"Is she okay?" Meryn could see the anxiousness on Adelaide's face.

"She's fine. We're going to spend the rest of the day upstairs relaxing. Marius, could you send up a light dinner later?" Aiden asked.

"Of course, sir." He bowed.

"We'll make you an extra special breakfast tomorrow Meryn, you just rest now." Adelaide leaned forward and kissed her forehead.

"Thanks Mom." Meryn was pleased at Adelaide's expression.

"Mom?" She whispered.

"Everyone calls you Mother, but I think Mom sounds better." Meryn explained.

"Of course it does." Adelaide's smile was wobbly.

"See you in the morning." Aiden said and carried her up the stairs.

Once their door closed behind them, Aiden began to laugh.

"I bet my mother ran to the office to call my father and to tell him that you called her Mom. Fully expect him to ask you to call him Dad." Aiden placed her on the bed.

"If it makes him happy I will." Meryn curled up on her side. Aiden stared down at her and the love she saw in his eyes almost had her in tears again, but she was done crying. Aiden just continued to stand there. Meryn realized he didn't know what to do. She half turned and patted the empty space behind her. Without wasting any time he crawled in behind her and pulled her into the curve of his body. His strength and warmth were like a soothing balm. She turned just her head.

"Kiss me. I don't want to taste him anymore." She whispered. With a low growl, he lowered his head. His lips nibbled hers. When his tongue chased hers around, she had to pull away laughing. He pressed his lips to the back of her neck and she could feel him smile. He was trying to make her feel better.

"Tell me about Christmas. I want to hear something nice to chase away the fear." She scooted backward until there was no mistake that their kiss had left him wanting. His hand stilled her backward retreat.

"Be careful or you'll be getting a present instead of hearing about them."

"My cycle will be over after tomorrow."

"Thank the Gods!" Was Aiden fervent prayer.

"Christmas story please. We didn't really celebrate it much growing up. I would get two or three new outfits from the thrift store and a new pair of shoes, that was it. We never even got a tree." Aiden gasped.

"No tree! That's my favorite part about Christmas. I love decorating the tree. We have accumulated so many different types of bulbs and ornaments we had to start dividing them into different themes and rotate them. This year I think is the animal theme. It's one of my favorites, very rustic." Aiden's voice took on an excited cadence.

"And the food! Gods the food. Marius and my mother cook and bake every day. Turkey and ham and stuffed goose. Mincemeat pies and flaming pudding. Bronwyn's cookies make me want to cry every year they are so good." Aiden sighed.

"The ball has to be the best though. There's no deal making or business arrangements made like at All Hallows' Eve. Just the joy of the season, there's dancing and caroling all night. The Elders make and serve a buttered rum that keeps everyone in high spirits. We light candles all through the night and stay up until dawn to greet the sun. From then on out the days get longer." Meryn's eyes drooped as the day caught up with her. The picture that Aiden painted, danced in her mind. She couldn't wait for Christmas, even if it meant another stupid ball.

CHAPTER NINE

"Your laptop sucks and you should be shot for owning it!" Meryn raged. The thing weighed about eight pounds and was running Windows 95. She had to sit close to his desk since it required a cable for internet, it was too ancient to connect wirelessly.

"I can't do anything with this! How in the hell do you get anything done?"

"Meryn my job is to chase and shoot things. I need my gun not a laptop." Aiden explained. He had taken his sidearm apart and was oiling it.

They were still sequestered in their room the following morning, for which Meryn was grateful. She hadn't had much time to herself to recharge her batteries. Surprisingly enough, she didn't even mind Aiden being in the room with her.

"I didn't think about it until now, but you lost everything you had compiled regarding the missing persons case didn't you?"

"Who said I lost it? I always back up to my own personal online server. I just need to get to it. Ugh! For fuck's sake, it's trying to connect with AOL!" She wanted to scream. She was still cursing when there was a knock at the door. Aiden put his gun and oiling rag down and answered the door.

"I have brought you breakfast. Let me be the first to tell you that Miss Meryn was sorely missed at the table this morning." Marius wheeled in a cart.

"Coffee!" Meryn jumped up and skipped over to the cart. Marius had brought three cups of cappuccinos and a pot of fresh coffee in a carafe. Aiden immediately went for the plate that had been piled high with bacon and sausage.

"Marius, would you be able to go shopping today? I'd like to get Meryn a new laptop to replace the one that was stolen." Aiden asked.

"Of course, sir. I believe that they just opened a new Apple store in Madison. I should be able to find her something there." Meryn glared at Aiden.

"He knows about Apple. Why don't you have a decent computer?" She sipped her cappuccino and fought the urge to kick his laptop. He held up an oiled gun barrel and continued eating.

"If little miss would write down everything that she needs I should be able to go shopping today and be back this evening." Marius uncovered a plate with french toast triangles. He walked over to the small writing table she had been working on and proceeded to lay out her breakfast complete with her own tiny salt and pepper shakers. Meryn went to her backpack and ripped out a piece of paper and scrounged around for a pen. After five minutes of searching and pulling out all the items in her bag she found the pen clipped to the notebook she had at the beginning. Feeling frustrated she started her list.