A/N: Although this story is part of a series, I've tried to make it stand on its own. As the families gather in Hawaii in the first chapter they reflect on the past year and catch Peter's nieces up on who's who. It's a chance for new readers to catch up, and for those familiar with the AU to reminisce.
See my profile for a list of the stories in this AU in order. My profile on FF also includes a brief description of each story. On AO3 you can find all the stories and descriptions by following the link to the Caffrey Conversation Series. This story comes between An Evening with Genji and The Dreamer.
The Burke and Caffrey families have grown quite extensive over the life of this AU, so it may feel like I'm throwing a lot of names at you as they all gather in Hawaii. See the end of chapter 1 for the list of the Burke and Caffey family members and how they are all related to Peter and Neal.
White Collar and its characters are not mine, alas.
Wednesday evening. December 15, 2004.
Neal Caffrey sat at his dining table, making the final edits on his paper for Professor Sherkov's graduate seminar on Dutch baroque painting. The semester ended on Friday, and there wasn't much time left to polish the paper. He had to admit, he'd had doubts over the summer that he could handle working for the FBI and going to Columbia. Now he was about to wrap up his first semester with a brilliant analysis of Rembrandt's technique. All he needed was one night with no interruptions.
He was tweaking the wording of the paper's intro when he heard Mozzie's distinctive knock. Back to iambic pentameter again. Neal suppressed a sigh. "Come in."
Mozzie burst in, full of excitement about his upcoming trip. In the morning he'd leave for Hawaii, where he would be conspiring with his latest business partner. It sounded mostly legal, which had been a relief for Neal. Now he didn't have the quandary of whether his loyalties belonged to the FBI or to his friend.
At first it seemed Mozz had simply dropped by to say goodbye. Even though Neal planned to spend Christmas and New Year's in Hawaii, it was unlikely they'd run into each other in the next few weeks. Neal would spend his time on Oahu, and Mozzie's ventures would take him to a different island. But before Mozzie left he grew more serious and said, "It's been a year."
Now Neal really did sigh. He'd hoped Mozz would forget it was the anniversary of his first day working for the FBI. Mozzie hadn't been thrilled about that that change in Neal's life last December, but had decided it was a chance to get inside the Bureau and learn how they worked. He'd fully expected Neal to become bored or disillusioned and leave before a year had passed.
"One year ago today you sold your soul to the suits."
"Yeah, I remember. Peter mentioned it in the morning briefing, although he phrased it somewhat differently," Neal said. "It's also the anniversary of him being promoted into his role of leader of the Manhattan White Collar division."
"No plans to leave?"
"No," Neal said, wanting to shut down this line of inquiry. "I'm good at my job, and I like it." He stood up to have more freedom to gesture as he made his point. "Soon I'm going on a vacation, Mozz. A real vacation. No need to come up with another alias. No fears that the local police might recognize me from a wanted poster. We're talking complete and total relaxation."
"You don't miss it at all? The excitement, the rush of the job? Joining a crew and learning new skills from them?"
"No, I don't," Neal insisted. "I get all the excitement I need from my cases at work, and I'm learning new things all the time at Columbia."
"But you're confined to New York with this job. You used to go to Europe on a whim, immerse yourself in the culture and languages. You can't tell me dinner in Little Italy is the same as a week in Rome."
"When I'm done with school I'll have time to travel again. My classes make up for it. Instead of immersing myself in Paris, I'm immersing myself in great art."
After Mozzie left, Neal struggled to concentrate on his paper. He had to admit he'd exaggerated a bit in his responses. His cases could be exciting, but between the times he went undercover, there were mortgage fraud cases which could set records for inducing boredom. And he did worry that his language skills were growing rusty. Sure, every few months a case came along that allowed him to speak another language, but in most instances it was only for a few minutes. That couldn't compare to the times he'd gone days without speaking a word of English.
And his most recent foreign language experience? The last several days there'd been a Hispanic construction crew arriving every morning as he left for work. June had hired them to remodel the bathroom in the loft Neal rented – a truly generous Christmas gift to her tenant. Unlike his kitchen, where the vintage appliances were charming and functional, the bathroom had been the victim of a 1970s era remodel, complete with an avocado green sink. The work was almost done now, and it looked fantastic. Mostly Neal had stayed out of the crew's way, but he did overhear a few snatches of conversation in Spanish.
What a change from the last couple of years before he joined the FBI. In those days he'd picked up new languages and increased his fluency in the ones he already knew. He'd gone to Europe and Asia, experiencing languages in the cultures from which they sprang. He'd enjoyed being a citizen of the world.
But running from the law hadn't been fun, he reminded himself. He needed to stop thinking about those days, and concentrate on his paper instead.
Sunday evening. December 19, 2004.
Neal left the Aloha Emporium much happier than he'd been on Wednesday. His final papers and projects were all turned in, and his musings about growing rusty with languages had resulted in a brainstorm on Thursday night. He'd spent the entire weekend working on the murals Mozzie had insisted were needed for his new business venture with the owner of the Emporium. By doing the work in their shop during business hours, Neal was able to spend substantial time in conversation with the employees, receiving an immersion into Hawaiian language and culture. No one was going to mistake him for a native when he got to Honolulu, but picking up the basics of a new language was a pleasure he had been happy to indulge in.
