Disclaimer: see Chapter 1

A/N: I decided that we're going to forget Comet the Second ever happened. Whoever left that review was right, it wasn't very realistic! Like I said in the last chapter, I'm going to try to make this longer. And Elmtree, that is a good idea, but I already have ideas for a sequel so I don't think it's gonna happen. If my grammar is a little off, I'm listing to Santana right now. Happy (belated?) Hanukkah, Merry Christmas, Happy Kwanza, and any other holiday I'm forgetting!

Chapter 5 – Christmas Gifts

Michelle Tanner ran down the stairs on Christmas Eve morning, knowing Joey would be awake already. They both loved Christmas.

"Morning, Joey!"

"Hey Michelle," Joey said, not sounding at all energetic.

"Joey, what's going on?" Michelle instantly knew something was wrong.

"Nothing,"

"Joey…"

"…Hailey broke up with me last night," Hailey was Joey's girlfriend of almost a year. Michelle knew Joey was crazy about her. This must've been really hard on him.

"That's awful! What kind of cruel person would dump someone during the holidays!"

"I don't know Michelle," Joey said, pouring himself a glass of juice, "She said something about being too funny,"

"Is that possible?"

Joey shrugged.

"I bet I can have you cheered up by tomorrow night. Wait and see!" Michelle ran off with a glass of orange juice.

Nicky was also up with the sun that morning. Alex, who stopped believing in Santa when he was six, was pretty annoyed by his brother. Why bother being perky? It was just another holiday.

Becky loved the holiday season. She was up early attempting to make pancakes. She saw her son run down stairs. "Morning, Mom," he said cheerfully.

"Hey," she said, ruffling his hair. "Nicky, would you mind stirring the batter for me? I have to…do something."

Becky ran off in the direction of the bathroom.

Jesse walked into the boys' room. "Hey, Alex, wake up," He said.

Alex responded by rolling over to face the wall.

"C'mon, Alex," Jesse tried to perk up his son, "I think your Mom tried to cook for us this morning,"

"I'd wanna live past eight, Dad,"

Jesse laughed. "This kid hangs around Joey too often," he thought. "Alex…we'd better go make sure the stove isn't up in flames."

Back at the Tanner house, Steve showed up bright and early with a box of Munchkins. DJ was only half-awake, and Stephanie was drinking some coffee. "Hey, Steve," she greeted her soon to be brother in law. DJ was too tired to kiss or anything so, she just got herself a cup or coffee and sat down next to her sister.

"So, did you girls look at that catalogue yet?" Steve asked, opening the box of donuts.

"Sort of," DJ yawned.

Steve smiled. He thought she was so cute when she yawned.

"You proposed to a procrastinator, Steve" Stephanie joked.

"It's too early for this," DJ said taking a gulp of coffee.

Joey sulked into the kitchen and grabbed a glazed Munchkin. Michelle was following him.

"Please Joey!" she begged him. "Why won't you do your Popeye impressions! That always cheers us up!" Popeye was still Michelle's favorite.

Apparently Joey wasn't in the cheering up kind of mood. He just grabbed another donut and left.

"What's with him?" Stephanie asked, examining the box.

"Hailey dumped him,"

"That's terrible!" DJ said, the coffee working quickly on her,

"I know!"

"That's so mean! And right before Christmas!" Stephanie shouted.

"I know," Michelle said, grabbing a cinnamon donut. "How are we going to cheer him up?"

Steve thought a while and then said, "Michelle, you have any money saved up?"

"Yeah, about 40 dollars,"

"Then we're going shopping this afternoon!"

Michelle smiled. She didn't doubt that Steve would help her pick out the perfect gift.

"I have a job interview around eleven," Steph said between mouthfulls. "I can meet you there."

"I'll come, too," DJ said, grabbing a chocolate donut.

"Sounds fun!" Steve said, grabbing three donuts at once.

Michelle rolled her eyes and laughed. DJ went to get another cup of coffee.

Danny woke up late that morning. He really didn't want to go to work that day, but he had to do his show. "You guys have plans today?" Danny asked pouring a cup of coffee.

"Just a little last minute shopping," Stephanie said, kissing her father on a cheek.

"We're trying to cheer Joey up," Michelle said.

"He told me about it last night," Danny said, fiddling with his tie, "If anyone can do it, it's you."

Steph looked at the clock. "9:15 already! I'd better do my hair!"

