They showered together and dressed before everyone was to come home and this time Caitlin shooed Hawke out of the kitchen so she could cook. He took the dogs out for their afternoon run and gathered more firewood for the night. He was just coming back into the cabin with Tet and Sally when he heard Dom's helicopter.

"Sounds like our alone time is up," Hawke called as he put the firewood down. It had snowed at least another three inches during the day but the winds had died down now and the sun had peeked through the clouds for just a short while before it started to set.

Doc, Dom and Emily came into the house singing Jingle Bells and Emily was perched in Dom's arms with a Santa hat on her head.

"You all sound happy," Hawke said as he stood up, dusting off his hands and jeans.

"We had sooo much fun!" Emily said happily as Dom set her down and she ran over to hug Hawke.

"Really? What did you do today?"

"We went to the store to get glitter and glue and construction paper and Grandpa Dom saw they had Santa there so I went and sat on his lap and he gave me this hat and a candy cane!" Emily said happily.

"So where is the candy cane?" Hawke asked.

"I ate it! But I gave some to Grandpa Dom and Uncle Doc too. Then we went back to the hanger and we made ormanents," she said not quite getting 'ornaments' out but Hawke knew what she meant.

"So, you made ornaments, did you decorate the hanger?" he asked.

"Yup! Uncle Doc helped me make trees for all your desks, yours has a red one, Grandpa Dom has a blue one to match his jacket and I did a green one for mommy," Emily said, not even stumbling over calling Caitlin mommy.

Caitlin paused in the kitchen as she heard and took a deep breath. It was one thing to offer for Emily to call her mommy but hearing a child call her that. It made her heart skip and her throat tight with love and pride.

Hawke caught that too and looked up at Caitlin and he could see the new title had gotten to her a bit.

"Well, mommy is making dinner, do you want to go help her?" Hawke said almost too happily even to his own ears.

The little girl went rushing into the kitchen peeling off her jacket as she went. She left it on one of the living room chair's and Hawke didn't have the heart at the moment to correct her and have her put it where it belonged.

"How big was that candy cane?" Hawke asked as she jumped from foot to foot telling Caitlin some tale of her day.

Doc laughed. "It's long worn off by now, that is just pure four-year-old excitement to be home."

Dom looked so happy the man might burst. "That little girl talked all afternoon about coming home to see you two and how much she loved the cabin. She still would get quiet during the day and admit she misses Esme but…she was pretty cheerful considering all she's been through the last several days."

"Cait and I have both been worried about her, I guess now I understand how you always felt with Sinjin and I," Hawke admitted.

"It doesn't lessen even when the kids are grown, String. Be ready for that," Dom answered.

"So, did you two get time to talk and stuff?" Doc asked, not really elaborating on the stuff but he figured much more than talking took place in the cabin today.

"Yeah, we decided how we want to renovate the cabin for sure, decided on what we want to do for Christmas for Emily and made some other plans I'll need to talk to you about later, Doc," Hawke said with a nod to him.

"Okay," he said looking at Hawke oddly but all the other man did was smirk at him.

Dom had already left them and gone to the kitchen to see if he could help. Caitlin gave him a hug and a kiss on the cheek in welcome and told him she was fine. Dinner was already in the oven and Emily was sitting at the bar with her little tongue between her lips sprinkling shredded cheese over some French bread. Dom wished he had a camera.

"Cait, whatever you're making smells really good!" Doc called into the kitchen and Caitlin smiled happily.

"Vegetable lasagna," she said back to him and Hawke smiled.

"I love her vegetable lasagna, the first time she made it when she found out I don't eat red meat I ate three helpings. I couldn't move afterwards," Hawke said laughing. "In fact, I kept making excuses to stay at her apartment so I didn't have to move."

Doc started laughing. "I have a buddy who was dating this gal, after she cooked for him the first time he decided right then and there he was marrying her," Doc said smiling. He loved that story about Ruth Anne and Chris.

"Honestly? Did they stay together?" Hawke asked.

"Sure did, they celebrated their 15th wedding anniversary at the Inn last month. They eat at the Inn on November 20th every year since even before Max owned the place," Doc answered.

Hawke smiled and glanced into the kitchen where Caitlin had her arms around Emily and was swaying back and forth talking with the girl and Dom.

