Bass sat close to the fire, his elbows on his knees, deep in thought. Charlie's scent was still close, and the contact she had made with him, had left him with his mind filled by the way her body had felt against his chest, and the need for more.

He could not remember when it had been just him and her and a fire, it had been ages. He almost expected her sleeping form not too far away from him. In the beginning, he had watched her sleep to make sure she would not pull another assassination stunt. Then his eyes would find her asleep to make sure she was okay and because, from the moment she had stood between her brother and the barrel of the gun Strausser had been holding, he simply had not been able to not look at her again.

He had always felt something for her, she had always managed to break through. And somewhere after he had come back from Mexico with his kid, he had seen something in her eyes when they had met again at the safe house, that told him he maybe was not alone. He immediately told himself he was out of his fucking mind to think Charlie could feel anything else than cold hate for him, but the signals she gave him, he just could not get the hell around them.

She had found his damn miserable life worth saving. Twice. Somebody still cared. Charlie Matheson cared.

But then, after Vegas, things had not been the same. He pushed away that one moment that was like a cold punch to the gut, still after all those months. He had distanced himself from her, not being able to be around her like he used to. He had been crass, he had said things about and to her he regretted.

But still, through all the shit of last year there had been moments where she had confused the hell out of him. For one, she had followed him with the attack on that patriot re education camp, when a whining let's wait for Miles and do the right fucking thing Rachel had asked them not to go. Charlie had not cared about her opinion. She went anyway. Fought like hell. And when he screwed up beyond anything, letting Neville close to her at the train, her eyes had been waiting for him, when he finally had the balls to look at her.

There was a reason he was still here in this Texan town. Everybody else thought it was about Miles. And that was true. But it was not the whole truth. Truth was, she was here too. And something had changed again after they fought this summer. It had made him stay. He watched the fire as he took another sip from the bottle in his hands.

When Charlie had made her way to her room, she could see the last light of the bonfire outside, a small golden glow was reaching her window. She still could feel the stubble of his beard against her skin. It still was an surreal sensation to touch Bass, to stand so close against his body, to feel what it was like, his tallness towering over her, his hand so gentle in contrast to his actions and energy.

She still could feel his body so incredibly close to hers. The raw but still almost vulnerable emotion in his voice when he had wished her a merry Christmas. It was the first time she had called him Bass. In her head, he was Bass now for a very long time. But hey, she was a Matheson. Her stubbornness got in the way of calling him anything other than Monroe to his face.

She smiled at the way it had made her feel, his name rolling of her own lips. It felt good. It was good. Just like the rest of the evening. She liked the fact that Bass was still awake, out there. Close.

She had liked meeting his eyes during the night. Or maybe his eyes always had been there like this, but she just had not allowed herself to see it. Tonight, something had changed, and she had wondered if it was just like his eyes. Had this always been right under the surface, and did she just allow herself to feel? Feel something for him.

When she almost drifted off, she felt the comfort of the blankets around her. They were warm, her bare legs touching the soft fabric.

Her thoughts were with the city that was once her home, a city and a world where both Miles and Bass had been there, other men, another Christmas, so different but both of those men still so the same. With a smile around her lips she fell asleep. Memories and people of Christmases through the years guiding her into a deep sleep, the scent of the fire still in her hair.

Bass had no idea how much time had passed, his thoughts were with her and only her. She was in the house behind him, within reach. His list of regrets was long. When he got up from the porch steps, he realised that there was a good change that this night would end with Miles knifes close to his balls or throat. Probably both. But when he walked up the steps, he was so damn sure.

He was not going to add one more damn regret to that list.

It was still dark when she woke up again, woke up to the sound of his boots on the stairs. Charlie knew that sound by heart. Miles had told Bass he could stay over and crash on the couch if he wanted to. Their friendship was slowly forming again, while their brotherhood never left. No matter what both men said, Charlie knew that.

