"Merry Christmas, sweetheart." Jill opened the door and stepped aside for Billy to enter the foyer.

He smiled as she wrapped her arms tight around him and pulled him in close to her.

"It's so good to see you, darling," she cooed, as she pulled away and let her eyes move back towards the door. Her expression grew more serious as she stared out into the darkness. "Where is she?" she asked, the Christmas cheer in her voice barely disguising her disdain.

"Mother," Billy sighed.

Her eyes lit up, "Don't tell me," she grinned. "You decided to give me the best Christmas present of all …" Her smile widened as she looked at him with raised brows. "Tell me you finally came to your senses, Billy and …"

"You promised you were done with all this." Billy stepped farther into the room and sat down the bag of gifts. "Phyllis is actually spending the evening over at Jack and Ashley's tonight. I'm meeting her there for dessert later. For some strange reason, I didn't trust you to play nice …. I can't imagine why."

"Oh, Billy. I would have been on my best behavior if you had decided to bring her along. I just…" She saw the look on his face and stopped short. "Never mind," she sighed. "I did promise."

He nodded and leaned in to press a quick kiss on her cheek. "Thank you," he whispered. "Let's have a nice Christmas."

Phyllis stood at the mantle piece and ran her hand across the row of hung stockings. Each family member had their own. There was one for Jack, one for Ashley, one for Traci, and even one for the "Mother" that had abandoned them all so many years ago. Now, there was even one for Billy. She sighed as she touched the embroidered letters. His suggestion to split their time between two houses had seemed logical enough at the time, but now, as she stood in Abbott house alone, she missed him.

"Phyllis." Jack's voice rang out through the quiet living room. "We're getting ready to serve dinner. Are you coming in to join us?"

She looked up at Jack. Never in a million years would she have expected him to welcome her into this house again, especially not with the knowledge that she was in a relationship with his brother and yet it had happened. That alone was proof that miracles happened everyday, not just at Christmas.

"Phyllis?" Jack repeated her name as he walked over to the mantle and followed her gaze. He sighed aloud as he looked at the melancholy expression on her face. "I have to say, I figured you two would have been here together tonight."

She nodded. "He was trying to spare me the torture that is Jill," she smiled.

"In exchange for the torture that is the Abbott family charade?" Jack chuckled as she flashed him a soft smile in return.

"I guess," she sighed. "It's our first Christmas together and I guess I kind of pictured us spending it …" She stopped. "I'm sorry." Her eyes squeezed tight together as she realized the awkwardness of the situation. "I know you don't want to hear this."

"I can think of better ways to spend Christmas Eve," he admitted, "but I think you can probably think of a better way to spend it too." For a moment, he stopped, considering if he was truly insane for what he was about to do. "Why don't you go to the Chancellor estate?"

"What?"

"You heard me." His eyes sparkled as he laughed at her obvious shock. "You're right. It's your first Christmas together. You should spend it together. Time is precious. We all need to make the most of it while we have it."

"I'll get it." Esther rushed over to the door. "Phyllis," she breathed, "I thought you were over at the Abbott's tonight."

"I was, but there was a change of plans." She pulled her arms tighter around her as the cold wind seemed to cut through her body. "Is there room for one more in there?"

"Oh, I'm sorry." Esther stepped back, "Come in."

Phyllis stepped into the foyer, whispering a thank you as Esther took her coat. She breathed in sharply as she looked around the room. It hadn't occurred to her how long it had been since she'd been in this house. There were so many memories here, both good and bad. She could still remember the days when she and Billy were hiding from the world, stealing moments together, planning a future that seemed impossible both to have and not to imagine.

Her eyes fell on the staircase. The memories of that night were as vivid now as they had ever been. It had been a moment that had seemed inevitable and now, thinking back, she believed it was. Billy was, in many ways, her perfect match. He was as flawed as she was, with all the insecurities, vulnerabilities, and self destructive tendencies in tow. Yet, even with all of that, he had an incredible ability to love, with his whole heart, and he did. He loved her and that was something she never doubted, even if she had, at times, doubted him.

He had a passionate abandon about him that she'd always recognized and had experienced first hand many times. He also had a gentleness, a protective, caring softness to him that balanced his bravado in a way that made him perfect for her. She remembered that first night, how she'd seen evidence of that dichotomy. The passion and fire were obvious, but afterwards, in the way he held her and in the words he'd whispered, she'd never felt so cherished and safe.

