Carly slid out of the car, her eyes studying all of the trees surrounding them as they got out and began trekking toward the field of pine trees of all different sizes. Several other families were roaming around, searching for a Christmas tree as well. Snow coated everything in its soft powder. Meghan enjoyed watching her boots sink into the snow and create a footstep, making a satisfying sound as the soft powder sank beneath her feet to be crushed into a thin layer of ice.

"Let's see who can find the perfect one first," Gordon suggested with a smile. "Two teams."

"Kids against parents?" Carly asked, grabbing Ryder's hand.

"Um..." Meghan exchanged a look with Gordon. Due to recent events, she did not want Carly and Ryder to be by themselves. "How about a parent and a kid?"

Carly released Ryder's hand to grab Gordon's. "I'm with Dad then."

Gordon grinned at her, squeezing her hand in his. "Sounds like the winning team has been made."

Meghan scoffed as a mischievous smile appeared on Ryder's face. She hadn't seen that mischief in her son's face in a long time. He would take everything seriously - even joking moments. But she could see the newly born competitiveness in Ryder's eyes as he quirked an eyebrow at Carly and Gordon. "Yes, Mom and I have indeed been made."

Gordon laughed pleasantly and Meghan narrowed her eyes at him. "Let the 74th Hunger Games begin! Holler when you think you found the perfect tree."

The family of four quickly split up after those words, walking briskly in opposite directions. It was like a maze as Meghan weaved around the trees with Ryder. At first, they worked in silence. Meghan studied all of the trees. Their height, color, branches, trunk, every little detail. Ryder seemed intent on catching every small detail on them too. Meghan kept her ears alert for any sound of Carly and Gordon calling for them.

"What do you think?" Meghan finally asked Ryder. "Any catching your eye?"

Ryder pulled the dark brown beanie hat farther down over his black hair. "Not really. They all look the same."

"Seriously," Meghan laughed. Ryder smiled, rubbing his hands together. Meghan watched him a moment, determining if she should ask the following question or not. "Ryder, are you enjoying the holidays?"

His small smile slipped away. He grew quiet. Meghan bit the inside of her lip, but she wouldn't take the question back. She needed an answer. A genuine one. Ryder finally shrugged his shoulders. "Yeah, I guess. I always like spending holidays with you."

"And your father?"

Ryder adapted a familiar guarded look. Meghan could almost see his walls raising to push her away. She sighed to herself, a painful ache growing slowly with each beat of her heart. He couldn't keep closing her out. She blinked in surprise when he spoke. "He...he isn't as bad as I had thought."

"And...and what did you think?" Meghan pressed curiously.

"Well, that he was a heartless jerk who left...who left you because he only cared about himself," Ryder slowly confided. "But I guess just because he was the one to move out doesn't mean he abandoned us. You two must have talked about it."

Meghan put an arm around his shoulders. "We did."

"Then why did you cry about it for so long afterwards?"

Meghan swallowed thickly. "Well...well, it still hurt. I was with him for so long. We had you and Carly together and we shared amazing experiences with one another. It isn't easy to let go."

Ryder looked over the trees they walked past. Meghan studied his expression. She couldn't guess at what he was thinking.

"Excuse me." Meghan looked behind them. A man stood with a small child. He gave them an apologetic look as the little boy stepped closer to him. "Do you know if these trees have different prices?"

"Yes, I believe they do," Meghan said, waving at the toddler. The boy smiled slightly, giving a shy wave back.

"Thank you." The man walked away.

Ryder met Meghan's eyes and they both laughed. "That was weird."

"You think that was weird?" Meghan shook her head humorously. "We've seen way weirder."

A serious look overtook Ryder's face. "Like what's been going on this month?"

Meghan's smile dropped as well. The cold air was making her nose numb. "That counts..."

"Carly was very upset when you called WASART again yesterday," Ryder said. "She wouldn't even talk to me afterward. She has gotten attached to them."

"Well, they can't be our problem anymore," Meghan told him. "That stalker was after them. If the police don't find them, at least we won't be a target anymore."

"Mom!" Ryder gave her a shocked look. "I can't believe you just said that."

"I didn't mean it like that!" Meghan quickly said. "I just...we can't have the fawns and someone after them to watch out for. They tried to kill us."

"And I'm surprised you're calm about it now," Ryder told her.

On the outside, she thought. She had been worrying about the past events 24/7 ever since they happened. She couldn't forget the feeling of terror that would overcome her when she would see the person. How it felt like the future was going to cease. Like her life was about to end. A shiver spiraled up her spine at the thought. "Hopefully, it is done now and..." She squinted at something up ahead.

A shape was out of place ahead of them. Where there were three pine trees beside each other, an odd shape stuck out between them. She put her hand out to slow Ryder down as they got closer. At first, Ryder gave her a confused look before his blue eyes found what she was staring at. He froze immediately, not willing to go any farther. Meghan stopped with him.

