AN: General consensus was to see them picking a tree so I went with it. Have to admit, I've never actually been to a tree farm before but it's on my wish list as is moving to the UK so hopefully it's not too far off from what they're actually like. Thanks to everyone for your lovely reviews and thoughts.

Shifting slightly, Ruth nervously looked between Harry and the object of their current disagreement. "I don't think it's going to fit Harry."

Sweat building on his forehead, Harry looked up from his current task and met her grayish-blue eyes. "This isn't my first time. I think I know if it's going to fit or not."

"How long has it been since you last did this?"

With a huff, Harry rolled his shoulders before turning his attention back to the task at hand. "It's been a few years I'll admit but it's not something one bloody forgets. Now would you stop nagging and give me a hand woman."

Reaching a hand forward, Ruth placed it next to his and curled her fingers around the base. Getting a firm grip, she pulled upwards, her hand sliding up slightly. Stifling a groan, she twisted her hand slightly and shifted her grip, hoping to get a tighter grip. Feeling something poking her hand, she let go and pulled back, her eyes shifting to the flesh of her palm.

"Harry, we've been trying for ten minutes now. Let's just face it, it's not going to fit."

"No, we are not giving up. This is something I've been looking forward to for hours now, dreaming about for the past few days. We are going to make this fit if it's the last thing we do."

"There are other options we can try. They may not be exactly what you're looking for but it doesn't mean they aren't just as good." Placing her hand lightly on his forearm, she smiled before nodding her head at the man waiting patiently behind his shoulder. "He's been waiting patiently to step in since we ran into trouble, let's just let him help."

Releasing his grip, he frowned as he met her eyes. "Are you sure about this?"

"Yes Harry, I'm sure."

Shoulders dropping, he nodded his consent, his hand reaching for hers. "Alright, let's go find another tree."

Smiling, she gripped his hand in hers and nodded at the man standing next to the SUV. "We'll go look for one that'll fit in the boot."

Snow was starting to fall as they wandered down the aisles of pre-cut trees, Scarlet trotting ahead of them on her lead. Every few feet she'd spot some little woodland creature and chase after it between the trees, barking as her paws sprayed up bits of gravel. Ruth laughed as the little dog reached the end of her lead and came back to them, her tail wagging happily as she fell into step next to Harry. With only a week to go until Christmas, the tree farm was crowded but as they reached the furtherest reaches of the paths, the people thinned out and for a few blissful minutes, it was as if they were the only two people present. Not allowing her mind to drift too far from the here and now, Ruth let herself enjoy the trip. There'd be time enough to worry about the consequences to their relationship.

"What do you think of that one?" Harry asked, breaking Ruth out of her thoughts.

Stopping next to him, she looked at the tree he was pointing too and lifted an eyebrow. "Harry, that's even bigger than the one we were trying to get in the car."

"It has the perfect balance of branches to height." Walking around it slowly, he moved a branch here and there. "And there's no dead spots. It's the tree."

"And where are we going to put it, the back garden?"

"I was thinking in the corner of the front room." A smile forming on his face as he took notice of the we she had been using for most of the morning.

"Harry - the tree is like nine feet tall. There's no way it's going to fit inside the house."

"Fine, which one do you want?"

Letting go of his hand, she walked between a few trees, her fingers brushing and lifting needles, her eyebrow lifted as she analyzed the heights and fullness of the various offerings. Harry watched her comparing the trees, the smile still on his face as he watched her mind processing the data she was collecting. He knew the moment she found it by the way her smile grew and her eyes widened. Pulling on the lead, he led Scarlet through a space between two trees and stood next to her. His eyes slipped from her towards the tree she was standing in front of and took in the green needles and full branches. Handing her the lead, he lifted his hand to his chin and walked around it slowly, checking for any imperfections.

Completing his circumference of the tree, he stopped next to her and nodded. "I'd say it has potential."

