CHRISTMASTIME - Jarvinia

Please send all comments, questions, and suggestions to:
jarvinia@gmx.com


DISCLAIMER:  The concepts of vampires as used in this story and the 
characters of Forever Knight are the property of James D. Parriott,
Sony Pictures Entertainment, Columbia TriStar Television, and the
Sci-Fi Channel, and are used without permission.  Other characters not
part of Forever Knight are mine, and may not be used without
permission.  This is an amateur publication intended solely for the
entertainment of its readers.  No infringements intended on copyrights,
etc.


~#~#~#~#~#~#~#~#~#~#~#~#~#~#~#~


Christmastime - Part 1/2
December 12th


Nick walked into the morgue to visit Natalie on his way home and
noticed she was just putting the phone down. 'Who would she be calling
this early in the morning?'  When she looked up at him she seemed very
happy and to have an idea about something, but she didn't say anything
about it.  Instead she seemed to be waiting for him to say something.

He walked the rest of the way into the room and asked curiously, "Who
was that?"

"It was my brother, Richard.  He was making sure I was going to be
coming home for Christmas."

Nick's mood seemed to darken slightly at the news.  He couldn't go home
for Christmas.  The home he grew up in no longer really existed, and
his family was dead, long dead.  "When are you going to be gone?"

"Well, usually everyone gathers on the twenty-third and then leaves
sometime on the twenty-sixth or seventh.  I have the whole week off, so
I'll be arriving on time."  Natalie watched him as he closed himself
off from the holiday.  She had watched him do it the year before, and
the year before that she barely even knew him.  This year she was going
to try to break what was probably a habit for him.  She knew Stonetree
had made him take the week off.  "Actually, I was wondering if you
would like to come with me.  There's plenty of room at my parent's and
they won't mind.  The more the merrier!" she said cheerfully.

This caught him completely off guard.  She was asking him to her family
for Christmas.  He had no right to go, no right to impose on them. 
"But, they don't know anything about me.  I don't want to intrude on
your fam. . ." he tried to tell her, but was cut off.

"Like I said, they won't mind, and you won't be intruding.  You're my 
friend, and I've invited you.  There won't be a problem.  Besides,
Richard already knows you, and Sarah and Amy have heard a lot about you
from him."

At first he was concerned about this remark, Richard had told his
family about him.  He was becoming very attached to this ‘life,' and
accompanying Natalie for Christmas would just draw him in more.  He
didn't even know how he would be able to go without being noticed. 
"How would I be able to go?  I can't just tell them what I am?"

She had thought of this before and the only thing that would really be
hard to explain would be Nick's problem with food, and then only for
dinner.  She figured she could bring a supply of blood in a cooler. 
She told this to Nick, but still he seemed wary of her offer.  He
didn't like the holiday's, especially this one, and she didn't know
why.  Perhaps it had something to do with his memories, and hopefully
she could cheer him up bringing back the good ones.  She wanted to make
him feel a little more human, and she saw this as a great opportunity.

"How many people are going to be there?" he asked her.  He knew her 
immediate family wasn't large, but her extended family was.  He didn't
know if he could handle a lot of people.  He had spent the last several
years distancing himself from society, and was still uncomfortable with
being around a lot of mortals, even after working in the precinct for
the past two years.

"Probably about twenty, not including ourselves."

'About twenty people, for three or four days strait.'   He didn't know
if he could handle that, and Natalie noticed his concern, and
recognized it for what it was.

"We can always leave a little early, it won't be a problem."  He seemed
to think about it a little more before she continued.  "Come on Nick,
this year you need to do something.  Once you do become mortal what are
you going to do?  Just ignore the holidays?  If you do you'll be an
outsider to society.  Christmas can't be that bad."

Grace walked in and heard the last comment.  Natalie was trying to
convince Nick of something.  She saw him standing near her, and from
his expression, he seemed to not agree with Natalie's comment.  "What
are you talking about?" she asked as she set the bag she was carrying
down on Natalie's desk.  She wanted to find out what Natalie was trying
to do.

"Not much.  Just trying to get Nick to come with me for the holiday.  I

don't want him to spend Christmas sitting alone again."  She knew Grace

would take her chance to get him to agree.  He would agree because of
her presence.  Grace liked Nick, but was utterly confused as how he
could be as out of the loop as he was.

