A/N: Thanks again for all of the great reviews on this story and my other fanfic, All Alone Now.

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As the weeks passed, the holiday season had arrived and it was in full swing. Kendra and Manny worked intensely on the ice show, spending three nights a week working with the young skaters under their supervision. They wanted to make sure they were ready for the Winter Ice Festival. As the performance drew near, Kendra was confident that the show would come off without a hitch. But she also noticed a change in Manny's behavior. Kendra figured it must be from the vibe that the holidays brought on, because Manny was actually being nice to her.

"You seem to be floating on air, and I'm not just talking about out on the ice either." Kendra told Manny, after one of their rehearsals had ended.

"Huh, oh…I guess I'm just happy is all." Manny responded.

"Sully must've done something really wonderful to sweep you off of your feet like this." Kendra surmised.

"Sully?" Manny paused, "It's not because of Sully, we broke up weeks ago."

"But it is because of a guy." Kendra kept probing, "So tell me who this great catch is?"

"It's just a guy I met. Let's just get all of the equipment together so we can get out of here." Manny said, quickly changing the subject.

"Okay." Kendra replied. She wondered why Manny, who liked to brag about her romantic life, was all of a sudden being so secretive.

Kendra grabbed the other carrying bag that they kept the show props in and followed Manny back to the storage area of the skating arena. Afterwards they both departed for home, without finishing their conversation.

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As Christmas drew closer, Kendra thought it would be a great idea to get Spinner something really nice for a gift. He had been so supportive of her and had even come to watch her as she taught her squad when he didn't have to go to work. Kendra's family wasn't rich, but she asked their Mom and Dad if they would pool the money they were going to spend on Spinner's presents with hers. She wanted them to help her buy him something really extravagant. She had remembered that he had mentioned a couple of times last year that he wanted an expensive MP3 player, like the one that Jimmy had. So Kendra's parents agreed to chip in and help her buy the player for Spinner. Kendra only had one problem, where would she keep it once she got it? Then she figured out one place where it would be completely safe, and she took off to see if he would help her.

Kendra was glad she made it to his locker while he was still there.

"Hi Terri, Hi Hazel," Kendra said as she greeted them, "Can I talk to Jimmy for a minute?"

"Sure." Terri replied, "We have a major test that we're supposed to be meeting Paige to study for, so we'd better get going."

"See you later Jimmy." Hazel said as the pair turned and walked down the hallway.

"So what's up Kendra?" Jimmy asked.

"I need to ask you for your help." Kendra revealed to him.

"Help with what?"

"I want to get a really nice gift for Spinner for Christmas, but I want it to be a total surprise." Kendra told Jimmy.

"Sounds nice." Jimmy replied as he continued to gather his things from his locker.

"Well anyway, I wanted to ask you if you would help me hide it at your house until Christmas?" Kendra asked him, "Spinner gets nosy around the holidays and always snoops around the house trying to find out where his presents are hidden."

"That's fine. What do you plan on getting him?" Jimmy questioned.

"An MP3 player, like the one you got last year. My parents are putting up half of the money and I'm going to pay for the rest of it with money I've saved from my allowance." Kendra said, telling him the rest of her plan.

"Do you really have that much saved up?" Jimmy asked her.

"Yeah, just barely. It took me most of the year to save it up." Kendra answered.

"But why don't you just spend it on yourself?" Jimmy continued to ask, "It's your money."

"I know, but it feels good to do something nice for somebody else." Kendra continued as she explained her motivation, "Spinner can be a jerk a lot of the time, but he can also be a wonderful person when he wants to."

Jimmy just looked at Kendra in amazement. He came from a wealthy family where they could buy just about anything they desired. He had never thought about what it would be like if they couldn't afford the things his parents lavished on him, the things he sometimes took for granted. And here was Kendra, the little sister of his best friend, ready to sacrifice getting something nice for herself just so she could show her brother how much she cared about him. It reminded Jimmy how much he had missed out on, not having a brother or sister of his own.

"So when are you going to get it?" Jimmy asked her.

"I had planned on getting it this afternoon, I was actually on my way to the mall now." Kendra replied.

"Well, let me go with you." Jimmy said as he pulled the straps on his book bag over his shoulders, "That way if somebody sees you with it, I can just say I bought it to replace my old one."

"Wow, thanks Jimmy." Kendra said as she gave Jimmy a hug.

"No problem, now let's get out of here." Jimmy said as the pair walked towards the front entrance of Degrassi together.

