When Laura and Steve arrived at the office, Steve pulled up to the parking garage, only to be redirected to the complimentary valet. Steve parked in front of the building and stepped out of the car. He rushed clumsily to the other side to open Laura's door before the valet could, just barely cutting him off. He opened the door and offered Laura his hand. Then he handed the keys to the valet and accepted the ticket before walking Laura inside.

They both gasped as they entered the large, fully-decorated lobby.

"Oh, my God," Laura breathed. "This place looks amazing."

Steve looked at her face and smiled bashfully. "It's all right, I guess."

She looked back at him. "All right?" she challenged. "LOOK at this place. The trees! The fairy lights! All these people in formal wear! This party looks amazing!"

Steve shrugged. "I'm sure you've been to better ones."

Laura's brow furrowed. "Umm… When?"

"When you were dating a supermodel?" he offered bitterly.

Laura rolled her eyes. "Oh, you mean all those parties filled with vapid women hitting on my man who were all thinner than me? This party is serving real food. This one's better."

Steve relaxed a little. "You are way prettier than they were," he said firmly.

"You didn't see them," she laughed.

"I don't have to see them to know that," he said sincerely.

Laura smiled and kissed him softly. "C'mon. Let's find our table." Laura grabbed his hand and led him over to the table that held all of their place cards.

Steve found their names just as a hand landed on his shoulder. "Steve!" Wes exclaimed.

Steve jumped and dropped their place cards on the ground. He bent low to pick them up, and then he stood and extended his hand to Wes excitedly. "Merry Christmas, Wes!"

Wes shook his hand and then pulled him in for a hug. "Merry Christmas, Bud!" He turned to Laura. "Merry Christmas, Laura," he said much more gently as he hugged her.

"Merry Christmas," she replied.

He pulled back and glanced at her dress. "You look as gorgeous as ever, my dear. I love that dress!"

"Thank you, Wes," she replied.

"Listen," he said excitedly, "I want to catch up with both of you, and I promise I'll find you later, but I'm kinda playing doorman here. For a lot of employees at your level, Steve, this is the only face-to-face time they get with me! See you soon!"

He was on to the next guy before they could even respond.

Steve offered Laura his arm and began to lead her to their table. They were at one of three tables designated for the scientists in Lab 8. "Merry Christmas, Coworkers!" Steve exclaimed as they arrived at the table and he pulled a chair out for Laura.

There were six young men already at their table. These were all the newest employees in Steve's lab, though they'd all be there longer than him. The veterans were at a table beside them and the team leaders, along with Harold, were at another.

"This is my wife, Laura," Steve said to the men who finally bothered to look in their direction. They stared intensely at Laura, none of them saying anything. Their eyes were wide, and several were beginning to sweat.

Laura glanced at Steve. "Um. Hi, guys," she said gently, hoping none of them would pass out.

"Hi," they said in perfect unison.

Laura looked at Steve nervously. Do they always do that? she asked with only a facial expression.

He shook his head and shrugged. "Um… Laura, this is David, Henry, Peter, Roland, Tucker, and Isaac."

She smiled at them warmly. "It's nice to meet… all of you."

They still stared at her wide-eyed. "You too," they said again in unison a beat too late

"Ok. Um. Steve, I could really use some help here."

He nodded. "Yeah, you could. Um… Laura, Roland graduated from Vanderbilt only six years before us. Talk about that," he suggested with a flail of his arms.

"Oh, you did?" she smiled brightly. "How cool! What did you think of it?"

"It was good," Roland replied, his voice cracking as he spoke.

Laura nodded. "Um… Yeah, so when you were there, um… Mr. Shamata was still teaching physics, right?"

Roland nodded without speaking.

"Did you have him?" Laura continued.

"Nuh-uh," he squeaked.

Laura took a deep breath and sighed. "Well, he was a great principal to us."

"Cool," he replied again shakily.

Laura pursed her lips and turned to Steve. "Ok, Baby, I'm gonna go find Andrea and say hello."

Steve nodded and began to stand. "Oh, good idea! I'll join you!"

"No!" Laura said firmly, place a hand on his thigh and forcing him back into his seat. She leaned close to him and whispered, "You are going to stay here and figure out why they won't talk to me, so that I don't have to sit through the most awkward dinner of my life."

Steve gasped and nodded, "Ohhhhh! Got it! Will do!"

Laura leaned in and kissed his cheek. She patted his knee and left the table.

Steve watched her walk away, as did all of his table mates, and then he finally turned back to them. "Hey!" he exclaimed, noticing where their eyes were trained. "Have a little class, men! Keep your eyes above the belt."

"No objections here!" Isaac cackled, sliding his eyes further up Laura's figure as she walked away and got lost in the crowd.

"Hey!" Steve exclaimed again.

Peter, the most senior employee at the table, nudged Isaac. "C'mon, man. That's his wife."

"How?" Isaac replied.

Steve rolled his eyes and sighed, leaning back further in his chair. It wasn't going to be easy to convince these guys to go easy on him so Laura wouldn't feel so awkward. Steve was used to being bullied and disrespected, but he wasn't used to being the butt of the joke among nerds. More often than not, his fellow intellectually-gifted companions looked up to him, admiring his extraordinary intellect and implausible confidence. That was his experience at that geek party he went to. That was his experience in the world of bug collecting. That was his experience during the brief period he attended BIT, but that hadn't been his experience at ForWard. He was surrounded by nerds, that was undeniable, and he loved that. He also loved that a wide variety of ages were present in the lab. Certainly, they were all older than him, but there were some young bachelors around who still lived in townhouses with five roommates. There were some older, married men. There were some men who were nearing retirement. There were even some women, but not as many as there should have been, and not as many as he hoped would be around him as time moved forward and his career advanced.

Still, he couldn't find anyone in the lab that didn't resent him for the treatment he got from Wes and Andy, and even Harold now and then. They were bothered by his youth and his talent. They were infuriated by his connections. They were impressed by his skill, but despised every project and idea he developed, no matter how successful it ended up being. There were even some that were irritated by the ring on his finger.

This guy wasn't that much better looking than them, right? He wasn't as wealthy. He wasn't as experienced. Yet, somehow, he stumbled into a perfect relationship? One that inspired him to whistle while he worked. One that warranted a sickeningly cute phone call everyday before he headed down to the cafeteria for lunch. One that made him practically jog out the door at the end of the day, rushing to get home to her. Why did he get all that while they struggled to get a second date or a match online or even a friendly smile from that barista from the coffee cart out front? What made this guy so darn special?

"Sorry, Steve," Peter began, speaking for all of them. "We're just a little surprised. Laura's prettier than we expected."

Steve nodded and managed to shrug it off. "Yeah, I get that one a lot."

"We'll get it together," Peter promised.

"Thank you, fellas," Steve nodded. "I get it. I know she looks so far out of my league, and that's because she is."

"How did you get a girl like that, man?" Roland pressed, desperate for any tips and tricks he could offer.

Steve chuckled. "Got a few hours?"