A TI Christmas

By AJ and Nelson

"Logan! Wait a minute!"

Logan paused, waiting for Scott to catch up with him.

"More Christmas decorations?" he asked, indicating the boxes Logan was juggling.

"Yes. And these had better be the last of them," Logan groaned. "If I'd realized we had so much, I would have brought help. Is that all you have?" He indicated the two large bags of marshmallows Scott carried.

"We got everything else yesterday," Scott replied, "but we've run out of marshmallows twice already."

"How's the move into admin going?" Logan asked. "Do you think you're going to like it?"

"It's going to take some getting used to," Scott admitted. "I never thought I would end up teaching Alpha classes, but I think I'm going to enjoy it."

They continued to chat until their paths separated and Logan went on to Cottage 7B. It was looking pretty good, even in daylight, he decided. It wasn't easy to convert a tropical island cottage into a snowy Victorian one but the Cens had done a pretty good job of it. Rolls of quilt batting lay against a makeshift picket fence, waiting to simulate snow and a wooden lamppost held a cheery Christmas wreath with a big red bow and long red velvet streamers. A small table waited nearby, ready to be covered with a long cloth and hold the big kettle of mulled cider and brown bags of goodies they were handing out. By the time they were finished, the goodie bags would be filled with nuts, tangerines, and homemade cookies, the top cinched with gingham ribbons that matched the ones that would be tied on the tree.

Daniel was perched on the stepladder, attaching the last of the icicle lights to the eaves as David handed them up.

"David, can you give me a hand here?" Logan called and they immediately dropped what they were doing and hurried over to him.

"Here are your supplies," he started to say as David wrenched one box from his arms and Daniel grabbed the other. "Anxious?" he asked, mildly amused at the twin Cens’ enthusiasm.

"YES!" Daniel exclaimed as he headed into the cottage with the box.

David trailed Daniel to the kitchen dismissing the partially hung lights to check out the supplies. "I hope they got everything," he commented to Daniel.

"I know. This was the last supply boat before Christmas," Daniel said. He set the box on the table and used a fingernail to lift the edge of the tape, then zipped it off the top.

Logan followed them into the kitchen and saw the box being opened and rifled through. "Don’t spread that stuff out in here. I’m cooking tonight," he said. “I don’t want the kitchen cluttered.”

"Aw, come on Logan!" Daniel complained.

"Scoot!" Logan said, herding the twins out of the kitchen. "Take it into the living room, please."

Morgan started laughing as the twins grudgingly exited the kitchen and he made his way inside. "You’re a Grinch, big brother."

"Yes, I am. And right now, I’m also a chef." He went to the refrigerator and withdrew a green bell pepper, onion and package of mushrooms, then got canned tomatoes and tomato paste out of the cabinet.

"An Italian chef?" Morgan guessed when he saw the ingredients his twin was selecting. Morgan settled his hips against the kitchen counter and watched his brother work.

"Spaghetti, yes," Logan confirmed. As he opened the cans of tomatoes, he asked, "Have you seen Jordan? He wasn’t in the living room with the others. Is he with Travis or Garrett?"

Morgan shook his head. "Garrett is at Group and Travis is still at the clinic with Herm."

Logan glanced at the clock. “That’s right. He should be up to his neck in orientation by now. I can’t believe I’m losing Travis after Christmas," he said thoughtfully. "I’m going to miss him."

Morgan chuckled. "Then go down to the clinic and see him."

"He isn’t gone yet, but it’s close enough."

"I would think Jordan and Daniel are enough to keep you busy," Morgan said. He took a pot out from under the cabinet and set it on the burner for his brother.

"They’re great guys, too. A little part of me attaches to each one of them." Logan paused in the middle of twisting the can opener handle, his brow creased with worry at the mention of Jordan. He finished with the can he was working on, and said to Morgan, "Help me out and chop the pepper and onion? I need to check on Jordan."

Realizing his brother was worried about their newest resident Cen, Morgan didn’t point out that it wasn’t his night to cook. The Cens were their first priority. "You know I will. Is there a problem?"

Logan sighed and put his hands on his hips, concern still part of his visage. "I don’t know. He seems… distant. Too quiet." Logan shook his head. "I’m worried that he’s withdrawing. Have you noticed?"

"When David and Garrett haven’t required my attention, yes, I’ve noticed it a bit. Not enough to worry though," Morgan replied. Reading his brother, he asked, "Are you worried?"

Searching for the right word then finding it, Logan said, "Concerned. I mean he’s been here for six weeks. He should be getting more comfortable by now, you know?"

"I know," Morgan agreed. He yanked a thumb toward the kitchen door and said, "Go find him. I’ve got this covered."

"Thanks," Logan said with a smile. He left the kitchen and barely glanced at the television and twin Cens as he walked through.

"Where’s the packing tape?!" Daniel was saying. "Did they forget the tape?!"

"It’s over here," David said. "I thought it was right here beside--"

Their voices melted together and became part of the background noise as Logan got further away from the living room. He could see that the bedroom door was closed as he neared Jordan’s room. Pausing outside the door, he shook his head slightly, perplexed at Jordan's withdrawal. He had seemed to be settling in so well at first. He raised his fist and gave two short raps on the door. "Jordan?" he called.

The Texan on the other side of the door called back to him. "Come in," he said.

Logan found Jordan stretched out on the bed and perched himself on the edge of it. "What are you doing?"

"Resting," Jordan said simply.

Logan said, "You took a nap at quiet time." His comment was met with lowered lashes and he knew he had hit on something. He reached over and took the hand that was resting against Jordan's chest. Patting it, he said, "What’s the matter, babe? You shouldn’t be tired."

"I…" Jordan started. He hesitated and looked up into his TA’s eyes. "I just wanted to be alone for a little while."

"You’ve been doing too much of that lately, Jordan. I’m finding you in here all too often, looking for time alone." Jordan pulled his hand back and started to roll away from Logan, who immediately halted his progress. "No, you don’t. Talk to me."

"There’s nothing to talk about. Really."

"Then why the need to be alone?"

"I’m just not used to being around people all the time. It gets noisy, you know?"

Logan smiled. "I know. A cottage full of sevens can be that way sometimes." He saw Jordan relax with the confirmation and was quick to add, "But it isn’t going to get any quieter, and we aren’t about flying solo here."

Jordan’s eyes dropped again and he mumbled, "I know."

"Okay, Jordan. From now on, you get permission from me when you feel like you need time to be alone. You’re spending far too much time by yourself."

Jordan’s mouth opened and closed like a fish out of water. "But…. I… Logan!"

"You heard me," Logan said. He patted Jordan’s thigh and said, "Come out into the living room. The twins are making sure all the supplies you ordered came in and Garrett should be back about now. They would probably appreciate the help."

"They don’t need my help," Jordan said.

"Then find something else to do that doesn’t entail time alone. Help me with dinner if you don’t want to help them," he offered.

Logan could see the struggle behind the blue eyes searching his and he took Jordan’s hand to pull him upright.

"But I..." Jordan said.

"No buts," Logan said, halting any attempted negotiations. "Up. Come on."

"I just want to rest a little," Jordan continued as he sat up.

Logan examined the Cen before him. "Are you sick?"