"Why don't you go?  Natalie's family is really nice.  I went with her a

couple of years ago."  He didn't make any immediate comment.  Grace saw

this, then remembered what was in the bag she brought with her.  She
quickly removed the Santa hat and put in on Nick before he could say
anything.  After a second or two she said, "You know, the Christmas
spirit really suits you!  You should try it out a little more!"

Nick couldn't help but smile.  Besides, he felt absolutely ridiculous
in the hat, its top hanging down in front of his face.  "Yeah, okay. 
I'll go with you, but only if I can get you something."

"Deal," she said.  Now she had an excuse to get him something as well.

Nick took off the hat and gave it back to Grace.  She remembered why
she had brought it, and told Natalie, "Oh, here's another decoration
for your desk."

Nick looked over at the desk and for the first time notice it was
decorated.   There was a silver garland on the outside edge of the
desk, and a medium sized white bear with a red bow tie on one corner. 
Natalie took the hat and placed it on top of the bear's head.

Grace looked down at her watch and noticed if she didn't leave soon she
was going to be late to meet one of her friends.  "Well, I'll see you
two later, I've got to run."

After Grace left, Natalie told him in a slightly teasing voice, "Now
that wasn't too hard, now was it?"

He smiled slightly, and told her, "Well, I better get going.  It's
getting close to sunrise."

Natalie looked up at the clock on the wall.  It _was_ almost sunrise. 
She had been talking to her brother for over two hours.  At least she
had killed some time, it had been really slow over the past week, but
she couldn't complain.  Yeah it meant she had nothing to do, but that
meant that at least for a short while less people were getting killed. 
She nodded to his question, and watched as he left.  She then picked
the phone back up and dialed her brother's number.  She had to tell him
Nick was going to come after all.


*+.*+.*+.*+.*+.


December 21st


It was now only a couple of days before they were going to leave, and
it was their last day before they were off.  Natalie had called Nick
earlier to tell him to stop by before he went home.  When he entered,
she was putting one of her files she wanted to type up before she got
back into her bag.  When she saw him, she wondered, 'How long as he
been standing there?  He doesn't make a sound when entering the room.' 
 She then took the Santa hat off the bear and also put it in her bag. 
"Hi, Nick.  I was wondering if you could help me wrap presents tomorrow
night.  I seem to have a lot more than I originally had thought."  She
was going to get him as involved as possible, and with a smile asked,
"You do know how to wrap presents don't you?"

He returned her smile and said, "Yes, I do, and I'll help you wrap. 
What time do you want me to come by?"

"About Eight o'clock would be good.  I still need to get wrapping
paper, so if I'm not there just let yourself in.  You should probably
bring what blood you're going to need so I can put it in a cooler, that
way we won't have to worry about it later."

He nodded, and asked, "Anything else?"

She thought for a moment, then answered, "No, I don't think so. 
Although my brother did tell me that we're probably going to have a
white Christmas, a really white one."  After about a minute, she ended,
"Well, I'll see you tomorrow night."  As he left, she thought about
what she had gotten him.  That was one present which would have to be
wrapped tonight.  Wrapped and put away somewhere so he wouldn't see it.
 She didn't know if he would want a Christmas present or not, but since
he was going to get her one, she decided to get him one as well.  It
was something she had seen about a month before, and now she had an
excuse to give it to him.


*+.*+.*+.*+.*+.


The next night all of the gift wrapping went well, and Natalie not only

discovered that he knew how to wrap, but that he was very good at it.
'I wish I could wrap like that.'  He decided that he would drive them
up to her parent's.  There was more room in the Caddy than in her car,
plenty for the presents, the cooler and their things.  He told her he
would be by as soon after sunset as he could so they could get there as
soon as possible.  He wanted to avoid driving in the snow as much as he
could, and there was a storm coming in.  It was definitely going to be
a white Christmas.  After Nick left, Natalie packed the cooler and
packed most of her things.

The rest she packed that night.  She was just done putting Nick's
present in her bag and zipping it closed as he knocked on the door.
'Just in time.'  Natalie let him in as she put on her coat and they
made several trips out to his car.  They barely had enough room for
everything, and if it wasn't for the back seat, they wouldn't have. 
She was glad she had taken Nick's offer to drive.  She locked up her
apartment, making sure Sydney would be all right until Grace got off
work, then came back down.

