Author's Note - The middle of this chapter (the snow scene) was written by my favorite reviewer and sometimes co-author, QuinnAbrams. Thanks for such a fun addition!

Sam

"You okay?" Sam leaned to the right, where Amy sat, looking completely terrified for her "seventh and eighth grade babies," as she called them (not to their faces). The middle school crowd that they'd performed for that morning was fairly tame, but high schoolers who were teetering on the edge of their holiday break wouldn't be the same experience.

Amy was perched on the edge of the bleachers, her face drained of its color, as she stared at some particularly unruly kids in the adjacent section. Some of them were Cheerios. Even though Kitty had gotten them all excused from wearing uniforms all the time, a few still did it, to flaunt their status.

"Amy?" Artie leaned across Sam, sending a concerned look in her direction. "Sam asked if you're okay."

Stacey, who had been sitting on the other side of Artie next to her brother, moved to sit in Amy's lap, fixing her with a worried look, too, and hugging her around her neck.

"I feel like I just led the lambs to the slaughter," she said, hugging Stacey in return and patting her leg as she made herself comfy on her lap. "I mean, I remember what a nightmare it was, performing in these awkward high school assemblies..."

"Our assemblies were awesome," Artie countered, nudging Sam. "You missed the one where we did 'Push It.'That was my personal favorite."

"I saw that monstrosity," Amy reminded Artie, as he stuck his tongue at her, then checked to make sure Stevie and Stacey hadn't seen his immature response. They had, of course, seen it.

"They'll be just as great as they were this morning," added Sam, who had been to the one earlier that day, was now at this one, and was even coming to the one at Lima Manor later, in support of his girlfriend.

"Shhh, it's starting," said Stevie, as he angrily stared at the unruly high schoolers.

Even if the high school students failed to fully appreciate their performance, it truly was spectacular. The elderly folk would surely give them the receptive audience they deserved tonight. Sam's personal favorite was when Roderick and Gregory did 'Little Saint Nick.' It was amazing that, for all their shyness, these two guys really captivated the audience with their energy on stage. Or, at least they would have, if they'd had a proper audience.

"It was great," Sam assured Amy, when it ended and he watched her breathe a huge sigh of relief. "And hey, check it out, now just one more show stands between you and two weeks of freedom."

"Two weeks of sleeping in," Amy added, punctuating her thought with a yawn. She still looked like a shadow of her former self to Sam, going through the motions, trying to get through her week. Starting after the holidays, though, she'd told her students that she'd only be getting there early and opening the choir room on Fridays. Fun Fridays, they would call it, and aside from Leah and Myron throwing their little hissy fits, her kids were understanding.

"We like to get up early," Stacey piped up, and Sam confirmed this with a nod and an eye roll.

"You do," he said. "But you'll let Amy get her rest. She's earned it."

Amy laughed, patting Stacey's leg and gently edging her out of her lap. "C'mon," she said. "I have to go help Will give the kids a pep talk."

The sound of the snow plows driving down the street woke Sam up in the morning. He sat up on the couch in Artie's bedroom, which had been serving as his makeshift bed once again for this trip home, and looked out the window to see a blanket of freshly fallen snow covering the ground. The meteorologists had predicted that Lima would get a couple inches of snow overnight, but it looks like they had underestimated Mother Nature. Instead of a tasteful three-to-four inches, there was at least a foot of snow outside, effectively trapping the Abrams and Evans families indoors.

He thought back to the night before. The show at Lima Manor had been a huge hit, so much so that the events coordinator for the nursing home asked Amy and Mr. Schue if they'd be willing to come back again. They committed to a performance for each month of the school year, and Sam worried that Amy might have again bitten off more than she could chew.

Sam glanced over at Artie's bed, only to find it empty and already neatly made. He couldn't say that he was surprised, as Artie was a notoriously early riser. Sam rubbed his eyes and pulled a t-shirt over his head before walking down the hallway towards where he could hear the families gathering in the kitchen.

"Good morning, Sleeping Beauty," Amy greeted him, handing him a mug of coffee. Sam didn't have the heart to tell her that he found the taste of the drink much too bitter, unless it had a boatload of sugar in it, so he accepted her offering without taking a sip.

"Good morning," Sam drowsily replied. "I thought you were looking forward to sleeping in?"

"No time for sleeping in," Amy said, grinning. "We have a fresh blanket of snow and two kids who want to play, so Artie decided we needed to get a jump on breakfast."

