Some elements of this story are loosely based on real events that happened to a very dear friend of mine. I can't thank her enough for allowing me to write her story.

Chapter 1

"Are you sure your parents won't object to me accompanying you? Your mother only invited you in her telephone call." Constable Benton Fraser walked through the trailer park with the detective currently known as Ray Vecchio (while the real Ray Vecchio was working undercover) and his half-wolf Diefenbaker who was running around excitedly. He was always well fed at the Kowalski's.

"Relax buddy," grinned Ray, "Mum always makes far too much food and she loves ya, she won't mind."

The trailer park had been decorated for Christmas, although there was still three weeks to go. Long strings of twinkling lights hung between the lamp columns and there was a huge fir tree at the edge of the path that led from the visitors parking area to the trailers themselves that proudly displayed an abundance of brightly coloured baubles and the like. It was unseasonably warm though for December and it didn't really feel like Christmas yet to Ray.

"It is rather impolite to arrive unannounced," continued Fraser. The last thing he wanted to do was to offend Ray's parents. They were lovely people, but Ray was only just starting to rebuild his relationship with them after many years when things between them had been strained, particularly with his father, almost to breaking point at times. Fraser realised, of course, that was the reason why Ray had insisted he come along in the first place, as the prospect of spending the entire evening alone with his parents still made him nervous.

"Mum keeps doin' this," explained Ray, "she keeps cookin' for me. She thinks, er, that I'm not eatin' properly."

"Then she'd be correct," responded Fraser and Ray glared at him. "Well it's true, your calorific intake is sporadic at best," Fraser continued, "and the vast majority of your nutrition, if one can call it that, is derived from junk food."

Ray stopped walking and spun round to face his partner. He jabbed his finger at the Mountie and was about to angrily defend his eating habits when he realised what Fraser was trying to do. "Oh real clever buddy," he said, "ya get me all wound up so I'll tell ya to take a hike and, er, then ya get out of comin' with me," he grinned. "I'm not fallin' for that buddy."

Fraser did his best to look completely innocent, but he couldn't fool Ray, not any more.

"Quit worryin' Fraser, they'll be pleased to see ya!" Ray exclaimed and climbed the two small steps to the front door of his parents' motorhome. He raised his hand to knock on the door, but before he got chance the door was flung open and Ray's father, Damien Kowalski stood there beaming from ear to ear.

"Raymond!" he hugged his son, taking Ray completely by surprise. "We were starting to think you weren't coming...oh hello Benton." Damien's face fell when he noticed the Mountie standing at the foot of the steps.

Fraser was just about to make an excuse to leave when Ray's mother, Barbara, appeared. "Stanley, you're almost ten minutes late!" She exclaimed, pushing past her husband and also hugging her son tightly.

Ray was starting to freak out. What the hell was wrong with his folks? Were they drunk? He'd never seen his mother drink much alcohol except the odd sherry at Christmas and his Dad liked the occasional cold beer...wait, what was he thinking? Of course they weren't drunk, but something was definitely queer.

"Mr and Mrs Kowalski," Fraser removed his hat and tucked it under his arm. "I'm afraid there appears to have been a small misunderstanding..." he began.

Dief barked. What was all this talking for? When could they start eating?

"Benton!" Now it was Barbara's turn to clearly display her dismay at his presence. She looked at Ray and frowned sharply. "Stanley," she whispered, "you know I love Benton dearly, but tonight was meant to be...well, your father and I thought..."

"Mum, Fraser and I are workin' on a case, right buddy?" Ray looked to his friend with his eyebrows raised. Come on buddy, play along.

Well that part was true anyway. They were indeed working on a case together. "Yes," Fraser was confidently able to reply. He had a bad feeling though that Ray was going to be embellishing the truth from now on and he would be expected to lie to Ray's parents. He was a terrible liar.