She heard a soft knock on her door. Bass. She slowly slipped out her bed, wearing only panties and a simple black shirt that barely fell over her legs. She put her hands on the knob, tilting her head backwards while she closed her eyes.

When she slowly opened the door he was leaning into the doorway, broad and tall before her. His eyes were intense, deep, almost dark instead of blue and filled with something she recognised as her own.

He did not speak when he entered the room and put one of his strong arms around her waist. Charlie's senses got an overload of him touching, the strength of his arm around her body, his warmth reaching through the fabric of her shirt. One large hand cupped her cheek in such a gentle way, that it took her breath away.

Monroe, build for fighting and killing, crass, smug, arrogant, was touching her with such gentleness that she felt overwhelmed. But this was not Monroe right now. It was Bass too. The man that always seemed to be at her side, getting her out of trouble, saving her life, come back for her, finding her with his eyes, through everything.

Bass had not been sure what he would do when he walked up the stairs. He was not even sure what Charlie would do. But when she had been close again, he just wanted to feel her close again. Touching her set his mind into an aching overdrive. Her curves felt smooth and soft, and she almost complete disappeared under his arm.

He looked at her, and when she nodded yes, because she knew what he was asking her with that look, his mouth moved over hers.

Her breath got locked somewhere in between her chest and throat when she first felt his warm breath, and then his firm but still soft lips that moved over hers. Somehow she completely lost the ability to move, her hands had found a way towards his side and were wrapped somewhere under his jacket.

He lifted her from the floor without breaking their kiss. He softly closed the door behind them while he felt the soft curves of her slender body in his arms for the first time. He loved the weight of her body against his. He fucking could not believe she would let him close, would let him near her, touching her. He could honestly not remember how many times he had wanted to grab her, pull her close.

Ending yet another infuriating argument, an argument with words, but more so with their eyes, with his mouth on hers, while he would disappear deep inside of her.

They stood there, in the middle of the room, while they got lost in each other and their kiss. Tongues met and her feet were still not touching the floor. Charlie's body finally remembered what it was like to move and she threw her arms around his neck and let her fingers run through his curls. She felt his growing hardness against her, and that sensation made her core react in an intense way.

Bass let out a deep groan when Charlie started to move in his arm, pushing her hips deliberately deeper onto his cock. He had been so damn sure this, this insanely raw need he had for this woman had been one sided.

He broke the kiss, and moved his mouth away from hers, his breathing deep and fast.

'Charlie, are you sure you want this?'

She just stared at him for a moment. She had once told Duncan, when she was actually defending Sebastian Monroe, that by saving her life, and she by saving his, their lives had been tied together.

Right now, she knew it had been the truth. Tonight, she had finally seen him. She had let herself see him and was finally ready to feel what she felt now.

'Yes. Don't leave, Bass.'

Maybe for two other people, two people who did not carry the burden and pain of their past with them, those words were only an invitation for more to come, a passionate night, filled with want.

But her words, a surrender to what could be between them, the way she was wrapping herself around him, it meant so much more. And they both knew it.

He looked at her, blue meeting blue, when he walked them both towards the bed. Her bed. Charlie could not believe this was happening, but she was so sure she wanted to.

When he positioned himself next to her, he let his eyes go all over her body. She was simply beautiful and after he kissed her one more time, his lips started to explore every stunning part of her.

Charlie let out a soft moan at the feel of his lips, his scruff and the curls that went over her skin. He slowly moved her shirt over her breasts. The only moment when Bass would let go of her, was when he took of his own shirt, boots and pants.

Charlie could not get enough of the lines of his body. She had been fighting and getting through her days alongside with him now for so long, and he had been so close. But this, seeing him in the soft light of darkness with just a hint of moonlight was almost too much. She took in piece of his body, every muscle, every scar. His broad chest, firm shoulders, broad thighs. And then, his hard and large hardness, strong and ready for her.

