AN: Thank you so much for the positive response! More at the bottom!

After Farkle explained to the Matthews and Ava what had happened at the bakery and Zay finished off the rest of the broken cookies, which he was sure to inform everyone that they weren't as good as his grandma's, the whole gang set about getting the living room back in order.

They each took turns requesting their favorite Christmas songs as they sang dramatically to one another. Pretty soon the apartment was starting to look like the Winter Wonderland it once was. The mood was somewhat dampened by the fact that there was a Riley-shaped hole in the room. They were all thinking about how much she would love all of them together, enjoying the holiday traditions.

They were having so much fun decorating, Cory decided they should redecorate Riley's room as well. Everyone agreed, except for Maya, who decided it was time she went home to spend a little time with her own family.

Somehow she had been tricked into getting into the holiday spirit, and it made her feel hopeful for her own Christmas miracle. Shawn had been living with them for a few months now, and even though he took frequent trips out of town for his work, he had still been living there long enough to understand the Harts special brand of crazy.

She had to make it work because if she didn't, Riley wouldn't be there to catch her. She tried to call Riley one last time before she left to no avail. She hugged Topanga and Ava, wishing everyone a Merry Christmas and promising to come back later on her way out.

Meanwhile, Zay was pouting because the cookies were all gone, so Topanga suggested they make some more when they were done decorating. Everyone agreed, and Zay found himself really excited to do so. When he was little, he used to make Christmas cookies every year with his mom, but one year they stopped doing it. He couldn't remember why, but his mom had stopped asking for his help a long time ago.

He decided tomorrow morning he would ask her if she wanted to bake cookies together. Maybe Mrs. Matthews had some new recipes they could try together. He was absolutely positive Riley had some. The thought of making cookies with his mom that he could then send to his grandma left him with a warm and fuzzy feeling.

Farkle had never been very big on the holidays, mostly because his parents were always so busy. The housekeepers always did all the decorating. Christmas morning was fun. His parents were usually off and they had a big fancy breakfast together. Sure there were presents, but when you had a train in your house, you tended to take those things for granted.

Decorating the tree with the Matthews, laughing, and listening to Christmas music, he decided then and there he was going to talk to his parents. Surely they could find time to decorate the tree themselves. Maybe his grandparents had old handmade ornaments from when his parents were kids like the Matthews had.

He sent his parents a quick text message, scheduling an early morning meeting with them before they left for work the next day. They both immediately replied with the time they had to leave and agreed to wake up an hour early to have breakfast together. He knew they would. His parents were very busy, very important people, but they always made time for him when he needed it. And he needed it. He needed Christmas. He had taken for granted how much Riley made Christmas magical for him all these years.

Smackle had never had a magical Christmas. She didn't believe in magic or miracles or Santa. It wasn't quantifiable. She had figured out Santa wasn't real when she was 3. She had asked her parents how Santa got around the world and they answered magic, and she knew. She knew magic was a code for not real or they didn't know.

She always wanted to know. She wanted the truth, the results, the knowledge. There was no truth to Santa. One year she wrote a research paper disproving Santa, but her kindergarten teacher didn't appreciate it.

Riley was the first person who ever made her want to believe just for the sake of believing. Every year from the day after Thanksgiving until December 26th, Riley filled her life with colorful Christmas sweaters, delicious treats, fun gifts, and music. Smackle didn't understand it. She couldn't comprehend why anyone would want to go through the stress of buying gifts and being in big crowds of people.

Christmas was not her thing, but being Riley's friend was. Even though it had only been a few hours, she missed her friend. She missed her sweater. Christmas could never be Christmas without her friends. All of her friends. She reached into her pocket and tried to call her one last time before they all left the apartment to go get ingredients from the bakery.

They all bundled up in hats, scarves, and gloves. Cory and Zay opted to stay at the apartment in case Riley came back. The snow was lightly falling on their short walk, which was made longer because Auggie and Ava kept stopping to try to catch snowflakes on their tongues.