"So, er, we thought we'd grab some of your outstandin' casserole and then get back to work," Ray stepped into the motorhome, forcing his parents to step backwards to let him in. He turned to Fraser. "Come on buddy, pitter patter."

Fraser froze momentarily. This was very awkward. "Um, um..." he mumbled and then sighed. It was no use, whatever he did now was going to offend someone. Besides, he was also curious as to what exactly was causing Mr and Mrs Kowalski to behave in such a peculiar manner. He followed Ray into the motorhome and almost crashed into his friend who had stopped dead in his tracks.

Already sat at the small table was a woman in her early thirties. She had long dark hair tied behind her head with a large clasp and was free of make-up. She was wearing a plain t-shirt with an open shirt over the top and Fraser noticed a fob watch clipped to her shirt pocket. Either she simply disliked having a timepiece strapped to her wrist in the usual way, or wearing a watch in her professional life would be considered unhygienic, perhaps she was in healthcare, thought Fraser. She was looking a little nervous and blushed as soon as she saw Ray and Fraser. "Er, hi," she said in a quiet voice.

"Raymond, this is Melissa," Damien introduced her. "This is my son Raymond," he said proudly, adding, "he's divorced." Ray could have kicked him in the head.

"Mel, just Mel is fine," the young woman smiled awkwardly.

"And I go by Ray," replied Ray. "This is my buddy Benton Fraser."

"Most people call me Fraser," smiled the Mountie, trying to make conversation. "Or, Benton," he added. Then after a pause... "Or Ben, some people prefer that. Of course professionally I would most usually be referred to as Constable."

"Fraser, shut it," snapped Ray. Fraser immediately looked at the floor sheepishly. Ray looked to his Mum for an explanation.

"Your father and I know Melissa quite well," said Barbara with a smile, "and we thought you two should meet." She glanced to her husband nervously. Damien responded with a not-very-subtle thumbs up sign.

Jeez, thought Ray, my folks are trying to set me up with a total stranger! He couldn't quite believe it, they'd never done this before.

There was a long awkward silence. Ray glared at his Mum, he couldn't look at poor Melissa in the eye. His detective instincts were telling him that she was just as much in the dark about his parents' little scheme as he was.

Eventually the silence was broken by Diefenbaker pushing his way between Fraser's legs and making his presence known. Melissa screamed.

"Oh dear, I'm terribly sorry," said Fraser, glaring at Dief. "He's perfectly harmless, however he can smell Mrs Kowalski's delicious casserole and I'm afraid that he has very little willpower when it comes to food," he paused for a second and Diefenbaker jumped up, putting his paws on the kitchen surface. "Or manners," added Fraser. "Dief, down...down!" he commanded, but the wolf ignored him.

"Don't worry," Barbara petted Dief between the ears, "there's plenty for you too...although I'm afraid you may have to eat yours outside." She looked around her tiny home. It was plenty big enough for her and Damien, but there really wasn't enough room for all these people and a wolf to be comfortable.

"I'd also be quite happy to eat outside," said Fraser, dragging Dief by the scruff of his neck towards the door. "In fact, Dief and I will decline your kind offer of dinner Mrs Kowalski and return to the Consulate. Ray can meet us there later."

"No!" snapped Ray, "sit down Fraser. You're not goin' nowhere."

"Anywhere, Ray," Fraser corrected him, "I'm not going anywhere."

"Greatness!" grinned Ray.

Fraser wasn't entirely sure if Ray had tricked him with his use of a double negative or not. Damien made them all sit down and then began to tell them all about their most recent trip along the path of the Mississippi, while Barbara prepared the food. "There are some lovely places down there," he said. Everyone smiled politely. Ray fidgeted even more than he normally did.