Finally hands were able to explore. Needs were about to be fulfilled. Bass felt his hardness throb with every minute Charlie was touching his body with slender fingers, with her lush soft lips. They were teasing each other. Her hand was teasing his chest, when she moved south and kissed his stomach. Finally her hand wrapped around his length, while Bass's fingers found that one spot between her legs. Their growls and moans got lost in a deep wild kiss when Bass took over, pushed her hand away and stroked her clit with enough pressure to make her almost come. When he added one finger, and then another one, Charlie exploded all around him, arching her whole body against him.

He was not prepared for what it would be like to feel Charlie surrender in his arms, to feel her come, her warm wetness around his fingers. Charlie felt how she drifted to a place of total bliss, when she felt how her body spasm while she came. She heard his name resounding in her head over and over again.

While Bass moved his body between her legs, Charlie felt his cock against the inside of her thigh. She placed her hands on his upper arms. He was so ready, and so was she. She arched her hips towards him, while he let his hand go from her cheek to her neck and finally found a path between her breasts and over her stomach.

Bass felt her warmth radiating towards him, she felt how very wet she was. For him. Without letting her go with his eyes he filled her with one long movement, watching Charlie's face for every stunning second. He let out a deep groan at the moment her tightness wrapped herself all around him. Their bodies got completely entangled in each other when his thrusts became filled with more need and urgency. Charlie met him at every thrust, until they found a rhythm that made them move as one.

When Charlie felt Bass all over her, it was his intense look, hunger, want, care, desire, strength, all at once, that pushed her over the edge for the second time and further into his arms when she finally came, her orgasm going through her whole body, from head to toes. She let out his name in a deep breath of air for the second time that night, while her lips were so close to his skin.

When Bass heard how Charlie whispered his name with surrender, her breath warm in his neck he felt the jolt deep within his balls. With the last self control he could master, he pulled out of her and her hands joined his to stroke him over the edge, his warm release finding her skin on the inside of her legs.

Charlie listened to his deep breaths, and took in the scent of his sweat mixed with her own, a passionate scent between the two of them. Hearing and feeling Bass come, she had not been able to fight another moan of herself. It was such an erotic moment, that she could feel how her body was aching for more of him already.

She still did not understand why it had to be him, why somehow both their paths had crossed and when they had, a pull, an intense energy, it had simple been there. Years of fighting together, fighting each other, had lead them to this point. She knew Bass now for years, and slowly, ever so slowly, things had changed.

She had no idea what would happen now, what would be next for them. But for now, this night, she knew where she wanted to be. It was like that night, where she had stood with Aaron in front of that court house, knowing that Bass would not be there for another day. It had made her feel empty and hollow, without even understanding it. She wanted him around.

And when they both laid still, their breaths slowly coming back to normal, skin against warm skin, her slender curves against the hardness of his body that had been through so much, Bass knew for sure.

This was raw, this had been about need and both of them crashing into each other, finally giving into something that been in the air for so long now.

But tonight, tonight had also been about something else. Something with a richness that could be only understand by the two of them.

When Charlie slowly moved in his arms, and let out a deep sated sigh when she moved her head onto his chest with such a trust between them, like it had always been like this between them, he knew for sure.

He would not leave her. Not now. Not after this. He could not give a fuck how many obstacles he had to fight through. He would be where he had been the moment she had fallen in that empty pool before his feet. With her.

Christmas Eve, 6 years later

Charlie had just said goodnight to Aaron and Priscilla and their little girl, moments before her mom had made sure Miles got off the couch, where he had almost fallen asleep with a bottle in his hands.

The room was warm, candles spreading soft light around the room while a little tree stood in the corner of the room. Red and golden little Christmas ornaments, that had belonged to her grandmother, were hanging from the little branches.

The past years had not been easy. The war against the patriots was over, another threat from the Nano had been there right after. More battle ahead. They all had made it through, and found a way to tame the Nano, although the power was probably never coming back on.

But life was good now. There was peace. There was food, there was safety.

'Goodnight kid.' Miles pressed a kiss against her forehead, before he and her mom where out of the door. She leaned in for a rare hug from her uncle, and smelled the whiskey around him, his warm arm around her for a moment.