"No, Logan. I’m fine."

"Good. Then if you’re fine, you can help me or the others. Up," he said again, rising from the edge of the bed. "Let’s go."

Logan headed to the door with every assurance that Jordan was following; an assurance that was confirmed by the sound of stocking feet shuffling behind him as he went down the hall. He stopped in the doorway between the kitchen and living room, and glanced back at Jordan. "Are you helping me or the twins?" Logan asked. As Jordan looked from the twins to the kitchen, apparently trying to make up his mind, the twins made it up for him.

"Jordan! Come look at all the stuff!" Daniel exclaimed. "We have a ton to do."

Jordan glanced at Logan and then turned his attention back to the twins. "Did they get everything?" Jordan asked.

"Come look!" David said. He held up a box of mini-candles. "Aren’t these going to look great?" he said enthusiastically.

"Yeah," Jordan agreed.

Daniel grabbed the box from his brother and held them up for Logan to see. "Are you sure we can’t light them, Logan?"

"Positive. No lit candles on our tree."

"But Logan! The tree is artificial. Fireproof," Daniel protested.

"No," Logan said with grin.

"They did it all the time in the Victorian period!" David argued.

"No," Logan said, laughing as he left the Cens alone to put their holiday decorating plans in motion.

He heard David attempt to whisper, "Maybe Morgan will let us."

"NO!" Logan said, turning from the doorway. "No today, no tomorrow, no on the night of the festivities. Got it?"

"Yes, Logan," Daniel said, shoulders slumping in defeat.

David echoed his brother’s consent. "Yes, Logan."

Satisfied that his point was taken, Logan caught a quick eye roll pass between the brothers as he turned his back on them to concentrate on the spaghetti sauce. Morgan was sautéing freshly chopped green pepper and onion in olive oil as he entered the room.

"Let the festivities and stress begin," Logan said as he walked over to check his brother’s progress.

Morgan laughed and handed Logan the wooden spoon. "What’s going on?"

"Oh, the usual high-energy response to this week. I don’t know what gets into them at Christmas."

"The spirit. That’s what," Morgan said.

"They’re on the ‘can we light the candles on the tree’ kick again."

"God help us," Morgan said with a smile. "You told them ‘no’?"

"No? Were we going to tell them they couldn’t?"

"Very funny. Did you find Jordan?"

Logan nodded while he stirred the onion and bell pepper. "Slice the mushrooms, will you? He was in his room. Again."

"He's probably just taking longer to adjust," Morgan speculated out loud.

"I hope so. But it seems like he was doing fine, then got worse."

"The holidays. It affects some of them more than others," Morgan pointed out. He finished the mushrooms and went to the cabinet for the spices he knew his twin would be using.

"I need to keep an eye on him," Logan said. "Oh, just in case I’m not around, he needs permission to hide out in his room."

Morgan nodded. "Okay. I’ll watch out for him if you aren’t around."

"I know you will." Logan heard a fourth voice join the others in the living room and said, "Sounds like Garrett is back."

"Yep. He came in while you were with Jordan."

"And Travis will be home pretty soon. All Cens present and accounted for except for him, and I know where he is."

Logan tried to focus on the spaghetti sauce and push the worry about his newest Cen to the back of his mind.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"They didn’t have electric lights in the Victorian age," Jordan said, struggling to untangle the lights as he pulled them loose from the package. "They used candles."

"Don’t you start," Logan said. He took another poke at the eye of the needle with the heavy thread that was stubbornly refusing to enter the eyehole.

"Told you guys," Daniel said.

"Daniel," Logan warned.

"It’s true!" David said.

Morgan interrupted as he set a huge bowl of popcorn on the living room table, "And don’t YOU start, David."

"But, Morgan!" Morgan responded only with a shake of his head and a look that backed up his earlier warning.

"Fine, but if we don’t win--"

"It won’t be because we chose safety against creating a fire hazard," Morgan finished.

The back door to the cottage slammed and Logan glanced at the clock as Travis strode in. "Travis? What time is it, please?"

"Five after six?" he asked tentatively.

“It’s almost ten after,” Logan corrected brushing his hands together, wiping away popcorn residue. "Would you like to tell me what was more important than being back by curfew?"

His experienced eye caught the slight shifting Travis was doing in the doorway, indicating a guilty conscience. He also noticed Jordan’s eyes darting between him and Travis, looking as uncomfortable as if he were in trouble himself. The twins and Garrett were oblivious, long used to seeing fellow Cens in trouble, but Jordan was not quite there yet.

Logan was grateful when Morgan spoke up to distract the uncomfortable Cen. "Jordan," he said. "Jordan!" Jordan dragged his eyes from the drama and looked expectantly at Morgan.

"Would you hand me the popcorn, please?" Jordan nodded mutely and handed him the bowl before turning his eyes back to Travis.

"I was with my Alpha, Logan," he said, almost challengingly.

"And did you tell your Alpha that you had a six o’clock curfew?"

Travis' eyes dropped. "Not exactly." He looked up earnestly and said, "I was excited, Logan! I just wanted to tell him how my orientation went. I didn't think you'd mind."

"Do the rules change because you’re matched?" Logan asked levelly.

Travis’ shoulders slumped as he replied, "No, Logan."

Logan straightened up from the floor and held his hand out. "Let’s go have a talk about punctuality."

Travis placed his hand in Logan’s and followed him without further argument. The twins exchanged a look and David asked Morgan, "You aren’t going to be that strict while Alex is here, are you?"

"Yes," Morgan replied. David’s mouth dropped open in protest at Morgan’s answer, and Morgan turned his eyes to David. "You have something to say about that?" Morgan asked with a twinkle in his eye.

"No."

Daniel laughed at his brother’s failed attempt to spar with the TA. "Wouldn’t matter anyway. Logan won’t let me stay out late and you aren’t staying with Alex if I have to come back to the cottage."

"You’ve barely been matched with the man," Morgan pointed out. "I don’t think he’d be at all happy with you being late just because you want to see him."

Logan grinned at the exchange in the living room as he walked away, then turned his thoughts to the current situation. They entered his sitting room and Logan switched on the light. "Have a seat on the sofa," he said to Travis as he moved to the desk and picked up the cordless phone. He dialed a number and took a seat beside Travis.

Travis tried to get comfortable and his inability to sit still showed he had a pretty good idea who Logan was calling.

"Hi, it’s Logan." Travis absently bit at a fingernail, and Logan reached out and pulled his hand away from his mouth. "We have a situation," Logan was saying. "I’ll let Travis fill you in." He held the phone out to Travis who looked at it as if it were a snake. Logan pushed it toward him and Travis took it with a sigh.

"Hi," he said. "Okay. I… I was a little late tonight." Logan cleared his throat and Travis continued after a quick look in Logan’s direction. "I was five minutes late,” he said but quickly corrected the time when he saw Logan’s expression. “Well, closer to ten minutes. Yes. I had a six o’clock curfew. I’m sorry." Travis listened for a moment and then handed the phone back to Logan. "He wants to talk to you."

"Hi, again," Logan said. Travis frowned with the next words he heard. "I’m thinking corner time. Do you agree with that?" He paused and listened. "Okay. Thanks. Talk to you later." He pressed the button to disconnect and turned his attention to Travis. "I’m sure he will have some words for you tomorrow, but until you are partnered with him, you have to hear what I have to say, too."