"Must be an important interview," Michelle said, nibbling her donut

"Sounds like it," Danny said, heading out the door to pick up Becky.

Jesse was wrapping some last minute gifts. Becky was at her show with Danny. He decided to tape it and watch I some other time. He needed some time to think.

"There," he said, tying a green ribbon around Becky's present from the boys. It was a picture frame shaped like a cow. Becky was still mourning the loss of her cow from three years back. Nicky ran downstairs. "Hey, Dad!" he said happily, "Why aren't you watching the show?"

"I still need to wrap some presents."

"Why can't you wrap and watch at the same time?"

"Why can't you mind your business!"

Nicky was surprised. Jesse only snapped at the boys after they played a mean trick on someone. He left then.

Jesse felt bad after that. He was so confused about this baby thing that he didn't think before he spoke. He hurt his son's feelings. "Great," he sighed, shoving the present into the tree stand.

Jesse looked at the Christmas tree. It was full of ornaments the boys had painted when they were younger. His head suddenly filled with "what ifs" again, and he needed to lie down.

Stephanie pulled in the mall parking lot as DJ, Steve, and Michelle were getting out of the car. "How'd the interview go, Steph?" DJ asked, swinging her purse over her shoulder.

"I don't know," Steph said, getting out of her car, "He said he'd call."

"Good luck," Michelle said.

The four walked in the store. It wasn't as crowded as they thought. Steph guessed that most people went somewhere colder for the winter. Most people in San Francisco wished for snow in winter.

"So, Steve, what was your idea?" Michelle asked, making sure her money was still in her pocket.

"Just follow me," he said. They turned in the direction of the elevator.

Steph looked at DJ. "So, what should we do?"

"I have an idea for Steve's present," DJ said, pulling Stephanie toward the escalator.

Steve and Michelle had found the aisle they were looking for. "There's atleast fifty different kinds of these things!" Michelle shouted in amazement.

"Which one should be get him?" Steve asked.

Michelle looked around for a while, then chose the one on the far left. "This one looks good," Michelle said.

"I think so too, Michelle."

"It looks amazing, Deej!" Steph said, looking at the gift DJ had picked out for Steve.

"His old one is so…old," she said, "He's wanted a new one for a while."

"He'll love it, Deej," Stephanie said. "I'll even chip in for an inscription.

"Do you know you're the greatest sister ever?"

"Of course!" Stephanie laughed, and walked over to the counter.

"Would you like it wrapped, sir?" the clerk asked Steve, "Free of charge,"

"Sure,"

"What color paper would you like?" the clerk showed swatches of different colors.

"Hmm…" Michelle looked at the colors. "I like the striped one,"

The clerk nodded and began wrapping.

"Anything else we need to do?" Michelle asked her almost brother-in-law.

"I have to get DJ's present," the clerk gave the gift to Michelle and Steve pulled out his credit card, "Let's go to the second floor."

"You guys done?" DJ asked. They were waiting by the front entrance for Steve and Michelle.

"Yup!" Michelle said, holding up her bag.

"Us too," Steph said. "Let's go get something to eat! I'm starved."

"You read my mind!" Steve said. They decided to go to a local place around the corner.

Becky came home at 1:30 that afternoon. "Sorry I'm so late!" she said, kissing her husband, "But I had a last minute trip to make.

"Did it involve toy stores?" Alex asked, grabbing a glass from the cabinet.

"Maybe," she said, ruffling his hair.

The family went over to the Tanners' for dinner that night. When they walked in, they saw Joey watching How The Grinch Stole Christmas, trying to cheer himself up.

"I love this movie!" Alex shouted running over to the couch.

"Me too!" his brother said, joining them.

DJ and Steph were wrapping presents by the fireplace. They're uncle walked over and kissed each girl on the top of their head, and walked in the kitchen to greet his brother-in-law.

Becky sat down next to the girls. "Need any help?"

"Sure," Steph said. "Think you can un-tie the tape from my arm?"

DJ and Becky laughed, and her aunt tried to un-stick the double-sided tape from her middle niece.

Michelle waltzed down the stairs in a very good mood. "Hi Nicky! Hi Alex! Hi Aunt Becky!"

"Hey, Michelle," DJ said, tying a ribbon around a box. "Where's Steve?"

Michelle shrugged and Stephanie replied with a sarcastic, "Probably eating something,"

Becky laughed and DJ threw the spool of ribbon at her sister.

