The siblings are carrying a Christmas tree to the house, August going too fast for the girls' liking.

"Ow. Ow. Okay, okay. All right, let's go." August says, trying to move quicker.

"Slow down, Augie. Wait for us." Stella says.

"Dude, I can't move this fast." Janie protests.

"Let's set it down." August says. "Come on. It hurts." He says as Stella shuts the door and they rush to the living room, setting the tree down.

August groans in pain, holding his shoulder.

"All right, is it bad I can't rotate it that way, or, like, hell, any way, anymore?" August asks.

"Given, A. you could before, B. your other arm can, and C. that's kind of part of what a shoulder's supposed to do, I'm thinking yeah." Janie says.

"Maybe dad should take you to the doctors." Stella says.

"Yes. Exactly." Janie agrees.

"Smart, Stel, Jane. Then he finds out that we were trespassing at the Davidsons." August says.

"He's gonna find out when you he tries to touch your shoulder in any kind of way. Or when your arm becomes completely unmovable. Or you pick up a piece of paper." Janie says.

"It's not that bad." August rolls his eyes.

"Okay, fine. I'll get you some food, you use a fork to eat it -- with your right hand -- no pain." Janie says.

"I don't want to." August mumbles.

"Mm-hmm." Janie nods.

"Look, not if you come up with an alternate cause of injury." Stella says.

"Yeah, because we're all as fluent in lying to dad as you are? Right." August says.

"You're right. He always somehow knows with you." Stella says.

"It's just me? Really?" August asks.

"Yeah, pretty much." Janie nods. "Let me see your shoulder."

"What, because you're a doctor all of a sudden?" August asks.

"Just let me see it." Janie says, trying to pull the collar of his jacket and shirt down.

"No, leave it alone." August protests, fighting her off with his good arm.

"Dude, you should probably at least ice it." Janie says.

"Then he'll know." August says, the two still fighting. "Stop momming me." He whines.

"Don't climb a burnt old barn like an idiot. Oh, wait. You already did." Janie says.

"What, you've never done something stupid." August grumbles.

"Stupid, yes. Life threatening, not really, no." Janie answers.

"Okay, you two stooges, back to the tree." Stella says. "Look, I could use one last night of freedom is all, especially after exams." She says.

"You value your freedom over your little brother's health? Wow." Janie mumbles, earning an eye roll from her sister. The twins help with the tree, the three managing to get it over to the corner of the living room.

"You sure you'll be okay?" Stella asks her brother.

"Yeah, yeah, no, I'm sure." August says. "You know, I've got to play piano tonight. And Faye's gonna be at the Sacred Heart holiday thing, so, you know..."

"One text from a girl, and this guy is willing to risk bodily harm." Stella lightly laughs.

"Okay, whoa, whoa, whoa. One text from a girl?" Cordell asks, walking in with boxes of decorations and an elf hat with ears on, Bonham following in behind him. "All right, I heard that, and who is this girl we speak of?"

"Augie's new crush." Stella smiles.

"Ooh. Yeah?" Cordell asks.

"Au--" Janie starts.

"If you start singing, I will literally fight you." August threatens.

"Yeah, okay, one arm." Janie whispers back.

"Hey, Lothario, you check that thing for sap before you dragged it in here?" Bonham asks.

"Is that a thing?" August asks, the twins sharing a clueless look.

"Send a boy to do a man's job." Bonham grumbles.

"All right, daddy, pop quiz. You, uh, remember this record?" Cordell asks, putting the record on, music starting to play.

Bonham lightly scoffs.

"Yeah?" Cordell laughs.

"Someone found their Christmas spirit early." Stella says and Cordell shrugs. "Does anyone else hear it skipping?" She asks, referring to the record.

"Who wouldn't?" Janie asks.

"Please hide that vinyl before mawline has it on repeat until New Years." Bonham says.

"What's up with Bah Humbug Bonham, eh?" August asks, sharing a small laugh with Janie.

"Maybe it's the sap, son." Bonham says. The twins share a look.

"Grinch." Cordell mouths to his daughters while pointing at Bonham making the two girls quietly laugh.

"Cordell, could you go in there and see if you can convince your railroad baron brother if he can go out and rustle up a proper Douglas fir?" Bonham asks. "I don't know what the hell that thing is?"

"It's a Charlie Brown tree." Janie says.

"We look like Charlie Brown?" Bonham asks.

"You're both bald." Janie shrugs, a snort escaping Cordell as her siblings suppress their laughs. "Well, actually, he has one more strand of hair." Bonham gives her a look and Janie diverts her attention back to the tree.

