So, it's over...I hope y'all liked this and would like me to do the same thing next year! Enjoy!

"What do you mean?" Mara whispered, tears gathering in her eyes.

"Jerome's not coming back, Mara, it's a day before Christmas and he's not here. Where is he? You said he'd be here for you and the girls when Christmas rolls around. Well, here it is, Christmas Eve and he's not here." Mick sneered, leaning across the table.

Thoughts swarmed around Mara's head. Mick was causing her faith in Jerome to slip. Her hope that he'd come home to her and their daughters for Christmas. He was breaking it all. She began to regret ever meeting the man sitting across from her. The day that her hope and faith began to crumble was the day she met Mick for the first time…

Mara halted in her tracks to keep from running into the man that ran in front of her. She gasped and dropped to the driveway concrete to pick the fallen mail off the ground.

"Oh, gosh, I'm sorry. Here, let me help you." the blonde man said sheepishly. "I didn't see you sometimes I just can't see anything when I'm running."

"It's fine," she shook her head, a couple black locks of hair falling out of her ponytail to frame her face. She stood, smiling up at him.

He wasn't much taller than her and he had a husky build, telling Mara that the gym was probably his second home. His shaggy blonde hair hung over his forehead, sticking to it awkwardly from the sweat dripping down his tanned face. His blue eyes were electric and comforting.

He held a hand out to her with a heartbreaker's smile. "I'm Mick Campbell, I just moved in next door."

Cradling the mail under her arm, Mara reached out and took his hand, smiling nicely. "I'm Mara Clarke, welcome to the neighborhood."

"Thanks. Again, I'm sorry for nearly knocking you over, I wasn't paying attention."

"It's alright, I'm in my own little world at times as well." she replied, heading up the drive. "Would you like to come in for some coffee? I always love to meet new people, especially the neighbors."

"Do you think you can hold that offer till I can take a shower and change out of my workout clothes?" Mick asked, motioning to himself.

"Yes, that's perfectly alright. Just walk right in when you come over." She told him and hopped into the house.

Mick grinned and sped back to his house. He jumped in the shower quickly and in a flash he was out, dressed in a striped blue and white polo and jeans, and hurrying to Mara's house. He flung the door open and walked in, observing his surroundings.

The foyer was large and had a doorway on the left and staircase on the right. Pictures and paintings hung on the wall in all different shapes and sizes. The pictures varied between a group of teens, laughing and smiling, to two little girls, leaning on each other's back with mischievous smiles. What caught Mick's eye was that there were only two pictures of Mara by herself, then three pictures of a man with blonde hair, slicked back, and cold blue eyes. Mick frowned and looked away. The man's eyes stared at him menacingly, almost telling him to leave the house, even though he had a smile on his face. Mick was beginning to feel like this girl wasn't available.

But he shouldn't jump to conclusions.

He started into the room to the left and was met by Mara, sorting through her mail on the coffee table with two mugs of coffee.

"Hey," Mick smiled, getting her attention.

"Oh, hey, come in, sit down. Make yourself at home." She motioned to the seats around the coffee table.

Mick noticed that she had left out the seat next to her on the couch and respected that, taking a seat in an armchair across from her. She handed him a mug and took a quick sip from the other one. Something glimmered on her hand as she put the mug down and Mick's heart then dropped completely. The diamond on the ring told Mick that either, her husband was loaded and she wouldn't say yes until the diamond was that big, or he really loved her. He didn't believe it was the first option so his heart stayed where it was, without a glimmer of hope.

He looked down at the coffee table as Mara stacked the mail into a box on a table next to the couch and picked up the picture frame that sat there.

The man from the picture in the hall had his back to the camera as he looked down at Mara while she looked down shyly. Both had smiles on their faces, the man's hands on her shoulders.

"My best friend took that picture. It was junior year of high school when Jerome first asked me out. She loves the whole matchmaking thing. She has several scrapbooks about Jerome and I and our relationship, but Jerome refuses to keep them, telling Amber that she should have something to remember us by even though she lives three houses down the street. But she kept them anyway." Mara shook her head, giggling.

