'We wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year,' Jim and Trixie sang to their eight month old. Big green eyes looked back at them, while a rose bud mouth cooed in harmony. He loved it when his parents made noise and even better when they did it as a family. Clapping his hands in delight, Jamie asked for more.

'At least,' Jim stated in a melancholy tone, 'I think it's Christmas Day.'

'Daddy can't be sure,' Trixie chimed in as cheerfully as possible, 'his watch stopped working a couple of weeks before you were born so we've been measuring the days with pen and paper. Mommy's not so good at remembering to mark the calendar every day.'

'Ahm,' her husband made a non-committal voice in agreement.

Eyeing him, Trixie didn't rise to his bait. Instead she scoured her mind for another carol. Finding one, she started. It didn't take long to realise she couldn't remember all the words. Covering the lost sounds with a hum, Jamie didn't know the difference.

'You know what I wish,' Jim asked wistfully. Shaking her head, Trixie wondered what would come next, 'I wish I could remember more Christmas songs, even the really commercial ones. This is our third holiday season down here and until Jamie's birth, we really didn't celebrate. I guess it brings all we've lost too close to home on the holidays. They're usually time's when the whole family would get together, friends came to visit and even strangers greeted each other in the street with a Merry Christmas and a smile.'

'Presents,' Trixie gazed on her child with adoring eyes, 'I don't care about us, but Christmas is a time of giving, especially to children. This is Jamie's first Christmas and we don't have anything for him.'

'But we do,' Jim announced with a smile. Wrapping himself in the shabby, tattered jacket he'd worn while camping well over two years ago, James Frayne grinned wildly. 'I'll be back in a minute.'

Good to his word, Jim reinterred the sleeping cave with a large tin can in his arms. Taking a seat in the sand before his son, he removed another can from inside the first, then another and another. Eventually seven cans, each a size smaller than the one before graced the space between father and son.

'I've tried everything to paint or colour them brightly,' Jim lamented, obviously unsuccessful. 'I did manage to find a way to get rid of the sharp edges so little fingers couldn't cut themselves.' He demonstrated to Trixie, before allowing James Frayne the Third to play with his Christmas present. Eagerly pouncing on them, the child's expression displayed his joy.

'Goo, goo, gar,' he commented when hitting the largest upturned tin made a pleasing noise.

Tears in her eyes, Trixie managed, 'their wonderful, Jim. I can't believe Jamie finally has a toy.'

'Makes you think, doesn't it,' Jim speculated, 'how much of the material "stuff" we surround ourselves with is necessary. I mean, we've been without almost everything but we've survived, managed to produce a happy and healthy child. If this happened at home, how many things would we have for Jamie?'

Shuddering at the thought, Trixie managed in an ironic tone, 'dippers, clothing, and advice from Moms.' Pausing, she continued in a normal voice, 'but I understand what you're saying Jim. There are some things that would have made life more bearable. Not that I regret my son, but the contraceptive pill would have come in handy.'

'Twenty foot ladder,' he managed in a dead pan response. Able to make this diffuse reference to his depression displayed Jim's recovery. Trixie gave him a look which said, I know what you're doing and why but I don't need proof of your improvement. I love you anyway.

Three days later, Jamie began to crawl in earnest. Up until now he'd managed to roll over and creep on the ground like a caterpillar. Finally managing to get up on to all fours, he quickly understood the dynamics of movement.

'You're too much like your father,' Trixie commented as the child made a bee line for the sleeping cave's entry. Only her quick action saved the little boy from the freezing weather outside. 'Oh no you don't, you little rascal,' she remonstrated, scooping Jamie into her arms, 'I know you're anxious to explore, but not until this snow clears the ground.'

'Bo, bo, bo,' he demanded, chubby hands reaching for the opening in huge, old army jacket she wore. If he couldn't go outside, he wanted the next best thing.

The mother in Trixie knew what her son demanded without the accompanying sounds. They'd started feeding Jamie solids at five months when Trixie realised he watched every spoonful take the journey from her bowl to her mouth. Several attempts later, after almost chocking their son, they discovered the correct consistency for an infant. Since then his meals became lumpier. However he still needed breast feeding several times each day. At the moment, in the middle of a growth spurt, James Frayne the Third became a tenacious eater.

Trixie's mind considered their food problem. She'd needed to increase the quantity of calories to sustain her milk over the winter months. The extra depleted their stores, both fresh and caned, faster than Jim expected. Failure of the winter crop early in the season due to a sudden freeze left only the fall harvest to sustain them over the long cold months. Along with Jamie's hunger, this added a huge strain on their supplies feeding a rapidly growing child. From the start, Jamie ate the same meals as his parents, only well mushed up.

Recently meat became an issue. They'd run out of venison. When Jim went to the rabbit hole, he found the animals gone for the cold season. It'd happened before. This time he felt a permanency, as though the animals sensed the reason for their depleted ranks and relocated to another borough.

Jamie looked at his mother with pleading eyes, wanting something to drink less than the comfort her breast offered. Unable to ignore the thirsty child, Trixie sat cross-legged, holding her son to her breast. Admiring his angelic expression of contentment, she remarked, 'you really are a miniature copy of your father!'

'Witty, intelligent, good looking,' Jim supplied watching this ritual he couldn't participate in, 'just like me.'

'Modest too,' Trixie added.

January brought more issues. Extremely warm weather coupled with freezing nights set up an icy surface across the Hole. Stepping out of the sleeping cave required ice skates they didn't have. Going to the toilet in the water cave became an effort.

