Hey all!

How is everyone doing? I know everyone's really ready for Grammy/Bo smackdown. I'm actually preparing for it. It's going to be a hell of a chapter. We probably have one or two more before we get there, so lets just live in our bubble of happiness because it's going to be intense. I know we all still have lots of questions about the who, when, what, where, and how - again, just enjoying our time at the lake house before shit really hits the fan.

To address a few questions:

Someone asked if we were ever going to see Lauren's POV. I'm not sure. We will see. It would be really cool to get inside of her head, huh? Lauren is going through a LOT right now and it's not easy. She's been through some severe trauma, but we don't know what exactly and she's dealing with an entire sense being ripped away from her. In the last chapter we saw that while she doesn't want to talk about it, she still acknowledges that it happened. So that's good. she's not in denial - just not ready to deal with it. we will be exploring this.

Another asked if I thought that Isabeau knew Lauren had been rescued. So Bo's been MIA for about a month/a month and a half now. Grammy is worried. Trick is worried. Remember Bo gave Kenzi explicit instructions not to say a word. Kenzi will honor that because Bo is the world to her. We will see how this plays out in a few chapters.

Another GREAT question was the timeline - So I have tried to specify a little bit of a timeline through each chapter. Bo and Lauren met at the bar in mid-late august (around the time university starts in the US) and it is now the Christmas following. So they've barely known each 5 months, but their connection is very deep and very real. Lauren was abducted in November. It was a couple of weeks before Bo found her and then she spent three weeks in the hospital. Keep ahold of your timeline. You're going to need it.

And someone mentioned Kenzi - Kenzi was with Bo on and off up until the time when Bo took Lauren to the lakehouse. Kenzi is still being protected under Hades - Hades doesn't trust her being left out in the open. Would anyone want to take a guess as to WHY?

Okay - so I think thats all the questions I can answer without giving things away. I hope you all enjoy the fluff and like i said, next chapter will probably be a little more fluff and then we'll start the plot a rolling again. I'm taking a breather from my own crazy life and inserting what I want to read (the fluff...the sex...the easy times).

As always - love you all! And I hope you will review!

"I'm going to fall on my ass!"

"I told you, I've got you."

"Okay…then we're both going to fall on our asses."

"No. Don't you trust me?" she asked, stepping out onto the ice and looking back at me.

I was paralyzed – frozen in place, clinging onto the wall of the skating rink and nearly refusing to step out onto the slick surface.

"Yes. I trust you. I don't trust that"I signed, pointing to the ice below Lauren's feet as I tightened my grip on the wall to keep myself from falling.

Lauren didn't tell me where we were going when she dragged me out of the house and into the cold. She must have looked up the outdoor skating rink online while I was sleeping because Christmas Eve morning I was hauled off to southern Lake Tahoe. When we got here, I damn near pissed myself. I am not coordinated enough to ice skate. But, Lauren assured me that it would be fun. So for her I got out of the car and sat on a bench to watch everyone. It wasn't terribly crowded, but there was a good amount of people – mostly moms with their kids. Lauren helped me exchange my winter boots for skates and then aided me in walking on the thin blades to the entrance gate. I was now inches away from certain icy death.

"Come on, Bo,"Lauren called verbally – trying to get my attention as she pushed off on one foot, gliding gracefully into the center of the rink.

"I can do this… I can do this…"I chanted to myself, putting one skate on the slippery surface- my cold fingers still clutching the ledge of the half-wall.

"That's it… you got it…"Lauren encouraged, coming back over to me, placing one of her hands on my lower back.

I could barely feel the pressure through my thick coat, but it was comforting just to know she was beside me.

"Okay, so hold onto the wall…. a little bit looser…. Bo, you're not going to die, let up on your grip…"she laughed, putting her hands over mine and guiding me to face the wall completely. She stood right beside me and grabbed a section of the wall too. "Now, you have to get used to the feeling of the ice underneath your feet. Watch me…" she looked down at our feet and began moving hers back and forth slowly – using her hold on the wall to assist with her balance. "Now you try."

I gripped the wall tightly and tried to move my feet back and forth, however, I was instead met with my right foot shifting out from under me – my right leg extended outwards and my left leg bending into a squat as I held on for dear life. "Shit!"I squealed.

Lauren grabbed me under the arms and pulled me back up. "You can do this, Bo,"she encouraged. "Try again."

