Emma turns off the radio hurriedly before the commerical can play again. Paul hears the beginning and groans anyway.

"Don't start," Emma warns him. "Tim is Hannah's age. He probably wants one of those dolls more than anything. Do not ruin this for me. Tom will kill us if we upset his son."

"I know," Paul sighs.

"I mean, seriously," she says, parking in her brother-in-law's driveway. "They're all I have left of Jane. The accident was just last year. Tim's way too young to have to be without his mom..."

Paul grabs her hand and squeezes it gently. "Hey, it's okay," he whispers, and Emma wipes away her tears as she nods. "Ready to go in?" She nods again.

They both get out of the car and go to the trunk, so Emma can grab the leftovers from yesterday's meal at the Hidgens-Foster home. Paul grabs the movies and board games, wincing when he sees the musicals in the stack, but he doesn't comment on them. At least they were cartoons. He could deal with cartoons.

Emma rings the doorbell, and Tom Houston answers almost right away.

"You're late," he grumbles, looking only half-dressed. He's got a tank top tucked into his jeans, but no over-shirt or shoes.

"It's— it's 6:30 in the morning," Emma says, confused.

"Yeah, and I said six," Tom snaps, and gestures to the coffee cup in Emma's hand. "But I guess you had to go to Starbucks."

He lets them in, and Paul and Emma share a disbelieving look as they follow him to the living room.

"Hey, Tim!" Emma says, seeing her nephew sitting on the couch in his pajamas.

"Hi, Aunt Emma," the boy replies shyly. He glances at Paul questioningly.

"This is my boyfriend, Paul," Emma introduces quickly. "Is it okay that he came over with me?"

Tim nods shyly, fiddling with his sleeve.

"Okay," Emma says, setting the bag of leftovers on the coffee table. "I've brought just about everything we need for a little belated Turkey Day. And I heard you just had your birthday, too. How old are you now, bud?"

"Seven," Tim says quietly, blushing slightly. Emma puts a hand over her heart and turns to Paul.

"He's getting so big," she sniffles dramatically. "I guess it's a good thing we brought his present with—"

Tom walks back into the living room, a red and black flannel in place over his tank top now, and starts putting his boots on.

"Where are you going?" Emma asks sharply, dropping her dramatic facade. "I thought we were gonna have a family day today."

"I wouldn't have called if I didn't have any other choice," Tom says, sounding apologetic. He's clearly missing the point of why Emma's upset. "But Grace is out of town, and Alice couldn't make it. I promis I'll be back as soon as I can, and you guys can be on your way."

"Dad," Tim whines.

"Sorry, buddy, but this is important," he replies. "I need to get a new belt for my chainsaw. It won't take long."

"Yeah, that's real important," Tim grumbles, and storms off to his room, slamming the door behind him.

"Wow," Emma scoffs once her nephew is out of earshot. "What did you do for his birthday? Take the drill press to Six Flags?"

"No," Tom says sharply. "First of all, I don't even have a drill press. Second, how would it fit in the sedan?" Once again, he's totally missed the point of what Emma was saying. Emma rolls her eyes.

"Well, fine. Go do your important errand," she says waspishly.

Tom sighs. "I just needed an excuse I could tell him, okay? I'm actually going to get his Christmas present..."

Lex kisses her dad's cheek as she rushes out the door. "Gotta go, love you!"

She hurries to the car, and drives to the mall and parks in her assigned spot, and runs to the loading bay. Clocking in with two minutes to spare, Lex breathes a sigh of relief. She goes to stand by the bay doors to wait for the delivery truck. To help prevent theft of the highly-coveted new toy, the manufacturer delayed the deliveries to all the retailers until the morning-of. Part of Lex's job was to help stock the shipment at the cash registers.

As she waits, she notices someone other than the delivery truck pull up and park.

"Do you think it would be okay if I park here for a bit?" The man asks, getting out of his car. Lex recognizes him as her old woodshop class teacher, Mr. Houston.

"Go ahead," she says sarcastically, rolling her eyes. She feels a little bad about being so disrespectful, but she has a long day ahead of her. "I'm sure the delivery trucks can park across the street."

