Kristin Westphalen stared at him with a look of abject disbelief on her face.  Nathan winced a little at the steel hard look in her eyes but she didn't say anything so he continued.

"Honest, Kris, if I could be there I would..." She still stared at him.

"And it's not like I'm going to miss it completely. I'll just get there a little bit late." Her stare never wavered and he shrugged his shoulders. "I'm sorry."

Kristin pushed herself up off the edge of the table where she had been leaning. Still staring at him she moved closer, her eyes never leaving his and Nathan fidgeted a bit more. They both stood in their dining room, her in a pair of comfortable jeans and a white shirt and him in his khaki uniform... the one he'd just arrived home in at 9:30 in the evening. Kristin moved until she was ominously standing only inches from his face.

"You bastard," she said softly. The shocked look now moved over to Nathan's face. "Once... just once, I ask you to take some time and come and meet my family over the Christmas holiday and you've got to play with your boat," she said in a tight angry voice.

"Kris," he started.

"Don't 'Kris' me," she spat out. "I put up with meeting your family. Even that idiot of a brother of yours." Nathan winced but Kristin continued, her voice outraged and increasing in volume as she spoke. "And for once we're going to take a holiday to England so you can see where I come from and meet my family and that *bloody boat* of yours has to get in the way."

"If I could be there I would," Nathan tried to reason with her.

"Oh, bull shit," she responded sharply. "If it isn't one thing with that damned boat, it's another." She turned to head down the hallway. "You obviously enjoy spending time with it more than you enjoy spending time with me so you can just spend your Christmas with the blasted boat. I don't want you in England," she said angrily as she slammed the bedroom door in his face.

Nathan sighed resignedly and leaned against the wall. He glanced up as he saw the door of Lucas' bedroom open cautiously. Lucas peeked around the door jamb at the closed bedroom door and then at the Captain.

"You alright?"

"Yeah," Nathan sighed. "We found some more faults in the blades of the engine impeller turbines so I'm going to have to stick around a few days to get the repairs started."

Lucas came out of the room and leaned against the end of the hall. "I thought you were supposed to be going to England day after tomorrow."

"I was but I'm going to be a couple of days late."

Lucas glanced at the closed door again. "And someone isn't taking it very well, I gather." He straightened up as the door to Bridger's bedroom suddenly opened and Kristin threw Bridger's pajamas out onto the floor.

She looked irritably over at Lucas. "That's because *someone* is an idiot who has no concept of keeping the promises that he's made." She looked angrily at Bridger. "And don't even dream that you're going to be sleeping in here tonight," she said as she slammed the bedroom door again.

Nathan looked at the closed door and shook his head before leaning over and picking up his pajamas. He moved down the hall towards Lucas and sighed. "So, how's your packing going?" he asked trying to find a neutral territory.

"Almost done."

"How are you getting to the airport tomorrow?" Nathan asked. He heard the door open behind him again and felt something soft hit him between the shoulder blades.

"I'm taking him because you're going to be too busy tending to that bloody boat of yours," Kristin yelled slamming the door once again.

Nathan leaned over and picked up the pillow that she had thrown at him. "You know she's gonna knock things off the dresser if she keeps that up," he said in a flat voice. He looked over at Lucas again. "She'll be all calmed down by tomorrow so you don't need to worry about her driving."

Lucas nodded with a small grin. "Yeah, I know. You're the one who's in trouble."

"I seem to be spending a lot of time there these days," Nathan grumbled as he walked back towards Lucas' room.

"I'm, um, just gonna finish packing," Lucas said crooking his thumb towards the bed in his room that was covered with suitcases and clothes.

Nathan nodded at him and kept heading into the living room where he put his pajamas and pillow on the couch. For a moment he stared out the front window at the calm water of the gulf before releasing a sigh and heading for the kitchen.

A few minutes later he walked into Lucas' room with two glasses of pop in his hands and Lucas looked up at him. Nathan shrugged. "I thought you might like something to drink."

Lucas turned smiling and relieved him of one glass. Bridger leaned against the small desk that Lucas had put at one end of the room and cast his eyes over the collection of clothes on the bed.

"Are you sure that you're taking enough pairs of shorts?" he asked facetiously spotting the large pile of shorts waiting on the bed.

"Cap, you gotta remember that it's summer down in Australia." He picked a couple of pair of shorts from the pile and put them in his duffle bag. "At least my Dad's smart enough to do his work in someplace where it's warm most of the time." He glanced over at Bridger with a cocky look on his face. "Not like some people I know who are going to snowy England for the holiday."

Nathan frowned and took a sip of his pop. "I really hate snow."

Lucas grinned over at him. "How can you hate snow? You grew up in Massachusetts."

"I hate snow because I grew up in Massachusetts. I had enough of that damned white stuff back then."

"Ah, but it's been snowing in England this year," Lucas said reasonably.

"Very unseasonable of it, you know?" Bridger grumbled. "It's like they waited for me to come to England before they decided to have it snow."

Lucas threw a couple of shirts in to keep the shorts in the bag company. "Doc says you should stay here and not come to England."

"Hell," Nathan answered quickly. "If you think I'm in trouble now just think about how she'll take it if I don't show up at all." Nathan shook his head morosely. "I don't even want to think about it."

"So you're gonna go even though she told you not to?"

"Oh, yeah," Nathan said sighing and staring at the floor.

"You going to be able to get a flight?"

"That was the first thing I rearranged," Nathan assured him.

A concerned look covered Lucas' face, "Are you guys going to be alright after I leave tomorrow?"

Nathan looked up at him sharply. "What do you mean are we going to be alright?"

"Well," said Lucas in an uncomfortable voice. "Sometimes I think my presence here decreases the... volatility of the household." He shrugged. "I was just worried that the two of you will get into a major fight after I'm gone."

"You know," Nathan said as he regarded Lucas fondly, "you've certainly improved your diplomatic skills in the last 18 months."

Lucas chuckled. "All part of that interpersonal relationship stuff you keep pushing."

"Yeah," said Nathan with a little smile. "Back to your original question... I can almost guarantee that we'll have a major fight after you leave tomorrow." He stopped for a moment as he stared at a point on the floor. "But maybe that's what she needs... to be able to yell at me for a while." He paused again. "God knows I deserve it."

"You really can't get away?" Lucas asked now devoting his full attention to the Captain.

Nathan shook his head. "No, if I take a couple of days now and get the repairs defined and set up we can get them started right after the Christmas break. If we wait we'll probably add two months on the production time for the boat... and we can't have that."

This time Lucas shrugged. "Why not? It's only a boat."

"It isn't only the boat, Lucas," Nathan looked over at him and smiled a little at the concern showing in his eyes. "There are a lot of people depending on getting this boat in the water as soon as possible. Ever since the first seaQuest went down the raids on underwater colonies has increased and lately they're really getting to be a hazard. Unless we get this boat in service those raids are going to continue with no one to really stop them. There are a lot of colonies that won't survive many more months without the presence of a deterrent like the seaQuest."

Lucas looked down at the floor before looking up and continuing his questioning. "Is it worth risking your relationship with Doctor Westphalen?" he asked softly.

"If it saves lives?" Nathan nodded the answer to his own question. "Yes." He shrugged again. "I don't really have any choice."

"Yeah, I suppose," Lucas said turning back to his packing. "Just try not to blow it completely, okay?"

"I'll try to keep things in one piece on the homefront... I promise."

