Jess tapped her foot in the back of the cab, staring out the window as the brightly lit streets of Chicago moved past them at a painstakingly slow pace. Each mile closer to Bonnie's house was making her more and more anxious. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, just as a warm hand closed over hers. Feeling herself instantly start to relax, she opened her eyes and turned toward Nick's worried expression.

"Jess, you need to calm down. Everything's going to be fine."

She gave a quick smile and squeezed his hand. Her voice was soft. "I know."

"Come here." He reached out and wrapped an arm around her, pulling her tightly to his side and kissing the top of her head as she collapsed against his chest with a sigh. "Why are you so nervous?"

She gave a short, breathless response, still feeling her heart race. "I don't know. I just want her to like me, Nick."

Squeezing his arms even tighter, he rubbed her arm and reached down to grab her hand. Pulling it to his lips, he pressed a kiss to her knuckles. "You're worrying for nothing. She really does like you, Jess."

"I hope so."

"No worries. You've been working so hard lately, I want you to be able to relax here."

She stifled a yawn. "It's always crazy right before the holidays at school. But I'm so glad you wanted me to come."

Kissing the top of her head, he sighed. "Of course I want you here."

She smiled quietly and relaxed into his chest, wrapping her arm around his waist. She felt her eyelids drooping and she was having a harder and harder time keeping them open.

Nick pulled back for a moment to look down at her, then hugged her to him tightly once again. "Close your eyes and try to get some sleep. There's a ton of traffic, it's going to take us awhile."

Settling down into his arms, she felt the air finally start to warm around her from the heat in the cab, and she nestled her face into Nick's soft sweater. Nick laid his head down on the top of hers and smiled as he felt her body start to relax while she drifted off to sleep.

"Jess. Jessica." Nick was lightly shaking her hand as she let out a soft moan, still half asleep. "Hey, we're almost there." Opening her eyelids heavily, Jess sat up and rubbed her eyes. Turning towards Nick, he gave her a smile and brushed a piece of hair out of her eyes. "I'm sorry, but I thought you might want a few minutes to wake up."

"Thanks." Smiling at him gratefully, she rubbed her face once again, smoothly her hair over her shoulders.

Nick kissed her cheek and yelled to the driver. "You can just pull up in front, I'll get our bags."

A couple of minutes later, the driver pulled the cab to a stop and Nick hugged her quickly. "No worries, got it?"

Jess just nodded and took a deep breath, scooting across the seat to take Nick's outstretched hand and stepping out onto the crunchy snow beneath her feet. She couldn't help but smile about the idea of a white Christmas. Nick ran his hand under her chin and kissed her gently.

"Now, that is my Jess."

Jess just smirked and rolled her eyes. "Go get the luggage, you crazy clown."

Laughing, Nick walked around the back of the cab, rubbing his hands together with his breath visible in the cold night air. After paying the driver, the cab pulled away and Nick threw his duffel bag over his shoulder. He grabbed her hand and kissed Jess' knuckles, smiling. "Ready?"

Smiling widely, Jess just nodded and they walked to the front door. Before they even had a chance to step up to knock, the door flew open and Bonnie Miller stood there in black slacks and a bright red sweater.

"God, I thought you'd never get here. Come on in you two!" She motioned her hand and grabbed Jess's elbow, pulling her over the threshold into a tight bear hug. "Ooooo, Jess, I'm so glad you came!"

Stumbling slightly, Jess wrapped her arms around Bonnie. "Hi, Mrs. Miller. Thank you so much for inviting me."

"What's this Mrs. Miller stuff?" She pulled back and glared at Jess, shaking her head. A stunned Jess swallowed hard, her eyes going wide, before Bonnie let out a loud laugh. "It's just Bonnie, Jessica."

"Okay." Jess answered softly, glancing toward Nick as he gave her a wink.

"You, come here!" Bonnie stepped towards Nick and gave him a quick hug, tussling his hair. "You finally found a girl who gets you home for the holidays, I love it." Nick smiled, Bonnie glancing back and forth between both of them with a huge grin on her face.

"Merry Christmas, Ma."

"Well, get in here and close that door. This isn't LA ya know!" Bonnie motioned for Nick to move out of the way, as he put their luggage to the side. After reaching past him to shut the door, she shooed them through the foyer into the living room.

"How's it so quiet in here?"

"Well," Bonnie rushed past them, swatting a few pillows on the couch before motioning for them to sit down. She took a seat on a recliner across from them as they sat on the couch. "No one else is here right now, can you believe it?"

Jess started to unbutton her teal wool coat, when Bonnie jumped off her chair. "Oh my, where are my manners? I'll take that Jess, you sit."