Jimmy and Kendra caught a bus to the local shopping mall. The place was packed with holiday shoppers, all searching for the perfect gift. After they maneuvered through the crowd, they finally made it to the electronics specialty store. It was the same store where Jimmy had bought his player. Kendra went inside and picked out the MP3 player that Spinner had constantly talked about wanting to get. She then took it to the sales register and pulled an envelope out of her bag that she had put all of the money into and she prepared to give it to the sales clerk. But just as she did that, Jimmy grabbed her arm and pulled it back down into her bag.

"I'll be paying for that." Jimmy said as he pulled out his store credit card that his father had given him. His father had given it to Jimmy just in case he wanted to get something when his parents weren't around, which was almost always the case.

"Jimmy!" Kendra exclaimed, "Do you realize how much that player costs?"

"Uh-huh, don't worry about it." Jimmy said, reassuring her.

After Jimmy made the purchase for her, the two left the mall and caught a bus back to his condo apartment. Kendra had only been there a couple of times before and she was always overwhelmed by the sheer luxury of the surroundings. She thought Jimmy must be the luckiest guy in the world. He had such a nice place to live and he had parents that could afford to give him whatever he wanted. He could even afford to give his friends expensive presents. But Kendra didn't feel right about Jimmy spending so much on a gift for her brother and she was determined to give him the money that she had with her.

"Come in for a minute." Jimmy said inviting Kendra inside his apartment, "Can I get you something, like a soda?"

"Sure." Kendra agreed.

Kendra sat on a barstool in Jimmy's kitchen while he grabbed two sodas from the refrigerator and poured them into glasses.

"Thanks." Kendra said as she took one of the glasses.

Kendra was trying to figure out a way of giving the money in her envelope to Jimmy, but she didn't want to hurt his feelings since he had done such a nice thing out of the kindness of his heart. So she started a conversation about something else, hoping to eventually bring the subject up.

"So, you haven't been over to the house much lately. It didn't really seem like summer this past year without you and Spinner in and out of the house." Kendra stated.

"Well, I didn't come over because Spinner's been busy with Paige and because…"

Jimmy stopped himself right there. Apparently Spinner hadn't told Kendra the real reason they quit hanging around each other last year. Now that he and Spinner had pretty much patched things up, it didn't seem right to drudge up what had happened with his MP3 player.

"…and because I was busy myself. My parents and I went on vacation over the summer."

"Wow, it must be great to travel and see all kinds of different places. I'd love to be able to do that." Kendra said with excitement in her voice.

"It's okay, sometimes." He replied.

"I guess your parents are going to take you somewhere exotic for Christmas, like they did last year?" Kendra asked, taking another sip from her soda.

"Actually, they have a nice trip planned, it's just that their plans didn't include me." Jimmy confessed to her.

Kendra couldn't believe what she was hearing from Jimmy. It was almost inconceivable that a family wouldn't spend the holidays with each other if they were able to. And Jimmy was so young, even though he was a teenager and older than her, his parents should know that parents and children should be together at this time of year.

"Do you mean you're just going to stay here, all by yourself?" Kendra asked, hoping she had only misunderstood Jimmy.

"That's the plan." Jimmy replied.

"But you can't spend Christmas alone." Kendra declared.

"It's all right, really. I mean it's not as bad as it sounds. My parents bought me a lot of gifts and gave me more spending cash than I can even use." Jimmy told her.

"But that doesn't make up for not being with your loved ones." Kendra stated to him.

After she spoke those words to Jimmy, he didn't say anything in response. He just sat there with his head turned to the side, looking down at the floor.

"Look Jimmy, you're like a part of our family and you can spend the holidays with us." Kendra offered him.

"Thanks, but I don't want to intrude. I'm sure your parents feel like they have enough kids to worry about without adopting another one."

Jimmy realized what he said as soon as it came out, but it was too late to take it back. He didn't mean to offend Kendra, it was just a bad choice of words on his part. He expected Kendra to come unglued at him, but she didn't.

"Um, Kendra, I'm sorry. I wasn't trying to make a crack at you or anything, I just let my mouth run while my brain stood still." Jimmy said apologizing to her.

Kendra wasn't upset or offended by Jimmy. Besides Spinner, he seemed to look out for her and she knew he would never say anything to hurt her intentionally. In many ways, she thought of him as another older brother.

"It's funny you should bring that up. Lately I've been going through some issues about my biological vs. my adopted family. And do you want to know the conclusion that I came to? I realized that family is more than blood links and genetics. A family is made up of the people you love and who love you no matter what. So that makes you family in my book. Look, I have to go now. But at least think about my offer about coming over."

Kendra leaned over and kissed Jimmy on the cheek and then showed herself out of the door. Jimmy just sat there for a while, thinking about what Kendra had said to him.