It was the last day of classes before the winter break, and Ben and Maggie Cole sat in Charlie Eppes' office at Cal Sci.

"So," Charlie said, turning from the board he was writing on, "are you guys going back home over break?"

"No," Maggie said with a sigh. "We're staying here."

"Why? Our break is three weeks long. That's more than enough time to go back east."

"I know," Ben said, glancing at his wife. "But Maggie's son is in Boston with his father, and my family is in England. So we thought we'd stay in Pasadena over break. That way we can see more of California. But Maggie misses the snow."

"That's not the whole problem, Ben," Maggie said, a hint of irritation creeping into her voice. "We don't know many people out here. The people at church are friendly enough, but they're all doing things with their families."

"And we'll be going to the Christmas Eve service at church, but it looks like we'll be spending Christmas day by ourselves."

Maggie took a deep breath and smiled. "So, Charlie, what plans do you have?"

"Well, being Jewish, we don't 'do' Christmas. But over the break, I'll work on my cognitive emergence theory, and I think I've actually talked Don into taking some vacation days. Hey," he said, "I have an idea. We've reserved a huge cabin at a ski resort. They have snow," he said with a wink at Maggie, "and it beats sitting home alone watching twenty four hours of 'The Christmas Story.'"

Maggie laughed. "Aw, that's one of my favorite movies. 'You'll put your eye out, kid!'"

"Yeah," Charlie said, "but can you really stand twenty four hours of it? Come to the ski resort with us!"

"I don't know," Ben said, "We don't ski."

"You don't have to. Larry doesn't ski, and he's coming. My dad and David probably won't be skiing this year. Don and Colby are ski fanatics, and Megan, Amita and I might join them occasionally, but I don't think we'll be on the slopes every minute they're open."

"But do you have the room for two more people?"

"I said the cabin was huge. It has six bedrooms, some with two beds, and some with a single king sized bed. Since we only planned on eight of us, two more will not be a problem. We're leaving at the crack of dawn on Saturday and coming back home on Tuesday afternoon. Since Christmas is on Monday this year, you'll be with friends for Christmas. You'd have to miss the Christmas Eve service..."

Ben reached over and took Maggie's hand. "What do you think? Could we skip Christmas Eve service?"

Maggie smiled and squeezed Ben's hand. "I think that would be a wonderful idea. Just this once."

"Great!" Charlie said, "This will really be fun. And maybe we'll even get you to try skiing."

Maggie's face fell suddenly, and she gasped. "Oh no. I just remembered something. We left all our winter clothes home. Who'd a thought we'd need them in southern California?"

"Looks like a shopping trip is in order," Ben said. "Say, Charlie, where would you suggest I take Maggie to buy her a new winter wardrobe?"

"Um... Maybe we should ask Amita." Charlie took out his phone and pressed a speed dial number. "Hey, Amita... Yeah, Ben and Maggie are in my office, and we have a question I thought maybe you could help with... Okay, see you in a few minutes." He closed the phone and said, "Amita will be here to save the day in a few minutes. But meanwhile, for you, Ben, I think Eastern Mountain Sports would do the trick."

"Even if I don't plan on skiing?"

"You're still going to need a winter coat," Charlie said, grinning. "It's ninteen degrees Fahrenheit on the mountain today."

Ben nodded. "All right, point taken, Professor Eppes. I will buy a winter jacket, and perhaps even some gloves and a hat."

"And if you do decide to ski, you can rent equipment at the resort," Charlie said. "Hey, there are bunny trails for beginners."

Ben shook his head, "I have enough trouble walking on snow and ice. I do not plan on strapping slabs of wood to my feet and sliding down a hill."

Charlie laughed. "Maggie, I was not aware that you had married a wuss."

"Sorry, Charlie," Maggie said, "I don't plan on skiing either. But I love the idea of sitting in a lodge, sipping hot cocoa and looking out the window at piles of snow shimmering in the moonlight."

"You two have no sense of adventure," Charlie said.

"No sense of adventure?" Amita asked from the doorway. "Charlie, what are you trying to talk them into now?"

"Skiing," Charlie said, standing and crossing the room to give Amita a hug. He slipped his arm around her waist as they walked back to sit on his desk. "Ben and Maggie are joining us at the resort. But they left all their winter clothes back home in Syracuse, and I figured you would know a good place for Maggie to find some nice ski clothes."

