Zora POV

I was sitting in the living room with Ashley and Will watching a puppet show Geoffrey and my grandfather were doing. My grandfather has been doing this puppet show for me for years. It was great when I was younger but I'm 15 now.

"And then, came the Third Day of Christmas and still no one had made a present for Santa. Whom shall I ask to help me, boys and girls?" Geoffrey said as an elf as Will raised his hand

"Ooh, ooh, ooh! I know, I know! Ask the reindeer on his left hand." Will said as my grandfather hopped over with a reindeer puppet

"I'd love to help but I have my hooves full as it is." My grandfather said as Will laughed

"I get it. His hooves are full. He don't have no hands. I get it. Hey, G, Mr. A, I did not see that comin', man." Will said laughing

"Hey, this is dope, right, Ash, Zee?" He asked as we turned to see Ashley asleep

"Ashley!" I yelled as she jumped

"I'm awake." She yelled

"I don't know why we bother." My grandfather said

"It's impossible to compete with tawdry entertainment like MTV, Nintendo...the new children on the block." Geoffrey said as he and my grandfather walked into the kitchen

"Well, thanks a lot, Ash. Now I'll never know
how the story ends. Pardon me for caring,
but I really wanted to know what Santa got for Christmas." Will said

"He doesn't get an actual gift, Will. He gets the love of all the little children in the world." I told him

"Really? What a gyp." Will said

"Oh, come on, Will, everyone knows there's no Santa Claus." Ashley told him

"Who told you that" I asked. She has no Christmas spirit I believed in Santa Claus when I was her age

"Wait a minute, there is no Milli Vanilli...but there definitely is a Santa Claus." Will told her

Ashley and I were sitting on the couch making flashcards when Will sat next to us

"Okay, Ash, Zee, let's write our letters to Santa Claus." Will told us

"Will." We told him

"Hey, look, here. You can help me with my list. How do you spell "Vanessa Williams?" He asked us

"Will, don't you have anything better to do
with Christmas vacation than writing a silly letter?" Ashley told him

"Well, what're you gonna do with your vacation? Are you gonna play with your friends?" Will asked her

"I wish I had someone to play with but every year my friends all go out of town with their families, and I'm stuck here all
alone." Ashley said

"Ashley, you can still do somethin' to have fun while you're here." Will told her

"I'm going to! I've decided to let Zo let me
learn a new word every day." Ashley said

"Woo! Party over here!" I said dancing with my flashcards

"Girls, that's boring." Will said

"Really? I think it's very autodidactic." Ashley said

"Christmas vacation is finally here. God help me, I do love it so." Carlton said walking into the living room taking off his jacket and sat on the arm of the couch

I got off the couch and walked up to him and hugged his arm as I put my head on his shoulder

"I thought you liked school, Carlton." Ashley told him

"Ash, I think Bel-Air Academy is one of the best schools in the country. Its academics are excellent. Its sports program is outstanding.
And the faculty is first-rate. But round about December 10, it all starts to get a little old,
know what I mean?" He told us

"Carl, we got a problem. Your sister, ten years old and doesn't know the meaning of Christmas." Will said

"I know the meaning of undulate." Ashley said getting up walking away

"I don't know where you're going with this Christmas thing, Will but I've got bigger fish to fry. I've gotta raise 600 more dollars
for my Glee Club ski trip." Carlton told him as I got off him

"Give you a dollar if you shave your head." Will said

"Wait you guys didn't raise your money yet. We been raised our money" I told him

"You did how" he asked

"We been having fundraisers since August. The trips in a two weeks what are you gonna do" I asked

"I've booked the Alligaroos to sing at a bunch of Christmas parties. So, if we make enough money, on December 26 we'll all be." He said as he pretending to be skiing

"Imitatin' Jerry Lewis?" Will asked

"I've got to rehearse now. Yo guys, let's use this room." Carlton said as his glee club walked in

"Alright, well, let's start with our opening number, alright? Five, six.. A five, six, seven, and.." Carlton counted

♪ I saw mommy kissing ♪

♪ Santa Claus ♪

♪ Underneath ♪

♪ The mistletoe last night ♪ they all sang

♪ She didn't hear me creep ♪
♪ Mm-mm ♪

♪ Down the stairs
to have a peek ♪

♪ Mm-mm ♪
♪ She thought that I.. ♪♪ Carlton sang as Will and I walked over to them

"Hold it! What the bloody hell kind of song is that?" Will asked

"What do you mean?" Carlton asked

"A little kid sees his mom tongue-wrestlin'
with Santa Claus?"

