They were awoken by the shrill of the telephone.

"Noooo" said Alice, "please not bodies on my day off."

Matthew moved next to her, rubbing his eyes; Alice went to answer the phone and the last thing Matthew saw was a beautiful and naked Alice leaving her bedroom.

When Alice returned, she held onto the door and said, "Matthew…that was the station. They…you're late."

Matthew picked up his watched and looked at the time; it was just after 9 and he should have been at work at 8 am. He moved as swiftly as he could and looked for his clothes.

"Shit! My uniform is at home. Shit, shit, shit."

Suddenly, Matthew thought about the call, "Alice? How did they know I was here?"

"It was Constable Crowe, he said he you told him you were coming here for Christmas and wondered if I'd seen you…I told him we'd overindulged in wine yesterday and you'd slept in the spare room. I told him you must have overslept, and I'd come and wake you." She walked in and pulled her nightdress over her head then sat on the edge of her bed.

"I'm so sorry Matthew. I've embarrassed you now. Peter knows you were here."

Matthew had dressed hastily, had his shirt on but not tucked into his trousers and he was trying to pull on yesterdays socks. When he was finished, he walked around to where Alice was sitting, stood between her legs and lifted her head, caressing the side of face. He leaned down and kissed Alice softly and said, "Alice, I thought you said to Hell with the gossips? I don't care who knows we are together. I told you…I love you and yesterday…well, I hope you had just as an amazing day as I did. I don't regret a single thing and I hope you don't?"

Alice looked up at him and said, "no, I don't regret a thing. Certainly not you but…what will you tell your men?"

"Nothing Alice. I'll tell you what…I'll tell the same thing that you told Peter then we just hide in plain sight. If anyone asks if we're dating, we tell them yes, but we just don't go around telling people. How does that work for you?"

She nodded her head and stood up, wrapping her arms around Matthew's neck and kissed him gently, "you better get going. You're already late for work Superintendent!"

Matthew picked up his shoes and headed for the door and said, "can I come around after work?"

Alice replied, "of course but maybe bring a change of clothes…or two!"

Matthew left, stopped by Mycroft Avenue for his uniform then arrived at the station. As he entered the bullpen, he looked at his watch and it was almost 10 am. Hobart looked at his watch and said, "eh Boss? What kind of time do you call this?"

Peter and Bill laughed, and Matthew said, "have a laugh boys. Now let's get back to the business of the day."

Peter looked over at Matthew and smiled then asked, "good time with the doctor Boss? She seems like a nice lady."

Matthew picked up the first folder on his desk and said, "Alice and I have been friends for years and we passed Christmas together since Jean is in Adelaide. It was nice. We just drank a bit too much and I overslept. We're all allowed a slip up and now again. Anyway, I hope you two had a good Christmas?"

Bill and Peter nodded, and Matthew said, "good. Now back to work."

Bill and Peter just looked at each other, neither fully believing the story but realising that they'd get no more out of Matthew.

When they were all leaving their desks that evening for the next shift to start, Bill looked over at Matthew and said, "tell the doc Merry Christmas!" and walked quickly to his car.

Matthew stood on Alice's doorstep that evening holding a brown bag with a few changes of clothes. He'd left his holdall at Alice's and he thought a suitcase might be a bit much for her neighbours to deal with. Alice opened her door and a wide smile spread across her face when she saw who it was. As she briefly looked up she saw the curtains twitch at neighbour's house across the street. Matthew followed the path of her eyes and said, "let's give then something to talk about."

Alice lifted an eyebrow in question but Matthew through the paper bag and his cane through the door, reached around Alice's waist, lifted her gently into a passionate kiss, tuned them both around through the door and closed it behind them.

"Matthew Lawson!"

"I've thought about you all day." They left a trail of clothing from the door to her bedroom.

The lay in each other's arms later and Alice turned, leaned on elbow and said, "dinner is in the oven. I made a pie with the leftover turkey and vegetables."

"My…you are getting better with your cooking Doctor Harvey."

"Jean has been teaching me lots of things."

Matthew got up and pulled Alice' green robe back on and Alice pulled her nightdress over her head. When they were sat at the table eating the dinner Alice had prepared, Matthew looked over to Alice, took her hand and said, "another pyjama party to add to your list!"

As they went to bed that night, Alice said, "we're both working tomorrow so we better set the alarm. We don't want a redo of this morning!"

Matthew pulled Alice into his embrace as they lay in bed and kissed the top of her head.

"Did the men say anything to you?"

"Bill mentioned the time, Peter asked if I'd had fun with you and that you "seemed like a nice lady" and Bill told me to tell you Merry Christmas as we left tonight. He must've known I was coming back here."

Matthew kissed her and said, "and why wouldn't I? I can't get enough of you Doctor Harvey!"

He pulled her over so that she was lying below him and the last thing she said was, "well, the feeling is mutual Superintendent."