"Oh, I know the perfect place," Amita said, grinning at Maggie. "When do you want to go?"

"Whenever," Maggie said, shrugging. "When is good for you?"

"Are you doing anything now?"

"No," Maggie glanced at Ben. "Right?"

"Right. Go, have fun. Spend a lot of money and buy yourself some beautiful ski bunny clothes."

By Friday night, Maggie and Ben were all outfitted and ready to go. Saturday morning found the ten travelers gathered at the Eppes house and loading their belongings into three SUV's. Alan and David rode with Don. Larry and Megan rode with Colby, and Amita and Charlie rode with Ben and Maggie. As they got farther from LA, the terrain became more mountainous, and the temperature began to drop.

And as the temperature dropped, Maggie became more excited. She cheered out loud when she saw the first traces of snow. "Sorry," she said, blushing. "I guess you can take the girl out of the snow belt but you can't take the snow belt out of the girl."

"That's okay," Charlie said, chuckling. "I think you're really going to love the cabin we picked out. Last I heard, there's about ten inches of snow there, and more expected tonight."

"Wonderful," Ben muttered. "Let's hope we don't get snowed in."

Maggie laughed and leaned over to kiss Ben on the cheek. "Don't worry. Charlie and Alan packed enough to feed an army for a month. And we'll find some way to keep warm."

Ben stroked Maggie's cheek, keeping his eyes on the road. "I'm sure we will."

In the back seat, Charlie nuzzled Amita's cheek. She giggled and pulled away. "I hope you packed a razor, Charlie. You're a bit bristly."

"Don't worry. By tomorrow, the bristles will be soft and cuddly."

"They'd better be, or you're going to have to find another way to keep warm," Amita said as she ran her fingers up the side of Charlie's face.

By lunch time, the caravan of SUVs pulled up in front of the cabin Charlie had reserved.

Ben whistled as he turned off the ignition and removed his seatbelt. "This is not exactly what I pictured when you said, 'cabin,' Charlie. This is more like a ski lodge."

"Well, a cabin has to be rather large to accommodate ten of us," Charlie said, getting out of the car and holding Amita's hand as she climbed down. "The ski slopes are about a quarter of a mile that way. Do you like it?"

"It's beautiful, Charlie," Maggie said. "Thank you for inviting us along."

"Hey, I couldn't let you guys spend the weekend watching Ralphie, could I? Come on, let me show you around." Charlie waited as the rest of the group gathered near the door, and then unlocked the cabin. In the middle of the living room stood an eight foot tall Christmas tree, beautifully decorated and surrounded by gifts. He smiled at Maggie and said, "Not bad for a Jewish kid from Pasadena, is it?"

"Charlie," Maggie gave him a huge hug. "You're amazing!"

He patted Maggie's back and said, "I couldn't have done all this by myself. We all wanted to make this a great Christmas for our guests."

"Well, I must say you did an amazing job," Ben said, grinning.

"Let me check on lunch," Charlie said, heading for the kitchen.

"Lunch?" Don asked as he followed his brother.

"Yep," Charlie said. "I asked the owner to have his staff fix us a couple of crockpots full of stew." He lifted the lid of a six quart crockpot and the aroma of beef stew filled the kitchen. "Perfect." He lifted the towel that covered a basket on the counter. "And kaiser rolls, nice and warm."

"Well," Alan said, "let's get the cars unloaded so we can have lunch!" He headed toward the door and noticed nobody was following him. "Well?" he said in his best no-nonsense father voice. "Are you gentlemen coming?"

"You mean the ladies don't have to help?" Charlie asked, hands on hips.

"No. Let the ladies stay in here and keep warm. Come on." Alan headed toward the door again, and this time he was followed by seven men. When they made the final trip with all the luggage and supplies, the women had the table set. Alan stomped the snow off his boots and hung his jacket up, then he noticed the table. "Ladies!" he scolded. "You were supposed to be relaxing, not working."

Megan laughed. "Alan, sometimes we just like to do girly things. Now, sit and enjoy your lunch while the rolls are still warm."

As they sat, Don said, "And after lunch we can teach Ben and Maggie how to ski."