"Yeah, you have a lot of pictures." Mick stated, looking around the new room. It was filled with pictures and paintings as well. "All of these paintings look like they were painted by a seven year old."

"Two seven year olds, actually, Faith and Hope." Mara corrected.

"Faith and Hope; you have a lot of that?" Mick set the picture down gently though he just wanted to throw it against the wall.

"I named Faith because of all the faith I put in Jerome while he named Hope because in high school he never gave up hope of that one day I'd say yes when he asked me out." Mara nodded with a slight grin and motioned to all of the pictures in the room. "My husband is a photographer and loves to take pictures of me, our girls and our friends."

"Where is he? Would he be okay with me being in your house?"

"He's away for business, covering a few events in Italy. And so far, you don't seem like a murderer, he'd be fine with it. I have my guy friends over all the time." Mara shrugged.

"He's away so close to Christmas?" Mick asked incredulously.

"Yes, but he'll be back by then. He never lets his girls down. He's been gone the last month or so. He and I have been emailing, calling, texting and writing for that last month. We always stay in touch. At the moment he's probably flying to another event location. I don't really know. I don't know for sure when he'll be back though. For all I know he could walk in through the front door right now."

Just as she finished her sentence, the front door swung open, causing her to shoot out of her seat excitedly but her face fell when a man called in, "Honey, I'm home!"

"Hey, Eddie," Mara smiled.

"'Sup, little girl?" he grinned, and his eyes landed on Mick.

"Oh, Eddie this is Mick Campbell, Mick this is Eddie Sweet. Mick just moved in next door, and Eddie lives down the street. He's married to my other best friend, Patricia. They have a little girl as well." Mara introduced, motioning between the two a few times.

"Nice to meet ya, mate." Mick shook Eddie's hand, standing up.

"You too, man."

"You're American?" Mick asked.

"Did you think I wasn't?" Eddie retorted, frowning before turning sharply to Mara when she hit him on the arm with a scolding look.

"Hey…" Eddie looked Mara with a fake hurt expression. "You didn't give me a hug!"

He wrapped her up in his arms quickly and she laughed as he spun her around.

"I missed you," he sighed, setting her down.

"Eddie, I saw you, Patricia and Lacey this morning, when I dropped off the girls. Speaking of the girls, where are they?" Mara added peering past Eddie as two little girls ran into the house.

"Right there," He pointed at them.

"Mummy!" they cheered, running into her outstretched arms.

Both girls had long black hair that reached their lower backs and bright blue eyes. They were both quite short for their age with tanned skin and little mischievous smiles that lit up any room.

"Hello, my darlings," Mara smiled, kissing their cheeks.

"Well…" Eddie sighed, popping a p at the end.

"Eddie, well-p is not a word." Mara corrected.

"Yeah, whatever, I'll see you little rascals later." he waved it off and ruffled the twins' hair black hair.

"Bye, Uncle Eddie!" the two giggled and skipped out of the room.

"Nice meeting ya, Mick."

"Yeah, see you around."

"See you later, Sweety Junior!" Mara called jokingly.

Eddie's head popped back into the room and he looked at her sympathetically. "Missing Jerry?" he asked knowingly.

Mara nodded somberly, sitting down again.

"Don't worry. If he loves you he'll come back. And we all know how much he does." He winked at her and then left the house.

"Well, um, I should get going. I've still have to unpack some things and I'll leave you to Hope and Faith." Mick sighed, standing.

Mara agreed and walked him to the front door, waving goodbye as he crossed over to his yard, and then she shut the door. Her brown eyes landed on Jerome's picture hanging on the wall to her right. A sob escaped her and she slid down the door. Mick was right. Jerome shouldn't be gone so close to Christmas but the matching blue eyes of Faith, Hope and Jerome, told her that he would come back.

No matter what.

And once again, Mara's hope and faith was breaking.

Mick raised an eyebrow at her and she bit her lip, looking away from the blonde.

"Mara, I'd never leave you." he said softly.

Her eyes snapped back to him.

Was he really hitting on her when her heart was breaking at the thought of never seeing Jerome again?

