Just hear those sleigh bells jingling, ring-ting-tingling too.

Come on, it's lovely weather for a sleigh ride together with you.

Outside the snow is falling and friends are calling, "Yoo hoo!"

Come on, it's lovely weather for a sleigh ride together with you.

Let's go, let's look at the show. We're riding in a wonderland of snow.

It's grand, just holding your hand. We're riding along with a song of a wintry fairy land.

Our cheeks are nice and rosy and comfy cozy are we.

We're snuggled up together like two birds of a feather would be.

Let's take that road before us and sing a chorus or two.

Come on, it's lovely weather for a sleigh ride together with you

-Leroy Anderson

At school, Shawn downplayed any interest he had in holiday festivities as he still had the aloof, bad boy reputation to uphold. So, unless something came up like a winter dance or another event that involved girls, Shawn maintained his disinterest. Cory and Topanga knew otherwise, but they did not know the extent of what was going on at home.

It wasn't that Shawn didn't want them to know all that Jon and Audrey were doing for him; sometimes it was extremely hard not to say anything. It was just that he wanted to keep the experiences to himself for the time being. Many of the things he was doing with his caretakers were things that Cory and Topanga commonly did with their families. Some things- like going to the Christmas Village- were things they always did but were not doing this year for whatever reason.

Shawn knew they both loved going to the Philadelphia Christmas Village and would want to come along if they knew he was going. He also knew that Jon and Audrey wouldn't mind having a couple of extra people go with them. So, he felt a little guilty going without telling them. Shawn just didn't want to share Jon or Audrey with anyone right now. Next year, he would ask if they could all go together. But not this year.

The Friday after the Christmas tree was set up Jon and Shawn went home with Audrey. Shawn honestly preferred Audrey's place over Jon's for two reasons: 1) it was a house not an apartment and 2) no one randomly came over uninvited nor walked in unannounced. Since both were frequent occurrences at Jon's place, it was far less stressful for the three of them to be together at Audrey's.

The day before, while Jon was in a union meeting at school, Audrey had taken him to the store to buy Christmas cards. Shawn couldn't wait to get these sent out. He had a four-page list detailing everyone whose name he could remember. With his list, the cards, pens, and the phone book Shawn took a seat at the kitchen table and got to work. But when it came to sending the cards to his family, he ran into a bit of an issue. Most of his relatives were unlisted in the phone book as many had no permanent place of address. Some were at the trailer park, some were in witness protection, and many others were in jail.

Shawn wasn't sure how to get the cards to those in jail and didn't think Jon would appreciate being asked to do an in person visit to deliver them. It was probably best just to drop them all off at Uncle Mike's shop and let him be his mail carrier. Shawn smiled slightly at the thought of this. He wished he could be there to see his family's reaction to getting the cards. The Hunters didn't send Christmas cards unless there was a holiday threat inside. A card wishing them a simple Merry Christmas might make a few so nervous they'd go into hiding.

Whatever.

Shawn wasn't going to let that dissuade him from spreading Christmas cheer. What they did with it was their business.

He was about halfway through his list when Jon walked into the living room. He saw Shawn's stack of completed cards and looked impressed.

"You about done?" he asked. The card onto top of the stack caught his attention.

"Almost."

"Who's Dude at the bus stop?" He pointed to the envelope he was looking at.

"You know the guy that's always waiting by the stop on Novak Lane but never gets on the bus?"

"Yeah."

"That's him."

"You know him?"

"Yeah. I say hi to him when I walk home with Cory."

"What's his name?"

"I dunno," Shawn shrugged. "That's why it says Dude at the bus stop."

Jon couldn't help but smile. "Hurry up if you can. We want to get going as soon as possible. We can drop these off tomorrow."

One of the earmarks of the Christmas season in Philadelphia was the German-style Christmas Village in Love Park. There were more than eighty booths of local and international merchants selling Käthe Wohlfahrt trimmings, winter apparel, handmade toys, and all sorts of food and drinks. The Village wrapped all around City Hall where the Philly Holiday Tree was.

This was one of those things that Shawn had always wanted to do, but never had the chance to do. Aside from the expense, people like his family weren't the most welcome. They were too loud, too coarse, too drunk. Getting kicked out and banned was an almost certainty, so staying away was the best way to avoid that embarrassment. Cory had wanted him to go with his family in previous years, but it was one of those traditions that was restricted to the immediate family only.