When she got in the Caddy, it was fairly warm.  She could see a dark
blue fleece blanket next to her, which even though it wasn't really
cold, she decided to wrap up in.  She gave him directions on how to get
there, and for the first five minutes all was quiet.  Natalie
interrupted the silence, "Thanks for the blanket, and for coming along
with me.  I don't know how I would've managed all those presents if you
hadn't helped, both with wrapping them and with carrying them out."

In the past two weeks since she had asked him to come with her, he had 
gotten used to the idea, and was even looking forward to it.  She was
right.   He would have to integrate himself back into society no matter
what.  Even if he didn't become mortal.  Besides, what really was so
bad about Christmas?  Then he thought, 'Memories, only memories.'   He
returned his thoughts to the present and told her, "It was no problem. 
I actually enjoyed it."

He then seemed to zone back off a little.  Natalie wondered what he was

thinking about.  Probably remembering something, and that something
probably had to do with Christmas.  After a couple of minutes she
finally asked, "What was Christmas like when you were a kid?"

He snapped back to the present, and as they approached the exit, he
told her, "In some ways it was a lot like Christmas now, although some
things were completely different.  It had the same spirit as it has
now, and was a time of celebration."  As they pulled back onto city
streets he stopped, and for the last few minutes neither spoke about
anything.

By the time they arrived, it had begun to snow and about an inch was
already on the ground.  They had arrived just before the storm set in. 
By morning there would be several more inches on the ground.  They
pulled into one of the few empty spots near her parent's large house,
and before Nick turned the car off, a young girl of about eight or nine
was to the side walk.  Natalie's brother, and what Nick assumed to be
his wife were following just behind her. He guessed that the girl was
probably Amy, Natalie's niece.

After Natalie got out, she embraced her brother, and introduced Nick to

them.  Amy immediately took to Nick, and as he and Natalie walked
around to the trunk, she asked, "Can I help you with anything, uncle
Nick?"

All of the adults smiled at her calling Nick ‘uncle.'  They all knew he

wasn't her uncle, and that by the end of the night all of the kids
would be calling him ‘uncle' Nick.  He didn't mind it, and the memories
it brought enveloped him.  His nephew Andre.  He was his uncle.  He
remembered raising him, and then came some of the other memories.  A
tug on his jacket brought him back to the present, and he looked down
to see Amy looking up at him, eagerly waiting for him to answer her.

He told her that she could help carry in some of the presents if she
wanted to, and she gladly accepted.  On the first trip, when Nick
entered the house, his senses assaulted him.  He could smell the pine
of the Christmas tree, cinnamon, and several other spices.  He could
hear the voices of several people.  As soon as they entered, they were
taken to the room with the voices, and Nick was introduced to all of
the people in the room.  Three of Natalie's cousins were there with
their families, and so was Susan's brother and his family.  Including
Amy, there were eleven children.  Seven boys, and four girls, Amy was
the eldest.

After introductions, they went back out to the Caddy to get the rest of
the things, and were shown to their room.  It was a single room with
two queen sized beds on the second floor.  The house itself had almost
twenty rooms in it, and there was even a room that wasn't being used. 
The house had at one time been a small inn.  Then, several years
before, Natalie's parent's bought it and fixed it up.

All of the presents were taken into the room where everyone was, and
placed under the tree which had to be at least fifteen feet tall.  The
room was enormous, and warmed by a large fireplace which most of
everyone was sitting around.  Surprisingly, given the number of people
in the room, it didn't look, or feel crowded.  For about an hour Nick
and Natalie sat with the group who were talking about different things
going on.  They talked about recent advancements, and shared events
that had happened in there families in the past year.  Nick and Natalie
then prepared the room for the day so they wouldn't have to in the
morning.  They taped the heavy curtains shut, and made sure no light,
or at least not much would enter through the windows.  Natalie
explained to the others why they were taking so much care.  They didn't
seem to think it was overly strange, and treated it like any other
allergy a person might have which Nick was grateful for.

Once in their room, Nick and Natalie each got ready for bed using the 
connected bathroom, and soon both were sound asleep.


