Well, miracles do happen in Christmas time!!!! I haven't finished this, but I'm planning to!

Hope you like it, thanks a lot for the kind reviews!

Happy new year!

CHAPTER 3

When Bonnie climbed down the stairs the following morning, she was quite embarrassed to face Michel. "Good morning", she greeted shyly when she realized her mother, Devon and even Michel were already up.

"Good morning," Devon and Iris replied, while Michel shot her a warm smile. She picked up some eggs for breakfast and took a seat in front of him.

"I'm sorry about yesterday, Michel..." Bonnie said and he stopped right when he was about to eat a bite of his own breakfast.

"About what?" he asked.

"Me... falling asleep on our visit to the lake..." she said truly ashamed. She didn't want to meet his eyes, she knew he would be smiling, and she wasn't sure if he was having fun with or on her.

Michel chuckled lightly. "That's just fine... I have a horrible back ache for carrying you upstairs, but I guess I'll live..."

Only then did Bonnie looked at him and shot him one of her deadly glares. "You are impossible!" but he was smiling charmly.

"I... I'm the one who should be apologizing, Bonnie..." Iris said then. She was toying with the food on her plate, obviously embarrassed.

"No, mom..."

"Yes, I should... I was so unfair yesterday... I know you're grieving too... I forgot I'm not the only one who loved him..." the older woman said just as her eyes turned bright with tears.

"Mom, I know you're hurting, and I am too... But we will be alright, you'll see!" Bonnie stood up and went to hug her mother, but crying big hot tears that only spoke of what they were feeling.

"I just can't picture a life without your father!" Iris confessed sadly. "We've been together for so long! What am I going to do alone?"

"You're not alone, mom. You have me..." Bonnie tried to ease her mother's pain but she knew she couldn't do a lot. She had left home many years ago and hadn't been back too often. She lived far away and had her own life, but it had been in her mind since she had first known about her father: what would her mother do alone? "Don't worry, mom... We will figure out..." she said still holding her.

Michel looked away from the two women and to Devon. Selfishly he wanted Bonnie back with them at the FLAG and never considered another option. Was Bonnie thinking about moving back?

"At least there's something I'm happy about..." Iris said untangling herself from her daughter's embrace. "I don't have to worry about it anymore..."

"What, mom?" Bonnie asked drying her eyes and going back to her seat.

"You."

"Me?" Bonnie asked clueless eating a new bite of her food.

"Yeah, I don't have to worry about you anymore now that you're dating a good man..."

Bonnie opened her mouth and was about to tell her mother she was very wrong, but Michel spoke first. "Thank you, Mrs. Barstow..." he smiled at Iris, reached to pat her arm and then met Bonnie's surprised eyes. "I promise you I'm taking good care of her..."

"I know. I saw how you carried her yesterday. I don't need any more proof..." the older woman still kept on not looking at her daughter, who didn't know what surprised her more, her mother thinking she was dating Michel, or the fact that he was following the game.

Michel raised his eyes to look at his workmate, who blushed furiously and said nothing. Then he turned to look at Devon, who seemed equally surprised. "It also worried your father, you know?" Iris kept on saying totally unaware of the exchange of glances between the three workmates. "He wondered if you'd ever find someone to share your life with... He worried about you being all alone..."

"She's not alone, Iris," Devon replied, "we would never leave her alone..."

"You know what I mean, Devon," Iris insisted, "everyone must have someone to share your life with..."

"Mom!" Bonnie said wanting this conversation to be over soon. Or who knew where it would lead to...

"What? You can't blame me for wanting your happiness!"

"Very true indeed," Devon said, not sure if the confusion was a good idea or not.

Michel smiled somehow shyly and looked at Bonnie again, who shot him a "we'll talk later" glance.

The rest of the breakfast went smoothly as they remained silent most of the time. But once they were finished and the kitchen was neat again, Bonnie requested Michel to go outside.

"What are you thinking, Michel?" she asked her workmate when they were alone. "Why are you lying to her like this?"

"Bonnie," Michel tried to make her reason, "think of what she said: she and your father were worried because they think you're alone..."

"But I'm not!"

"Of course you are not as you have us. But, Bonnie, for her you're still their little girl, and when your father died, she realized they won't be around forever to look after you! She wants someone to take that place. Only that she thinks it's me..."

Bonnie laughed sarcastically. "Yeah..."

It hurt Michel a little and in other situation, he would have asked her why she didn't trust him. But knowing she was dealing with so much, he chose not to argue. "Is it that bad? Does it bother you so much the idea that someone thinks we are dating?"

Bonnie looked at him and realised she had overreacted. Of course it wouldn't bother her, he was handsome and many women would love to be in that "confusion", plus she couldn't deny he always took care of her... "No, of course not... I... I'm only worried about how I'm going to tell her she's wrong..."

"Why you just don't tell her?" Michel suggested and got another surprised look. "Let her believe you're ok, give her some time to adjust to the situation of her being alone without any more worries... then you can simply tell her we broke up..."

