December 12th came, and nothing had changed. School was dismissed that day, and Lily came up to the twins.

"Hey, Variel, Dulce, what do you say you come over to my house and do some homework?" Lily asked cheerfully.

But Dulce and Variel were still livid with Lily for mistreating Mirabela last week.

"I don't know, Lily," Dulce sniffed.

"Yeah, we're not sure if we should," Variel agreed.

"It's okay, primas," Mirabela said, putting on her helmet. "You can go if you want to. I'm already done with my homework. I'll just tell the grownups where you are."

The twins were surprised that their cousin was actually okay with them hanging with the girl who hurt her feelings about her father...twice.

"Okay, we should leave Lily's before 5," Variel said.

"Okay, I'll see you later," Mirabela said before getting on her scooter and riding off to her house.

Later, when Mirabela got home, she told her father, aunt, and grandfather where the twins were. They weren't disappointed in the twins for going off with someone without telling them ahead of time, but they were surprised by one thing.

"You let your cousins go to Lily's house to do homework?" Sofia asked. "Aren't you still angry with Lily for last week?"

"Yes, but that doesn't mean the twins are obligated to stay away from her," Mirabela said.

"Well, do you have homework to cover?" Pedro asked.

"No, I already did all mine at school," Mirabela replied. "Besides, the twins said they'd leave Lily's house before 5."

"Okay, well, I'm going to run an errand with Lito," Pedro said. "I think you deserve some time for yourself."

"Okay, Papi," Mirabela smiled.

Meanwhile, at Lily's house, she, Miley, and the twins were doing their homework, but Lily was still upset about Mirabela hanging so much with her father before they had that fight.

"Need some help with that biology homework, Dulce?" Variel asked.

But Lily angrily cleared her throat and glared. She wasn't happy with what she was hearing.

After a short, awkward silence, Dulce said, "Well, I am having a little trouble with the fifth question."

Lily cleared her throat louder, annoyed with the twins talking, to their disgust.

"Lily, we understand that this is your house, but is that really necessary?" Dulce frowned. "Since you invited us to come over, you should be thankful that Mirabela was nice enough to let us."

But hearing Mirabela's name really agitated Lily. "Mirabela? Why do you mention that name in my presence, let alone my house?" she snapped.

Dulce and Variel were disgusted that Lily was still angry with their cousin for spending time with her father, and it's barely even been a week since Lily and Mirabela spoke to each other.

"Because she made a very good point last month," Variel frowned. "Homework is called homework for a reason."

"I agree," Dulce sniffed, putting her stuff in her bag. "We'll see you at school tomorrow, Lily."

Lily was horrified that the twins were leaving. "Dulce, Variel, seriously?" she asked. "Are you still mad at me for what happened last week?"

"Well, you're still angry with Mirabela for spending a lot of time with her father," Variel snapped. "She may have had Lito and Papá as father figures, but she didn't know what it was like having her own real father."

"You think you would've learned by now that it's not all about you," Dulce sniffed, and she and Variel left and went back home.

"I might as well go, too," Miley said, gathering her stuff. "I'll see you at school tomorrow, Lily." Then she went on home, to Lily's dismay.

Now Lily was all alone, and she couldn't concentrate on her homework.

At the Mendoza house, Mirabela was in her room, reading Around the World in 80 Days when she heard Variel talking to Sofia.

"Okay, chicas, just do what you need to do," Sofia said. "Call me if you need anything."

"Okay, Mamá," the twins chorused.

Mirabela came out of her bedroom, and she was surprised that the twins were here early. "Done with homework already?" she asked.

"No, Lily kept trying to silence us when we were talking to each other, and we decided to do homework here," Dulce replied.

"She's still mad at me for spending a lot of time with Papi, right?" Mirabela sniffed.

"Yep," Variel confirmed.

"Well, I guess I'll leave you to it," Mirabela shrugged.

"Okay," Dulce said.

Meanwhile, at Nancy's house, she and her parents were going through their pieces of Christmas jewelry.

"Lowering the prices on these?" Mrs. Ambrose sniffed. "Do they really think if they lower the prices on our jewelry, they'll actually buy them?"

"Well, nobody wants to buy any of our jewels because they say thousands of dollars is too much," Nancy said. "We can lower the prices to $500."

"Well, if we want to avoid losing our business, then we have no choice," Mr. Ambrose said.

Meanwhile, at Lily's house, she was trying to do her homework when she heard her parents talking.

"Maybe Lily's right," Mr. Bishop sighed. "Maybe I've been too hard on her, forcing her to come home before dark and refusing to let her do what she wants."

"Oh, honey, it's okay," Mrs. Bishop consoled him. "You're doing your best to be a good father."

"Well, I guess this is what it's like when you yourself are a father and didn't even grow up with one," Mr. Bishop sighed.

Lily was shocked—she never knew that her father didn't grow up with a father himself. She thought about what Mirabela said last month about many kids in the world not having one.

The next day, at the Mendoza house, the girls joined their parents and grandfather for breakfast.

"Well, chicas, I hope you don't burn yourselves out this week with those midterms," Pablo said.

"Don't worry, Papá," Variel said. "We've come up with a good plan to study for midterms and relax our brains, so we don't lose our minds."

"That's good to know," Pedro smiled. "Plus, after you're done, you can relax this weekend while we're setting up the Christmas tree."

"Looking forward to it," Mirabela beamed.

"I know you are," Pedro gushed, pinching his daughter's cheek.