*+.*+.*+.*+.*+.


The next morning Natalie felt something move and thought she heard
someone call her name.  When she opened her eyes, she saw Amy, and her
two cousins, Brian who was about the same age as Amy, and Amanda who
was five.  They were all asking ‘auntie Nat' to wake up.  Once they saw
that she was indeed awake, they proceeded to wake up Nick.  Natalie
forgot to tell him this was how everyone got up at the same time, and
was too asleep to do anything.  So when they jumped on the bed, he
snapped awake not expecting to see three little faces, each cheerful,
wide awake, and accompanying their announcement that it was time for
them to get up.

Amy pulled Natalie out of bed, telling her breakfast was ready.  Brian
and Amanda were attempting to do the same to Nick, but he was still
trying to wake up.  Natalie told them that they would be down in a few
minutes, that neither were awake enough to come down just then.

After they left, Natalie walked over to Nick who was sitting on his bed
with his head down.  He definitely wasn't awake yet.  "I'm going to go
down and explain that you won't be eating breakfast, and while I do
that you can have it.  Just come right down after that, we won't get
dressed until later."  He nodded slightly, and she left.

He had his ‘breakfast,' then came down as she told him to.  The first
thing he noticed was that all of the windows were open, but that it
wouldn't be a problem.  The light snow that had started the night
before had become heavy, and there was now almost two feet of snow
outside.  It had also become windy, which made it impossible to see
anything outside except for whiteness.  The snow, and the clouds which
the snow undoubtably came from had completely blotted out the sun, and
if he wanted to he could stand outside and wouldn't be burnt.  He had
done it several times in the past, and it made him feel a little
better, even though to others it was an imprisonment.  For him it gave
him a little bit of freedom, the closest he could come to spending a
day in the sun.  He was brought out of his observation by one of the
children, Brian, running by him carrying two pieces of cinnamon toast. 
One of the adults called after him, telling him not to run, and to not
get anything on the carpet.

Nick smiled.  He remembered how once his mother had said almost the
same thing to him when he was about Brian's age.  He then remembered
other things about his mother.  Finally that when she died he was in
Paris.  He found out about it in one of his sister's letters.  That was
when he had first felt the loneliness of immortality, and that it would
only be a matter of time before Fleur died, and then Andre who wasn't
even born yet.

Natalie tapped him on the shoulder, bringing him back to the present. 
"What were you thinking about?" she asked him.

As his last memory of his mother replayed in his mind, his features
grew a little sad.  He hadn't thought about her for a long time.  "I
was just remembering my family, my mother in particular."

She knew he didn't like talking about his mortal life, and led him over
to one of the chairs in the room.  She sat down next to it, and he sat
in the chair, asking if she would rather sit where he was.  She said
that it was all right, and ate her own cinnamon toast.  The children
were really excited, and two of them were glued to the window, watching
the snow as it came down.  He then remembered that Natalie had said
they were from California, southern California, and knew that they had
probably never seen snow before.  Well they were going to have a big
surprise this year.  It looked like a blizzard outside, and no one knew
when it was going to stop.


Christmastime - Part 2/2


The morning was quiet, and around noon most of the women went into the 
kitchen to help with dinner.  Nick and Richard went with them and ended
up helping.  By the time dinner was ready it was around four thirty. 
Everyone sat around the dinner table, and Natalie's father said grace. 
Nick suppressed the involuntary flinch at his words and was very
careful about what he did and said.  Natalie had convinced him to eat
as much as he could.   He ended up with a small piece of turkey and
some mash potatoes and gravy.

Everyone quickly got what they wanted, and started to eat. Natalie's
cousin from California, James Douglas, asked Nick, "You aren't from
Toronto are you?  Your voice reminds me a little bit like someone from
France."

This caught Nick a little off guard, he didn't think anyone would
notice that his voice was a little different.  He usually did a good
job at hiding his accent, but then his guard had been down the last few
days.  "How did you know?"

"I lived in northern France for about three years.  And I didn't really

know, I just guessed.  Was I right?"

The fact that he had lived there for that long was why he noticed.  He 
didn't see any harm in telling them where he was from.  "Actually I'm
from Belgium.  But my original language is French."

