A/N: Betcha thought I forgot about this, didn't you? Well, I'm back (again) and writing, offering a new chapter in exchange for your forgiveness for my long absence...with plenty more still to come!

Chapter 10: Christmas Preperations

Allyson sat at her desk, leaning back in her chair after the last bell and savoring the peace and quiet of her empty classroom. Her normally well-behaved students had been irritable and ornery, two so insubordinate she had sent them out earlier in the day.

"And the staff meeting starts in ten minutes," she muttered aloud, glancing at the clock. "But," she continued, brightening up, "at least one good thing happened today." Her eyes came to rest on the bouquet of flowers perched on the edge of her desk, delivered in the middle of second period with a business card from the Miami-Dade Crime Lab tucked in between two of the stalks.

"Those from Speed?" a voice asked from across the room.

Looking up, she found Eric standing in the doorway grinning. "Of course they are," she smiled back, straightening up in her chair and rising to her feet.

He chuckled as he moved into the room. "Of course. Because who else would send flowers to a beautiful woman?"

"So what brings you by?" she asked, changing the subject as her cheeks turned a faint pink.

He halted in front of her, suddenly a little concerned. "It's okay that I'm here, right? I'm not going to get you in trouble?"

"No," she shook her head. "The kids are gone and I have a couple of minutes before the staff meeting. What's up?"

"Well, I was hoping you could help me out," he began, his brown eyes hopeful. "I'm determined not to be one of those guys wandering around on Christmas Eve still shopping without a clue."

"Getting started early this year," she nodded approvingly, leaning against the front of her desk. "That's commendable."

"Well, with three sisters…"

She smiled knowingly, following his train of thought. "You want a woman's help."

"'Desperately need' is more like it," he confessed. "Calleigh usually goes with me, but a couple of her cases are going to trial starting next week so she's going to be too busy this year. If you've got some time, I was thinking maybe you'd take pity on me."

That made her laugh. "Pity is not what you need, Eric Delko. But I would be happy to lend you my services. When were you thinking?"

He pulled out the piece of paper he'd jotted down a few dates on and they consulted her calendar, picking a day he wasn't scheduled to work when she would be free of any extracurricular duties as well.

He was smiling again when he took a pen from the cup on her desk and made a note for himself. "This is great," he told her, relieved. "I actually have a chance this year after all."

"Oh, you'll have more than just a chance," she grinned, patting his arm. "This Christmas is going to a good one for you sisters. And maybe for some special girl?"

"Maybe," was all he replied, a slightly embarrassed expression on his face. "But I'm admitting to nothing without a lawyer present."

"You know I'm going to see your good friend Lisa Brady at the staff meeting in a few minutes, right?" she teased.

His embarrassed expression grew and he refused to look her in the eye. "Yeah, tell her I said hi," he mumbled. Then, his darting to the clock, "Well, I should get going—we both have work to do."

"Room 329."

"What?"

"Lisa's in room 329," Allyson informed him with a twinkle in her eyes. "Just in case you were wondering."

"Yeah, okay." He waved a hand at her dismissively, heading for the door. "See ya later."

Allyson suppressed another laugh, but didn't quite hide the smile that went with it. "Bye."

That evening she stood in the middle of her living room surrounded by boxes and strings of lights, trying to form a picture in her mind of what her new house would look like all dolled up for Christmas. She rummaged through the boxes looking for decorations, finding things she'd forgotten she had, cleaning up the occasional broken piece. She was in the middle of untangling one of the strings of lights when a key turned in the lock and Tim swung the front door open. He didn't speak, but picked his way through the room toward her, wrapping his arms around her and kissing her warmly.

After the initial moment of surprise, Allyson smiled against his mouth and draped her arms around his neck, allowing him to deepen the kiss. "Whoa," she murmured breathlessly when they broke apart. "What was that for?"

He chuckled in response, looking down into her bright blue eyes and kissing her again briefly. "A little birdy told me you had a rough day." She raised a questioning eyebrow at him, prompting him to explain further. "Delko said he stopped by school to see you."

"I didn't say anything to him about my bad day, though," she answered, her fingers combing absently through his hair.

"We're CSIs," he reminded her. "We read people for a living."

"Really? I thought you read evidence," she smirked playfully.

He brushed a loose lock of hair from her face, his touch gentle and soothing. "People are evidence, too."

Her eyes closed as his fingers traveled over her cheek and down her neck, looking back up at him again only when she could no longer feel them on her skin. "Well Eric was right, I did have a bad day…and it got worse after he left."

"What happened?"

She pressed her lips together. "My kids were idiots today," she said flatly. "I even had to throw two of them out, and I don't usually have to do that. I've been really lucky with their behavior this year, but today they were just…squirrelly. Then the staff meeting ran long and I almost missed my appointment with the ultrasound tech."

"Ultrasound?"

She nodded. "Remember I told you about my last checkup with the doctor coming up?" Tim nodded and she continued, "He sent me for an ultrasound first so he can see how things look inside my abdomen since the attack. I managed to get the last appointment for the day, but because of that stupid staff meeting I was running late."

He began rubbing comforting circles in the small of her back with his thumb. "Did you make it?"

