A/N: Hey! I know it's not Christmastime or not even close. But I just got inspired to do this out of nowhere, and I couldn't wait until December to put it up.

If you don't like Dan/Natalie, please read anyway. It's not your typical story for them. And I just thought I'd mention it's been three years since the hunt took place, the Kabras won, and Irina is dead.

DISCLAIMER:

I do not own the 39 Clues or any of its characters.

Chapter 1

Dan's Shopping Adventure

"Dan! Why aren't you out shopping?" Amy shouted at him as he sat on the couch watching "CSI: Miami."

"I thought we were going to do what we did before. You know, both put our names on the gifts you buy."

"Dan!" Amy shouted, "I told you last year that it would be the last time, and I meant it!"

"Well, you didn't mean it the two years before," said Dan with his eyes glued to the TV.

Amy was getting more frustrated with him by the minute, "Well, I meant it last year! Now get your lazy butt off the couch and to the mall!"

"Can't it wait until my show's over?"

"Daniel Cahill, you go to the mall now! Or would you like to explain to the Holts why you didn't get them anything?"

That got Dan's attention. He jumped off the couch, grabbed his wallet and phone, slipped on his boots and jacket and was out the door. Amy smiled and sat on the couch and watched the rest of Dan's favorite show.

Dan was having an anxiety attack. The mall was packed full of people and he didn't know where to start looking for presents. He spent 5 minutes calming himself down before going into the closest story to him. It was full of glass and porcelain bowls, plates, glasses, and vases. Just a year ago, Amy wouldn't have let him go within 20 feet of the entrance. He looked around and found a bowl that had things written in Korean on it. He wasn't sure if Alistair would like it, so he called Amy.

"What, Dan?" Amy answered.

"I don't know if Alistair would like this bowl or not."

"Well, what does it look like?"

"It's white with red Korean on it."

"Dan…" Amy started.

"What, Amy?"

"I got him that bowl already! Don't you remember me showing it to you?"

"When did you show me?"

"Last Monday."

"Oh! That's why I don't remember. 'CSI: Miami' was on."

"Get him the matching plate."

"Sold out."

"Matching cup."

"Sold out."

"Matching vase."

"Sold out."

"Well, this isn't my fault, Dan. If you had gone when I asked you to, this would not have happened."

"Thanks, Ames." Dan hung up. He looked around and found a small glass dragon. He decided to get it for Alistair because it was like the Ekaterina branch symbol.

Then he moved on to the next store, an athletic equipment story. He looked around a while before finding something for the Holts. He didn't know if Amy had already gotten it for them, so he decided to call her.

"What, Dan?" She already sounded frustrated, and Dan hadn't said a word.

"I wanted to know what you got for the Holts."

"The parents or the kids?"

"Both."

"Alright, I got the kids some indestructible soccer nets and the parents yoga and Jillian Michaels DVDs."

"Okay perfect! You didn't get what I'm getting for them. Bye!"

"But wha-" Dan hung up and walked to the checkout counter with the set of indestructible soccer balls and the high-strength (purple) yoga mats. He left the athletic store and went on to the next one, which was a watch store. He suddenly got a brilliant idea, but he wasn't sure Amy would approve, so he called her. Again.

"Dan, how many times are you going to keep calling?" Amy asked, already sounding angrier than before.

"Ok, sorry, but I just got a brilliant plan! Could I just get everyone watches?"

"No, Dan! They don't exactly think that we're-oh never mind. You are only allowed to get 4 watches."

"But Am-" Dan whined as Amy hung up on him.

Dan thought about he still had to buy gifts for, and he decided to get watches for Ned, Ted, and Ian. He didn't buy a fourth watch just yet, in case he couldn't find a gift for someone else. He ended up buying Ned and Ted the same plain watch but in different colors. For Ian he got some fancy-looking pocket watch.

Dan left the watch store, and on his way to the next store in the mall, he saw a coin on the ground and decided to pick it up. It was an ordinary gold dollar, except everything on it was backward. Instead of going to the next store, he walked halfway across the mall to the coin collector's shop. He showed it to the man who stared at it for 20 minutes just so he could tell Dan it was a rare collector's item worth a lot. Knowing he or Amy would end up losing it, he decided to use it as his gift for Mr. and Mrs. Kabra. He bought a little fancy box for it and put it with the other gifts.

He walked into the store next to the one with the coins and saw it was filled with hundreds of pairs of sunglasses. He didn't know which ones Jonah would like best so he, of course, called Amy.

"Dan! What do you need now?"

"Okay, so I'm in this sunglasses place and I was going to get a pair for Jonah, but I don't know which."

"And you expect me to know?"

"Well, you know everything else."

Amy was quiet a minute before replying, "Get a black pair that are plastic and thin."

"Okay thanks, Amy." Dan spent the next 10 minutes going from rack to rack trying to find a pair of sunglasses that fit Amy's description. When he finally found them, he checked out and headed to the next store.

Dan wasn't really sure what the main focus of the store was, but he found a really nice pen that he got for Mr. McIntyre. On his way to the next store, he saw some drawing you could enter to win tickets to some boring concert. Dan decided to enter so if he won, he would have a present for Jonah's parents that he wouldn't have to pay for. He wrote his name down on the sheet of paper, folded it in half, and stuck it in the box. Since it was right outside his next store, he went shopping while he waited.

The store was Victoria's Secret/PINK. He decided to buy stuff for Amy and Sinead. He, obviously, didn't know what to buy them, so he called Amy.

"Daniel Arthur Cahill! If you call me again I swear I will take everything you own down to Goodwill!" She screamed through the phone.

Dan didn't reply for a while. He knew she wasn't joking when she threatened to get rid of his stuff. Amy had done it in the past. "Okay I won't, but I need to ask you a question…What kind of gifts do girls like from Victoria's Secret and PINK?"

"Really, Dan? Fine: lip gloss, clothes (if you know their sizes), perfume, and lotion."

"Okay thanks bye!" Dan rushed as he hung up on her.

He figured Sinead probably wore the same size shirt as his sister, so he got them both T-shirts. Then he walked over to the lip gloss and got 6-three for each of them. He checked out and went outside just as the winner was being drawn.

"And the winner is…Dan Cahill!"

Dan ran over and got the tickets. He had gifts for everyone, so he went home.

"…And then I have my failed home ec project for Saladin and my failed ceramic statue thing from art to give to Nellie. And I gave April that necklace that I bought last year for Sydney before she broke up with me." Dan said proudly. He had just finished explaining to Amy what he had gotten for everyone (except her).

"You didn't tell April how you had gotten the necklace for your other girlfriend, right?"

"Okay, Amy," Dan started, "I may be stupid, but I'm not that stupid."

Amy was quiet for a minute as she looked at all of Dan's presents. "Hey, Mr. I'm-Not-That-Stupid, you forgot someone."

"What?" Dan asked with a puzzled look on his face.

"You forgot to buy a gift for someone."

"Who?"

A/N: That was pretty long, and I don't know if the other chapters will be as long, but I'll try to make them decently long. I forgot to mention before, but Nellie is out of town for a week visiting her parents, and the rest I'll get to later when I post the next chapter.

Please review! They make me want to write more. Thanks!