"Will, it's really his father dressed up like Santa Claus." I explained to him

Oh.. Well, why'd he dress up like..Oh! Oh, oh, I get it. I dress up like Santa Claus. You dress up like the Easter Bunny. Zee dresses up like the Tooth Fairy. That makes me sick." Will said

"We're trying to put together a musical program for Jonathan's parents' party tonight." Johnathan told him

"Jonathan's stepfather is a record producer.
And he asked that we not do the same old
tired Christmas carols." Kellogg said

"Here's our program." Chadney said as he gave the the program

"You don't bring me flowers", "People who need people.", "The way we were." I read

"Who gonna come down the chimney,
Barbra Streisand?" Will asked

"You've been to my parents' parties." Johnathan asked

I was in the kitchen reading when Will walked up to me and sighed heavily. He then walked closer to me and sighed louder. I put down my book and turned to him

"What's the matter honey" I asked

"The people in Bel Air have no Christmas Spirit. I remember in Philly we'll go sledding and have the biggest parties followed by the traditional holiday sirens" he told me

"Don't you mean the carolers" I asked as he shook his head

"No I mean sirens" he told me

"It is the most wonderful time of the year" I said

"Zee what did you use to do for Christmas in New York"  he asked me

"My parents and I used to decorate the house inside and out, then we'd go play in the snow until we had frost bite, then we would drink hot chocolate and watch a Christmas movie" I told him smiling at the memory

"You don't do that anymore" he asked

"Well my grandfather is to old to try to lift heavy Christmas decorations, it doesn't snow here, but we still do the movie" I told him

"I know what I'm gonna get you for Christmas. Zee for your Christmas present. Im going to give you an authentic New York Christmas" he told me

"That's sweet but how" I asked as he wrapped his arm around my shoulder

"Don't worry baby where there's a will there's a way" he told me as I looked at him skeptically

After a while I was in Ashley's room teaching her, her word of the day

"Ashley! Zee!" Will yelled as the two of us walked down the stairs

"Will, were you vociferating for us?" Ashley asked

"I gotta get back to you on that. Um..But anyway, y-you wanna go into Beverly Hills with me and pick up the Christmas decorations?" Will asked

"Okay." We told him

"We can sing Christmas songs all the way there." I suggested

"Great. Here's one Carlton taught me." She said as she began singing The Way We Were. Will turned to me

"This is gonna be a long day" He told me as I nodded

After our drive we finally made it to Beverly Hills as we walked into the store

"Merry Christmas." Will said as we walked up to the man

"Aren't these figures outstanding? They're beyond outstanding. They're deeply beyond.
They're hand-carved. We import them from Poland" the man told us

"We're looking for some Christmas decorations." I said as he took us to some tree with orange and yellow streamers

"Let me show you something that we're doing right now that's deeply happening.
It's a Caribbean Christmas tree. It's very big in London. It's beyond big. It's all about
very hot oranges and very intense yellows.
I feel it's a very vibrant tree and I feel it's a very important tree." The man told us

"Well, we're just picking up the decorations
for my mother, Mrs. Banks." Ashley told him

"Yeah. She phoned and she told me that you'd be putting them up yourselves this year, which is fine. You'll save yourself a little
money, which is a good thing because the '90s are going to be all about...restraint." The man told us giving us the box as we looked through it

"Is, uh, this the wreath for the door?" I asked picking it up

"Yeah, let's talk about that wreath for a moment, if you will. Last year, I was so deeply
into the distant salmons and the sandy beiges but this year I went more with the muted roses with these little arrogant touches of celadon and periwinkle. I think it worked out quite nice." The guy told us as I put it down

"Um, let's try something wild here, you know? Do you have anything red or green?
Or, I don't know, maybe something like a Santa Claus?" Will asked

"It's been done." The man said

"Excuse us." Will said as we walked to the side

"Ashley, Zee, these decorations are wack.
Look, we're gonna save Aunt Viv a lot of money and buy 'em somewhere else,
alright? Let's go." He told us as we began leaving