I've missed this, he thought as he pulled on his winter coat and trudged outside. Not that he could tell anyone, of course. The people in his new, law-abiding life would be concerned to hear he found something missing in this life. They'd be afraid that maybe he was getting bored, being tempted to return to a life of crime.
He'd planned to walk to the subway station, but it was freezing outside. The rain wasn't quite sleet, but it was so cold it stung when it hit him. Seeing a taxi approach, he hailed it and slid gratefully into its warmth as he gave the driver his address on Riverside Drive.
"Mind if I play the radio?" the driver asked.
Neal shrugged and said without thinking, "Whatever you want. I like music." A moment later he felt a twinge of regret as the song "Peace and Joy" filled the taxi.
Last December, Neal had met former rock star Michael Darling, Grammy-winning keyboardist and composer for the group Local Devastation. They'd been a favorite of Neal's during the 1990s, and meeting Michael and reading the sheet music for a Christmas ballad called "Peace and Joy" had been hugely exciting for him. He'd predicted a year ago the song would become a hit, and he'd been right about that. The song had been released right after Thanksgiving, and now it seemed like you couldn't turn on a radio without hearing it.
Over the summer, Neal and his cousins Henry and Angela had wrapped up a long con in which they were performing as a rock group known as Urban Legend. Eventually they brought the FBI into it, using every resource they could to skyrocket Urban Legend to enough fame to get signed by Masterson Music, and then to prove that the company was cheating its clients. Neal had called in a favor from Michael Darling, and Urban Legend had performed at a Local Devastation reunion concert in July.
By December Urban Legend should have faded from the memories of most people, if not for that holiday song. During the sting, Michael Darling had agreed to let them record "Peace and Joy" if they agreed to let it be included as a bonus track on the album of the reunion concert. The album had been released in time for the holidays, and now Neal constantly heard himself harmonizing with his cousins on the radio. There'd been no escaping the teasing from his colleagues at the FBI and at Columbia.
Who would have guessed a year ago that he'd be in college? Or that his college friends would know his long-hidden alias as a singer in Urban Legend? His life had changed more than he ever could have expected. So if he felt antsy now, looking back, that was normal, right?
Friday morning. December 24, 2004.
Peter Burke's first thought when he woke up was surprise that he'd fallen asleep. Usually he couldn't sleep on airplanes, but then again, usually he didn't travel in first class. He checked his watch and saw it was almost 6am Eastern time. The flight had left JFK shortly after midnight, so they were probably over California now. In another six hours they'd be landing in Honolulu.
His wife Elizabeth was sleeping in the window seat beside him. His parents were in the row behind them, and his nieces were across the aisle from their grandparents. Directly across the aisle from Peter were his brother Joe and Neal Caffrey.
As far as Peter could tell, he and Joe were the only people awake in first class. They were both morning people, and of course Joe probably had a lot on his mind. The reason they were all on this flight was that Joe was going to marry Noelle Winslow in Hawaii next week. And the reason they were flying first class was that Noelle's parents, Edmund and Irene Caffrey, had insisted on paying for the flights for everyone attending the wedding.
A wedding, even for a second marriage, was enough to make anyone nervous. When you factor in an illustrious ambassador and former movie star as your new father and mother in-law, the nerves had to escalate. As the older brother by ten years, Joe had often looked out for Peter, but this morning it felt like the roles were reversed. Peter was the cool and collected one. He caught Joe's eye and nodded toward Neal, sacked out in the window seat. Only twenty-five, the kid had led quite a life. He'd traveled widely under many aliases, making his way as a con artist, thief and forger. A year ago Peter had recruited Neal, convincing him to give a confession in return for immunity. It had been a risky move but had paid off. Neal was a great addition to the team, with a gift for undercover work.
When they'd first met, a feverish Neal had introduced Peter as his stepfather, and then had made a joke of calling Peter Dad. It hadn't taken long to discover that Neal hadn't had stellar father figures growing up. As a child Neal had been fed a fantasy about his absent father, and it turned out that Peter embodied many of the traits Neal had wanted in a dad. Soon Peter's latent paternal instincts kicked in, and Neal started to feel like a son. Who would have guessed back then that the Burkes and Caffreys truly would become family? After the wedding, Neal would actually be Peter's nephew.
Over the last year, Peter had often turned to Joe for advice. After all, Joe's daughters weren't much younger than Neal. Rosalind had recently turned 22 and was a senior in college, and Viola was a sophomore. Peter decided to distract his brother from wedding nerves by asking, "Did Neal give you any indication of what's bothering him? I thought he'd be more excited about this vacation. In fact I could swear he was at first, but in the last few days I started to worry he'd find an excuse to stay home."
Joe shook his head. "Have you tried asking him?"
"I wish it were that easy. When something's eating at Neal, his response is to deny it. He's an expert at evasion."
