A few days before they were leaving for Chicago for Christmas, Nick arrived home early from the bar. When he walked into the loft, Jess' was standing by the dining table with her back to the door. Humming softly to herself, her attention was focused on something for the holidays and she didn't hear him behind her. Closing the door as softly as he could, Nick gripped the handle tightly so the soft click of the latch wouldn't startle her.

He walked slowly to the table behind the couch and gently set down his keys. They made a soft thud on the wood, yet she still remained unaware of his presence. Taking off his coat, his eyes never left her as he watched her hips sway as she bent over the table. She had spent the past few days surrounded by Christmas decorations and cards and wrapping paper. He couldn't believe how much brighter the coming holiday was with her in his life. He had never been so excited to head home to Chicago in a few days. He was so full of anticipation on spending Christmas with this amazing woman, he had actually been counting down the days until he could finally bring Jess home to his family as his girlfriend.

Having been so preoccupied with his thoughts since he walked in the loft, he hadn't even realized she had stepped up beside him. He heard her soft voice next to him.

"Nick?" He shook his head out of his trance as he looked into her concerned stare, grabbing his hand. "What are you doing home so early?"

He smiled and pulled her to him, wrapping his arms around her waist. Home. Just recently he had realized how much it meant to him when she called the loft "home". She must have always said it, maybe hundreds of times before. But now? Now that they were together and it was "their" home, he felt himself more and more drawn to the idea of the two of them actually having a home. Together, just the two of them.

He bent down to kiss her, pouring his overwhelming emotions into action and not words. Their kiss intensified until she broke away, her fingers twisted in his hair. Her eyelids were heavy as she stared into his eyes.

"Wow Miller, this is unexpected."

He smiled. "I left early and thought I'd surprise you."

"Is this what I get to look forward to every night when you're manager?" She grinned up at him.

"I sure as hell hope so."

She leaned back and gently tapped her fingers along his arms. "Are you hungry?"

"Starving. Any special plans tonight?"

She grabbed his hand and started to pull him toward the table. "Not really, maybe order a pizza?" She paused gauging his reaction, raising her eyebrows in anticipation. When Nick just shrugged and nodded, she bit her lip and continued. "I could use some help wrapping up the last of our gifts for Chicago..."

He started to groan, but after catching a glimpse of hope in Jess' eyes, he stopped himself. "What do you need me to do?"

She let out a small squeal as she squeezed his hand. "It's just a few things and then we can finish packing."

He let out a laugh. "How could you possibly have anything left to wrap?"

"It's Christmas, Nick, we can't go home without presents." She smiled and swatted his arm before heading to the table to find her phone. "Aren't you so excited to be going back to Chicago this year?! I just want everything to be perfect."

Nick followed her to the table and leaned over to press a quick to her forehead, laughing. "Whatever you say, Jess."

She just looked up at him and smiled, reaching down to pick up her phone and call for dinner. As she wandered away to make her phone call, he curiously sifted through all of the items she had laying out across the table. He thought to all of the things that Jess had been doing the past few weeks to make the loft so cheerful for the holidays. She had put up decorations, wrapped gifts, and baked cookies, all to make the loft seem so much brighter. Even though he had made it seem like he was relieved to finally be going home for Christmas, flying to Chicago wasn't the real reason he was excited for the holidays. It was the fact that he was going to spend Christmas with Jess that had him more excited for the holidays than he ever remembered.

It was the night before they were set to leave for Chicago and Jess had been in her room packing for the past hour. Nick opened the door with an armful of clothes from the dryer and walked in to drop them on the bed next to his suitcase.

"Okay, if we don't have enough clothes after this, I don't know what to tell ya." He started to laugh, but stopped immediately when he saw Jess' pursed lips and nervous expression.

Nick walked to the end of the bed where she was standing over her own suitcase and gently grabbed her arm. "Hey Jess, you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine." Waving her hand quickly, she turned around and walked to her dresser, pulling out blue sweater.

"Jess..."

She threw the sweater in the suitcase and snapped her head towards him. "What, I said I'm fine."

He grabbed her shoulders, gently coaxing her to sit down on the bed. "You are not fine. What's going on?"

She nervously twisted her hands in front of her and bit her lip, before he laid his hand on her knee and sat down next to her. "I just. Maybe it's not a good idea to come with you."

Nick frowned, shaking his head. "What? You don't want to Chicago?"

"No, I just. I...Maybe we should just figure something else out, you know?" She glanced his direction quickly, before looking back down at her hands. "Spend time with our own families."

Nick's heart sank for a moment, before he stood up suddenly, annoyed and hurt. "That's fine, Jess. That's really great." He took a step toward the door.

"Nick, wait." She shook her head, angry that she had blurted out something so horrible. She reached out and grabbed his hand, forcing him to turn back around. He took a deep breath, looking defeated.

"Look, Jess. If you don't want to come, I'm not going to argue with you. I get it."

"No, stop. I...I do want to come. I just..." She took a deep breath and closed her eyes, squeezing them shut as she blurted out. "I'm still scared that Bonnie doesn't like me."

Nick's head snapped back as he blinked furiously. "What?"

Jess slowly opened her eyes, looking at the floor. "I really want your mom to like me, and she...well, we're together now and..." Jess shook her head and waved her hand across her chest, suddenly feeling ridiculous after seeing the expression on his face. "nevermind..." She started to turn on her heels when Nick reached out to grab her arm. Spinning her back around he saw tears in her eyes and her cheeks flushed.

"Jess, what are you talking about?"

She slowly raised her eyes to his. Swallowing hard, her voice was barely a whisper. "I'm so nervous about seeing her again, Nick."

Nick pulled her close, kissing the top of her head and running his hands through her hair. "God, why didn't you tell me! I thought you didn't want to come there for a second."

She shook her head against his chest. "No, I just know she doesn't think I'm good enough for you and..."

"Good enough for me?!" Nick let out a small laugh, tugging at her shoulders. "How could you even think that? Jess, my mom loves you, she asks about you all the time."

Jess pulled her head back, a small smile creeping across her face. She sniffled quietly, "Really?"

"Absolutely!" He wrapped his fingers around her shoulders, bending down to look at her. "You had to know that." A tear fell down her cheek as she shook her head. "Haven't you ever heard me on the phone? You're all she talks about, Jess. And what about her birthday? You talked to her then, right?"

"I guess." Jess felt herself start to relax as she started to laugh. "That's just different, it was over the phone. The last time at the funeral..."

"Do you know what she told me that day when we left?" She shook her head silently as Nick smiled. "She told me she was glad I had someone that takes care of me."

"She really said that?" she asked, disbelievingly.

Nick nodded, leaning down to kiss her lips. "When I told her we were finally together, she was so happy."

"She was?"

He grinned sheepishly. "I'm pretty close with my mom and, ...you actually come up a lot when I talk to her."

"Really?" Jess smiled, tilting her head to the side, intrigued. "You talk to Bonnie about me?"

He laughed loudly. "Of course I do you crazy woman! You mean a lot to me, and I want her to know you like I do."

Wrapping her arms around his neck, she laughed with him, her body finally relaxing. "I'm sorry I said I didn't want to come. I'm just really nervous and I want your family to like me."

He gave her a quick kiss, and pulled her closer. "You don't have anything to worry about, trust me."