Shawn understood that now.

There was so much to do, and he wanted to do everything. Shawn dragged Jon and Audrey along to every booth they passed by. With all that was going on, Jon began to get careless with his public behavior with Audrey and Shawn, Audrey especially. Getting caught up in the holiday spirit, the fact that they were not an actual family faded from his memory as well as the fact that they could all get into a lot of trouble should the wrong people see them. He found himself frequently holding onto to Audrey either by hand or waist.

Shawn, however, had not forgotten about potential busybodies and, wanting to encourage his teachers' budding relationship as much as possible, kept a close eye on the faces they passed by to make sure there was no one they knew in them. But even he grew lazy in his vigilance as he got more engrossed in the activities around them.

At one point, Jon left them to get hot chocolate and coffee while Shawn and Audrey stood by a booth selling hand painted ornaments from Ukraine while looking over the picture the three of them that had just been taken with Santa. Shawn was talking to Audrey about the photo with his back to the crowd when he heard an almost British sounding voice formally call him by name. The voice he heard made his blood run cold.

"Ah, Mr. Hunter. Curious to run into you here. And with Miss Andrews, too."

For a moment, Shawn panicked, worried that Jon might return too soon. He stared at Audrey with wide eyes and quickly gave the photograph to her. Then a sudden thought popped into his head and his anxiety disappeared as he turned to face his principal with a grim face, doing what he did best- being the troubled teen with a big attitude.

"Ah, man! You're here, too?" Shawn complained loudly, giving the older man an infuriated glare. "What is this? John Adams High teacher day at the Christmas Village? It's bad enough I have to come here with my English teacher, then I get caught by Miss Andrews after ditchin' him and now you," he shoved his hands out in Mr. Feeny's direction in frustration. "Don't tell me- Miss Tompkins and Mr. Williams are here too. Did you guys take a bus here or somethin'?"

Shawn's was a very convincing act. Even Audrey was taken aback by the outburst initially. Mr. Feeny caught the displeased look she was giving Shawn and added in one of his own.

"Yes, well," he said, keeping an eye on Audrey. It seemed to be too much of a coincidence that the two were together. "So, you've run off from Mr. Turner, have you?"

"I was going to stay with him until Mr. Turner caught up with him," Audrey explained. She'd hoped the principal had not seen her put the picture Shawn gave her into her jacket pocket.

"You go on, Miss Andrews, I'll wait with him," Mr. Feeny said with a tight smile. "Mr. Hunter and I can catch up."

Audrey paused and Shawn looked back over his shoulder at her. She looked away quickly so Mr. Feeny wouldn't see the look they exchanged.

"I guess I'll see you two at school on Monday," she said with a frown.

Mr. Feeny gave her a pleasant smile and watched her leave. Shawn gave a silent sigh of relief when he saw her head in the direction Jon would be coming from. He turned back to his principal, already planning an escape.

"If Mr. Turner was kind enough to bring you here," Mr. Feeny said with some concern. He took a step closer to the boy. "Why would you repay him by running off?"

Shawn shrugged. "Look around, Mr. Feeny. Everyone is here with their families. Guess who's not?" He jerked his thumb against his chest. "Me, that's who. I'm with my English teacher. Let's face it, this place is kinda lame anyway."

Mr. Feeny studied the teen intently. He was quiet for so long that Shawn began to sweat in fear that the man wasn't buying his story.

"I understand that this must be a difficult time for you, Shawn, with your father still gone." he said kindly. "If Mr. Turner brought you here it must because he's trying to do something to make Christmas a bit better. Perhaps you shouldn't be so hard on him."

It was so very rare that Mr. Feeny ever addressed any of his students by name as he preferred to keep a strong distance between him and them. For him to call Shawn by his first name was an indication of his compassion and concern for his student. He felt horrible for lying to his principal, but at the same time he could not betray Jon and Audrey.

Shawn couldn't stand to look at Mr. Feeny any longer, so he stared down at his feet trying to figure out what to do. Just before his conscience got the better of him, Jon came running up to them, no coffee or hot chocolate or Audrey to be seen.

