As the holiday season approaches, Charles is dreading yet another disappointing and forgettable Christmas. Sympathizing with his plight, Melinda and Stu hatch a plan to liven things up by buying him some great presents (to replace the lame ones his mom has picked out). Meanwhile, Marvin and Muriel end up stuck in New York after trying to fly home from Europe.

Inspired by the "All Grown Up" episode "The Finster Who Stole Christmas"

"Noel, Noel, Noel, Noel,
Born is the King of Israel.
"

'Twas December of 1966. Christmas vacation was about to begin.

In the fourth-grade classroom, Melinda thought, "Oh, boy! Only one more minute until Christmas vacation starts! I can't wait to decorate the Christmas tree, make the gingerbread house, and drink eggnog with my dad! Things may be hard this year, what with mommy still in the hospital, but I'm sure I'll be a big help for daddy."

Soon enough, the school bell rang.

"Three-thirty already?" said the fourth-grade teacher. "Right, then. Happy Christmas, children."

And the children all rushed out with joy, except for Chas, who smiled nervously as he said to himself, "Oh, boy."


As Chas was walking with his friends Melinda, Stu, Didi, Betty, Howard, and Charlotte on the way home, the kids were all discussing their plans for the holidays.

"So, what are you planning for Christmas, Betty?" asked Melinda.

Betty replied, "I'm gonna sing with the choir at the church as our featured tenor soloist sings songs like 'Silent Night' and 'The First Noel.' What about you, Charlotte?"

Charlotte said, "I'm gonna go Christmas shopping with my mom at the mall. What about you, Howard?"

Howard said, "My mom's gonna teach me how to cook up a Christmas dinner, with turkey, mashed potatoes, gravy, pumpkin pie, and everything."

Melinda chuckled, "Sounds like your mom's already into the holiday spirit! And you, Didi?"

Didi replied, "My parents, Ben, and I already celebrated Chanukah, so we'll be eating out at a Chinese restaurant while you guys celebrate Christmas. I'll also be celebrating my birthday, which comes two days after Christmas."

"What about you, Melinda?" asked Betty.

Melinda replied, "You know how my daddy is with Christmas. He'll prop up a big, green Christmas tree, while I help him make the gingerbread house, and we both drink eggnog together. This year won't be the same with my mommy in the hospital, but it's still gonna be a merry Christmas indeed. I love Christmas!"

"Say, Stu, what happened to your arm?" asked Chas, who had noticed that Stu had his right arm in a cast.

Stu replied, "Got it when Drew and I were holding a puppet show at the church. It was a fiasco. Drew broke my arm, and I gave him a shiner in return."

"Wow!" gasped Chas in awe.

Then, Chas thought to himself, "Even if Melinda's mom is dead, and Stu's arm is in a cast, they'll both still have a better Christmas than I ever had."

Melinda said, "So, Drew's picking out a Christmas tree, Betty will be decking the halls, and Didi will have some Chinese turkey. What are your folks planning for the holidays, Charles?"

Chas sighed, "Oh, the usual: high expectations met by crushing disappointment."

As Chas returned home, Melinda and Stu looked at each other sympathetically and decided to follow him there.


At the Finster residence, Chas was watching some home movies with Melinda and Stu. The first of these showed an infant Chas on Christmas 1957, hugging an old and worn teddy bear that he had just received, only for the poor teddy to lose all its stuffing during the embrace. When baby Chas saw this, he began to cry as his mother Shirley rushed over to comfort him.

As nine-year-old Chas watched with his two best friends, he said, "It's amazing. Nine years of Finster Christmases, each one more depressing than the last."

Chas was able to prove it by showing a film from Christmas 1959, where Chas was two years old and he was riding a rusty tricycle that fell apart completely and almost immediately on its maiden voyage. Again, two-year-old Chas burst into tears on the floor as Shirley rushed over to comfort him.

Nine-year-old Chas shook his head as Stu said, "Oh, come on. Lighten up, Chas. Whatever gift you might get your mom, she's gonna love it!"