Most of the people found Nick's heritage fascinating, especially the 
children.  Someone from another country was eating dinner with them. 
"So this is a little different than what you did when you were younger
then," Natalie's other cousin, Angela, commented.

Then right after, Natalie's brother asked, "What does your family do
for Christmas?"

This question caught him entirely off guard, and the attention was now 
entirely on him, he had to answer.  He hadn't spent Christmas with his 
family since he was mortal, it was the last year before he left for the
holy land.  After he became a vampire, he couldn't handle being around
the religious symbols.  He couldn't tell them exactly how his family
spent Christmas, and said, "We had a very traditional celebration.  We
exchanged a few gifts each and had dinner with spiced wine and cider. 
That's about all I remember."

This was the first time he had said anything about what his family
actually did for Christmas.  It was also one of the few times he had
ever told anyone anything about his mortal life.

"What about Santa Claus?" Amy asked.  "Didn't you get presents from
Santa Claus?"

Her question was asked with all of the innocence of childhood, and Nick

couldn't help but smile.  "Yes we did get presents from Santa Clause. 
But we didn't call him that, we called him Saint Nicholas.  He also
didn't come on Christmas, but on the eve of December 6th."

Throughout dinner the children asked him questions about Saint
Nicholas, and Nick was in some ways grateful.  This way he didn't have
to pretend to eat dinner, and he also didn't have to eat as much and
wouldn't be noticed.  He also enjoyed telling the children about Saint
Nicholas and the Christmas season, although their parents were just as
interested as the children were.

After dinner, everyone gathered by the fireplace.  Natalie explained
that after dinner everyone usually sang Christmas carols.  She told him
that he didn't have to sing if he didn't want to.  Angela sat at the
piano and asked what song they should start with.  Her son, Thomas,
jumped up and said, "Jingle Bells!"

Nick didn't sing for the first two songs, and instead listened to
everyone else.  Natalie suggested the third song, Silent Night, and
this one he decided to join in on. It was one of his favorite songs,
and he was having a good time.  It was turning out to be the best
Christmas he had had for several years, a couple centuries in reality. 
When Natalie heard his voice, she was amazed.  She had never heard him
sing, but never imagined his voice would be that good.  Although she
was right when she thought he would be a tenor.

Near the end of the third verse the lights suddenly went out.  It
caused Amanda to scream, and afterwards the only noise that could be
heard was the howling wind outside.

The room was almost completely black, the low fire only illuminating
the first few feet next to the fire, and Nick was the only one that
could see everything.  Natalie told the others to stay where they were,
that she and Nick were going to get some candles.  When she stood up,
she told Nick to lead her into the pitch black kitchen.  Once there she
told him where the candles were and to light one, then go upstairs and
get several more out of the closet at the top of the stairs.

When he came back down, Natalie had lit the six candles that were in
the drawer, and Richard was adding wood to the fire to add more light
and heat.  He had brought another five down with him and quickly lit
them.  Amanda's mother was explaining that everything was going to be
all right, that only the power had gone out, and that nothing else was
going to happen.  At least everyone hoped that nothing else was going
to happen.

Richard took one of the candles and went to check the power.  He
discovered that it was definitely out, and the lights wouldn't come
back on until the power came back on.  The storm must have taken out
some of the power lines.  When he returned, he told everyone, and a
groan was heard from a few people.

The news didn't dampen the spirit though.  A couple of more songs were
sung before Natalie's mother read, "The Night Before Christmas" to the
children.

Nick had never actually heard the entire story, and listened to it just
as much as the children.  When the book was closed, Mrs. Douglas
suggested that everyone should go to bed, and as was expected the
children disagreed.  They wanted to stay up and wait for Santa Claus. 
Thomas' two younger brothers, Joseph and Jeffrey, who were also twins
begged their mother for another story.  They asked for a true one, one
that had to do with knights and Christmas.  She didn't know any stories
like that and had to tell them she didn't.  This made them both upset,
and Nick saw this and decided he would tell a story.  "I think I could
tell a story," he said.

At his offer the children immediately scurried over to where Nick was 
sitting and Jeffrey asked, "Really?"

Nick nodded his head.  "Yes.  Now remember this is a true story.  It's
been passed down in my family for many centuries.  It is about a young
boy that was about seven years old at the time."

