"And it was always said of Scrooge that he knew how to keep Christmas well if any man alive possessed the knowledge. May that be truly said of us, and all of us. And so, as Tiny Tim observed, God bless us, everyone," Mr. Feeny read from his book as Cory and Shawn were goofing around in their seats.

Riley shook her head at the screen. "I'm starting to think you never paid attention in class."

"That's not true, Miss Matthews," George told her. Cory smiled thankfully before George continued, "He paid attention once or twice."

"And so ends Dickens' masterpiece, A Christmas Carol."

"Wait a minute," Shawn spoke up. "That's not the end. Where's the Grinch?"

"That's another one of your jokes, right, Hunter?" Jonathan turned to see Shawn looking back at him sheepishly. The man sighed as kid Cory agreed with kid Shawn.

"How come it's called A Christmas Carol, anyway?" Shawn queried.

Cory added, "Yeah, there was nobody in this story named Carol."

George ignored the two boys. "Miss Lawrence, would you please trade places with Mr. Matthews?"

"All right. I'm a hyperactive, under-achieving, 11-year-old boy," Topanga said with her eyes closed.

Lucas put on a playful smirk. "True love right there."

"I meant physically," George clarified.

"Oh, well, that takes less of a psychic toll."

"Why do I have to move?" Cory asked.

"We were just giving our view of the book," Shawn defended.

"Yeah, I mean you say literary masterpiece, we say ehhh!" They put their thumbs down.

"Mr. Matthews, I'm less interested in your review than I am that you understand the material. What, in your opinion, was Mr. Dickens trying to express in his Christmas story?"

"That if you're a real butthead, then neat ghosts will take you to cool places."

George put his thumb down a made a buzzer-like noise as Cory and Shawn did earlier.

"Ok, but were you really wrong?" Maya questioned.

"Yes," Jonathan informed her adamantly.

…

Cory held his lunch in his hand. "Fish and sticks. Two things nature never would've put together. What'd you get?"

"Peanut butter and jelly. Two things nature couldn't keep apart," Shawn responded

"Since when did your mom pack you lunch? I thought you liked fish sticks."

Shawn's eyes widened as he remembered what would happen in this "episode." At least this won't be nearly as hard of a memory to watch as other memories dealing with his home life are.

"I do, but I think it's cruel how the little fish scream when they rip their sticks off," Shawn answered as Cory looked at his fish stick in disgust.

"I know you weren't the brightest kid, but how did you think fish sticks were an actual part of a fish?" Jack questioned his younger brother.

"It's probably just an excuse to hide something deeper," Maya predicted and looked to her right for confirmation from her dad. He slowly nodded.

Minkus walked up to the lunch table with his paper bag. "May I sit down?"

"No," the two boys said in unison.

"Well, since you're ambivalent," he sat down. "Ah, Christmas, season of togetherness, season of brotherhood."

Cory shook his finger. "Season of wool. Nine out of ten Christmas gifts: wool. It doesn't matter if it's shaped like socks or a sweater, it's wool and it's itchy."

"So that's why I never got that really cute wool sweater I asked for when I was seven," Riley realized.

Cory grinned. "And you're welcome for that. A wool-free life is a good life."

"The gift isn't as important as the thought behind it."

"What's the thought behind wool? This kid doesn't scratch enough?"

Topanga joined them. "I agree with Stuart."

"Oh no. It's a nerd swarm. Minkus, shut off your geek magnet," Shawn told the boy.

"I just think we often lose sight of the true meaning of Christmas in the frenzy of commercialism," Topanga commented.

"What are you talking about? How are we gonna know what to ask for if we don't have commercials?" Cory responded.

"Christmas is the celebration of the winter solstice, an ancient tribal ritual whose origins are lost in time."

Eric corrected, "Actually, according to A Charlie Brown Christmas, it's about the birth of Jesus."

"I don't disagree, but A Charlie Brown Christmas is where you get that knowledge from, really?" Rachel pointed out.

"Yeah, we were just talking about that in the bathroom. Listen, Topanga, I think I can hear them back into your own dimension." Shawn held his hand to his ear.

Cory copied him. "Oh, yeah, they're saying, 'Topanga, get your aura back here.'"

"'And bring Minkus.'"

