns poking out from behind the couch. "Oh my gosh! You have baby deer now?"

"Um...no," Gordon said, watching her bound over to the fawns. They raised their heads to watch her cautiously. Brek looked at them in astonishment and followed after his daughter. Meghan cleared her throat and closed the door to keep the cold drafts out.

She looked at Gordon for help, begging him silently to do something. She couldn't just kick her own brother out. But it could save his life. Brek picked up a slip of paper sitting on the arm of the chair, reading it curiously. And then Meghan's stomach knotted up. She turned to Marcus frantically and whispered, "The notes?"

Marcus shrank back a fraction and nodded toward Brek. "Over there."

Meghan inwardly groaned. She could only watch helplessly as Brek looked up from the slip of paper with worry. "What's this?"

"Uh..." Meghan swallowed thickly. "Uh...that's just something Ryder wrote...for fun."

Brek folded his arms, an expression of slight panic mixing with concern. "You're lying. Is someone hurting you guys?"

"No!" Meghan hurriedly denied. "No, it's just-"

"Mom?" Meghan turned to see Carly poking her head out the bedroom door, most likely woken up by the commotion. "What's going on?"

"Nothing," Meghan quickly told her. "Just go back to bed. We're still sorting things out with Marcus."

Carly nodded with a yawn, but then Gwen moved into view to see who it was, and her brown eyes widened. An excited smile lit up her tired face. She exclaimed, "Gwen!"

"Carly!" Gwen laughed, racing over to hug her cousin.

Meghan leaned against the wall. Her thoughts were too preoccupied to enjoy the innocence in the cousins greetings to one another. Even at the age of sixteen, Gwen still loved all of her younger cousins and played with them every chance she got.

"How have you been?" Gwen asked her as Brek scooped her into a bear hug.

Carly locked eyes with Meghan over Brek's shoulder. Meghan shook her head. "I've been okay, I guess."

"And is Ryder asleep?" Brek asked.

"Yes, Uncle Brek," Carly said. "Well...he was rolling over when I opened the door."

"Well, let's not wake him."

"Yes," Meghan agreed through gritted teeth. "Let's not. Look, I'm sorry, but you can't be here. Brek, please, go right now! We can spend the New Year together. But right now is just...the worst moment you could have picked."

"Why are you kicking us out?" he asked, sounding hurt.

"It's for your own safety," Gordon said.

Carly kept an arm wrapped around Gwen, despite Meghan nodding toward the bedroom door to try and get her to go back to bed. "Yes, it's for your own safety."

"Are you guys not safe?" Gwen asked, looking back at the fawns.

"I...I don't know." Meghan huffed softly. Brek and Gwen flew all the way in from a tropical island of paradise to spend quality time with them. Turning them down was like an icicle skewering her through the chest and ripping her heart out through her back. But that feeling could become complete reality if they didn't figure out how to get rid of Santa's brother in time.

"I can help you," Brek insisted. "With whatever it is, I can help."

"It's not that easy," Meghan muttered.

Marcus finally cleared his throat and nodded formally for Meghan to come over. She moved to his side and he leaned in, whispering, "They can help us by giving us more numbers."

"But they'd be risking their lives," she whispered back.

"For a good cause."

Meghan frowned. "You're a cop. Shouldn't you be valuing two citizens lives more than you are?"

"I wish I could bring an army of cops, but they can't know about this. The Claus life is supposed to be secret. You and your family shouldn't even be involved in this."

"Then why do you want them helping if we're just going to have to tell them everything?"

"Because it could help," Marcus said.

"Why don't you just tell two police officers instead of two people in my family?" Meghan folded her arms.

"They wouldn't believe me. But your brother might."

Meghan nearly snorted. Brek gave up on Christmas at about the same time Meghan did. To him, it was just another time-consuming, money-stealing work day. He probably only agreed to Hawaii because, well, it was Hawaii. And even then, he wasn't enjoying himself. Whose to say he was going to believe a crazy story of reindeer, Santa Claus, and a monster-thing out to kill them with its evil elves if they didn't give it eight infant fawns?

"Meghan," Brek said, making Meghan turn to face him. "Whatever is happening, you can trust me."

Meghan huffed again. She