Bridger turned to head out the door patting Lucas on the shoulder as he passed him. "If I don't see you tomorrow, have a good time and tell your Dad 'Hi" for me."

"I will, sir," Lucas smiled and he watched Bridger walk down the hallway to the den and sit at the computer.

He was still sitting at the computer an hour later when he saw the bedroom door open and Kristin come out of it in her nightgown. She headed into the bathroom and then glanced his way as she came out again. She came down the hallway and leaned on the door jamb to the den.

"You were serious, weren't you? You aren't coming?" she asked, her voice almost calm.

Nathan nodded. "I'm coming but I'll be late," Nathan answered evenly. He glanced at the computer screen and then back at her. "I'm trying to get as much work done as I can so I can get going as soon as possible but realistically it'll be Christmas eve before I get out of here and there's no point in you staying with me here and messing up your holiday."

"No," Kristin answered shortly and pushed off the door jamb. "After all, why stay here and mess up my holiday when you can mess it up from afar?" She stalked back down the hallway and slammed the door once more as she went into the bedroom. Nathan saw Lucas pop his head around the corner and shrugged at him.

Nathan wearily trudged up the steps to the house a little after 11 at night the next day. He noted that there were no lights on in the house and when he had pulled in he originally had feared that Kristin had decided to leave but her car in the drive let him know that she was still there... even if she wasn't happy with him. She was probably already in bed... that may be a good thing. He insured that the outside door was locked and wandered across the porch towards the house. He'd just reached the porch door when he heard a voice from the darkness.

"I was beginning to think that you might not come home."

"Geez, Kris," Nathan let out a breath, "You scared the hell out of me." He glanced over where she was sitting in the dark in one of the wicker chairs on the porch. "I'm sorry I'm late but like I told you, I'm trying to get things done as quickly as possible so I can join you."

Kristin's voice when she answered sounded calm but Nathan knew that a tempest brewed just below the surface. "I was rather hoping that you'd reconsidered and decided to come with me."

Nathan sat down on the wicker sofa just opposite her. Although the light of the night was dim he could still see the steely look in her eyes. "I can't, Kris. If I don't get the repairs set up now it adds at least two months on the project... and we need the boat in the water as soon as we can."

"Oh, I see, and then you're going to save the world?" the sarcasm in her voice was biting.

"Kris, this is what I have to do," Bridger answered calmly. "I didn't want the blades to come in damaged but since they did I need to handle that problem before I can come meet your family."

"And after you fix the problem with your blasted impeller blades??? What's the next problem that comes up to disrupt our lives?"

"I don't know," Nathan shrugged. "What do you want me to say? All I can do is deal with them as they appear," Nathan answered reasonably.

Nathan kept expecting an explosion when Kristin talked but she was still calm although there was a definite pause before she started talking again. "You know that when you started this project a year ago you were working too hard. That was until you fell asleep at the wheel and crashed your car. Then you slowed down for a while."

"Yeah, well it's amazing how a couple of broken ribs slow you down a little," Nathan mumbled.

"Yes, well since then you've done quite a job of overworking yourself until you got sick, breaking promises both to me and to Lucas, missing appointments and social engagements, running yourself into the ground, managing to get yourself hurt through a variety of misadventures and generally screwing up your life and the lives of anyone who is close to you."

'Ah,' thought Nathan, 'the argument begins.' Out-loud he still tried to reason with her but kept his voice firm. "Kris, you knew that have a high-pace job. I've done my best to try to pay attention to all my responsibilities both the professional things I had to do and the personal things with you and Lucas. I've tried to balance the two and I know that I haven't always been successful... but I am trying."

Kristin leaned her elbows on the arms of the chair and rested her chin on her clasped hands. She didn't say anything for a moment and then just when Nathan had begun to hope that she was going to calm down she started talking again. When she did Nathan could hear a catch in her voice.

"And six months from now, if you remain on schedule, you'll finish the boat and take her to sea?"

"That's the plan."

"For how long?"

Nathan shrugged. "I don't know, a year tour... and I wouldn't want to commit just how often we'll get into port."

"So six months from now you head out and play with your boat 24 hours a day and I sit here and wait."

'Okay, that's the problem,' Nathan thought. "I'm in the Navy, Kris... I'm supposed to go to sea."

Nathan could see Kristin blinking a couple of times and saw the sheen of tears that was forming in her eyes despite her attempts to stem them. She sniffled a little before talking again. "Do you remember the conversation we had shortly after you crashed your car?"

"Which conversation?" Nathan asked cautiously.

"The one where we talked about your priorities and how you wanted to correct the mistakes you'd made before."

"Kris," Nathan started to interrupt but she continued.

"The one where you told me about all the mistakes you thought you made the first time. Putting your job ahead of your family and your health. Getting so focused on your job that it overwhelmed all the other parts of your life." Her voice was becoming more strident and Nathan could see that she was crying now. "Do you remember that conversation?"

"Yes," Nathan nodded.

"You're doing it again, Nathan." She stopped while she sniffled a little and wiped the tears from her cheeks. "And I don't know about Lucas but I don't think I'm willing to play second fiddle to that damned boat of yours."

Bridger felt a cold hand grip his heart at the sincerity in her voice and he couldn't answer for a moment. "Kris, what do you want me to do?" he asked in a frustrated voice. "Just dump the job and leave the boat half way done?" He leaned forward towards her and his voice was more forceful. "I can't do that, Kris. My duty is to finish that boat and get her into the water. After that I can't say what'll happen but right now I'm responsible for the construction and launching and I *will* complete this project."

Kristin stood abruptly still staring at him with tears coursing down her cheeks and her voice was considerably louder. "What about your responsibility and your duty to us. We need you too! Don't we matter at all??!!" She turned and ran into the house with Bridger close behind her. She ran into the bedroom and slammed the door, once again, in his face.

Nathan pounded his fist on the door. "Kris!" he yelled and then consciously tried to calm down some. "Kris," he said in a more temperate voice but she didn't answer. Finally he tried just to talk to her. "Sweetheart, I'll be there. I'll just be a couple days late but I'll be there. I promise."

"Oh and I know just how good your promises are," he heard Kristin shout from the other side of the door.

"I'll be there," he assured her. "How are you getting to the airport?"

"Not with you," she shouted.

Nathan leaned against the door and sighed while shaking his head. "Alright." He gave up. "Goodnight," he said as he headed back out to the living room.

Thank God the couch made a comfortable bed. He was getting a lot of use out of it these days.

Nathan was standing in the kitchen the next morning after showering and dressing trying to get rid of the headache that he had woken up with when the vid-screen sounded. He reached over and pressed the connection button quickly trying to keep from waking Kris up. Lucas' smiling face formed on the screen.

"Made it okay, huh?" Nathan asked.

"Yeah, it was a pretty good flight. The guy next to me wasn't hungry so I got to eat his meal too."

Nathan smiled back at him. "How's your Dad?"

"He's doing great." Lucas grinned even wider. "I know you're not going to believe this but he's even going to take a couple of days off and we're going to dive on the Great Barrier Reef."

"Really?" Nathan asked, impressed. "That's a great place to dive. You'll like it."

"Yeah, I think so." Lucas' face grew more serious. "So did the fight happen like you expected?"

"Oh, yeah," Nathan sighed. "She's not talking to me but I expected that."

"So what are you going to do?"

"I'm gonna finish up here and then I'll follow her to the Lake District."

"Even if she says she doesn't want you there?"

"Yeah, I've got nothing to lose," Bridger shrugged. "Worst she can do is kick me out."