"Even if he evades, his reaction to a direct question might tell you something," Joe suggested. "Remember, he's not The New York Times crossword puzzle."
"Yeah," Peter acknowledged. That comment hit a chord. Neal had said something similar shortly after being recruited by the FBI – how he was no longer a mystery for them to solve. For some reason, Peter kept returning to last December when he thought about what was up with Neal now. He just needed to figure out why. "I wish I'd said something to him earlier. My radar started pinging a week ago, but I let it go because it was just that one time. Then it started up again Thursday morning and hasn't stopped."
"You remember what was happening last week?"
"I've been wracking my brain on that topic. Someone said something, and there was this flash of dismay that crossed his face. It was gone in a moment. Both last week and yesterday, it occurred while the morning briefing was wrapping up. Lots of conversations break out as people leave the conference room to return to their desks. It's almost impossible to guess which conversation he was reacting to."
"We can trade seats when he wakes up, if you want to talk to him," Joe offered.
"No. I mean, thanks, but that won't work. He'll feel trapped if I confront him here in the plane. I need to approach him when he's relaxed and in an environment where he has the option of walking out if he thinks he needs space."
Joe smiled approvingly. "That's thinking like you're helping a person, not solving a crossword."
WCWCWCWCWCWCWC
Neal woke at 7am Eastern time, when the lights brightened in the cabin. Flight attendants were stopping at each row to take breakfast orders, and Neal chose the pineapple upside-down pancakes and a glass of orange juice.
Joe ordered the same thing and then said, "How'd the renovation turn out?"
"As I've told June, she deserves an award for being the best landlady in Manhattan. She went for top of the line all the way, from the shower to the fixtures to the crew." Neal frowned a moment at the fact that the word crew still made him think of a group of criminals. It had been a year since he'd given up that life. That was long enough to be rid of those old habits and thought patterns.
"She hired the Vasquez Brothers?" Joe asked, naming the crew he'd recommended. At the time Joe had mentioned that the Vasquez family had worked on several of the projects where he'd served as an architect, going back nearly twenty years.
"Yeah. Juan Vasquez was quite a character. Most of the time when they were in the loft I was at work or staying in one of June's guest bedrooms, but the few times I was around it was clear they were a family operation. His sons and nephews always followed orders but they liked teasing him. And you could tell he's still not used to having a woman on his crew. Carmen's his daughter, right?"
Joe nodded. "She's a great electrician, and she doesn't let her dad get away with treating her differently from the rest of the crew. Did you meet his son Eric?"
Neal paused as the flight attendant handed them their drinks. "He filled in a few days when a couple of guys were out sick. Some of the crew were razzing him. They kept calling him 'college boy.' Seemed a bit old to be in college though. I'd put him at around Henry's age, 28 or so. Is he getting a masters?"
"About ten years ago, Eric asked if I'd write him a letter of recommendation for his college application. Now that he has his degree and a successful architecture business of his own, his family still teases him about being the first one in his generation to get a degree. They're proud of him, but also want to make sure he stays grounded. He kept working with them through college to pay for school, and he still fills in when they need help."
Their breakfast trays arrived and for a few minutes they were too busy eating to talk. Joe was finishing the last of his pancakes when he said, "I asked if you'd met Eric because he reminded me of you. He faced some of the same challenges you are. Working a full-time job while going to college can be stressful. Fortunately he had a family to rely on. Their teasing helped relieve some of the stress, but there may have been times it put him on edge."
Neal looked sharply at Joe.
"Peter may have mentioned you've been on edge recently. You've got a lot of new people in your life, putting a lot of new expectations on you. Sometimes that has to be uncomfortable. Remember your family is here for you, and wants to help you. You aren't alone."
"I get it," said Neal, not wanting to talk about himself, especially with Peter probably listening in. "Did you see the remodel of Peter and Elizabeth's kitchen? Peter said when you raved about the Vasquez Brothers to June, El got inspired to go ahead with her own remodeling dreams."
"The girls and I got the tour," Joe confirmed. He glanced back at his daughters in the row behind them. They had finished eating and both had headphones on now. "Speaking of the girls, I'd like to ask your advice. You know they've never met Henry. Pretty soon he's going to be their stepbrother, and they're kind of in awe of him. You too, for that matter."
"Why?" Neal asked.
"The thing is, it's not often Peter can tell us anything about an active investigation. Last summer when he mentioned he was working on a case that involved rock music, we got wrapped up in it. We heard some of the Urban Legend performances online, and watched when the Local Devastation reunion concert was televised."
Well, that explained why the nieces Peter had described as fun and outgoing had acted shy around Neal when they met at the airport. "Tell them to hang out with Angela," Neal advised. "She's closest to their age – she turned 23 in June – and Henry thinks of her as a little sister. If they're hanging out together, Angela will set the tone of treating Henry as an annoying big brother, and he'll respond in kind. They won't be in awe for long."