"Excuse me? You forgot your box of decorations." The man told us

"Uh, no, well, you see we're going to do
our own decoration this year. It's gonna be about arrogant little elves and rambunctious reindeer, you know? And-and little men in red suits. I think it will be deeply, deeply dope." Will said as Ashley and I laughed as we left

Ashley, Will, and I went to different stores to get decorations. The three of us walked into the house with boxes full of stuff

"What's all this" my grandfather asked as he and Geoffrey were sitting down drinking tea

"We went go get some decorations" Ashley said smiling

"Do you guys wanna help" Will asked as they nodded

"Oh Zo-Zo like we used to do when you were a little girl" my grandfather said as he put on Christmas music

He grabbed my hand as we began dancing as Ashley laughed as he grabbed her hand and began dancing with her as Will and Geoffrey started dancing with us as we all laughed and put up the decorations

We spent hours putting up the decorations and after we went change because we were all sweating

Ashley and I went into the living as she ran up to her parents smiling

"Surprise!" She yelled

"Ashley, sweetie." Mrs. Banks said

"Where's Will?" Mr. Banks asked

"Aren't you surprised, mommy?" Ashley asked

"Where is Will?" Mr. Banks asked again

"I had so much fun today with Will and Zo, you can't believe it." Ashley said smiling

"Surprise!" Will said walking in with a candy cane and santa hat and shades

"Oh, look, it's Will." Mr. Banks said

"Will, what happened at the Christmas shop?" Mrs. Banks asked as he took off his shades

"Oh, Aunt Viv, they were tryin' to rip you off.
You know, so, me, Zee and Ashley, we went down to the Pic 'n' Grab." Will said as the phone rang as Mr. Banks picked it up but we covered it in tinsel

"Hello? Yes, this is Philip Banks. Ah, you saw our lights. The blinking Frosty the Snowman
is riling your attack dogs." He said as he hung up

"Oh. That's wonderful. Our neighbors are furious. We're gonna have to take these lights down." Mr. Banks said

"Hey, U-Uncle Phil, I'm..I bet there's a lot
of neighbors that love those decorations.
I mean, certainly anyone who possesses good taste." Will said as the phone rang as Will answered it

"Banks' residence. Have a holly, jolly Christmas. Well, brother, you got a problem with my lights? Why don't you come tell me
that to my face then? Hey, we can do whatever you wanna do. It's your world, squirrel. I'm just trying to get a nut. Wha.. What? Oh, we can do this. Well, that was clever, Trevor. Ain't no thing but a chicken wing. Yeah, alright." Will said as he hung up

"Madam, sir. A group of your neighbors have
assembled on the front lawn. They are looking at your Christmas decorations
and growing enraged. They are threatening
to burn Frosty in effigy." Geoffrey said as my grandfather walked in

"Well, we'd better get out there." Mr. Banks said as he and Mrs. Banks went outside

"Geoffrey, Mr. Allen, thanks for helping us
put up those Christmas decorations." Ashley told them as they smiled

"Yeah, man, I'd have never had the guts
to climb up on that roof with that reindeer
strapped to my back." Will said

"Anything in the name of Christmas, Master
William." Geoffrey told him

"Your aunt and uncle did not suspect anything, did they?" My grandfather asked

"No, no!" Will told them

"Still..I think it's best we avoid eye contact
for the rest of the evening." Geoffrey said

"Ten-four."  Will said covering his face

"Thanks for letting me do this" my grandfather told us

"No problem man" Will said as he wrapped his arms around me and Ashley

"You know when I got sick I haven't really went all out for Christmas. I feel like a kid again" he told us laughing as we smiled at him

The neighbors were all in the house complaining as we stood to the side

"Philip, should I talk to them, or do you want to?" Mrs. Banks asked

"No, I'll give it a try." Mr. Banks said

"Dad, can I offer a suggestion?" Carlton asked

"Well, they're our neighbors and they're upset and it's up to us to make sure
that this doesn't ruin their Christmas. There's only one way to do that. I think we should
write a few checks." Carlton said

"Sit down, Carlton." Mr. Banks told him

"As you wish, father." Carlton said as he went sit down

"I'm just gonna have to tell them we'll take those decorations down as soon as we can." Mr. Banks said

