About a Boy Episode 2.08 About a Christmas Carol

It's Christmas Eve and Will is all bah-humbug, throwing away Christmas cards unopened. When Marcus and Fiona come by singing carols, he slams the door in their cheerful faces. Undeterred, Marcus barges in and takes the cards out of the trash, noticing one from Robert Freeman, Will's father. When Fiona asks if Will is spending Christmas with his dad, Will snaps back that he hates Christmas because every year the radio plays his one and only hit, "Runaway Sleigh," a song he despises with the "white hot anger of a thousand suns." Besides, he refuses to celebrate "an imaginary fat man in a red suit." Horrified, Fiona covers Marcus' ears but it's too late - Will just ruined Santa for Marcus, who still believed up until a second ago. After Fiona herds Marcus out of the room, Will looks at his father's card and rips it up.

As Fiona and Marcus decorate the yard, Laurie urges Will to settle the lawsuit with Stalker Stacy, giving her a percentage of royalties for "Runaway Sleigh." If the case goes to trial, he could lose his house. Will rips up the settlement papers and sets out to find proof that he and he alone wrote the song, but he's blocked by Marcus, who's eager to cheer him up with a new, hip-hop version of "Runaway Sleigh." Fiona and the kids dance while Andy announces that they're all invited to Fiona's for Christmas - now they can all spend the holiday together! This is all too much for Will, who tries to escape but not before Fiona tasks him with watching Marcus while she attempts to reverse the damage Will did by killing Santa.

Will ends up taking Marcus on his mission to find the handwritten lyrics to "Runaway Sleigh," which he believes are still in the attic of the house where he and his band, Sriracha, lived when he wrote it. But they're out of luck; after calling Will a sellout, the new young tenants inform him that Sriracha's tambourine player came to clear out the attic a year ago. Meanwhile, on a mission to restore Marcus' faith in Santa, Fiona and Andy buy the last snow machine in town - a defective one, returned after causing a garage fire. It's a fixer-upper but it'll have to do.

With Marcus in tow, Will tracks down his old tambourine player - and ex-girlfriend - Debbie Caruso.The former hottie is now a sweat suit-clad mother of three, whose husband sold the lyrics on eBay. Debbie offers to track down the FedEx slip from the sale in exchange for an impromptu "Runaway Sleigh" performance. After serenading the happy family, Will receives the slip which contains the address of the bidder who bought the lyrics: his father, Robert Freeman.

Will is less than thrilled to see his dad. They immediately start bickering about the past. Will has always assumed his father couldn't accept that his son gave up classical music for rock, but Robert was only disappointed Will sold out and stopped trying. Will demands his lyrics, but Robert doesn't have them. Will leaves his dad with one last reproach: Robert never once said he was proud of Will. Marcus finally understands why Will hates Christmas. On the way home, Marcus and Will bond over absentee fathers and Marcus stars to howl, his mother's trusted angst-busting technique. Will resists at first but finally chimes in, baying at the moon.

Back at Fiona's, Andy nearly gets electrocuted by the snow machine, so Fiona resorts to plan B, whipping up some homemade luminaries out of snow-white paper bags. But Marcus doesn't care about fancy lights. Fiona is all he needs for Christmas. Will, heart finally thawed, decides to celebrate with his new oddball family. He also agrees to sign the settlement. But it's too late. Stacy withdrew her offer and they're going to trial. Will is trying to keep his chin up when the sound of violins wafts over from next door. Everyone runs to Will's yard to find Robert and his musician buddies playing a classical tribute to "Runaway Sleigh." Just then, Andy powers on the Christmas lights and snow falls from the sky. Will and his father exchange forgiving smiles and Will starts to sing along. It's a Christmas miracle.