I took a deep breath and started gliding my feet back and forth. It really was a weird sensation – not feeling the friction of the ground under my feet. Lauren helped to turn me around, so my back was against the half-wall. "Hang on and just keep doing that,"she directed before skating away from me.

I went to protest, but instead I just watched in amazement as Lauren glided across the ice effortlessly, twirling on one leg, doing small axle jumps, and other tricks that I had no words for. She was beautiful, graceful – her long blonde hair blowing behind her from her quick movements.

Lauren stopped about 5 feet directly in front of me. "Come on…"she urged.

I let go of one side of the wall, but my foot slipped and I quickly grabbed back on. "I can't do this, Lauren…"I said verbally – hoping she could read my lips. I was NOT taking my hands off the wall again.

"Angle your feet. Put your right foot behind your left one at a 90-degree angle… there you go…. Now bend your left knee and put some weight on the leg…good. Now you should be stable enough to stand without holding on. Keep your arms out to help with balance…. that's it…. Now use your back foot to push off towards me…."

I did everything she said until the last instruction at which point I just shook my head.

She giggled. "Come on, honey. You can do it."

"I can't…"I voiced, trying to keep my eyes locked on hers.

"You can."

I shook my head again.

Lauren looked around at our surroundings for a moment and then skated over to me once again. She licked her lips and put her mouth right next to my ear "When we get home, you can do anything you want to me…" she whispered, nipping at my earlobe before skating back to her original position. "So what's it going to be?"

I bit my lip, my body responding as I pondered all the delicious things we could do. I stretched my neck from side to side, trying to acquire some resolve before pushing off my right foot and letting my left leg carry me into Lauren's arms. But before I could reach her, the skates slid out from under me and my ass hit the ice – hard.

I groaned – the cold, wet feeling mingled with the slight pain in my backside from hitting my tailbone. I looked up at Lauren, hoping she would help, but she just stood there…doing her best not to laugh. I tried to get up – doing my best to not place my bare hands on the ice, but slipped again and fell back down. This time, Lauren didn't hide her laugh…

"Real funny,"I signed.

"Here…let me help…"

Lauren anchored herself and aided me in standing and keeping my balance.

"You okay?"she asked.

I just looked at her – afraid to remove my hands from her strong arms lest I fall a third time.

"Get your balance… okay…now let go…"

I shook my head while mouthing"Nope."

"Bo, come on… it's like surfing... it takes practice."

I shook my head. "No…"I shifted my balance onto my left side and grabbed her arm even tighter so I could communicate with at least one hand. "Surfing is warm. This is cold."

"I told you to wear gloves…"

"It's not my hands that are cold."

"You can do it. I promise. Just get your balance…."

I looked at her nervously.

"I've got you, I promise."

I inhaled deeply before setting my feet to get my balance and cautiously letting go of her arm.

"There you go…."She soothed, taking a few strides backwards.

She couldn't have been more than 4 feet from me this time. In all honestly, I could have probably just flung myself to her and I would have landed in her arms, but this was something she really enjoyed – I wanted to try.

"Push off…"she directed, her eyes focused on me as I focused on my feet.

Once again, I let my left leg glide me towards her and before I knew it, she grabbed my lower arms and pulled me into a tight hug– getting me to come to a stop.

"You did it!"

I smiled at her and put one arm around her waist for support as I signed"I did!"

Lauren brought one hand up to my cool cheek and brought my lips to hers gently. When our lips parted, we stood there for a moment just looking into each other's eyes. She had the most gorgeous eyes I had ever seen. They immediately brought me peace and comfort and joy. I had only known her since August – not even 6 months – but I knew I wanted to spend the rest of my life with her.

"Come on!"she exclaimed, her eyes lighting up like fireworks. She pulled out of my embrace and grabbed my hand. "We're going to do just what you did before…. Left foot out, right foot at an angle… okay, push off… now bring the other leg up and just slightly angle it… See…you're doing it!"

I looked up at her briefly before starting to lose my balance and quickly returning my gaze to my feet. Lauren kept instructing me on how and when to move my feet. I couldn't believe I was actually skating – well, kinda. More accurately, Lauren was pulling me along and I was trying desperately not to fall flat on my ass...again.

We ended up circling the rink a couple times before Lauren left me standing alone so she could show off. Lauren wasn't exactly awkward, but I never thought she'd be this coordinated or this graceful. She was a classic geek – but apparently, she was a geek who had an interest in figure skating. I could spend all day watching her. For the first time since the craziness of the Magina, Lauren looked weightless – like she didn't have a care in the world. She looked free and joyous and happy. I would do anything to keep that look.