WCWCWCWCWCWCWC
The flight landed shortly after 5am Honolulu time, and they reached their hotel in Waikiki an hour later. The rest of the Caffreys and Winslows had arrived the afternoon before, and several of them met the Burkes and Neal in the lobby with room keys ready to lead the newcomers up to their suites. Everyone was going to meet for breakfast at 8:00, and Neal looked forward to catching up with his grandparents, his aunts Noelle and Paige, and even Henry's Winslow grandparents.
Tired of being cooped up and seated on an airplane for 12 hours, Neal greeted the sunrise at 7:00 with a jog on the beach. He wasn't surprised when Henry ran over to join him. Henry was quiet for a few minutes, and then said, "Looks like rain."
Neal put on a burst of speed, but Henry caught up with him again.
"You know, Mom's going to be worried if she notices you're brooding about something," Henry said. "She has a lot on her mind with the wedding, but she does tend to notice stuff like that."
It was bad enough trying to keep Peter from figuring out what was going through Neal's mind. The last thing he wanted was to worry Noelle. Today was her birthday, and New Year's Day would be her wedding day. She should be enjoying herself.
Keeping secrets from Henry wasn't even an option. He and Neal were so alike that at times it seemed they could read each other's minds. The fact that Henry hadn't guessed what his Christmas gift was could only be explained by distance. Henry had spent August through most of November traveling, including a long stop in India. They'd done some catching up over Thanksgiving, and then Henry had finally returned to the family business in Baltimore, where he worked as an investigator at Winston-Winslow, also known as Win-Win.
Maybe part of the problem had been Henry's absence. For years Neal had been used to having his cousin available as his best friend to confide in, and then suddenly he was out of touch for months. Peter had taken on the role of confidant to some extent, but when there was something he didn't think Peter would understand, he'd internalized it out of habit. But he realized he didn't have to do that anymore. "If I tell you, will you help me distract Peter and your mom?"
"You don't want them to know what's going on with you? That won't be easy. We're talking about an FBI agent and a professor of psychology. Both of them are smart and nosy by nature."
"I just need time to figure things out." Neal came to a stop and looked back. They were further from the hotel than he had realized. "We won't make it back in time to shower and change." They were both wearing swim trunks and covered with sand and surf they'd kicked up on the beach.
"Not a problem. We're eating breakfast on a terrace on the beach. Half the people there will be in swimwear. Island life, kiddo."
Nodding, Neal set a slower pace back toward the hotel as he explained his concerns. He realized that the very act of putting everything in words and saying it aloud clarified his thinking. He really had missed talking to Henry.
WCWCWCWCWCWCWC
True to his word, Henry caused an immediate distraction at breakfast by announcing that he'd like to try playing a ukulele.
Noelle raised a brow at her son's announcement. "You already play piano and guitar, and you spent most of your childhood thinking the world was your drum."
"I figure I should play at least as many instruments as Neal can speak languages."
"Then you've got a long way to go," Neal said. He started listing the many languages he knew, only to be interrupted by Henry.
"Don't forget I took sitar lessons in India, and I played a recorder in elementary school."
Angela broke into the competition with, "Look, it's raining."
Sure enough, it was raining over the ocean. And then Noelle pointed out the rainbow. "That settles it," she said. "This place is magical. Ever since we got here, I've felt like Dorothy in Oz. Now we have proof that we're somewhere over the rainbow."
"Who's the wizard?" Neal asked.
"Oh, I know," said his grandmother. Irene Caffrey loved musicals and The Wizard of Oz was a favorite even if it had been filmed before she'd become a star. "The wizard was supposed to take Dorothy home. So for Noelle, the wizard would be Joe."
Noelle nodded. "Yes, my husband-to-be has made life seem magical."
Peter made a comment in a low voice that Neal couldn't hear, but Joe blushed.
"And I would be Glinda, the good witch," Irene added. "Because as your mother I've always given you good advice and guidance."
"And because Glinda had better costumes than Auntie Em," Noelle added with a laugh.
"I'm the scarecrow," Neal said. He could use a new brain – or an upgrade – to figure out his latest issues.
"I'm the lion," said Henry. "Closest thing to a tiger."
"Why tiger?" Joe wondered.
"Oh, that was my nickname as a kid," Henry explained.
"Yeah, how did you luck out?" Angela complained. "Neal was Baby Bear. I was Funny Bunny. And you got Tiger?"
"Obviously, it's because I was older and more dignified than either of you," Henry explained.
"I knew about Baby Bear," Peter said. "That was because Neal growled like a bear when he was grouchy. Where did Funny Bunny come from?"
"She bounces when she's excited," Henry said.
"And she loves to laugh," Irene added. "She was such a happy baby. It's a long family tradition. My parents called me Bluebird, after the phrase 'bluebird of happiness,' because I had a sunny nature. When David was born we called him our Little Lion, and then when the twins came along we called Noelle Honey Bunch and Meredith was Sweetie Pie."
"'Lions and tigers and bears, oh my,'" quoted Elizabeth from The Wizard of Oz. "My parents called me Bumblebee. For some reason I loved wearing yellow."