"Dinner!" Danny called from the kitchen, and the family, including Steve, who had just run down the stairs, hurried to the table.

"This is really good, Uncle Danny!" Nicky said, helping himself to another piece of chicken.

"Glad you like it," Danny beamed.

"So, girls," Jesse said to his nieces between sips of water, "Anything special happen today?"

"We all went shopping," Stephanie said, taking a mouthful of peas.

"And I found the perfect gift," Michelle said, winking at Joey. Joey cracked a tiny smile and spooned more potatoes on his plate.

"I can't believe girl would do such a thing!" Becky said.

"Can we not talk about it?" Joey said more to his plate than his friends.

"Sorry," Becky mumbled, fingering her knife.

"I did a little shopping myself," Danny said smiling.

"Did it involve the word 'boombox'?" Michelle asked eagerly.

"Why would Uncle Danny have to get one for you?" Nicky asked. "It's Santa's job."

Michelle pretended to take a sip of water so he wouldn't see her laugh.

"It may have," Danny smiled at his youngest daughter.

"Yes!" Michelle cheered.

Jesse looked somewhat disappointed. "Don't you remember that trip to the homeless shelter?"

"Of course, Uncle Jesse," Michelle said, refilling her glass, "But I still like presents."

"It wasn't a total loss," Stephanie reassured her uncle, "DJ and I donated four dollars to the Salvation Army today."

Jesse smiled and took another sip of water.

Nicky had a fair amount of trouble sleeping that night. He was too excited to sleep. Christmas was his favorite holiday besides his birthday. He thought of reindeer landing on his roof, piles of presents under the tree, so much holiday cheer. The more he thought about it the more excited he got. It was midnight before he finally dozed off.

Jesse had trouble sleeping too, but for different reasons. Why did Becky really go shopping? Was it for presents? Or could it have been a pregnancy test? Or even a doctor's appointment? He shouldn't have agreed with her. He knew he didn't want this. "I hope my attitude changes," he whispered to himself.

"It may be too late now."

Nicky woke up at 6 AM the next morning. He ran to wake up his brother, who was sound asleep. "Alex! Alex!" he screamed, "It's Christmas!"

Alex sat up and bed and said, "Let's go see how big those boxes are!"

When Nicky and Alex got downstairs, they were surprised to see their father sitting at the table, fully dressed, drinking coffee. "Dad?" Alex asked, "What are you doing here?"

Jesse looked at Nicky and said, "Santa woke me."

Alex rolled his eyes and his brother laughed. Becky walked downstairs in her robe. "Morning boys," she yawned. Alex kept eyeing the tree.

"Go ahead," Jesse said, thinking of the trip to the homeless shelter.

The boys cheered and began shredding wrapping paper.

Michelle woke up around seven that morning. Still a bit tired she thought, "That's weird. Joey usually wakes us all up way earlier than this," Then she remembered, this may have been the first Christmas he slept in.

Not if it was up to her, it wouldn't be.

She ran to the attic and jumped on the bed, something she only did when she was younger. It always made Joey laugh, and Michelle decided that was what he needed most this Christmas. Joey's eyes fluttered open.

"Joey, wake up!" she said, "It's Christmas!"

Joey rolled over, causing Michelle to fall off the bed. "Joey!" she protested.

"It's too early Michelle,"

"Joey, didn't you hear me! It's Christmas! Our favorite holiday!"

"Since when,"

"Stop being such a Scrooge!"

If there was one name Joey hated the most, it was Scrooge. Michelle was right, just because he wasn't in such a good mood didn't mean every else should be, too. He jumped out of bed, put on his Scooby Doo slippers, and said, "Let's go round up everyone else!"

Michelle smiled and followed him out the door.

"Wake up!" Michelle shouted to Stephanie.

"Michelle, it's too early," Stephanie kept her eyes shut.

"But it's Christmas,"

"Michelle, aren't you a little old for this?"

"I'll be too old on my 90th birthday!"

"Fine!" Stephanie said. She jumped out of bed, shook out her hair, tossed on her slippers and said, "Satisfied?"

"Completely," Michelle nodded, "Now lets go wake up Dad!"

Joey was determined to get into the holiday spirit. He decided to play four-year-old and use the "Wake up! Wake up!" routine on DJ. Joey shook DJ lightly and said, "Deej, wake up. It's Christmas morning."