"You think she will?"

Bridger sighed at the concern evident in Lucas' voice and face. "I hope not, Lucas, but I can't change what I'm doing now."

Lucas nodded slowly. "With any luck she'll change her mind... she's really good at that," he said and smiled at the slight grin that Bridger answered with. "Look, if she ever talks to you again, tell her I said 'Merry Christmas'."

"I will," Nathan nodded.

"And Merry Christmas to you too, sir. Have a nice flight."

"Thanks, Lucas. Have a nice Christmas and enjoy your diving," he reached over cutting the connection and Lucas' face faded from the screen.

Nathan went back to the bathroom to find a couple of aspirin and as he passed the door he could hear Kristin moving around in the bedroom. After downing the medicine he came out and leaned against the door once again. This time he knocked softly.

"Kris?"

No answer.

He tried again. "Kris," he said a little louder. Again no answer. "I know you're awake, I heard you moving." Still no response. Nathan sighed once again and leaned his head back against the door. "Lucas said to tell you Merry Christmas and he's going diving on the Great Barrier Reef with his Dad." He had hoped that might foster a response but no such luck. Again he gave up. "Alright, I'm going to work. Have a nice flight and I'll see you in a couple of days."

"Don't bother," was the only response he heard from behind the door.

Nathan only nodded. "Merry Christmas, sweetheart. I love you," he said before moving away from the door and heading out of the house.

Looking out the bedroom window Kristin saw him open his car door and then stop for a moment while he stared out into nowhere. With a tired look on his face he shook his head slightly and got into the car, starting up the engine and pulling away. Kristin watched him pull out of the drive and then travel up the street until she lost sight of the car. Only then did she return to the bed and clutch her pillow close as she sobbed into it.

Nathan Bridger sat at his desk the next day rubbing his eyes. He leaned back and took another sip from his coffee cup and checked his watch. Frowning as he did some calculations he decided that it would be 9 a.m. in England and Kris should have arrived at Penrith. He leaned forward and dialed a number on the vid-phone. A very proper-looking man answered the phone rather quickly. "Wilhaven Manor, may I help you?"

"Good morning, Bradley."

"Good morning, Captain," the man smiled at him and then frowned. "If I may say, sir, you look as if you could use a bit of sleep." He glanced at his watch. "Good heavens, sir, it's only 4 in the morning in Cape Quest."

"Trust me, Bradley, I know. Did she get in alright?"

"Yes, sir. Her ladyship arrived about one hour ago. Tired but in good health and spirits."

"Great, then her mood has improved since I talked to her. Thanks," Nathan nodded. "How's the weather behaving? It sounded like it was getting pretty nasty."

"Well, sir, the storm fortunately lifted for just a while which gave her ladyship's plane a good landing at Heathrow but since then it's started to snow again, both here and in London." Bradley looked concerned. "I'm afraid that they're talking about a rather serious accumulation throughout the Lake District."

Nathan nodded at the man. "Alright, I'm just going to have to take my chances. I'll see you tomorrow hopefully."

"Very good, Captain," Bradley frowned a little. "Please be careful."

"I will," Nathan smiled back at the man. "Thanks."

By 11 that morning Nathan had switched into civilian clothes and was tying up the loose ends before heading to the airport. Jonathan Ford leaned patiently against the door jamb to his office while Bridger finished one more phone call. As he pressed the button to disconnect the call Ford tapped his watch.

"Your flight leaves in less than an hour, sir. We really should be going."

Bridger nodded impatiently. "I know." He looked over his desk and shook his head. "I know I've forgotten something."

"Don't worry about it, sir. We'll handle it."

Nathan nodded and came around the desk grabbing his carry-on bag on the way. He looked around the office quickly. "Where's my duffle bag?"

"It's already in the car... and that's where we should be," Ford insisted.

"Alright, Jonathan," Nathan smiled and followed the younger man out the door.

Some creative driving by Ford and a full-fledged run across the terminal put Bridger at the gate just as they were announcing the last boarding of his flight. The flight to Atlanta was a smooth one and by the time he'd gotten through customs and got to the check-in for his flight to England he was beginning to hope that something was going right for a change. His hopes were quickly dashed.

"I'm sorry Mr. Bridger but they've just announced that your flight will be delayed at least one hour," said the efficient looking woman at the desk.

"Delayed because the plane can't get in or delayed because of the weather on the other side?"

"I believe it's the weather, sir, but I'm not sure."

"Alright," Nathan nodded. "Whenever you manage to get the plane off the ground I'll be here."

"Then your best plan would be to remain in the gate area."

"I'll be there," Nathan said resigned.

An hour later it was announced that the plane would be delayed another hour. And then again an hour later. Nathan sat in the gate waiting area with his head leaning against the back of a chair staring at the ceiling when the overhead speaker once again came on. "Ladies and Gentlemen, Allworld Airlines regrets to announce the cancellation of flight 1785 to London's Heathrow Airport. Unfortunately inclement weather conditions in the London area show no sign of abating and as a result we will be unable to complete the flight."

She continued with the announcement but Nathan had already gotten up and stood at the counter at her first words. The gate attendant smiled up at him. Nathan imagined that she was going to have a very long half hour or so.

"Any chance if I stay here that I can get on another flight?" Nathan asked.

"Mr. Bridger, to be honest we have no idea when the flights will be able to start up again. You might be here a very long time."

"Then I'll be here a very long time. I'm staying until I manage to get a flight to London."

"Alright, sir. I'll try," she said with a sigh, typing at her keyboard. "Did you still want first class?"

"I'll take cargo space if you've got it," Nathan quipped.

The woman smiled back at him. "I've got you a seat on the next scheduled flight. That would be at 10:30 this evening."

"Which gate?"

"This one, sir."

Nathan pointed over to a chair near the windows. "I'll be the guy sitting over there."

Watching the international weather wasn't making Nathan feel any more confident about the situation and sure enough the flight at 10:30 was also cancelled. After ensuring that the airlines understood that he wasn't leaving and securing another seat on the flight scheduled to leave at 7:30 the next morning, Nathan stretched out on a couple of chairs at the gate and tried to catch some sleep.

It was amazing how some of these airports almost shut down at night. After finding that he couldn't sleep Bridger had wandered almost every end of the facility and discovered that even the coffee shops closed after midnight so he was delighted to see a couple of them showing signs of opening about 5:30.

After procuring a couple of donuts and a cup of coffee, he supplemented them with a couple of aspirin and settled down at the gate once again. About 6:30 the same gate attendant from yesterday afternoon came over to the gate and started opening the desk.

She smiled over at Bridger, "Still here, Mister Bridger?"

"Yup," Nathan smiled back at her. "Please tell me that you're going to be good luck."

She motioned him over to her and he went to the desk. "It honestly doesn't look good for the 7:30 flight but I was talking to some of the pilots and the weather guys upstairs and they said that there's a distinct possibility that the noon flight will be able to take off."

"Anyway we can set me up for a ticket on that flight too?"

"I'm way ahead of you. Actually I set you up for one last night."

Nathan smiled broadly at the woman. "I don't know what to say, thank you very much."

"Well, you've been so intent on getting to London... there must be someone very important on the other side of the Atlantic."

Nathan nodded. "Yeah, she's very important... and I've broken way too many promises to her lately. I really have to get there."

"Well, if it ends up being the noon flight you won't get there until Christmas Day."

"That would work... as long as I get there." Nathan went back and sat in the chair he'd occupied for most of the last 18 hours and as expected shortly afterwards the cancellation of the 7:30 flight was announced.