Mel was really trying to be nice and show an interest in Damien's tales, but inside she wanted the ground to open up and swallow her. She couldn't bring herself to make eye contact with Ray. When she'd accepted the Kowalski's dinner invitation, they hadn't mentioned that their son would be there. He's not unattractive, she thought, but he seems kind of edgy. She was quite a laid back person normally, she didn't worry too much about what other people thought of her and she didn't spend hours on her appearance. Her jeans were starting to wear thin on one knee, but she kept forgetting to patch them up, it didn't occur to her to buy a new pair. As long as she was smart and presentable, especially at work, then that was enough. This guy, on the other hand, looked as though he spent hours fixing his hair which she thought was slightly odd for a guy.

Fraser looked at Melissa who had been keeping one eye on Diefenbaker the whole time. She caught his eye and then suddenly got to her feet. "Um, actually, I just remembered, I have to be somewhere," she said. Clearly she had as much difficulty lying convincingly to people as Fraser did. "I have to...return a library book," she added, pushing past everyone and virtually running out of the door before anyone could stop her.

Oh dear, thought Fraser, the library closed hours ago.

"Melissa, don't go!" cried Damien and moved to go after her, but his wife pulled him back. She could see that this might have been a mistake after all.

"Let's all eat," smiled Barbara, putting some plates on the small table.

Fraser nodded, but Ray let out a frustrated growl and ran out of the door after Melissa, to his parents' surprise. Fraser looked awkwardly from Barbara to Damien. "Well," he said, feeling he should say something. "I must, er, say how well those new curtains compliment the, er, the..." he trailed off, completely unable to finish his sentence.

Outside, Ray ran to catch up with Melissa who was half way back to her car already. "Mel, wait up," he called. She stopped and turned to face him. "Hey, er, I'm sorry about my folks," he said, grinning with embarrassment.

"It's fine," Mel tried to smile. "It looks like we were both kind of set up."

Ray nodded. "Yeah," he agreed.

"I'm sure they had the best of intentions," she said and Ray nodded. "Well, um, it was nice meeting you," she said and turned back to her car.

Ray stood there for a few minutes, hanging his head as she drove away. He needed to take a few deep breaths and calm down. Did his parents really not understand him at all? Were they really that out of touch? Sadly he turned and walked back towards the motorhome. When he got back inside, Fraser and his Mum and Dad were already eating. Dief had found a place in the corner to stand and eat his own generous portion. Silently, Ray sat down and cleaned his plate as fast as he could. Damien and Fraser talked briefly about some place in Canada that Ray had never heard of, but apart from that no one said a word as they ate, especially not about Melissa. As Barbara began to clear the plates, Ray leapt up from the chair and grabbed his coat. "Come on Fraser," he said abruptly. "Thanks for dinner Mum." He threw his coat on and kissed his mother on the cheek before heading for the door.

Fraser got to his feet too as Ray walked out of the motorhome. "The meal was delicious as always Mrs Kowalski, thank you kindly" he smiled.

"That's very kind of you," replied Barbara, "you're always welcome here and will you please call me Barbara," she added. "We don't stand on ceremony, do we Damien."

"No we don't," replied Damien gruffly. He shook Fraser's hand. "My name's Damien, you may as well use it." He was still seething about what had happened earlier and he didn't mean to take it out on Fraser. He didn't want to argue with his son about it either, they'd done enough of that over the years. Melissa was a lovely girl, she spoke to them every week in the supermarket and it was nice to have regular contact with people. They'd spent so much time travelling in recent years, but now he was starting to feel like he wanted a permanent home, he was getting old and he tired more easily than he used to. He was also enjoying getting to know his son again, something he thought he'd never do, not after everything that had happened between them, or more accurately, everything that hadn't happened between them.

"Yes Sir," replied Fraser, shaking his hand, "I mean, Damien," he corrected himself. "Thank you for your hospitality." He picked up his hat and leather jacket and followed his partner out into the night. Dief reluctantly ran after them.

"I thought ya were stayin' the night," snapped Ray as Fraser caught up with him.

"Ray, if you don't mind me saying," Fraser began, but Ray knew what was coming.