'Please stop it, Jamie,' Trixie placed her hands over her ears in an attempt to alleviate the sound. 'You can't go outside. It's too cold and slippery. You'll freeze in your sling.'

'Da, da, da,' he continued to cry, arms outreaching towards the sleeping cave entry.

'Daddy's gone to get our dinner from the supply cave,' Trixie tolerance at an all-time low from being cooped up in a confined space with an almost ten month old, finally snapped. 'Sit down and shut up,' she hollered, 'I've had just about all I can take. Don't you think I want to be outside too?'

Jamie's wails competed with his mother's tears. Walking into the emotionally charged situation, Jim didn't know who to comfort first. Something in Trixie's body language made him realise a wrong move could spell disaster. Placing the bowls carefully on the floor, he gave Jamie his. Turning to his wife, Jim took her into his arms.

'Hey,' he soothed, 'whatever it is, we'll work through it.'

'Will we?' Trixie sobbed. 'I'm not so sure our luck is going to hold out much longer.'

Silently he agreed. The dynamic between them had subtly changed. February appeared and their continued confinement made tempers grow short. Jim thought he knew why, only he didn't want to talk to Trix about their food situation. 'If we get a good spring and fall crop,' he whispered, rubbing her back, 'and maybe a deer or two, we'll be set for next winter.'

'I don't want to be down here again next winter,' she moaned into Jim's jacket. 'I don't want Jamie to be forced to play in ten square feet all winter. I don't want…I don't want…'

Since his own dip into depression, he'd been waiting for Trixie to fall. She'd been his strength, his guiding light in a very dark period of his life. Now he'd have to give the same level of support. Finally after almost three years trapped in this god forsaken hole, she'd come to the end of her ability to cope.

March allowed them time out of their captivity. The days warmed suddenly and the night remained a decent temperature. Taking a chance, Jim toiled to establish a very early spring garden. They'd worked the same piece of land for three years. Allowing it to lay fellow Jim selected another site on the opposite side of the stream.

'Moving the garden was a good idea,' Trixie watched her son and husband digging in the hard backed dirt. 'The tomatoes have already sprouted and I can see several other plants breaking the surface.'

'I'll need to plant more,' Jim looked up from his toil, 'to make sure we have enough for a growing family.'

Rolling her eyes, Trixie fondly gazed at the two men in her life, one a miniature of the other. 'The way this kid eats, I wonder how the Wheeler's managed to fill you up as a teenager.'

'Between Honey's newly found apatite after befriending you,' he commented, remembering a happier time in his life, 'and adopting me, I'm not sure Cook knew what hit her.'

'I remember,' Trixie teased.

Grinning, Jim's eyes made promises about their nocturnal activities tonight. They'd been careful about making love for several reasons. The chance of pregnancy ruled their sex life. Next came fatigue and limited space in their sleeping cave. They couldn't just go outside in winter to appease their need of each other. Now the chance presented its self, Jim would use every opportunity to resume conjugal relations with his common law wife.

The start of April brought several revelations. The rabbits had well and truly relocated to a safer environment. After pulling himself up on every available surface possible, Jamie finally took his first steps. By the time Trixie managed to call out to Jim, the child fell on his rump. Unfazed, he tried again. Wobbling, one foot placed before another, this time he got six feet before deciding crawling might be the better option.

'Hey,' Jim rushed over, scooping his son up and over his head. Spinning around, Jamie started to giggle at the impromptu game with his father. 'Aren't you a clever boy? Just a year old and walking already.'

At his side, Trixie had tears of joy in her eyes. It belayed the regret caused by the failure of half their vegetables. Two nights ago a sudden frost killed most of the tender seeding. At this rate they wouldn't have enough food to survive next winter. Not one deer had been silly enough to lose its life to the hole over the winter. So far Jim had managed to bring down two birds with a makeshift sling, giving them some protein rich meals.

'I just wish,' Trixie muttered under her breath, 'the rest of our families were here to witness this. Until this moment I didn't realise how much I miss other people.'

'Lt Tom Newton reporting for duty, sir,' the army officer saluted his superior.

He'd been waiting almost an hour, even though the General called this meeting. At a loss, Tom wondered if this had something to do with the political posturing before the Presidential Election set for November. Last year the military games had been delayed because of the Senator whose son had been kidnapped stuck his nose into things he knew nothing about. Up for re-election, the entire base wondered if he'd changed the location and timing again this year at the last moment. That has to be why the General's called me in, Tom realised.

'I want you to lead one of the teams in the army games this year,' General Brooks requested.

'Sir,' the young soldier questioned with the tone of his voice.

'It will be held in the traditional area with two opposing sides,' the older man grimaced. 'You're to be in charge of Blue's recognisance squad. We're moving the timetable up to August with a view to returning to the June/July slot next year.'

'Sir,' Tom attempted to keep his tone neutral, wondering why the General bothered to explain this to a lowly lieutenant, 'I'll do my best to win for the army and this base.'

'Very good, Lt Newton, because you'll be up against a team of Marines backed by a combined Navy/Air Force personnel,' he nodded in dismissal. 'I'll have Col. Smith brief you on our strategy. He'll be heading up Blue team and you'll act as his assistant until the games begin.'

It didn't take Tom Newton long to find the members of his team. Telling the immediate members of his squad, they wondered why. By evening meal, most of the base knew.

'What did the Colon say?' Harvey asked.

'We'll be patrolling an area around Warm Springs, near the Hell Hole,' Newton explained. 'The aim is to keep the other team from reaching our tag while we attempt to find theirs and win the game.'