Sorry for the delay, but real life has an annoying habit of interfering with my writing.

Consciousness returned slowly to the tracker, snuggled down in the warm bed, with Chris on one side and Ezra on the other. They'd all had a restless night after the dramatic events of the previous day and Maude's emergency surgery. Neither he nor Ezra had questioned it when they were followed by Chris, all three of them silently stripping down to their skivvies and crawling into bed.

They'd started out all spooned without touching facing the door, but nightmares had resulted in Ezra being on his back, Vin cuddled up to his side with his head resting over the gambler's heart and Chris lying on his stomach with the tracker's back lined up against his side. A lazy smile spread over the Texan's face as he felt the bed dip with the slight weight of his pup when Baker scrambled up to join them. Ezra had come up with the idea of putting a shallow box of dirt in the corner, so Baker could attend to his business in the night without disturbing them. So far it had worked well, enabling the tracker to get a few more minutes of sleep or dozing.

Listening to the strong heartbeat under his ear, the young Texan grinned self-consciously as he blushed and admitted to himself that he liked this early morning cuddling better than sleep. Having not known a kind touch for most of his life, let alone this sort of prolonged comfort, he cherished it all the more now. Ruefully, he realised that he seemed to turn into a small boy when around Ezra now, looking to him for pats and hugs as a child would from a parent. Which was strange, given that the southerner was only a couple of years older than him, and left him with an odd feeling when he thought on it. Maybe it wasn't right for a grown man to be so reliant on another man for a good night's sleep. Maybe he shouldn't need the look of pride he saw on the gambler's face, when he looked up from reading one of his poems after he'd laboriously printed it into a blank book Ezra had given him. Maybe he shouldn't want that warm, fluttery feeling that filled his belly when he saw the look of affectionate fondness in the emerald green eyes of his brother.

Biting his lip, Vin felt his heart start to pound at the thought of giving up what he'd found and reverting to his old, independent, loner persona. Tears pricked his eyes as he remembered the long, lonely, cold nights in his wagon or on the trail, when his back had pained him to the point of not being able to draw breath properly; days when he'd watched people pass him by as though he was invisible or, worse yet, crossed the street to avoid him; days when he'd screamed inside at the tension of living a life on the run, afraid of everything and everyone. Leaning into the hand that had come up to stroke his hair, Vin stopped trying to puzzle out whether his behavious was wrong or not and gave himself up to the feelings of peace and contentment. Chris, Buck and Ezra seemed to think it was alright and he was willing to trust them. They all knew more about what was acceptable in polite society that he ever would, especially Ez.

Chris woke abruptly and wondered for a moment whose bed he'd ended up in. The faint smell of lavender from the pillow case, along with the smell of the desert and Ezra's cologne, convinced his mind to dredge up the memory of climbing into the gambler's bed with him and Vin. Puzzled as to what had awoken him, he assessed his surroundings cautiously and sighed silently when he realised that the tracker's damn dog had jumped on the bed. Like there was room for anything else here, he grumbled to himself as he shifted slightly in response to the dog's insistence. The gunslinger chuckled softly at the antics of the pup as he turned and curled, scratching at the covers and trying to make a nest, before settling with a contented huff in the space between Vin's curled legs and his own thigh. Sighing happily, Chris nestled his face further into the soft pillow and reminisced about when he'd been a boy and snuck his dog, Sam, into bed against his mother's orders. He'd loved that damn dog. Every boy should have a dog and he was glad that his Texan brother had finally gotten his, even if it was nearly twenty years late.

Sleep had abandoned Ezra around dawn and he'd been lying quietly, planning for that day and the next. It was Christmas Eve today and he had a lot to do. All his gifts had been bought and delivered, he'd paid a couple of the men who'd worked on Nathan's rooms above the livery and the MacPhail building to go out and cut down some suitable trees for decorating. Two of them were in a covered wagon behind the livery at the moment, but he planned to recruit some of his friends to distribute them today. He'd gotten a smallish one for Mary to decorate with Billy in their own house. The other medium sized one in the wagon was for the Saloon. But the full sized one should have been erected and decorated overnight, by the men he'd paid, just by the church whilst the town slept. Josiah had been let into the secret as the gambler hadn't wanted his employees shot by the big ex-preacher if he'd mistaken them for miscreants.

Dragging his mind back to the present, Ezra frowned as the slow, steady heartbeat under the hand he had laid on his young brother's back suddenly sped up as the muscles tensed. Bringing his other hand up to soothingly stroke back the shaggy curls, he wondered what Vin was thinking about to distress himself so much. Obviously it wasn't too bad as the Texan soon melted back into a dead weight against the gambler's chest. He'd give his brothers another half hour and then he really had to be getting up.

"Buck, have you noticed that Vin don't seem to be sleepin' in his wagon anymore?"

The big man looked up from his breakfast to eye his younger brother, before mumbling, "Nope. Ain't none of my business where ya all sleep, JD. I'm only interested in where and who I'm sleepin' with."

