Walmart was a vibrant place when the weather got chilly. Holiday sales brought people there with Christmas lists in hand, and holiday displays provided something new to look at; fir trees covered in ornaments atop shelves and Santa-emblazoned banners were only the tip of the iceberg there.

If Walmart had everything, why wouldn't it have Christmas cheer?

"Marsh! Can't you see all the Christmas joy?! It's a dream come truuue!"

Apple was covered in gold tinsel as she dashed over to Marsh, a red Christmas ornament hanging from her stem. She was grinning like, well, a child on Christmas morning. Behind her, Marsh noticed a Christmas tree display that looked suspiciously bare.

Marsh sighed. "Apple, the employees work really hard to set this place up for the holidays. Put that stuff back! You'll-" There was a loud crunch as Apple fell on her face. "...Trip," Marsh finished lamely.

As Marsh tugged her to her feet, Apple babbled on. "But no wait seriously Marsh, this is the best season of them all. All the red and green everywhere, and the smell of the trees! The decorations, the snow, the glorious smell of all the trees... It's amazing! Hey, why're you taking off my Christmas uniform?"

"If I don't, you'll just fall on your face again. ...Geez, I know you're excited, but I'd rather you didn't act like a total child. You'll get my Walmart membership revoked if you keep this up."

"Pfft. Yeah yeah, Mom."

"D-don't call me that!"

Both of them were taken aback by how adamantly she said it. As the tinsel dropped to the ground, Apple said, "Sorry, Marsh. Didn't think it'd bug you that much."

Even though she knew that Apple was 100% joking, hearing her refer to her as such, even sarcastically, felt all kinds of wrong... 'It must be a pet peeve of mine or something,' she decided. "Just stick by me and try not to touch anything. People are staring."

Apple didn't stop pointing out everything and babbling about how wonderful Christmas was, but at least she had the tact not to dismantle any more displays. (And, at least most the shopping they had to do was in the mundane aisles, whereas the influx of Christmas shoppers were gathered mostly in the toy and gift aisles. Not as many people were staring and pulling their phones out as usual, if anything.)

'We could really use a new heating pad; it gets so cold in that mansion...' She glanced at the price tags on the aisle they were on and recoiled. 'Sheesh! Do they even have one battery-operated?'

Before she could check, she was interrupted by a sharp gasp. Marsh looked up to see Apple pointing at something at the end of the aisle. Marsh followed her trembling finger to see a huge red sled, with plastic Christmas everything around it: trees, lights, snowmen.

Sitting in the sled was a disgruntled-looking trophy dressed as Santa Claus. Standing near him were a pair of elves connected by a stem who were vaguely familiar. Marsh squinted at them, trying to figure out where she'd seen them before...

"...So Walmart does fake Santas too, now?"

"But he's not fake! Look at him."

"...He's shining."

"Of course he is! He shines with the joy of the season."

"Apple, Santa's not- err, I-I mean, you want to see him?"

"What a silly question to ask. Of course I'm gonna go see Santa Claus. How else will he know what to leave under the tree?"

Figuring it'd at least free Marsh to finish the shopping more quickly, she shrugged. "Fine, go for it. Try not to make a commotion or destroy any more sets. ...If you get kidnapped, just scream as loud as possible, okay?"

Apple didn't even hesitate before dashing off. She looked a little strange next to all the others in line, considering she probably a lot older and taller, but she was hardly more than a kid. Nobody gave her an odd look that might make her frown, luckily.

'Well, this is rather convenient.'

Marsh took the cheapest battery-operated heating pad available and pushed the cart to the toy aisle. She glanced around, then pulled a folded, wrinkled sheet of paper from a huge brown sack in her cart.

'A box of crayons, some paper, some picture frames, a pony... and a cure to my nightmares. What a sweetheart. And besides that, a router and a new phone case for Bow... and a burger and a new toolbox. Not too demanding.'

Marsh headed over to the electronics section first because it happened to be closest.