"But it’s so close, Logan! Only one more week, and I just want to be with him all the time!"

Logan ruffled his hair as he stood up. "I know, little one. It will be here soon enough. But until it is, I still have you and the rules stand," he said firmly. "You were almost ten minutes late, and this is the second time this week." Logan put a finger under Travis’ chin and raised the unhappy face to meet his eyes. "If it happens a third time, you’re going to get a spanking to remind you. Understood?"

Travis nodded and his chin wrinkled as his eyes teared a bit. "I understand, Logan. It won’t happen again. I don’t want my last week with you to be trouble."

"Hey," Logan said with just the right amount of firmness. "Your last week with me isn’t going to be trouble. I have every faith that you can be home on time. I’ve seen you do it."

Travis nodded. "I can. I will, I promise."

"Good." Logan said, "I know you’re excited about your partnering and the Christmas activities, but you need to remember what time to be home."

"I know," Travis said. "I’m sorry, Logan."

"I’m glad to hear it, but you’re still spending time in the corner. Fifteen minutes."

"But, Logan! It was only five minutes!" Logan pulled him to his feet and swatted him hard across one cheek. Travis gasped at the swat and said, “Okay, ten minutes, but still!”

"And it’s the second time this week." He pointed to the corner and said, "Go make yourself comfortable." The dejected Cen shuffled to the corner with a rueful rub to his butt. Logan went to his desk and filled out the incident in Travis’ discipline book. He used the time to pore over the pages while Travis waited out his punishment. He was really going to miss having Travis in their cottage.

Consumed with feelings of loss, he walked to Travis at the end of the 15 minutes. "Come here, Travis," he said, pulling the Cen to him in a bear hug. "I’m going to miss having you here."

"Me too, Logan," Travis said, hugging his TA tightly. "I’m sorry about tonight. I won’t do it again."

Logan chuckled. "You only have to manage another week."

Travis’ face lit up in a smile. "Yeah, I know."

Logan kissed his forehead and said, "It’s a good match."

"Thank you."

"So, you want to tell me how it went today with Herm?"

Travis' face lit up. "It went great! He went over the schedule with me and told me what I’ll be responsible for."

"Will it be enough to keep you busy?"

"Definitely. I’ll do all the prelim work with the new Cens and then take care of any in-patients we have," Travis said. "It won't be as exciting as working in an ER but I think I'm going to like it."

"Good plan. Sounds like it should work out."

"It will," Travis said. "I can’t wait to get started.

"I’m happy for you, Travis. I really am." Logan kissed his forehead and repeated, "I’ll miss you."

"I’ll miss you, too," he said, wrapping himself around Logan with another tight squeeze.

Logan hugged him back, then took his hand. "We’re missing the fun. Let’s head back."

The twins were wearing a dreamy look as identical as their features when Logan and Travis returned. Logan took a guess and asked, "Are you still talking about Alex?"

"Yeah," they said wistfully.

Logan said as he started putting the tree together, "If you’re this lovesick now, we won’t be able to stand you when he gets here tomorrow."

"We can’t wait!" Daniel said.

"We have a lot to do, you guys," Jordan said. "This needs to be perfect. Quit drooling on the candles."

"What’s your problem?" Daniel said, as he was snapped out of his thoughts.

Logan watched Jordan and saw his cheeks flush. "Nothing. I just want this to be right."

Logan decided to head off trouble as he recognized the frown on Daniel’s face. "Okay, that’s enough. It will be fine. We have far too much to do to be arguing." He fixed each of his Cens with a firm glare until they returned to what they were working on.

Daniel glanced up when he saw Travis still standing. "You can sit here," he said to Travis, patting the floor beside him. "We left the wreaths for you to work on."

Travis, while a bit embarrassed, quickly came around as he busied himself with the fresh fruit, floral wire, and tape, creating a beautiful arrangement among the strands of pine branches woven to make a wreath. He joined in the conversation as he worked. "I heard one of the eights’ cottages is doing retro."

"How do you decorate for retro anyway?" Daniel asked. He frowned as he concentrated on wrapping wires around the candles so they could be fastened to the tree.

"There are lots of things you can do for retro," Logan said. He placed the top section on the artificial tree and worked on straightening the branches that seemed to be eternally flattened from the storage box. "I think we need a new tree," he observed.

Morgan laughed. "That one’s been around for a while."

"We’ll decorate around the holes," David offered.

"We can’t have holes," Jordan said, pulling a thread through a kernel of popcorn.

David and Daniel looked at each other then examined the tree Logan was working on. "I think we can work around it," David said.

"After dinner," Logan announced, putting down the flattened artificial limb he was straightening. "Whose turn is it to set the table?"

"The twin’s," Morgan said. "Garrett and Jordan are on cleanup and Travis is free tonight."

"You know," Daniel said halfway through dinner, "the holes in the tree probably wouldn't be noticeable if we lit the candles."

Logan and Morgan answered in a resounding voice as one, "NO!"

"But, Jordan did all that research about the Victorian age at Christmas! The candle lighting was a common thing," David argued.

"I don’t want to hear," Morgan said steadily, "even one more word about putting fire of any kind near this tree, David."

Logan supported his brother and fellow TA. "And, that goes for you, too, Daniel. One more time, and the candles go. We still mean no when we say it, even at Christmas."

The twin Cens absorbed the tones and looks they were getting and reluctantly gave up the fight. "Yes, Logan," Daniel said.

"Yes, Morgan," David said, knowing he’d rather have unlit candles than no candles at all.

Jordan’s soft drawl drew the attention of everyone at the table when he said, "I have an idea about the candles."

Logan glanced quickly at his brother, hoping the suggestion wouldn’t be one where he would have to follow through with the no candles edict. "What is it, Jordan?"

Jordan swallowed a bit nervously, and offered, "We could wrap the lights so that they make the candles look lit. Put a bulb at the top of each one? Would that work, at least from a distance? They're only going to see the tree through the window, right?"

David and Daniel looked at each other, considering the idea, then looked at Garrett who was nodding. David said, "I think it will work."

"It’s not going to work," Daniel disagreed.

"It will!" David argued.

"I think it can work," Travis spoke up. "But, how would we do it? It's going to look pretty stupid to have blue and green lights on top of the candles"

"Never mind," Jordan said dejectedly, returning to his spaghetti.

"I think David’s right," Morgan interjected. "Don't we have some extra bulbs, Logan?"

"We have three strings of lights that don't work for one reason or another." Logan knew immediately what his twin had in mind. "Start pulling the white and yellow bulbs from them after dinner, Garrett. I think that will work."

"Ok," Garrett said. "Great idea, Jordan."

Jordan shrugged and said, "Maybe it won’t work, like Daniel said."

Logan watched Jordan focus on his plate and he encouraged him. "It will work. We’ll make it work. We’re a room full of intelligent men, right?"

"Right," David agreed. "I’m excited! It will look great!"

“You know, all this talk of lights reminds me of when we were growing up,” Morgan said. He pulled off a chunk of French bread and dipped it in the homemade sauce at the edge of his plate. “Remember those fat lights we used to have?” he asked Logan.