It was dark by the time we got back to the lake house – and really fucking cold. I ushered Lauren into the house and after we took our respective coats off, I proceeded to guide her into the bathroom so we could take a warm shower. I reached in and turned the water on – making sure it was warm before we were ready to jump in. I turned back around to see Lauren staring at me.

"What?"

"Nothing."

"Something…"

"Just you."

"Me? What did I do?"

She took a few steps towards me before pulling me into her arms. "You are everything. Do you know that?"

I smiled and she kissed me softly, bringing her hands down to the hem of my shirt. She gripped the material and pulled it over my head, breaking the kiss momentarily. I reclaimed her lips, the passion of the kiss growing, as we each worked ourselves out of our shoes. Sometimes I forgot that she was slightly taller than me, not by much, but enough to make my head tilt upwards every so slightly when our lips were locked. I slipped my hands under her long sleeve shirt and trailed my fingertips along her smooth stomach before moving them to her back and pulling her close to me. I wanted to take my time. I was in absolutely no rush. I just wanted to kiss her and feel her skin against mine. I had a surprise for the evening and so internally I kept myself in check. Tonight wasn't going to be about sex… it was just going to be about love and showing Lauren how much she meant to me.

Our shower was slow and sensual – full of long, languid kisses, scalp massages, and washing each other gently. We took our time taking care of one another and it was beyond amazing. We were finally forced out when the water turned cold and so we wrapped ourselves in big, fluffy towels and finally put some clothes on. Nights like this were one of the few times I didn't mind long sleep pants and socks - it was cold out. Even though the furnace was on, it was still cold inside too. But I had every intention of fixing that.

I turned around from brushing my hair and Lauren was standing in the doorway – breathtaking as ever.

"I have a surprise for you,"I signed.

"Really?"she signed back, her eyes wide and bright.

I nodded, taking her hand and leading her into the living room. I set her on the couch and covered her up with a warm blanket before turning the tree lights on and finally lighting the fireplace. As the fire started awakening and warming up the chilly room, I went over to the kitchen cabinets and grabbed a few key ingredients.

"What are you doing over there?"she pouted. "Come sit with me…"

I turned around and signed back to her,"Just relax. I'll be there in a moment. Promise."

When I finished my task, I grabbed the two large mugs of home-made peppermint cocoa and made my way to Lauren. I handed her a mug and then sat on the opposite end of the couch, pulling her feet into my lap.

"What is this?"she asked surprised, smelling inside the cup.

I giggled as a bit of whipped cream touched her nose. "What do you think it is silly?"

"But it smells peppermint-y…"

"You told me that was your favorite part of Christmas, right?"

She locked eyes with me and just nodded.

"Well, I wanted you to have a good Christmas. Which brings me to…"I stopped signing as I stretched to reach under the end table and grabbed a small book out from the magazine stand.

"How the Grinch Stole Christmas…"she gasped almost in disbelief.

"Mmhm. I'm going to read it to you."

Lauren's eyes shone brightly for a few moments before falling to her lap.

I reached out my hand to touch hers before signing"What's wrong?"

"It's amazing and all Bo…but…"she tugged at her ear.

"I'm not going to read it – why would I do that? I've been practicing how to sign it to you, baby."

Her eyes widened. "Really?"

"Really." I gave her an assuring smile. I took a long drink of my cocoa – knowing that it would be the last taste I had for a while and then sat it on the floor. I needed both hands for this. "Lay back and let me read to you."

Lauren nuzzled into the couch, both hands gripping the warm mug. She definitely looked like a kid at Christmas.

I laid the book on top of the blanket covering her shins – those beautiful legs resting in my lap made for a great book prop.

"How the Grinch Stole Christmas,"I began – using as much expression as I could while my hands did the talking.

"Every Who down in Whoville liked Christmas a lot...but the Grinch, Who lived just north of Whoville, did NOT!" I exaggerated my movements as I both said and signed the words – hoping that if I messed up a sign, she would be able to lip-read it at least.

"The Grinch hated Christmas! The whole Christmas season! Now, please don't ask why. No one quite knows the reason. It could be his head wasn't screwed on just right. It could be, perhaps, that his shoes were too tight. But I think that the most likely reason of all, may have been that his heart was two sizes too small."

