“Merry Christmas, Dad!” Quinn shrieked as she bounded into her dad’s bedroom. “Wake up! It’s Christmas!”

Dad groaned a little as he pulled the pillow over his head. “Tell me it’s not still dark outside,” he said.

“Uh… let me check,” Quinn replied as she dashed over to the window. “No, it’s not dark. I mean, not really dark. I mean, it’s not pitch black.… I think the sun’s started to rise… or it’s about to, anyway.…”

Dad laughed as he pulled the pillow off his face. “I’m just kidding. Merry Christmas, sweetheart! I’m just going to get some Christmas coffee and then we can open Christmas presents.”

“Presents!” Quinn shrieked gleefully.

A few minutes later, Quinn and her dad were sitting by the tree next to a small stack of presents. Quinn had a new skirt from her aunt and a stack of books from her grandparents. Then Dad passed her a large red box.

“I hope this is right,” he said. “Let’s just say I’ve never bought anything like it before.”

Quinn’s curiosity was piqued. She untied the ribbon slowly, savoring the anticipation of the moment. Then she lifted the lid… and looked down at a beautiful pair of brand-new ice skates with gleaming silver blades.

“Ice skates?” she cried. “Dad! This is incredible! Now I can go ice-skating with Eliza whenever I want!”

“You like them?” Dad asked, beaming.

“I love them! And I’m totally surprised!” Quinn replied. “How did you know about ice skates?”

“I heard you and Eliza talking about skating when she was hanging out here after school,” he explained. “You two seem to get along so well—and I thought you might want to go skating with her sometime. I’m glad you’ve made a new friend, Quinn. I know it wasn’t easy when Annabelle moved away.”

“It wasn’t,” Quinn admitted. “And it still isn’t… but it’s getting better.”

Then Quinn glanced around the tree. “I guess nothing came from Annabelle,” she replied. “She told me she had a very special present, but I couldn’t have it until Christmas Day.”

Dad shrugged. “I only see one present left,” he replied.

“That’s for you,” Quinn said. She gave Dad the box. Inside was the most special ornament of all, painted with their cat, Piper. Quinn had never felt more proud than when Dad hung it high on the tree.

After breakfast, Quinn glanced at the clock and sighed.

“What’s wrong?” Dad asked.

“I want to call Annabelle, but it’s three hours earlier there,” she said. “I probably have to wait until afternoon, but that’s, like, hours away.”

“You can help me in the kitchen,” Dad replied. “Let’s get started cooking Christmas dinner.”

“Okay,” Quinn replied. “I’m going to make some cocoa first.” When Quinn opened the fridge, she gasped. “Dad! There’s so much food in here! The fridge is stuffed!”

“Well, you know,” he began, “it is for Christmas dinner.”

“Is that a whole turkey?” she exclaimed. “How are we going to eat all this food, Dad? It’s way too much.”

“I’m sure we’ll think of something,” he replied. He was leaning into the pantry to get something, so Quinn couldn’t quite tell for sure—but it definitely sounded like he was laughing.

Just then, the doorbell rang. Quinn’s shoulders straightened. “Dad?” she asked.

“Why don’t you get the door?” Dad replied as he rummaged through the pantry. “I know there’s cocoa powder in here somewhere.…”

Quinn shrugged as she put the milk back in the fridge. She walked over to the front door, opened it…

And saw Annabelle and her parents standing on the doorstep!

Quinn was so surprised she couldn’t say a word. She must’ve made a funny face, though—her eyes all big and her mouth opened wide—because the Forresters burst into laughter.

“Surprise!” Annabelle shrieked as she flew forward to give Quinn a hug. “Merry Christmas!”

“You—you’re—you’re here!” Quinn cried, recovering from her shock. “But—I don’t understand—how?”

Annabelle’s eyes were twinkling. “I told you that your present was a big surprise!” she replied. “Oh, man! I didn’t think I’d be able to keep the secret, but somehow I did!”

“We had to come back to Marion to finalize the sale of our house,” Mrs. Forrester explained to Quinn. “It was Annabelle’s idea to surprise you.”

“We’ll be here for four whole days!” Annabelle exclaimed. “And your dad already said I could sleep over—”

“Dad?” Quinn repeated. “Dad knew?” She remembered, suddenly, the fridge packed with food and turned around to see Dad standing behind her, grinning. “Dad! You knew!”

“Once I found out, I had to invite the Forresters for Christmas dinner,” he replied. “Come in, come in! We’ve got coffee and tea—and Quinn was just about to make some cocoa—”

As Annabelle’s parents followed Dad to the kitchen, Quinn shook her head in complete amazement. “I still can’t believe you’re here. I—this isn’t the present I thought I’d give you today, but… Merry Christmas.”

And she gave Annabelle the ornament she’d made.

“Quinn! It looks just like Bumblebee!” she exclaimed. “I can’t believe you made one of your famous ornaments for me. Wow!”

“It’s not much of a present,” Quinn replied. “Your Christmas present was supposed to be a much bigger deal. I’d been saving all my ornament money so that I could come visit you, but…”

Annabelle’s eyes got wider and wider as Quinn told her all about Buddy’s Christmas Eve–miracle adoption. Then she impulsively reached out to give Quinn another hug.

“Of course you had to sponsor Buddy’s adoption,” Annabelle said right away. “I would’ve been so mad if you didn’t!”

Quinn burst out laughing. “But how would you have known?”

“Because of my best friend super-psychic powers, of course,” Annabelle declared. “You think moving to a new state weakened those? No way.”

“I have a new plan to earn enough money for a plane ticket,” Quinn said. “Hopefully I can visit you during the summer.”

“That would be awesome,” Annabelle replied. “I can’t wait!”

“Girls!” Mrs. Forrester called. “Cocoa’s ready.”

Annabelle glanced at Quinn. “Mini marshmallows?” she asked.

“Whipped cream?” Quinn replied.

Then the best friends exchanged a smile and said the same thing, at the same time. “Both!” They giggled as they hurried to the kitchen.

Christmas joy filled Quinn’s heart—especially when she thought about the Twelve Pets of Christmas, who were all waking up in their new homes. Quinn had a funny feeling that the pets—and their families—were as happy as she was. And that made it the best Christmas ever!