Both sets of parents and Amy were sitting at the kitchen table, meanwhile Stevie and Stacey were sitting at the kitchen island. Artie's brow furrowed and he stuck out his tongue in concentration as he expertly flipped a pancake on the griddle that had been lowered to his height when his family had remodeled the house to be accessible for his needs all those years ago. Sam thought that was pretty cool, that they had the forethought to do that when Artie was only eight.

"Breakfast?" Artie asked, handing his friend a plate with a stack of chocolate chip pancakes with one hand, holding the spatula in the other.

Sam's stomach growled just then as he graciously accepted the meal before plopping down in the seat next to Stevie. He knew, of course, that he would have to work extra hard to make up for all these extra empty calories he'd be consuming over the holidays. But chocolate chip pancakes were irresistible.

"Artie woke up super early and made all of us breakfast," Stacey informed her eldest brother. "Wasn't that so nice of him, Sammy?"

"Oh, yeah," Sam agreed, looking over at Artie, causing him to blush slightly. "I just wish he would do stuff like this for me when we're at school!"

Artie laughed and rolled his eyes.

"Maybe I would if you didn't always wake up five minutes before your class starts and opt for a Pop Tart instead!" Artie shot back.

Sam gave Artie a closed-lipped smile as he chewed, his mouth too full of pancake to articulate a verbal response.

"Can we play in the snow after breakfast?" Stevie asked, eliciting an enthusiastic nod from his younger sister.

"I don't see why not," Sam replied after he swallowed and washed his bite down with a glass of orange juice. "But only if we can have a snowball fight."

"Artie, will you come outside with us? Please?" Stacey asked, turning her attention to the boy still seated by the griddle.

"I might have to sit this one out. Snow and the wheels don't really mix very well," Artie explained, looking remorseful. "But I will be sure to have hot chocolate with lots of marshmallows waiting for you when you decide to come back in."

Sam could see it in Artie's deep blue eyes that he really wanted to have fun with them, but he just couldn't see it working where the chair was concerned. For a moment, Sam was disappointed, but then he got an idea.

"Hey, you still got that chair from when you were on the football team?" Sam asked.

Artie looked confused.

"I think it's in the garage… Why?"

"What if you used that and came outside with us? That thing's got, like, 4-wheel drive," Sam suggested. Artie looked unconvinced. "It's supposed to be used on rough and bumpy surfaces, right? We could stay on the driveway where the snow isn't as deep, and that way, you can still come play with us, but your regular chair will stay safe and dry inside."

Sam watched as Artie opened his mouth to politely turn down the offer, but nothing came out. He seemed to be really considering Sam's idea.

"I suppose going out for a little while wouldn't hurt," Artie replied with a shrug. The Evans kids cheered. "It's gonna take me a while to layer up, though, so give me like an hour or so."

Artie switched off the griddle and wheeled off towards his bedroom as Stevie and Stacey raced upstairs to get themselves ready.

Sam was finishing his breakfast when Amy came up behind him and wrapped her arms around his shoulders, resting her chin on the top of his head.

"Good work."

"Hmm?"

"Getting Artie to play in the snow. I've tried for years and he always refuses. Or finds a way to make himself seem like he's too busy. But the first time you ask him, he's suddenly willing... I'm impressed," Amy said, leaning down to plant a soft kiss on Sam's cheek.

"Well, I don't think it was me who really did anything," Sam shrugged. "Stevie and Stacey can be pretty convincing, and I don't think he wanted to let them down."

"Regardless, I'm excited that he's stepping outside of his comfort zone, no bad pun intended. Just make sure to keep an eye on him, okay? Don't let him stay out in the cold for too long. He'll try to tough it out, but he can only be out there for so long at a time. He can't regulate his body temperature very well, and his lower half has a hard time keeping warm," Amy explained, ever the protective big sister.

Sam nodded, fully understanding his girlfriend's concerns.

"I'll look out for him," he assured her.

A little while later, Artie emerged from his bedroom wearing so many layers that it was visibly a struggle for him to wheel himself from one place to another.

"I can't put my arms down!" Sam mock-whined when Artie entered the room, waving his arms around and doing an impression of the younger brother from 'A Christmas Story.'

"Haha, very funny," Artie said sarcastically as he rolled his eyes, leading the Evans siblings out to the garage where, sure enough, the green chair with the slanted wheels was sitting idly.

"Woah!" Stevie exclaimed as Artie locked the brakes on his regular chair before transferring to the other one. "That wheelchair is sick!"

"Finn used to call it the 'medieval battering ram', remember?" Artie looked up at Sam, who nodded, and they shared a sad smile.