"She's good with her, isn't she?" Doc said noticing Hawke's gaze.

"Yeah, she's amazing," Hawke said in answer.

"So, what was it you wanted to ask me about?"

"Oh, uh, I was wondering when the Inn was the quietest, didn't you say after New Year?" Hawke hedged a little not wanting to tell him just yet.

"Wanting to plan a little get away?" Doc asked.

"Yeah, something along those lines."

"Well, usually from about the 10th of January until about the first week of March we have the place almost entirely to ourselves and just the local folks. Occasionally we'll get someone that comes up to do some cross-country skiing but not that often," Doc explained. "It'd be real quiet, we get a lot more snow up there than you do here, though this winter you're giving us a run for our money."

"Dinner's ready!" Caitlin called from the kitchen. Hawke looked up to see Emily and Dom setting the table and he got up to get out a bottle of wine for the meal, except for Emily who got a glass of milk.

Everyone settled in for the meal and when Caitlin passed the basket of bread to Dom, he caught sight of the ring on her finger.

He stared at it for a few moments and Caitlin shook the basket. "Dom, didn't you want some bread?"

"Caitlin, you're wearing String's grandma's ring," Dom said and she set the basket back on the table. Doc stopped eating as well as he looked at the couple on the other side of the table. Emily was un-phased, she just kept eating, not paying attention to the adults.

"Uh, yeah, we sort of had something we were going to tell you after dinner," Hawke started and Dom just stared at him dumbfounded.

"Sort of had something to tell us?" Dom asked incredulously.

"Well," Caitlin began, "String asked me to marry him and I said yes. We haven't set a date or made any plans yet though, we were thinking it might be nice to have it up at the Inn at Crystal Lake."

"So that's why you were asking when we were slow after New Year," Doc said with a grin.

"Busted," Hawke said laughing. "Dom, are you okay?"

"I just never thought I'd see the day, I know you told me you wanted to marry Caitlin but I didn't expect it so soon," Dom admitted.

"You told Dom you were going to ask me to marry you?" Caitlin asked surprised.

"Yeah, I didn't tell him when but I told him I wanted to," Hawke admitted.

"Sounds like if you want to go for mid-January or early February you aren't planning a long engagement then," Doc offered up.

"Why bother?" Caitlin said smiling and slipped her hand into Hawke's. "We don't want anything big and elaborate anyway."

"You mean, he doesn't want anything big and elaborate. Caitlin, honey you should get the wedding you want. Every little girl has a dream wedding," Dom said not happy that it sounded to him like she was caving to what String wanted and not what she wanted.

"Dom, I'm the little girl who rode horses and flew helicopters. I wasn't dreaming of a wedding with a big dress and all the frills I just wanted to find a man who loved me as much as I loved him, the rest is just a legal paper and a party," Caitlin admitted.

Hawke squeezed her fingers in his and looked up at his father figure. "I offered to do the big church wedding. She said no," he shrugged.

"String wouldn't be comfortable, Dom and I don't want him to feel that way on our wedding day and I don't want to have to deal with my mother. This way I can keep her out of it as much as possible, have the wedding *we* want to have and enjoy the day rather than feeling like we're putting on some silly show for everyone else. It should be our day to have it the way we want, not what my mother always wanted *for* me," Caitlin explained. "And don't you worry, our wedding will be beautiful but in our way."

"Of course, it'll be beautiful, sweetheart, you'll be the bride," Dom said with a smile. "If this is what you two really want, then I said my peace and that's the last of it."

"I think that a wedding in the snow would be like a fairytale," Emily piped up then surprising them all.

"In the snow?" Hawke asked.

"Mmmm, hmmm," she nodded. "Mommy would look like a snow queen and I could be her fairy princess."

Caitlin couldn't contain the smile and looked at Hawke. "She's already my queen so I guess that works for me," Hawke said as he lifted their clasped hands to kiss Caitlin's.

"Moon eyes again," Dom grumbled and Doc snickered at the comment.

"Oh…oooo…ooo!" Emily said excitedly bouncing in her chair. "Under the moon! Like Little Daylight!"

Doc and Dom looked at each other oddly not understanding the reference.

