Cap heard the men arriving and stepped out of his office. "John, a package came for you in today's post. I put it on your bunk."

"A package? For me? Thanks, Cap."

"Hey, John, let's just step in there you can see what that's about while I fix up your hand," Roy steered him towards the dorm room.

Walking into the room Johnny could see a small package wrapped in plain brown paper and tied with twine sitting on his bunk. He approached the package almost like he expected it to explode, then picked it up and turned it all directions. Finally, he sat on the edge of his bed while Roy pulled a chair up close.

"Give me that hand partner," Roy held out his hand waiting for Johnny to hold out the injured limb. "Who's it from?"

Johnny set the package on one knee and held out his injured hand, while Roy unwrapped the soiled bandage he studied the postage label. "It's from my aunt. Wonder why she sent it to the station instead of my apartment?"

"Open it, maybe there's a clue inside."

It wasn't easy to do using just one hand, but John managed to get the string off the paper and then get the paper off the box. By the time he got that far Roy had finished cleaning and wrapping the cut on his hand and he was able to finish opening the box using both hands.

"There's a letter. Turns out she lost my apartment address and could only find the old one, she tried to call, but I must have been on shift. She couldn't get an answer. She didn't want to waste too much time trying to get my address because she wanted the package to get to me before the holiday so she just sent it here. Roy, I love the woman, she's like a second mom, but I swear she'd lose her head if it weren't attached." John looked up at his partner and shook his head and gave one of his small, almost whimsical, smiles.

"What'd she send?"

John held up a pair of dark blue, woolen mittens that looked like they would keep fingers nice and warm. "Guess she doesn't realize that it isn't nearly as cold here as it is back home, but I guess they could come in handy during trips to the mountains or those rare really chilly mornings we get during the winter. They sure are nice mittens. Wish I had an excuse to use them more often. I'll just go put this out in my car. I'll be right back."

Roy noticed the forlorn look that had returned to his partner's eyes. He'd didn't think he'd ever seen him so homesick. That's when an idea took hold and he hurried to get Cap's help before his partner returned.

The afternoon stayed fairly quiet for the men at the station. The squad had the odd call here and there, but the engine stayed in the barn all afternoon. Even the calls for the squad were fairly mundane and most didn't even require transport. Late afternoon found Marco carrying a large copper kettle into the station and placing it on the stove.

"Hey, guys, I've got dinner for tonight. Mama brought pozole and corn bread." While Marco went back outside to finish bringing in the food the men clustered around the steaming kettle taking in the heavenly smell of the soup inside.

"Ah, Marco, your mama's pozole is always welcome. For something I'd never heard of before working with you I can't imagine anyone making it better," Cap offered the thanks everyone was thinking.

"Mama knows pozole is my favorite and always makes it for me at Christmas. Everyone else wants tamales and chicken with mole, but mama knows pozole is my favorite so she always makes me some. She even used the pot I gave her for Christmas last year. Copper pots are preferred among some of the best chefs, but they are so expensive that most kitchens can't use them. I bought this pot for mama last Christmas and she uses it all the time, she loves it so much. I think bringing the pozole in this pot is her way of showing how much she loves it. She doesn't know it but she's getting another copper pan this year."

John walked over to Marco and put a hand on his shoulder, "Marco, make sure you give your mama a big hug from me, okay. Mamas are so special, you are lucky yours is so close. If I can't hug my own, I'll send a hug over to yours." Johnny smiled and then went and sat at the table.

The men thoroughly enjoyed their dinner and the evening continued on in the same quiet fashion as the day. It wasn't until after 10 o'clock that the squad was called out again for an unknown type rescue.

The address given brought them to a VFW hall, one of the larger ones John had ever seen, but rather a lot like any of them ever looked. A basic box on the outside with minimal signage indicating the building's purpose. The parking lot was the only exterior indication that anything special was happening there that evening. Among the cars in the packed lot sat several limousines and several very fancy smaller cars. John was sure he saw no fewer than three Rolls Royces and a Bentley scattered among Lincolns and Cadillacs.

"Dang, Roy, there is some sort of fancy shindig going on tonight, wonder what the problem is."

"Well, no time like the present to find out."