"Michel..." Bonnie tried to argue, but the more she thought of, the most she believed it wasn't such a crazy idea.

"How much can it hurt, huh?" he replied challenging her the way he used to. "I promise I'll be a good boyfriend". He licked lightly at his right hand and left it to make his vow.

She shook her head slowly, knowing she had lost. "Do not try to overstep, huh? Or I'll make you regret it the rest of your life!"

Michel knew it was his cue to laugh openly. She trusted him completely, she knew he would never hurt her and he would do anything to protect her. "You will never regret this! I'm not that bad!" he pulled her into a tight hug.

Somehow she relaxed easily in his arms. It wasn't such a strange thing that he hugged her, but in a way these days she appreciated more the friendly contact. When he seemed to undo the embrace, she tightened her hold a bit more to make it last. "I'm so blessed I have you and Devon..."

"Always, baby... Always..." he replied kissing the top of her head.

**

"Michel?" Kitt interrupted his partner when he and Devon were waiting already for Iris and Bonnie to climb down the stairs to go to the funeral.

"Yeah, partner?"

"You better check through the window now..." the car suggested and Michel did as he was told. He carefully put aside the curtain to see the blue sedan parked at the far corner. "Come pick me up behind the house..."

Slowly, trying to look as casual as possible, Kitt darkened the windows, started on the machine and drove to the other side of the house. Michel climbed up and then drove to the other side again, trying to catch the man from behind.

He, meanwhile, thinking Michel was gone, had moved the car to the very front of the house and climbed down just when Michel turned around the corner. Peter Bellows turned immediately at the sound of squeaking tires. Michel climbed down when Kitt hasn't stopped yet but he was stopped by Bellows: he pointed straight to him and shot. "Michel, be careful!" Kitt shouted and Michel was barely able to evade the bullet.

"Damn it!" Peter mumbled and climbed up his car again. But right when Michel did the same, Debbie appeared in the door of the next house and cried. "Debbie, down!" Michel shouted and all but ran to try to cover the woman. He tackled her down and they saw how the bullet blew the window glass into a thousand pieces.

Devon, Iris and Bonnie left the house too and saw Michel checking if the woman wasn't injured. "I'm ok..." Debbie replied visibly shocked. "What happened?"

"That was Peter Bellows..." Michel said looking at Devon, Bonnie and Iris. "We now know for sure what he's coming for..."

Bonnie inhaled deeply and turned to look at her mother. A feeling of pure terror invaded her. "Why me?" Iris said, pale as a candle.

"It won't be you, Iris, don't worry!" Michel said holding firmly the woman's hand. "I'm here to protect you and I won't allow anything bad to happen to you... or Bonnie! That man will have to pass over my dead body to harm you two at all, and that's a promise! Now, we'll be going back to the house and get ready for the funeral. When we're back, we will figure out what we'll do, ok?"

He was looking straight to Iris' eyes and never even blinking. She could see such a fierce conviction that she didn't have the slightest doubt he was telling the truth. "O-ok..."

"Good, now let's go..." he said circling the woman's shaking shoulders and guiding her to the house.

**

"Keep all your scanners alert, buddy, will you?" Michel asked Kitt when he was helping Bonnie to climb down once they had arrived to the graveyard. Following their early "agreement", he had taken her hand and leaded her to Kitt to do the trip with the rest of the cars.

"No need to ask, Michel..." the car replied.

After the prior events, it wasn't strange for Devon when Michel stood right behind Bonnie and Iris, who of course were in the first line. All his senses were in alert, looking around trying to see anything strange, but at the same time he could see how Bonnie's feelings betrayed her and her tears started to cross her cheeks. When the pastor told she and Iris to take a handful of dirt and spread it over the box, she just couldn't handle it more and she broke in pieces. "Shh, sweetheart, it's ok..." Michel said pulling her into a hug.

Little by little Iris and Bonnie's crying subsided and that allowed the pastor to finish the service. When people started to walk out of the place where Ernest Barstow would be buried, both Devon and Michel walked by the sides of the two women. As long as everything has gone fine, Michel still had the feeling Peter was chasing them. When all the attendants arrived to the cars, Kitt's voice confirmed what he feared. "Michel, to your left!"

He only had the time to turn briefly and saw a man with a riffle hiding behind some bushes. When he heard the noise of the bullet, he didn't think but on cover Bonnie and Iris, who was by his side. The three ended up in the ground, but Michel's reflexes weren't as fast and he realized Iris was hurt when she cried in pain.

"She's bleeding!" Bonnie shouted but he was already examining her. "The bullet barely touched her, thanks God..." he said taking the handkerchief Devon offered him to cover Iris' shoulder. "It's not serious, but let's take her to the hospital!" he said taking her in his arms and placing her on Kitt passenger's seat.

"Any news on Bellows, pal?" he asked for the record, his only priority at the moment being Bonnie's mom.

"He left my scanner area, Michel, I'm sorry..."

***