“God, yes,” Logan said. “Those things wouldn’t work if one went out. The little ones used to be that way, too.”

“I remember that,” Garrett said. “What a pain.”

“Do you remember those icicle things?” Logan asked Morgan.

Morgan started laughing. “Oh, yes. Did any of you guys use those silver icicles?”

“My grandma used to,” Garrett said.

“I don’t think so,” the twins said.

“I’m not sure you can buy them anymore,” Logan said, “but when we were little, our dad insisted on them, *and* that they be hung one at a time.”

“They were really skinny and you just felt like you needed to toss a handful on the tree,” Morgan said.

“My grandma liked sparkly,” Garrett said. “She used those icicles, the tinsel garland and anything else shiny she could find.”

“How about presents?” Travis said. “Do your families open on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day?”

“Christmas Eve,” Garrett said. “Santa comes Christmas Day.”

“Christmas Day only,” Morgan said. “We weren’t to even mention it any sooner.”

“We do Christmas Day, too,” David said.

Travis said, “We did one gift Christmas Eve to shut us up, then the rest on Christmas morning.”

Logan realized Jordan hadn’t offered anything and he said, “How about your family, Jordan?”

Jordan shrugged, “Just Christmas Day usually.”

“Okay, here’s another question for you,” Garrett said, totally caught up in Christmas tradition. “Did Santa wrap or set the gifts out unwrapped under the tree?”

“Wrapped,” Travis said.

“Unwrapped,” Daniel said.

Logan said, “Unwrapped.”

“I loved coming downstairs and seeing our presents under the tree,” David said. “We used to start sneaking downstairs before it was even light outside.”

Daniel laughed, “Remember that time we went downstairs about ten times before daylight?”

“Yeah,” David said. “We were afraid to turn on the lights or Dad would have had our butts.”

“So, we were squinting in the dark, feeling the boxes, trying to figure out what Santa had brought,” Daniel said.

“Did you guess right?” Logan asked. “Pass the bread, please, Morgan.”

Morgan handed the bread by Daniel, who snagged another piece for himself before passing it off to Logan. Daniel said, “Some things we did. Some we didn’t.”

“My Mom always made a huge spread for breakfast,” Travis said. “Still does.”

With a worried glance at the quiet Jordan, Logan said, “What does your family do for Christmas, Jordan?”

“Just get together. Open presents,” he said vaguely.

“Your family doesn’t make a big deal out of Christmas?” Daniel asked.

“Yeah, but I mean, it’s just the same stuff you guys are talking about. Nothing new,” Jordan said. He started to get up from the table, picking up his plate as he did. “Is everyone done? I’ll start the dishes.”

Logan grabbed Jordan’s forearm and tugged him back down in the seat next to him. “Unless people put more on their plates than they planned to eat, I don’t think anyone is near finished. Sit down and chat for a while.”

Jordan looked around the table and saw mostly filled plates, and everyone looking at him like he had a third head. He felt his face warm and he sat down with a mumbled apology. “Sorry. I’m just anxious to get back to our decorations.”

“That’s okay,” Logan said with a quick squeeze to Jordan’s shoulder. “We’ll be done shortly.”

“Yeah,” David said. “It’s hard to eat this fast because it’s so good, Logan. You have the touch when it comes to spaghetti.”

Morgan cleared his throat, and Logan said, “Yes, Morgan. You helped.”

“I did most of it!” Morgan said with a smile playing on his lips.

“Sorry,” Logan apologized. “I’ll help on your night. How’s that?”

“Fair enough,” Morgan said.

Christmas chatter continued through dinner with everyone reminiscing about Christmases past. Jordan remained quiet, and jumped at the chance to start the dishes.

With only the dinnerware to do, Jordan and Garrett were finished in no time. Garrett was hanging up the dishtowel to dry when Logan came in the kitchen.

“You guys finished fast,” Logan noticed.

Garrett said, “Thanks for washing up as you went along, Logan. It made the clean-up quick.”

“Good. Come on in the living room. We’ve gotten started,” Logan said. “But you haven’t missed much because you were so fast in here.” Garrett went to the living room immediately but Jordan busied himself by meticulously wiping down the counters.

Logan pulled open a kitchen drawer and found the Scotch tape Travis wanted, and said to Jordan, “It looks fine. Let’s go help the others.” He took the dishcloth from Jordan’s hands and laid it over the edge of the sink.

"I think I’m going to turn in."

“What happened to wanting to hurry up and get to the decorations?” Logan asked him.

"Nothing. I’m just tired," Jordan said.

Logan struggled with how to handle yet another attempt by Jordan to withdraw. “Hang on a sec,” Logan said. He went to the door between the living room and kitchen. “Travis,” he said. When he had Travis’ attention, he tossed the tape to him and Travis deftly caught it with one hand.

Logan turned his attention back to Jordan in the kitchen. "Help me fix dessert for the elves first," Logan said. "Grab the ice cream for me." He busied himself with pulling out several dessert bowls and was relieved to hear Jordan opening the freezer door behind him. Logan spread the bowls out on the table, and said, "Why don’t you get the spoons for me?"

Jordan returned to the table with a fistful of spoons and said after quickly counting the bowls, "I don’t want any."

"Jordan, you aren’t bailing to hide out in your room again."

"I just want to go to sleep! What’s wrong with that?"

"What’s wrong with it is that it’s only 8:30. I’m usually pushing you off to bed at the very last minute," Logan said, scooping up a little ball of ice cream and depositing it in a bowl. Jordan silently jammed a spoon into the small bowl that Logan slid his way. "It was a good idea about the candles, Jordan."

Jordan shrugged again. "It was okay."

"It was more than okay. It probably saved the tree from being candle-less," he said with a wink.

Jordan flashed him a quick smile. "I don’t know," he said. "Daniel didn’t seem sure it would work."

"Daniel is just determined to make it authentic. There’s nothing wrong with him wanting that, but he’ll be fine with the lights instead flames." He finished with two bowls and said, "Run those out, would you?"

Jordan trudged back to the living room and delivered two bowls of ice cream to the twins. "Where’s the Reddy Whip?" Daniel asked, unwilling to accept the treat without his creamy topping.

"He didn’t put any on," Jordan said, still holding out Daniel’s bowl of ice cream.

Daniel raised his voice toward the kitchen. "Reddy Whip, Logan!"

Logan’s voice floated to the living room, "We’ll bring it."

Daniel took the bowl of ice cream from Jordan, satisfied that his favorite whipped topping would not be far behind.

Jordan returned to the kitchen and Logan had two more bowls ready. The process continued until Jordan came back for the last time, eyeing the two remaining bowls. "I really didn’t want any, Logan."

"Do you want Reddy Whip?" Logan asked, ignoring the comment as he pulled the topping from the fridge.

"No, and I don’t want the ice cream either."

"Have a seat," he said. "I’ll be right back." Logan took the can out to the living room and set it on the coffee table crowded with Christmas decorations. He came back to the kitchen to find Jordan slumped over his bowl, poking the ice cream disinterestedly, and Logan sat down next to him. "What’s the problem, babe?"

Jordan looked at his TA in surprise. "Nothing. I’m fine."