"Yeah, yeah, all right, I'm on it, daddy." Cordell says with a smile, dragging Bonham's attention away from the youngest. "We got this."

+++

Janie walks into August's room, throwing an ice pack at him, making him jump since he wasn't paying attention.

"Dad's not home, wen to get a tree and do job stuff with Uncle Liam. They'll be gone for a while. So until we leave for the Christmas thing, ice your shoulder off and on every fifteen to twenty minutes." Janie orders.

"Yeah, okay, thanks Dr. Mom." August says, holding the ice pack to his shoulder.

"Well, your shoulder isn't even more swollen tonight, you'll thank me." Janie smiles before leaving.

+++

They're at the Christmas thing the school is putting on and August got done playing carols with some other kids. The twins make it outside, seeing Stella dragging their dad closer to the tree that they're about to light up.

A truck pulls up and the horn plays "Jingle Bells". Janie quickly recognizes the truck as her grandfather's.

Bonham steps out in a Santa suit.

"Merry Christmas, y'all! Here comes Santa Claus!"

People cheer as the siblings break into laughs.

"Who wants presents? I know y'all do." Bonham says. "But first -- are you ready? Are you ready? Light 'em up!"

The tree lights up and everybody claps and cheers.

"Dad, did you know about this?" Stella asks.

"Did I... did I know about the-the Salty Santa bit?" Cordell asks. "Yeah, of course. Your granddaddy-- he knew that it was a hard semester, and, uh, you know, he and I wanted to surprise you. And, frankly, I-I wanted to see him in that wig."

"Well, since you're, uh, you're feeling real festive right now, maybe, um, what I want for Christmas is a-a pass." August says, unbuttoning a few buttons on his shirt with his good hand.

"Mm, freedom might be gone." Janie mumbles under her breath.

Stella shakes her head at her brother.

"You want... you want a-a pass for what?" Cordell asks as August pulls his shirt away to reveal his shoulder.

"Oh, my God." Janie winces, making the three turn to her. "Sorry, he wouldn't let me see it. Carry on."

"I might've fallen through the-the Davidsons' barn." August says as Cordell inspects his injury.

"Uh... the Davidsons' barn?" Cordell asks.

"Yeah." August sighs out, buttoning his shirt back up a couple times.

"Why did you go to the Davidsons' barn?" Cordell asks.

"Well, I had to see about a girl." August says, lightly smiling. Stella and Janie let out small chuckles as Cordell glances between his three children.

"Right. Yeah. Yeah, yeah. All right." Cordell says. "yeah, we'll figure it out." He says, bringing the three into his side, Janie squished between him and August.

"Okay, that hurts." August mumbles, holding his shoulder.

"That's probably your punishment." Janie smiles and August rolls his eyes.

+++

"Y'all wanna see a magic trick?" August asks as the family prepare to eat.

"Yes." Stella answers.

"I can make this pen disappear." August says, holding up a pen in his left hand. His right arm is now in a sling.

Cordell and his daughters share a silent laugh as they set the table.

"Close your eyes for ten seconds." August says before throwing the pen over his shoulder.

"That was great. That was really great." Stella laughs.

"Thank you, thank you so much." August says.

"Might as well be Houdini." Janie jokingly says.

"So do your classmates think you're funny?" Abilene asks.

"No." August laughs.

"You do crack me up. I don't know if you crack anyone else up, but you crack me up." Abilene says.

"Hey, that's what matters." August says. "I'll help you with this." He says, going to grab the bowl full of rolls.

"No, no, no, no, no. Not with your shoulder. Liam?" Abilene asks, giving the bowl of rolls to her oldest.

"Hey, behind you." Liam warns Cordell. The latter moves his arm back, knocking the bowl of rolls down, the bowl breaking, preventing either sister from moving further.

"Oh, come on!" Cordell groans, glaring at Liam who sets the other dish he was holding down.

"I'll grab another plate." Stella says.

"I can get the broom." Janie says.

The two go to move, but Cordell gently pulls them back.

"No, no, no, no, he's a big boy. He can do it himself." Cordell says.

"It's a bowl, Cordell." Liam says as Abilene starts cleaning the mess up, August helping. Cordell is still holding onto Stella's arm, his other arm wrapped around Janie, not letting either of them move.

"Yeah, it's a bowl. It was a bowl." Cordell says.

"Okay, you guys are worse than when me and Stel are synced up on our periods." Janie says.