Lifting her gaze to his, she looked at him in disbelief. It was the perfect tree. The right height at about seven foot with a strong top that would hold the weight of a tree topper without bending. The tree itself was full with lots of green branches and no dead spots. Even better, aside from the bit they'd have to take off the bottom, there wasn't anything else that needed to be done once it was home aside from setting it into its stand with the some water to get it ready for decorating. And here he was saying only that it had potential.

"Excuse me?" she asked, turning her body towards him, her hand sliding to her hip without her realizing it. "It has potential? Look at the fullness of the tree and the lack of dead needles, it should still be healthy into the new year without dropping a lot of needles. The lower branches are high enough that gifts should still fit without interfering with the tree and there is a lot of potential for decorations. Just what do you see wrong with it?"

Lifting an eyebrow, he smirked at her as one of the hands of the tree farm approached.

"Have you two found anything to your liking?"

"Yes, we'll take that one." Harry answered, pointing at the tree Ruth had picked. As the attendant nodded, he pulled it out and made arrangements to take it to the front where it would wait for them until they were ready to go. As the man walked away, Harry turned back to Ruth and had to laugh at the look on her face.

"You...you...man!"

Gripping her hand in his, he pulled her closer and silenced her with a gentle press of lips. "You've shot down every tree I've picked this morning, I couldn't very well admit that you'd picked the perfect one on your first try now could I?"

"Yes."

Stepping back, he let go of her hand and bent down, picking up Scarlet. The snow was starting to fall a bit heavier now and while the dog loved to play in it, she'd been outside for the better part of an hour; she had to be getting cold. Cuddling her in one arm, he reached down for Ruth's hand again and slid their fingers together. Tugging her hand, they started walking back towards the main area of activities. "I'm guessing this is how it's going to be now, isn't it?"

"How what's going to be?" she asked softly.

"Our relationship; you're going to be the rational one who makes all the right decisions while I just nod and say 'yes dear'".

She didn't answer, her mind slipping back to her thoughts of the morning and her fear that things were going to conspire against them to ruin what they had. Twice now he'd mentioned either directly or in a roundabout way that he wanted them to eventually marry but they'd not even gone on a date. He loved her; she knew that; and she loved him as well, but did that really make a basis for a strong lasting relationship? And how were they to go through the steps of a relationship if she was living with him? Her analytic mind was having difficulty working everything out.

As they reached the main area, her silence was really beginning to worry him. Every time he'd brought up them in any way but as friends, she got quiet or changed the subject. While he hoped it wasn't the case, he knew there was a possibility that her feelings the week before had been a result of the stress of the situation and not what she actually felt. Shaking his head slightly, he looked down at the dog cuddled in his arm and smiled slightly. Ruth was not the type of woman to express her feelings to just anyone and definitely not unless she was sure of something. She'd admitted to being in love with him; though only once; and she had also admitted to wanting to explore this thing between them. But she'd been through relationship hell and back over the past few months and that meant things had to move slow. He knew that; he was prepared for that; but it seems like his Ruth, in typical Ruth fashion, had taken two and two and turned it into 400 instead of four. Spotting the next part of his plan, he gripped her hand tighter and almost dragged her across the courtyard; it was time they talked.

"Harry!" Ruth yelped, following across the courtyard his hurried pace.

As they came to a stop in front of a small shed, she skidded into his back, bracing her hand on his shoulder to keep from falling over. Glancing around, she missed Harry speaking in low tones to the woman behind the half door but quickly found herself being led behind the structure. As they rounded the corner, she found herself facing a small sleigh with a horse harnessed to the front. In the driver's seat sat an older gentleman wrapped against the winter's elements.

Setting Scarlet on the floor of the sleigh, he held the lead and turned to look at Ruth. Her cheeks were rosy from the bite of the cold wind and snow had settled into the strands of her brown hair. Holding his hand to her, he smiled. "Have a sleigh ride with me?"

Hesitantly, she placed her hand in his, her earlier thoughts of being swept away in Hurricane Harry were springing to the front of her mind as she let him guide her into the sleigh. Settling onto the padded bench, she petted Scarlet as Harry climbed in behind her.