Was it counterintuitive to that strange pet-peeve she had against being called Apple's mom to be doing it? ...Absolutely.

But it was also the right thing to do.

'I dragged her to a place filled with death and cobwebs and hasn't complained, not once. She doesn't deserve the pain of losing track of the magic. She... really deserves better than I can give her, but this is a start.'

Marsh selected a pink and black phone case and slipped it into the brown sack, then approached an employee to ask where the routers were. He gave her an unsettling stare, probably recognizing her from the show, then pointed her in the right direction.

'She's grown up a lot since the show. She won't abandon me over finding out I did this anymore... I don't think. I'll just be extra careful to not be found out! She'll be so excited.'

Router selection kind of went over Marsh's head on its own, but Bow had luckily left a model number on there. It was a bit expensive, but Marsh put it into the cart with little additional thought. She wondered if that'd really be the solution to poor Wi-Fi connectivity that Bow sought.

The next section was the office supply section, and then it was art after that. Then there was a whole world of other things to buy, both for the house and for Christmas.

'It's time to make magic happen.'

XXX

Marsh was very thorough in her preparations. She wrapped the presents very carefully beforehand in a closet where even the ghosts wouldn't see. She made sure she practiced traveling along the path from her room to the closet to the tree with her eyes closed to account for the darkness. She even got used to the scratchy Santa beard she'd wear for the occasion in advance.

"And the red elf mused, 'We have to fix the sleigh. But the question is how...'"

The bedtime story was an extra precaution on top of ten other preparations. Apple looked super relaxed, hugging her teddy bear close as Marsh read.

The scene was so ironic on so many levels, and that wasn't lost on Marsh.

'What'd you call my voice before we became friends? High-pitched squeaker language and could shatter glass? You look so relaxed right now.'

It also certainly occurred to her that she was playing up to that strange pet peeve from Walmart, too, even though Apple didn't say anything.

"And then the elves lived happily ever after. The end."

"Woooow." Apple grinned and hugged her teddy bear close. "Great reading, Marsh!"

Marsh closed the book with a sigh. "Thanks. Are you tired yet?"

Apple chuckled. "I'm kinda too excited to go to sleep now. The story just reminded me that, in just a few hours, Santa's gonna leave us our gifts, right under that great tree. Maybe the elves from the story will be helping him on the sleigh."

"You're kidding, right?"

"Well, uh, not really." A rueful grin.

Marsh spoke gently: "Well, maybe they will. Anyway, remember not to leave this room until someone comes and gets you, okay? You can't interrupt Santa while he does his work."

"Not even to thank him?"

"...You'll see him at the mall next year!"

"Oh yes, got it! I'll try my best to remember, but you know I'm forgetful sometimes..."

'That's fine. I can just wedge a chair in the door to keep you from opening it until I've gotten a reasonable amount of sleep after traipsing around the house at midnight to get you presents. That can be arranged!'

"What're you making that face for, anyway? I was joking."

Marsh sighed. "I'm sorry. I just need some sleep, and I just know Christmas will interfere."

"G-got it. What's 'interfere' mean?"

"Christmas will get in the way," Marsh amended. "No offense, Apple, but you'll probably just wake me up at midnight if I don't get a commitment out of you to not leave this room at any cost."

Memories of a different, simpler Christmas Eve on Inanimate Insanity occurred to her, when she and Apple huddled together beside a Bright Lights fire between episodes five and six. Apple had woken her up to point out some aircraft that she seemed to think looked like Santa's sleigh at some ungodly hour. (Marsh hadn't looked at the time, feeling too done with Apple's clinginess and lack of sympathy about Bow, but she suspected it was just an airplane making its rounds.)

"I don't see why you'd think that," Apple said densely. "But I can think of one way we can guarantee I don't think to leave. Tuck me in!"

Marsh rolled her eyes. 'All this trouble to give you a decent Christmas..? Oh well, it'll be worth it.' She did so, and rolled her eyes one extra time for emphasis. "Anything else?"