Lily was riding to school with her father, and something on the radio caught her ear.

"We've been reported of the disappearance of a 17-year-old boy in Columbia, South Carolina. The boy was last seen Thursday evening at a friend's house when he was doing homework and was so determined to get it done that he forgot about his curfew and noticed that it was already dark outside by the time he finished. He left his friend's house by immediately afterwards and has not been seen since then."

Lily was shocked to hear that. "He disappeared after he left because it was dark?" she gaped.

"I hope he's safe," Mr. Bishop said. "You know, that reminds me of myself when I was 16. Your grandmother's boyfriend promised to pick me up after school, but he never did, so I went home by myself and got lost in the dark."

"Really?" Lily asked.

"Yes, and I was lucky the police found me when they did, and even better, Nana was furious and cut ties with her boyfriend," Mr. Bishop said.

Hearing this made Lily think about something. "Dad, I overheard what you and Mom said last night about you not growing up with a dad," she admitted.

"Ah, yes, honey, your grandfather died from cancer when I was 5," Mr. Bishop sighed. "I never told you that, did I?"

"If you did, I don't think I was paying attention," Lily admitted.

"Well, Pedro says I'm lucky enough to actually have experience at being a father since serving the country made it hard for him to be active in Mirabela's life," Mr. Bishop said.

"But she gets along with him, right?" Lily asked. "I mean, ever since her birthday, she's been happy to have her daddy home for good."

"Of course, she does," Mr. Bishop smiled. "Now that Pedro is home for good, Mirabela feels complete." He pulled up next to the curb and said, "Okay, honey, I'll see after school, okay?"

Lily didn't respond right away. She felt terrible for not appreciating her father when he was desperate to be in her life because he barely knew what it was like to have a father. "Daddy, I love you," she smiled.

"I love you, too, honey pickle," Mr. Bishop smiled back.

Lily smiled and climbed down from the car, and she met up with Miley. "Hey, Miley," she smiled. Then she turned and saw the Mendoza girls pull up on their scooters. After what happened recently, she really wanted to make up with Mirabela, and she went up to the girls. "Hi, Mirabela."

"Hola, Lily," Mirabela said flatly. She didn't know what to think after what happened last week.

"Mira, I'm so sorry," Lily sighed. "I was mean to think you were lucky to not have your father in your life, and it was selfish of me to get upset over you spending time with him when he moved in. I didn't realize how lucky I was to have my father in my life until I learned that he didn't grow up with a father himself."

"He didn't?" Mirabela asked.

"No, and that's why he's been so desperate to be in my life," Lily said. "You should appreciate your daddy's company, and I'm going to appreciate mine, too—and mostly, I should be happy for you, and I am."

Mirabela was touched to hear that. "Thanks," she said.

"Amigas again?" Lily asked.

Mirabela smiled, and she and Lily shared a hug. They'd officially reconciled, to Miley, Dulce, and Variel's joy. Nancy was nearby, and she just sneered at what she was seeing.

"I see you've repaired your friendship," Nancy sniffed. "Well, my life should be repaired by Christmas."

"How so, Nancy?" Dulce asked.

"Daddy figured that to sell our jewelry, we should lower the prices permanently," Nancy said. "By the time I get out of school today, we should already sell at least one piece of jewelry."

"Well, let's hope so," Mirabela said.

"Oh, I know so," Nancy said, walking into the building with her nose up.

Mirabela had given Nancy the idea last week, but she didn't care because she had more important things to worry about. "So, Lily, Papi will be going to a book club meeting by the time we're out of school," she said. "Do you want to come over and do homework?"

"No, I'd rather stay home to do it, and not because it's called homework for a reason," Lily said. "Once I'm done, I want to enjoy my dad's company."

"Spoken like a true daddy's girl," Variel smiled.

"Maybe during Christmas, we'll read a book together," Lily said.

"If I can make a suggestion, how about A Christmas Carol?" Mirabela asked.

"That sounds good, and maybe we can read 'Twas the Night Before Christmas, too," Lily said.

"Whatever floats your boat," Miley smiled.

The rest of the day went by, and things were back to normal for the girls. They were friends again, and Lily was more thoughtful of Mirabela. After school, Mirabela and her cousins went home to cover their homework while Lily went home to do her own. With some math problems, she asked her father for help.

Nancy rode to the mall in her limousine, and she hurried to her family's jewelry store. "Mother, Daddy, how did it go?" she asked.

"We sold three pieces of jewelry," Mrs. Ambrose smiled.

"Oh, that's wonderful," Nancy smiled.

"Lemon berry, it was a great idea to lower the prices, so our business wouldn't be ruined," Mr. Ambrose said.

"You can always count on me for great ideas, and I'm happy to design your New Year's line after midterms," Nancy beamed.

"Great," Mr. Ambrose smiled.

At the Mendoza house, after covering their homework, Mirabela and the twins watched the news on TV, and what they heard was great news.

The reporter said, "The 17-year-old Columbia boy who disappeared Thursday has been found alive and unharmed. His friends and family are truly relieved to have finally found him, and he wants to tell us all something."

The Columbia boy said, "If you're at a friend's house doing homework and you have a curfew, pay attention to the time. Getting homework done is important, but so is your safety."

"Ah, I'm so glad he's okay," Mirabela smiled.

"Any longer than that, and this Christmas would've been horrible for that family," Dulce said.

"Well, this Christmas is sure to be perfect for us," Variel smiled.