On Christmas reads Eve, Lily built a fort.

Not a snow fort. A blanket fort, right in the living room. She used every blanket in the house and one very patient dog named Biscuit as the wall.

"Perfect," she said, crawling inside with her flashlight and her cocoa.

Outside the fort, the house was busy. Mom was wrapping. Dad was untangling lights that went *blink-blink-NO*. The tree smelled like pine and magic.

Inside the fort, it was quiet.

Biscuit nosed his way in. *Boop.*

"Shhh, this is Santa's waiting room," Lily whispered. "You need a ticket."

Biscuit gave her his paw. That was his ticket.

They waited. They listened to carols from the kitchen. They listened to snow tap-tap-tapping the window.

Just then, a bell jingled. Not from the tree. From far away. Or maybe from right above the fort.

Lily gasped. "Did you hear that?"

Biscuit's tail thumped the blanket wall.

Lily smiled and sipped her cocoa. Santa was close. And she had the coziest seat in the whole house, right here, with Biscuit, waiting under a sky made of blankets.