Harry sat next to her, his leg pressing against hers as he bent down and picked the dog up, settling her into his lap. The small dog licked his gloved hand but finding the taste of leather not to her liking, shifted her head towards Ruth's glove free hand, licking her cold fingers. Laughing, Ruth's thoughts momentarily shifted away from where they had been and took the dog from Harry, settling her into her own lap, her fingers rubbing the dog behind the ears. Accepting the woven throw from the woman, Harry spread it over the two of them and the dog as the sleigh began moving from the crowded yard.

Both were silent as the sleigh traveled down a well worn path, the clip-clock of the horses hooves the only sound as they entered an open field. Ahead of them stretched the grass field, snow lying on the green grass. Beyond that, a line of trees could be seen, signaling the beginning of dense woods. As the glided along, Harry shifted in the seat, his right arm rising against the back of the seat before settling along the back of Ruth's shoulders. Feeling her tense briefly, he held his breath, his heart dropping a little even as his brain told him to let it go for now. As he prepared to move his arm back, he felt her shift slightly in the seat, her shoulders dropping as she relaxed and leaned against his shoulder, the back of her head fitting into the side of his neck. Letting out the withheld breath, he lowered his hand until it rested against her coat covered shoulder and pulled her closer. Scarlet settled across their laps, closing her eyes and going to sleep under the warmth of the blanket.

Deciding that now was the time for them to have a talk, Harry spoke quietly against her hair; loud enough for her to hear but quiet enough that the driver wouldn't be able to follow their conversation. "Ruth, I think the two of us need to have a serious conversation about where our relationship is going."

"Now?" she asked, her voice as quiet as his.

"Yes now. You're less likely to run away from me." He said, a smile on his face as he tightened his grip. "No, really, we're not going to be interrupted here by anything but the falling snow. We need to discuss how fast our relationship is going to progress from here because I think we're on two completely different planes."

"Harry..."

"Please, let me do the talking and you can just agree or disagree for now because if I don't get this out now, I don't know when I'll have the courage to say it again. I've been thinking of this for awhile now and I want a relationship, together, with you. I know it's not going to be easy; I'm a limited man; and there are going to be times I frustrate you beyond reason. But in some sense, I think you're as limited as I am and there are time you do frustrate the hell out of me; that doesn't mean I don't want to make this thing between us work. Because I do more than anything I've ever wanted. You need time, I get that and I want to take things slow."

"By us living together?" she interjected with her biggest worry.

"Yes, by us living together but not in the sense I think you're thinking. Ruth you're a beautiful, intelligent, funny woman and there isn't a day that I don't want you but neither one of us are ready for a physical relationship besides what we have right now. After the turmoil that Peter put you through and my part in it, you need time to build a solid foundation of trust. As for me; I've never had a relationship that wasn't built on the physical aspect and after more than thirty years, I can say that they've all ended rather badly. I don't want that with you. Last week I told where I'm hoping this relationship leads one day, my past experience has taught me that there needs to be more to a relationship than sex. Yes, it is an important part of it but it's not the most. You need to be able to trust me as I need to be able to trust you; we need to be able to talk to each other, not just about mundane things like what we want for dinner or the color of the parlor but about what we're thinking and what we're feeling, the hardest part of a relationship but the most important. That's one of my biggest weaknesses, something I need to work on before we sleep together for the first time."

Pausing a moment as the sleigh entered the woods, he tightened his grip on her, his chin coming to rest on the top of her head.

"I want to court you Ruth. Properly. But I also don't want you to move out. Call me selfish but I want every second I can get with you. So here's my proposal. We take the next year to get to know one another outside of work; to date properly; and after that year, we see where we both want to go from there. You stay in the guest room; your room; I stay in mine and the rest of the house we share. If you need more space then the bedroom, then you can have it. Turn the fourth bedroom into a study for all your books or you can share mine; whatever you want. Just stay and give us a chance, please?"

AN2: What does Ruth say? And what's next on Harry's agenda for their special outing? Please review and let me know what you think. =0)