Amanda asked, "What was his name?"

"His name was Nicholas.  It was the Christmas of 1199, and he and his
family went to his uncle's that year for Christmas time.  Now, his
uncle had no children, and he only had a baby sister, so he was very
alone in the castle."

Brian interrupted with, "What did he do?"

"Well, when no one was around he would sit in front of the fire, and
dream about what he would be like when he was older.  He would pretend
he was a knight like his father and his uncle, and wish for the day
when he really was one.  The night before Saint Nicholas comes he had
gotten into mischief and found himself lost in his uncle's home.  Now
his uncle's home was a castle, and a very large one at that.  He
eventually ended up in a medium sized room, and what he saw put a
sparkle in his eyes.

"The room had armor, swords, shields, flags, and other weapons.  It was

everything the little boy had imagined and more, much more.  One of the

swords on the wall caught his eye.  It was the family sword.  It had
the Brabant family crest and a large red ruby set in it.  Nicholas
approached the wall and reached out toward the sword.  He carefully got
it down and discovered that it was much heavier than he had imagined. 
He lifted the tip of the sword into the air, and suddenly he heard
footsteps outside of the door.  The door opened and then he saw his
uncle.

"The tip of the sword was released and hit the floor.  His uncle asked
what he was doing there, and the only thing Nicholas could do was lower
his head and say that he got lost.  He was then asked what he was doing
with the sword, and that was something he couldn't tell his uncle.  The
sword was taken from his small hands, and placed back in its place on
the wall.  He was then led to his room, and told not to wander around
anymore."

"Is that the end of the story?" Thomas asked him.

"No, it isn't.  The next day when he opened his presents, he discovered
he didn't just have one from his uncle, but he had two.  The first was
a carving knife which he kept and used his entire life.  The other was
long and heavy.  He carefully set it down and unfolded its wrappings to
reveal a sword.  He looked up at his uncle before picking it up.  When
he received a nod, he did so and looked very closely at the crest and
the ruby.  His uncle explained to Nicholas that when he got a little
older the sword would be his, and that he would become a knight.  His
eyes lighted up with excitement, and his uncle made him an honorary
knight until he became one for real.  It was one of his most memorable
Christmases."

"Did he ever become a knight?"

"Yes, he did, and he enjoyed it a lot, although in the future it took
him from his family for a long time."

This time everyone agreed that it was time to go to bed, and with
asking for another story the next day.  Once they were all tucked in,
Richard asked if the story really was true, and if it was all true. 
Nick told him it was, which caused everyone to think even more highly
of him, and made them open their eyes a little more.  Natalie was the
only one that knew just how truthful it was, and that the boy was
probably the man standing before them.

Everyone took a candle with them, and once to their room, Natalie asked

Nick, "The boy was you, wasn't he?"  He nodded that it was.  "Do you
still have the sword and the knife?"

"Yes, I do.  If you would like, I can show them to you when we get
back."

They then got ready for bed, and just before Nick blew the candle out, 
Natalie warned him that they would have a similar awakening as they did
the day before, but that they would have to go down stairs right away.


*+.*+.*+.*+.*+.


Within the blackness of the room, Amy, Brian and Amanda again woke up
Nick and Natalie.  This time they both had to get up, but before going
down stairs they both retrieved their presents for each other.

Once to the main room, the fire was started up again to its full
strength, and candles were again placed throughout the room.

First the children opened their presents, the ones from their parents
and family, and the ones from Santa.  Nick watched them and realized he
was the only one that didn't really get to open presents when he was a
child.  Usually he got only a couple of presents each Christmas.

Once they were done unwrapping presents, Natalie gave him her gift to
him before he could give his.  It was wrapped in black paper with
golden stars and greetings on it with a gold bow on the top.  He
carefully, but quickly opened the package to reveal a black box.  Nick
carefully opened the box, and moved the tissue paper which was also
black out of the way.  In the middle of the box was a gold pocket
watch.  Nick carefully took the watch out of the box and looked at it
closely.  On the front was a knight ready for battle with the sun
shining down on him.  He turned it over and on the back was the same
knight, but he was now riding through the moonlight.

