It was the 22nd of December. A light snow fell onto the already fallen snow that had been accumulating over the past week. It was cold and in spite of an offer of a ride from Mr. Matthews, Shawn opted to walk home.

The last three weeks seemed to surreal to Shawn, almost as though they had been a dream rather than reality. He had to continually look over all the mementos he'd collected and pictures he'd taken of over the course of the month to assure himself that everything had actually happened. There were only a few things left to be fulfilled on his list and he already knew that they were going to happen. Jon and Audrey made sure to take care of everything he'd asked for, often going above and beyond for him.

Shawn trudged through the snow in the new snow boots Audrey insisted that he wear if he was going to be out in the cold. He dragged his feet along the sidewalk leaving two long trails in his wake. When he first made out his list, he thought that it was comprised of pretty simple things that didn't cost much. It wasn't until he overheard Mr. Matthews talking to his wife about the expense of Christmas and detailing the cost of almost everything on his list that he realized that Jon and Audrey must have been spending a lot on him. An awful guilt hung heavily on his heart. He knew Jon didn't make much as a teacher and would never ask his parents for any kind of help. He also knew that Audrey didn't make much either at Hannigan's and depended on tips to supplement her income to a livable amount. Every day that passed they did more and more together, almost constantly going somewhere, eating out; even the stuff they did at home- the ornament material, food, all that stuff had to be bought. All that stuff cost money. He never thought his list would be so expensive and he didn't mean for it to be. He just didn't know.

In that light, he didn't understand why they went ahead and did everything anyway. He really would have just been happy to have Audrey with them and maybe a small tree. That would have been enough. It would have been much more than he'd had in any Christmas past. Shawn sighed and stopped walking. Maybe he should get a job, even if it was just some small something he could do to earn a little money and start to repay them. He wished he'd thought of that sooner so he could have asked Mrs. Matthews if there was any chance she needed a new babysitter for Morgan.

Audrey wanted him home by 3- they had a full afternoon and evening schedule. He started walking again, this time at a faster pace. After all she had done for him, he owed it to her to be on time. Not too far from the apartment, Shawn passed Dude by the bus stop. The man sat in the cold, seemingly unbothered by the snow piling up around him. He was talking to the beer can he held in his hand. Shawn stopped and watched him for awhile. There was something disturbingly mesmerizing in his melodic chat to the alcohol in his grip. The ground around the man was littered by an increasing pile of cans and paper sacks that Shawn knew also contain alcohol. This was the man's life, day in and day out, no matter the weather. Where was his family? Were they looking for him? Did he leave them? Did he have kids somewhere he walked out on? What happened that he ended up here?

A dark thought struck Shawn. Was his father sitting by a bus stop somewhere doing the same thing? He had, on more occasions than Shawn could count, done essentially the same thing in their trailer: sitting in one spot, talking himself, surrounded by booze. He was as nonthreatening and docile as Dude seemed to be; that is, until he wasn't. The slightest thing could set him off and there was never a way to tell what you were going to do that would trigger the rage. Shawn reconsidered his decision to say hello to the man every time he passed by. There was no telling if that simple act would set him off or not.

Shawn started to move again-this time he ran. As he did, thoughts of his father's drunken fits chased him. He swore he could hear Chet roaring in fury just behind him. He panicked and raced faster, desperate to get to the safety of the apartment and Jon. But memories of his father pursued him. The taunts and the insults echoed like the bellowing of the ocean in his ears reminding him of how worthless he was, how useless, how much easier life would be without him. He felt the sharp, painful sting of an open palm against his cheek.

Audrey was waiting for Shawn to get back while Jon ran an errand. She had just brought in the mail and set it on Jon's desk when she heard the door open and slam shut. She looked up to see Shawn standing in front of the door with red, wind-chilled cheeks and bloodshot eyes.

"Shawn! What's happened!?"

He started walking towards her and didn't stop. He walked right into her, pushing her backwards. He wrapped his arms around her and held on as though she was all he had left in the world. He pressed his cheek into her collarbone, burying his cold nose against her neck. He shivered against her and continued shaking. The tears fell hot and heavy and once started would not stop.

He was still crying when Jon walked in. It took the teacher a long moment to process the scene in front of him. As he cautiously approached Audrey, she looked up and gave him a sad, confused smile.

"What's going on?" he asked in a hushed voice. "Did his dad call?"