Hawke and Caitlin smiled however and nodded. "That would be nice, wouldn't it?"

"Be cold if you ask me," Dom grumbled.

"We could shove a space heater up your," Hawke started and Caitlin cut him off jerking her head toward Emily. "Hawke!"

Doc started to laugh as Dom gave Hawke a dirty look. Emily just looked from one adult to another and shrugged not understanding them.

Doc recovered and leaned back in his chair, "Ya know, I think I know of the perfect place. There is a wedding arch already there and it's inside something like a natural chapel with the trees the way they've grown. It can't be seen unless you are inside it, Max thinks the previous owners must have trained the trees to grow that way, but it really is cool looking. We get a lot of couples that use it in the summer but it could be lit with lights and use the snow to our advantage. We could set up a few outdoor heaters too. It won't melt the snow or be terribly warm but it shouldn't be biting cold either…I think we could pull it off. Give you guys a beautiful outdoor wedding with just a small gathering of friends and family. After the ceremony, it's just a short walk up to the Inn and you could have the reception there," Doc suggested. He had plenty of experience with helping Max set up weddings for other guests in the past. He knew the logistics of it and Max was a magician with that sort of stuff.

"Max has rubbed off on you, hasn't she?" Hawke asked with a grin.

"Just a little, she's great with this stuff, most of the summer she spends helping couples with their wedding arrangements around the Inn. Lots of folks are opting for outdoor weddings these days. Seems like they either go over the top, Princess Diana style or go understated with a little less frill in an outdoor wedding. When I'm not too busy I usually get roped into helping her with lights and running a lot of errands for her, stuff like that," Doc admitted.

"I'd be willing to help with whatever needs done too. I think with Max's help it'd be perfect," Dom chipped in then.

Emily was finished with her dinner and just playing with what was left of her bread. Caitlin noticed and asked her if she wanted to be excused to go play before bath time and she nodded and hopped up. She ran around the table and kissed Hawke and Caitlin on their cheeks and told them she was happy they were getting married like a real mommy and daddy.

"Thank you, bug," Hawke said and picked her up into his lap and gave her a big kiss on the cheek and Caitlin leaned over and did the same on her other cheek before he put her back down. The little girl ran off happily into the living room to get her crayons and coloring book again.

Dom was shaking his head. They were already a family. The wedding would just make it official but in just a few days' time, they'd become a family and he was just damn proud to be a part of it.

They discussed a few other things as they cleared the table and Caitlin caught Dom in the kitchen with Doc. Hawke went to the living room and sat down Indian style in the floor next to Emily with the dogs. He was rubbing their bellies as he watched the little girl color. She, just like Caitlin, had stolen his heart the moment he met the child a few years ago.

"Guys, Hawke and I discussed it today and we want to make Emily's Christmas extra special because this is her first one with us and we know she'll be missing her granny terribly. So, Hawke agreed to let me decorate," Caitlin said softly.

"What? Mr. Scrooge is letting you decorate his cabin?" Dom asked.

"Yes, and I promised nothing gaudy or over the top…Dom," she said giving him one of her looks that meant business.

"Ah, I see," he said soberly.

"But I'm going to need time to go and get some things in town tomorrow and time to decorate the cabin if that's okay. I'll work on the ledgers and accounts the rest of the week. I know tax season is just around the corner," Caitlin said. "I don't have any students lined up and if Doc is going to be going out again with Hawke tomorrow to check on those caves to the west then I could bring Emily up and we can work on decorating."

"That's a great…oh…oh no you don't. You are not staying in this cabin alone with just Emily, not while Doc and Hawke are out in the woods looking for signs of that maniac. No. I know you can handle yourself, Caitlin but not even a shotgun saved Esme. You can't stay here alone, I'm sorry if I sound like a chauvinist or whatever but you are not going to be here alone," Dom said firmly.

"But Dom, you can't just close the hanger," Caitlin said softly.

"I can do what I want, Caitlin, that is the joy of owning your own business ya know?" Dom said with a smile. "Besides, I think I know someone who can help."

"You are not going to drag Michael out here," Caitlin said pursing her lips.

"No, I'm sure Mr. Clean is far too busy but I bet he'd give me a couple of his security guys to keep watch. Then you can surprise, String, which is what I'm betting you have in mind without feeling bad about my closing the hanger. I'll feel better knowing you are protected," Dom said seriously.