He looked to Natalie in awe.  He was not expecting to get such a gift
from her.  A gift that had to have cost a small fortune.  He then
opened it up, and the first thing that caught his attention was the
inscription on the inside, ‘May you always have faith in God, -
Natalie.'  He had to suppress a tear as he read it.  Unlike many of the
others that had helped him, and been his friend, Natalie actually
cared.  Truly cared, not the pretense that many showed, but with her
heart.  She really did consider him a part of her family, and by
looking around the room he could see that they also considered him
family.  He looked at the watch face itself.  Gold roman numerals
surrounded the face, and alternating suns and the different phases 
of the moon surrounded the numbers.  The gold watch hands were simple
but elegant, and on the face was a rotating insert which told if it was
night or day, and what phase of the day.

Nick thanked her for the gift, a gift he was not expecting, but which
warmed a part of his heart which he thought would never be warm again. 
Richard asked if he could see it, and Nick handed it to him.  Richard
commented aloud that there was a knight on it which caused the others
to look at it more closely remembering the story he'd told.

Nick then remembered his present for Natalie, and as he passed her the
gift, said, "And since we're on the subject of knights, this knight
would like to give a present."

Natalie took the present, which was a lot heavier that she had
expected.  It was wrapped in gold wrapping paper, and contained a
silver bow in the center.  The present was about four inches high, six
inches deep, and ten inches long.  She quickly unwrapped it and found
an old wooden box inside.  She noted that it seemed to be hand carved,
and the top had several roses carved into it.  Nick told her, and the
others present, "Yes, it was hand carved.  A very young knight by the
name of Nicholas made it nearly eight hundred years ago.  It was a
Christmas gift to his sister one year."

She was about to open it, but stopped when he answered her question. 
It was handmade, handmade by Nick when he was still a child.  It had
also once belonged to his sister, his mortal sister.  Before opening it
she looked at him, then she slowly opened the box.  Inside was a lot of
tissue paper, and after unfolding it, she found a black felt pouch. 
She pulled the pouch out, and emptied its contents into her hand.  It
was an antique gold necklace, the pendant being a beautiful angle
holding an equally beautiful, clear diamond in its hands.  "It's
beautiful," she whispered as she held it in her hands, waiting for the
angle to come to life before her eyes.

Nick took the necklace, and carefully fastened it around her neck. 
Amy, inquisitive as always walked up to Natalie and looked in awe at
the angel dangling from her neck.  "Was this Nicholas' as well?" she
asked turning to Nick.

"It was his mother's, and then it was his sister's.  It's nearly a
millennia old.  The wearer is said to always be protected by a guardian
angel.  A special angel that sometimes grants wishes if the wearer
truly believes its power.  When my mother told me about its legend, I
asked her what her wish was, and if she had gotten it.  She told me
that her family was her wish, and that yes, she'd gotten it.  I then
asked if she had ever seen the angel.   She told me that she had, and
that one day I would meet her."

"Did you?" Amy again asked.

He looked over at Natalie, and said, "I think I have."  Natalie knew he

thought she was the angel, but then, what happened to the angel?  She 
decided she would ask him about it later.

Everyone heard what sounded like a switch being hit, and then all of
the lights came back on.  It startled most of everyone in the room. 
The next movement was Richard handing Nick another present.  He was
startled by the action, not only because the lights went on, but he
didn't know why he'd be getting any other presents.  When he saw that
indeed the gift was for him, Richard commented, "When we found out you
were coming, we thought we should get you something."

Nick carefully opened the package to reveal on old cardboard box.  He
opened it to find an old folder which he also slowly opened.  Within
were several sheets of music, all nearly a hundred years old.  "They
were my great-grandfathers.  Natalie had said you played the piano and
that she'd both heard you play and seen you write music.  She said you
might like this and we agreed."

"I can't accept this from you.  It belongs to your family."

"Yes, you can.  For all of the kindness you've shown my sister you are 
definitely family.  If you don't accept it, it will just sit up in the
attic for another hundred years, perhaps never to be seen again.  No
one in our family has the musical talent to finish it, and we were
wondering if you could."

"Could you Nick?  It meant a lot to him, and when he fell ill, he was
upset he didn't get to finish it."

Nick looked through the folder a little before nodding that he would.  
Natalie put her arms around him, and after thanking him, gave him a
kiss on the check.  Her actions took him completely off guard.