"Hey."

She looked up as she heard the familiar voice and felt the warmth of his hand on the nape of her neck.

"What are you doing here?" He smiled at her as he leaned in to kiss her cheek. "Was it that bad at the house? Was their blood?"

"No," she smiled, snuggling up against him and breathing in the scent of his cologne. "I just missed you. That's all, and believe it or not, Jack actually encouraged me to come find you. He said we should spend our first Christmas together…make the most of time."

His eyes widened at his brother's surprising words. "Wow. That is amazing. Talk about a turn around."

"It is the season for miracles," she smiled.

"Fa la la la la." He ran his hand down the small of her back as he stared at her for a moment, "So, what are you doing standing in here? You gonna come in the living room and party with the rest of us? Mom promised to be on her best behavior."

"I was just thinking," she whispered, her hand gesturing to the stairs. "There are a lot of memories in this house for us."

Billy drew in a deep breath and let his head lean back a bit. "Right," he sighed. "There certainly are. In fact, it was in that room right in there where it all started … at least for me."

She nodded. "The night of the gala, with the storm."

"I had lost everything and then there was you … I tried to forget about it, but I couldn't. You kept creeping into my mind, into my dreams and soon, you were all I could think about." He smiled as he reached up and softly touched her face. "You still are."

Phyllis smiled. "They weren't all good memories though." She stepped closer to the living room, her eyes falling on the area in which the Christmas tree stood. "I never wanted to hurt you, Billy. When I came here that day … the things I said."

"Shhh.." His fingertips rested softly on her lips. "We don't have to talk about that. I know why you did that. We were both trying to minimize the damage and whatever we had to go through, however much pain it caused for both of us … it still brought us here. We're still us."

"Yeah." That was another thing she loved about him, his ability to cut through all the crap and get to the point. She stretched up and kissed him softly. "Let's go show Jill how happy we are."

He laughed a bit as he followed her into the living room. "Merry Christmas, Jill," Phyllis chirped. Her smiled broadened as she saw Jill's face stiffen.

"Phyllis." Jill turned to face her. "I didn't realize you were going to join us. I guess we can set another place at the table, right Esther?"

"Already done," Esther smiled.

"Aren't you efficient?" Jill muttered with a forced smile.

"You look lovely," Phyllis continued, moving closer to her as Jill eyed her suspiciously. "It's good to see you. I was so disappointed that I was going to have to miss this."

"I'd say the same dear, but it seems especially bad to lie on Christmas Eve."

"Mother," Billy hissed, "You promised … "

Jill nodded, taking a deep breath and forcing a smile. "I mean, It's good to see you too, Phyllis. It wouldn't have been the same without your charming presence."

"Oh, that's sweet of you to say."

"Well," Cane stood from the sofa and moved towards the kitchen. "Maybe we should get ready for dinner?"

Billy nodded as he took Phyllis' hand and headed into the dining room.

Phyllis smiled as she felt Billy's arms wrap around her. She leaned back against his chest as she stared at the tree.

"Did you enjoy dinner?" he whispered, as he pressed a soft kiss on her bare neck.

"It was delicious," she smiled, "though it is a shame that it was turkey when Jill would have surely benefited from some crow." She felt Billy's chest shake with soft laughter. "I know…I'm sorry. That was uncalled for, but after everything she's done, I feel like I deserved that last jab."

"I'll allow it," he whispered, pulling her tighter against him.

"Where is she anyway?"

"Mother? She's upstairs talking to Colin. They're wishing each other a Merry Christmas on the phone and Cane is putting Sam to bed and Esther is cleaning up, so you and I actually have the room to ourselves for a minute."

"The room," she said quickly, grabbing his hands and pulling them away from her. "Not the house."

"I know. I know," he grinned. "I can control myself around you."

"History is not on your side," she joked.

"I just thought maybe we could make a good memory to try and block out that bad one."

"Oh?" Phyllis looked up at him. Her eyes sparkled as she saw the mischief in his eyes. "What did you have in mind?"

He reached into his pocket, and pulled out a sprig of mistletoe. "I was gonna save this for later at home, but we can use it here first. Call it a test drive. What do you say?" He lifted it above his head as he pulled her closer to him.

She smiled as the glow of the tree seemed to surround them both. The memories not be perfect but neither were they. Life never was and it never would be. But there were moments like this, the perfect moments. She leaned in close to him as his lips met hers. This moment was perfect.