Logan said, "I know an upset Cen when I see one."

"I’m not upset," Jordan countered.

"You know," Logan said, taking a bite of ice cream, "we still have a zero tolerance rule about lying. Remember that one?" He saw Jordan’s flash of alarm replaced with a smile when Logan grinned. "What is it? The others are including you where you’ll let them."

"I know. Whenever they aren’t with their Alphas or busy, they’re great about that."

Logan saw the barest hint of a crack in the armor and moved in. "Three of them are matched, yes. But Travis will be here for a few more days and the twins have several months left. And that doesn’t mean the matched guys aren’t participating in cottage activities. Are you feeling left out with them spending time and energy on their Alphas?"

"No," Jordan said shaking his head vigorously. "Not at all. I’m happy for them. I really am. I didn’t mean anything by that."

"I know you didn’t," Logan said. "You’re fine. I didn’t think you were complaining because most of your cottage mates are matched."

"Good, because I wasn’t."

"LO-GAN!" Daniel yelled from the next room. He heard his brother’s voice cutting off his Cen, and was sure he was gently pointing out to him that Logan and Jordan needed a little time. No additional summons came from the living room.

"You’re going to have a small milkshake if you don’t hurry up and eat that," Logan said with a nod toward Jordan’s bowl, and Jordan took an obligatory bite of ice cream. "The more you interact with them, the sooner you’ll feel like a real part of this cottage. Going to bed at 8:30 when we have group activities going on isn’t the way to do it."

Jordan nodded, agreeing with his TA all too quickly. "Sorry. You’re right. I won’t go to bed now, okay? I didn’t realize how it looked." He stood from the table and went to put his bowl of mostly untouched ice cream in the sink. Logan watched him and saw a reassuring, if less than convincing, smile spread over Jordan’s face. "Let’s go back, okay?" Jordan said.

Not confident that he had struck a chord, but glad to see Jordan ready to participate, Logan stood up and followed him into the living room. Daniel looked up when they came back. "Good. You’re back. Morgan isn’t straightening the branches as well as you did," Daniel informed him upon his return to the living room.

"What are you doing over there, little brother?" Logan teased.

"This tree needs to go," Morgan said, his frustration evident in his tone. "We definitely need to spend some of our decorating budget next year on a new one."

Logan laughed and reclaimed his place next to the tree. "Let me show you how it’s done."

"So, anyway," David continued, "I heard that the sixes are doing something with snow for their cottage."

"How do you decorate with snow in the tropics?" Garrett asked laughing.

"I know!" David said. "I hope that means they won’t be any competition."

“It isn’t a competition,” Morgan said.

Daniel said, “But we want our cottage to be the best.”

“It will be fine,” Logan said. “And I’m sure the 6s will find something they can do with snow.”

"Don’t sell Scott and Andre short," Travis said. "They can be creative when they want to be."

"Oh, really?" David asked.

"That’s what I heard," Travis said, not willing to offer more.

"What?" Daniel said. "What do you know?"

"Nothing," Travis said with a sly grin. "Not a thing."

"Travis!" Daniel said.

"Pass me some more wire," Travis said, dismissing his cottage mate.

"Travis!" Daniel said again. "What? What are they doing with snow?"

Travis held his hands up in defense. "Nothing, I swear! I don’t know details, anyway."

"You’d better dish, Travis," Garrett said. "What are they doing?"

"I said I don’t know details. I swear! It’s just something to do with snow," he said laughing. "And their TAs reluctantly agreed to whatever it is. So you can just imagine…"

"No," Daniel said. "I can’t. So tell me."

Their sounds of jesting and jousting filled the room, and Logan and Morgan exchanged a smile.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Morgan pulled out a sheet of paper and laid it on the breakfast table on Christmas Eve. "Here’s the schedule Logan and I came up with. This will give all of you time to cover our cottage while people come by and still get to walk around and see other people and the other cottages."

"Remember, I need an early shift," Garrett said. "The Strings are playing at the tree lighting and I have to be there by 8."

"Look at the schedule," Morgan told him calmly.

Garrett reached for the sheet and looked for his name. "I get the six o’clock shift," he said with relief, then passed the paper to Daniel.

"We get the last two shifts," Daniel observed with a slight frown. "I wish we didn’t have to cover our cottage. There are a ton of people here I want to see and that doesn't leave us much time."

"If we didn’t cover our cottage, we couldn’t show off our decorations and hand out the goodies you guys worked so hard on," Morgan said.

"I know," Daniel said. "We just wanted to spend the whole night with Alex."

Logan smiled and said, "You aren’t spending all night with Alex until you’re partnered, young man."

"Logan!" Daniel said with a flush. "That’s not what I meant."

Garrett laughed and said, "Sure you didn’t."

"I didn’t!" Daniel said.

"I’d like to spend all night with him," David said with a playful smile.

"It’s only natural to want that," Morgan said. "But you’re waiting. In the meantime, you get to spend some time with him this week."

"I know, Morgan," David said. He hurried to finish his pancakes, anxious to see Alex as soon as possible.

"I can’t wait until I’m matched," Garrett said. "Can you, Jordan?"

Jordan silently nodded his head.

"You’ll be matched soon enough," Logan interjected. "It hasn't been that long since you finished Orientation,” he winked at Garrett, "and Jordan has a little while, too."

"Do we still have to have quiet time today?" David asked looking over the schedule for the day.

"Is it on the schedule?" Morgan asked.

"You wrote it, Morgan. You know it is."

"Then you must be having quiet time," Morgan confirmed.

"But there’re so many people to see! We need all day," Travis said.

"You’re having quiet time," Logan said firmly. "With such a busy day, the last thing we need is a cottage full of wired Cens."

David sighed and passed the schedule to Jordan. Jordan looked at it and said, "I could cover our cottage all evening. I don’t know any of the people coming back."

"Great!" Daniel said. "Thanks a lot, Jordan."

"Absolutely not," Logan said. "You’ll never know them if you don’t meet them."

"But I don’t mind and the others would like the time," Jordan said.

"Yeah, Logan," Travis said.

Logan looked at Morgan and said, "How is it that ‘no’ becomes ‘maybe’ this time of year?"

"Logan!" Daniel said. "Please?"

"What did I just say, Daniel?"

"Logan!"

"Daniel."

Daniel slumped, placing his chin in his palm while he stabbed at a chunk of his pancake. "You said, ‘no’."

"And I don’t mean to have to repeat myself all day today," Logan said firmly. "I don’t want to mar your Christmas with a phone call to Alex."

Daniel looked up quickly. "No, Logan! I’ll drop it. You don’t have to tell Alex."

"I won’t unless I need to," he said. "The schedule stands as is."

"Yes, Logan," Daniel said.

"I really don’t mind," Jordan said.

"Jordan?" Logan asked with his eyebrows raised expectantly.

"Sorry," Jordan said. "I was just trying to help."

"You let Morgan and me decide when and if we need help."

"Sorry, Logan," Jordan mumbled as he ate.

Logan saw the crestfallen countenance and said, "It’s okay, Jordan. We’re going to have a good day."

