Matt is edgy, telling only his sibling he found an out of state summer job so he'll leave home in days, not months. Simon finds a brilliant trick to train happy for a TV pet food commercial, but there's a stage-fright complication. Mary rudely scolds Matt, unlike Wilson who leaves diplomatically, for getting physical at home, but her doctor notifies she's pregnant. Lucy cruelly keeps suitors Jimmy and Rod, who both chose Eric as career day model, dangling, but Wilson, who appreciates her help with Billie, arranges a date with Kenny, whom she may really want.

Like every Christmas, Eric compromises the kids' fun by imposing 'voluntary good deeds' and cheating the draw of the family presents distribution. Matt is even pressed into a mall Santa job, with a jealously rebellious dwarf-size elf. Jordan can't avoid a family event and his gift for Lucy stirs more absurd speculations. Mary felt lucky the soup-kitchen she's pressed into happens to recruit hunky Carlos, a homeless Puerto Rican New Yorker who travels since his home break-up two years ago, but Eric arranges a speedy reconciliation. Simon takes it on himself to save Ruthie from losing faith in Santa. Eric and Annie's second-hand or home-made gifts rule bites them in the asses, yet 'Santa' rescues them.