"Don't buddy," he said, "they had no right to do that. I can get my own girlfriends, OK. Now, er, let's just forget about it."

"Right you are," replied Fraser. He decided against pointing out that Ray's love life had been largely non-existent since his divorce from Stella. Fraser had no room to talk anyway, his had been far worse.

They reached the GTO and Ray opened the door. Fraser walked round to the other side and was about to open his own door when he saw the Kowalski's running towards them. Well, running was perhaps an exaggeration. Damien was jogging slowly and panting heavily as he did so while Barbara was barely keeping up behind him, using more of a fast walk. "Ray," Fraser nodded towards them. Ray looked up and then dropped his forehead onto the roof of his car with a thud. He didn't want to talk to them now, not in this mood, because he'd probably say something he'd regret later. "Pretend we haven't seen them," he hissed at Fraser.

Fraser's mouth fell open. "We can't do that!" he exclaimed and raised a hand to wave to Ray's parents.

Ray scowled at his partner. Then he took a deep breath and forced a smile onto his lips.

"Your mother and I have been talking," began Damien as he finally reached them, but he couldn't say any more, he was too out of breath. Fraser looked at him with slight concern. Damien Kowalski was a little overweight, probably due to too much of Barbara's delicious home cooking and too long spent sat at the wheel of their motorhome. Running was clearly an activity he rarely participated in.

"Why don't you both come here for dinner on Christmas day?" asked Barbara, taking over from her husband. She was also overweight, but the demands of keeping her albeit small home in perfect order, not to mention the additional work she undertook these days in an attempt to keep her son and his home looking half way respectable, meant she was clearly fitter than Damien. The idea about Christmas had just slipped into her head and she'd become instantly excited at the prospect. This evening hadn't gone at all how she had imagined and she wanted desperately to make it up to her son. Christmas had been just her and her husband for so many years and although she always made sure they had a special meal to celebrate, it wasn't the same as the old family Christmases they'd had when Ray was a child. "We'll put up decorations and I'll get a turkey and a ham," she was starting to think ahead of herself now. "You're almost part of the family Benton." She smiled warmly.

Fraser couldn't deny that the idea of a family Christmas was appealing. The last few years he'd spent Christmas with the Vecchio's, even after the real Ray Vecchio had left and it had been enjoyable, if a little hectic. He'd always been made to feel welcome and very much part of the family, but each year there were more and more people around the dinner table and Fraser felt sure that Ma Vecchio wouldn't mind if he declined her invitation this year. "That would be lovely Mrs...um, Barbara," he smiled. "Wouldn't it Ray." He turned to his partner and raised his eyebrows, waiting for Ray's response.

"Yep," replied Ray, curtly. "Just don't ever try anythin' like that again." He knew he shouldn't have said it, but it just slipped out.

"Raymond, she's a lovely girl," began Damien, but he was interrupted by his wife.

"We're sorry Stanley, but we just want to see you happy," she smiled and put her arm around him, squeezing tightly until he found it hard to breathe.

Just then Diefenbaker began to bark loudly and run to and fro. Fraser frowned at him and was about to reprimand his wolf when he smelled it too. "Smoke," he said seriously. He glanced back towards the trailer park and gasped when he saw a pillar of smoke twisting up into the night sky accompanied by bright orange flames dancing above the top of the trees. "Ray call the Fire Department!" shouted Fraser and set off towards the fire. Ray already had his phone in his hand and was punching out 911.

"That's our home!" cried Barbara and she started after Fraser, trying to remember if she'd turned off the cooker or left something burning.

"Oh god no!" exclaimed Damien and began running back too, faster than he had just now.