She shook her head, then shrugged. "I'm not really sure. I think he's overwhelmed."

Jon felt useless as he watched Shawn cry. He had no idea what to do or say. He thought everything was fine; better than fine actually. He thought everything was going really well. But seeing Shawn like this made it clear everything was not okay. Not at all. How long had this been going on?

Audrey was struggling to hold herself and Shawn up as his sobs shook them both and he was nearly as tall as she was. All Jon could think to do was to stand behind her and put his arms around them both. Neither of the adults knew how long they stood there, but eventually Shawn calmed down just enough that they could understand what he was saying:

"I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to cause any problems. I didn't mean for to you spend so much on me. I'm sorry I'm such a problem. I'm sorry. I am so sorry."

Audrey looked helplessly at Jon; she had no idea what sparked this. He could offer no help; he was as lost as she was. Audrey tightened her grip on Shawn and leaned her head against his, gently talking to him, reassuring him that they loved him and that everything was all right; that he had nothing to apologize for. Her persistent reassurance eventually quieted the sobs, but they didn't stop completely.

Audrey looked up at Jon and silently encouraged him to say something. But what? Jon's mouth went dry as he tried to come up with something. Finally, he stopped thinking and echoed Audrey:

"Shawn, it's okay. Audrey's right, you have nothing apologize for. We do love you."

At that Shawn pulled back from Audrey enough so that he could see his teacher clearly.

"You do?"

The "you" was directed solely at Jon. It was one thing to hear "I love you" from Audrey; she loved easily and completely and did not have an issue saying so or showing it. But he and Jon were cut from the same fabric in this regard. Love did not come easily to them and admitting it was even harder.

"Yeah, I do, Shawn." He looked down at Audrey who mouthed "he needs to hear it from you". They were words he did not say to anyone. The last person he said "I love you" to was his mother and even then it was very hard for him to get out. "I do love you, kid."

Shawn buried his face in Audrey's shoulder again, but this time he reached behind her to grab a hold of his teacher.

"I love you, too," he said through hiccupping sniffles. "Both of you."

They stood there until Shawn was able to stand on his own. Audrey took his face between her palms and put her forehead against his.

"I'm so glad I didn't go back to the City for Christmas," she smiled at him.

Once they left the apartment to go to their first event of the day, there was no indication that anything unusual had happened earlier. Except for one thing. Wherever they went- whether it was ice skating, or on the sleigh ride to the Nutcracker, or at the Christmas Lights Show at the Wanamaker Building- Shawn stayed between them making sure he always had a hold of them both. He was terrified of accidentally losing one of them in the crowd.

Christmas Eve

Jon was running a little behind schedule. There was a water main break near the apartment that led to a flooding issue in the building. As a result, he had to go back to his place and pick up what he and Shawn would need to for the next two days before heading to Audrey's.

This past month had really messed with his head. Throughout December, he had frequently been mistaken for Shawn's father or Audrey's husband. Never her boyfriend, which Jon thought was odd. He never could figure out what it was he was doing that made the distinction. Regardless, he found himself going along with people's assumptions and did not bother to correct them. He fully committed to the father/husband role as though it was the most natural thing in the world and no one knew the difference. It was not natural, of course. He was neither father nor husband. And he kept repeating to himself that he did not want to get married and he did not want to have kids. He did not. He did not. He did not. But there must have been something about the festive season that prevented these words from taking hold because even though he was still chanting them in his head as he walked into the living room where Audrey stood on the threshold between that room and the kitchen, he greeted her with a kiss as though she was actually his wife.

They stared at each for a long moment, both too shocked to move. Jon was horrified. It was one thing to hold her hand or to hold onto her. That was bad enough. It was quite another to kiss her. This was breaking about every boundary imaginable.

What on earth was wrong with him?

"I'm sorry," he finally got out, deeply mortified. "I wasn't thinking. I just-"

"It's okay, Jon, really," she said a little too brightly. Her cheeks were flushed with a crimson blush and she had trouble meeting his gaze. She pointed to the ceiling above them. "Shawn's mistletoe. It was bound to happen."

It was true about the mistletoe. Shawn had hung the plant or something that looked like it from every conceivable place in the house. And he made it's purpose very clear.

"Right," Jon said and tried to laugh it off.

Thankfully, Shawn walked in and saved them from any further awkwardness.

"You're not dressed," he informed Jon with a disappointed frown.