Chas then showed Stu and Melinda his Christmas 1962 home movie, where Chas, at five years old and in kindergarten, received a pop gun that looked like a real gun. Delighted and not realizing that it had already been used, five-year-old Chas decided to try it out on an imaginary target, only for it to fall apart irreparably upon its initial use, reducing him to a sobbing wreck as, again, Shirley rushed over to comfort him.

As the three children watched, Melinda asked Chas, "So when's your dad coming back from Europe with your Aunt Muriel?"

"Christmas Eve, just in time for the church service," said Chas. "I don't know what it is about my mom and Christmas."

"Yeah," said Stu. "Your birthday, awesome!"

"Your old lady's a maniac for Thanksgiving," added Melinda.

"But Christmas?" said Chas, after which he blew a raspberry for emphasis. "For once, I'd like to have a big fancy celebration like everyone else! But you know what she'd say? 'Christmas starts with family and ends with family.'"

"Maybe if you got better presents," said Melinda. "Those are some of the sorriest Christmas gifts I've ever seen a kid get."

"Rubber gloves?" asked Stu, bewildered.

"Tongue depressor?" asked Melinda, who was equally as bewildered.

Chas gazed at the home movie and replied, "Now that you say it, I've gotten worse gifts than that. Why, I remember that one Christmas where I always wanted a choo-choo, but all I got was our Christmas dinner: five pounds of veal. And I was four years old! If all you get is a lousy gift, you're not gonna spring for the Christmas dinner, and if you skip on the dinner, why even bother with the Bell Telephone Hour Christmas special? It all makes sense now. Nine years of bad presents…"

"Nine years of bad Christmases," Stu replied.

"Good thing I figured that out before it was too late!" exclaimed Chas with a smile.

"Why? When's your mom going Christmas shopping?" asked Stu.

"Tomorrow," sighed Chas. "And she'll probably buy me a lame Christmas gift."

Melinda then placed her hand on Chas' shoulder as she said, "Don't worry, Charles. Stu and I will go Christmas shopping with your mom, while you stay with my dad and help him around the house."

"Great!" shouted Chas. "'Cause what I want for Christmas is a sled that's infected with the holiday spirit… and not termites."


The next day, Melinda and Stu had persuaded Shirley to let them go Christmas shopping with her, and Shirley agreed, letting Chas stay behind at the Cavanaugh residence while she was away.

"Are you sure you can handle everything, Christopher?" asked Shirley. "Charles can be quite a handful."

"Of course, ma'am," Christopher replied. "He can help me around the house."

"Okay," said Shirley. Then, she said to Chas, "See you later, Charles."

"See ya, mom," Chas replied, waving as his mother drove off to the mall with Melinda and Stu in tow.


A little later, Shirley was leading Melinda and Stu through what appeared to be a blizzard… which was caused by an artificial snow machine in the middle of the mall.

"Well, where to, children?" asked Shirley.

"To the sporting equipment store!" said Melinda and Stu together.

"Oh?" Shirley was more than a bit surprised at the two children's suggestion, but she decided to follow them into the sporting equipment store.

There, Melinda showed Chas' mother a sturdy and handsome sled. When the owner of the store saw this, he said, "Here she is, top of the lot! This wooden toboggan is as smooth and sleek as a pond of thick ice. Made of birch and glazed over with varnish, it's guaranteed to last for many years to come! Take a whiff!"

Shirley smelled the sled and said, "Oh, wow! Any nine-year-old boy would love it! But not my nine-year-old boy. Got anything less expensive?"

Melinda and Stu moaned with frustration.

"We've got some nice kiddie sleds," said the store owner.

"Come on, Mrs. Finster," said Melinda. "The toboggan's a great deal!"

"It's like buying in bulk!" added Stu. "Chas tells us that you like to buy in bulk!"

"Well, yeah, but only flour, eggs, milk, and sugar," Shirley replied.

As Shirley, Melinda, and Stu left the sporting equipment store and went to the bedtime store, Shirley explained, "Christmas isn't about the presents. It's about being together. You know what I always say to Charles?"

Melinda and Stu sighed and said together, "Christmas starts with family and ends with family."

Only a brief moment later, Shirley saw an entire table with bunny onesie pajamas on it. "How much for one of these?" she asked the owner of the bedtime store. "I'd like to buy one for my son."

"How old is your son? Four years old?" asked the store owner.

