Dan knocked on the kitchen door of Crabapple Farm, waiting patiently for it to be opened. The clomping of boots sounded as Mart rushed to open the door.

"Hey! I'm here. What was so urgent?" Dan asked, expecting Mart to hold the door open for his entry into the warm kitchen.

Instead, Mart pushed past him, closing the door behind him. Speaking in a hushed tone, he said, "Let's go to the clubhouse, we can be alone there, at least for a minute."

Dan followed Mart, somewhat surprised. Shaking his head in unspoken amazement when his thoughts turned to the word "mysterious" to describe his friend's behavior,  Dan had to pick up his pace when Mart rushed them along to the clubhouse.

Mart didn't say another word until they were inside the clubhouse, with the door closed.

"Mart, what's going on?" Dan began.

Mart held up a hand to stop Dan's inquisition. "I know I've been very mysterious about this." His brow raised with the irony that he was actually a mystery, but then that was the reason behind the secrecy. "I just needed to keep this a secret from Trixie. She'd pick up on me wanting to keep quiet about something and then dig and dig until she had solved the mystery."

Dan nodded in what he hoped seemed to be understanding, when he was completely clueless. "You're planning a surprise for Trixie."

Mart's blond head shook vigorously. "No, not a surprise for Trixie, a surprise for Diana!"

Dan stared at his friend, then, he had to ask, "Why do you need to keep this a secret from Trixie then?"

Mart rolled his eyes in exasperation, "Daniel, how long have you known Trixie? She gets everyone involved in her mysteries, and if I wanted to do something special for Diana for Christmas, I can't let her horn in on it. Di wouldn't be surprised by the time Trixie got done."

Now actually getting wise to what was going on in Mart's head, Dan smiled. "Okay, I get it. You're right. So what's the big surprise for Di, and what do you need my help with?"

Mart began to pace around the room. "Well, that's just it. I'm not entirely sure, exactly, what I'm going to do, but, I know I'll need some help."

Dan resisted the urge to scratch his head in confusion.  He wanted to ask several questions, but decided to settle on the obvious first. "What are you doing for Di?"

Mart's head dropped, his chin fell to his chest. "I'm not sure. I know I want it to be something special as this is our first Christmas as a couple. It should be something she'll always remember."

Dan took a deep breath, not sure how to answer his friend's plea for help. He watched Mart while trying to form the words to give his friend the inspiration he seemed to need.

"Martin, you know Di won't need or expect the world!" Seeing the doubt creep onto Mart's face, he continued. "She will be happy with you as a gift. Spend some time with her, take her to dinner."

Mart nodded, "I know she won't expect me to spend a ton of money on her. Well, I hope she won't anyway, since I don't have much money."

"Gift giving isn't about the money. You know that."

Mart sighed, "Yes, I know that. It doesn't make it any easier though. I'd give her the moon if I could."

Dan nodded in sympathy. He was at a loss as to any suggestions to give his friend.

Mart knew by Dan's silence that he wouldn't be of any help. "Dan, this is what I've thought of so far. Yes, a nice dinner out, or I even thought I could make dinner for her. Then I thought maybe we could take a day and go skating. But, I thought no, that would be more for me. I mean, Di skates, but it's my thing, you know?"

Dan agreed. "Yes, you're right. The dinner sounds good. You can cook or go out."

"Dan, I know I sound crazy, and I'm probably making you crazy."

"It's okay. I'm sure I'll be driving you crazy some day, too." Dan clapped his hand down on Mart's shoulder.

"Maybe I'll go over to see her. She's babysitting all of the twins. She may need someone else there to keep an eye on the kids. Thanks for the help, Dan." Mart thrust his hand out to shake Dan's before turning on his heel and breezing through the door.

Dan was left alone in the clubhouse. The air was chilled since they hadn't started the heater when they entered. He wasn't sure what kind of help he had been, but as long as Mart seemed to feel a little better about it, he was happy. Pulling his collar up against the cold outside, Dan decided to go up to the stables to see what Uncle Bill was up to.

Ten minutes later, Mart was ringing the bell at the Lynch estate.  Harrison opened the door, nodding to the young man, allowing him entrance. Waiting patiently while Mart peeled off his winter coat, Harrison stood by.