"Well, can't we at least leave some of them up?" Ashley asked

"Oh, I don't know. Maybe we can reach a compromise." Mr. Banks told her

"Uh, everybody now in keeping with the,
uh, spirit of the season I think we can, uh, discuss this rationally." Mr. Banks told the neighbors

"Property values in this neighborhood
must be vigorously protected. Isn't that right, Mr. Uesato?" Mr. Grey said

"I'm afraid potential buyers aren't too crazy about the Kmart look." Mr. Uesato said

"And you know, dear, there are wonderful services that will come and decorate
your house for you." Mrs. Lang said

"Yes, I know, but this year, our daughter and nephew and thier friend decided to do the decorating themselves." Mrs. Banks said

"Oh, I see. Are they very angry with you over something?" Mrs. Lang asked

"Somebody betta' come get her" I said my New York accent coming out as Carlton grabbed my hand sitting me next to him calming me down

"No. Why?" Mrs. Banks asked

"Well, this just reminds me of the summer
my daughter Amanda turned 15 and tried to burn our house down." Mrs. Lang said

"Master William. Uh, there is a gentleman
in the foyer who claims you had some harsh words with him on the phone." Geoffrey said

"Oh, yeah? Word. Word. That chump is here? Send him in." Will said

"Will, fighting doesn't solve anything." Mrs. Banks told him

"No, no, no, no, Aunt Viv. Ain't gonna be no fight. I can tell by the sound of this guy's voice on the phone I could take him in a minute." Will said as heavyweight Evander Holyfield walked in

"Mr. Evander Holyfield. The undisputed Heavyweight Champion of the World." Geoffrey announced

"Nice champion." Will said rubbing his jacket

"I recognize your voice. You the chump I talked to on the telephone." Evander said

"Phone? I ain't talked to you on no phone." Will said in a high voice

"Evander!" Hilary yelled

"Hilary." He said

"You know her?" Will asked as they gave air kisses

"Where were you last night at Bruce Willis' party?" He asked

"Ah! I'm not speaking to Bruce. I'll tell you about it later. Anyway, what are you doing here?" Hilary said

"I didn't know you lived here, uh..Frankly, I saw the lights and I thought they was...looked tacky." Evander said as people starting arguing again

"Look! Shh! I didn't mean for everybody
to get so upset. You might as well
just...take all the lights down." Ashley said

"Ashley." Mr. Banks said

"It's okay, dad." She said as I got off the couch and followed her

"Ashley." I said as Will followed us

"Now, come on. T-the house looks dope.
You know, who cares what they think? Bet you Santa thinks it's nice." Will said

"Look, I know you're trying to get me into the Christmas spirit but I'm just not into it.
All those people are in a bad mood...none of my friends around to play with. I'm gonna go up to my room learn some new word and wait until New Year's." Ashley told us as the bell rang as we went open

We opened the door to see a man with a bunch of kids as they began singing Jingle Bells

They finished as we clapped for them smiling. They are to adorable

"Oh. Oh, wow! Hey, that was great. Uh, who are you guys?" Will asked

"Hi, I-I'm Mark Driscoll. How you doin'? Every year, I take the neighborhood kids around
to look at the Christmas lights and they like to choose one house as the best-decorated
then sing Christmas carols to the people who live there." Mr. Driscoll said

"And this year, you guys won." A little boy told us

"We drove all over." A little girl told us

"Yeah, and usually this neighborhood is a complete dud. We weren't even gonna come here until Jimmy saw the house from the freeway." The boy told us

"Hey. Well, I'll tell you what. We got a lot of cookies and hot chocolate inside.You guys come on in." Will said as they cheered

"Thanks. Merry Christmas." Mr. Driscoll said

"Merry Christmas." We told him as we looked at Ashley

"Well, Ashley, I seem to remember you
sayin' you wanted some friends and...there they are." Will said

"Still don't believe that there's a Santa Claus?" I asked as she smiled

"Well, I'm glad we cleared up this little matter. I assume the lights will be down by tomorrow." Mr. Grey said

