Author's Disclaimer: Hi again, all you wonderful people. I am SO SO SORRY that I have not written in a while. My semester has been so chaotic! I didn't think it was possible to be so busy! Anyways, in apology for staying away so long and not posting another chapter from the other stories (coming soon), I give you, another story! Once again, I do not own Labyrinth, or anyone else in this story. This one is holiday related, all to be done by Christmas. I figure a deadline will help get it out on time. Main idea: Sarah makes a rather careless wish, and in doing so, allows Jareth back into her life, just in time for the holiday season. Naturally, much havoc will be wrought as he makes his rather persistent tries to convince her that they need to be together, all while trying to navigate the many joys of Thanksgiving, Black Friday, and Christmas together. Just as FYI: the chapter names are two-fold: the normal one, and the Christmas song that best describes it. I will be switching off between the two names in the chapter names as I go on. I hope you like it!

Baby It's Cold Outside

Chapter 1: Be Careful What You Wish for-I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas

After having a very exhausting morning trying to help fix the turkey for the later Thanksgiving feast, 25-year old Sarah Williams was tired. And frustrated.

It was a well-known fact that she could not cook, even though she had gotten many lessons from the great chef that her stepmother Karen was. Now that she had graduated from college, worked at a newspaper, and had an apartment of her own she was now quite grown up, and ready to handle grown-up duties, like helping Karen with the turkey. Sadly, it still didn't mean that her cooking was any better. Poor Karen was doing her best to counteract the fact that Sarah still couldn't cook, but it didn't help since preparing the turkey required many hours and much patience and gentleness, something Sarah did not have in the kitchen.

It didn't help that Sarah was afraid of peaches. And had been afraid of them ever since that fateful day when she had eaten one in the Labyrinth, those ten years ago. It was one of the few bad memories of the Labyrinth, since she loved her friends, who gave her much inspiration to write, and going through the Labyrinth had taught her much and helped her grow up. Heck, she even liked Jareth, a little. It only took a couple years of reflection to see Jareth had told the truth, acting as she wanted him to, but that still didn't help their last meeting. It had always bothered her: did he love her, or not? The romantic in her said yes, but the realist said no, it wasn't possible. It was this indecision and worry about him that made her hesitate to touch or eat peaches. And then that translated into cooking in general, much to Karen's dismay.

Meanwhile, in the household, Toby, now older and talking, was singing Christmas music at the top of his lungs, in particular, "I want a hippopotamus for Christmas". After winning her little brother back, Sarah had always loved Toby very much, except when he sang that song. Unfortunately, it was his favorite song, since he actually liked hippos, and since he was rather young, he was also tone deaf as he sang it at the top of his lungs over and over again for everyone to hear.

After listening to Toby singing so much, having the stuffing turn out bad, having misshapen turkey from being dropped, and rather pungent gravy, Sarah had had it in the kitchen. Frustration had won over, and so, being a responsible adult, she did the only thing she could to relieve stress: go to the backyard out of hearing so she could vent. Vent about Toby, about the bad food, about her lonely life of not having a date in over a year (How was she too picky? She didn't require a man to move the stars for her, just love her for herself.), and of being forced to watch football, the silliest sport in the world. Why would men willingly hurt themselves and others in order to chase after a strangely shaped ball? And why did college students feel such a need to celebrate it every weekend and wake her up with their drunken shouting? Overall, it was turning out to be a very bad day, even though Thanksgiving was her second favorite holiday after Christmas. Christmas had a special place in her heart and in her family. Either way, she was upset, and after hearing that confounding song all morning, all she could think of was in terms of "I want" or "I wish".

This, in and of itself wasn't bad, it had happened before. The problem was that she was seriously contemplating wishing for something, even though she knew he wouldn't hear her any more, or so she assumed after refusing him and beating him. But, she had always been careful. Oh well, today was already going badly, so it really couldn't get much worse she figured. It would be nice to use the w-word again, too.

"I wish the turkey was perfect, right now!" She felt so much better being able to get that out of her system. She just wanted to have a nice family holiday and help out in whatever way she could. She only wished she could do that. Because that would imply making good food to enjoy, and having a boyfriend to make her family happy. That most certainly was not going to happen soon, but so is life.

However, there was an old saying, and it goes like this: be careful what you wish for.

No sooner had Sarah said it than suddenly, Karen came running outside, looking quite dumbfounded.

"Sarah! Sarah! Sarah! You remind me of myself, when I first started cooking. How?"

"How what, Karen?"

"How did you do it? The power to do it."

"What power?"

"The power to keep that joke to yourself."

"Who, me?"

"Yes, you."

"Do what?"

"Have the power to pass off that joke about not being able to cook. I saw you crying about not doing the turkey properly. So I thought, 'What should I do?' And then I saw your brother doing his special hippo dance, so I figured I would just see how bad it was, and add a few things to make it better, and pass it off as yours. I go to check, and there it was, that turkey. All brown and perfect, ready to go, smelling delicious, and all the gravy and stuffing nearby. I was so shocked. I considered doing my own little dance when I realized you could cook! I'm so proud of you!"

And then, Karen proceeded to hug Sarah, who was by now very worried and concerned for what had happened, so she began leading Karen back to the turkey to see with her own eyes. It had to be a mistake. It couldn't be anything else.

No such thing.

Never had the kitchen smelled better in all her life, and Sarah was royally confused. That left only one option: the wish must have been heard. Which meant only one thing: what about Jareth?

However, she was not left long to consider the question, as it was soon answered when she suddenly heard Toby yelling, "Hey! Check it out! A white owl! In our front yard! That is so cool!"

Sarah knew what that meant; she was going to have to answer the door.

Author's Note: Sugar cookies for finding the Labyrinth song reference! No, it is not a cliff hanger, as the next chapter is coming out soon after. And we all know who is waiting…

I hope you like it! -tmwillson3