Later in the morning Bridger found a vid-phone and made two calls. Jonathan Ford shook his head as he listened to the Captain's adventures. "So it looks like you might get out on the noon flight?"

"Yeah, hopefully," Bridger sighed. "It's flight 1755 if you need that. We should get to Heathrow about 1 in the morning their time."

"And then you still need to make it up to Cumbria."

"Yup, fortunately, it seems the trains are running pretty well and I should be able to get one a couple of hours after I land." Nathan glanced over Ford's shoulder as he saw a woman come out of Ford's kitchen wiping her hands on a towel. "Katie, I didn't know that you were in town."

"Hello, Nathan. For a change the company decided to let us be in our home port for Christmas. I can tell you that I've got a much happier crew than I had last year."

"I can imagine. Look, I've got to make another call so I'll let you two go. Have a nice Christmas."

"You too, sir," Jonathan answered. "Merry Christmas."

"Merry Christmas, Nathan, and give Kristin a kiss for us," Katie said.

Nathan smiled tiredly. "I promise when I see her, one of the kisses will be for you guys." He broke the connection and then placed another call.

"Wilhaven Manor, may I help you."

"Hello Bradley."

"Good evening, Captain," Bradley frowned as he took in the airport behind Bridger. "You aren't still in Atlanta, are you, sir?"

"I'm afraid so, Bradley. I'm getting to know this airport a lot better than I ever wanted to but it looks like I might get out on a flight at noon."

"That would be wonderful, sir. Did you want me to have someone meet you at the train station?"

"No, my flight isn't scheduled to land until 1 in the morning and I'm not quite sure which train I'll be able to catch so I'll either see if I can get a ride from the station or give you a call when I get there. Oh, the flight number is 1755."

"Very well, Captain. We'll be awaiting your arrival."

"I hate to ask this but how's the weather?"

Bradley grimaced. "The weather is snowy. I fear that there is considerable accumulation already and more snow is forecasted."

Bridger frowned. "I thought the snow was supposed to be ending."

"In the south, yes, sir, but I'm afraid that in Cumbria the weather is expected to remain rather inclement."

"Well," Nathan said with a firm look, "I'm gonna get there one way or another. I'll see you tomorrow, Bradley."

"I'll be looking forward to finally meeting you in person, Captain. Have a good flight."

"Any flight that gets me to London is a good flight, Bradley. Thanks," Nathan said as he cut the connection. He wandered back to the gate, once again taking the seat that he'd held for the better part of a day and leaned his head back to try to rest.

Shortly after 11 Nathan looked over as Sue, the woman who had been manning the gate returned again to the desk. She looked over at Nathan, smiled and then nodded.

Nathan walked up to the desk again. "Really?" he asked.

"It looks like a definite possibility. We're keeping our fingers crossed."

Bridger chuckled and smiled a little. "That would be good, very good." He returned to his seat and patiently waited until Sue finally looked over at him again and began to announce boarding for flight 1755 to London. Before Nathan headed for the door he stopped to see Sue. "Thank you... and Merry Christmas."

"Merry Christmas to you, Mister Bridger. Have a nice flight."

Bridger smiled at her and boarded the flight. He had to stand to assist his seat-mate to put his luggage in the overhead compartment when it turned out to be too heavy for the man and then he settled into his seat and waited for takeoff. The plane left the ground and reached cruising altitude. The seat-belt sign had barely been turned off before Nathan reclined his seat and quickly fell sound asleep. A flight attendant walking by smiled at him, the ground crew had told her about this patiently insistent man who had waited almost 24 hours for a flight without complaint. She took a blanket out of the overhead and gently laid it over his sleeping form.

Nathan slept for almost the entire flight, only waking up when the meal was served but he fell asleep again almost immediately after finishing it. Shortly before the plane set up for landing a flight attendant came by and shook Nathan gently on the shoulder.

"We'll be landing shortly, Mister Bridger. Could you bring your seat back up to the upright position?"

Nathan blinked a couple of times. "Sure," he said raising his seat back up and then letting the attendant take the blanket that she had covered him with. He looked across his seat-mate out the window but could only see blackness and the glow of the landing lights reflecting back from the clouds they were passing through. The pilot went through his normal information prior to landing including advising them that there was a light snow falling on London with the current temperature being û4 degrees Celsius.

Yawning and leaning his head back against the seat, Nathan let out a sigh with the assurance that he was almost there. Now all he had to do was to get to Euston Station and catch the train up to Penrith. If he had that figured right it should be about a 4 hour train ride before he got to the Lake District and then he'd see about getting to Wilhaven Manor and Kris. He'd talked to Bradley but had figured that it would be best not to let Kristin know about his plans... just in case they fell through.

The plane descended slowly and Nathan could see through the window that the clouds had thickened. A little turbulence shook them around as they passed through the heaviest of the clouds and then they were through them. All Nathan could see through the window was the black night and the dotting of lights on the ground. The lights came closer and closer until he felt the rear wheels touch the ground and then felt the nose wheel settle down.

Almost immediately the plane seemed to twist a little to the right and then for a moment it corrected itself before twisting to the left, a little more this time. Nathan could hear the engines being backed as hard as they could but the plane didn't seem to slow much. The plane twisted a little to the left again and then as they slid off the end of the runway the plane whipped around to the right and ground to a stop with a rending crash coming from the rear of the plane.

The snow fell even more heavily in Cumbria than it did in London. While London was dusted with a steady light snowfall, Cumbria was first blanketed with a heavy covering of snow that was then picked up by increasing winds creating dangerous drifts and blocking passes and roadways. Just outside Penrith a satellite communications dish groaned with the weight of the heavy snow that covered it. The wind whipping against the dish added to the forces compromising the integrity of the dish and its tower. A small crack had developed over the summer but in summer the crack didn't matter. In winter the winds picked up and the freeze of the water on the tower caused the crack to widen. Widen enough that it allowed the tower to take up a gentle rocking motion that lengthened the crack even more until finally with a loud snapping sound the tower and the dish attached came crashing down into the blanket of snow below. And with it went all communications to the central region of the Lake District.

At the first twist Nathan had dropped his head down into his lap in a crash position and when the plane took its final sickening spin around to the right the doors of some of the overhead compartments flew open, including the one above Nathan, and the contents fell out crashing down onto the passengers below. Nathan felt the heavy bag that his seat-mate had brought aboard come smashing into his back and head stunning him for a moment and knocking the breath from his body. The screams of the passengers filled the air as the lights in the plane failed and the emergency lights snapped on. Flight attendants were already at the emergency exits preparing to deploy the escape slides and Nathan could hear their insistent, loud voices over the screams instructing the passengers on how to exit.

Nathan followed the people ahead of him down the aisle, only stopping a moment to regain his balance when a wave of dizziness struck him as he stood up. He smelled the acrid odor of something burning moving forward through the cabin and a quick glance to the back of the plane showed the red glow of fire.

Standing at the top of the yellow inflated slide he then crossed his arms as he jumped on it to slide down. Reaching the ground he rolled off the slide. Emergency vehicles flew past him. Snow floated down and stuck on his shirt as he followed the rest of the passengers off to the side so that the fire truck and ambulances could work on the crash site.

A couple of buses appeared at the end of the runway and the passengers were herded into them. Nathan held back to help a few of the lightly injured people up the stairs before climbing on the bus himself. A short drive brought them to an entrance to the main terminal and they were led into a large room where the airline tried to sort out which passengers were there and which were missing.

