Suddenly, the noise subsided,the wind died, and the ground stopped shaking. I heard bells, lots of bells.
I opened my eyes and peeked around the tree towards the clearing.

Can I believe what I'm seeing????
A kind of magical glow surrounding a team of reindeer pulling a sleigh!! And Santa in the sleigh!!
Then Hare-iette skrieked, "Santa!!" and rushed into the clearing followed by Red.

Ivan was running and jumping and yelling. Santa leaped from the sleigh, gave Hare-iette and Red a hug, then hurried to take the harness off one reindeer, Vixen. Vixen ran to Ivan and nuzzeled him and licked him. Ivan was so happy he just sobbed, "Mama, Mama". I realized then that it wasn't "fixin'" he'd been saying, it was "Vixen", his Mama's name.

Hare-iette and Red hugged Ivan and Vixen and Santa. Everyone was overjoyed. Vixen and Ivan nuzzled and frolicked. Hare-iette got to meet all the reindeer. Red got to meet Santa. I just hid there behind the tree and watched in awe.

It was time to go. Santa hitched Vixen back up to the sleigh and said good-bye to Hare-iette and Red. Then, he stepped over to Ivan and and sprinkled some sparkly dust on him. Ivan started to glow like the rest of the reindeer. Vixen reached her lovely head over to Hare-iette and whispered something. As the team of reindeer started to rise from the ground, Ivan rose right along side his Mama.

The sound of bells again, lots of bells. The ground started to shake and the roar started. This time we weren't afraid. Just as the sleigh was leaving the ground, Santa turned his head towards me and winked. He knew I was there the whole time!

I stepped into the clearing with Hare-iette and Red, and we stood and watched as they flew further and further away into the night sky.

When they were out of sight, I knelt and held Hare-iette and Red for a long time.
We headed down the hill towards home in silence.

All was very quiet at the house that night. There was hot chocolate, but no story. What story could compare with what we had just seen?

When I tucked Hare-iette in, she whispered, "You just never know, do you, Mom?"
"What do you mean, Hare-iette?"
"I mean, I sent Santa and e-mail yesterday and asked him if maybe he could find Ivan's mother, while he was traveling all over the world Christmas Eve. I never dreamed Ivan was one of his reindeer. I didn't even know a caribou and a reindeer were the same thing."
"You are so right, Hare-iette. You just never know. You can only try to help and hope something good happens."
"Hare-iette,what did Vixen say to you when she was leaving?"
"I couldn't understand it, Mom. It sounded like spah-SEE-bah."
I grinned. "You've just learned your first Russian word, Hare-iette. That's Russian for "thank you."
Hare-iette smiled. She repeated the word several times, more to herself than to me. Then, she put her head down on her pillow and fell fast asleep. The smile was still on her face.