"What is it?" Ryder whispered into the silent air.

"I don't know," Meghan replied. Could it just be something out of place like a plow or something?

As they stared at it, it moved, causing them to jerk away in fright. Meghan's breath hitched in her throat. It moved again, rustling the pine tree. As a sound began to fill the air, Meghan shoved Ryder behind her, growing rigid in terror. It was the moaning sound that something would make whenever their stalker was near. But they had lost them. How could they know where they were?

Ryder was as tense as she was, his eyes wide and glued in fright to the shifting figure up ahead. The moaning grew louder. Realization dawned on Meghan that that was Ryder's first time actually witnessing the figure. She slowly stepped back, nudging Ryder to make him move as well, careful to remain as quiet as possible. Ryder seemed to understand her motives and slowly backed away, pulling her along with him.

The figure lifted its head as it stepped into full view. Tears burned Meghan's frozen face. But, no sooner that it revealed itself, it turned and disappeared back into the maze of trees. Meghan didn't stop though. She grabbed Ryder and shoved him in the other direction. "We need to get back to Carly and your father!"

She sprinted behind Ryder as he raced ahead of her, obeying her orders to find the rest of their family. She hoped they remembered the way back. They didn't go that far inside.

"MEGHAN!" Gordon's panicked voice suddenly flooded the air, echoing loudly. Meghan's heart dropped at the urgency.

If that thing touched them...

All of the trees looked the same. Which way did they come from? Meghan had taken the lead with Ryder sprinting behind her. But she didn't know where they were at. She cupped her mouth with her hands and hollered, "Gordon?" When no reply came, a familiar feeling of dread twisted her stomach. That same feeling had been with her every single day she and Gordon would fight. And when the divorce papers were filled out and Gordon began packing to leave, the feeling of dread and fear had never been stronger.

She rounded a bend and almost collapsed in relief at the sight of Gordon and Carly. Carly looked riddled with confusion and fright, her arms wrapped around Gordon's waist as he turned in circles, his pocket knife out. Carly was the first to notice them. She released Gordon to run across the snow. Meghan caught her in a tight hug, tears slipping down her cheeks. Carly was shaking. What happened to them?

When Carly released her to hug Ryder, Meghan turns to Gordon. "Did you see it too?"

He kept the knife at his side, his face paler than usual. "I don't know for sure if we saw the same thing."

"We saw the stalker," Meghan told him, wiping her tears away. Carly and Ryder were still hugging each other. Her daughter had subdued to sobs, gripping Ryder tightly. Meghan reached out to rub her shoulder.

Gordon glanced around. "We need to get out of here. Come on."

The kids obeyed their father's orders and began walking after him as he turned and walked toward the parking lot. Meghan followed alongside him. "Is that what you saw too?"

Gordon didn't look at her. "I don't know what we saw."

"They were...they were tiny things," Carly spoke, her voice quivering.

"What were tiny things?" Meghan asked.

"They looked like..." Carly bit her lip but Meghan nodded for her to continue. "Well, they looked like elves to me. Like Santa's helpers. But, instead, more evil and scary."

Meghan didn't say anything as her daughter's words hung in the air. Ryder was looking down at his sister with confusion. He never really believed in Santa Claus after Gordon left, so Meghan doubted that he believed what she was saying now. "How do you know, Carly?"

"She doesn't," Gordon said. Their car came into sight and they moved more quickly toward it.

"But that's what they looked like," Carly objected. "Were they not tiny?"

"They were," Gordon said. "But this isn't a fairytale situation. This is reality."

Meghan glared at him. He may not know it, but those words could crush dreams. Thankfully, Carly didn't seem too fazed by his words. But she had grown quiet, nonetheless. As the family climbed into the car, Meghan could see her breath in front of her. A white, foggy substance. She turned the heater on as Gordon started the car and allowed the warm heat to blast her face, thawing her frozen skin.

Meghan looked back at Ryder and Carly. Carly was leaning against Ryder, her head resting against his shoulder as his arms wound around her waist. He used his free hand to take his wet beanie hat off and placed it on the seat beside him. "You guys okay?"

"Are we going to do anything about what just happened?" Ryder asked quietly.

Meghan looked over at Gordon as he began steering the car out of the parking lot and into the icy street. "Yes, we are."

❄⛄❄❄⛄❄

Carly was asleep in the backseat as they pulled into the parking lot in front of the police station. And Ryder was dozing off, his head rolling to the side only to snap up whenever it dropped toward his shoulder. Gordon looked back at them as he turned the ignition off. "I'll go. You all wait here."

"I'm coming," Meghan said, unbuckling her seatbelt.