Around him other passengers clung to one another, still crying or stared out into nowhere with a shocked look on their face. Here and there a clergyman moved to talk to a person and airline personnel moved around trying to identify the people present. A young man squatted down in front of the seat where Nathan sat and touched him on the knee. Bridger turned his attention to him.

"Could I ask your name, sir?" he asked gently.

Nathan nodded. "Bridger... Nathan Bridger."

The young man checked a clipboard in his hand and nodded. "Seat 3B, I've got you." Then he looked up at Nathan in concern. "Do you know that you've cut your head, Mister Bridger?"

Nathan blinked a couple of times before bringing his right hand up to touch the left side of his head where he felt a little stinging. His hand came away covered in blood. "Yeah, I did, didn't I?"

"You should go to hospital, sir."

He fixed the young man with a firm look. "I'm not going anywhere unless it's Euston Station."

"But you're hurt," the man responded reasonably.

"I'm not hurt that bad," Nathan countered. "Any idea when we might get our hands on our luggage?"

The young man sighed. "They're bringing in the carry-on luggage now but it'll probably be quite a while until they can access the luggage that was in the cargo compartment," he sighed again. "And I'm afraid quite a bit of that was damaged by the fire. I'll need to get an address and phone number where you can be reached so we can get your luggage to you or let you know about its condition."

"Okay," said Nathan supplying him with the Wilhaven Manor address and phone. "And is there anywhere we can make a phone call?"

"They're just setting up a phone bank over there," the young man pointed to one side of the room.

"Thanks," Nathan said as the young man moved on and he moved over to the phones. When he reached his turn for the phones, Nathan dialed the number of Wilhaven Manor but couldn't get a connection. He frowned and dialed the number again with the same results. One of the installation people came behind him to check to see if the vid-phone was working.

"Where are you trying to call, sir?"

"Penrith, Cumbria but I'm not having much luck."

"I'm afraid that you won't, sir. I heard just before I came down here that there's a major communications failure in the Lake District and a good portion of the area is without phones right now."

Nathan sighed and looked over at the man with a grimace. "It's been that kind of night, you know?"

The trucks with the carry-on baggage arrived and Nathan was reunited with his knapsack and his jacket. He had an opportunity to talk to the man who'd sat next to him as that man picked up the bag that he'd put in the overhead.

"You know," Nathan said pleasantly to the man, "That bag's just a little heavy for the overhead compartment."

"It is not," the man answered in an offended tone.

Nathan leaned towards him with a firm look on his face. "It didn't fall on top of you," he emphasized. "The damned thing is too heavy." Nathan turned away only to find the young man who had taken his name standing in front of him.

"Mister Bridger, I thought you might be able to use this," he said as he handed Nathan a towel for the cut on his head.

"Thanks. Do you know how I'd get to Euston Station from here?"

"Well, you could take the underground, it's running now, or you could take a cab."

Nathan chuckled a little. "With my luck the underground would get stuck. I'd better take a cab."

The young man smiled at him. "Come with me, Mister Bridger and I'll find a cab for you."

The cab dropped Nathan in front of the train station and he barely made it aboard the first train of the morning before it pulled out of the station. The four hour train ride was spent sorting out what he had left of his possessions and cleaning up the cut on his head. From the way his back and shoulder felt he didn't even want to have a look at them.

Bradley awoke early Christmas morning to insure that the house was all set up for the day's activities. Besides Lady Kristin and the Duke, many of the Duke's siblings, their children and even their children were staying at the Manor for the holidays. It wasn't normal for there to be such a bustle around the place but Bradley rather enjoyed it. It certainly kept him and the rest of the staff rather busy but that was the way it should be in a happy house. He stood in the doorway of the Grand Hall where the family's large Christmas tree stood and surveyed the myriad of presents that had been placed under the tree after the children had gone to bed. The gold and silver decorations shone even in the dreary morning light and the colorful wrappings brought a smile to his face as he thought about the joy that the children especially would have while opening the presents.

Turning from the Grand Hall Bradley moved into the study expecting to see a message indicator on the vid-screen indicating that Captain Bridger had called during the night but nothing was lit. Bradley frowned as he realized that nothing at all was lit and pressed the button to get an outside line. He sighed in irritation as he realized that the vid-phones were out again. That was the second time this year that the communications had been interrupted and this was certainly inappropriate timing.

He straightened up some items on a hall table as he made his way to the kitchen where he could hear Mrs. Kenwalk already moving around. The fragrant smell of fresh pastries met him as he entered the kitchen and he saw that Mrs. Kenwalk had also made sure that her helper, Nancy Donn was awake at this early hour.

"Good morning to you, Mister Bradley, and a Merry Christmas," Mrs. Kenwalk exclaimed when she saw him.

"Good morning, Mrs. Kenwalk, and you too, Miss Donn, and a Merry Christmas to both of you."

"Oh, Mister Bradley, have you seen how much snow there is outside?" Nancy said excitedly. "I don't ever think I've seen so much snow in my life."

"Yes, I've seen it, Miss Donn." He turned towards Mrs. Kenwalk. "It would appear that the storm has disrupted the communications as well. The phones are out."

Nancy started talking excitedly again. "And we were trying to watch the news but the signal is ever so bad but did you hear, Mister Bradley, that there was a plane that crashed at Heathrow Airport last night?"

Bradley stopped in his examination of the muffins that Mrs. Kenwalk had just taken out of the oven and looked over at the girl. "Which plane?" he asked sharply.

"I don't know," she answered surprised.

"Did they give a flight number?" Bradley asked Mrs. Kenwalk.

"Well, I'm sure that they must have but I'm afraid I wasn't paying attention to that." Mrs. Kenwalk looked at him curiously. "Why?"

"Never you mind," Bradley said staring out the window. Then he brought his attention back into the room. "But if you do hear the story again, would you please let me know what the flight number was?"

"Of course, Mister Bradley," Mrs. Kenwalk responded and then watched him curiously as he left the kitchen.

For once, something went right and the train to Penrith pulled into the station shortly after 7 in the morning. Nathan stretched gingerly as he got off the train trying not to move his left arm and shoulder too much but also trying to get out some of the kinks associated with over 12 hours sitting. As they had traveled further north the amount of snow covering the ground had increased and by the time the sun rose Nathan was surprised with the depth of the fluffy white blanket. He became a bit concerned as they neared Penrith when he noticed that several roads appeared to be blocked by the snow which was still falling.

The station at Penrith was almost deserted when he walked in and Nathan suddenly realized that it was Christmas morning. The only other people in the station were the ticket master and one older man who was talking to him.

Nathan walked over and they smiled at him although he imagined that he looked pretty beat up after the last day's adventures.

"Do you know if there are any cabs running?" he asked the ticket master.

"Ah," the man said in a sad voice, "It being Christmas morning I'm afraid you're going to be hard pressed to find one."

"That and the fact that they can't get much of anywhere," said the second man.

Nathan looked questioningly at him. "The roads being blocked by the snow and all."

"Yes, I suppose so. I guess I've got a long walk ahead of me."

The family awoke first slowly and then with increasing speed as the children rushed to wake their parents and the other adults. Kristin was greeted by a small hand that reached up to touch the side of her face. She opened one eye and saw the serious face of Deena Westphalen, one of the youngest members of the family.

"Auntie Kristin?" she said in an awed voice. "It's Christmas day."