Melinda and Stu groaned together.

Shirley then saw a saccharine pink bunny pajama suit. "Oh, how much is this cutie?" she asked.

"Twenty bucks," said the store owner.

"But Charles is nine years old!" protested Melinda.

The store owner sighed, "Fifteen."

Shirley whispered to Melinda and Stu, "If we come back after lunch and say Charles is twelve, it'll be down to ten."

"Thank you!" she said to the store owner, much to Stu and Melinda's chagrin.


At the food court, Shirley had set herself down to eat, while Melinda and Stu discussed her poor choice of Christmas gift.

"Poor Charles," said Melinda. "Christmas is ruined forever."

Stu added, "Yeah, I wish there was something we can do to make Christmas extra special for Chas."

"You're right, Stu. We must convince Shirley that a toboggan is the best Christmas gift for Charles, but how?"

After thinking about it for a moment, Melinda and Stu cried out at the same time, "Hey! I got an idea!"

"No, no, you go first," said Melinda.

"No, no, you," said Stu.

"Okay, I was thinking," said Melinda, "why don't we dress up as Santa Claus? You can be the top half, and I'll be the bottom half."

"Why the bottom half?" asked Stu.

"Because I'm older than you."

"Good point. Anyway, there's a costume store near this mall, so I'll go get a Santa costume for the both of us!"

"Okay, but hurry."

And so, Stu stepped outside to get to the costume store to buy a Santa costume. But soon, just before he entered the costume store, he found that, at a nearby house, there was a beautiful toboggan leaning by a trash can.

Stu thought to himself, "They're throwing out this toboggan? They're wasting a perfectly good sled, the poor thing."

And Stu rushed for the toboggan, picked it up, and took it to the mall with him.

But just after Stu had left, the man of the house looked around and said to his wife, "Honey, where's the sled our son wanted for Christmas?"


Back at the food court, Melinda was waiting patiently for Stu when Shirley asked, "Where's Stu? We can't get those bunny pajamas without him."

Presently, both Shirley and Melinda were surprised to see Stu carrying the toboggan on his shoulders, which was an even more amazing feat since Stu's writing arm was in a cast.

"Wow!" gasped Shirley. "That toboggan is beautiful, Stu! Where did you get it? It must have cost an eight-year-old boy like you a fortune!"

Stu replied, "Are you kidding? They were practically giving it away!"

Melinda exclaimed, "Wow! This is the perfect gift for a nine-year-old! Don't you think so, Mrs. Finster?"

Shirley replied, almost at a loss for words, "I… I don't know. It doesn't quite seem like a bargain sled. I mean, it's so… so…"

"Durable?" said Stu as he knocked on the wooden toboggan to prove that it was excellent-quality.

"Charles just wants to have himself a merry little Christmas this year," said Melinda. "If you don't like it…"

"No! No! It's wonderful, children. I just want to say, thank you," Shirley said with a smile.

And Stu and Melinda returned her smile.


That evening, after Shirley returned home with Melinda and Stu, Chas was at Melinda's house to greet them. All around her, Melinda could see the Cavanaugh residence all dolled up for Christmas. The halls had been decked with boughs of holly, the Christmas tree, with lovely green branches, was spruced up with glass ornaments, twinkling lights, and a shining star on top, the gingerbread house looked delicious, and Melinda's father was already prepping up the figgy pudding.

"Wow, Charles!" gasped Melinda. "It's beautiful! Thank you for helping my daddy to decorate."

"What can I say?" Chas replied. "Thanks to you and Stu, I'm full of Christmas spirit this year. By the way, what are you and Stu gonna get me for Christmas?"

Melinda whispered, "It's a surprise."

Upon hearing this, Chas sported a big grin, feeling that, for once, his Christmas wouldn't be so lousy.

Outside the Cavanaugh household, however, while Stu was watching Chas and Melinda conversing with each other, he overheard Betty talking with Charlotte.

Betty said, "Say, Charlotte, didn't you hear about the sled that was stolen this afternoon?"

"Where?" asked Charlotte.

"Right in front of a house near the mall."

"Stolen?" asked Stu to himself, with more than a hint of alarm.

