Cody's Point of View:

It was good to catch up with Bailey's parents. They didn't change much, still kind and looking out for her.

And uh…still watching my every move.

"Oh, I'm getting old. I've gotten nine daughters, seven of them married, and four of them are already mothers." He chuckled.

Bailey laughed at her father's joke, and objected quickly. "That's ridiculous, Dad."

"Speaking of which, did Grammy go to one of my sister's houses to spend Christmas?" she asked.

Their faces automatically fell.

"What's wrong? Is she okay?" Bailey asked.

Mr. and Mrs. Pickett looked at each other, like they were sharing something, and didn't want to tell their daughters.

I felt Bailey fidget uncomfortably, staring at her parent's anxiously.

"See, honey," Mrs. Pickett began, "Grammy had been sick for a really long time, and..."

She looked at her husband for support.

I knew what she was going to say next.

Sadly, so did Bailey. At once, she stood up.

"Had? She had been sick? No...Please don't tell me..."

I bit my lip. As strong as Bailey could be, you should never hurt her when she's fragile.

Sort of like now.

"I'm sorry, sweetie."

"She died? I didn't even come to say goodbye! Why didn't you tell me? I missed everything! I can't..."

"We didn't want to worry you. You're always busy; we didn't think you would have made it."

"Of course I would have made it!"

"I know. We wanted to wait for the right time to tell you, and we just didn't..." Clyde didn't finish. "I'm really sorry, Bailey."

"Sorry? I can't believe that my own parents would..."

I stood up as well, and tried to comfort her. "Bailey, they just wanted..."

She shoved me away, and ran outside, with furious tears, slamming the door.

Mrs. and Mr. Pickett seemed depressed. Clyde started to walk to the door, but I stopped him.

"Clyde, you need some rest. I'll take care of her."

"Are you sure?"

"I'm sure." I gave him a pat on the back, and he and Ms. Pickett reluctantly walked up the stairs.

Once they were gone, I walked outside finding Bailey on the porch. The winter air bit the tips of my fingers, and I realized how cold it was. Immediately, I took of my jacket I brought and wrapped it around Bailey's shoulders.

"You okay?" I asked.

"No." She answered icily.

"I know, Bailey that you're mad at your parents, but they just wanted the best for you. I mean think about it. They just didn't want you to be pressured so much while at work. Could you imagine it?"

She barely looked at me.

"I just...I know that Grammy was going to pass away someday but..." she gulped; as if she was surprised that she even said that, "I don't understand why they would just keep something like that from me."

"I know, they didn't want me to worry...but it's not something you would keep from your own daughter." She muttered.

"I understand. I'm on your side." I kissed her forehead. "Your parents are sorry. They didn't know."

Bailey stared at her fingers, and sighed.

"Hey, don't be like that." I comforted, wrapping my arm around her again. "Imagine you in their shoes. Would you tell Audra or Nadine that their grandmother had died, especially during a very busy part of their life?"

"I-I guess not."

"You see? I'm not saying its right, but it's not exactly wrong either, Bails."

She gave me a grateful smile.

"Thank you."

I stood up, and offered her my hand. "Let's go for a walk."

"Why?"

"You need to keep your mind off of this. Show me around the farm. Tell me about your past. Anything."

"Okay." She agreed.

Bailey's Point of View:

"You know, most of your childhood was with Moose." Cody noticed.

"We were good friends. But just good friends." I inputted for his sake.

I had taken him on a thorough tour of my farm, along with occasionally spurting out memories. Cody had listened silently through all of them, not making one distraction.

"Oh, I remember this birdhouse." I laughed approaching it. "All of my sisters and Grammy worked weeks on it."

"Then why is there fifteen of them?" Cody wondered.

"I made five more." I blushed. "I had so much fun. I was just seven." I felt the dried, blue paint on the scratched wood, and smiled. "Grammy was a good grandmother."

We came back to the back door of the house. I sighed.

"Thanks again."

"For what?"

"You've always been there for me."

Cody seemed to consider this for a moment.

"I guess, you're welcome."

I giggled, hugging him.

He spun me around twice, and laughed as I fell into his arms.

We played around for a bit, and it was almost like we were back in high school again. Laughing, I had forgotten everything about Grammy.

We after watched constellations, and I was amazed by how much stars I could see. After living in the city for a while, you truly forget the life of a country girl.

The life I had before the ship. I hardly ever visited after high school. It was almost strange to walk back into your old house again.

But right there, hand in hand, gazing into the stars, with Cody's soft voice next to me, pointing to the stars as if I didn't know what they were already, it didn't matter.

And I bet that was the best Christmas of my life.

Narrator's Point of View:

Clyde Pickett couldn't sleep. Guilt washed fiercely over him. It was so stupid of him to not tell his daughter that. Bailey was probably the one Grammy liked the best. After all, she did give Bailey all of her money she saved up, just for her to go to high school on that boat.

The look on her face. It killed him to see Bailey so hurt.

Finally, he pushed the covers away, standing up. He walked down the stairs, rehearsing what he was going to say to her.

Maybe apologizing isn't the best idea. He determined. He confirmed that he was going to tell her slowly about his choice, then give her all of his reasons.

When he didn't find them in the front porch, he went back into the house, and looked out the back door window.

And what he saw shocked him.

Cody spun Bailey around twice, and laughed.

Rubbing his eyes, he looked again.

But it was true. It was almost impossible, how could Cody cheer up Bailey so quickly? He had never seen Bailey so happy in his entire life.

Cody pointed to something behind her, and when she wasn't looking, threw a snowball on Bailey. Bailey squealed, throwing another one back at him. Cody hugged Bailey from behind and together, they fell onto the ground.

Clyde Pickett watched as Cody and Bailey got up, dusting themselves off with laughter, and sat down on the porch, looking at constellations. Watching his daughter, he finally went back upstairs. There was no apology needed anymore. Bailey seemed to have forgotten everything.

He couldn't help but smile at this.

Heck, maybe Cody isn't so bad. I should really give that kid a break.

Then he entered back into his bedroom, feeling the side-effects of staying up too late.

But it was okay. Clyde was happy.

**Author's Note: Yeah, this chapter is not one of my best works. I mainly just wanted you to see the strong relationship Cody and Bailey still have, even after marriage. And that I didn't change the characters too much, Cody and Bailey are relatively the same as from the show. Just a bit grown up, that's all. And more responsible. Anyway, this and the next few chapters are just a bit of intro before the ship. Besides, I always loved the story of a city boy falling for a country girl, don't you? It's great to visualize Cody and Bailey with their children, back in Kettle corn again. **