"Yeah, Shawn, about this," Jon wasn't ready to trade one embarrassment for another just yet. "I'm all for doing the Toy Drive- I think it's a great idea. I just really don't wanna dress up as Santa Claus."

"You wanna be the elf?" Shawn gave him an amused look.

"I don't wanna dress up period."

"Oh, come on, Jon," Audrey said. "It's for a good cause."

"I know," he said, already knowing how this was going to end in spite of his protests. "I just don't see the need to dress up."

"The shelter's Santa bailed on them," Shawn reminded him. "They need someone to do this."

"Does it have to be me?"

"I'm too short and nobody's gonna believe Audrey is Santa."

Jon hung his head. He really did not want to do this. Audrey took his arm and leaned into him, resting her chin on his shoulder. He gave her a sideways glance.

"If you'll be Santa, I'll be your Mrs. Claus," she grinned cheekily at him.

He let out a short laugh. Propriety and boundaries had been trampled on long ago; no use trying to reestablish them now. "In that case," he grinned back at her, putting his arm around her. "Where's the suit?"

It was on the way to the Apple Tree Family Central Center shelter that Jon and Audrey heard for the first time how Shawn and his mother had spent a Christmas at the shelter when he was eight. He didn't offer a lot of details about the stay or the reason behind it, but he had always wanted to go back one Christmas to help the kids there have a better Christmas than what they would have otherwise. After hearing Shawn's story, Jon never uttered another complaint about being Santa and put everything he had into playing the role.

He also didn't complain when they went home and spent almost four hours in the kitchen baking and icing everything Shawn wanted for Christmas. And he didn't complain when the Christmas caroling with the neighborhood group went on longer than he would have preferred.

That night the trio joined the Matthews and Topanga for a candle lit service at the Matthews' church. It had been a long time since Shawn had attended a service and even longer for Jon. Both found an unusual peace in the place even though it was crowded with people. After the service was over, Shawn, Cory, and Topanga exchanged their Christmas gifts while the adults talked. Morgan was running up and down the aisles, shrieking hysterically at Eric's failed attempts to catch her.

While the kids were chatting about their holiday break, Shawn saw a Ghost of Christmas Future coming down the aisle to haunt them.

"Merry Christmas, Mr. Hunter."

Shawn was frozen in wide-eyed horror as their principal walked up to them. His heart sank. Just like that the dream he was living was over. There was no hiding that he, Jon, and, Audrey were together. He gave the older man a weak smile. "Yeah, Merry Christmas, Mr. Feeny.

"Mr. Matthews, Miss Lawrence, Merry Christmas."

"You too, Mr. Feeny," they said in unison. Cory and Topanga exchanged concerned looks with each other then looked at Shawn who had his head bowed in defeat.

Mr. Feeny stopped in front of the Matthews and Jon and Audrey. Alan saw the looks on the other couple's faces and took a guess as to what was wrong.

"Merry Christmas, George," he said lightly. "Good to see you."

"And you as well, Alan. Amy," he said, taking her hand in warm greeting. "Merry Christmas."

Amy returned his greeting with a kiss on the cheek.

"I'm so glad everyone was able to come tonight," Alan said, gesturing at the group around them as though they were altogether.

Shawn held his breath as Mr. Feeny turned to Jon and Audrey.

The older man regarded the younger couple with a veiled look. "I see you brought Miss Andrews with you," he said to Jon.

There was no point in trying hide the obvious, so the English teacher nodded. "Yeah, I did."

"Good," he said, surprising everyone. To Audrey, he smiled, "I'm glad you're not spending your first Christmas in Philadelphia alone. You've got an excellent group," he turned to look at Shawn and then again at Jon, "to spend it with. Merry Christmas, my dear."

No one was quite sure what to make of the exchange as Mr. Feeny bid them all farewell. That their principal said nothing about the three of them being so obviously together floored Shawn. He figured this had to be one of those Christmas miracles that he'd heard so much about.

The day was almost over by the time, the trio made it made back to Audrey's. The stockings were hung: three matching, personalized stockings. A fire was lit, cookies and popcorn were brought out, and a Muppet Family Christmas played on the TV. As the night went on, Shawn fell asleep in his usual spot as Audrey rubbed his head. Some time after 10:30 the phone rang and Jon answered it.

"Hey, Jonny, man! What are you doing right now?"

Eli was practically yelling into the receiver and Jon still had trouble understanding him. Wherever he was it was loud. Very loud.