Kristin smiled and leaned out of the bed to place a quick kiss on the top of her head. "Yes, it is, darling. Merry Christmas."

The child beamed back at her. "Merry Christmas, Auntie Kristin," and then her face turned solemn. "Aren't you going to get out of bed so that we can open our presents?"

Kristin pushed her covers off, slipped out of bed and reached for her robe. After putting it on she took the young child's hand and they walked downstairs to the Grand Hall. On the way they met her father who was also being led by one of the smaller children. He pulled Kristin close and kissed her on the cheek.

"Merry Christmas, my dear."

"Merry Christmas, Father," she said returning the kiss.

"We're going to go open our presents, Auntie Kristin," young David seriously advised her while holding onto his Great Uncle's hand for all it was worth.

"Do you think there will be a lot of presents, David?" Kristin asked.

"Oh, yes, Auntie Kristin," the boy responded sincerely. "Because I've been a very good boy."

They came into the Grand Hall to find many members of the family already gathered around staring at the present adorned tree and Bradley patiently supplying coffee or tea to the adults. The Duke took up his normal spot in the large chair next to the roaring fire and Kristin sat in a tall-backed upholstered chair that sat with its back to the door. Bradley moved over to the Duke and leaned down to talk to him.

"Your Grace, I regret to inform you that the night's storm has apparently disrupted the phone communications."

"Not working?" the older man asked.

"No, Your Grace, not at all."

Mrs. Kenwalk had come up behind Bradley with a plate of muffins. "And our news was ever so hard to hear this morning, Your Grace. But we did hear that there was a plane which crashed at Heathrow last night."

"Good heavens, how awful," the Duke exclaimed.

"Oh, and Mister Bradley, we finally did get the flight number," Mrs. Kenwalk said as she left the room. "It was flight 1755." Only Kristin and the Duke noticed the shocked look that covered Bradley's face before he also left the room.

"And where would you be heading?" the second man asked.

"Wilhaven Manor."

The man pushed himself off the counter he was leaning on and fixed Nathan with a hard look. "That would be almost 10 K, a bit far to walk in the snow."

"Maybe," Nathan said, "but I need to get there one way or another."

"And who would you be seeing there?" the older man asked him with a definite twinkle in his eye.

"I'm going to see Kristin Westphalen," Nathan answered although he really didn't know why he was telling this man.

"Ah, and you wouldn't happen to be that Navy Captain that Lady Kristin is living with, would you?"

The twinkle was still there and the question seemed good natured so Nathan answered that one too. He nodded gingerly, "Yeah, that would be me."

The older man smiled and extended his hand. "John Levering, late Sergeant Major, Royal Fusiliers, at your service, sir."

Nathan shook the offered hand. "Sergeant Major, it's my honor."

The big man released his hand and crooked a thumb towards the door. "Well, come on, Captain, we'll see how close I can get you to Wilhaven." He looked back at the ticket master as they left. "And a Merry Christmas to you, Danny."

"Merry Christmas, John. Drive carefully."

Nathan sat in the passenger seat of the sturdy utility vehicle the Sergeant Major directed him to. "I can't tell you how much I appreciate this, Sergeant Major."

"Well, I don't know how close I can get you, Captain," the big man said putting the vehicle into gear and pulling out onto the snow covered road, "but I'll do my best." He shook his head, "You picked a hell of a time to come here."

"Does it always snow like this in Cumbria?" Nathan asked squinting through the windscreen at the big flakes falling on the truck.

"No, this year we got a special treat, I'm afraid."

Nathan smiled. "Are you being sarcastic, Sergeant Major?"

"Most definitely. Bad enough that it's mucked up all the roadways, our communications around here aren't the best to begin with and it's knocked out most of our phones and a good bit of our telemetry."

Nathan looked around at the rolling hills around him. "And with these hills I don't imagine that leaves you with much in the way of communications when those go down."

"Not much at all, Captain," he said and then pulled the steering wheel to one side as his wheels threatened to slide away from him. Levering regained control of his truck and the next few minutes were passed in silence as he concentrated on the road and plowed through the occasional snow drift blocking it. "I'm afraid that you're having a bit of an exciting ride getting there, Captain."

Nathan chuckled. "Sergeant Major, you don't know the half of it. First I spent almost 24 hours in an airport trying to get a flight to England and then when I do get on one the damned thing crashes at the airport on landing."

Levering looked over at him sharply before returning his concentration to the road. "You weren't in that plane that crashed at Heathrow this morning, were you?"

"As a matter of fact I was," he winced as Levering barely managed to keep the truck on the roadway around a curve. "Not something I'd like to repeat, I'm afraid."

"I should imagine not," the Sergeant Major responded stoically. They drove a bit more in silence until they came to a snow bank about 4 feet tall that blocked the roadway in front of them. Levering brought the truck to an easy halt and sat staring at the blockage shaking his head. He looked over at Nathan. "I'm afraid we're not getting through that one."

Nathan also looked over the bank. "Is this the only way to get there?"

"Other than trying to go around and come in from the north but I've heard there are even bigger snow drifts from that direction."

"How far to Wilhaven from here?"

"About three kilometers."

Nathan nodded and then pulled his knapsack up into his lap. "Then I thank you for the lift, Sergeant Major. I guess I'm walking the rest of the way."

"It's damned cold out there you know, Captain."

"I know."

"And the snow is very deep."

"Yeah, I know that too."

"I'd hate for someone to find you frozen to death in a snow bank, Captain."

Nathan smiled again and looked over at the older man. "I haven't come this far to die in a snow bank, Sergeant Major. Besides, I don't think Kristin would allow that."

Levering smiled back at him. "No, she probably wouldn't." He held out his hand again. "You will take care, Captain?"

"I will, Sergeant Major. Thanks again for the lift and Merry Christmas," he said as he shook the big man's hand.

"Merry Christmas, Captain," Levering called as Nathan got out of the car, stopped for a moment to pull on his gloves and pull up the hood of his coat and then shouldered his knapsack on his right shoulder before carefully stepping out around the snow bank.

The Duke and Kristin watched as the children waited, usually patiently, until their turn came to open presents before they excitedly ripped the colorful wrapping and revealed their new treasures. Several times Cynthia looked over at her Mother in concern noting that she seemed only to be tolerating the spectacle. Ever since she'd arrived Cynthia had recognized that her Mother was preoccupied and seemed upset.

The Duke, for his part, was watching Bradley. Finally when the attention of everyone else was riveted on a present opener at the other end of the room he motioned Bradley closer to him.

"Why did you need to know what flight number it was?" the Duke asked in a voice so low that only Bradley and Kristin heard.

Bradley's face took on a shocked expression. "Your Grace?"

"You heard me, Bradley," the Duke said still low but more firm.

Bradley glanced quickly at the Duke before looking over at Kristin. He took in and released a deep breath before answering. When he did, he looked at Kristin. "My lady, Captain Bridger was on flight 1755," he answered quietly, "and the phones are out and we can't call to see if he's alright."

"What did the news reports say?" the Duke asked noting that Kristin had gone pale.

"There were twenty people injured seriously and sixty-two with lesser injuries," he paused a moment, "and two deaths, but no listing as to the victims, Your Grace."

"Thank you, Bradley, keep us advised," the Duke said as Bradley stood and returned to his duties. The Duke looked over at Kristin with a frown, "Kristin?" he asked softly.

"I'm alright, Father," she nodded reassuringly.

"Like hell you are," he responded and she smiled weakly turning her attention back to the children.

