Free All Fixed Up by Linda Grimes

robotic reindeer. Fortunately, he wasn’t the sort to question his luck.
    I’d ducked into a stall in a ladies’ room and switched back to myself, now carrying Olivia’s clothes in a shopping bag. My own jeans and sweater weren’t much bigger than hers, but I refused to parade around the store as myself wearing a Justin Bieber sweatshirt.
    â€œYou are such an ass,” I said to Billy first thing. I’d like to say I kept my voice low enough that Molly couldn’t hear, but her giggle told me otherwise.
    Besides, it wasn’t as though she’d never heard me call her brother that—and worse—before, practically from her birth onward. Growing up with Billy had, at times, been a frustrating proposition. His teasing at family gatherings had more often than not culminated with him standing in a handy corner and me with a bar of soap in my mouth.
    â€œWhat? Can’t I have a little holiday fun with my favorite girls?” He tugged Molly’s braid.
    â€œIf I’d known it was you, I would have stayed,” Molly said. “You should have told me you were coming.”
    â€œThat goes double for me,” I said, giving him the evil eye. “You said you had something important planned for today.”
    â€œAnd so I do. Ladies, if you’ll follow me…”
    He led off with long strides, not looking back. After a quick glance at each other, Molly and I followed, walking double time to keep up with him. Molly held on to multiple copies of a picture of Olivia with Santa, a happily malevolent smile on her face. The look on Santa’s face—mouth wide open, eyes squished shut in a major wince—might leave a little to be desired, but, hey, those were the breaks. At least Olivia’s hand was hidden. I’d taken care to pull his beard from the underside, so Molly’s buddy wouldn’t be blamed for spoiling the picture. I was sure Olivia herself would love it. Her mother? Possibly not so much.
    *   *   *
    Molly could barely contain herself as we stood in front of the g-force simulator at the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum. Me? I was starting to wish the taxi ride hadn’t been so short.
    We’d swung by Olivia’s house first. Molly had snuck around back to the tree house with the clothes I’d worn, so Olivia could change, and then we made a big show of dropping her off after our supposed shopping-slash-Santa expedition. Olivia’s mother thanked me profusely for ensuring the tradition lived on, despite the pained look on Santa’s face in the photo. Olivia and Molly had giggled conspiratorially at each other, garnering nothing more than an indulgent look from Mrs. Hawkins. Job completed without a hitch.
    Until now.
    I gave Billy a dirty look. “This? This is the surprise? Like I haven’t had enough g-forces lately?” I whispered.
    â€œI promised Molly I’d take her this year. There isn’t much of this year left, so…” He shrugged. “Anyway, it’s all part of your ongoing desensitization process. Two birds, one stone. At the rate you’re coming along, you’ll be begging to fly everywhere before long—don’t look at me like that. Come on, cuz. If you can handle the Vomit Comet, this will be a piece of cake.”
    â€œYeah, well, I got paid a crap-ton of money for the Vomit Comet, thank you very much.”
    He pulled out his wallet and started peeling off bills.
    I rolled my eyes. “Put your money away, idiot.”
    â€œHey, if you don’t want it, I’ll take it,” Molly said, reaching.
    I had to grin. Molly was exactly like her big brother, opportunistic to her Doyle core. Not a mean bone in her body, but definitely willing and able to turn situations to her financial advantage.
    Billy snatched his hand away. Molly batted her eyelashes at him. “I’ll be able to afford a better Christmas present for you.”
    Billy twisted his