"Watchin' TV. What you are doin'?"

"What am I-? Man, I'm at Bill's bachelor party. Did you forget?

"Yeah, I guess I did."

"You have got to get down here. Like an hour ago."

"Oh, yeah?"

His best friend went on to describe in great detail the wild, debaucherous party that was occurring and how much he was missing out on.

"And there is this hot blonde that you have got to meet. I'm tellin' you, you will not have to spend Christmas alone this year."

Jon looked down at Audrey who was by his side and beginning to drift off to sleep. He looked at the boy sleeping with his head on her lap. His gaze drifted to the kid's program that played on the television screen.

"Thanks for thinking of me, Eli," he said. Audrey shifted her position and snuggled closer to him. "But I'm good."

Eli thought he'd misheard him due to all the noise. When Jon confirmed he did hear him correctly, Eli couldn't believe it. "Give yourself a Christmas gift and get over here!" he exclaimed. Over the past few months and this one in particular, the Jon he knew was almost completely gone. He didn't even recognize the man he was talking to. Maybe he had the wrong number.

"I'm good," Jon said again as the Swedish Chef attempted to turn Big Bird into Christmas dinner. "Really."

"Whatever you say, man," Eli said with a heavy sigh. "You're missing out."

"Merry Christmas, Eli."

"Yeah, same to you. Tell the wife and kid Merry Christmas for me."

Jon hung up the phone and set it back on the table. The wife and kid comment was of course as jab at all the time he'd been spending with the two on the couch with him. But he didn't care. One day, Eli would understand. He settled back against the couch and saw Audrey looking up at him. Her gray eyes were beginning to cloud up.

"That was Eli?"

"Uh-huh." He ran his fingers through her long locks then pulled her a little closer.

"What did he want?"

"A friend of ours from college is having a party. He wants me to go."

"I thought you said there weren't any Christmas parties you wanted to go to."

"There aren't." He paused to sink further down into couch so he could be closer to her. "It's a bachelor party."

A frown crossed her features. The light from the television cast shadows across her face that made her look like a forlorn Disney character. "If you want to go," she said hesitantly, afraid that he did want to go. "Shawn can stay with me."

Jon looked into those stormy eyes that were staring him with such a fearful worry. He smiled and ran his thumb over her cheek.

"I don't wanna go," he said softly. "Everything I want is right here."

Shawn, who had woken up during the phone call, let a silent sigh of relief, before falling back to sleep.

Christmas Day

Have yourself a merry little Christmas. Let your heart be light...

The next morning, Jon was the first to wake up and he found himself in a peculiar position. Somehow, during the night, he had moved from the end of the couch where he'd fallen asleep to the middle. He wasn't sure how he got there. His feet were still resting on a pillow on the coffee table and he was still under the blanket. He started to sit up only to find it difficult with two heads resting against his chest. Shawn and Audrey were laying on either side of him, slightly stretched out, and using his him as a pillow. Shawn had his arms wrapped around him and Audrey had hers wrapped around them both. As much he wanted to move- his lower back was not happy with the position it had been kept in all night- he was afraid that it would disturb them and, strangely enough, he didn't want the moment broken.

Jon leaned his cheek against Audrey's head, slowly stroking her hair and watching the snow fall through the window that was to the left of the tree. Christmas morning was finally here and realization left him with an empty feeling inside. After today, it would all be over. They'd have to go back to the way things were before.

But could they? Could things really go back to being the same after the month they'd had?

Jon never anticipated that fulfilling Shawn's Christmas list would change him the way it had. In years past, he would have been eager to have and would have been searching to have a Christmas like Eli was having. He thought about his best friend's description of the party he was at. It was just a short time ago he would have been the one dragging Eli to that kind of bachelor party, but now as his "wife and kid" slept in his arms, he found it hard to see what the appeal in that had been. How that was better than this. He began to wonder why he fought against the family life so hard.

If only he could keep it.

Audrey was the next to awaken. She sighed sleepily as she turned her face into his shirt a little more before titling her head back and giving him a lazy smile.

"Merry Christmas," he whispered and leaned down to kiss the tip of her nose.

Her smiled widened and her eyes closed again. "Merry Christmas."

He was thankful she didn't get up. She reached out a slim hand and lovingly stroked Shawn's hair.

She's such a good mother and she's only twenty, he thought in awe.