'Night Miles.' Charlie laughed at the sight of her, well, very drunk Uncle. Some things never changed. And she loved it.

'Night mom,' she smiled at Rachel, who smiled back at her daughter. Some things did change though. The years that had passed had brought them closer. Old hurt and pain was still there, but Charlie had found a way to reconnect with her mother. Miles and her mother had found their way to live their lives, and although it had not been an easy road, the past almost driving them apart, they had made it. Rachel belonged to Miles, and Miles belonged to her.

'Good night Charlie, thanks for having us over tonight.' Rachel nodded with a smile. Charlie leaned into the door when she waved one more time, the cool night air hitting her face.

When Charlie closed the front door, she walked into the living room that had turned into complete chaos. Connor was busy cleaning up some of the plates and the wrapping paper of welcome Christmas presents. His wife, Abbey, was helping her. They had met last year and she had meant the end to Connor's wild years of dating and many , many, woman. He had settled down and had found a way to work things out with Bass. Abbey was pregnant and Connor had found a life that suited him, that he enjoyed.

'Okay, you guys get out of here. Let's leave that until the morning.' Charlie said to both Connor and Abbey.

'Yes ma'm,' Connor threw her one his best smirks. Over the years, Connor and her had become friends, had become family.

She smiled at them and shook her head. 'You are lucky it is Christmas, Connor..or else..'

She hugged both of them goodnight and when her last guests were out of the door she looked at the stairs before her. She let out a sigh, it had been a great night. Family, friends, whiskey for the boys, food, laughter, presents.

She looked into the living room for a moment, little golden stars hanging in the tree. Silently between the branches of the tree.

Danny, Ben, Maggie, Emma, Bass his parents, his sisters, his little girl, Shelly. Somehow they had reached a place in time where those dear and beloved faces from the people that had been there once, could be remembered, could be mentioned with warmth. In their stories where they would be safe.

They had decided they would keep Aaron's tradition of their annual Christmas Eve together. The boys had built a fire in the garden, of course not without arguing, and the evening had ended in the house.

Charlie made her way upstairs, when a small voice reached her from one of the rooms. When Charlie reached the doorway she simply smiled.

'Again, daddy. Again.' The little girl pointed at the book in front of her with gentle blue eyes, 'one more time?'

She watched him sigh, but with a warm smile on his face, before he opened the book again

'Can't say no to her, can you?' A warm smile in her words, when Charlie spoke.

'She is just like her mother,' Bass winked at her.

Charlie watched how their little girl, Sarah, was in bed and curled up against Bass, one of her little hands on his under arm. She was two years old, almost three, and from the moment Charlie had greeted that tiny little person, their daughter, she had felt a never ending love.

'Mommy, you come too,' Sara stretched out her little arms towards Charlie. When Charlie had found a place next to her and Bass, Sara was lost in the story again, listening to Bass and looking at the detailed pictures in the book in front of her. Bass kept on telling the story about a girl and her ice skates, but searched for Charlie's eyes and when they met each other above Sara's little blonde curls, they locked eyes.

Charlie would never forget Bass his face when he saw his daughter for the first time. Her little body breathing in his arms. So small, so loved, so protected.

Bass had been crying silent tears, and so was she, while Sara had come into the world with strong cries. He had wrapped her in his strong arms and never let her go after that day.

That one Christmas Eve, a long time ago, had been what chanced both of their lives for good. It had not been easy. It had been incredible, amazing, hard, impossible. But it had been them. And they had made it.

Bass felt how his little girl had fallen asleep, when he slowly closed the book and put it on her night stand. He watched the curls that fell around her head, her little cheeks blushed with the excitement of the evening.

Bass had watched Connor playing with her and her new toys, from the other side of the room and had to swallow a lump in his throat away at the sight of both of his children so damn close.

He pressed a soft kiss on her forehead, while he gently tucked her under the covers. His little girl. He was not sure what he did to deserve this, all of it. But god, he swore, he loved her. He loved her mother. His son. All of them. There was nothing in the world he would not to do protect them.