Morgan said, "We still have to finish tying up the goodie bags, set out the mulled cider, give the cottage one last cleaning touch-up…"

"Light the candles on the tree," David said then rolled with laughter at the look his comment drew from Morgan. "Kidding!!" he said around his laughter. “I’m kidding!”

"Not funny," Morgan said, pointing his fork at his Cen.

"I got you, Morgan," he said still laughing. His laughter was infectious and the rest of the table chuckled with him.

"I’ll get you, Cen," Morgan said, smiling in spite of himself.

There was a knock at the back door and the twins jumped up. "Alex!" they said.

"Hold it," Logan said standing. "Sit down and finish your breakfast. I’ll get the door."

"We can eat after we let him in," Daniel complained.

With a warning swat as he passed, Logan said, "Daniel, sit down and eat."

Logan went to the backdoor and opened it to find Alex standing on the other side. "Hi, Alex," he said, stepping back to let in the visiting Alpha. "David and Daniel thought it might be you."

"Hi, Logan," Alex said, outstretching his hand. Logan shook it firmly, and Alex said, "I hope it’s okay I’m a little early? I was ready so I thought I’d come on over and see what’s on the agenda for the day."

Logan gave him an easy grin, thinking the twins weren’t the only ones who were a bit love-struck. "No problem at all. You can sit with us while your Cens finish their breakfast. In fact, you might save them from getting indigestion because they won’t be speed-eating to go see you."

"Thanks," Alex replied following Logan to the table.

"Have you eaten?" Logan asked.

"Good morning," Morgan said.

The twins popped up from the table and Alex wrapped them both in an embrace. "Yes, thank you. Hi, Morgan." With a kiss to each of the heads under his chin, Alex said, "Good morning, guys."

"Hi, Alex," Daniel said.

"You’re early," David said. "I’m glad."

Seeing half-eaten pancakes at the two vacated seats at the table, Alex said, "I’m glad, too. It looks like you two need to finish your breakfast." He pushed them toward the table, reluctantly letting them go.

Garrett picked up his plate and moved to the other side of the table. "You can have my seat," he said, leaving the place that was next to Daniel.

David moved Daniel’s plate to Garrett’s place. "You can sit between us."

As Alex took a seat between his Cens Logan said, "I don’t think you’ve met Jordan."

Alex reached across the table and offered a hand to Jordan. "Nice to meet you, Jordan. I’m Alex."

"The infamous Alex," Travis said.

Jordan smiled and shook Alex’s hand. "I’ve heard a lot about you."

Alex looked at his soon-to-be partners. "What have you been saying about me?"

"Nothing bad," David said. "All good things."

"Yeah, all good things," Daniel agreed.

"Morgan and I put a schedule together. We made sure you weren’t without both of your Cens at the same time."

"We didn’t think you’d appreciate being left totally alone at any time," Morgan said.

"Thank you."

"We have to cover the cottage the whole evening. Someone has to be here when people come by," David explained, shoveling in the last of his pancakes. "Come see our tree!"

"Wait a second," Morgan said as David started from the table to go to the living room.

"What?" he asked a bit exasperated.

"Your dishes go where?" David sighed, and took his plate to the dishwasher. Morgan said as David opened the dishwasher door. "Rinse, David."

With a muffled grunt, David did as he was told. Daniel groused as he stood with his own empty plate, "What good is a dishwasher if you have to wash everything first?"

"Rinse, Daniel," Logan advised. He was going to miss the regular complaints from the twins regarding the necessity of rinsing dishes before placing them in the dishwasher. With Travis’ impending exit, he cherished the remaining five months or so that he still had with the twins.

The others finished their breakfast and had the kitchen cleaned up quickly. They all went to the living room to join the threesome and Logan noticed the twins had put a Christmas CD on. The three of them were cuddled on the sofa and he took a seat in the small place left on the couch beside them. "We still have some last minute touches to handle before things heat up this afternoon," he said.

Morgan came in and still held a copy of the schedule. "Any questions about the schedule?"

"No, Morgan," David said.

Garrett sat down next to the tree. "Nope, I got it."

All the other Cens concurred and Morgan said, "Good. We need to get dressed in about 15 minutes then."

"After that, we can get started taking care of the few things we have left. The quicker we get done, the more free time you’ll have until quiet time," Logan said.

Alex said, "The guest cottages are packed. There isn’t a single free room."

"It’s like this every year," Morgan said. "You have to get a spot early if you want to come back next year."

"We have to come back next year," Daniel said.

"I’ve got it covered," Alex assured him. "I’ve already paid a deposit for next year."

"Great!" David said. "We’ll be back, Morgan!"

Morgan was pleased to hear it. "I’m so glad. We’ll be missing you quite a bit by that time, I’m sure."

"No doubt," Logan said. "Did you have any trouble?"

"You know," Alex said. "There were very few rooms left, even now. A whole year early."

"Hobbes said something about setting up tents on the beach next year. He was trying to come up with an idea of how to accommodate more people," Logan said.

"We talked about having a bonfire on the beach this year," Morgan said. "We decided to stick to the usual and do the caroling and dinner."

"Maybe we’ll have a bonfire next year," Garrett said. "Especially if there are people staying on the beach."

"I think it sounds romantic," David said. "Camping out on the beach."

"I think it sounds rough," Travis said. "Give me a bed."

"You would have an air mattress," Daniel said.

"No, thank you."

"What are you guys doing tomorrow?" Alex asked.

"We open presents and have our cottage dinner," Daniel said.

David added, "And we’re going to watch 'A Christmas Story'." He turned his nose up only slightly, but enough for Alex to know it wasn’t his choice.

"You don’t want to see that one?" Alex asked.

"I voted for 'Christmas Vacation'. It came in second," David explained.

Alex patted David’s leg and said, "What if we watch it during free time?" Then with his brows raised in the twin TAs’ direction he said, "That is, if it’s okay with Logan and Morgan."

Logan said, "I don’t have a problem with it. Do you, Morgan?"