"Our current nicknames came from my job," Edmund said. "When I received my first ambassadorial post the State Department recommended the family call me Ambassador, but that was a mouthful for the grandkids when they were little. Funny Bunny here shortened Ambassador to Dor, and my wife went from Ambassadress to Dressa."
"Wait a minute," said Angela.
"Anyway, getting back to ukuleles," Henry interrupted. "Does anyone know where I could borrow one?"
"Hold your horses, Tiger," Angela continued. "That's the nickname your Winslow grandparents gave you. I'll bet you have something much more embarrassing from the Caffrey side of the family." She looked expectantly at Irene. "Right?"
Neal grinned. "It must be really good, for him to have kept it secret all this time."
Henry leaned back and crossed his arms. "If you're such a hotshot FBI consultant, why don't you figure it out?"
"You're on," said Angela. "Before we leave Hawaii, Neal and I will figure out your real nickname."
"A mystery," said Peter with a gleam in his eye.
Neal raised his glass in a mock toast to Henry for the brilliant move. The best way to keep Peter distracted was to tempt him with a puzzle to solve.
WCWCWCWCWCWCWC
Having started the day off with two breakfasts – one on the plane and another at the hotel – they were eager to be active. The morning and afternoon were spent on a tour of the island followed by shopping shamelessly at tourist traps. They all bought loud Hawaiian shirts and wore them to dinner that evening. Following a luau, they gathered in chairs and on beach towels around a fire pit on the beach. The temperature was in the 70s and the fire was a small one, for ambience rather than heat. A circle of torches around them provided light.
"Where are the marshmallows?" Henry asked.
"Always the sweet tooth," Edmund said, looking fondly at his oldest grandchild.
"Ooo, that would be a good nickname," Angela noted. She looked at Henry. "Is that it? Sweet Tooth?"
"Wrong," said Henry. "Marshmallows?"
"I told you he'd ask for them." Irene reached into a canvas bag, pulling out the treat and prongs for roasting them. "Fortunately the hotel was ready."
"Are we going to tell ghost stories?" asked Rosalind as the first marshmallows turned golden brown over the fire. "Hey!" She slapped her younger sister's hand. "Roast your own. This one's mine."
"As a matter of fact," Noelle said, "I have something like ghost stories in mind."
"Really?" asked Viola. "Is that a Caffrey Christmas tradition?"
"No, but if we like it we could make it a tradition," Noelle told her. "You see, I was born on Christmas Eve, right before midnight, and my twin sister was born in the first minutes of Christmas Day."
Joe's daughters traded a look.
"Yes, the mysterious missing sister," Noelle acknowledged. "She's one of the ghosts we'll raise tonight. Anyway, my parents did their best to let us have a birthday celebration separate from Christmas each year, but as I child I couldn't help resenting their very unfortunate timing."
Rosalind and Viola giggled, as did Angela and Elizabeth.
"And now on this vacation we have my birthday, Christmas, New Year's Eve and then a wedding. It's a lot of holidays and celebrating. I'm taking advantage of the way brides are traditionally indulged, and hoping you'll follow my suggestion of a method to get us through it all. Tonight we'll focus on the past. One thing you learn as you get older is that the holidays aren't limited to joyfulness. There's a lot of sadness, as we remember those who can't be with us due to death or other circumstances, and we shouldn't try to ignore that sadness. On the other hand, we shouldn't wallow. It's good to take time to appreciate the happy memories we have of those who aren't here. That's what I'd like to do in place of a birthday celebration tonight. Then tomorrow, on Christmas, we'll focus on the present."
"And presents," Joe added.
"Of course. That takes us to New Year's, which is an excellent time to think about our hopes and plans for the future, and that's a lovely lead-in to a wedding."
"Indeed it is," agreed Betty. "Perhaps reflecting on the past, present and future will become a Burke family tradition."
Noelle reached out and squeezed her future mother-in-law's hand. "I'm looking forward to learning about the existing Burke family traditions, too." Then she looked around at the assembled family and said, "You may think it's odd that my former father and mother-in-law are here. But when I divorced Robert 12 years ago, I knew that Henry still deserved to have both sets of grandparents in his life, and Graham and Julia deserved to be around him." Looking at the Winslows she said, "I grew to love you both very soon after I got married, and I know you wanted to get away from your usual holiday routine this first Christmas after Robert's death. I have very fond memories of holidays at your home and on your boat."
And somehow that led naturally into reminiscing by Graham and Julia. He spoke about his first wife, who had died when their children were in their teens and early twenties, and about the changes Julia had wrought in his life and in his company. A British citizen, she'd introduced the concept of Boxing Day to the Winslow family. They shared some memories of Robert, too, focusing on his childhood antics.
Henry added some comments about happy memories, including the times his father took him along on his annual trips to play poker in Las Vegas.
Next Edmund and Irene started talking about their oldest child, David. An Air Force pilot, he'd died in Afghanistan in the summer of 2003. They talked about his love of adventure. His widow Paige and daughter Angela also added memories.
Then Luke and Betty spoke up. Neal was surprised to learn that Joe and Peter had another brother. Timothy had been about three years younger than Joe, and had died of SIDS as a baby.