He would never betray the faith they had placed in his hands.

For a moment his thoughts were with his own parents and sisters, and how much he wished they could all see him, his girls, Connor.

He hoped that wherever they were, they were proud.

A couple of hours later, when they got ready for bed, Charlie checked on Sara again. The room was almost dark, the soft light from a light in the hallway falling into the room. Downstairs Bass was checking the locks of the doors.

The bear she had gotten from Uncle Miles was tucked with her safely under the blankets. Miles had , eventually and with some struggle, accepted her and Bass.

What he had not accepted, was the fact that both Bass and Charlie had made him a grandfather. So from the day Sara was Born, it had been uncle Miles.

Of course Bass was already teaching her the complete opposite, just to piss his brother off.

Bass watched Charlie, looking at his little girl. His two girls. Every now and then he remember a younger Charlie, fierce, strong as ever, stubborn and always in his face. And now she was standing here.

He walked towards her and pulled her close, his arms around her. Charlie tilted her head back, and let it rest against his chest.

'You are beautiful, Charlie.' He gently moved his hands from her side towards her belly. The curve of her belly promised another addition to their family, more happiness on the way and in spring she would made him the happiest man on earth for the fourth time.

The first time was when she had somehow found enough love and strength when she had forgiven him for every unforgivable thing he had ever done.

The second time was when she had said yes to marry him, her vows spoken with words of acceptance, love and respect while she had looked so beautiful in a long simple white dress only two years ago. Her long curls flowing around her shoulders.

Her hand in his, while they had stood under the bridge on a golden autumn afternoon, the same bridge he had waited for her to bring Miles back, when they both had arrived at Willoughby together for the first time.

There, under the trees and surrounded by family, she had become his wife, their lives now also tied with a promise and a ring.

Of course, he had kissed her long and passionate after they both said yes, and it had earned them a genuine what the hell from Miles.

'Hey man, he said I could kiss the bride. I just kissed my bride.' And then he had wrapped her in his arms and kissed her all over again, Charlie's smile golden on her face.

The third time was when she gave birth to their daughter, when Sara had arrived in their life's.

Bass felt how Charlie turned in his arms. She watched him, with intense blue eyes, like the way she had always looked at him. She gently placed one kiss on his upper lip.

'I love you, Bass. With everything I have.'

Bass smiled at her. She rarely said those words, although her forgiveness, their daughter, the live they were sharing and their unborn child between them, told him every day.

'I love you, Charlie, you have no idea how much.' His voice was hoarse.

He kissed her softly, gently, while she leaned into him.

'Take me to bed, Bass.'

'No place I'd rather be, baby.'

Charlie had once thought here was no hope, she had felt there would be no more time left for her to be happy, to live life, not just survive. When Charlie let Bass cover her and the small life she was carrying inside of her with a warm blanket, she moved closer to the man who had, against all odds, showed her what life could be.

She took in the scent that was Bass, the scent that was home. Bass who also could be an irritating arrogant pain in the ass, but hey, that was who he was, and she did not want him to chance. Ever.

Bass wrapped her up into his arms, and felt her warmth. He waited until she fell asleep, her slow breathing against his skin. The curves of her body against him while he was watching over her, like he had always done.

His little sisters used to love this one book. A book with a story about Christmas' wishes. He realised that somehow for him, that one aching wish had come true.

Family.

Author's Note Dear magpie, I sincerely hope you liked this story. I loved your prompts and whishes for this story. Reindeer, bonfire, the bear. I tried to write a story with it, a little bit naughty and a lot of nice, and it is my wish you liked it. I loved writing it for you and thank you for your inspiration! I wish you a very merry Christmas, and to everybody else reading this story: have a wonderful Christmas, with love and peace, wherever you are!

Because, for me, it is always all about love, and about family, and all those family and friends we are blessed with.

Thank you for reading,

Love from Love