Nathan swore once again as he slid off the edge of the road. Somehow he had thought that it might have been easier to follow the roads than this. But the snow evened out the land and he kept having to search for where the road went and where the edges of it were. When he didn't watch hard enough sometimes he ended up sliding down the embankment on the side of the road. That hadn't been too bad until he'd found the one with the water in it about one kilometer back. Now he wasn't only cold, he was also wet and he just hoped to God that he was following the right path to get to Wilhaven. Cynthia had given him very detailed directions about how to get there but, of course, she'd never considered that the snow might obliterate some of the more common landmarks.

Or for that matter neither he nor she had considered the possibility that he'd be walking the last three kilometers to get to the house... through a snow storm and through snow that was up to his knees... higher at points. Gingerly, Nathan flexed his fingers trying to keep the circulation going. A childhood in Massachusetts had taught him the signs of frostbite and he knew that his fingers and toes were beginning to freeze.

Despite the snow and its complications, Nathan thought that he'd followed the directions alright. At least he'd thought so at first, now he was beginning to doubt himself. It seemed like it was taking a lot longer than it should to walk three kilometers... a whole lot longer and he wondered if he'd missed a turn, or perhaps taken a turn in the snow that he shouldn't have. Nathan trudged up the road as best as he could, carefully staying on the road and looking for any house. Anywhere that he might ask if he was on the right path.

The walking wasn't made any easier by the hilly nature of the countryside. He wasn't quite sure but it sure felt like there were a lot more uphill sections than there were downhill sections and that didn't make any sense. He climbed up yet another hill, his muscles burning from the effort of walking through the snow and as he came over the rise of the hill he stopped for a moment to take in the beauty of the scene below him. The white blanket of snow that softly caressed the landscape and decorated the trees, the dark line of the swiftly running stream that broke up the smooth blanket, and there, nestled at the valley between this hill and the next, Wilhaven Manor.

Bradley filled up Miss Cynthia's coffee cup and left the hall to refill the carafe. He softly swore to himself as he entered the hallway. Since his announcement about the plane accident Lady Kristin had become even more quiet than she'd been before. From the very beginning of her visit Bradley had noticed that she was more subdued than normal, that there was something of a spark missing from the way she acted. He hoped that the arrival of Captain Bridger would have brought back the Lady Kristin that he was used to but now who knew what would happen. They didn't know if Captain Bridger was alive or injured or what and without any communications there was no way to find out.

He came out of the kitchen with the filled carafe and frowned as he heard a knock at the front door. Putting the carafe down on a table in the hallway he went to open the door and started at the snow-covered visage that stood leaning against the side of the doorway. Frost coated the edge of the hood over the person's face and the man on the steps shook his head a little as he raised his right arm to push the hood back.

"Hello, Bradley."

"Captain Bridger," the man beamed back.

The last of the presents had been opened and Cynthia glanced over at her Mother in concern. She'd barely acknowledged the gifts she received or commented on the gifts that the others had opened. That wasn't like her at all. For that matter, since they'd been opening presents it seemed to Cynthia that her Mother had withdrawn even more and several times she'd caught her Grandfather tossing her Mother concerned looks. She looked up as the door of the Great Hall opened and Bradley came through it with a broad smile on his face. Then she noticed the man standing behind Bradley.

"Mom," Cynthia said softly.

Kristin looked up from where she had been staring at a point on the floor. "Yes, dear?"

"You have one more present to open," Cynthia smiled.

"I don't have any more presents," Kristin answered confused.

"Yes, you do," Cynthia said indicating behind her Mother with a nod of her head.

Kristin frowned and looked around the side of her chair. A gasp of surprise crossed her lips as she rushed from the chair and threw herself into the waiting arms of the man in the doorway. "Nathan!" she cried as he pulled her close.

"Merry Christmas, darling," Nathan whispered into her ear ignoring the pain in his shoulder and back as she wrapped her arms around him. She pulled back to look at him and he noticed the tears in her eyes. He brought his hand up to wipe the tears from her cheeks. "Hey, you're not supposed to cry." She grinned at him as their lips met for a short but satisfying kiss then Kristin pulled back again and slid her left hand down until she held his right.

She smiled over at the Duke who had risen from his chair. "Father, this is Nathan."

Nathan let go of Kristin's hand and held his out to the older man. "A pleasure to meet you, Your Grace," he smiled.

"And to finally meet you, Nathan," the Duke said taking his hand in a surprisingly strong handshake. "We had feared that you'd been in that plane crash at Heathrow this morning."

Nathan nodded slightly. "I was, sir," he answered.

"Are you alright?" Kristin quickly asked.

"Well, most of me is."

"Nathan," Kristin admonished him but her father broke in.

"Besides the fact that you're obviously freezing and wet," he frowned over at Kristin. "We need to let Nathan change into some dry clothes, I think."

Nathan grimaced as the Duke finally dropped his hand. "Ah, well, unfortunately my clothes are among the missing right now. I managed to keep my coat and my carryon bag but last time I checked the airlines didn't know where the rest was."

One of the men in the room walked up to Nathan. "Nathan, I'm Josh." He shook hands with Nathan. "I think I'm also about your size. Why don't we go find you some dry clothes?"

Kristin frowned at Josh. "Josh, trust me, I know him too well and he didn't answer my question." Nathan grinned at her. "Are you hurt, Nathan?"

He shrugged a little, with his right shoulder only. "A little, the cut on my head stopped bleeding a couple of hours ago but my left shoulder is messed up."

"What did the hospital say," Kristin asked suspecting that she already knew the answer.

She did... he grinned that little boy smile. "I didn't go to the hospital."

Kristin sighed, "Why not, for heaven's sake?"

"Because I was coming here," Nathan answered reasonably.

Kristin shook her head at him. "Has anyone ever told you that you're stubborn?"

Nathan grinned broadly. "I've heard that one of us is."

Josh and the Duke exchanged glances. This was obviously an inside joke between them. The Duke looked over at Bradley who was still in the doorway. "Bradley, would you take Captain Bridger's bag up to Lady Kristin's room?"

There was just a momentary pause before Bradley responded. "Very good, Your Grace."

"You'd better go up with them and check his shoulder," the Duke said to Kristin and then turned his attention back to Nathan. "And when you get done we've got a rather opulent meal ready."

Kristin nodded and took Nathan's hand again as the three of them left the hall. As they were walking up the grand staircase Josh was just ahead of them. He glanced back at Kristin and cleared his throat. "That was a first."

"Yes," Kristin answered with a slightly embarrassed look. She saw the confusion on Nathan's face. "My father never allows unmarried couples to share a bedroom."

"He does know that we're living together, right?"

"Oh yes, he knows that," Kristin answered quickly. "But there was a room already set up for you across the hallway from mine," she paused a moment as they reached Josh's room. "I think you've impressed him."

"God, I hope so. He kind of scares me."

Josh grinned at him. "Family secret, Nathan, he kind of scares everyone."

After picking out some appropriate clothes for Nathan, he and Kristin went to her room so that he could change and she could check his injuries. A short time later Kristin and Nathan appeared in the dining room where the family had moved.

The Duke looked up at them as they entered. Nathan was now attired in comfortable brown corduroy slacks and a white long-sleeved shirt. "Alright?" the Duke asked his daughter.

Kristin sat in the chair to her father's left which Nathan had pulled out for her. "He's separated his left shoulder a little and he's got a rather interesting set of bruises on his back and shoulder but other than that, he'll live."