Noelle prompted Rosalind and Viola to talk about their favorite memories with their mother. Joe's ex-wife was still alive, and even though their marriage had ended long ago and Joe got custody of their children, he had worked hard to make sure his daughters maintained a good relationship with their mother. "I want you to be comfortable talking about your mom around me," Noelle said. "She's an important part of your lives."
The girls shared several amusing stories, and as they wound down Viola looked at Noelle. "You said something about a twin sister."
Noelle nodded. "When I first met your father, I told him that we don't talk about Meredith outside the family, but you are family now. We're going to trust you with an important secret, if you think you can keep it. Will you promise not to talk to anyone outside this circle about her?"
With the promises made, Noelle asked Neal to share whatever he felt comfortable telling about Meredith Caffrey Bennett. He started by explaining that his father, James Bennett, had been a cop who got involved with the Irish mob. Eventually he'd been caught, and his crimes were so serious that his wife and son and his partner on the police force were all sent into WITSEC. Neal told them that he grew up unaware of any of this, instead believing his father had died a hero. "I learned the truth when I turned 18, and it was such a shock that I ran away. To make a long story short, Noelle learned I was missing and asked her ex-husband for help finding me since he worked at Win-Win, which is a private investigation and security company. Robert farmed the assignment out to Henry, who tracked me down, and then we embarked on an epic road trip."
As Edmund, Irene and Noelle shared memories of a much younger Meredith, Neal came to appreciate how very much she had changed over the years. In WITSEC Meredith had to give up her career in catering, she had been requested to change her religious affiliation, and she had to hide her gift for languages. What did it do to a person to suppress everything you are? Meredith had shown up briefly at the end of Henry's birthday party in August, and afterward Noelle had described her sister as empty – as if Meredith had evaporated and a stranger the U.S. Marshals had named Deirdre Brooks occupied her body.
Neal frowned into the campfire. That wasn't what Peter wanted, was it? For Neal to empty himself of his past life and experiences, transforming into the perfect FBI employee?
Henry nudged him. "Cover for me, if they miss me." But Henry slipped away so quietly and stealthily that he wasn't missed. A few minutes later he returned, carrying his guitar, which he handed to Edmund Caffrey. "How about you go back another generation? Tell us about some ghosts of Caffreys past."
Edmund had come from a long line of itinerant musicians, and it was nearly impossible to talk about them without being inspired to sing. Soon Edmund was leading the group in singing "Let There Be Peace on Earth," followed by "I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day" and "Silver Bells." In that song Henry took the lead on a chorus turning the words into, "Baby Bear, Baby Bear, it's Christmastime in Hawaii," and the resulting jeers from Neal and laughter from everyone else brought the musical interlude to an end.
Graham and Julia Winslow reminisced about their own childhood Christmas memories, and Luke and Betty Burke did the same. Joe and Peter joined in, talking about how Luke had coached their hockey teams, and Elizabeth finally spoke up to share some of her memories. She described a time shortly after she married Peter when he took her to a hockey game and she'd started out horrified at how rough the players were. "And then by the end," Peter added with a chuckle, "she was yelling, 'Hit him harder!'"
"I was not," Elizabeth insisted, but there was a mischievous gleam in her eye that triggered a memory.
"When I was a kid…" Neal started, and then trailed off.
"Go on," Noelle said.
"Well, my… my mom decided we should make Christmas cookies when I was seven. It was a shortbread dough we rolled out and then used cookie cutters to make shapes that we baked and decorated with different colors of icing."
"I loved her shortbread cookies," Irene said when Neal paused. "It was my mother's recipe, but Meredith had a knack for making them better than anyone else in the family. And I imagine your decorations were works of art."
"They looked good," Neal acknowledged, "but we ate most of them as soon as we iced them. We barely had a plateful left the next day. What I remember most was when the cookies were baking, and we started to clear out mixing bowls and stuff so we'd have space for them to cool. The flour canister was almost empty, and I was supposed to refill it before putting it away. About half way through I lost my grip on the package, and flour went everywhere. We were both covered in it, dark hair dusted white, and it was in drifts on the floor and countertops. I thought she was going to be mad, and instead she started laughing. She picked up a handful and threw it at me like a snowball, and I remember how she grinned when she did it. Then we drew patterns in the flour on the cabinet doors and somehow even the cleanup seemed like a game. So often it seemed like she was depressed, but that night she was the fun person that everyone describes growing up. Kind of like she was a kid at heart."
Betty reached out to pat his shoulder. "Peter did that, too – spilling flour everywhere during a baking project he was trying to help with. He looked so helpless and bemused I had to laugh."
"Of course that was on winter break when Peter was in college," Joe said. "Didn't exactly have the cute factor of a seven-year-old boy."
Neal leaned back and grinned. "What can I say? I'm adorable."
Henry and Peter both threw sand at him. "Yep, he looks good covered in flour or sand," Henry said with a grin.
"A definite improvement," Peter agreed.
