Autumn in Philadelphia Trilogy

The Return: The Christmas List

It had been decided that the following weekend was the weekend to put up the Christmas tree. It had also been decided that since Audrey's place had more room and a fireplace all of the holiday festivities would take place there. When Shawn found out that Audrey had a spare bedroom and a sofa bed, he tried to convince Jon that they should just move in for the month. When Jon said no, Shawn wished him well and told him he hoped he wouldn't get lonely at night.

In order to give Shawn the full Christmas tree experience, rather than go to a tree lot like he thought they were going to go to, Jon and Audrey surprised him with a trip out of town to Arasapha Farms in Glen Mills. For Audrey, this was a normal Christmas experience; she grew up going to the tree farms in Jersey every year after Thanksgiving to cut down a tree with her father. But it was a new experience for Shawn and Jon. Shawn had never picked out a Christmas tree that actually looked like a Christmas tree rather than one that even Charlie Brown wouldn't want. Jon had never picked out a tree of any kind nor had he had ever cut one down.

"This is so cool," Shawn commented, grinning widely as they stood at the edge of the farm where the trees began. "You know," he said, when the adults finally caught up to him, "Audrey is all I really wanted for Christmas, but this," he gestured to the trees, "this is just icing on the gingerbread cookies."

Jon regarded him with mild concern. "Cake," he corrected. "The saying is 'icing on the cake'."

Shawn looked at him in confusion. "But I don't want cake for Christmas, I want gingerbread cookies."

Jon looked Audrey for help. "He wants cookies for Christmas," she teased him. "What are you even talking about?"

He laughed. "I have no idea."

The tree farm was crawling with people and Shawn worried that someone else would get their tree before them. Yet he insisted on going to the ends of the farm and back and from one side to the next inspecting every tree before choosing one. The weather was chilly and growing colder as the day went on, but trekking back and forth made them sweaty. Jon found himself carrying the jacket Shawn had shed as the teen ran ahead of them once again. Every dad carrying an article of their child's clothing or something else they'd brought with them gave Jon a nod of acknowledgment as if to say "we always end up doing this don't we?".

At one point Audrey stumbled on a low cut stump. Jon caught and pulled her close to him to keep her on her feet. Instinct told him to let go of her right away. As he started to pull away, he realized that absolutely no one knew them in Glen Mills. Not a single person knew that Audrey was his student teacher or that Shawn was his student; they were just one more family in the crowd. He hugged her close and she looked up in surprise. A pleased look and a shy smile blushed her face and she wrapped her arm around his waist. Shawn, standing by a tree he liked, saw this and grinned.

"I think I found the one," he said, inspecting the tree in front of him.

"Great." Jon was growing tired after a nearly two hour excursion through the farm carrying a leather jacket and saw.

"Four rows down that way." Shawn pointed into the distance and took off again.

The English teacher stared after him and set his jaw at angle. "We're going to be trapped here forever aren't we?" he complained with a dramatic groan.

Audrey laughed. "Oh, stop complaining. This was your idea after all."

Shawn had finally found The tree though, and there was no need to keep searching. It was a beautiful full Douglas fir. Jon and Audrey were impressed with the choice and Shawn basked in their approval.