"Wait. I've changed my mind. I want the lights to stay up." Ashley said

"Fight the power, Ashley." Will told her

"I love them. They're beautiful. And I'm not the only one who thinks so. Will thinks so, too and so those Zo, and Mr. Allen And so do all these kids. And besides, it's Christmas. And when I look at the lights.and the reindeer
and the decorations, it makes me feel very..
...ebullient." Ashley said

"Yeah, me too!" Will said

"Ashley's right. What are we arguing about here? When we were kids, we used to all love
Christmas. And now we take things
too seriously. Personally, I think the lights
are, uh, kind of neat." Mr. Banks said

"You gotta fight the man. Well technically you're a lawyer you are the man but fight the power" I told him

"Ha-ha! I guess they're really not hurting anybody. And the kids really like them" Mrs. Lang said

" We shouldn't be fighting. It's so barbaric." Evander said

"Then we're all agreed?" Mrs. Banks asked as I sat next to Carlton

"I think those decorations are totally inappropriate for a home in Bel-Air." Mr. Grey said

"Madam, another of your neighbors has arrived." Geoffrey said

"Oh, great. That's all we need." She said as President Regan walked in

"Excuse me. Hello, everybody. Hi, there, Hilary. Thanks for the pretzels. I'm.. I'm, I'm sorry to bother you, neighbor. I.. I just want to say that I..Yes, I greatly admire your your wonderful Christmas decorations. And I just wanted to say that you know because Nancy won't let me do anything fun to our house." He said

"Well, thank you, Mr. President. As a matter of fact, a few of our neighbors came by to tell us about our lights, too. What were you saying, Mr. Grey?" Mr. Banks said as we all turned to him

"Well, I was just saying they were...absolutely magnificent--That's what I think. Yes." He said

"Ho Ho Ho" We heard as we turned to see my grandfather dressed in a santa suit

"Santa" the kids yelled as they went over to hug him as Will pushed them out the way and hugged him

"Uh, now, you know, this is what Christmas is all about. Now comes the magic moment.
Come on, everybody gather around the TV." Will said as he sat next to me

"Will, what are you doing?" I asked

"Yes, yes. This is one of my Christmas traditions. You know, I like to sit and watch out for this certain commercial." Will told us

"A commercial?" Carlton asked

"Yeah. You know, you know, the one where it's all snowy and a little jolly Santa is ridin' around on a Norelco shaver?" Will said

"Oh, I love that commercial. Oh, a-and that Christmas beer commercial with the horses
with the furry feet are pullin' the sleigh through the snow." Mr. Banks said as we all agreed

"And I always loved that commercial where the little covered wagon is being chased
by the dog across the kitchen floor." President Regan said as we all gave him blank stares

"Hey, he's on the shaver!" Carlton said as we turned to the tv and awwed

"Thank you Will" I told him ashe turned to me

"For what" he asked

"You said you'd give me a Authentic New York Christmas and yiu gave me one. The only thing that happened was it didn't snow" I said

"I wouldn't say that too soon. Follow me" he said as he grabbed my hand and brought me to my backyard as everyone followed

"Snow" I said smiling

"What's going on" my grandfather asked

"Snow there's snow." i said smiling

"In California" he asked

"I told you this global warming was no joke" Hilary said

"Will how did you do this" I asked

"Well I know this guy who makes snow cones so I just ordered 17,000 of them" he said as I smiled

"Oh thank you" I said as I hugged him as I picked up some ice as I threw a snowball as he through one back as we all started having a snowball fight

I noticed Carlton wasn't here as I walked inside the house and saw Carlton sitting on the couch as I sat next to him

"You don't wanna come play in the snow with us" I asked

"Naw um can I ask you something" he asked me as I nodded

"Sure" I told him

"Is there something going on between you and Will" he asked

"What no. Where did you get that idea." I asked laughing

"I don't know you both are really close" he told me

"Well we're pretty close" I told him

"Yeah but nevermind" he said shaking his head

"Why does it matter" I asked

"It doesn't I was just asking" He asked as I nodded

"Ok" I said as I heard a whistle as we turned to see Ashley as she pointing above our heads as we both looked up and saw mistletoe

"Well I mean it is tradition" I said as he nodded

"And who are we to argue with tradition" Carlton said as I wrapped my arms around his neck as we both began leaning in. Our lips almost touched

When we felt something cold on the back of our necks as we turned to see Will throwing snowballs as Carlton and I got up and chased him outside