"Thanks—" he says distractedly, then seems to realize who he's talking to. "Lex? Lex Foster?"

She waves slightly at him, leaning against the wall. "Hey, Mr. Houston. How's life?"

"What are you doing here?" He asks, either not hearing her, or just ignoring her question.

"I work here," she says. "Big day today, you know? We're waiting on some deliveries before the store opens. What about you?"

"I'm here to get one of those monster dolls for my son, Tim," he says. Lex nods.

"Well, you better get in line, then," she warns him. "It's already backed up to Nordstrum."

"To Nordstrum?!" Mr. Houston yelps. "Shit! See ya later, Lex!"

She rolls her eyes again, trying not to laugh. After a few more minutes, her boss comes outside and greets her, humming some Christmas music to himself. He's mumbling the words, but they don't sound right. Lex is pretty sure 'Hark! The Herald Angels Sing' doesn't talk about money at any point, let alone as many times as Frank is saying the word.

The delivery truck finally shows up just a minute later, and the driver has Frank sign for the shipment. The boxes are pretty big, and have the manufacturer printed on the side: Uncle Wiley's Toy Company.

Frank sighs. "Do you know why they call it Black Friday, Alexandra?" He asks.

"Because it's the day after Thursday?" She teases, knowing the real answer already. She'd heard the speech Frank was about to give her already.

He scoffs lightly. "Because it's the one day a year where most retailers go from being in the red— losing money— to being in the black— making money!" He sounds concerningly fond of the word 'money', Lex is realizing. Not for the first time, sure, but still.

The delivery guy chuckles lowly. "Trust me, pal, these babies are gonna take you so far into the black, that you ain't never coming back," he says, and Lex is a little creeped out by the tone of his voice. It sounds so... ominous. But the guy and Frank both break out into laughter, and the guy adds in a goofy voice, "That's the Uncle Wiley's guarantee!"

He pats the first box before heading back to his truck. Pausing, he looks back at Lex and slowly eyes her up and down. He winks at her and says, "Well, hello naughty list." Then he climbs into his truck and drives off.

"Eww," Lex says, shuddering. She's tempted to flip the guy off, but her boss is still standing right there.

"Alexandra," Frank drawls, hunched over and hugging the box of dolls. "Do you think you could get to work now and stock the cash registers with these?"

"Of course, Mr. Pryce," she sighs, glancing back toward the truck one last time before pulling out her box cutter.

"Thank you," Frank says sarcastically. Lex mumbles out a response to that, but Frank says her name again. "What was that? You're a polite young lady, Lex. What is the proper way to respond when I say 'thank you'?"

"You're welcome," she says a little louder, and Frank claps.

"She can be taught!" He cheers, and goes back inside, singing the twisted version of 'Hark! The Herald Angels Sing' again.

Lex starts wheeling the boxes inside the store, settling them by the front registers. She doesn't start unpacking until she's gotten them all inside. Just as she starts to move the last box, and familiar voice calls out to her.

"Lexie!"

She turns and smiles when she sees her little sister, being carried by her boyfriend, Ethan.

"Hiya, Banana," Lex says, walking over to them and kissing her cheek. "Hey, babe. Thanks for hanging out with her today. Dad and Henry are still trying to unpack the new house, and Peter's got a date with that girl from our English class."

"It's no problem," Ethan says, shrugging. "We're gonna go see a movie, right Banana?"

"The Santa one," Hannah confirms cheerfully.

Lex is very thankful that Hannah's gotten over her fear of live-action musicals, after what happened last year. She even enjoys hearing their step-father, Henry, sing now.

"Well, I hope you guys have fun," Lex says. "I have to get back to work now, but I'll be done at noon and we can go meet Dad and Henry for lunch, okay?"

Hannah nods. "Love you, Lexie!"

"Love you, too, Hannah," Lex says softly, kissing the six year old's forehead. She kisses Ethan's cheek next, and he carries Hannah away toward the movie theater.

Lex gets back to work, taking the last box of dolls inside. She starts opening them up and unpacking them, stocking each cash register with an equal number of the ugly little dolls.

"Ten minutes to showtime!" Frank calls over the intercom. Lex groans.

Today is going to be a very long day.