Ray wasn't entirely sure that the flames were coming from his parents' motorhome, from this angle it looked like the fire may be in an adjacent vehicle, but as soon as he'd finished talking to the emergency operator he started to follow them. Something was definitely on fire and knowing Fraser he was about to attempt a heroic rescue of either person or property and Ray wasn't going to let his buddy put himself in danger, not alone anyway. Fraser had almost reached the row of trees already, when Ray saw his father stop suddenly. He stood perfectly still for less than a second before falling to the ground. Ray's blood ran cold as his mother screamed and he ran to get to them. "Fraser!" he yelled at his buddy as he fell to his knees beside his fallen Dad. He rolled the larger man over onto his back and his mind went blank. He knew first aid, he knew CPR...should he do CPR now? His father wasn't lying still though, he was kind of shaking and making a strange gasping noise and even under the dim light of the Christmas Tree Ray could see he was turning a really unhealthy colour. "He's having a heart attack!" Ray panicked, this was his fault, he'd upset his parents and now his Dad was going to die. He had so much he wanted to tell him, so much he wanted to make up for, all those lost years...this couldn't happen now, it just couldn't. He looked up at his Mum who was frozen with fear.

Instantly Fraser was beside them. Smoke began to billow in their direction and the flames were getting higher by the second, but Fraser had to put all thoughts of helping anyone else to the back of his mind. Ray's father was his first and only priority now. He checked Damien's pulse, prised his eyelids open briefly and then rolled the man back onto his side, cradling Damien's head in his hand to stop him injuring himself on the hard concrete path as he convulsed. "No Ray," he said, trying to keep his voice as calm as possible. "He's having some kind of seizure. Call an ambulance."

xXx

Ray wanted to pace. Sitting still was driving him mad, but he knew he had to hold his mother's hand while they waited for news.

Fraser was sitting the other side of Barbara trying not to worry. Damien had stopped fitting before the ambulance arrived and had been reasonably responsive which was a good sign. He glanced at Ray, wishing he could do or say something to calm his friend and his poor mother. Fraser realised that Barbara was naturally terrified of losing her husband, but for Mr and Mrs Kowalski the prospect of being without the other scared them more than most. They'd spent the last few years with just each other for company, travelling the country in their motorhome. Occasionally they'd stay in one place for a few months, but not long enough to really make friends or feel truly at home. If anything ever happened to one of them, the other would be totally lost.

A doctor walked round the corner carrying a file. "Mrs Kowalski?" he said approaching them. Ray and Fraser leapt to their feet. Barbara couldn't move.

"I'm Ray Kowalski," said Ray, "how's my Dad, is he OK?"

The doctor smiled reassuringly. "Yes, he's fine," he said and Barbara let out a whimper of relief. "We do need to run some more tests to establish exactly what happened, but the specialist will explain all that to you. If you'd like to come with me, Mr Kowalski is anxious to see you both."

Ray and Fraser helped Barbara to her feet. "I'll wait here for you," smiled Fraser as Ray and his mother went with the doctor.

Fraser sat back down in his chair and glanced over to Diefenbaker. "You do realise that everyone can see you," he said. Dief was hiding behind a large potted plant and made a quiet noise in his throat. "I imagine they're just humouring you," retorted Fraser. Dief yapped. "No I don't have a doughnut," hissed Fraser, "this is a hospital." He rolled his eyes and folded his arms, deliberately turning away from the wolf. Just then he heard a disturbance and immediately became concerned.

"Please, you have to wait here," a female nurse was pleading with a man and frogmarching him towards the waiting area, assisted by a male colleague.

"No, I have to stay with her," the man sounded desperate and tried to shake himself free.

"We're doing everything we can for your wife," the male nurse spoke now, "but you're getting in the way, you must sit here."

The man was distraught now and Fraser realised that he smelled strongly of smoke. "Excuse me," he said, "I'm sorry, I realise this must be a difficult time, but have you come from the fire at the trailer park?"

The man looked at Fraser. "Yes," he whispered, "my wife was asleep in our trailer and I went outside to get something from the car and I turned back and...I tried to get to her...but the flames and the smoke..." the man broke down again.