Before she could stop herself, her small hand whipped out and she slapped him across the face. A few of the restaurant customers stared at them shocked as Mara stood and stormed out of the restaurant. Mick sat dumbstruck for a moment, his cheek stinging red. It took him a second of recovery to shoot up, throw down some money and run out of the building.

The raven haired girl stomped down the street, tugging her coat closer to herself as a gust of wind whooshed by. She wiped angrily at the trail of tears leading from her eyes, down her cheeks and to her chin. She could hear Mick calling behind her but didn't stop as she got closer to her neighbor hood.

It was exactly a month since she'd first met Mick and she was regretting everything. Talking to him, inviting him into her home, saying yes to this 'friendly dinner', as Mick had put it. It was much too friendly for Mara's liking.

She should have seen it coming. He had been much too nice to just want to be her friend. He would bring her flowers and take her and the girls out for lunch and dinner and to the park. He would always come over and try to play with the girls. Everything he'd ever done, was all a lie, he just wanted her.

Sighing in relief at the sight of the small two story home ahead of her, she sped to her house, only making it to the driveway when her shoulder was ripped back and she came face to face with Mick.

"I'm sorry, Mars, I just don't think you should waste your time with him. He's a player. You told me that, he used to jump from girl to girl; any girl alive wouldn't be able to say no to his charm. Well, maybe a girl didn't say no to his charm in Italy. Mara, I would never—"

"Stop! Just, stop. Is this your pathetic way of convincing me to go out with you? Well, guess what? It's not working. I will never see you the way you seem to see me. Why are you doing this? Jerome doesn't fail. He never has and he never will. He has succeeded in everything he's done, and he will come back to me and the girls. Stop saying you'll be there for me. Jerome will always be here, whether physically or spiritually because he loves me, a love you'll never be able to top. My heart has always been with Jerome and it always will be. Stop hitting on me and stop putting Jerome down, you know absolutely nothing about him. Get off my drive and go home, I don't want to speak to you. Ever again!" she screamed, running into the empty house and slamming the door shut behind her.

Mick stood speechless at the end of the driveway and stared at the house. His shoulders slumped in defeat and he hung his head shamefully. He left her yard and entered his house somberly, crashing onto his bed as soon as he entered his bedroom. He dreaded the next day as darkness overcame him. Tomorrow—Christmas day—could be the day Jerome would come back and he would never be able to win Mara over.

Mick ran a hand through his hair and looked himself over in the mirror. Christmas day, the day Jerome was supposedly coming home. He wasn't going to and Mick knew that, he was going to apologize to Mara and then move in tomorrow when her beloved husband doesn't come back.

He was dressed in a white button up shirt with black dress pants. Nothing flashy and he thought he looked pretty good. His outfits usually consisted of t-shirts and polo shirts. From the pictures in Mara's house, Mick caught on the Jerome wore dress shirts and pants. He didn't dress casually and Mick had decided to give sophisticated a shot.

Mara had said that she didn't want to speak to him again but he was going to apologize. Surely she'd understand why he acted the way he did once he told her how he felt, right?

He took a deep breath and stepped out of his house, immediately heading for Mara's place. As he neared the end of her drive he froze in his tracks. A taxi was purring by the drive with a tall man paying the driver. The man straightened as the cab drove off and he turned, staring at the house, running a hand through his blonde hair.

Mick's heart plummeted and his face hardened.

That man was Jerome Clarke, Mara's husband. He definitely looked like the pictures in her house.

His hair was falling forward, hanging over his forehead. His cold blue eyes warmed at the sight of the house and glowed under the street light. He was dressed in a white dress shirt like Mick's but instead of having just a few buttons undone he had a red ascot peeking out of the collar. He wore a grey blazer over the shirt and matching dress pants.

He looked around and his eyes landed on Mick.

"Hi?" the taller blonde raised an eyebrow.

"Hey, Jerome, right?" Mick asked, taking a step closer to him, holding out a hand.

"That's right, who are you?"

"New neighbor. Going to the Christmas party?" he jerked his head toward the house.