"How about a goodnight kiss? Just a small one, on the cheek-"

Marsh smashed a pillow into her face. Forcefully.

"I'm just kidding, Marsh!" Apple laughed. "I won't move from this spot. And sweet dreams!"

She rushed to the door in an effort to hide her blush, which came purely from the surprise of the... what was it, exactly? A reference to her pet peeve? Some strange version of flirting? A genuine request? Something else entirely? "You better not," was the only response that came quickly enough to say.

XXX

The Santa suit and heavy sack of presents weren't made for someone of Marsh's stature; the jacket trailed on the floor behind her when she walked. The difficult thing was maneuvering it so that even the ghosts didn't think she was anyone but Santa.

('There's only one time in all the six years I've known Apple that she's stayed up late enough to see the date change. That was with a nap in advance, and she wasn't able to shut up about it. It's... endearing that she can find something I do accidentally sometimes to be so exciting, I guess.)

The room with the Christmas tree in it sat well-lit compared to the darkness of the rest of the house. It looked pretty good for having been decorated by two short people, though Marsh assumed Bow's ability to float and Marsh's strange way with gravity had something to do with it.

Marsh dragged the sack over and arranged the presents in a way that looked picturesque and made sure they all had the proper names on them. There were only about twelve, so it didn't take long; she smiled through her beard as she admired her work.

Then she heard the sound of a throat being cleared behind her. She turned with wide eyes.

A large man wearing a bright red cap stood facing her, a brown sack slung over his back. The lights on the tree were reflected in his kind eyes. "What're you doing down here, little one? It's late."

Marsh opened and shut her mouth repeatedly, but found she didn't have a response. Silence stretched for a moment before he chuckled. "I appreciate your Christmas spirit, but you should be leaving the gift-giving to the experts at this hour."

He waited a moment, then added, "You should go to bed now. I wish you a Merry Christmas, and a happy New Year."

She stared at him for one more moment before whispering a "you too" and slogging back to her room. Once she got there, she was quick to fall asleep, despite the dazing experience.

It was no more than three hours before she was being woken up with loud shouting: "Wake up, Marsh! It's Christmas!"

The first thing Marsh saw as she opened her eyes was Bow, grinning widely. "Presents are here! Crazy Dude's getting Kumquat, we can't let them get to the presents first "

'Just five more minutes,' Marsh wanted to mumble, she really did.

There was no way she could disappoint a face like Bow's, though. Instead she got up with a sigh and walked after her with dragging feet and only a vague sense of reality. She finally managed to blink herself to wakefulness when they got to the room and Apple was already there under the huge tree beside Dough. Dough was working a toolbox-shaped present open as Apple hugged something close. She looked up as Marsh walked in and grinned widely, leaving the gift at the tree's base as she rushed up to Marsh. She grabbed both of her hands.

"It's a Christmas miracle, Marsh! There's so much Christmas spirit under this tree!" Apple proceeded to drag her to and handed her the gift, a thick blue book as big as Marsh was. "This one's for you, Marsh. Merry Christmas!"

The huge book was entitled, "Sleep: How to Restore Your Circadian Cycles to Superior Levels, and the Scientifically-Proven Meanings of Common Dreams." Underneath the title, in fine green text, was the name of the author: Test Tube, of all people.

One part of her wanted to chuckle at the irony of being given a book on improving her sleep after being woken up at the ungodly hour of about three o'clock.

The other part appreciated that, though the title was a mouthful, what Apple was saying by giving the book to her was not.

'You deserve great sleep to have a better life, Marsh! It's the spirit of the holidays, blah blah... Also, what's Circadian mean?'

It was the latter sentiment that got Marsh to smile warmly and hug her. "Thanks so much, Apple. And a Merry Christmas to you, too!"

Apple didn't hesitate before hugging her back.

Marsh looked over Apple's shoulder at the tree, where Bow seemed to be helping Dough get his toolbox open out of pity, and noted that there had to be at least two dozen gifts there, and wondered if the encounter with the man with the kind eyes was real after all.