"Thank you, Harrison. Diana is home, right?"

"Yes, she is. She is in the family room with the children."

Mart thanked him again and immediately turned toward the Lynch family room. From the hallway, he could hear the giggling of the younger girls, Carrie and Mary. The boys, Larry and Terry, were also heard shushing them. Diana's voice rang out, telling them all to settle down to watch the cartoon.

Mart found the door was only partially open and peaked around it. Di had the two sets of twins lined up on the large plush sofa. They seemed overly excited, but Mart knew that was because of the coming holiday.

They act just like Bobby does!  Mart grinned.

Diana, now satisfied her younger siblings would sit and watch the television, pushed the remote to turn on the video. Only then did she look up and notice Mart was there.

Glancing at the twins to be sure they were watching the video, she stepped closer to Mart. In a hushed tone she said, "Hi, I didn't know you were here! Have you been here long?"

Mart shook his head, "No, I just got here. I was wondering if you needed any help with the kids, but I can see you have everything under control."

Di blew her hair from her forehead, "I don't think I would say I had everything under control."

Mart grinned. "From what I saw, I think you do."

Diana smiled at her boyfriend gratefully. "I'm glad you're here."

The kids were watching their video, but Terry suddenly asked Mart, "Will you watch Charlie Brown with us?

"I would like that very much! Snoopy is my favorite."  Mart quickly sat down in the space the boys created for him on the sofa.

Not to be out done the girls made a space for Diana. Mart winked at Di over the children's heads, her smile was his reward.

The group watched the adventures that Charlie Brown went through in his efforts to get the Christmas tree.  Larry and Terry laughed out loud when they saw Charlie Brown's tree.

"Ha! He really needs to get a tree like ours!" Larry chuckled, motioning toward their highly decorated tree, easily twelve feet tall in Mart's estimation.

Di sniffed, "Our tree is beautiful, but I like Charlie Brown's tree. I think Christmas has become very commercialized. Don't you think, Mart?"

Mart nodded his agreement.

"Di-Di, what's comm-comm...?" Carrie asked her older sister, clearly confused.

"Sweetheart, commercialized is when people forget the true meaning of Christmas. It isn't all about the presents, the big huge gifts, the parties. I think people are spending so much time spending money, they forget the true meaning of the holiday is to spend time with their family. The holiday itself should be simple, like Charlie Brown's tree."

Mart watched Di's face as she explained to her sisters and brothers. He could see her wistful look as she remembered holidays from the past.

"Before Daddy made his money, we had much simpler Christmas trees. This one is absolutely beautiful with Mummy's special ornaments, but when I was younger, before you were born even; my favorite Christmas memories were making paper garlands my parents used to decorate our tree."

Terry seemed confused, "Paper garlands? What's that?"

"I'll show you," Di jumped up and left the room.

Mart looked at the kids and motioned to the television, "Let's finish watching Charlie Brown, she'll be back in a minute."

When Di returned, her arms were filled with stacks of construction paper she had gotten from the nursery, now used as an activity center for the children. She had multiple glue sticks and safety scissors on top of the stack of paper.

The video had ended, and the children were excited to see their sister return with goodies.

They followed her to the table and chairs set in the corner of the room. She had their attention when she began to cut the paper into strips. She used every color of paper she had with her to make the strips. They were an attentive audience, not wanting to miss any details.

Mart was amused by their enthusiasm. He watched for a bit, and then moved toward the stereo system, looking for some holiday music to set the mood. He set up some CDs and soon holiday background music filtered into the room.

The children were anxious to see what their sister was going to do with those paper strips and were literally bouncing in their seats. Once she felt she had enough strips to occupy the four kids, Di set her scissors down.

"Now, I think there's enough of them to get you all started. Here's your glue sticks," She handed them each a stick and they waited for further instruction.

She demonstrated for them the technique of looping the strips together and fastening them with the glue.

Their small fingers followed Di's lead, and while some of their loops were lopsided, they were fast learners. Scrambling for their favorite colors, much giggling ensued.

"Diana, how long do we keep making these?" Larry asked.

"They can be however long you want them. You could even make all different ones, all different sizes. Just the same way you could make them all different colors."