"Thank you, Dom," she whispered and kissed his cheek and looked at Doc.

"I agree with him and I'll not breathe a word to Hawke about it. I bet he's dreading you dragging him into decorating even if he said it was fine with him for Emily's sake," Doc told her.

"You're probably right, it just isn't his thing," Caitlin agreed.

"What did he agree to anyway? A tree and maybe some stockings on the mantle?" Doc asked curiously.

"Oh, we bargained a bit, a tree, garland and stockings on the mantle, garland on the porch rails, a wreath on the door, a centerpiece on the table and garland on the stair rails going up to the loft," she answered.

"How the hell did you manage to get him to agree to ALL that?" Dom asked completely floored Hawke had agreed to that much decorating.

"As I said, we bargained," Caitlin said not quite meeting Dom's eyes in slight embarrassment.

"What was the bargain for?" Doc asked curiously and her face colored a bit.

"Um…its private," she answered looking down at her hands and playing with her ring.

"Ooooh," Doc laughed. "No wonder Hawke was in such a good mood this evening."

Her face blazed red then and Doc laughed harder.

Dom looked lost and Doc just patted him on the back, "Come on, I'll walk you to your helicopter, Dom."

"Oh…okay. Goodnight, Cait, I'll see you in the morning," he said and kissed her cheek. She kissed him back and gave him a little hug before he went over and said goodnight to Emily. She got up and hugged his neck as he bent down for her. She told him again how much fun she had that day at the hanger with them. Hawke gave his father figure a hug and sat back down, wondering what they'd been whispering about in the kitchen but he was sure he'd find out soon enough.

Doc put his jacket on as he followed Dom outside and took a deep breath. He loved it here just as much as he did at home. It was peaceful, or it should be. Tomorrow, they were off to look for more signs of someone staying in area caves and he hoped they could find something for the FBI guys to go on. They'd been thankful for what they'd done so far but it was a huge area to cover and even with a few extra people from the L.A. field office and the local and state police they hadn't made a dent in all the possible hiding places.

"What was all that about you think?" Dom asked. "String, has never liked decorations for Christmas much, heck even as a kid he wasn't all that excited about them. Not like other kids, he was more interested in just enjoying Christmas break from school but not caring much about all the other stuff."

"Well, he lost his parents young, Dom. That sorta puts an end to the childhood fantasies. If Emily had been older she might not like Christmas either anymore but she's young enough to bounce back more easily. He was ten, that's sort of a tough age, you think of yourself as more grown than you are at that age, ya know?" Doc explained. "But Hawke wants to make Emily's life as normal as possible and like Cait said, she bargained with him. Trust me, I'm sure he was more than happy with her forms of payment if you get my drift."

"Huh? Oh….oh no, don't tell me those things! Argh! I don't want to think of Caitlin doing anything more than kissing."

Doc laughed. "She isn't your daughter, Dom and she is 28 years old."

"I think of her as a daughter. That's enough. Plus, String is basically my son, I sure don't want to think about that sort of stuff with either of them," Dom said quickly.

"But, what about the kids they want?" Doc asked.

"As far as I'm concerned, the stork's bringing 'em!"

Doc cracked up at that and closed the door of the helicopter for the other man.

Doc returned to the cabin and found Cait and Emily had disappeared. "Bath time?"

"Yep. Ya know, Emily is pretty good at staying in the lines for a child her age," Hawke said as he looked at the coloring book page before he closed it and put it and her crayons back into her tote.

"She is smart as a whip," Doc admitted. "I noticed today that she has a very organized mind, she does things in a specific way, in an order that makes sense to her. It was kind of fascinating to watch her work on her little ornaments. She really had a blast. She also has a pretty good grasp on basic math already. Emily was able to add and subtract fairly naturally at least up to 15 anyway when we were sorting out pipe cleaners for her trees."