"No problem," he agreed.

~~~

“Look,” David said. “I think that’s Alan and Eric!”

"And Stuart and Will," Daniel added.

“Are they from Christmas present or Christmas past?” Alex asked.

Daniel grabbed his hand. “Both. Alan and Eric are Christmas past. Stuart and Will are Christmas present. Will left The Island and came back. Bad match the first time,” he said sadly.

“But, he’s happy now!” David said. “Stuart is perfect for him.” David waved and Will waved back. “I can’t wait to see Dylan and Jamie.”

“I know,” Daniel agreed. “Email just isn’t the same.”

“I’ll get to meet Garth in person for the first time,” Alex said.

“Do you guys talk much?” Daniel asked.

“Fairly often,” Alex said. “All by email so far.”

“There they are!” David exclaimed. They met the other trio just outside the main doors of the administrative building as planned.

Alex and Garth shook hands. “Nice to finally meet you,” Garth said.

“Same here,” Alex said. “And these two must be Dylan and Jamie.” He surveyed the stepbrothers and quickly figured out who was who by the descriptions he had heard from David and Daniel.

“Hi, Daniel,” Dylan said with a hug to David.

“I’m David,” he said gently.

“I can’t tell the two of you apart,” Dylan said, turning to hug the Cen he thought he was hugging the first time.

Jamie said, “Me either.”

The twins grinned, used to the problem. “Alex can tell us apart.”

“Then that’s all that matters,” Garth said.

“Oh, hi, Garth,” David said somewhat sheepishly. “We didn’t mean to ignore you.”

Garth’s pleasant expression was evidence enough that he hadn’t been offended. “Come here and say, ‘hi’ properly,” he joked. He pulled David to him and gave him a big hug then did the same to Daniel.

“You have to come see our cottage,” Daniel said. “We need your *honest* input on how it looks. We really want it to look good,” Daniel said.

“It looks great,” Alex said.

“Thanks, Alex,” Daniel said. “But we just want it to be the best.”

“Being the best is not the important thing. *Doing* your best is,” Alex reproved.

“Stop channeling Morgan and Logan, would you?” Daniel teased.

“We worked hard and Jordan did a ton of research,” David said as they walked back to the cottage.

“And it shows,” Alex said. “So why don’t you show off to your friends and then let’s go check out the other cottages?”

“Okay,” Daniel said. “You see the living room.” He pointed to the tree and added, “They wouldn’t let us light the candles on the tree. Just the ones in the room.”

“Good,” Alex said with a wry smile.

“We knew we couldn’t do it, but it didn’t hurt to ask and get them riled a little,” Daniel said with a twinkle in his eye.

“But it looks like little flames because of the way you strung the lights around the candles,” Dylan said. “It looks really good.”

The tree was ablaze with shimmering lights. While not contemporary to the Victorian age they were replicating, the strings of lights went a long way to add warmth and a holiday glow to the room. Candles on the coffee table, surrounded by fresh-cut pine, complemented the lighted tree. Red gingham bows adorned the branches as a finishing touch to the white popcorn draped around the tree. Their gifts to each other had been wrapped in brown paper, tied with colorful ribbons rather than with store-bought paper and ribbons.

“You strung popcorn,” Dylan said.

“Yeah,” David said. “Jordan did most of that. He’s new since you left.”

“He’s probably around here somewhere. He sticks pretty close to the cottage most of the time,” Daniel said. “Want to see the kitchen?” Garth, Dylan and Jamie followed them to the kitchen. More pine was scattered in the center of the kitchen table with pinecones mixed in. Another candle completed the ensemble.

Daniel picked up a brown paper bag from the table, tied with a gingham ribbon that matched those on the tree. “Here’s a goodie bag for you.”

“Wow,” Jamie said. “There are a ton of them.”

“That’s nothing,” Daniel said. “The pantry is full.”

“What’s inside?” Dylan asked.

“Homemade sugar cookies,” David said.

“Iced sugar cookies,” Daniel corrected.

“Right, iced cookies,” David continued. “Nuts, a tangerine… is that it?”

Daniel chunked an elbow at his brother and said, “You don’t remember? We must have stuffed 100 of them.”

“Fudge!” David exclaimed. “We made fudge.”

Alex said, “I thought you were quoting from 'The Christmas Story' for a second.”

“Alex!” David said, blushing a little until Alex threw an arm around him.

“Do I smell cinnamon?” Garth asked.

“Yeah, we have mulled cider, too,” he said, offering them some of the warm drink simmering on the stove.

After they finished seeing the decorations in the cottage and sampling the Christmas cookies, the two threesomes set out to see the other cottages on The Island.

“I’m dying to see Scott’s cottage,” Dylan said. “We saw him this afternoon when we were going back to our cottage after we checked in.”

“Did you?” David said.

“Yeah. He hasn’t changed a bit,” Jamie said. “We miss him. Can we go there first?”

“Fine by me,” Daniel said.

Dylan started to laugh and said, “Remember that time when we--”

Garth and Alex hung back from their Cens as they reminisced and Alex said, “I’m really glad we could all be here. I’ve been looking forward to talking to you in person. Someone else who’s fallen in love with two Cens.”

Garth smiled and shoved his hands in his pockets as they walked. “I’m glad we could come, too. You have a few months until your bonding ceremony, right? May?”

“Yeah. We haven’t been matched long at all,” Alex answered. The two men walked along, keeping pace with the others and Alex asked, “So what did you say when other Alphas wanted to know what the hell you were thinking?”

“You’ve had that, too, huh?” Garth laughed. “I just told them the truth. I love them both and there was no way I was choosing one over the other.”

“That’s basically what I say,” Alex said. They neared Scott’s cottage and Alex said, “You know, David and Daniel might look identical, but they are totally different individuals. I love different things about them both.” He looked up in time to see Daniel give David a playful shove, and he raised his voice toward them, “Daniel! Settle down.”

Daniel glanced over his shoulder to see Alex and said, “Yes, Alex.” The foursome ahead of them broke out in giggles over whatever they had been talking about.

Alex continued, “But anyway, David is more tender-hearted, needs me to be more…just there, you know?”

“Yeah, I know.”

“Daniel is more outgoing… and my fighter, as you can see,” he added with a chuckle.

Garth nodded and said, “I see. That’s Dylan and Jamie. Totally different men, totally different needs. The key for us is understanding and appreciating the differences. Tailor our responses and interaction to suit what works best for each of them.”

“Exactly. That’s the tricky part.”

“It sure is, especially when you’re setting rules and boundaries,” Garth said. “It’s very important to communicate.”

“Good advice. You know, I love them both for different reasons. I can handle the differences better than I could ever handle not having one of them,” he said, looking longingly at the backs of the Cens in question.

“I know what you mean,” Garth said, clapping a hand to Alex’s back. “Are you nervous?”

“Hell, yes,” Alex said with a grin. “But thrilled.”

“I remember the feeling,” Garth said. “The nervousness goes away as you learn one another more fully. It’s like dancing. Once you find your rhythm together, there’s nothing to be nervous about. You begin to know what each other is going to do before you do it. You lead, they follow. It’s a beautiful thing. Then you’re left just with being thrilled.”

They stepped onto the sidewalk of 6B and David and Daniel greeted Timothy, who was currently working their cottage’s shift from the front porch, on a blanket of fake snow. “Hi, guys,” Timothy said. “Want some snacks?”

“Why don’t we grab them on the way out?” Garth suggested.

Jamie was slightly disappointed but not enough to argue. “Ok, Garth,” he said.

“Less to carry,” Garth pointed out.

Scott interrupted their conversation at the front door of Dylan and Jamie’s old cottage. “Well, hello again,” Scott said. “And, hello for the first time today to the rest of you.”

“Hi, Scott,” they said in chorus as they entered the winter wonderland. They passed life-sized “snowmen” built out of white trashbags stuffed with something, probably newspaper. Glitter-covered snowflakes hung all across the porch covering at differing lengths making it look like falling snow. Icicle lights were a must with a snow theme, and they lined both the eaves and the porch railing.