Jon wasn't focused on anything in particular other than being in the moment when a thought crossed his mind. The last time he'd head from Chet Hunter was almost two months ago and he'd mentioned to Jon that he would send paperwork for him to become Shawn's legal guardian. He'd agreed to do so, but it always bothered him that Chet could so easy give his kid to someone he didn't know. If Shawn was his son, there was no way he'd let anyone he didn't know extremely well take him in. On the other hand, if Shawn was his, he'd never taken off on him to begin with.

If Shawn was his...

Where'd that come from?

He ran his knuckles lightly down Audrey's back as the thought continued to nag him.

It wasn't possible, of course. No one in his position would be allowed to adopt a kid. But if he and Audrey were married, together they could. Jon frowned. There was no point in even allowing himself to consider the possibility. Both marriage and adoption were out of the question.

Merry Christmas to me, he thought bleakly.

As if she read his mind, Audrey pulled herself into a sitting position and began to run her fingers through his hair much the way she did to Shawn.

"You're going to make such a great dad," she said softly.

He looked at her in surprise, but found that he couldn't say anything.

Audrey gave him a small smile then leaned into him and lightly kissed him. She leaned her head against his and they sat like that until Shawn woke up.

The teen sat up and when he saw the way they were looking at him he became worried.

"What'd I miss?"

"We were kissing," Jon told him in dead seriousness.

Shawn stared at him. He couldn't tell if his teacher was being sincere or just giving him a hard time.

"You were not," he snapped, not appreciating the joke after all he'd gone through to set up the mistletoe and nothing had come from it.

"Believe what you want," Jon shrugged in exactly the same way teen frequently did to him.

Shawn laughed and Audrey reached over Jon to hug him.

"Merry Christmas, sweetheart."

From now on our troubles will be out of sight...

Shawn's expectations for gifts for himself were not high. He really didn't expect much after all Jon and Audrey had done for him. Anything would have made him happy. He already had everything he wanted anyway. So when he opened his first gift from them, he was stunned. It was the pair of Rollerblades he'd been eyeing at the Franklin Mills Mall every time he and Cory went there to hang out. He wasn't even aware that Jon or Audrey knew he wanted these exact ones. And he felt his expression of gratitude was inadequate.

Shawn watched Jon and Audrey exchange gifts as he held the inline skates in his arms. He knew Audrey had gotten Jon a watch, but he didn't know what Jon had gotten her. He couldn't help but be disappointed that the jewelry box ended up containing a necklace and not a ring.

When it was his turn to give them his gifts, he was nervous. Not about the wallet he'd gotten Jon or the earrings that he'd gotten Audrey-he knew that they'd like those things. But it was the joint gift he'd made for them.

"It's for both of you," he said as he handed the rectangular package to Jon. "I was kind of hoping that we'd watch it together every year."

Jon and Audrey gave him a quizzical look as Jon opened the gift. It was a VHS tape labeled "Our First Christmas 1995". The couple smiled at each other and at Shawn.

"Can we watch it now?" Audrey asked.

Shawn gave her a curt nodded. The palms of his hands were suddenly sweaty and his mouth dry.

As the video played, Jon understood why Shawn had been insistent on hauling around the video camera from school wherever he could-he'd been documenting the entire month of December. He sat quietly watching the tape, leaning forward on the edge of the couch with his hand over his mouth. At one point Audrey looked over at him and saw the tears that were shining in his eyes. She reached over to him and took his hand. It was a lengthy film and they watched it all the way through. When it was over, Jon reached over to Shawn and pulled him over to sit in between them.

Have yourself a merry little Christmas make the Yule-tide gay. From now on your troubles will be miles away...

"Best gift I've ever gotten, Shawn," he said quietly.

"Really?" Shawn had never seen his teacher teary-eyed before.

"Uh-huh."

"That was amazing, Shawn," Audrey told him. "You got a real talent. I love it so much."

Shawn couldn't hide his pride. He was so relieved and pleased that they were so happy with it.

"I'm so glad you thought to film everything," Jon said. "It didn't even occur to me to take pictures."

"Oh, I did a lot of that, too," he told them. He jumped up and grabbed the ancient camera that Mr. Matthews had let him borrow.

Jon gave Audrey a sly look and she smirked back at him.

"You think we should give him his last present?" he asked her.

"Seems like the right time," she said, pointing to a box under the tree that Shawn had somehow missed seeing before.

