Cassandra lifted the quilt so that Jenkins could sit down next to her on the sofa. The Caretaker sat down carefully, taking care not to spill any of the frothy Mexican hot chocolate in the two mugs he was carrying. He handed one mug to Cassandra; she took a sip and hummed in appreciation as she licked the thick foam from her upper lip. Jenkins set his own mug on the end table next to the sofa, removed his suit coat and settled in. The redheaded Librarian covered them both with the quilt, then snuggled up to Jenkins, making herself comfortable as she lay against his side.

"Ready?" she asked excitedly. He nodded, smiling as he quickly dug his handkerchief out of his trousers pocket. He laid the cloth on the table next to the mug of chocolate, where he could easily reach it when needed. He draped his left arm around Cassandra as she raised the remote control and hit the 'play' button.

The latest Christmas-themed treacle from the Hallmark Channel sprang to life on the large screen in the Library's theater. Jenkins took a deep breath and prepared himself for the next two hours crammed full of ridiculous, sugary-sweet, melodramatic romance and the inevitable, florid happy ending.

He hated these silly movies with every fiber of his being. He would sooner have faced an entire pack of hellhounds with a raw pork chop tied around his neck than to have to watch even one of these saccharin bits of nonsense, but Cassandra absolutely adored them. She looked forward to them every year, and it made her even happier to watch them every holiday season if she could finagle Jenkins into sitting next to her on the sofa with a mug of homemade hot chocolate.

As if the movie itself wasn't bad enough, there was Cassandra's reaction to it. Tears, tears, and more tears! He knew that by the end of the evening she would be a sniffling, sobbing, eye-dabbing, emotional mess, and his handkerchief—not to mention a goodly portion of his shirt—would be soaked.

But even so, he didn't have the heart to refuse her. It was such a small thing that brought her so much joy—how could he possibly say no? So this year he silenced that part of him that wanted to run screaming from the theater, hugged his beloved Librarian closer to himself, sipped his hot chocolate and held his tongue.

As Cassandra focused on the movie, Jenkins focused on her. He found himself spending the time simply enjoying being with Cassandra. He watched her watching the movie, memorizing every line of her lovely face, every expression. He relished the warmth of her small body against his, deeply breathed in the sweet floral scent of her hair, the faint spicy-citrus scent of her perfume.

He counted the number of quiet breaths she took as she watched the film, adjusted his arm slightly so that he could feel her heart beating against it. He stroked her soft skin, played with her silky red locks, dotted her high, fine forehead periodically with whisper-light little kisses. He held her tiny, delicate hand in his own large, calloused one, smiling at her bright, intricately-painted nails. It always amazed him how small and frail she appeared, yet how strong and resilient she was in reality. The only thing that amazed him more was that she had fallen in love with him—out of all the men in the world, she had chosen him. That thought always made his ancient heart physically ache with love for her.

As the movie ended Cassandra sat up, sniffling loudly and blotting the tears from her eyes and cheeks, happy that the heroine had once again found her true love. When she had gotten herself pulled together, she turned to the quiet knight next to her and smiled sheepishly. Utterly charmed, Jenkins took her in his arms and kissed her—slowly, deeply and tenderly, childishly delighted by the taste of chocolate and cinnamon on her tongue.

Surprised by the unexpected kiss, when he let her go she looked up into his eyes, her own wide and still damp with tears.

"Wow! What brought that on?" she murmured, dropping her gaze again and grinning bashfully.

"Love," he whispered simply in answer, then tipped her face up with a finger so he could kiss her again.