The children were impressed with their own artwork and continued to make the garlands. At one point Diana went to get more paper after they had gone through everything she had originally brought with her.

The finished garlands were set off to the side, and soon formed a heaping pile on the sofa.

"Diana, what do we do with them now?" Terry asked, looking at the multicolored garlands on the sofa.

"We'll use them to decorate." Diana proceeded to demonstrate. She wrapped a garland around the candles on the mantle. She carefully looped some on the tree, trying not to crowd the already full tree or jostle the expensive ornaments her mother had gotten after they had come into their money.

Mart watched her with her younger brothers and sisters, marveling at the patience she exhibited. The music set the background for the festive atmosphere.

Finally, the song he had been waiting for began. Mart moved to the stereo again, and turned the volume up a little louder. "Listen to this song, kids. It's Snoopy's Christmas song."

It didn't take long before the boys had gotten the lyrics in their head. They started to sing along. The girls weren't going to be left out, and chimed in on the "Christmas bells". The song ended, and they begged to hear it again. Mart obliged, pushing the "repeat" button.

Diana's smile was absolutely beatific, giving Mart a sudden inspiration for her gift.

He waited until Diana was otherwise occupied with the girls before taking the boys into his confidence. Their eyes were like saucers as they listened to the older teen's plans for their sister.

Larry and Terry nodded solemnly, pledging their secrecy.  The trio parted, smiling to themselves.

Larry asked Di to help him take some of the garlands upstairs to decorate their room. Not sure if her mother would appreciate the clutter of the paper garlands, she told each child they could pick out their two favorite garlands to decorate their rooms. The excited bunch gathered the garlands into their hands and marched up the stairs to their rooms.

Mart took the quiet moment alone to snag a few of the garlands himself. He carefully stuffed them into his coat pocket, making sure they couldn't be seen.

His eyes lit with his excitement of planning Diana's Christmas gift.

 Di returned to the room a short time later, none the wiser.

"They enjoyed that!"  She grinned.

Mart nodded his agreement, "Yes, they did! That was really sweet of you to show them how to make those garlands."

Di sat a little straighter with his praise, "Oh, I'm sure Mummy will be happy I did, when she sees how many they made. They expect them to be hung along with the crystal ornaments on our tree."  Di scrunched her nose envisioning her mother's reaction to that.

Mart patted her on the shoulder and assured her, "Your mother showed you how to make them as a child, and the twins should have that experience, too. I'm sure she'll love these garlands as much as she loved the ones you made."

Di decided he was right and relaxed.

Knowing he had work to do, he quickly made his excuses to Di and told her to tell the children good night. A kiss on her cheek and he rushed away, leaving Diana in a cloud of confusion.

Upon arriving at Crabapple Farm, Mart ran up to his room and carefully removed the garlands from his pocket. He went down to his mother's sewing basket, looking for the glitter. Catching himself before he asked Brian if he knew where they kept the glitter, he decided to ask his mother himself.

She showed him where she had a stash in the cabinet above the refrigerator, safely hidden from Bobby.

Stopping in his father's study for some construction paper, glue and scissors, he went back up to his room. Working fast before Brian came back to their room; he cut a star shape from the paper. Covering it with the glue, he sprinkled it with the silver glitter before sitting back to critique his work. Satisfied with the finished project, he set it on his dresser to dry.

That night his star, now dry, waited on his dresser with the garlands. He had already planned to get up early the next morning to complete his work on Di's gift, and then give it to her later in the day. As his eyes slowly closed, he fervently hoped Diana would like his gift.

The next morning dawned as cold as a winter morning is to be expected. Mart hoped that Mrs. Lynch would let Larry and Terry help him with the final project for Di's gift.

He walked to the Lynch estate, carrying his saw with him.

Mart set the saw outside the back door leading into the kitchen, hoping to keep it out of Di's sight. He knocked on the door, and only had to wait a second before Mrs. Lynch herself let him in.

"Mart, what on Earth are you doing out here so early on such a cold morning?"

Mart was taken aback for an instant. "It's not too early, is it?"

"No, not at all. I just thought it would be too early to have you out and about."

"I'm used to being up early, and today I have a mission to complete." He grinned as he quickly explained his plan for Diana's gift and that he had asked the boys to help him.