Topanga and Stuart left them alone. Cory turned to Shawn. "Ok, Christmas tree update. I think I got my real leather NBA Regulation basketball."

"Cool. Major gift."

"So major a gift, I've been saving up to get my gift a gift."

"What do you get the basketball who has everything?"

Cory held up a five-dollar bill. "A five dollar top of the line imitation nylon net."

"I am not an expert in sports equipment, but I don't believe a five-dollar net is 'top of the line,'" Isadora pointed out.

"You have five bucks?"

"I've been saving up for a month."

"Let's go buy it after school."

"No, you see, then I tip off my parents that I know what I'm getting."

Amy looked at her son. She told him, "Oh, we know anyways. You aren't subtle or good at pretending."

"You are a Yuletide master."

"Christmas is very delicate. You screw up...wool. So, what's the update are your house?"

"Me? Hey, Bob Stubcheck's Sports World has to send over a truck with all the stuff my dad got me. He got me like, everything."

"That's great."

Maya asked, shocked, "You bought that?"

"In my defense, I was eleven and this was one of the first times I got a deeper look into Shawn's home life," Cory replied.

"Yeah. My dad totally came through this year."

Stuart came back to the pair. "Speaking of gifts, I believe you haven't yet chipped in your five dollars for the class present to Mr. Feeny."

"Tomorrow."

"You said that yesterday."

"Come on, Shawn, don't think of it as five dollars for Feeny's present. Think of it as five bucks to make Minkus go away."

Stuart rolled his eyes at the young boy. "You two were just as mean as I remembered."

"In our defense, you were mean to us too. You called me a trogla-whatever, remember?" Shawn disputed.

"It's troglodyte and you guys said most of the rude remarks."

"Look, Minkus, I just spent my last money on lunch, okay? I'll give it to you tomorrow." He got up and left.

Stuart picked up Shawn's brown paper bag. "What? His mother charged him a packing fee?"

Cory had a confused expression on his face as Stuart left.

"I don't know why I didn't pick up on that before Stuart mentioned it," Cory said. "I guess when I was younger I used to ignore Shawn's home life. Whether it was little things like that or bigger things like Chet chasing after Virna."

...

Alan sighed as he plugged in the Christmas lights that were hung on the Christmas tree. They turned on for a few seconds before turning off. He attempted to fix it with a tired look on his face.

Amy entered through the front door with Morgan. "Hi."

"Hey! Did you have fun at the mall?"

"I don't think I'd call it fun," Amy replied, putting a bag on the chair.

Alan walked towards Morgan. "Well, hi, pumpkin. I bet you had fun. Did you get your picture taken with Santa Claus?" he asked as Amy made a motion with her arms to stop him from finishing his sentence. Morgan ran up the stairs, screaming all the way.

Alan fondly smiled. "I almost forgot about that."

"I didn't," Morgan told her dad. "You never forget the day you almost killed a man."

"Uh, can I get some context to that?" Angela asked.

"I tried to tell you."

"I didn't know that," he made the same criss-cross motion with his arms that she did earlier, "meant 'don't mention Santa.' What happened?"

"Ugh," Amy put her hands on her cheeks. "Well, Morgan was waiting in line to sit on Santa's lap, and she was kind of nervous and there was this elf who looked like a hitman, only meaner…"

"What? Did Santa scare her?"

"No, no. He just this nice old man with a jolly red face. You know, looking back, his face really was too red. I mean, I just thought he was overheated. Velvet is a fabric that doesn't breathe."

"Amy, what happened?"

"Well, ok, so, Morgan climbs up on Santa's lap, and he asks her what she wants, and she says a Suzie homemaker oven, and then he grabbed his chest, yelled 'Ruldoph,' and fell over."

Josh chuckled at the story. "Now I know why Mom was hesitant to bring me to see Santa."

Alan started laughing and covered his mouth. "Are we talking eight reindeer pulling a pine box?"

"No, no. I think he's alright. I mean, the hitman elf gave him CPR while Mrs. Claus called the paramedics. Alan, it isn't funny! Morgan thinks she killed Santa Claus."

"Well, did you tell her that he's ok?"

"Of course I did. I said he was just resting and he'd be fine."

