"You're almost as tall as me now!" Ginger told Mark as she embraced him. "And you look more like your father every time I see you!"
The gangly thirteen-year-old grinned and blushed, looking at the ground.
"And you've grown to be such a beautiful girl!" Ginger continued to Jennifer.
"Thank you," the eleven-year-old said shyly. Ginger noticed that she now had breasts and was developing curves in all the right places. She had to swallow a lump in her throat when she realized how much Jennifer reminded her of Audrey at the same age.
Igor laughed. "Soon we will have to fight boys away, yes?"
"Are you doing all right now?" Mark asked his stepmother after he'd greeted Audrey. "Jennifer and I were both really worried when Dad told us you had cancer."
"I'm doing fine now," Ginger told him. "There's been no trace of any cancer since my surgery, so Dr. Green's pretty sure she got it all."
Mark and Jennifer were visiting for Christmas, as they did every year. Audrey was also home from the university for a couple of weeks, and she and her parents had gone to the airport to visit her half siblings.
"That's great!" Mark told his stepmother. He was tall with dark hair and eyes, and he looked astonishingly like a younger version of Igor.
The family left the airport and returned home, where Mark and Jennifer took their luggage to the rooms they used when they were visiting. "It is so nice to all be together again," Igor murmured as he hugged and kissed his wife.
"It's good to see them again," Ginger agreed. She knew how much her husband missed his two younger children when they were in Minnesota with their mother.
"I cannot believe how much they grow since summer!" Igor remarked.
"That seems like forever ago," Ginger said softly. "It was before I got sick."
"And now you are all healthy again, so story have happy ending." Igor grinned and gave her a quick hug.
All the former castaways called to wish Ginger and her family a merry Christmas, and when the Skipper called, he asked to speak to Claudia.
"Jonas!" the maid exclaimed happily when she heard his voice.
"Hi!" Jonas said. "I was here all alone and got to thinking about you and wondering how you've been. It seems like such a long time since the last time we saw each other."
"We're all fine!" Claudia replied. "Mark and Jennifer are here now, so we're all together."
"That's nice." Although he loved the independent, carefree life he lived in Hawaii, he sometimes wished he had someone to share the holidays with. They chatted a few minutes longer and then said good-bye.
Several days later, Audrey received a pleasant surprise when she opened the door to find Roger standing there with a big smile. "Come on in!" she exclaimed happily. "I'm so glad to see you!"
"I decided I wanted to spend Christmas with my favorite girl this year," Roger told her.
"Hurray! Mom, Dad, look who's here!"
He took her out to dinner and a movie that night. Igor and Ginger watched from a window as they rode away. "My little girl's all grown up now." Igor saw that there were tears in his wife's eyes.
"You raise her to be wonderful lady, like yourself. I am so very proud of both of you."