Mrs. Lynch nodded and smiled. "That sounds nice, Mart. Larry and Terry would love to help you! They can bundle up in their snowsuits, and they'll be fine!"

She no sooner said their names, and the boys, dressed, arrived in the kitchen and excitedly greeted Mart.

"We're ready, Mart!"

"Can we go now?"

Mart shook his head and grinned at their mother. "Well, you have to eat breakfast, and then get dressed warmly. It's a little chilly out there today."

Both of their dark heads bobbed up and down in their excitement. Although Larry proclaimed not to be hungry, he gobbled down his cereal when it was placed in front of him.

Mrs. Lynch supervised her sons as they put on their snowsuits, boots, hats, and gloves.

She shook her head and chuckled, watching as the trio trudged through the snow into the woods.

Mart explained to the boys what they were looking for. Their eyes sparkled with excitement, as they began the search.

Murmurs of "No, too big.", "Still too big.", "Is this a good one?"  were the only sounds heard.

Finally, Terry whooped, bringing Mart and Larry to his side.

Pointing, he smiled triumphantly. There, nestled in the snow, was the most perfect "Charlie Brown Christmas" Chrismas tree.

"Is that it? I mean, it looks like it, doesn't it?" Terry looked from his brother to Mart and back again.

Mart patted the boy on his shoulder. "That is perfect! You found it!"

Larry looked disappointed that his brother had been the one to find the tree. Mart rushed to ask him to help with the sawing. He showed the boy how to hold the saw and how to cut the tree, before turning the saw over to him.

Larry's tongue was caught between his teeth as he concentrated on the task at hand. He took a break midway through the job, then continued cutting through it. When it finally broke free, he breathed a vast sigh of relief.

"Great job, boys! I couldn't have done this without you!"

The two boys beamed with pride at helping Mart with his gift for their sister. 

Mart picked the small tree up from the snow and put it on his shoulder.

"What are you going to do with it?" Larry asked him.

"Well, I'm going to nail some pieces of wood to the bottom so that it will stand." Mart answered, starting to walk toward the house.

"Can we help you with that, too?" Terry asked  hopefully.

"Are you cold? Would you rather go back home where it's warm?" Mart knew their answer before they emphatically started shaking their heads.

He led the boys toward the Lynch's heated garage. Once inside and out of the cold, he set the tree down. The boys never took their eyes off him, almost as if they were afraid they'd miss something.

Mart got the pieces of wood Harrison had told him he'd leave for him. He only had to look around for a moment when he saw the hammer and some nails. Aware of the little eyes watching his every move, he proceeded to nail the wood in an "X" shape on the bottom. Once that task was completed he stood the tree up to show the boys.

"Wow! You did it! It stands up by itself!" Terry said, jumping up and down in his happiness.

"Now what?" Larry asked.

"Now, we decorate!" Mart said, rubbing his hands together.

He carefully removed the garlands from his pocket that had been made the day before. The other pocket held his own creation, the sparkly star. The boys' excitement grew as they watched Mart begin to decorate the tiny tree.

After adjusting and readjusting, Mart finally stood back and looked at the tree. Its tiny branches sagged under the weight of the garland, but they held it.

"Are you putting on any lights?"  Terry wondered.

"I don't think this little tree needs any lights, do you?" Mart grinned, thinking to himself, the tree would never hold lights!

The boys agreed it didn't need any lights, each proclaiming it was beautiful just the way it was.

"Okay, it's done. Now I just have to give it to Diana. I will tell her the two of you helped me. I couldn't have done it without you."

Terry and Larry beamed with Mart's praise.

After stashing the tree by the edge of the driveway, Mart walked the younger boys back to the house. There wasn't any sign of Diana, so Mart made his getaway. Before he left, he once again swore the boys to secrecy, grinning at their sly looks of conspiracy.

Mart felt good about his gift. Di was right: Christmas had taken on a life of its own. From her comments last night, he knew she'd appreciate the simplicity of the tree, and she'd know the love he felt for her.

Now to come up with a plan to give it to her. Thinking long and hard, he decided to give it to her at the clubhouse.

He dropped the tree off before going home. He knew Trixie would be occupied today baking cookies with Moms. He waited a little while longer before calling Di.