"There you are, Shawn!" Jon sounded like someone who was trying to sound like he was out of breath. "What's the big idea takin' off on me like that?!"

Shawn channeled all his guilt into a rude retort and crossed his arms across his chest. At Mr. Feeny's stern look, he dropped his arms, turned to Jon, and said, "Sorry. Just not feelin' great right now."

Mr. Feeny motioned for Jon to come over to him. He took a few steps back so Shawn wouldn't overhear him. "I believe he's missing his father."

At that, Jon began to feel as guilty as Shawn. "I figured," Jon replied uncomfortably. Truthfully, he hadn't thought of Chet Hunter even once in the last few weeks.

"Do you have this under control?"

"Yeah," the English Lit teacher said. "Yeah, I think we'll be fine. Thanks for stayin' with him, George."

"Of course, Jonathan. Take care."

Jon turned his back on the principal so Mr. Feeny couldn't see the face he made. Shawn put a hand over his mouth to cover up his laugh.

"Oh, Jonathan."

Jon locked eyes with Shawn and mouthed, "There's more?"

"Yeah," he said, turning back around to face the older man.

"Miss Andrews was the one who caught him first," Mr. Feeny said. There was something in his voice that neither Jon nor Shawn quite understood. "I thought you'd like to know, so you could thank her." He paused and gave them both a very stern look. "On Monday."

He turned and left them standing there in the middle of the crowd staring at each other. "On Monday" seemed to contain an ominous threat of sorts. Jon did not like the implication of the last statement.

Shawn was fuming. "You want me to follow him and make sure he's leavin' and isn't followin' us?"

"No," Jon said, looking to make sure the principal really had left. "We need to get Audrey and get outta here."

"What?!" Shawn was so angered at the thought they'd have to leave just to avoid being seen together that he childishly stomped his foot into the pavement. "I don't wanna leave yet!"

"Calm down." Jon grabbed him by the jacket and took him over to where Audrey was. "We're not leavin'. We're just gonna double back around the Park and hope we don't run into anyone else from school."

Run into someone else from the school they did. As the trio made their way around the Park, they purposely wove through the beer tasting area as they assumed it was an unlikely place to find Mr. Feeny. The people at the Beer Garden were in very high spirits from the variety of beer that they had been sampling for quite some time.

There was one particularly jovially group singing Christmas Carols loudly and badly. Shawn wrinkled his nose and covered his ears as he walked by them. He had almost passed them when the dancing started. Someone grabbed him and pulled him into the dance. Offended at being touched by a stranger, Shawn jerked away and turned, ready to fight. When the offender faced him, he stared in surprise at the woman and dropped his hands.

"Miss Collins?"

"Shawn?" She stopped smiling for a moment and regarded him with wide eyes.

Shawn didn't know quite how to react to seeing his guidance counselor out in public and slightly drunk. Actually, she was his former guidance counselor. Miss Collins' tenure at John Adams High had been short-lived. According to Mr. Feeny, the high school was not a good fit for her; she was better suited elsewhere.

"Hey!" She grinned at him, then gave him a semi-serious look. "I think you're in the wrong part of the Village, don't you?"

It took Shawn a moment to figure out what she meant since what he was doing there and what she thought he was doing there were two very different things.

"Yeah, I'm-" Before he could get out "with friends", Jon leading Audrey by the hand caught up with him after being detained by a group of revelers.

"Jonathan!" she squealed delightedly. Her turn towards the teacher was abrupt, she stumbled a bit knocking into Shawn who backed away from her as quickly as he could.

"Devon?" The look on Jon's face was a mix of surprise and horror.

"I've been hoping to run into you somewhere."

"You have?" He glanced worriedly at Audrey. "Why?"

"You are the one person I really miss from John Adams High," she replied flirtatiously with a slightly crooked grin.

John was confused by this confession. He had no idea what she was talking about it. But he was worried Audrey would think he did.

Arurrgugh! Shawn screamed in his head, thoroughly frustrated with the way things were going. Why can't people just leave us alone?

Audrey stayed silent; she didn't look happy.

"This is Devon Collins," Jon told Audrey. "She was Shawn's guidance counselor briefly."

"That's 'cause she got fired," Shawn injected rudely, wanting the conversation to be done with as quickly as possible.