"Well, maybe you could take her to visit him in the hospital."

"I really don't think it'll help her to see Santa Claus with a tube stuck up his nose."

Eric walked down the stairs. "Hey, what's with the weasel? She locked herself in the bathroom and she's singing, 'On the first day of Christmas, I murdered Santa Claus.'"

Katy said apologetically, "I know that must've been very traumatizing for you, but that is the funniest thing I've heard all day."

"I'll go check on her!" Amy told him.

Cory ran inside and checked the presents under the tree as Alan repeatedly greeted Cory, only to be ignored.

Eric leaned toward Alan. "Dad, there's no reaching him when he's taking inventory."

Cory picked up a gift. "Yes! A new arrival." He shook it and his smile dropped along with the present. "It's wool."

Alan got up from where he was sitting. "You know, Cor, when I was a kid, Christmas was about appreciating your gifts because they're given with love."

"Love, right. Glad that's over. Ok, three new gifts and only one sounds itchy. I'm going to go tell Shawn."

"Whoa, whoa. Wait a minute, where are you going?"

"To call Shawn."

"I don't think it'd be such a good idea to exaggerate about the gifts you're getting."

"I have to just to keep up."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, Bob Stubcheck's Sports World has been moved. It's new location? Under Shawn's tree."

Topanga shook her head at the younger version of her husband. "And here I thought you knew he lying once Stuart pointed out that his mother packed his lunch."

"You know, I think Shawn may have been exaggerating a little bit."

"Dad, it's Christmas. You're supposed to exaggerate. I'm gonna tell him I got five presents under the tree."

"Oh brother," Topanga sighed.

Alan held Cory's arm so he couldn't leave. "You know, I don't think Shawn's gonna be having much of a Christmas this year."

"Why not?"

"Shawn's dad got laid off."

Jack frowned. His parents got him plenty of gifts every year. He never had to worry about not having a present-filled Christmas. It hurt him to think just how different (and not in a good way) Shawn's life was compared to his own. He had a hunch that he was going to be feeling this way a lot as he watched his younger brother's childhood.

"Shawn's dad lost his job?"

"Yeah. I guess he was just too embarrassed to tell you."

Cory look at Shawn with a somber expression. "I just realized, did your dad ever get fired before without my knowledge?"

"Multiple times, yes, but never around Christmas."

"But I'm his best friend… So that's why his mom's packing his lunch. Shawn's not getting anything for Christmas, just like Tiny Tim in that story about Carol."

"I'm surprised you even knew there was a character named Tiny Tim in the story," Farkle commented.

"I don't think it quite that bad."

"Dad, can I give him one of the presents so at least he has something?"

"Hey, that'd be really nice, Cor."

"Ok. How about one of Eric's?"

Eric gave Cory a wide-eyed look. "Hey!"

"What? Dad made me put it back," Cory defended.

…

Eric and Amy were outside the bathroom door in Cory and Eric's bedroom. Morgan was inside the closed bathroom, singing at the top of her lungs. "We wish you a Merry Christmas! We wish you a Merry Christmas! We wish you a Merry Christmas!"

"Morgan, if you come out, I'll let you play with my makeup," Amy bribed.

"And a happy new year!" Morgan finished singing.

Eric knocked on the door. "Morgan, come out. Santa's fine."

"No, he's not," Morgan argued.

"Well, then how come he just called me on the phone?"

"He did?"

"Yup."

"What did he say?"

"He said, 'Ho ho h— ohh! Ohh!" Eric told her, mimicking a heart attack.

Eric laughed at his younger-self's joke, while Morgan shook her head. Eric noticed her expression. "Oh, come on. It was funny."

Amy hit him. "Stop it."

"He said you've been a very, very good girl and I should give you something really special."

"Like what?"

Amy whispered to Eric, "Whatever you tell her, she's gonna want it the second you open that door."

Eric looked around for a possible gift. "How about my new flannel shirt that you lie so much?"

Morgan opened the door, grabbed the shirt, and closed the door.

"You never gave me that shirt back," Eric pointed out.

"And you'll never get it back."

…

Cory was in the yard with a big gift in his hands. Shawn walked up to him. Cory presented him with the gift. "Ta-da!"

"Oh boy," Shawn mumbled.