Betty continued explaining to Charlotte: "Yep, the Jenkins, home of Jim Jenkins, my classmate. Guess Jim is one kid that won't be having a merry Christmas this year."

Charlotte was miffed. "What kind of person steals a Christmas gift from a second grader?! Only a sicko!"

Stu shuddered to hear this.

Betty said, "I say we ask our parents to double up on our neighborhood watch! Flush him out of town like the vermin they are!"

Poor Stu felt sick to his stomach as Melinda emerged from her house and approached him.

"Stu, what's the matter?" asked Melinda.

Stu whispered everything into Melinda's ear.

Shocked, Melinda gasped, "You stole a sled?!"

Stu cried out, "I didn't know! Help me, Melinda! I don't wanna get flushed outta town! I like this town! I like my mom and my dad!" But then, Stu lightened up and said, "Wait, if I thought they were throwing it out, then it wasn't really stealing."

"It wasn't?" asked Melinda.

"Sure," Stu replied. "All we gotta do is tell Chas' mom what happened and take it back."

"Yeah, I'm sure she'll understand. She didn't seem to like it that much anyway."

And as Chas returned to his house across the street, Melinda and Stu followed him.


But as soon as Melinda and Stu got into the Finster residence, they found that the sled was gone.

"Whoa!" said Stu with amazement. "Do you think she gave it back already?"

But soon, Shirley saw the two kids and said, "Oh, Melinda! Stu! I'm so glad you two came!"

"Good, 'cause Melinda and I wanna tell you something." said Stu.

"Oh, sure, just let me show you where Charles' sled is."

And Shirley led Melinda and Stu to a closet, whereupon she opened the door and showed the two children the sled that Stu had inadvertently stolen.

"Now, don't tell Charles, but he's in for a pleasant surprise this year. Don't you recall how, at the mall, we bought new Christmas ornaments and decorations? We bought an excellent Christmas tree, good tinsel, ingredients for gingerbread, and gallons of eggnog!"

"But, Mrs. Finster," said Stu, "you always told Chas that Christmas starts and ends with family."

Presently, the oven timer indicated that the gingerbread was done. "Oh, is that the gingerbread?" said Shirley as she went for the oven.

"You're baking cookies?"

"No, houses! A whole gingerbread town, right down to the emergency hospital!"

After taking out the gingerbread and leaving it to cool, Shirley, seeing that Chas had come down from upstairs, took out a string of lights and wrapped it around the tree, saying, "You children ready to see true Christmas spirit?"

Melinda and Stu nodded tentatively, and Shirley plugged in the lights, which twinkled to the tune of "Angels We Have Heard on High."

Chas looked up and gasped with delight, "Wow!"

"So, Stu," said Shirley, "is there something you wanted to tell me?"

Stu replied, "I… uh… I…"

Chas replied, "I wish Dad and Aunt Muriel were here to see this!"

"Of course, they'll see it, Charles," said Shirley. "They should be getting on their plane right now. Oh, Charles, this is gonna be the best Christmas!"

And Chas started laughing with joy.

Stu saw how happy Chas was and couldn't bear to break the news to either him or Shirley. He couldn't bear to ruin Chas' Christmas… or to make himself out as a thief.


Meanwhile, Marvin Finster and his sister Muriel were at an airport in Paris, where "Bring a Torch, Jeannette, Isabelle" was playing on the PA system.

"What do you mean we're bumped?" asked Miss Finster.

The French airline rep replied, "Ze flight is full. You two were bumped." Then, he called, "En suivant!"

"But we bought these round-trip tickets back in America three months ago!"

"Oui, but you will miss your first flight, which means you were on standby for zis flight, which means you are bumped. En suivant!"

Marvin was mad. "Muriel, they can't get away with that!"

Muriel soothed her younger brother by saying, "There, there, Marv. Getting mad never solves anything. We'll just wait for the next flight."

As Muriel went to the waiting room, the French airline rep said, "Merci beaucoup for almost flying from Paris. Service here is job numéro un!"

And Marvin groaned with frustration as he followed his older sister.


Back in America, Stu was moping on the curb while Melinda was eating some gingerbread.