John's jaw nearly hit the floor as they went through the entrance. The interior of the building had been transformed into a winter wonderland. What appeared to be actual trees minus their spring foliage had been painted white and strewn with small white lights. The skeletal trees looked magical in the low light. It reminded him of what all trees looked like back home after there had been a particularly frigid snowfall. The ice clung to the branches and bark and the trees sparkle even in dim moon light. White table cloths covered dining tables scattered around the space. Blue lights illuminated a buffet table draped in glittery silver fabric. The lights came from above giving the appearance that the moon was shining on a table in the woods. Above everything, hanging from the ceiling was a flock of very real looking geese in flight to their warmer winter habitat. The blue lights struck them in the same way, giving the illusion of moonlight hitting their wings as they flew. The far end of the buffet table was decorated with a carved ice fountain. The ice had been carved to resemble a mountain and water flowed from it like a spring. Winter gave way to spring near the far end of the hall where a dance floor had been laid out and then surrounded with trees in full leaf. Green chaise lounges and low green couches were scattered around the edges of the dance floor, providing a comfortable place to rest between dances. Looking closely he noticed all the participants were boys and girls ranging from about 12 to about 18. John had never seen children dressed like these children. Every girl was wearing a version of a clean white gown. The youngest participants had knee length skirts and pink sashes, all the older girls were wearing full white ball gowns with blue satin sashes. Every boy looked alike in full tuxedo complete with black bow tie and black cummerbund. As his eyes grew accustomed to the dim lighting he realized that there were parents present, but seated at table and chairs set along the outside edges of the hall. It took a moment before the two men were noticed by a staff member. Hurrying over the young man started waving the men towards the area where winter turned to spring. As they got closer John realized that along with the ice mountain there had been ice trees too. One still stood and he could see the melting remnants of the other shattered on the floor. Discreetly, staff members were mopping up the dead ice tree. Their escort took them past the shattered ice to one of the green sofas where a girl, approximately 16 years old sat with her parents hovering near by and a tuxedoed boy looking on with a worried expression on his face.

"Hi, I'm John and this is my partner, Roy. What happened?"

"Hi, this is Christy, we're her parents. It seems there was a little accident. Fred there thought it would be funny to become a lumber jack tonight and managed to chop down the ice tree. Unfortunately, he didn't realize that Christy and her friends were standing right there. The other girls all got away when Christy took action and threw herself in front of the falling timber. We don't think there was any serious damage done, but she does have quite the goose-egg and her ankle hurts from when she tripped over one of her friends trying to get away from the ice. We were just going to take her home, but the organizers insisted she be seen. Probably terrified we'll sue. We won't, of course, boys will be boys, even cotillion boys. Fred has apologized profusely and feels terribly about the whole thing. His parents are letting him handle this on his own while they step back and observe, trying to teach some responsibility and all that, but we know he's already lost his car for a month. Seems quite reasonable, doesn't it Fred?"

"Yes, sir. It is very reasonable Mr. Reed, very reasonable. Again, I'm so sorry. I really didn't mean Christy to get hurt. Blasted stupid thing to do, don't know what got into me."

John pulled the attention back to Christy, "So, let's see what we've got here. Can you tell me where the ice hit you?"

"Back of my head and my right shoulder. Really, I'm feeling fine though."

"Let me take a little look. So, Christy, what kind of event is this anyway, I've never seen anything like it."

Christy let a giggle escape, "This, dear sir, is a cotillion. A form of torture created by overly cautious parents to teach their children proper etiquette and social graces, such as dancing a waltz instead of disco and eating with a shrimp fork instead of your fingers." She graced John with her most dazzling smile.

"Sounds fun. So this is where you get to show off all your acquired skills?"

"Don't you know it?"

"Christy!" John had to assume that came from her mother.

When Christy winced he wasn't sure if it was due to her mother's tone or the fact that he had found the goose-egg. "Did that hurt?"

"Just a little, that does smart. Mother's chastising me for using slang hurt a little more." She winked at John, telling him she wanted to keep the light tone of their conversation, maybe she thought it was helping keep her parents from worrying too much, maybe she just liked to flirt, Johnny wasn't about to ask which it was.