"What?"

"For you."

"What is it?"

"Open it. For you, from me."

"It's not gonna blow up, is it?"

Cory questioned, "That's what you would do, isn't it?"

"He does love blowing stuff up," Alan replied.

"I resent that," Shawn said as he crossed his arms. "You blow something up one time…"

"To be fair, the average amount of things a person will blow up in their lifetime is probably zero," Cory told him.

"Open it! Open it!" Cory ripped the present from Shawn's hands. "Here. Let me open it. A real leather NBA-certified, dribbles like a dream basketball! I'm giving it to you. Don't you love me?"

"Why'd you give this to me?"

"'Cause it's Christmas."

"So? We never give each other stuff for Christmas."

"Yeah, but this year's kind of different."

"Why?"

"Well... because."

"Because why?"

"Because you're my best friend."

"But I wasn't last year."

"I guess not," Maya agreed jokingly.

"No you were, it's just—"

"Cory, best friends don't lie to each other."

"Well, look who's a hypocrite," Zay pointed out.

"Ok. Look, Shawn, I gave you this because I didn't think you'd be getting that many gifts this year."

"Hey, I told you. I'm getting a ton of stuff. I don't need a basketball. My dad already got me two."

"Look, Shawn, best friends don't lie to each other."

"What are you talking about?"

"I know about your dad getting laid off." George is seen in the background, doing yard work.

"I assume you're going to give some of your great Feeny advice to him?" Eric said to his former teacher.

"I always do."

"Says who?"

"Says my dad."

"Oh, so what'd you do, go tell everyone?"

Cory frowned before questioning, "Is that really what you thought I'd do?"

"No, I was just upset...You think irrationally when you're upset and insecure."

"No. I didn't tell anyone. Look, Shawn, I'm trying to give you a nice gift so you don't have a Tiny Tim Christmas and you're acting like you're mad at me."

"Oh, so I'm supposed to be all happy that you gave me some bogus gift?"

"That's not a bogus gift. That's a totally major gift. It was my best gift, and I was nice enough to give it to you."

"Yeah. Well, keep it." Shawn threw the ball at Cory. "I don't want your basketball."

"Would you rather have something for Christmas than nothing at all?"

"I'd rather have nothing for Christmas than your lousy charity." He hit the ball in Cory's hand, making it fall. Shawn started walking away.

Cory followed him. "Hey, Shawn, Christmas is about charity. You should be thanking me!" Shawn left and George Feeny walked closer to Cory, who asked him, "Boy, where's his Christmas spirit? Where's his gratitude? I can name one sixth-grader who wasn't paying attention to A Christmas Carol."

Jonathan leaned into George. "Name rhymes with Shmory."

"I can name one, too, Mr. Matthews."

"Yeah, Shawn."

"Cory."

Cory laughed lightly. "No, I'm Cory. You've been calling me Mr. Matthews for so long, you must've forgot."

"Believe me, I know who you are. I also know that a true gift is given with no expectation."

"What's that mean?"

"It means you gave the gift to get the thanks."

"I gave the guy my official NBA, genuine leather basketball, and he threw it back in my face. What kind of friend is that?"

"You know what I like most about Christmas?"

"I go away for a week?"

"Yeah, that's pretty special. But it's the time of year that you can think back and appreciate the real gifts you received."

Most of the audience nodded, taking in George's wise words.

"I don't get it."

"Friendship, for example, is a real gift. And it's given with no expectation and no gratitude is necessary, not between real friends. You think about that."

…

Amy came down the stairs, sighing. "We finally got Morgan out of the bathroom."

"Great. How'd you do it?" Alan asked.

"Psychology." Morgan walked down the stairs while wearing a multitude of accessories such as ties, necklaces, sunglasses, bows, and Eric's shirt. "And bribery."

Josh grinned and teased, "Nice look, Morg."

"What happened to that mean elf?" Morgan inquired.

"Oh, he went back to the North Pole with Santa," Alan told her.

"I think he was mad at me."

"No. He wasn't mad at you."

"Then how come he called me a demon child?"

Amy wrapped her arm around her daughter. "Well, he's gone now and you don't ever, ever have to worry about him again."