"I couldn't do it to him, Melinda," moaned Stu. "Chas was enjoying his Christmas for once, and his mom bought new decorations!"

"Wow!" said Melinda between bites. "This gingerbread tastes better than my dad's! Compliments to Mrs. Finster!"

Once she had finished the gingerbread, though, Melinda said, "But seriously, Stu, you're right. How can you live with yourself knowing another kid's gonna have a bad Christmas?"

Stu sighed ruefully, "Because we wanted Chas to have chestnuts roasting on an open fire and visions of sugarplums dancing in his head."

"We could just buy the Jenkins another sled for Jim."

"Then, we could dress up as Santa, you holding me on your shoulders, and deliver the sled to the Jenkins residence."

"But, wait, aren't sleds like those mega-bucks?"

"Not when you've been trained in the Pickles school of Christmas shopping. Trust me, we'll have that store owner begging us to get that toboggan off his hands."


Sure enough, Melinda and Stu were able to get to the mall, buy the toboggan at twenty dollars, and carry it to the costume store, where they also purchased a Santa suit.

With Stu perched on Melinda's shoulders and dressed in the Santa suit, the two children were carrying the toboggan to the Jenkins residence.

"I can't believe you saved up all year for that money!" said Melinda.

"Including my share of the money my friends and I made off of selling lemonade last summer," added Stu. "Believe me, it'll all be worth it, knowing that Jim from my second-grade class will get the sled he wanted Christmas morning."

Unfortunately, Melinda ended up tripping over a rock in the middle of the street, so she and Stu toppled over with the toboggan.

"Wow!" gasped Stu. "It's a wonder I didn't break my other arm! At least, the sled's okay."

But then, Melinda noticed a truck coming in their direction, and, seeing that Stu was struggling to get up, pushed him out of the way, sacrificing the toboggan to save Stu's life!

"Wow! Melinda, you saved my life!" said Stu with joy. But his face fell as he and Melinda gazed at the shattered remains of the toboggan. "I can't say the same for the sled, though."

Poor Stu…


The next day, three days before Christmas, Chas, Shirley, Melinda, Christopher, Betty, Charlotte, and Howard all came to the Pickles residence, where Shirley was to invite Chas' friend Stu and his parents Lou and Trixie to the Finster residence for a Christmas party.

But Betty noticed that Stu was sitting there, moping.

"What's the matter, Stu?" she asked. "Holiday blues got ya down?"

Lou replied, "Well, who wouldn't be disappointed this year? There's some punk going around stealing Christmas presents."

"Well, I wouldn't worry about that thief, you guys," said Chas. "Mom says it's in God's hands."

"Yeah, that thief will get what's comin' to him one way or another. Am I right, Stu?!" said Betty as she playfully elbowed Stu in the ribs.

Stu chuckled nervously, "Uh, yeah, Betty."

Then Lou decided to tell the kids, "And even Santa Claus knows all about it. Now maybe you heard that he's not real. Just a fairy tale. Well, it ain't the truth. St. Nick is as real as you and me."

"Wow!" said Chas, Stu, Melinda, Betty, Howard, and Charlotte together.

"That's right. I've seen him with my own two eyes when I was about Stu's age."

Stu gulped, "Really?"

"Yep!" Lou replied. "Now here's the point of my story. You see, Santa may be old, but he's as sharp as a toothpick. And if you've been bad, you don't get that special doll you've wanted, or that fine looking toboggan… Instead, you get a great, big ugly lump of coal!"

Now, Stu was frightened.

Lou then said with a smile, "Of course, none of this applies to any of you sprats! You've all been good as gold!"

And all the kids sighed with relief… except for Stu, who ran upstairs to his room.


At the Finster household, Shirley was playing Christmas carols on the record player. Chas could hear a Baroque-style orchestra playing "O Little Town of Bethlehem" from his bedroom, so he went downstairs to see his mother.

"You think this record will be suitable music for the party?" asked Shirley.

Chas replied, "I love this music, mom."

"From now on, Finster will be synonymous with Christmas fun!"

"Thanks, mom. I always wanted a special Christmas, and now, I feel that I'm going to get it."

And Chas and his mother smiled and hugged each other in sharing the Christmas spirit.