"Yeah, y'all have been acting weird since the party at Sacred Heart." August says. "And you are worse than them." He points between his sisters. "What's going on?"

"You don't have to. The kids don't need to know." Abilene says, walking back to the kitchen.

"No. You know what? It's fine." Liam says. "No secrets, mama."

"Great. Please." Cordell steps to the side, the girls staying by the table. "Augie, get back here." He says to August who stands next to his sisters.

"Okay, now you're scaring me. Wh-What are you talking about?" Stella asks.

"When your father and I went up north last Friday, Dan Miller was there. While we were investigating a hijacking of a bunch of evidence, I thought that Dan might have been connected to that crime." Liam explains. "But we cleared him."

"That's a good thing, right?" August asks. The three look at Cordell who lets out a quiet scoff, still glaring at Liam, so the siblings turn back to their uncle.

"I wasn't convinced. I just-- I had a feeling." Liam says.

"A feeling." Cordell scoffs.

"Well, because I had those doubts, I filed a false police report, and Dan was pulled over and arrested." Liam says.

"That's not good." Stella says.

"Oh, that's just not good, Stel. Uh, that's a misdemeanor. Your uncle here could be disbarred." Cordell says.

"Thank you, Cordell. I know that." Liam says. "I just... um..." He walks away.

"Hey, hey, hey. Where are you going?" Abilene asks her retreating son, but he only leaves the house. "Well, okay. That's enough."

"He's gonna come back, though, right?" August asks.

"No. I know that look. He's not coming back. At least not tonight." Abilene says. "Wouldn't you say, Cordell?" The kids turn to him.

"No, uh, not tonight." Cordell agrees.

+++

Janie is at the table, working on a coloring book, while August is playing the piano with Colton standing by him. Abilene is moving about, doing chores, while she sings along to August's playing.

"Whoa, y-you know this song?" Colton asks Abilene. "I didn't think that was a thing. My mom used to sing that to me."

"That makes sense. Marv used-- uh, your grandfather used to sing it. Must be a family song." Abilene says.

"Can you say anything more about that?" Colton asks. "I mean, I didn't hear too much about y'all until we talked about moving here. And once Austin came up, all I heard about were the Walkers. Kind of made you guys sound like super villains, if I'm being real. Like, my dad hadn't even met you guys, and he was amped to hate you."

"Yeah, what... what was up with that?" August asks.

"Well, his... his family was crap, from what I hear." Colton says. "It's part of why they adopted me. They just wanted to do right by someone else."

"Hmm. I didn't know that." Abilene says.

"I mean, I'm sure you guys think my dad's a dic-- well, a jerk or whatever." Colton says. "Um, look, it's just been a little rough, moving. And when we got here, my parents had started talking divorce.

"I can't imagine it's been easy." Abilene says. "Colton... whatever has passed between our families, it's clear that your parents are good people, judging how you turned out."

"Thank you, Mrs. Walker." Colton says.

"Abilene." She says.

+++

"Legend has it that the troubles with the Walkers and the Davidsons date back all the way to the 1870s." August says in accent as the three teens are gathered around the counter, snacking on food.

"What, for real?" Colton asks.

"Oh, yeah." August confirms.

"Yep." Janie nods.

"Apparently, for real, but believe it or not, Gale and I used to be friends." Abilene says.

"You're joking." Janie mumbles.

"Nope." Abilene shakes her head. "I think that's missing from the family history."

"No, it's-it's not missing. My gammy did mention that once. She also mentioned that you and gramps used to talk after you called off the engagement." Colton says.

"Well, I don't want you to get any wrong ideas. He loved your gammy." Abilene assures.

"Oh, she just said you guys kept in touch." Colton says.

"I'm sorry you never got to meet him, Colton. I truly am. He was... human." Abilene says.

"What are we, lizards?" Janie whispers to her brother who gives her a look. "It's a joke, geez."

"It sounds like a simple thing to say, but to be human... is a gift." Abilene says. "Aren't you all supposed to be working on a song?" She asks, changing from the serious atmosphere. "Yeah, it's been longer than ten minutes. You know, you play your song, and I'll make more nachos."

"Thank you." August says as him and Colton go back to the piano.

"Should I put on extra jalapenos?" Abilene calls to the boys.

"Yeah, sure." Colton calls back.

"No." Janie protests.

"Please, God, don't!" August exclaims. "Sure, yeah, sure." He says.

"Two against one." Abilene says.

"Aw, man." Janie whines.

"You can make your own plate." Abilene says and Janie huffs. The girl considers before getting up and making her own nachos.