Someone knocked on the door, and Morgan got up saying, "I'll get it." The hitman elf was at the door. She ran up the steps, screaming.

Maya opened her mouth slightly in an O shape. "Now I get why you called him a hitman."

"Mr. Matthews?" the elf called with a Brooklyn accent.

"Yeesh. He even sounds like a hitman."

"Yeah?"

"I'm the elf."

"No kidding."

"I came to return your wife's money she paid for a picture with Santa. She never got it."

Riley had a bewildered expression. "How did he even get your address?"

"Uh, excuse me. You called my little girl a demon child?"

"Hey, all I know is one minute Santa's all jolly, jingling his bells, the next minute, your kid sits on his lap, ba-da-bing, ba-da-boom! Heart attack. Coincidence? I don't think so." Alan shut the door in his face. "Yeah? Merry stinking Christmas to you, too, pal!"

"Maybe don't tick off a hitman-looking elf that knows your address?" Katy suggested with a light laugh.

…

Cory was in this cafeteria, picking at his food, as Shawn entered. They stared at each other before Shawn sat at another table. Stuart walked up to Shawn. "Shawn, it's tomorrow."

"What are you talking about?"

"I'm talking about the class present. You still haven't paid your five dollars."

"Fine, I'll give it to you. I just don't have it on me, ok?"

"I'm going to buy the present tonight, so today is the last day you have to give me the money."

"I said I'll give it to you."

"If you don't give me five dollars right now, I'm not going to put your name on the card and the entire sixth grade of Jefferson Elementary is going to know you're a deadbeat."

"That's a bit harsh," Riley commented in a low voice.

"Fine, then I am. Ok?" Shawn got up and left.

Cory walked over to Stuart. "Minkus, leave him alone. He doesn't have the money."

"He doesn't?"

"No."

"Oh. That puts me in an awkward position. I can't put his name on the card if he doesn't give me the money. Rules are rules. I'm the class treasurer, an elected official. They could subpoena my diaries."

Shawn snickered. "Nobody wants to read your diaries."

"Really? I have excerpts of my diary in my new, New York Times bestseller book Minkus the Genius. Do you have a New York Times bestseller?" Stuart countered.

"No, and if I did, the title wouldn't be so self-praising."

Stuart shrugged. "Hey, it rhymes."

"Um, look...A couple weeks ago, Shawn lent me five bucks, and I never paid him back. That's why he doesn't have the money."

"Oh, so you're the deadbeat."

"Yeah, but, uh, I've got it now, so here it is. Just make sure you put Shawn's name on the card, ok?"

"Don't worry. His name, however, will have to be last since he was the last one to pay."

"Gee, Minkus, I wonder whose name is first on the list? Does it rhyme with Stinkus?"

...

"I hope our reading A Christmas Carol has interested all of you in reading other works by Charles Dickens," Feeny said to his class.

Cory raised his hand. "No, but I will watch the David Copperfield special."

Stuart was called on after raising his hand. "In my capacity as class treasurer, I would like to present you with the sixth grader's Christmas gift."

"Oh, my. Well…Ooh, it has the lovely heft of a thick book. Oh, my! A dictionary. How wonderful." He read the card, "'To our admired and respected teacher, from his dutiful and attentive class.'"

"I wrote that," Stuart told his teacher.

"I never would've guessed."

"And all our names are written below."

"Yes. Minkus all the way down to...Hunter. You all seem to be there. Well, I am very touched. This means a great deal to me. So thank you very much." Shawn appeared slightly confused when his last name was said.

After the bell rang Shawn stopped Stuart in the hallway. "Hey, Minkus. Thanks for putting my name on the card."

Stuart sighed before telling Shawn, "Looking back, I do feel bad that I pressured you so much. If I would have known…"

"It's all good. No hard feelings." Shawn gave a small grin.

"Don't thank me. Your deadbeat friend finally paid back the money he owed you."

"What?"

"It's ok. You don't have to cover for him anymore. He told me how you let him five dollars, and he didn't give it back."

Cory was slightly taken aback. "He actually revealed what I did? All this time I thought you just realized I was trying to make you feel better and forgave me."

"Cory told you that?"

"Yep, and he handed me five bucks."

"He gave you his five dollars?"

"I guess his conscience finally got the better of him."