"Just five more minutes," DJ mumbled.

"But DJ…"

"It's too early!"

Steve suddenly appeared in her room. "There's no such thing as too early on Christmas," he said softly.

Steve's voice perked DJ right up and she hurried to put on her robe.

Michelle, Stephanie, and Danny were waiting in the living room for Joey and DJ. They had seen Steve come in, completely energetic, only a minute ago. The second Joey appeared on the stairs, Michelle ran to open her presents.

Everyone seemed satisfied with their gifts. Michelle got that boombox she wanted from her father. Stephanie got a bunch of CD's from Steve. DJ had gotten her father a bronze Christmas ornament with the current year on it. He hung it right underneath the star on the top of the tree. Stephanie got her older sister a bottle of perfume. Steve had decided he and DJ would exchange their gifts to each other later. Michelle and Stephanie managed to get Steve a baseball cap autographed by his favorite player. Danny got Joey a smiley face stuffed animal that laughed if you squished it. It still wasn't enough to make him laugh, but he was grateful to have such a great friend.

The Katsopolises came to the Tanner house after breakfast that morning. Nicky and Alex loved the presents they had received, especially a new computer game they'd been hinting for. Jesse had gotten his nieces little glass bears with their birthstone where the heart should be. Becky had gotten them cases to store them in. Stephanie picked up some T-shirts for the boys. They had smiling baseballs on them.

Later, Steve's parents came by, and Michelle's best friend Denise stopped by for a minute on the way to her grandparent's house. Again, Mr. Hale ate a good amount of orderves. Michelle tried not to laugh.

The family table was crowded that night. Danny and his daughters had cooked a lot of food. Even Joey wanted to eat the vegetables they made. Everyone recalled great moments at past Christmases. Mrs. Hale and Becky shared a lot of great stories. Joey was the only one who hardly laughed once. Michelle could hardly wait to give him her special present.

The phone rang during dinner and Stephanie ran up to get it.

"Hello?"

"Hello, Miss. Tanner," said the voice on the phone.

"Mr. Walters!" It was the man she had the interview with.

"I'm sorry to disturb you on Christmas,"

"No problem" Steph became nervous.

"I'm just calling to say that you got the job,"

"I did?"

"You did. Happy holidays!"

"Th…thank you!"

Mr. Walters hung up.

Stephanie jumped back into her seat. "I got the job!"

Everyone congratulated her at the same time, and Mr. Hale asked, "Where do you work then?"

"Well," Stephanie looked at her dad. "I'm camera woman for Wake Up, San Francisco."

Danny and Becky smiled.

"I start work on the 30th," Stephanie said taking a sip of water.

"We look forward to it," Becky laughed.

Danny was still smiling ear to ear.

After dessert, Joey went up to the attic. Michelle thought this would be the perfect time to give him the present. She walked up the stairs and knocked on the attic door,

"Come in," Joey said without emotion.

Michelle hid the box behind her back and opened the door. "Merry Christmas, Joey."

Michelle held out the box. Joey ripped of the red and white wrapping paper to reveal a Dancing Hamster in a karate uniform. "It was the closet thing to hockey I could find," Michelle smiled.

When you pressed its hand it sang "Kung Fu Fighting". Joey had to laugh; it was one of the best things he'd ever seen.

Joey hugged Michelle. "You were right, Michelle," he laughed, "It did cheer me up a whole lot,"

"I love you, Joey!" Michelle said. Joey pressed the button on the hamster again.

Downstairs, DJ and Steve were exchanging their presents. They held out their boxes at the same time. Oddly enough, they had gotten each other watches. They both had inscriptions, too. "Great minds think alike," DJ laughed, embracing Steve.

"I guess so,"

"Yeah," DJ laughed again. They had so much in common.

Jesse and Rebecca were siting outside on the front porch, arms around each other. It was pretty nippy for a San Francisco night and Becky wished she had brought a sweater. "Jesse," she said

"Yeah, Beck?"

"There's something I wanted to give you…" she dug into her pocket and pulled out a small box.

Jesse unwrapped the paper. He couldn't believe his eyes; it was a positive pregnancy test!

"Beck…" he whispered, pulling his wife close and hugging her tightly.

But inside he was screaming.

A/N: I'm feeling sentimental right now. I wish you all nothing but joy, reviews, and inspiration for your stories this holiday season!