WCWCWCWCWCWCWC
It was only 10pm when everyone went back to their rooms. Although that sounded early, it felt much later given that it was 5am on the East coast, where most of them lived.
While Edmund and Irene Caffrey had insisted on paying for the flights, Graham and Julia Winslow's wedding gift was paying for the accommodations. The wedding couple had a private bungalow. Everyone else was distributed among several two-bedroom suites. Neal and Henry shared a room with two queen-sized beds, which opened into a living area. On the opposite side of the suite was a second bedroom for Edmund and Irene.
Henry chuckled as he sat on his bed. "My mom, the psychologist. She managed to turn Christmas Eve into a group therapy session."
"It wasn't like that," Neal protested. "It was a good way to get to know everyone. Mostly it was fun, except when it turned poignant. I didn't know Joe and Peter had a third brother."
"You weren't the only one hearing new stories. No one told me Meredith showed up in D.C. on my birthday."
Neal shrugged. "It was after you left. You went away to deal with your grief and guilt over your father's death and you didn't come back until three months later. Anyway, she was just there for a few minutes. The Marshals knew about the party and stopped by as they were moving her to her new location. The only person she talked to was your mom."
"But you know what they talked about." Henry was clearly pushing for answers. He had a masters in psychology and could be just as nosy as Noelle.
"Yeah. I'll tell you all about it after you tell me your nickname."
"Not happening. I can get Mom to tell me what Meredith said." Henry turned off the lights in the room.
"Little Drummer Boy?" Neal guessed. "My earliest memory of you was in a kitchen, where you'd pulled all the pots out of the cupboards and were using them as a drums."
"Shut up and go to sleep."
"Bossy Pants?"
"Not even close."
Saturday morning. December 25, 2004.
After a brunch buffet in one of the hotel restaurants, everyone gathered in the suite Angela and her mother shared with Joe's daughters. Since they had all packed for a two-week stay, carrying lots of packages would have been a hassle. It was agreed that everyone would have one present to unwrap in Hawaii, and Angela had put herself in charge of coordinating with gift givers to make sure each person had a small present. She taped a large poster of a Christmas tree on the wall and had everyone gather around while she doled out gifts in what she deemed to be the correct order.
"Is she like this every Christmas?" Neal asked Henry.
"Yeah, she likes organizing us. And you called me Bossy Pants. You have no idea."
Angela started by handing boxes to the Caffrey and Winslow grandparents. Irene got bear slippers in honor of having picked the nickname Baby Bear for Neal, and Edmund got bunny slippers for calling Angela a Funny Bunny. Graham's slippers were tigers, in honor of his nickname for Henry, and Julia's slippers had a nautical theme to represent the love of sailing she shared with Henry. The final gift to that generation was an envelope of hockey tickets for Luke and Betty; they would be going to a New York Rangers game with their sons.
Peter and Elizabeth had officially received their gift from Neal in New York, but he had brought a digital photo of it rolled up like a scroll so they could show everyone. It was a painting by Neal depicting the three of them around a campfire on a starry night at the Burke family cabin. "This scene is from a night of stargazing on Halloween," Peter said, "when we were kicked out of the cabin because Joe had just proposed to Noelle. El thought we should give them some privacy. Which they would have had, if Joe had actually called to reserve the cabin instead of just showing up, assuming that no one else would be there."
"Hey, no one goes up there on Halloween," Joe protested.
"Didn't you tell me going to the cabin for stargazing on Halloween was an old tradition of yours?" Neal asked.
"What's the next gift?" asked a blushing Elizabeth.
Angela gave her mother – an aeronautic engineer – an airplane Christmas ornament, explaining that they collected a new airplane ornament every year. The gift to Noelle was a photo Neal had procured in Las Vegas over the summer. It was of Henry in a gondolier costume at the Venetian resort. Henry and Neal had been trying for years to get the manager of the gondoliers to hire one of them, and over the summer Henry had finally won that competition. Noelle laughed. "This reminds me of when you were all babies. Meredith liked dressing you up in costumes." She leaned over and kissed Henry on the forehead. "Don't be jealous of Neal, sweetheart. You're adorable, too."
"Oh, wait! Is it Sweet Heart?" Angela asked.
"No it can't be," Neal protested. "She calls everyone sweetheart or sweetie."
Henry smiled smugly. "You're never going to guess. You might as well give up."
"Never!" Neal and Angela insisted. Neal was glad to see Rosalind and Viola nodded, getting caught up in the interactions with their new family members.
The next gift was for Joe and his daughters. Peter handed them an envelope containing tickets. "I heard you became big Urban Legend fans. They aren't touring anymore, but because they have a hit song right now they were asked to perform New Year's Eve. The concert will be on the beach here in Waikiki."
"Of course, we're just doing a couple of songs. The big draw is Local Devastation," Henry said nonchalantly, although he grinned when Rosalind and Viola squealed. "Oh, yeah, and it's going to be televised. It seems there's this big deal about a ball dropping in Times Square and performances by lots of groups while they wait for midnight." The squealing grew louder, with the girls grabbing their father's arms and insisting they needed to buy new clothes before they attended a televised concert.