Nodding politely, Jess handed her the coat as Bonnie reached for Nick's as well. Rushing to hang them up in the foyer, Bonnie ran out of the room. Nick took the opportunity to grab Jess' hand and give it a squeeze. Staring at him for a moment, Jess couldn't help but notice how much brighter his eyes were and how genuinely happy he seemed to be that she was here with him. She smiled back and shrugged her shoulders, the expression on her face telling Nick that she was finally starting to relax.

"You two must want to just sleep for days, huh?" Bonnie walked past them behind the couch and once again took a seat in the recliner. "Well I have a dinner reservation for 8 at your favorite, Nick. So if you want to go upstairs and relax a little first?"

"Ma, you didn't have to do anything special."

Bonnie waved her hand and laughed. "Nonsense. Now Nick, you take your things up to your old room and let Jess sit with me for a minute."

"Okay, then." Slapping his palms on his knees, he rose off the couch and headed off to the foyer to collect their luggage. Lightly squeezing her shoulder as he passed, Jess took a deep breath and smiled. After collecting the luggage, Nick passed them to head up the stairs, smiling to think the two most important people in his life were getting along so well.

"So, Jessica, Nick told me all about your new job. Are you enjoying it?"

"Oh, I am!" Jess smiled, finally starting to feel relaxed. "I really missed teaching kids. They're so much fun, it's been really amazing."

Wasting no time, Bonnie glanced towards the stairs and lowered her voice with a sly smile. "And you and Nick? Everything's good?"

Feeling her face flush, Jess glanced at Bonnie's expectant expression, before settling on her hands. "Yep. It's...we're really great."

"I'm so glad." Bonnie's smile fell as she slid off the chair and made her way to Nick's vacated spot on the couch. Laying her hand on Jess', she swallowed hard and spoke with an intense sincerity. "Jessica...I wanted to apologize to you. For what happened at the funeral. I can see how much you mean to Nicky and I just...well, I'm sorry if I made you feel unwelcome."

Jess took a deep breath, smiling at Bonnie. "It's fine, really. I understand. I'm sorry if it was strange to have me here."

"You really care about my Nicky, you've made that quite clear, and he's lucky to have you." She winked, patting her hand. "Thank you for taking such good care of my boy, he can't stop talking about you."

Feeling the warmth once again rise into her cheeks, Jess smiled. "Your son is really amazing."

Silently, Jess leaned on the door frame to Nick's childhood bedroom. His back was facing the door, but she could tell just by his posture that the mood had changed since he had been downstairs. How funny it was that she knew him this well, to know when something was wrong. Maybe not even wrong, just...different. She quietly stepped into the room, her feet creaking softly as she walked across the worn brown carpet. The mattress dipped slightly as she sat down next to him. Leaning her cheek against his arm, she rubbed his wrist gently as he held a framed picture of him with Walt. Nick couldn't have been older than 8 or 9 and it was a picture taken in the stands of a Chicago Cubs game, evident by the hats they were wearing and the baseball glove precariously balanced on Nick's lap as he ate a hot dog and gave a thumbs up towards the camera.

"I'm sorry he's not here."

"I miss him." Nodding his head, he took in a sharp breath, releasing with it a short laugh. "All that he put us through, but I still miss him."

Wrapping her arms around him, Jess kissed his cheek before leaning her head on his shoulder. "I'm glad I had the chance to meet him."

Nick turned his head, Jess lifting hers to meet his gaze. He had no idea how Jess could always take what he was feeling and make him feel like everything would be okay. But maybe it wasn't her making him think everything would be okay, maybe it was just having her that made everything better.

Nick's voice cracked. "Me too."

"Nick," Cupping his cheek in her hand, she shook her head, watching him blink back tears. "I'm here for you."

Staring at her for a few moments, his face finally broke into a weak smile. Leaning against his arm once again, she reached her hand to touch the picture. "This looks like a pretty amazing day."

Nick laughed. "He sure loved the Cubs." He turned to Jess, watching a blank expression on her face and he rolled his eyes. "Baseball, Jess. It's a baseball team."

Sitting up and swatting his arm, she scoffed. "I know that!"

"Really?"

"Okay, I didn't always, but" She smiled, squeezing his arm. "I know now because they're your favorite."

Nick just smiled and shook his head, standing up momentarily to place the picture back on his desk before turning to Jess and settling his hands on her waist. "Thank you for coming."

Snaking her arms around his neck, she scooted closer to him, her bent leg across his lap. "Only place I wanna be." Winding her fingers through his hair and settling along his neck, she pulled him down for a kiss. Grasping her tighter and chasing her mouth with his, he moaned and whispered softly between kisses.

"I love you."

Taking his face in her hands, she leaned backwards and fell softly onto the mattress. "I'll need you to show me later." Giggling, she gave him an exaggerated wink and he couldn't stop from laughing.

"Oh, I plan to."