"No," Gordon objected. "Just stay here with the kids."

"But I want to know what they say."

"I'll tell you. Just stay here."

Meghan watched him get out of the car. A wave of cold air surged into the vehicle before he shut the door. Meghan leaned back against the seat, watching him as he walked over to the doors. Was it normal for someone to be bothersome toward the police when someone was following them around? And, if it was normal for them to go to the police a lot, did it annoy the department? Or made them happy that they had something to do?

"Mom," Ryder mumbled. "Do you think they still believe that we have the fawns?"

"Probably," Meghan answered. Or they weren't after the fawns after all. "But they still need to be arrested for attempted murder."

"You really think they're a murderer?"

"They tried to kill us," Meghan said. "That's what that fire was for."

Silence followed her words. She looked out the front window for any sign of Gordon emerging from the building. She hoped it was all going well in there. She was tempted to get out and go inside herself but she didn't want Carly and Ryder alone in the car. Even if they weren't helpless babies anymore, she wanted to protect them. And she felt as if leaving them alone in the car was exposing them to danger.

Meghan just felt like collapsing onto her bed and sleeping for years. Lately, her right eye had been twitching a lot due to lack of sleep. She rubbed it each time to try and stop it, but sometimes, it continued anyway, reminding her of how sleep had been vacant. Carly stirred in her sleep but didn't open her eyes. At least she was getting some form of rest.

"How long do you think he'll be?" Ryder asked, shifting slightly.

"I don't know," Meghan said. She watched the fog clouding the window so that she couldn't see outside. It reminded her of the outing she had with Carly and how her daughter had been making shapes in the fogged-up window.

She hated just sitting in the car and relying on Gordon to tell the police. She was used to being independent and doing things herself; especially things of much importance like their current situation. But she made the goal to trust in others when she was a teenager and had serious trust issues. Now, she was trying to stick to that goal and trust in Gordon to relay the message correctly. But she was curious about what the police would say in return.

The snow had lifted, leaving the soft powder covering everything. Meghan squinted out her window. The parking lot was empty of other vehicles. She was sure the mall was probably cramped with people still continuing their Christmas shopping. When were they ever going to get over there to see Santa like she had promised Carly?

She straightened in her seat when she saw Gordon walk out the doors. He was too stoic for her to guess at what happened in there. As he opened the car door, she leaned towards him. "What did they say?"

"They're going to check the area," Gordon answered, shutting the door. "Apparently, they got a report of a mysterious figure the other day. The descriptions given match yours. Now, they are keen on figuring this case out."

"That's good," Meghan sighed, leaning back. "I don't think I can handle much more of this."

Gordon only nodded as he pulled the car out of the parking lot. Ryder was wide awake now in the backseat. Carly, however, was still tuckered out.

"When we get back to the apartment, I want you to rest," Gordon told Meghan.

She snorted. "That's highly unlikely. I can barely sleep even when it is dark. I won't get any sleep with it light out."

"Just try."

"Why?" she demanded. "So something else can happen? Because it probably will."

The rest of the drive was in silence.

Finally returning to Gordon's apartment, there was no such luck for Meghan even attempting to get any needed sleep. The moment he unlocked the door and it swung open, Meghan's first thought was that their stalker was in there. Chairs were toppled over, the cushions on the couch on the floor. The shelves that once lined the walls were collapsed with the objects that had been on them strewn across the once clean ground. Some of the more fragile antiques wrre in pieces, the glass littering the floor like crystal raindrops.

Meghan first rushed toward where the China vase from the wedding laid shattered. She picked up a large chunk of it still intact and just held it in her palms, too numb to speak, as Gordon quickly pushed the overturned television set back onto its legs. He looked around in bewilderment. Ryder and Carly remained by the door, not looking eager at the thought of treading over the sharp mess.

"What happened?" Carly asked, looking around with wide eyes. "Where are the fawns?"

Meghan glanced around, realizing the absence of the baby animals as well. "I don't know."

"Vixen!" Carly shouted, moving forward. "Prancer! Cupid!"

Meghan rose to her feet as her daughter bolted around the apartment, shouting their names again. She turned to Gordon, her tongue dry. "I...wh...did someone break in?"

Gordon looked down at the ring of keys still in his hand before studying the windows. "There's only one key to the apartment."

"Well...was anything stolen?" Ryder asked, still standing in his spot, pale faced.

"It's too hard to tell with everything destroyed," Gordon replied in a confused mutter, his eyebrows furrowed.

"Mom, I found them!" Carly called from another room. "They're hiding in the bathroom!"

Meghan didn't even bother going to look. They must have gotten startled and hid away. She was careful navigating around the mess toward the tiny kitchen where a broom leaned against the wall. Was Gordon's apartment not safe either? Before she could begin sweeping, Gordon took it away from her to do it himself. "Go get sleep."