"Hey, Minkus. Merry Christmas."

"Really? Merry Christmas to you too."

…

Cory was glumly moving his basketball around.

"Hey," Shawn said in a monotone voice.

"Hey."

"You know, I was cleaning up my garage, and I found something you might like."

"A net!"

"It belonged to my dad. It's real old so it might not be genuine imitation nylon."

"I think genuine and imitation are oxymorons," Rachel said.

"Whoa, if it's that old, it could be actually nylon!"

"It's yours."

"Cool. Thanks."

"Figure this way, you got the net and I got the ball."

"What ball?"

"You gave that to me."

"I think I remember you throwing this back in my face."

Maya tilted her head. "In your face is a bit dramatic, isn't it?"

"Oh, so every time you miss a pass, we're not gonna be friends?"

"Based on how he used to play with me, you guys would constantly be breaking off your friendship," Eric joked. He received a light nudge in the ribs from Cory.

"You want this ball, well then you're just gonna have to take it from me, aren't you?"

They started dribbling the ball. Shawn swiftly took the ball from him, to which Cory said, "Nice try."

"Think you can steal it from me?"

"Yeah." Cory took the ball. "Hey, I did it."

"Nah. I let you have it. It was charity." Cory gave Shawn a look of uneasiness before Shawn added, "It's Christmas."

…

Shawn and Cory entered the living room, still playing ball. Alan glanced at them, "You guys are playing with that so much, I'm afraid you're gonna wear a hole in it.'

"Who cares it's his ball?" Cory asked.

Shawn left with cookies that Amy and Morgan made. A knock was afterward heard on the kitchen door. Alan looked at the door, and said, "Oh, um, wow, somebody's at the back door."

"Wow, I wonder who that could be at the back door," Amy added.

"I have no clue," Eric continued.

Maya covered her hand with her mouth as she chuckled. "You guys are some great actors, only second to my mom."

"And why would that be funny?" Katy questioned in an intimidating voice that only a mother could do.

"Uh, no reason…"

The three Matthews stared at him. He whispered, "I forgot my line." Alan whispered something back to him. "Oh, yeah! Maybe Morgan should go get the back door."

This time, somebody pounded on the door. Morgan shook her head no. "I'm not answering any more doors."

"Well, I think you're going to want to answer this one," Amy told her.

Morgan pointed at the window on the door. "It's Santa! Look, everybody, he's alive!"

Riley started, "Is that…"

"Hello, Morgan," greeted George Feeny in a Santa costume. "I am Santa and I've just returned from the North Pole, where I was just resting."

Turner's mouth hung open before finishing Riley's sentence, "...George!"

"Santa, are you feeling better?"

"Oh, yes, my dear, as it turns out, Mrs. Claus merely undercooked my Figgy pudding."

Jonathan shook his head in awe. "This is the most glorious thing I've ever seen."

"Oh, haha. I was trying to make a child feel better."

"I'm going to get my camera," Amy announced.

"Well, now, my little Morgan, tell Santa what you want for Christmas."

Cory suggested, "Good grades for your big brother."

"Ho ho ho," Feeny responded, annoyed.

The family and Santa Feeny gathered to take a picture. Morgan asked, "Mommy, why does Santa look like Mr. Feeny?" The picture was then snapped.

"I'm so mad you let me leave before that," Shawn told Amy before bursting into laughter, along with the rest of the audience.

"Ok. It's a little funny," Feeny admitted, putting on a smile.

A/N: So...I'm sorry. It's been way too long since my last update. (And I'm not even a fan of this chapter. I wish I could give you a better one after so long.) I have two main reasons. One, I didn't have any motivation to write for this. Which, I know, is not a good enough excuse. The second reason is that my dad was in the hospital for COVID-19. He had underlying conditions that we didn't even know about, so it was really bad and concerning. I think you can see why updating wouldn't be my top priority. Luckily, he's out of the hospital and doing much better. Please, stay safe out there and take proper precautions. Especially if you have or know somebody who has underlying conditions.

On a much lighter note, I got a cat! His name is Pumpkin. He's an orange tabby. He was a stray that showed up at my house, following my dad around and begging for food. We decided to keep him, and he's just the cutest!

Next Chapter: Once In Love With Amy