"Barely, no thanks to the cop that pulled me over."

"You got pulled over?" he asked, his voice tinged with just a hint of anger. "For what?"

She brushed a hand over his cheek. "Speeding. And I deserved it. I was going twenty miles an hour over the speed limit."

"Who gave you the ticket? Do you have it?" His voice was steady but he was clearly irritated.

She nodded. "It's over there on the kitchen table," she told him, gesturing with one hand. He released her and stalked over to the table, grabbing the ticket and reading intently, even as she continued to talk. "Don't go getting all bent out of shape," she cautioned gently. "He was nice about it—very professional. He even wrote it for way less when he found out I was a teacher…said it was a courtesy from one county employee to another."

"But not enough of a courtesy to actually let you go," he returned, hunting for the name of the issuing officer. "R. Wolfe," he growled, glancing back at her when he felt her fingers grasp his arm. "I'm gonna talk to this Wolfe."

"No you're not," she countered, resting her chin on his shoulder. "He was just doing his job. I was going twenty over, Tim. He only wrote the ticket for five."

"Doesn't he know who you are?" he spat.

Amusement sparkled in her eyes, but she managed to hide it. Or so she thought. "Who should I have told him I am?"

He noticed her barely concealed smile, the too-curious look on her face. "You're enjoying this, aren't you?" he said, turning around to face her fully.

"That you're a bit protective of me? Of course I like that," she answered, slipping her arms around his waist. "Is there something else going on here that I don't know about?"

Her proximity to him broke through most of the annoyance, her mock innocence scattering the rest. "You should have told him you're my girlfriend," he said softly, resting his hands on her shoulders and sliding them down her back. "Then at least someone would have called me."

"Is that what I am?" she asked, her eyes sparkling up at him. "You're girlfriend?"

"No," he told her, "but 'soul mate' just sounds so cheesy when you say it out loud." When she opened her mouth to speak and no words came out, and he smiled his patented small smile. "You didn't know? I thought I made my feelings for you pretty clear."

"You did," she managed, eyes still wide with surprise. "I just didn't expect you to say it." She shook her head a little as if to clear it and matched his smile. "You're generally more of a 'show' guy than a 'tell' guy."

"But 'tell' is okay, too, right?"

She leaned up, finding his lips with hers in a soft kiss. "Tell is definitely okay."

"Good," he murmured, kissing her again and dropping the now-forgotten ticket back onto the kitchen table. "Because I plan to show and tell when I take you out next week."

The playful quality returned to her voice when she spoke again. "You're taking me out?"

He nodded. "On my day off. I think it's about time we went out on a real date."

"Where are we going?"

He shook his head, his brown eyes glinting. "All you need to know is to wear that black dress in the back of your closet."

She laughed, running a hand over his chest. "The one with the little straps? I might have known."

"So how did the ultrasound go?" he asked, changing the subject and leading her over to the couch.

She shrugged, dropping down beside him, cuddling against him when his arm found its way around her. "It was fine, except for the part where I had to drink a gallon of water and not use the bathroom until after it was over."

"And everything's okay?"

"That I won't know until I see the doctor, and they couldn't get me in until after the holidays," she told him. "The nurse assured me when I made the appointment that they would look at the ultrasound when it came in, and that if there was anything on it that couldn't wait, they'd call."

He nodded, saying a silent prayer that the test came up clean as he kissed her forehead. "Okay, good."

"Until then, I want to get these decorations up," she grinned cheerfully, training her eyes on the living room floor. "Lights on the roofline, some in the palm tree out front, maybe some in the trees in the backyard, too, if there's enough. Then I can get the tree up and start looking for tickets to Buffalo."

He was nodding along with her plans until her last statement. "Buffalo?"

"Well, yeah," she returned gently. "I haven't seen my parents since July, and I'd kind of like to be with them at Christmas." She paused, studying his face, his eyes. "I thought you might come, too, if we could work it out with your work schedule and plans with your family."

He frowned, sounding annoyed when he answered. "Were you going to tell me?"

"About Buffalo? Of course," she assured him, playing with his sleeve to mask her confusion. Why is he upset about this? "It's sort of been in the back of my mind for a few weeks now, but I haven't really thought about Christmas 'til this week, now that Thanksgiving's over."

"Yeah, that makes sense," he decided, letting loose a heavy sigh. "I'm sorry, I just…had a bad day, too."

"You want to talk about it?"

He met her gaze, a small smile forming on his lips at the realization that she was there in his arms, safe and happy. "No. I'd rather hang Christmas lights."

"It's good therapy," she agreed, knowing that he'd talk to her later if he needed to. "Especially using the staple gun on the roof."

He chuckled at her enthusiasm, standing with her and clasping her hand as he followed her out to the garage to fetch the ladder and staple gun. Two feet from the tools, she stopped abruptly and kissed him, slowly, tenderly.

"What was that for?" he mumbled against her lips, kissing her again when she tried to pull away.

"Because you sent me flowers today for no particular reason," she smiled softly, squeezing his hand.

He managed one more kiss before she turned and hefted the ladder. "Then I'm definitely going to send you flowers more often."