Doc sat down in a chair across from Hawke who was still in the floor. How the man could do that was beyond him. Doc was a couple years younger than Hawke yet the other man was still so youthful. When they went fishing together, Hawke always seemed to outlast him on a hike or could sit on the ground for hours and get up like it didn't bother him a bit. Doc would get up feeling almost twice his 35 years. Maybe there was something to that diet that Hawke stuck to. Fish and vegetables, he rarely drank alcohol and he didn't have other bad habits either. Hell, the man probably had a heart like an elephant. It seemed fitting that he'd fallen for a woman almost 10 years younger than him, she could definitely keep up with him.

"What's on your mind?" Hawke asked seeing that his friend had gotten quiet.

"Hmm, nothing much really just contemplating some things. I want you to know that I'm happy for you, Hawke. I'm glad you finally told Caitlin how you feel and I think you're going to be a terrific father to Emily," he said honestly to his friend.

"To be honest, that means a lot to me," Hawke said looking up at his friend. "There aren't a lot of things that scare me but not being enough for either of them terrifies me."

"You're more than enough, Hawke. That little girl adores you and Caitlin, man I've never known a woman to love a man as much as she loves you. I've known how she felt about you for a long time and how you felt about her. I never said anything because I knew eventually you two would figure it out on your own. I also figured when it did happen it would go fast like a wild fire. If it were any other couple I might say things were moving way too fast but not you guys. It makes sense, I mean to be honest if I asked Max to marry me tomorrow, we'd probably be hitched before the weekend. Why have a long engagement when you are already everything but married on paper? I probably should tell Max that, I'm not even sure she wants to get married. Her last marriage was a nightmare but as far as the two of us, we're as good as married," Doc said simply.

Hawke considered his friend's words and appreciated Doc all the more. If Sinjin couldn't be here for his wedding at least he had a friend, a brother if not by blood to be there. For his part, he knew he wanted Dom, Doc, Bobby and his dad, as well as Michael and Marella there. They were more than just friends as far as he was concerned. He knew Caitlin would have her brothers and sisters and parents there but she didn't have many close female friends besides her sorority sisters and it might be too short of notice to get any of them up to Crystal Lake for the wedding. He'd need to ask her later.

"Thanks, Doc," Hawke said with a smile. "If I were you, I'd ask Max how she feels about getting married again. With you always going off to do your volunteer work and such, it might make her feel a little more confident that you'll always come back to her."

"Never really thought of it like that. I don't even notice other women anymore. Sure, I see they're pretty or something but I know I've got something much better waiting at home, ya know?" Doc said seriously.

"I know the feeling. I denied it for a long time and got involved with just about every woman I met just trying to forget the way I felt about Caitlin. I was afraid if I got involved with her…well you know the rest," Hawke shrugged.

"Yeah but just because you weren't involved with her romantically it didn't change the fact you loved her," Doc said knowing exactly where Hawke's fears had come from.

"Might have been even worse if I lost her that way because I would have never known what it would have been to at least have had her love for a little while rather than always wonder what if," Hawke said seriously.

"Dom had been harping on me about it for a while and then I read something when I was away with Michael the last few weeks that made me realize that I needed to start living in the here and now and not running from ghosts or pushing away the future that might never be. It was a story about a woman who was dying of cancer. She and her boyfriend went ahead and got married. They knew she wouldn't make it to their first anniversary but her husband had written that they lived more in those few months than in a lifetime. That he'd rather have the memories and the happiness they had in that short time than never having known that kind of love. That it hurt every single day but it was also the best gift he could ever have. If he had to do it over again he said he would, just to have been loved by her for those few months. It got to me. It made me realize that I might just be missing out of something special because I was too afraid to get hurt. I realized that it was better to risk the hurt for the chance of something wonderful."

Doc swallowed hard from Hawke's description of the couple in the story and sighed. "It makes sense, that old saying better to have loved and lost than to have never loved at all?"

"Yeah, man we are getting maudlin in our old age," Hawke said then with a grin and Doc laughed.

"Hey, we are modern men, we can talk about feelings…and then have a beer and slap each other on the back or something like that," Doc teased and Hawke laughed.

Before they could say anything else, Emily came bouncing down the stairs ahead of Caitlin.

Caitlin curled up on the couch and Emily crawled into her lap and laid against her chest, snuggling with her and playing with Caitlin's left hand, looking at her ring. It was a moment that Hawke knew he'd always have in the back of his mind. This was his life right here and now, Caitlin and Emily.