"It is my house, so—" he stopped when two girls jumped out of the house and ran toward him.

"Daddy!" they cried.

Jerome fell to his knees and wrapped his arms around his daughters, holding them tightly. "Oh, my girls." He kissed their hair as they hugged him, not wanting to let go.

The other party guests soon came out of the house and they greeted him.

"Jerome Clarke!" Alfie grinned, patting his shoulder. "Great to see you, mate."

"Oh, Jerry, you really freaked Mara out." Eddie shook his head, smirking at his fellow blonde.

"Yeah, Slimeball, you scared her, she thought you weren't coming back." Patricia snapped.

"Jerome, Jerome, Jerome, what are we going to do with you?" Joy said teasingly.

"Oh, Jerome, it's so wonderful to see you!" Amber squealed, bouncing on her heels.

"Welcome home, Jerome." Nina smiled.

"Yeah, welcome back, mate." Fabian said.

"Nice work, Gerbil, you got back just in time," Poppy winked at her brother.

They all scooted out of the way when Mara came outside. First her eyes fell on Mick and she felt anger boiling inside of her. But the anger simmered when her brown orbs flitted to her daughters hugging a man. She nearly fell to the concrete but managed to stay on her feet as Jerome stood and the girls moved away from him, giggling.

Jerome licked his lips and watched Mara as she stood at the top of the drive while he was still where he had started. Mick looked on intently, hoping Mara would realize that Jerome had waited too long to come home. But Mara's eyes filled with tears as she ran to Jerome and he lifted her off the ground. Mick frowned as she made her choice but he couldn't look away as the couple embraced each other in a rib crushing hug.

"I'm here, love, I'm here." Jerome whispered into Mara's ear.

Mara sobbed into his neck and pulled back as he set her back on the ground. He leaned in and pulled her closer if it was even possible and crashed his lips into hers. She ran her fingers through her hair and he gripped her waist firmly.

"I love you." she said softly against his lips.

"I love you too." He replied. "I'm sorry I didn't write or call, I—"

She cut him off with a finger to his thin lips. "I don't care. You're here now and that's all that matters."

"You're right. I promised you in high school that I'd never leave you; I'll keep that promise forever."

"See, Mick? I told you he'd come back." Mara said to him.

Before Jerome could say anything, Mara entwined their fingers and pulled him into the house with the rest of the families close behind, leaving Mick out in the cold with a broken heart. As he began to walk away, he felt a hand on his shoulder. He turned sharply and his head snapped up to meet Jerome's eyes.

"You told her I wouldn't come back? You don't know me. I don't appreciate that you tried to break us up. But, you can come in if you want. I've got a single girl in there that just got her heart broken not too long ago. Her name is Joy and she's a lot of fun. Trust me on this one. You'll like her, I promise you." Jerome smirked and raised an eyebrow down at him.

Mick followed him into the house warily and Jerome introduced the two. He then hurried back to Mara and wrapped an arm around her shoulders, kissing her forehead.

She kissed his cheek before bending over and picking Hope up, placing the little girl on her hip. Jerome lifted Faith and let her wrap her arms around his neck and legs around his waist.

"I'm not going to travel anymore." Jerome said, making Mara's head snap to look at him. "I'm going to open my own photography shop here in town and if I do travel, you and the girls are coming with me. I couldn't stand being away from you so long and not being able to call. I missed you so much."

"I missed you too."

"Merry Christmas, Mara." He murmured.

"Merry Christmas, Jerome." she replied.

How was that? That has to be one of my favorites, I loved it so much! Wel-p, please vote for me and my stories at the links on my profile, thanks!

I'm gonna work on CATOG today and I might update that today, no promises! Um...if any of you have ever wondered what Stevie and Charlie look like, I sped through a bunch of pictures and picked two out of my library; they aren't the best people that could play them but, they look like 'em. So, go to my profile, go down to Crowns and Tears of Gold, and the last link will be my Tumblr page that you can find the pics on. It'll be the first thing y'all see!

PLEASE REVIEW!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. -Luke 2:11

Love y'all!

-Rachel