Devon ignored both Shawn and Audrey and grabbed Jon's arm. He didn't move with her, so she slid both of her hands down his arm and forcibly disengaged his hand from Audrey's. The look of disgust that overtook Audrey's face was mirrored in Shawn's. Shawn immediately went to Audrey's defense, agitated and ready to fight.

"Come on," Devon tried to pull Jon along with her. "I've got some friends I want you to meet. You can join us- the Beer Flight tasting is about to start."

Jon jerked away from her and put his arm around Audrey. It wasn't the smartest thing to do considering their principal was wandering the grounds somewhere. But it was a risk he took since Devon didn't work at John Adams High anymore and the alcohol was likely to impair her memory. "No thanks. I've got plans.

Speaking of plans, Shawn was done with people ruining his, especially this way. He squared up to Devon ready to verbally take her on after the way she insulted Audrey. He felt Jon's hand around his arm, pulling him away.

"C'mon, Shawn. Let's go."

Devon was clearly offended and upset. She called after Jon, but he ignored her.

Shawn continued grumbling about her under his breath until Jon said, "We need to get out of this place. I'm gonna get in trouble havin' you two in here."

"Why?" Shawn asked. He walked alongside Audrey with his arm linked through hers.

"You're both underage."

Shawn wrinkled his nose. "I thought the drinkin' age was 21."

"It is."

"So, one of us is underage. Audrey's 21." He was surprised Jon had forgotten this. Or that his math skills were so bad.

"Oh, no, she's not," he remarked shooting her a look.

The teen tugged on Audrey's arm. "Really? I thought you were."

Audrey gave Jon a dirty look not sure why he was mentioning this now.

He was unbothered by it. "You wanna tell him or should I?" he asked lightly.

"I'll be 21 in July," she said sulkily.

Jon wasn't sure why he was pushing this but running into Devon and Mr. Feeny had rattled him, and he needed a distraction. "Yeah, but that's not what her student teachin' application says."

"I don't get it what's the big deal?"

Audrey let out a sigh. "My school is a little different when it comes to admittance into the program. They require you to be 21. My birthday is late, but I didn't want to wait another year before student teaching."

"So dear Uncle Alex fudged her record a bit," Jon added.

"Only for the student teaching program not for school!" she cried defensively.

Shawn, being a Hunter, was delighted that they all had something on each other that could be used for blackmail purposes should the need arise.

"Ha!" he said to Jon. "You're the only one old enough to legally drink."

"Yeah, lucky me." he said. Suddenly, he felt incredibly old.

"So, like, you've been able to drink longer than we've been alive."

Naturally, the teen would have to say this in front of Audrey. Jon stared at him. Either Shawn had no idea how old he was, or he really needed to get the kid in for math tutoring. "I am not that old!"

Audrey bit her lip to keep from laughing. Shawn shrugged and skipped off ahead of them.

Jon looked humiliated.

"What's wrong?" she asked, taking his hand. She was feeling light and happy, so she turned to face him, pulling him along as she walked backwards.

"Nothin'. Just don't walk so fast. Old man here can't keep up."

She wrinkled her nose at him. "You're not that old."

"Older then. By a lot."

"So?" she asked with a sparkle in her eyes. "Nothin' wrong with that."

With an impish grin she dropped his hand and took off after Shawn.

Jon stared after her trying to decipher what she meant.

Nothin' wrong with that. Shawn's taunting words came back to him. Maybe the kid hadn't been lying about talking to Audrey about him. Maybe. Jon perked up and took off after the two.

There's a birthday party at the home of Farmer Gray.

It'll be the perfect ending of a perfect day.

We'll be singing the songs We love to sing without a single stop.

At the fireplace while we watch the chestnuts pop. Pop! Pop! Pop!

There's a happy feeling nothing in the world can buy.

When they pass around the chocolate and the pumpkin pie.

It'll nearly be like a picture print by Currier and Ives.

These wonderful things are the things we remember all through our lives!

Just hear those sleigh bells jingling, ring-ting-tingling too.

Come on, it's lovely weather for a sleigh ride together with you.

Thanks for reading. Hope you're enjoying the story so far.

I would love to hear your thoughts. No comment too small. :-)