Meanwhile, at the Pickles household, Stu wasn't exactly having a silent night.

That night, he dreamed that it was Christmas morning. Upon seeing the snow, Stu sprung out of bed shouting with joy, "It's Christmas!"

And he ran for the living room to find presents under the tree. "Oh, boy!" he cried as he rushed for the tree.

"And they're all for you, scout," said Lou.

But as Stu opened each gift, he discovered, to his alarm, that all he got was coal.

"It can't be! It just can't be!" cried Stu.

"Oh-ho, but it is," said a deep, booming voice.

When Stu turned around, he saw that it was Santa Claus, who said, "No bad deed goes unpunished. Betty Giselle got a pair of skates. Chas Finster and Jim Jenkins each got a sled. And what did you get?"

And Santa cackled as he poured a huge sack of coal right in front of him!

This got Stu to wake up with a scream.

Trixie burst into the room asking, "Stu, what's wrong? Did you have a bad dream?"

"What day is it, mom?" asked Stu. "Is it Christmas?"

"No, honey. It's December 23."

"Then it was just a dream," sighed Stu with relief. "I didn't miss it."

"Of course, you didn't. Good night."

And as Trixie shut the door, Stu said to himself, "There's still time! I gotta return that sled to the Jenkins residence before it's too late!"


Meanwhile, Chas' father and aunt had crossed the Atlantic Ocean successfully, but now, they were in New York, instead of California.

At the airport, Marvin was phoning Shirley on a pay phone, "I said, 'New York,' Shirley."

"Hello," said the Brooklynese airline rep to Marvin and Muriel. "I have some good news."

"Shirley, I have to go. I'll call you later," said Marvin as he hanged up.

Muriel asked the airline rep, "You found our luggage."

"Nah," said the airline rep, "but I'm authorized to give ya this puny bag of complementary peanuts."

"I rather you tell us where our luggage is."

"They're salty and delicious, the foist thing I'd eat on an airplane."

Furious and frustrated, Marvin shouted, "Where's our luggage, you…!"

"You men need to stay positive," said Muriel as she restrained her younger brother. "I'm sure he's doing everything he can."

"These peanuts are very good for feedin' the boids in Central Park," said the airline rep.

Muriel bowed her head and took the peanuts. Now, she and Marvin had to wait for their luggage so they could wait for their plane to California.


On that day, two days before Christmas, Melinda, Betty, and Charlotte saw Stu moping on the curb by his own house.

"What's up with him?" Betty asked Melinda.

"Well, uh…" said Melinda, who didn't want to tell Betty that Stu was the sled thief.

Betty decided to ask Stu himself, "What's wrong, Stu?"

Finally, Stu had to confess: "I'm the sicko who stole the sled!"

Betty and Charlotte were horrified, but Melinda explained, "It was an accident, Betty. He thought they had dumped it."

"I make one mistake, and if I don't undo it fast, I'm gonna get lumps of coal!" lamented Stu.

Melinda then said to Stu, "Don't worry, Stu. God will forgive your mistake."

"But I took the light and joy out of a kid's Christmas! If you don't get coal for that, what do you get coal for?"

Betty said, "Stu, you can undo that mistake. Chas and his mom are gettin' ready for the party to-night."

"Yeah, I guess you're right," said Stu with a smile. "Maybe by then, I'll come up with a plan to redeem myself, to return Jim Jenkins' merry Christmas, and to assure that Chas' own Christmas is merry as well…"


That evening, Shirley was hosting a Christmas party with Chas, his Christian friends, and their parents. On the record player, Julie Andrews was singing "Jingle Bells." In one corner, the Christmas tree shone with Christmas spirit. In another corner, there was a life-sized creche in which Chas stood dressed up like a shepherd. And on the table, Shirley was serving eggnog to the kids and their parents.

Meanwhile, Stu was pacing the floor thinking up a plan to redeem himself, when he overheard Chas and Melinda having a conversation.

"So, Melinda," said Chas, "what's the big Christmas surprise?"

Melinda replied, "If I told you, it wouldn't be a surprise."

"Okay." And Chas went to the table to get himself a glass of eggnog.

Then, Melinda went to Stu and asked, "Any luck, Stu?"