"You guys really didn't have to get me anything else. Like really. This," he motioned to the room. "is more than enough."

"Tough, kid," Jon joked. "Open the box."

Shawn smiled and sat down to open the last gift. He tore the paper off and stopped. He stared at the box beneath the paper.

No way it was what it said it was on the box. IT couldn't be. It had be a joke and there was something else in the box. No way was there was really a Canon Rebel S 35mm SLR camera in that box.

But there was.

Shawn was stunned. It was the most beautiful camera he'd ever seen. And it was his. All his.

Audrey leaned against Jon, took his hand, and interlaced her fingers with his as they watched the wonderment on Shawn's face as he examined the gift. The teen finally turned to them with tears in his eyes. He was speechless and the only thing he could do was hug them as tightly as possible.

Here were are as in olden days, happy golden days of yore. Faithful friends who are dear to us, gather near to us once more...

Audrey spent most of the day in the kitchen, preparing dinner with Jon's help. Shawn spent it wearing his Rollerblades and studying his camera. After dinner both Jon and Shawn helped clean the kitchen and dining room up. There was a quietness in the house as the evening drew near and with it the final hours of their time as a family.

Jon was struggling to deal with the emotions that kept crashing over him throughout the day. Audrey walked into the kitchen to let him know that Home Alone was about to start. He stared at her with a serious expression.

"What do we do tomorrow?"

"I don't know," she answered honestly. Audrey was very good at setting to the side the things she did not want to deal and living in the moment. She had not thought about the day after Christmas because she simply didn't want to.

Jon gave a heavy sigh. He couldn't tell her what he wanted to say. It was cruelly ironic that here he was ready to say those three little words every woman he'd ever dated had hounded him to say and he couldn't because of the age gap and school situation.

"I don't leave until Wednesday," was all she could offer.

Jon frowned. That didn't help much.

"What are we going to do without you?"

She walked over to him, put her arms around him, and rested her head against his chest.

"You will be fine. And I will back as soon as I can. If I can make it back for New Year's Eve I will."

"Don't rush," he said, even though he didn't want her to leave at all. "Take your time with your dad."

Shawn was just about to yell for them when Jon and Audrey walked into the living room, arm in arm.

He smiled and made room for them on the couch. After Home Alone was over, there was a huge selection of holiday TV movies to chose from. Audrey chose "A Holiday to Remember" and it was a mistake. Neither Jon nor Shawn were much for sappy romances and she didn't know that was it was when she chose it. However, it gave her a front row seat to Jon and Shawn's version of "Mystery Science Theater 3000". Never had a romantic movie been so funny. Next was the more traditional movies that ended with "It's A Wonderful Life". It was the first time Jon had seen it and been able to relate to George Bailey in any way.

As the fire began to die down and the TV's sound faded to the background, they all fell asleep just as they had on Christmas with Jon holding both Shawn and Audrey.

Through the years we all will be together if the Fates allow...

o0o0o0o

"I still have that camera," Shawn told Julia. There was a sad, distant look in his eyes. "Of all the cameras I've had, it's still my favorite one."

Julia watched as tears filled his eyes. She hugged his arm tightly unsure of what to say. She felt so badly for him. Guilt tugged at her heart- that Christmas that Shawn had so badly wanted, but only experienced once was the Christmas she had every year.

"I lost all those photos," he said despondently. "I don't know what happened to them. I kept them in a box under my bed for the longest time and then after I left Dad..." he shrugged, heaving a heavy sigh .

"You mean the pictures you took that Christmas?"

He nodded.

Julia jumped up, throwing the blanket fully onto Shawn and ran to the hutch in the living room where her mother kept the family photo albums. She pulled two large albums from the shelf and a box. One of the albums was so large that she had trouble carrying it, the other album, and the box and nearly dropped everything before she made it back to the couch.

"Dad found that box under your bed at his old apartment," she said, setting the smaller album and box on the coffee table. Julia handed the large album to her brother and settled herself back into the warm folds of their blanket. "He tried to get it back to you but I think you weren't really talking to him by then. Mom ended up putting them in this so they'd be protected."

Shawn took the album from her set it on his lap. He was surprised to find himself trembling with nervousness as he opened the cover. Inside was every picture he'd taken that Christmas. Emotion overwhelmed him as he looked through the album, tangible proof that the story he'd just told his sister really happened. The further he got into the album the more trouble he had seeing as tears clouded his vision.