Nodding thoughtfully, JD sat silent for all of a minute, watching Buck shovel eggs and ham into his mouth. Then he observed, "Seen Vin coming out of the Saloon real early a coupla mornin's. So early that Inez hadn't even opened the doors. He always has coffee too. Ya reckon he's keeping time with one of the bar girls, Buck?"

"Could be, kid," agreed Buck, relieved at the assumption.

"Maybe he and Inez…"

"No way he's with Inez, boy, and you just stop wondering that right now. Inez has a reputation as a lady, so you just don't be sullying it now," growled Buck protectively. Just the thought of anyone else with the pretty bar manager was enough to make him reach for his gun. Huh. He'd never been jealous before when he'd been with other women. Might require some pondering as to why he was so possessive of the pretty senorita.

"Alright, alright, calm down. Sheesh, I was just thinking out loud," muttered JD sullenly, picking up his milk glass and putting it down repeatedly, building up a pattern of condensation rings on the table. "You been spending most nights with Molly, haven't ya? Ya must have seen Vin going in or out of Fanny's room."

"JD! Leave it, boy! Ain't none o' our business whose bed Vin shares, so just stop with your wondering and get out on patrol," snarled Buck, tossing his napkin down on the table in anger.

Wide eyed at the unusual display of anger from the normally placid man, JD leapt to his feet and started backing to the door, stammering, "S-sure, Buck. T-Tell Chris that I'm swinging by Nettie's to b-bring her and C-Casey back in fer Christmas."

Buck watched his young friend practically run from the room, before dropping his face into his palm and groaning. He hadn't meant to lose his temper with the kid, but he didn't know how to shut him up otherwise without breaking his promise to Ez and Vin. There were times when he wished he had his old friend's death stare.

Inez walked up beside Buck and put her hand lightly on his shoulder in consolation, before saying, "Gracias Senor Buck, for defending my honour again. I will have a word with Senors Ezra and Vin about telling the others. You shouldn't have to keep secrets from your friends."

Buck reached up and covered the slender hand on his shoulder with his own large, calloused hand and gave it a squeeze of thanks.

"What secret?"

Spinning guiltily, Buck and Inez glared at the unrepentant tracker, who was standing nearby with a grin on his face.

"Sneaky damn Texan! Stop creeping up on folks…"

"Ain't sneaking. Walked same as I always do. Can't help it iffun yer losing yer hearing in yer old age, Bucklin," teased the tracker, bouncing on the balls of his feet in anticipation of the chase. Baker sat just behind his master, his little head cocked in question of the slight tension he could sense.

Buck stood and roared, "I'll show you old, boy!"

With a flashing grin and a whoop, Vin sprinted from the Saloon with Baker yipping excitedly behind him and Buck hot on their heels. Inez just shook her head and went back into the kitchen with Buck's dirty plate and mug. Suddenly, the back door burst open causing the bar manager to shriek and reach for her broom. Vin and Baker streaked past with a shouted apology from the tracker. Just as Inez was about to go and close the door, Buck ran in, puffing like a locomotive and limping a little from a fall on a slightly icy boardwalk. Inez started a tirade of irate Spanish and whacked the out of breath gunslinger with her broom, causing Buck to miraculously recover and continue the chase.

"Whoa there, steady on, brother," cautioned Josiah, as he was nearly knocked back into the frozen over horse trough. Nathan steadied him from behind, not wanting to be caught between the big man and the frigid water.

"Sorry, 'Siah," sang Vin, jogging backwards for a few feet before grinning again when Buck made it to the door, "What'sa matter, old man? Lost ya puff?"

Shoving the preacher and healer out of the way, Buck roared and sprinted off after the nimble tracker.

"What the hell has gotten into them this early in the mornin'?"

"I don't know, brother Nathan, but did you see how young and joyous our fleet-footed tracker looked? Sometimes, I swear that boy is as young or younger than our sheriff," rumbled Josiah, drawing a huge breath into his mighty chest and letting it go, thankful that the last of his fever had cleared up. He was planning a trip to visit Hannah just as soon as Christmas was over.

Taking a table, in preparation for ordering their breakfast, Nathan and Josiah spun in their chairs with their hands reaching for their weapons as a torrid flood of Spanish erupted in the kitchen, along with a crash. They watched open mouthed as Vin ran through and made for the stairs, his pup at his heels. Just as they were about to go and investigate the cause of Inez's upset, they saw the lady in question stomp from the kitchen beating Buck Wilmington over the head and shoulders with her broom

Catching a flash of movement from the corner of his eye, even as he cowered from the feisty bar manager's attack, Buck leapt towards the stairs yelling, "Now, I've got ya, ya damn scruffy, scrawny Texan."

"I suppose the two of you crazy gringos want your usual breakfast," snapped Inez, her eyes flashing fire.

Open mouthed, Nathan and Josiah just nodded dumbly.

"Fine, it will be out in a while. I have to make more since that… that… gran buey torpe has knocked over all of my tortillas," ranted Inez, before stomping back into the kitchen and slamming the door.

Nathan and Josiah sat for another minute before a deep, rolling chuckle emerged from the preacher, which was quickly echoed by the healer. Before long, the two of them were leaning against each other, helpless with hysterical laughter.

TBC