Author's note; I own nothing and make no profit.

This story was written for a Secret Santa exchange on the AO3 site. Telaryn and Fleur were the kind, supportive and hard-working moderators of that exchange, so I gave them a little nod in this epilogue.

Thank you for reading. Enjoy.

Epilogue

Christmas Eve

Mike sat at the bar and stared into his beer mug as if the answers to all of life's questions might be found within.

"You seem a little blue."

He looked up into the kind eyes of a middle aged man with a head full of unruly curly hair. He hadn't planned on chatting with any strangers, but found himself pouring out his heart to the man.

"I got fired from my job. I can't find another because my boss won't give me a reference."

"What did you do to get fired?"

Mike felt the heat of a blush rising up his neck and into his face. "There was a customer…a really beautiful woman. I guess I got distracted. I wasn't watching where I was going and walked into a waitress carrying a big tray of food and, well…big mess. Boss let me finish the shift and then fired me. He took the damages out of my last check."

"Wow. That's harsh. And just before Christmas, too."

"Yeah. I really needed that job. I am going to law school on loans. That job gave me flexible hours and with tips, I made enough money to eat. If I don't find something else really soon, I might have to drop out of school for a while."

"You know, I believe I know a bar that is looking for some good help. It not a wait staff job, though. They are looking to hire a smart, motivated, hard-working guy to help manage the place. You seem like you'd be a good fit."

"Really? Where?"

"It's called McRory's. You could stop by tonight. Go see the bartender. Tell him Nate sent you."

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Both arms loaded with bags of groceries, Beth leaned down to turn the door knob with one hand and bumped the door open with her hip. She eased the door closed with one foot as she dumped the bags on the counter. The house was blessedly quiet. Her husband had taken the kids downtown to see the Christmas lights on Boston Common, a yearly tradition for their family. Usually Beth went as well, but she had begged off this year citing the need for groceries to make Christmas dinner.

She planned on a nice big turkey dinner with all the fixings, followed by apple and pumpkin pies. It was going to be a wonderful dinner. She was going to watch her children open their presents and she was going to enjoy making, serving and eating that dinner. Christmas would be perfect, she vowed. The terrifying gnawing uncertainty of how they were going to manage now that she and her husband were both out of work, would have to wait until after Christmas. She would absolutely not let the credit card bill and the mortgage payment- both late- ruin her favorite holiday. No, she would not. Wiping her eyes to stem the flow of tears, she unpacked and put away her groceries.

Finished with the last bag, she poured herself a glass of wine to steady her nerves. A few sips of wine and a few quiet minutes to sit and relax, and then she would start preparing for tomorrow. She scooped up the glass and headed for the living room, kicking off her shoes into the hall closet as she passed. A bit of white caught her eye. Mail. Her husband had brought in the mail and left it on the hall table. No. She absolutely should not ruin her evening by opening that mail. She started to turn away, sighed and reached for the pile of envelopes. It was going to make her miserable whether she opened the mail or not, so she might as well face it head on. She sat, pushed the wine glass aside and began ripping open an envelope.

Beth stared at the statement, confused and stunned. She read it over and then over again more slowly. She did not understand. How could this possibly be? The oil bill was paid. All of it. They were months behind but somehow the entire bill was paid. In a daze, she opened another envelope followed by another and another. The credit card bill…paid with a zero balance. The electric bill…paid. The mortgage? It too was paid- in its entirety. It seemed that they now owned their house. And the bank statement showed an impossibly fat balance. No, she must be dreaming.

"Honey, are you okay? What's wrong?"

Beth looked up into her husband's concerned face. Her three children stared, wide-eyed. She had not even heard them come in.

"Nothing is wrong. Everything is right." Beth handed the statements to her husband.

Julie, her youngest daughter, climbed into her lap. "Mommy, why are you crying?"

Beth hugged her close as her other two crowded in for hugs. "It's okay, sweetie. Sometimes mommies cry when they are happy."

Her husband looked up, slack jawed. "How? How could this be?"

Beth smiled. "I think it was Santa."

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TELARYN OMG, U R not going to bereave what just happened!

TELARYN believe….not bereave. Damn auto correct!

FLEUR LOL what am I not going to believe?