Stu replied, "No, actually. I mean, I stole the sled. Maybe I can un-steal it."

"But how will you do that?"

"By stealing it."

Melinda was shocked. "Oh, no! Charles will be so disappointed on Christmas morning!"

"But Jim won't. It's the only way."

Shirley then called out, "Okay, everyone! Time for Christmas caroling!"

And soon, Shirley, Chas, Howard, Mr. and Mrs. DeVille, Betty, Mr. and Mrs. Giselle, Charlotte, Mr. and Mrs. McSell, Christopher, Melinda, Lou, Trixie, Drew, and Stu gathered by the Christmas tree and started to sing:

"Joy to the World; the Lord is come!
Let earth receive her King!
Let ev'ry heart prepare Him room,
And Heaven and nature sing,
And Heaven and nature sing
And Heaven, and Heaven and nature sing.
"

But as the rest of the people were singing, Melinda and Stu, seizing the opportunity, snuck out of the living room and went to the closet where the toboggan Shirley had intended for Chas had been stored. Speaking not a word, the two children opened the closet, took the toboggan and tiptoed away out the back door unnoticed by all.

"Joy to the earth, the Savior reigns!
Let men their songs employ;
While fields & floods, rocks, hills & plains
Repeat the sounding joy,
Repeat the sounding joy,
Repeat, repeat the sounding joy.

He rules the world with truth and grace,
And makes the nations prove
The glories of His righteousness,
And wonders of His love,
And wonders of His love,
And wonders, wonders of His love.
"

But soon, Shirley heard the phone ring, and she said, "Hold on, everyone! That could be Marvin!"

And she picked up the phone and said, "Hello… Oh, hi, Marvin!" But as she spoke to Marvin, her face fell. "Stuck in New Mexico? Oh, no!"

Then, she hung up the phone, went to Chas, and said, "I'm sorry, Charles. Your father and aunt Muriel won't be home for Christmas."

This made Chas very sad, and he said to himself, "Well, even if I finally got the Christmas gift I always wanted, I couldn't be more miserable."


Meanwhile, in New Mexico, Marvin and Muriel had just gotten off the bus and were waiting for a taxicab—and a Christmas miracle.

"I'm proud of you, Muriel," said Marvin to his older sister.

"Why?" asked Muriel. "We're gonna miss Christmas."

"Yeah, but through it all, you kept your cool."

"Thanks," said Muriel as she embraced Marvin. "It means a lot to me to hear my kid brother say that."

But Muriel had become frazzled by the ordeal of spending who knows how long trying to get back to California. And so, when a cab came along and a huge, muscular man tried to get in, Muriel had had enough! She grabbed the man by the shirt collar and shouted in a rage, "MY BROTHER AND I HAVE BEEN THROUGH THREE DIFFERENT COUNTRIES AND TWO CONTINENTS! WE'VE BEEN PATIENT THROUGH MULTIPLE TIME ZONES! THIS CAB IS MINE, BUSTER! MINE! IT'S MINE!"

Marvin was shocked. He had never seen his sister so angry before, and he could only try to stifle his fear as Muriel led him into the cab, which was headed for California…


The next day, Christmas Eve, back in California, Melinda and Stu had returned the sled to the Jenkins household.

"There's gonna be one happy kid to-morrow morning," said Melinda.

"I wish I could say that for Chas, though," sighed Stu. "One of us has got to tell Mrs. Finster the truth about where I got the sled, and it's gonna be me."

"Don't you mean it's not gonna be you?"

"No, I mean it is gonna be me. I'm the one who stole it and then returned it to its proper home. In the meantime, Melinda, you can go home."

And as Stu went off to the Finster household, Melinda replied sadly, "Well, see you soon."

And she sat down on the curb to mope.


Meanwhile, in the Finster household, Shirley opened the closet door to check on the toboggan for Chas, only to find that the closet was empty.

"Oh, no!" she cried. "Who could have stolen my Charles' sled?!"

Once she got into the living room, she noticed her son Chas coming downstairs.

"Charles!" said Shirley with a sad look on her face. "I'm so sorry, my little muffin man! I don't think you'll be getting a Christmas present this year!"

Chas sighed, "I was afraid of that."

