“Daddy, can I be a ghost for Christmas?” Colin asked.

Trick-or-treating at Halloween had been a huge hit with four-year-old Colin, but it had kind of backfired, because now he thought that every holiday involved dressing up in costumes and walking around the neighborhood to collect candy. Thanksgiving had been a huge disappointment.

“Sweetie, we don’t dress up and go trick-or-treating on Christmas. That’s only for Halloween,” Blaine said gently, for the seven hundredth time.

“What do we do on Christmas?” Colin asked.

“Mainly we give each other presents. Would you like me to help you make a list of what presents you want?”

“Okay!” Colin brightened at this idea. He ran to get a piece of construction paper and an orange crayon and handed them to Blaine.

“Okay, great,” Blaine said. “What’s the first present you would like to have?”

“A chess set.”

“A …” Blaine looked at him. “A chess set? Really?”

“Gabriel’s big brother is teaching me how to play when I go over to his house. It’s so much fun!” Colin’s eyes were completely lit up, a huge smile on his face, and Blaine wondered how he could have possibly missed this development.

“Okay, a chess set. C-H-E-S-S S-E-T.” Colin watched carefully as Blaine printed it in all capital letters. “What else?”

“Dress up like a ghost,” Colin said firmly.

“That’s the present you want?” Blaine asked.

“Yes.”

“Fine,” Blaine said, exasperated. He wrote it down on the paper. “What else?”

“That’s all,” Colin said. He wandered over to his Lego basket and started to build something.

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“Merry Christmas!” Burt said, flinging the door to his house open. “Kurt! Blaine! Co— Ghost?”

“Grandpa!” Colin said, leaping into his arms.

Kurt shrugged at his father. “Who were we to deny his Christmas wish?”

Blaine smiled. At least they’d been able to convince Colin not to say “Trick or Treat.”

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Colin shouted with excitement when he unwrapped the chess set. “It’s the best present ever! Can we play now?”

“Sure,” Blaine said. He had a basic knowledge of the game, though it had been decades since he’d actually played it.

Colin set up the board in no time, without assistance, to everyone’s surprise.

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Colin looked up at his father over the chess board, only his eyes visible through his ghost costume. “Checkmate.”