The Spruces and the Pines

Oh, no, not this tree farm.

It's the next one, just up the road.

I know what you're thinking, two Christmas tree farms

right next to each other.

It's... it's a long story.

- Thank you. - You're welcome.

Have a good one.

That's a nice tree you got there.

Yours are always the best, Mr. Pine.

All right, this is what you wanna do.

When you get it home...

you're gonna wanna cut maybe an inch

or two inches off the bottom.

We cut this maybe a couple of days ago

so the sap has probably clogged the pores a little bit.

You wanna keep it hydrated.

And if you wanna keep it green,

my secret is you put a little aspirin in the water.

Don't get that tree-saver water off the streets.

No, it doesn't work, and it's much more expensive.

I've always been impartial to a little sugar myself.

- Ah, Julie. - .

Oh. Oh, oh, oh.

Good to see you.

Uh, folks, I'll be right with you.

My daughter's home for Christmas.

I thought I was gonna pick you up at the airport.

Well, my flight got in early.

I figured I'd surprise you.

Well, that's my kinda surprise.

Merry Christmas, Dad.

Oh, Merry Christmas. Good to have you home.

- Hey. - Hey, Bear.

What are you doing still calling me that for?

Because I've always called you Bear.

Come on, get over here.

Wait till you see the pranks we got planned

for the Spruces this year.

- Uh, Josh? - Yes.

Can you put this tree on these nice people's car?

Mm-hm.

- And we'll get you all set. - Okay.

Have you seen Spruce's latest stunt?

He's got a clown outside his farm.

I think he's an elf.

He's twirling a sign like it's a used-car lot.

He's just trying to attract customers.

Yeah, well, he's scarin' away ours.

- Dad. - Hm?

Is that a naked Christmas tree?

Well, I was waiting for you to come home.

I thought it needed your eye.

Mm-hm.

You got frustrated untangling

the lights again, didn't you?

Every January, I put those lights away, neat as a pin,

and every December they,

they explode like some darn tornado.

Just takes a little patience.

Thanks for waiting, Dad.

Good to have you home.

It's good to be home.

Hm.

- Uh, need a hand with your bags? - No, I'm good.

Uh, Julie...

I've been, uh... going through your mother's things.

Slowly, but truly.

Promised myself I'd get it all sorted out by New Year.

Well, get those clothes over to Goodwill.

Yeah.

I can't believe it's almost been a year.

Um, any-anyway, uh, it's...

all up in our room.

Take a peek and...

keep anything you'd like.

I'll do that. Thanks, Dad.

Okay.

I think it's time to get a new register.

If it ain't broke, don't fix it.

But it is broke.

Well, you know what I mean.

Come on.

Ah!

There we go. Perfectly fine.

All right, put me to work, Boss.

Oh, why don't you just enjoy your vacation?

Our vacation starts on Christmas morning.

Same as it always has.

I know you're short-staffed without Mom.

Let me help you.

All right.

- Martha's truck is in the shop. - Mm-hm.

Can't make the deliveries, so if you could go

into town and pick 'em up, that would be a help.

Yeah, sure thing.

Uh, Josh is about to make a delivery

so you hitch a ride with him.

- Oh, great. - That would be great.

Oh...

Julie, you know how he is with pastries.

Ooh, good call.

Hey, want a co-pilot?

Yeah, always.

For some reason, Dad doesn't

trust you with the pastries.

Now, where would I have gotten that reputation?

No idea.

- Let me give you a hand. - Yeah.

Merry Christmas.

Ho ho ho ho.

- Hi, Martha. - Here we are.

Six orders of gingerbread.

Six, uh, apple cider muffins

and a little somethin' extra.

- I can help you. - No, I got it.

- Careful. - I got it, I got it.

Maybe I should have tied those shut.

Maybe you should have.

Oh, it's nice to see you.

I hope this means you're here to stay.

Oh, no, it's just a visit.

I've one more semester.

Well, your dad loves braggin'

about all your accomplishments at school.

We're real proud of you.

Thanks.

Oh, no, no, no. It's-it's okay.

- Oh, come on, it's the holidays. - Okay, just one.

Think of it as an early graduation present.

This is good. Mm.

By any chance, are you heading straight back to the farm?

Mm-hm.

I was hoping you could

make a little detour.

- Sure. - To Spruce Farm.

You're kidding?

You're not kidding.

I know I'm asking a lot, but I, I just

don't understand why you can't visit a neighbor

without starting World War III.

You're up to something.

It's just the two boxes.

Was this a gift or a bribe?

Mm.

Feel like you could just...

drop 'em off at the front counter.

Me?

Uh, yeah.

I'm not going in there.

I'm not going in there, either.

- Bear! - No.

I'll rock-paper-scissors you.

- Fine. - Good.

- No! - Oh.

- See ya. - Will you go in with me, please?

No. Just go.

Please.

- All right. - Thank you.

I gotta do everything around here, huh?

- Is that it? - Thank you.

Why did we agree to this again?

Guilt, mainly. And a cookie.

Yeah.

Well, I just feel...

I feel weird, you know, like we're gonna get

ambushed or something.

What do you think they're gonna do?

String us up with some tinsel?

I don't know.

Maybe.

Come on.

Looks like we got lucky.

Yeah, let's get out of here.

Happy holidays!

Can I help you two with any...

Oh, it's you.

It's nice to see you too, Mr. Spruce.

Martha asked us to drop these off for her.

Her truck broke down.

I told her I'd pick 'em up myself.

You're welcome.

Have a nice day.

That guy's the worst.

You were just doin' him a favor, you know?

Ah, it's the same as it's always been.

Yeah, it's even worse this year.

What do you have?

A brownie. I stole it from the box.

- Bear! - What? He deserved it.

You shouldn't have done that.

You should've taken a whoopie pie

because those are bomb.

Look, they can't even help their customers

tie a tree to the roof of their car.

- Whoa, where you going? - Uh...