"I'll come back as soon as I have some news," said the female nurse, smiling at Fraser and she left with her colleague.

Fraser led the man to a chair. "Can I get you some water?" he asked.

The man shook his head. "Who are you?" he asked.

"Constable Benton Fraser, RCMP," Fraser introduced himself. "I'm here with a friend who's parents also live at the trailer park."

"Oh no, I didn't realise anyone else was hurt," the man said, "I think the flames spread, it all happened so quickly."

"Do you believe the fire started in your trailer Sir?" Fraser enquired.

The man nodded. "Yes, ours was definitely the only one burning to start with...oh god..." he couldn't speak any more as the images overwhelmed him again.

Fraser wanted to ask him more questions. There was every chance that the fire was an accident, but until they had the report from the Fire Department there was always the possibility that the blaze had been started deliberately. Fraser sat with the man while he waited for news of his wife. When a doctor finally came, he was told that his wife was stable but still very seriously ill. Fraser felt so sorry for him as he was led away to see her.

xXx

"Mum, really, I'm fine on the couch," Ray's mother had only been staying at his apartment for an hour and five minutes so far, but already she was driving him crazy. It had been a struggle to stop her baking brownies as soon as they'd got back from the hospital.

"But I can't throw you out of your bed Stanley?" she protested, "I'll book into a hotel tomorrow."

"Ya don't need to go to a hotel?" Ray sighed. "Mum, it's 2am, go to bed, I doubt I'll sleep much anyway."

Barbara suddenly realised how tired she was. It had been a very long night so far and she'd wanted to stay with Damien at the hospital, but Ray and Fraser had eventually managed to persuade her to leave. Damien was comfortable and out of danger, although he didn't have a firm diagnosis and they were going to be putting him through a series of medical tests tomorrow. Barbara kissed her son on both cheeks and then turned to Fraser. "I can't thank you enough for what you did tonight," she said, her voice cracking with emotion, "I thought...I thought he was..."

"I'm just glad I could be of assistance," replied Fraser modestly. Barbara kissed him too and then went into the bedroom.

Ray slumped down onto the couch and let out a huge sigh. Fraser waited for a moment, he had a feeling he knew what was coming next. He wasn't wrong, Ray had held his emotions in check all the while he was trying to be strong for his mother. Ray let his head drop into his hands as he broke down and Fraser sat beside him and put a supportive hand on his shoulder. "Sorry buddy..." Ray whispered between sobs.

"It's quite alright, I understand," replied Fraser gently and he allowed Ray to deal with his emotions the only way his friend knew how.

Eventually Ray was able to compose himself. He looked at Fraser. "Thanks," he whispered and Fraser smiled supportively. "Jeez," Ray leapt to his feet. "He's OK, what the hell is wrong with me? I'm, er, I'm gonna be a mess when one of 'em does eventually, y'know..." he trailed off, thoughts of his parents dying were too much to bear right now. Then suddenly he felt sick. "Oh jeez buddy, I'm sorry..." now he was overwhelmed by guilt. Fraser had lost his own mother when he was just a child and his father only a few years ago. "I...I wasn't thinkin'."

"Ray, please, you don't have to apologise," smiled Fraser, "It's fine, my father's death was..." he had no idea how to put his thoughts into words. He decided that it wasn't important at this time, Ray's father was alive and that was all that mattered tonight. "You and your mother have had a terrifying few hours and your father will need your support in the coming days. I will do everything I can to assist you both. Now would you like me to get you anything before I leave?"

Ray grinned. "Ya want me to say tea, don't ya."

"Well as you know, certain blends do have proven benefits in terms of health and wellbeing," Fraser began. He picked up his hat and pulled something out from inside it. "Here," he said, passing the small item to Ray. "Boiling water, let it brew for four minutes and sip it slowly. It should assist you in falling asleep."

Ray took the teabag from his buddy and grinned. "Thanks Fraser," he said. "See ya tomorrow."