TELARYN AO3 just got a donation

FLEUR ? So? AO3 exists on donations.

TELARYN Yeah, but this is different!

FLEUR How?

TELARYN First, it was anonymous. Second, it was…drum roll, please…

FLEUR What? U R killing me!

TELARYN the donation is a million bucks!

FLEUR OMG OMG OMG…U kidding?

TELARYN Nope serious as a heart attack!

FLEUR WOW! Merry Christmas!

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The doorbell rang. Cal wasn't expecting any visitors. It was probably a boy- an annoying boy who wanted to see Emily and who, without a doubt, was not good enough for her. Cal just hated how fast his daughter had grown up. From the moment she was born, he felt like his life had gone into fast forward. And now that she was a teenager, she had ideas of her own on how to live her life. Cal did not always agree with those ideas. But, he had to admit, Emily really was a great kid with a good sensible head on her shoulders. He was proud of her. He trusted her judgement. It was the boys he didn't trust.

The doorbell rang again. Emily called down from her room.

"Dad! You going to get that? Answer the door!"

Sure. Answer the door. Let the annoying, untrustworthy boy in. Cal sighed.

He took a moment to put on his "scary dad scowl"-which he was confident could strike fear in the heart of any teenage boy- before he threw open the front door. The face that looked back at him was not afraid and was not a boy. A smiling woman in a jacket displaying a local florist's emblem was peering at him around a truly impressive armload of long stem red roses.

"Hi. Happy Holidays!" she began cheerfully. "I have a delivery for a Miss Emily Lightman."

"Those are for Emily?"

"Yup! Three dozen of these beauties! Gorgeous, huh? Someone really likes Miss Emily! I was there when the guy came in to order them. Man, was he was a hottie! Serious pheromones! Mmm, mmm!"

Cal emitted an involuntary growl, which oddly did not seem to dull the delivery woman's effusive cheer. She thrust the flowers into his arms and pulled a clipboard out from under her arm.

"I just need a quick signature, right here on this line," she said as she pushed a pen into his hand.

Shifting the load of flowers to one arm and craning his neck to see past them, Cal scrawled his name on the delivery slip.

"No need to tip, sir. The super hottie guy took care of that! You have a great holiday, now! Bye bye!"

Judging from the fact that the delivery woman seemed absurdly delighted to be working on Christmas eve, super hottie guy must have made her holiday quite merry. Cal closed the door with perhaps a bit more force than was really necessary. Thumping the vase down onto the hall table, he plucked the tiny white envelope out of the flowers and removed the card. The signed message simply read "thank you".

"Emily! Who the bloody blue blazes is Eliot?"

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"I feel really silly in this wheelchair. I can walk!" Mariella had been protesting in vain for the entire elevator ride down.

"Hospital policy," the nurse replied cheerfully. "Everyone gets a ride to the door! Now, I am going to leave you right here at the volunteer desk while I check to make sure your ride has arrived."

"No need," Mariella said. "There she is now."

Sophie smiled and waved as she strolled into the lobby. "I'll take it from here," she told the nurse. She commandeered the wheelchair and brought Mariella out to the car. In a few short minutes, she was seat belted in and Sophie was pulling onto route 18 towards the highway.

"It's so nice of you to give me a ride home, Sophie. I really appreciate it."

"My pleasure, darling. After all you have been through, you deserve a bit of pampering."

"Still…it is incredibly nice. It's Christmas Eve and I know you have a flight to catch. You shouldn't be spending your time on me."

Sophie glanced at her briefly, turned back to the road and casually asked "A flight?"

Mariella blushed. "I didn't mean to be nosy. I saw your luggage and a boarding pass on the back seat."

"Ah! Actually, those are for you."

"Me?"

"Yes, you." While watching the road, Sophie rummaged with one hand in her purse. She produced an envelope and handed it across to Mariella. "This is for the return flight. The date is open, so you can come back when you wish. I spoke to your boyfriend. He's a sweetie. He knows when your flight will arrive and will pick you up at the airport."

"What…you…how…why? Why would you do that for me?"

Sophie gave her the 10-carat smile. "Because everyone should spend Christmas with someone they love. Merry Christmas, Mariella."