Joe laughed and hugged them both, settling them down so that Angela could continue. "Next we come to my gift," she said. "At Henry's birthday we met some of those itinerant musicians and artisans on the Caffrey side of the family, and I fell in love with the dulcimers."
Edmund added, "I'd been a bit harsh about Angela's wish to study music in graduate school, afraid she'd return to the hardscrabble life I'd fought my way out of. I wanted to let her know I'll support her dreams, so I commissioned a dulcimer from one of my nephews. We gave it to Angela when it arrived a couple of weeks ago."
"And I love it," Angela said. "But I didn't want it bumping around in the plane, so nothing for me to open today."
"Hmm," said Irene. "I'm sure I saw something with your name on it."
"What?" While Angela sat in shocked silence, Henry reached behind the sofa to hand something to his cousin.
"Edmund isn't the only one who commissioned something from his relatives," Irene said as Angela unwrapped a leather carrying case for her dulcimer. "One of his nieces designs these."
"Oh, my. It's beautiful!" And Neal saw that Henry was right. Angela did bounce when she was excited. Soon she composed herself and said, "I think my favorite gift is the one going to Neal." She slid a box in his direction.
He opened the box to find a photo album. It was filled with pictures of his family, from Irene and Edmund's wedding photos down through the generations with pictures of Henry, Neal and Angela as children. At first he paged through it in silence. When they went into WITSEC they hadn't been allowed to take any pictures with them. He'd never had a photo album. Then he turned a page and looked up at Peter in surprise. "This is you."
"The Burkes are your family now, too," Peter said. "The album was El's idea, but it became a group project to collect all the photos."
"This is amazing," Neal said. He turned to Elizabeth. "Thanks. I never would have thought to ask for this, but it's perfect."
They passed the album around and people exclaimed and laughed at some of the pictures. As it came back to Neal, Angela said, "But what about Henry? No one told me what his gift would be."
Neal met Noelle's eyes. "Did you tell Joe?"
She nodded. "He's going to be my husband, so I thought he should know. But I haven't told anyone else." She handed Neal a file folder.
Neal looked around the room. His grandparents and Peter and Elizabeth already knew, and of course Noelle and Joe did, too. Graham and Julia knew part of it. His aunt Paige, Henry, Angela, Joe's daughters and Peter's parents were in the dark, but they'd been trusted last night with the knowledge that he'd grown up in WITSEC. "This falls under the promise you all made yesterday. If you don't want another secret to keep, just head outside for a few minutes."
No one left.
Taking a deep breath, Neal said, "Henry's always been like a big brother to me. He's looked after me, annoyed me, even impersonated me on occasion. Not so easy now though," he added, running his hand through his hair. During the Masterson con Henry had grown his hair longer to resemble Neal more, but now it was cut much shorter, and Neal's comment garnered a few chuckles. "Anyway, this is probably as much a gift to me as it is to you. I found out a couple of days after your birthday. Dressa suggested I tell you for Christmas, but I probably couldn't have kept it a secret this long if you hadn't been out of the country." He handed the file folder to Henry.
Henry opened the file folder to see Neal's birth certificate, and his eyes widened in shock to see Noelle listed as Neal's mother.
"You really are half-brothers," Irene said, reaching out to rub Henry's back. "You were only two and a half when Neal was born, too young to remember."
"How…" Henry seemed at a loss for words.
Irene explained how her daughter Noelle had acted as a surrogate when Meredith had been unable to carry a child to term, and how one of Noelle's eggs had been used. "We didn't know that last part," Irene explained. "We told the doctors we didn't want to know whose egg was selected, but they wrote it down in case we changed our minds. When Meredith stopped in D.C. for a few minutes, she gave that old note to Noelle."
Henry stared at them, still speechless.
Neal said, "Merry Christmas, brother," and then Henry finally reacted, pulling his younger brother into a hug.
"Best Christmas present ever," Henry said in a hoarse voice, as everyone around them cheered.
Family cast list:
Burke Family: Peter and his wife Elizabeth. Peter's parents Luke & Betty. Peter's brother Joe, and Joe's daughters Rosalind and Viola.
Caffrey Family: Neal's grandparents Edmund and Irene (Dor & Dressa). Their children David, Noelle and Meredith. David's wife Paige and their daughter Angela. Noelle's ex-husband Robert Winslow and their son Henry. Robert's father Graham and stepmother Julia.
A/N: A belated Merry Christmas to those who celebrate. This chapter contains many, many references to the previous stories of this AU. I can't do justice to them all, but you can find a list of all the stories in order on my profile page. If you want to know more about prior stories, or wonder which story contained specific scenes or elements, leave a comment and I'll look it up for you.
I've created a Caffrey Aloha Pinterest board so you can see images related to the story and a cast list. A second board titled Caffrey Album will go up shortly to show some of the items in Neal's photo album. The next chapter of this story will be posted in a week. In it Mozzie will interrupt the bachelor party with concerns about a jewel theft, and Peter will try to figure out what's bothering Neal.