Year after year it'd been just him and Gabe, eating whatever Robbie had been able to afford after buying his brother two gifts—one from him, and one from Santa. He'd always tried to have the "Santa" gift be the better of the two, really. Seeing Gabe's eyes sparkle at the reward for his good behavior was one of the things Robbie looked forward to the most.

This year, however, Robbie had a roommate willing to pitch in, so Gabe's gift from Santa? Extra special. Plus the kid was getting three gifts total, and with their combined savings they could put together a mean dinner too. They were gonna have an actual turkey! Plus tamales, bacalao, roasted ham, chicken salad, ponche, champurrado, non-alcoholic rompope, buñuelos, the whole nine yards. And, of course, Robbie's signature carne asada. To say he was stoked was an understatement.

"Man, you have no idea how pumped I am," Robbie said excitedly as they browsed the aisles at the toy store. "Gabe's gonna flip out at the turkey. And we haven't had buñuelos since mom died. And with miel de piloncillo? Oh man. I really can't thank you enough, you know?"

They stopped in front of a section full of action figures. "Maybe Ninja Wolf can get some friends this year," he mused, thinking back on Gabe's beloved toy. "What do you think? Should we get him a whole set?" He paused, scratching the back of his neck sheepishly. "Wait, do we even have enough money? I'm totally going overboard here, huh? I mean, the dinner alone is enough to feed a small army, and now I'm going crazy with the gifts too... Sorry."