I smiled at Lauren as I looked up from the book. What she didn't see is how many notes I had – helping me remember the signs for different words. I had to search for many of them and I didn't want to forget. Lauren's face expressed nothing but sheer joy and amazement. I smiled shyly as she looked directly into my soul. I had to break the eye contact it was so intense. The way Lauren could just look into me – it was like no one else had ever seen me before. I had so much to be thankful for this Christmas and it all began and ended with her.

I continued reading, trying to make my hand movements as precise, but as elaborate as possible – incorporating as many facial expressions as I could.

I could tell when I got to one of Lauren's favorite parts because as I signed "'Pooh Pooh to the Whos!'he was grinchishly humming.'They're finding out now that no Christmas is coming!''They're just waking up! I know just what they'll do!''Their mouths will hang open a minute or two, Then the Whos down in Whoville will all cry BooHoo!'" she started giggling, and nuzzled even further into the couch as if that was even possible.

I relished when I finally saw the home-stretch.

"And the Grinch, with his grinch-feet ice-cold in the snow, stood puzzling and puzzling:'How could it be so?' 'It came with out ribbons! It came without tags!''It came without packages, boxes or bags!'

And he puzzled three hours, till his puzzler was sore. Then the Grinch thought of something he hadn't before!'Maybe Christmas,'he thought,'doesn't come from a store.''Maybe Christmas...perhaps...means a little bit more!'And what happened then? Well...in Whoville they say, That the Grinch's small heart Grew three sizes that day! And the minute his heart didn't feel quite so tight, He whizzed with his load through the bright morning light, and he brought back the toys! And the food for the feast! And he, HE HIMSELF! The Grinch carved the roast beast!"

I closed the book – quite proud of myself. I had messed up a few times, but I didn't let it stop me or discourage me. I just kept to my notes in the book and did the very best I could.

"You are amazing; do you know that?" Lauren asked, putting her empty mug of cocoa on the floor, scooching over, grabbing my hands, and rubbing my tired fingers. I hadn't previously realized that signing for nearly 30 minutes straight with no breaks was actually very strenuous on the precious digits.

"I'm not amazing," I signed with one hand. "I just wanted this to be special for you."

"Bo…" she breathed before guiding me to sit squarely on the couch and straddling my hips. "This is special to me. Just being here, with you. There is no where in the world I would rather be…"

Her eyes started tearing up and I felt my heart breaking at the sight.

"You saved me. And not just…." She was trying to find the words, "recently… I mean before. You saved me. I would have never admitted it then, but I felt alone. You complete me, Ysabeau and even when I was…. there… I held on even when I didn't feel I could because I knew you'd come for me. I knew. I didn't know when and I definitely didn't know how, but I knew. I figured if you were half as in love as I am then you'd come. And you did…"

"And you got hurt," I signed, my gaze shifting to a random part of the room.

She grabbed my chin and forced me to look at her. "So I went deaf. So I can't hear like I used to. I'm alive. You are alive. We are together. I'm getting stronger every day. It's weird to me, honestly."

"What is weird?"

"I thought that if you fed off of me that it would drain me, but it never did. I started thinking about it and it really never has. When you feed off of me or I feed like a succubus off of you, neither of us get tired – in fact, it's the opposite."

"Okay… I guess our love making is just really that good…" I replied, not fully understanding.

"It's more than that. See, chi is a form of energy. Physics tells us that energy cannot be created or destroyed, it can only transform. But with us, it's almost like we have a never ending supply of energy…of chi. We should tire, but we don't. We get stronger and its just the two of us."

"Okay, so going based on…physics… that shouldn't happen, right?"

"Right."

"So what do you think it is?"

She shook her head. "I don't know, but I've got a few ideas and I plan on looking into them."

I smiled and shook my head lightly.

"What?" she asked.

"Of course you plan on researching it," I laughed, bringing my hands down to tickle her sides after signing the last word.

The blonde squealed loudly and when I stopped tickling her, she wrapped her arms around my neck and nuzzled her face against my shoulder. I closed my eyes and just let the feeling of Lauren being wrapped around me infiltrate my every sense. I was so relaxed. She was right – we were both alive and that was something I had to remember. No matter what happened then, we both made it out alive.

Lauren began to kiss the sensitive skin of my neck – I sighed at the contact of her lips, stretching my neck out further. She reached my ear and tugged on my earlobe with her teeth. I gasped, my entire body tingling from the sensation. She smiled against me and sat back up, locking her eyes with mine.

"Take me to bed?"

I beamed up at her. "I thought you'd never ask."