“Wow,” Dylan said. “You guys went all out, didn’t you?” He stepped into his old cottage and saw a myriad of snow-themed decorations. There were tufts of cottony fibers piled around on tabletops to look like drifts of snow.

“You know we don’t do anything halfway in this cottage,” Scott said.

The tree in 6B was decorated with mostly white ornaments with touches of blue throughout to give a look of ice and snow. Fake snow had been sprayed on the windows to give them a frosty look. The Cens had compiled a CD of Christmas music including all the songs they could think of that dealt with winter or snow. 'Frosty the Snowman' was currently playing in the background.

New faces milled about Dylan and Jamie’s old cottage as everyone commenced with the evening festivities. Suddenly, a crash from the kitchen drew Scott’s attention. “I’ll be right back,” he said, excusing himself. The visitors could hear angry voices coming from the kitchen overridden by Scott’s firm tone.

One Cen said, “I’m not cleaning it up when it was his fault.”

“Uh, oh,” Jamie said. The distinctive sound of two swats echoed through the cottage, and Jamie whispered to Dylan, “Must be a new guy.”

“Yeah. Really new. Anyone here for more than a week would know better than to say that to Scott,” Dylan said.

A few minutes later, two subdued Cens were being marched out of the kitchen and down the hallway. “I’ll be right back,” Scott announced as he trailed the two.

Scott returned to the living room shortly, and found their guests waiting patiently. “Sorry about that,” Scott apologized. “We had a little mishap in the kitchen.”

“That guy’s new, isn’t he?” Dylan asked.

“Dylan,” Garth reproved gently.

Scott said, “How could you tell?”

“He sounds like I did at one time,” Dylan said. “Right after we got here.”

“That he does,” Scott said. He leaned over and hugged Dylan around the shoulders. “I’ve missed you, little one.”

“I’ve missed you, too.”

Not leaving Jamie out, Scott gave him a hug as well. “You, too, Jamie.”

“What goodies are you guys giving out, Scott?” Daniel interrupted.

“Oh, brother,” Scott said. “Wait until you see.”

They followed Scott to the kitchen and he handed each of them a little baggie. Jamie gazed at the bag in his hand and said, “Mini-marshmallows?”

Dylan started to laugh and so did the others as they read the little card inside: “You’ve been naughty this year so all you get is snowman poop.”

Scott shook his head and said, “Andre and I had major reservations about those.”

“Looks like your Cens ganged up on you,” Garth said.

“That doesn’t work,” Jamie said reminiscing.

“We ultimately decided it wouldn’t do any harm,” Scott said. “It’s been a big hit so far.”

“I can’t believe you didn’t put big marshmallows around the snowmen you made out there,” Daniel said.

“Oh, don’t think it didn’t come up,” Scott said. “Where have you guys been so far?”

“This is our first stop,” Alex said.

“You have the whole island to cover then,” Scott said.

Garth said, “Yes, so we won’t keep you.”

“We’ll be back later though,” Jamie said.

“I have some gentlemen to release from a corner,” Scott said, standing. “Wait a second and I’ll walk out with you. I have to head over to the admin building to make sure everything is ready for later.”

"I can't believe how good all the cottages look," Daniel said as they walked back to their own."

"You expected some of them to look bad?" Alex asked quizzically.

"You know what I mean," Daniel said with a laugh.

"Daniel, David, hurry up!" Travis called as they got near. "I want to get going!"

"We aren't late," David protested. "We don't start for another five minutes."

"Yeah, but--"

Logan came to the door of the cottage. "If you're going to bicker, at least do it inside," Logan told them, before calling over his shoulder, "Morgan, the twins are back so Jordan, Travis and I are leaving now."

"Let's go by 6B first," Travis said nonchalantly. "Maybe some of them will want to walk with us."

"Or maybe you'll want to stay with some of them?" Logan asked with a smile.

Travis blushed but didn't reply.

After dropping him off at the cottage, Logan and Jordan continued on their way.

Conversation was minimal at first. They walked the luminario-lit paths, admiring the lights and decorations of the different cottages, but Logan didn't insist that they go into any of them.

"What does your family do at Christmas?" Logan asked casually as they walked along.

Jordan shrugged.

"They sit around and shrug?" Logan teased gently and Jordan laughed in spite of himself.

"Christmas Eve is for church. We have a big family meal but it's simple, just soup and bread. Then we go to the services at church. My mom, grandma and older sister all sing in the choir and so does my brother-in-law. The rest of us sit in the family pew and look proud." He gave a short, bitter laugh. "The rest of them."

Logan led him to a bench away from the path, where they sat and stretched their legs out in front of them. "What did you do after that?" Logan probed gently.

"We went home and had cookies and eggnog and went to bed. Christmas morning we would get up and open all the presents. First, the ones from the family at home, then the boxes from the people who couldn't get home for Christmas. Then after breakfast all the relatives nearby would come over and we would open *more* presents. Then the men would go rabbit or quail hunting and the women would congregate in the kitchen and talk and laugh while they made Christmas dinner."

"Did you send a box?" asked Logan, trying to remember whether he had seen one go out or not.

"No."

"Did you get one from them?"

"No." Jordan sat, hands in his pockets, for a long moment and then added, "They don't know where I am."

"They don't know you're on The Island? Where do they think you are?"

Jordan shrugged. "They have no clue." He seemed to feel Logan's unspoken shock. "You don't understand, Logan! We had a fight! I told them I'm gay and they couldn't accept that. I told them I needed to get away and they couldn't accept that. I wasn't what they wanted and needed me to be! They hate me now, Logan!" His voice dropped. "And I'll never have Christmas at home again," he finished softly.

"Oh, Jordan," Logan whispered, wrung by the young man's pain. "Why didn't you tell me?"

Jordan shrugged again. "Why? It isn't something you can fix. I just need to get over it."

“That isn’t the point,” Logan said. “Communication is key to a relationship, and you might as well get used to it with me.” Jordan looked down. “Is that a problem for you?”

“I didn’t think it was,” Jordan said.

“We’ll work on it together.” Logan put his arm around the younger man's shoulders and they sat quietly for a while. At last he reached a decision, stood up and held out his hand to the Cen. "Come on."

"I don't want to go to the tree lighting," Jordan said softly. "Please don't make me go, Logan."

"We're not going to the tree lighting," Logan replied. He led the way back to the cottage.

"Logan! Where have you been?" Morgan asked in relief as they entered the living room. "We're going to be late. I sent everyone else ahead."

"Jordan and I aren't going," Logan replied.

"But--" The protest came from both Morgan and Jordan.

"You love the ceremony," Morgan continued. "Can't you put whatever you're doing off for an hour?"

"You don't have to stay with me," Jordan told him at the same time. "Go have fun, Logan."

"Go ahead, Morgan. Come with me, Jordan."

The two men looked at each other in resignation and did as they were ordered.

"What are we doing, Logan?" Jordan asked as they went into the Alpha's sitting room. "No!" His eyes widened as he watched Logan leaf through his records and then pick up the phone. "I'm not calling them, Logan! I told you. They hate me!"

"They loved you for 23 years," Logan replied evenly. "And then you disappeared off the face of the earth. You can't leave it like that, Jordan. You have to tell them you're ok."

"What if they don't want to hear that?" Jordan asked softly. "What if they tell me they hate me? What if they hang up on me?"

"Then you're no worse off than you were before. And what if they don't?"

Jordan stared at him for a long moment and then nodded. "All right."

Logan punched the number into the phone and checked to be sure it was ringing before handing it to Jordan.

Jordan listened for a moment and then took a deep breath. "Hello, Mom? Merry Christmas." There was a long pause and then, "Don't cry, Mom. Please don't cry. I love you, too."

The End