"Okay, you did take quite the hit to your head. I can see where the tree impacted your shoulder too. Your dress might need a little repair work back here. Sorry, it looks like a shard was sharp enough to actually cause a little cut back here. Nothing too serious, won't need stitches, but it should be cleaned and bandaged. I'm just going to take a little look in your eyes here." John flicked the pen light across her eyes and found the pupillary reactions to be perfectly normal. Then moved on to check her ankle and found it to be tender and swollen, but no deformity or sign of broken bones. "Roy, do have her other vitals?"

"Pulse 70, BP 120 over 80, respirations 18. All within normal ranges."

"Okay, here's the situation. Your vitals are all normal, that's good, it means your body isn't under any undue stress. You do have quite the goose egg, but no sign of concussion or other head injury except for the nifty bump. There is that cut to take care of, but it looks like the worst of your injuries is a sprained ankle. Overall, not too bad considering you got clobbered by a tree. My partner over there is already talking to our doctors at Rampart and I have a feeling they are going to want you to come in, courtesy of a nice, slow, quiet ambulance ride. They are pretty picky about taking pictures of injured ankles and goose eggs just to be extra certain that things are okay." Just then Roy scooted closer, put a hand on Johnny's arm to get his attention.

"Brackett wants pictures of her skull and ankle, non-code-r and no IV."

Addressing the girl and her parents John said, "Just like I said. Parents, you have final say here. What do you want to do?"

"The doctor Brackett you are talking to on the radio, that wouldn't be Doctor Kelly Brackett would it," Christy's father asked.

"Most definitely is. Does that make a difference?"

"Weird story, Kel and I went to college, he was pre-med, I was business, but we had several classes together and belong to the same fraternity."

Christy piped up, "Well that settles it then, it would be bad manners to not go visit pop's old pal. Let's go," and she cheerily waved her hand forward.

Johnny chuckled at the girl's antics. "The ambulance is on the way, we'll get you loaded up and on your way. Parents, one of you can ride with her and the attendants or you can both follow along in your own car. Whatever works best for you."

Mom spoke up, "If it's okay, I'd like to ride with Christy. Paul will you bring the car?"

"Sure dear and then we'll have a way to get home when we're done."

Shortly the ambulance arrived and carried off Christy and her parents. In the meantime John had cleaned and bandaged the small cut on her shoulder after her mother helped with the zipper and got some of the frills out of the way.

John and Roy stood at the doors of the squad having sent the family on their way. No IV meant they were free to return to the station and get some rest.

"Roy, I have never in my life seen anything like that party. Reminded me of home in some ways though. Guess when you don't have to shovel snow every morning you start to miss it some. Thank goodness we didn't have any ice trees though, those seem rather vicious." Johnny was laughing at the idea of entire trees made of ice.

Roy just shook his head and got behind the wheel. "John, I know you are coming tomorrow night, but will you spend the day with us on Christmas too? I have something planned, but I want it to be a surprise."

"Sure, Roy. I won't ruin your plans. Don't have anything to do anyway. Let's go home, I'm tired."

"You got it, pal."

The night passed quietly for the most part. A small rubbish fire and a baby who couldn't wait any longer kept the men from sleeping through the night, but Christmas Eve dawned bright and clear. The men wished each other a Merry Christmas and headed for whatever plans they each had. Chet was going skiing. Mike was leaving town to spend time with his parents in Santa Barbara. Cap was going home, the in-laws were arriving sometime today and he still had items on his honey-do list. John went home for a nap and Roy had a list of things his wife still needed after he called last night and gave her an assignment.

"See you about 5," Roy asked as John climbed into his Rover.

"I'll be there."

"Spend the night?"

"Sure, why not, I don't have anything better to do."

"Bring your new gloves and warm clothes."

"You got it. What are you planning anyway?"

"It's a surprise."

John just shook his head as he started the ignition and drove away. As Roy watched him go he thought about the look he still saw in his partner's eyes. John had very expressive eyes and everyone could tell if he was happy or sad based entirely on his eyes. He could tell his partner was still sad about the change in plans. He started to get excited for his plans and hoped his surprises would help change that look.