When they found out Smackle had never done it before, they had to stop completely to teach her how. Topanga snapped a couple of shots, catching Smackle's delighted smile when she finally caught one on the tip of her tongue. She sent it to Mrs. Smackle, who immediately responding with her gratefulness.

The Smackles loved their daughter for who she was, but seeing how much she had grown and changed since she had met the other teenagers made them believe in miracles again. She had never had friends before, never even seemed interested it, but here she was, laughing and catching snowflakes! One day she might actually get married and have children, she might want that. She never wanted that before Farkle, Riley, and Maya.

Mrs. Smackle sent the picture to her parents with their apologies. They were going to spend Christmas in New York with their friends instead of going to the big annual Smackle Christmas reunion. Isadora hated the huge crowds at the airport, and she shrunk back around their large, loud, boisterous, family. Smackle would never smile like that in Vermont.

Topanga gathered everything they would need to bake a bunch of Christmas goodies, including hot chocolate and eggnog. Riley's secret Santa box was still sitting on the coffee table. As an afterthought, she grabbed that, too.

When they got back to the apartment, they all glanced around hopeful that Riley would be back, but Cory just shook his head sadly. The Christmas music was still playing, but much quieter in the background now. Zay had set up the kitchen, pulling out aprons for everyone. He was wearing a Holiday themed one that had the body of an elf on it.

"Okay!" Topanga said, clapping her hands together as Cory passed out various holiday aprons to the other kids. "I thought we'd start with sugar cookies and then puppy chow. I have these cute little boxes we can put that in. Then there's gingerbread men and no bake cookies. I have a cinnamon candy recipe. Oh! And fudge!"

She grinned widely. "When the cookies are cooled off, we can decorate them! I brought all kinds of icing and sprinkles and some little candies I got from the bakery. We'll make up little tins you guys can all bring home with you!"

Auggie nodded excitedly. "Oh! We should make some for Two Shoes! Riley would really love to give him some cookies! Maybe that will put her in a good mood!"

"How about we make little baggies we can hand out to our neighbors and friends?" Cory suggested, and everyone agreed.

They had just put their first batch of cookies in the oven when Shawn, Maya, and Katy came walking in the door.

"Cookies!" Maya shouted, rushing over to lick one of the many spoons.

"Maya told us about Riley's meltdown. We figured you might want some help, but it looks like you have Christmas cheer aplenty here," Katy said as Shawn took her coat to hang up.

Topanga sighed. "I almost feel guilty. We all should have appreciated how special Riley makes this time of year for us. She is always the first to give a thoughtful gift or bake cookies or make the house look and smell like Christmas."

She gestured to a row of holiday themed scent candles. "All Riley ever wanted was for all of us to have the Christmas spirit. She loves this time of year so much, and none of us took the time to appreciate that she keeps the true spirit of Christmas alive all year long."

"You guys don't even know where she is?" Shawn asked.

"I know where she is," Cory said cryptically, refusing to say anything more.

After a few hours of baking, decorating, and wrapping cookies, which led to an intense food fight, they were all covered in red and green icing and laughing hysterically. Maya finally noticed the Secret Santa box sitting by the tree.

"We need Riley back," she insisted. "We owe her an apology. I was so worried about ruining my first Christmas with Shawn I treated her horribly, and she was right all along. This is a really great time of year."

They all nodded, except for Zay who was staring at his phone with a silly grin on his face.

"What's with you, Babineaux?" Maya asked, playfully grabbing his shirt to get his attention.

"I think I know how we can get Riley back," he said, still grinning.

"How?" everyone asked.

"Lucas is on his way home, and he has a fantastic idea."

The whole group smiled just as widely as Zay had been.

This chapter is like my montage chapter. LOL. I don't like chapters that have no Riley and no Lucas, but they didn't deserve Riley yet. Through missing Riley and experiencing the Christmas cheer she exudes all the time, they all decided to make changes to their own lives. Next chapter we'll figure out where Riley is!

This story is a lot lighter than my other story, so I'm really enjoying the cheesiness. Expect more of that! See you soon!