Most of everyone then returned to sleep except for the children and the

Douglas'.  Nick was glad, he didn't know how much more of sleeping at
night and staying up during the day he could tolerate.  It wasn't
natural for a vampire to do this, and his body was fully aware of it. 
It took a lot of energy to do both, much more than if it was the other
way around.  Nick fell asleep almost the instant he entered the room,
having only enough energy to get to the bed.  Natalie put both her
gifts and his on the dresser, and called his name, only to find he was
sound asleep.  Natalie covered him up with the comforter before going
back to sleep a for a few hours herself.

When she got up, she tried to wake him, but he was still asleep.  She
knew he would have a little trouble flipping his schedule, but she
didn't think he would eventually just fall asleep and stay asleep. 
Natalie came back to check on him a couple of times during the day, but
he didn't change, he didn't even move.


*+.*+.*+.*+.*+.


The next morning Nick was forced awake by three children bouncing on
the bed.  He couldn't figure out what happened to the day before, but
right then the most important thing was to figure out this special
event was.  He looked over to Natalie's bed, only to find that she was
not there, and that it was made.  He then realized he was being pulled
out of bed, and that if he didn't get up he was going to end up in a
pile on the floor.  He was pulled to his feet, and then toward the
door.  He protested that he would come down in a few minutes, but they
wouldn't let him.  Amy said, "Natalie told us to bring you down, and
that's what we're doing."

He was curious as to why Nat wanted him to come down, but decided that
he might as well find out.  As soon as the door was opened he could
smell spices.  Not just any spices, but the spices that once filled his
childhood home.  It was spiced cider.  He was curious of what was
happening, and as they led him to the kitchen the smell grew stronger.

Once there, Natalie gave each of the children a cup of the cider, and
then when they were gone, she approached him with another cup.  He
reminded her he couldn't drink it, but she told him that this might be
okay, and that he should try it.

He slowly took the cup from her and took a small sip of the stemming
liquid and was very surprised.  It wasn't entirely spiced cider, he
guessed it was about half blood.  Its addition allowed him to drink it
without too much difficulty.  He drank it slowly, and when finished, he
thanked her.  They were summoned in to the living room to talk, and
Natalie made him a second cup of the spiced cider/blood mixture.  They
talked about a second storm that was coming in that night, and most of
everyone decided they were going to leave that night before it hit and
completely snowed them in.  As it was, it was going to be difficult to
leave.

Shortly before dark, Nick and Natalie got their things together, and
Richard and his brother in law helped Natalie get the caddy free of
snow.  Luckily the roads were plowed so it didn't take a long time. 
Once the sun had set, they left for the city, and wondered what it was
going to look like there.  Was there going to be more or less snow? 
Would they be able to get home?

After they were in the car, Natalie thanked him personally for the
necklace, and for accepting the music from her family.  Soon they were
back in Toronto, and as they pulled up to Natalie's apartment, Nick
told her, "Thanks for asking me to go to your family for Christmas.  I
haven't truly celebrated Christmas for over four hundred years, and I
don't know how to thank you for both your invitation and your gift."

"You don't have to.  You don't have to thank me because it's I that
should thank you."

He didn't let her continue, he put his finger up to her lips and
suggested she should get a little sleep.  They had been up for a long
time, and he knew she wasn't going to be awake much longer. She agreed
and said that she would call him later.  Nick sat in the car for
several more minutes.  He knew why she didn't want him to thank him,
and that it had gone beyond being friends.  During the past few days
they had become closer, and it was because he couldn't help it with all
of the good memories that had returned to him, some for the first time
since he had become a vampire.  He knew he was in love with her since
the first time he met her.  He knew she was the angel that his mother
told him he would eventually meet.  He saw that same love mirrored both
then when she had told him that solving his puzzle was satisfaction
enough, and now when they both knew there was something more.

He pulled the watch out of his pocket and flipped it open.  He fingered
the inscription and whispered almost too soft for himself to hear, "You
have no idea how much your gift to me meant Natalie.  No idea."  He
slowly put the watch back in his pocket and after staring out at the
snow for a few minutes he pulled out of the parking lot.



~fin~


Comments, questions and suggestions to:
jarvinia@gmx.com