"After what we've come back to?" she said. "No. Uh-uh. They could still be here."

Gordon shook his head, glancing over at Ryder who listened intently. "The fawns probably made the mess."

"The fawns?" Ryder repeated in disbelief, staring at his father as if he sprouted wings. "The fawns did this?"

"They're three wild animals," Gordon said, beginning to sweep up the mess. "Who knows what they're capable of."

"You're kidding me," Ryder scoffed. "They knocked over the TV and shelves and tore up these couch cushion?" He held one up, revealing the white fluff coming out to prove his point.

And Meghan saw his point. She pulled her cellphone out of her pocket. "I'm going to take a picture to show the police." Gordon allowed her to take a photo before resuming the process of cleaning it up. Meghan turned the phone off. "Do you need help?"

He didn't respond at first and Meghan waved Ryder out, telling him to find Carly. Then she began scooping up objects that weren't too broken to place them onto the shelves. It took about fifteen minutes before the floor was swept clean and everything picked up. Ryder and Carly could be heard in the bedroom, talking together as they kept an eye on the fawns.

"Are you alright?" Meghan asked Gordon after he stood silently with the emptied dustpan in his grip, seeming to be deep in thought.

He glanced up briefly. "Are you?"

What kind of question was that? He knew how Meghan had been feeling. But she had no clue what was going on in his brain. "I'm an open book."

Gordon smiled grimly, leaning down to pick up the last piece of broken glass by his foot. "Somehow, I find that hard to believe."

Meghan frowned, folding her arms. "And what is that supposed to mean? All I did was ask a question! Don't turn it into a fight."

"I don't want to turn anything into a fight," he stated simply.

Meghan's frown deepened into a scowl. She huffed softly beneath her breath before asking, "Was anything stolen?"

Gordon looked around himself briefly, his eyes moving from object to object. "No."

She sat down on the couch after he confirmed it to catch her breath. "How can you be so nonchalant about this situation? We could end up dead in a day or two."

"It just doesn't make sense," he sighed, slowly taking a seat beside her.

"Um, I'm pretty sure it makes perfect sense," Meghan said. "There have been many cases with people being stalked and harassed before murdered days later. We're sitting in a trap and allowing the hunter to wrap the net even tighter around us. We have to do something!"

"And what do you suggest?" he hissed lowly, making sure the kids couldn't hear. "We've already moved locations. Do you want to move out of the city? State? Country?"

Meghan glared at him, a familiar anger burning to life. "You know, you haven't changed one bit! Why can't you see what a jerk you are?"

Gordon inhaled deeply, his angered gaze causing Meghan to shrink away slightly. She'd never liked seeing him angry, but she had to say it. And it couldn't be undone now. He held her gaze with narrowed eyes. She could only try to keep the eye contact. "I'm a jerk? I'm a jerk." He laughed bitterly, shaking his head. "Okay."

Meghan's fingers itched to slap his face, but she kept them firmly pressed into her lap. No need to make a scene and worry Ryder or Carly further. Plus, she knew Gordon was probably expecting it. She'd just have to disappoint. "So, I suppose I'm worse than you. Is that what you're saying?"

"That's not what I said," he argued, his tone dark.

"Then what are you saying?" Meghan challenged.

The silence that followed her question stretched for minutes. The proximity between them caused Meghan to shift uncomfortably, daring him with her glare to answer the question. But, at the moment he opened his mouth to speak, Ryder's voice from the entry to the hall intervened. "Is everything okay?"

Meghan looked over at him before glancing back at Gordon whose gaze slowly moved to their son. "Everything's fine."

Ryder looked between them in the same, wary way he did at the hospital; most of the coldness directed toward Gordon. And each time her son gave him that look, a part of Meghan's heart ripped painfully away. He looked back at her and they locked eyes before he asked rigidly, "Mom?" questioning what his father just said.

Meghan swallowed, standing up and stepping away from Gordon and towards him. "It's fine. We're just discussing things."

Carly slipped out of the bedroom, sensing the tension, to hug Meghan tightly. She gladly returned it, pulling her daughter close and cherishing the warm embrace. Ryder only looked back at the fawns visible through the doorway to the bedroom. The three of them huddled close together. But something seemed to have changed.

Before she could figure out what it was, Meghan heard the shocked gasp escape from Ryder, and he was rarely ever surprised by anything. But, studying the fawns more closely, she could see what had him suddenly frozen in fear.

The fawns floated lazily in the air, only inches away from the ground.

❄⛄❄

Ooooh! Haha, sorry about the cliffhanger. *evil grin*

Question: Do you think it was good that they went back to the police station after what happened?

Bonus Question: What do you think of Carly's description of what she and Gordon saw? :O

Fun Question: What is your favorite holiday?