But when he saw his mother bury her face in her hands and burst into tears in front of him, Chas tried to comfort her, saying, "Don't cry, mom. It wasn't your fault."

"I can't help it!" sobbed Shirley. "I should have gotten you those bunny pajamas when I had the chance!"

At first, Chas was shocked to hear that, then he said, "Well, I guess it would have been better than nothing, because this will be the worst Christmas ever."

"I'll say! You father and aunt Muriel are stuck in New Mexico, you'll get no presents, and our Christmas is ruined!"

At that moment, Stu opened the door and said, "Mrs. Finster! I have a confession to make: I stole a sled—twice!"

Shirley dried her tears and said to Stu, "Tell me exactly what happened."

Stu told everything: "Melinda and I just wanted Chas to have a great Christmas present, like the rest of us get every year."

"Wait, I was going to get a sled?" gasped Chas with delight, before his face fell. "Now, I'm gonna get nothing!"


But meanwhile, Melinda got up from the curb to see a cab come in from New Mexico. And from the cab came none other than Marvin and Muriel Finster.

"Thanks for the ride!" said Marvin.

"Don't mention it," replied the frazzled cab driver as he turned around and drove back to New Mexico.

Melinda was pleasantly surprised, and she shouted, "Mr. Finster! Miss Finster!"

"Melinda! What are you doing here?" asked Muriel.

"It's a long story," Melinda replied. "But to make a long story short, Charles may get nothing for Christmas."

"Nothing?" cried Marvin.

"You heard me right. I'll show you the way to Charles' home and tell you everything along the way."

And Melinda led Mr. and Miss Finster to the Finster residence.


There, Chas, Shirley, and Stu were all moping together in front of the Christmas tree.

"By the way, Stu," said Chas, "what was the surprise you and Melinda were intending to get me?"

Stu was about to reply when he, Chas, and Shirley heard the doorknob turn. And once the door was opened, who should they see but Marvin, Muriel, and Melinda, all carrying luggage back into the house!

"Dad! Aunt Muriel!" shouted Chas with joy as he rushed for his father.

"Marvin!" cried Shirley as she too ran to embrace her husband.

Soon, all of the Finster family members were exchanging hugs and warm welcomes.

Shirley then said to Chas, "Looks like you don't quite have nothing. In fact, you have everything! Sometimes, you may lose sight of that. I know I did."

Chas then turned to Melinda and said with a smile, "Wow, Melinda! You saved Christmas! This is the greatest Christmas surprise ever! And you and Stu planned it all along!"

Melinda was taken aback. She didn't know what to say to him.

"Why don't we just roll along with it?" Stu whispered to Melinda.

"You could say that," Melinda said to Chas.

Then, she pointed up and said, "Say, Charles. You'll never guess who's standing under the mistletoe."

Chas looked up and smiled sheepishly, "Oh, boy!" And Melinda impetuously planted a kiss on his cheek, whereupon he blushed.

Then, Muriel said to Chas, "While you two lovebirds go on kissin' each other…" And she presented Chas with a foot-tall animatronic doll, an accordion player which was a souvenir from Paris, as she said to Marvin and Shirley, "Anything's better than the gifts you two pick out."

"You hear that, Mr. Five-Pounds-of-Veal?" said Shirley teasingly.

"Look who's talkin', Mrs. Bunny-Pajamas!" Marvin replied, equally teasingly.

"Touché!"

Chas gazed at the doll, then he turned to his mother and said, "You were right all along, mom: Christmas does begin and end with family."

And he pushed the button at the base of the doll, causing the animatronic to play "The First Noel" on the accordion, Parisian-style.


That night, a gentle snow fell upon the ground as, in the church, Chas, Melinda, Stu, Drew, Howard, Charlotte, Betty, and their respective parents all attended the church service. The tenor soloist sang a moving rendition of "The First Noel," with Betty among the children's choir accompanying him:

"The first Noel the angel did say
Was to certain poor shepherds in fields as they lay;
In fields where they lay, keeping their sheep,
On a cold winter's night that was so deep.

Noel, Noel, Noel, Noel
Born is the King of Israel!
"

And the entire congregation applauded the hymn. It was a merry Christmas after all.