Nathan sat down in the open chair next to Kristin and gratefully accepted the cup of coffee that Bradley put in front of him. He noticed that the Duke was watching him. "You know that you're not going to get through this meal without recounting your adventures, don't you, Nathan?"

"I can handle that, sir," he looked over at Kristin. "Actually, I got out a day earlier than I expected."

"Then why weren't you here yesterday?" she asked.

"Because I spent 22 hours in the Atlanta airport trying to get a flight out."

"I've been to the Atlanta airport and it gets boring after about four hours. Twenty-two hours must have been torture," one of the men at the table said cheerfully.

"Oh, Nathan, I forgot to introduce you to everyone," Kristin said quickly. Introductions were provided around the table and then Nathan continued his narrative.

"So I finally got a plane out at noon yesterday and the flight was fine," he grinned over at Kristin. "For that matter, you'll be happy to know that I slept almost the entire flight."

"God knows you could use it," Kristin muttered.

Nathan grinned and continued. "The problems began when we landed. As soon as the wheels touched it seemed like we skidded to the right, the pilot corrected and then we skidded to the left but the brakes weren't working. I suppose due to ice on the runway. When we ran off the end of the runway the plane spun around to the right and the tail of the plane smashed into one of the runway light towers and sheared off. I understand that a couple of people were killed there."

"How awful," commented one of Kristin's cousins.

"When we spun around some of the overhead compartments flew open and luggage went flying through the air. That's where I got hurt. My idiot seat-mate had an 85 pound case that landed on top of me." Nathan paused a moment to take a bite of an incredibly delicious casserole that had been placed in front of him. "Then we did the escape slide routine and they took us off to the terminal to sort us out. I understand that the fire from the crash burned quite a bit of the cargo area and that most of the injuries were from the impact."

"Sounds very scary, Nathan," Josh said.

"Trust me, it was. It's been a long time since I've been in a plane crash and it's not something I care to do again."

"You've been in two plane crashes?" the Duke asked surprised.

Nathan looked a little embarrassed. "Actually, the last one was a helicopter."

"You lead a bit of an exciting life, don't you, Nathan?" the Duke asked.

"It's had its moments, sir," Nathan hedged. The Duke just nodded. "From there I got to Euston Station and caught the train to Penrith. Then through the kind graces of Sergeant Major Levering I was able to get at least close to Wilhaven."

David, one of Kristin's cousins, grinned. "So you got meet our gallant Sergeant Major."

"Yes, he gave me a lift as far as he could get me so I only had to walk the last three kilometers."

"Nathan, you've had a far more exciting Christmas than one person should have," the Duke smiled over at him.

"And the day's just begun, sir," Nathan grinned back surreptitiously rubbing Kristin's thigh beneath the table.

After their meal many of the family members returned to the Great Hall where the children busied themselves playing with their toys and the adults gathered at the fireplace side of the room to talk. Nathan, who was still cold, sat at the end of the hearth and Kristin pulled her chair close to him. During the discussion that followed the Duke looked over to see how Nathan was resting his right arm on Kristin's leg and how her arm was comfortably draped across his shoulders, sometimes with her fingers stroking his neck. He looked over at Cynthia and raised one eyebrow to which she responded with a smile and a wink.

An hour later the children had decided that they wanted to go out and play in the snow and they rushed over to try to convince the adults to join them in the fun.

Deena came up and leaned her head on Kristin's lap. "Auntie Kristin, you and Captain will come out and play with us, won't you?"

"Deena, the Captain has just thawed out," the Duke admonished her.

"And I don't think I have anything dry to wear, I'm afraid," Nathan said.

Bradley had been leaning over replenishing Bridger's coffee cup and whispered to him, "Actually, Captain, your jacket and gloves have been cleaned and dried but don't feel obliged to go out again."

"Thank you, Bradley," Nathan looked over at Kristin and shrugged. "I'm game if you are."

Kristin stood and pulled him up. "You're a sucker for playing with the children, aren't you?" Nathan grinned at her. "It's probably because you think on the same level, Bridger." She slipped her arm around his waist and allowed Deena to lead them to the door.

The Duke watched them leave and looked back at his granddaughter who was sitting on the other side of him. "Well?"

Cynthia leaned her head against her grandfather's arm. "He's the one, Grandfather." She looked up at the older man. "He's the one that Mom's waited all her life to meet. He doesn't mess around, he wouldn't dream of hitting her, he's a gentleman and he loves her. He's what she's always needed."

The Duke patted her on the arm. "As good as your father."

"Actually," Cynthia sighed, "probably better."

"Let's go watch those young children play," her grandfather said as he led her to the door.

There followed two hours of playing in the snow including a lesson for the children on making snow angels from Nathan and Kristin with Nathan creatively overcoming the fact that he could only make a one-winged snow angel by rolling over on his face and creating the left wing. The snow angel making led into a rousing snowball fight that even managed to get the Duke involved, although not necessarily as a willing participant and was only ended when Bradley arrived on the steps to announce that dinner would be served in a half of an hour.

Nathan and Kristin went to her room where Nathan was surprised to find another change of clothes set out for him. This one the more formal dress needed for dinner. Kristin quickly changed and help him put his shirt on and then helped knot his tie since although Nathan could move his lower arm, any movement of his shoulder was painful.

Nathan grimaced as Kristin helped him ease the jacket over his injured shoulder. "Damned good thing that your father let us share a room our you guys would be waiting until next week for me to manage to get dressed."

Kristin came around until she was standing in front of him and straightened his tie. Then she grinned up at him and placed a quick kiss on his lips. "Just remember that later I get to help you undress too," she said slipping her hand through his arm and leading him out to dinner.

Nathan was amazed at the ease in which he was assimilated into Kristin's family. Perhaps they were used to gaining new members as evidenced by several newlyweds among them but he was just accepted into the family without any questions asked. The dinner was very formal, even more formal than he remembered Sunday dinners at his parents house being and after dinner the adults retired back into the Great Hall for talk and drinks. Nathan decided early in the evening that considering how tired he was and the attention the Duke was paying to him that he'd pass on the alcohol for the evening. But it appeared that the Duke was watching him for another reason.

When he noticed, late in the evening, that Nathan was yawning and getting close to nodding off, the Duke decided to come to his rescue. "Kristin, my dear, perhaps you should put Nathan to bed before he falls asleep in his chair."

Nathan straightened up, embarrassed. "I'm sorry, sir. I didn't mean to fade out on you there."

"Entirely understandable, Nathan. By my figuring you've been up for about 19 hours now. I imagine that, especially considering the excitement of your day, you're rather exhausted. Good night."

Kristin stood with Nathan and said their goodnights to the room before heading up the stairs with their arms around each other. Kristin carefully locked the bedroom door after them and then turned to Nathan who was standing in the middle of the room loosening his tie after taking his jacket off and draping it over the back of a chair.

"I'm so glad that you came, Nathan," she said moving over to help him with the tie.

"I had to. I promised and I've broken too many promises to you lately," Nathan said softly.

"Do you know what I like the best about Christmas?" she asked as she placed a small kiss on his chin.

"What would that be," Nathan asked with a smile. He brought the hand of his good arm up to caress her back.

Kristin leaned up and her lips met his in a kiss that began as a gentle promise and quickly deepened into a statement of their love. They pulled apart both gasping for breath and Kristin leaned her head on his good shoulder as her fingers came up to unbutton the fastenings of his shirt.

"I like unwrapping my presents," she said huskily, slipping his shirt from his shoulders.