"Hello?" Diana's sweet voice came across the phone wires.

"Hello, beautiful!"

He could hear the smile in her voice. "Mart! I'm so glad you called!"

"You are? Why is that?"

"I'm always happy to talk to you! I love the sound of your voice, and I love you!"

Mart's smile lit his freckled face, and for a moment he, yes, MART BELDEN, was speechless. Finally realizing that while he was silent, she was also quiet, he spoke.

"Diana, you are the sweetest, best girlfriend! I love you!"

He heard her sigh of relief.

"I have your gift. Since Christmas will be so hectic and Mummy and Daddy will have us all over the place, I thought we could get together today so that I could give it to you."

"That sounds 'perfectly perfect', to borrow a saying from Miss Wheeler! How about we meet at the clubhouse after lunch?"

"That does sound perfectly perfect! I'll be there at one o'clock this afternoon. Is that good?"

"Great! I'll see you then!"

They hung up and Di sat there for a moment, smiling at the phone. I'm so lucky! I hope he likes his gift!

Mart arrived at the clubhouse at twelve-thirty to start the heater and to give himself time to set the tree out.

He lit some candles that he'd brought from home and arranged them carefully. He started a Christmas CD playing softly in the background. Finally, he stepped back to observe the atmosphere. Pleased with the picture he'd created, he sat down at the table, nervously awaiting her arrival.

Soon, he heard her light steps in the crunchy snow and moved to open the door for her.

With much fanfare, he bowed and dramatically swept his arm back to allow her entrance into the now cozy-warm clubhouse.

Di's cheeks were rosy from the cold and she held a box in her hands. His eyes took in the vision before him. Her purple coat, with a matching scarf and headband, made her cheeks seem even pinker.

"Hi," she said softly.

"Hi," he said, taking a step toward her. He reached for the box, taking the time to set it on the table before bending to kiss her soft lips.

"Ooh! It's nice and warm in here!" she exclaimed, peeling off her purple mittens and unzipping her coat.

"Yes, I got here early to get the heater turned on; I didn't want you to be chilled," he said, taking her coat and hanging it up next to his.

"You're so sweet!" she gushed.

Not yet noticing his gift for her, she reached for the box.

"I wanted to get you something special and I just couldn't decide. I hope you won't think this gift is too hokey. Please open this first."

"You didn't have to get me anything! And I would never think something you had decided on would be 'hokey'!" he assured her.

Mart reached for box she presented to him. They each moved to take a chair, his eyes never leaving hers as he began to open the gift.

The wrapping paper was purple too, but he didn't expect anything less. He carefully set the paper aside, and eased the box open. Inside, he found freshly baked holiday cookies and candies. There was also a tiny card standing in one corner of the box.  Lifting it out, he saw her flowing handwriting first, and then he read what she wrote.

He chuckled to himself, glad he'd decided against giving her the same sort of gift. Then he smiled at her, making a show of inhaling the sweet scents of the home-made cookies and candy.

"This is fabulous! Thank you so much!" Mart planted a quick kiss on her lips before standing up.

He moved over so that she could see her gift.

"I decided to keep it simple this year, and I thought there wouldn't be anything simpler than giving you your very own 'Charlie Brown' tree."

Di's eyes filled with tears when she saw her tree set in the corner of the clubhouse. The candlelight made the glitter on the star shimmer. The garlands the children had made looped around it, giving it a warm, homey feeling.

"I love it! It's perfect!" Di threw her arms around him, squeezing him tight.

"I thought my girl deserved a special tree."

Diana sniffed and reached for a tissue."I can't believe you went and found me a tree!"

"Well, I had help. Larry and Terry came out and helped me find it, cut it down, and then decorate it."

"Those little stinkers! They never let on that they knew something about my gift," Di laughed.

"I swore them to secrecy! They took their mission very seriously!" Mart grinned.

"They can really keep a secret, can't they?"

"Yes, they can!" Mart agreed wholeheartedly.

Di moved closer to him again, hugging him tightly. "Thank you for my very own tree. It's as perfect as you are!"

She tilted her head back to receive his kiss. Mart knew there was nothing better than being in love at Christmas.