"Daddy's always said he was so glad you took all those pictures. He said he would forgotten a lot of what happened if you hadn't."

They continued to look through the photos and Julia said, "I'm glad you took these too. It's cool to see where all of our Christmas traditions came from."

"Really?"

She nodded. "We do everything you guys did that year. Well, except for the Philadelphia stuff. We do the New York version of that instead."

It was the end of album that finally got Shawn and the tears that had been building up finally spilled over. On the last page was a single picture of him, Jon, and Audrey with Santa that had been taken at the Christmas Village, its paper holiday frame faded with time. Right across from it in a clear page protector was the Christmas list he'd written so long ago. Through the tears he smiled. After everything he'd seen that they'd done to keep him as an active part of the family it should not have been a surprise that they had keep the list too.

"What's in the box?" he asked. Something told him it had to do with the album.

Julia gave him a big smile that look so much like Audrey's but at the very same time looked like just like Jon's. She picked the box up from the coffee table and handed it to him.

Slowly, he lifted the lid. Inside was an old worn VHS tape labeled "Our First Christmas 1995". Tucked into the side of the box was a DVD in a translucent green case.

"Mama had the video convert to DVD a while back," Julia told him. "The video tape was starting to show it's age and she was afraid it would become unwatchable."

Shawn smiled and touched the tape gently. He hadn't seen the content in twenty years.

"That's one of our traditions," she said quietly. "We watch it every year."

A strange feeling surged over him as he heard his younger self tell his parents of his hope to watch it every year. They had fulfill that request as well, even if he hadn't been aware of it. Shawn had never felt so loved in all his life, except for maybe that Christmas.

"Wait a minute," he suddenly as things started to become clearer. He turned to his sister and gave her a funny look. "You knew the story of my first Christmas with Mom and Dad. You've heard it for fifteen years!"

Julia grinned mischievously at him and nodded, the dark curls like her father's bobbed up and down.

"Why'd you want to hear it again?"

"I've never heard you tell it."

Shawn shook his head and laughed. "What's in that one?" he pointed to the other album on the coffee table.

Julia picked it up and handed it to him. "Pictures aren't the only thing they kept."

Shawn didn't know what she could possibly mean by that. He opened the Christmas themed album and looked through the photographs.

"We have a bunch of Christmas photos, but every year Mom puts a family picture and picture of the Christmas tree for that year in here. Next year we're going to have to start a new album."

"What do you mean that pictures weren't all they kept?"

"Look at the trees."

So Shawn focused on the Christmas trees. It took him a while to finally see what she was talking about. The one thing all the trees had in common was that there was a heart shaped Hallmark ornament hanging in the center of the tree illuminated by the lights that made it glow. Tears filled his eyes again.

"They still have that," he said quietly, touching the last picture with his finger tips.

"It's a good thing you didn't go with Darth Vader. Or it would have been on the back of the tree."

Shawn chuckled. "I almost did, too."

"They have the others, you know."

"What others?"

"The ornaments you made."

Shawn stared at the tree in the picture in front of him. As he looked, he saw that she was right. The ornaments he'd made with Audrey could be seen among the others.

"Every year we make ornaments, too."

Shawn looked at her in amazement thinking about how many kids there were in the family and multiplying it by the years that had passed. "Just how a big a tree do we get now?"

Julia giggled. "We have a second tree. All the kid ornaments go on it."

Shawn continued to look through the album in wonder of the people who had so fully embraced him as a teen and now as an adult. In spite of everything, they had stood by faithfully waiting for the day he would return home. Just like parents did for their children. Because he was theirs. It was not the first time in his life that he wished he shared a last name with them.

"Shawn," Julia tugged at his hoodie. She regarded him solemnly with large gray eyes. "Are you going to be home for Christmas next year?"

Shawn looked at his sister with great tenderness and affection as he thought about his little brothers and Bella, and their parents. "You can count on it, sis. I wouldn't miss it for the world."

Julia snuggled up against him with the blanket and yawned. It was now after midnight and they had a very busy week ahead of them. Possibly the most important week of their family's life. But even the darkness that loomed in coming week could not sour the mood Shawn was in. It might have been February but he could feel the Christmas spirit and the love of his family strongly all around him. He drifted off to sleep holding his sister the way their father had once held him so many years before.

Hang a shining star upon the highest bough and have yourself a merry little Christmas now.

AN: Happy New Year, everyone!