Hosting the family Christmas Day gathering has long been Frasier’s honorary privilege. Now, Niles and Daphne want to host the festivities for their first year as a married couple and Frasier openly objects to Niles trying to steal his thunder. Martin suggests they split up the day, but the brothers refuse to come to a compromise. Instead, they leave the decision up to Martin.

Roz volunteers as Santa’s elf for the toy drive at the mall. Frasier stops by and witnesses her bickering with another elf over the affections of the charming Santa, Rick (guest star Dean Cain). Although the girls have never seen the man behind the Santa costume, they are convinced he’s a real catch. Later, Roz runs into Rick for the first time out of costume and not only is he gorgeous, he is very successful. Daphne is stumped when she notices Roz’s disinterest and realizes that Roz is actually in love with Santa Claus, not Rick.

Martin gets so fed up with his feuding sons that he decides to work the holiday shift instead of spending Christmas with them. Feeling ashamed and guiltridden, the boys decide to surprise Martin by taking Christmas to his office. On Christmas Eve, they secretly switch out the fake Christmas gifts in Martin’s office with the real ones, which turns out to be a difficult, yet humorous task.

On Christmas morning, the boys are dismayed when they discover Martin in the living room—his boss closed the office for the day! Although all of their gifts are locked up, Martin is touched by their heart-felt efforts.