"Hi." Two nurses, a young woman with a mocha complexion and a middle aged blonde, stood in the doorway. "Is this the party Jill and Tina told us about?" the young woman asked.

"Yes, it is," Alan said, "Come in and help yourselves. I'm Alan Eppes, and your two patients are Charlie and Don, my accident prone sons."

"I'm Cathy," the blonde said, shaking hands with Alan, "and this is Naomi. We'll be stopping by and taking vitals through the evening, but right now we're just here for a snack."

"Well, snack away," Alan said. "The rest of the folks will introduce themselves. I'm going to go find more guests. I don't want to take all this food back to the cabin."

Naomi laughed. "Once word gets out, you won't have to worry about getting rid of the food. This looks wonderful."

David stepped forward and pointed at a bowl. "That spread is really good. I'm David Sinclair, by the way, Don's coworker."

"Hi, David."

Colby stepped to Naomi's other side. "And you really have to try that cheese. It's great. Colby Granger, by the way."

Naomi smiled at Colby. "I really prefer cheddar."

"Hmm?" Colby said, confused.

"I'm really not a big fan of colby cheese."

Colby reddened. "No, Colby's my name. I don't know what kind of cheese that is."

Naomi clapped her hand over her mouth. "Oh, I'm so sorry, Colby."

Colby laughed. "That's okay. It was a pretty cheesy introduction anyway."

Cathy grinned at Colby. "Don't worry about it. Naomi and I hear all sorts of cheesy introductions in this business."

Megan picked up a piece of cauliflower, dragged it through the ranch dressing and popped it into Larry's mouth. "Granger's parents really knew what they were doing when they named him."

"Hey, it's a family name," Colby protested.

"Sure it is," Megan chuckled.

"Hey," Alan said from the doorway. "I found a few more victims... uh guests." He stepped aside and an older couple pushed a young man in a wheelchair into the room. "Tommy here broke his leg at one of the other ski resorts in the area. These are his parents, Tom and Dorothea. You folks help yourselves. Whatever you don't eat, we've got to haul back to our cabin."

Alan smiled at Don and Annie. "Annie, are you enjoying yourself?"

"I sure am, Alan. This was a wonderful idea. Don was telling me about the wedding you planned."

"My boys never miss an opportunity to bring that up. I'm a city planner, in a private consulting business now, and all they talk about is my homemaking skills. Of course, Charlie lives with me..."

"Ah, Dad, I own the house, remember. You live with me."

"... and Don never misses an opportunity to show up at dinner time."

Annie laughed. "Too bad you didn't teach them your secrets."

"Hey, I'm too busy to cook," Don protested.

"Oh, sure," Annie scoffed. "Too busy. Try being an orthopedic surgeon in a ski resort area. I'm usually too busy to eat, let alone cook."

"Yeah, doctor? Well, I'll bet you make more than a lowly law enforcement officer does."

"Sure, but subtract my malpractice insurance, alimony and taxes, and divide the pittance that's left by the number of hours I work, and I'll bet you make a lot more. And besides, I wouldn't call a senior Special Agent 'lowly.'"

Don furrowed his brow, "How did you know..."

Annie shrugged. "I took the liberty of looking at your file when I pulled Charlie's file."

"Hey, isn't that a violation of privacy?" Don said, grinning.

"Simple mistake. I picked up the wrong 'Eppes.' Took me a few minutes to figure it out."

Amita stood, stretched and came to Charlie's bedside. "How are you doing, Charlie? Can I get you anything?"

Charlie smiled and shook his head. "No, thanks. I'm good. If you can get the buffet out of the way, you can come and sit with me."

"Here," Alan said, "Let's consolidate some of this."

Naomi said, "Cathy and I should get going anyway. Is it okay if we take a plate back with us?"

"Of course," Alan said, "take a couple. You've got a long day ahead of you."

Cathy and Naomi filled their plates. When they were ready, David said, "Let me give you a hand, ladies," and took a plate in each hand. "Why don't you grab something to drink?"

"Thanks," Cathy said. "You're a sweetheart, David."

"All right," Amita said, "Let's make some room so I can sit with Charlie. He's looking lonely over here behind all the food."

Colby helped Alan clear the table. "Where's this go, Alan?"

"Just next door," Alan said. "Thank you, Colby. And, for the record, I think your name is just fine."

Colby grinned at Megan as he wheeled the table out of the room. "Did you hear that, Reeves? Alan says my name is just fine."

"Aw, now that's not fair," Megan said. "I can't berate Alan's taste. I guess I'll just have to write it off as stress."

Charlie scooted over to make room for Amita and smiled as she sat next to him. He reached up and touched her cheek. "Hi," he said softly.

"Hi," she said, leaning down to kiss him. "Must be some leftover mistletoe magic here."

Colby returned, accompanied by Jill and Tina. "Look who I found."

The party started to wind down just as the dinners were starting to arrive. When a woman wheeled a cart filled with covered dinner trays into the room, she laughed. "Well, we do good food here, but I don't think I can compete with this."

Don pulled his table over and cleared room for the tray. "I'll try it. And I won't hold you personally responsible."

The woman shook her head. "Okay, dear. Here you go." She turned to Charlie. "How about you, dear?

Amita helped Charlie clear enough room on one of the tables for his tray. As the woman put the tray on the table, Charlie said, "And, please, if you have time, help yourself to some of this stuff. My dad doesn't want to take it back to the cabin unless he absolutely has to."

"Thanks, Hon," she said, "How about I stop by on my way back downstairs?"

When she returned with her empty cart, Alan helped her load it up with goodies. "Enjoy yourself, and make sure you take enough for everyone in the kitchen. It's a shame you have to work Christmas Eve, so you might as well make it a little bit more fun."

"Oh, thank you," She said, and finally left with most of the remnants of the food.

Alan yawned and stretched. "Well, folks, I am not hungry, but I could certainly use a cup of coffee. Anyone else?"

"Sounds good to me," Megan said. "How about you, Larry?"

"It sounds wonderful. Charles, Don, you don't mind if we leave you for a while, do you?"

Charlie yawned, "Not at all. You've got to be going stir crazy in here anyway."

"That's right," Don said. "I don't know about Charlie, but I think you guys should go back to the cabin and get some rest."

"I agree. Not that we're trying to get rid of you," Charlie added. "And we've really appreciated you staying with us all day, but..."

"... but we both need some rest," Don finished for him.

"If I didn't know better," Alan said, "I'd think you rehearsed that little routine."

Charlie bit his lip. "Dad, you're more than welcome to stay if you want..."

"No, Charlie," Alan said, crossing the room to Charlie's side and ruffling his hair. "You two are doing fine, now. You both need to rest, and I think you're right about us going stir crazy. Why don't we come back first thing in the morning? We've all got our cell phones, so you can call us if you need anything – anything at all. Even if you just want to talk."

"Okay," Charlie said. "It you're sure..."

"I'm sure. Enjoy your supper, and we'll see you in the morning," Alan said.