After only a moment, Sam composed himself and opened the garage door to allow the four kids to head into the snow. Artie's dad had spent the morning clearing a path so that Artie was able to maneuver around the driveway pretty easily.

"Alright, who wants to have a snowball fight?" Artie grinned. "I'm kinda nasty at those, if I remember correctly."

They split into two teams: Sam and Stevie paired up together, and Stacey opted to stick with Artie (Sam thinks that she might be developing a little bit of a crush on him, despite their ten year age gap).

"Watch your back, Abrams," Sam warned after drawing a line in the snow.

Artie stuck out his tongue in response as he and Stacey began making as many snowballs as they possibly could and piling them in his lap. When they were ready, they emerged from behind Sam's truck- where they had been hiding- and began pelting the boys with the snowballs.

"No fair! You can hold way more at once than I can!" Sam protested as he tried to shield Stevie and himself from the icy wrath of his sister and best friend. The fight went on, but Sam and Stevie were surprised to find that they couldn't hold their own against the underdogs.

"We got 'em! We won, Artie!" Stacey cheered as she jumped up and down, wrapping her arms around Artie's neck in a hug.

There were no hard feelings between the four of them, as they forgot about their rivalry almost immediately when they joined together to make a snowman.

"Hey, Dude," Sam whispered, kneeling down beside Artie. "Do you need to go warm up? The kids will understand if you've gotta tap out."

Artie shook his head.

"No, no, I've got at least another half hour left in me," Artie assured him. Sam trusted that he knew his own body well enough, so he left it alone.

"Artie! Come make a snow angel with me!" Stacey called.

"Coming, yo!" Artie replied, wheeling himself across the bumpy terrain over to where the little girl was laying in the snow.

Sam straightened up, unsure of how Artie was going to manage this one. He watched as Artie set his brakes and lifted his feet off of the footplate one by one before lowering himself onto the ground. He scooted over right next to Stacey before turning to Sam.

"Hey Sam, do you mind moving my legs while I wave my arms?" Artie asked, to which Sam eagerly nodded, happy to help out in any way that he was needed.

"You're doing it, Artie!" Stacey squealed as Sam began to move Artie's legs in the correct motion. After he was finished, Sam gave Artie a hand, picking him up and depositing him back in his chair, so that they could admire their work.

"Alright, man, I'll totally take you up on that hot chocolate now," Sam said, clapping Artie on the shoulder before the four of them retreated inside.

Once they were inside and changed into their warm clothes with their cocoa, they could commence with watching 'A Christmas Story' in the upstairs gameroom, since it was on TV for the entire day and Stevie and Stacey had never seen in.

Artie, who was busy texting on his phone, didn't seem to be paying much attention. "Are you texting Julie?" Sam wanted to know.

"Uh, no, Kitty," Artie said, sheepishly, probably aware of the fact that he should have been texting the girl he was currently dating, not his ex.

"For shame," Amy added, as Artie continued to shrink on his spot on the couch. "What is she saying?"

"She was supposed to leave on a family ski trip today," Artie reported. "But they're gonna have to postpone going for a day or so, til this all clears out, so I told her she could come over later if she wants. Tina's there, too, so I said to bring her over as well."

"So, not one ex but two," Amy said, savagely. "And that makes it better."

Artie promptly threw a pillow at her. She clutched it to her chest, saying, "It's mine now. I'm keeping it."

"She's right, you know," Sam put in. "You need to focus on the girl you have now, Artie. Even if she's in Arizona at the moment."

Artie put his nose in the air indignantly. "They're just friends," he said. "Can't a guy have friends over who happen to be female? Anyway, don't forget, you're still lucky that I decided I'd tolerate the two of you going out."

"What does that have to do with anything?" Amy countered, and their argument was becoming less and less friendly.

"Guys, this is the good part," Sam swiftly interjected, and it was the good part. It was all the good part, but this was the classic part where Santa tells Ralphie that he'll shoot his eye out and then kicks him back down the slide with the exaggerated HO, HO, HOOOOO!

They watched the whole movie, or at least the guys and the little kids did. Amy stretched out and fell asleep on the couch. She'd tucked the pillow the Artie had thrown at her in Sam's lap and fallen asleep with her head atop that pillow. Sam couldn't resist stroking her hair gently as she slept.

"I still can't get used to that," Artie commented, under his breath. The kids were on their stomachs, in front of the TV, totally engaged by the movie. "But I'm trying. Really, I am. I gave you my blessing to date her, and I intend to honor what I said. I would just be lying if I said I don't feel like the third wheel sometimes. Well, and the fourth wheel and the fifth wheel."

"I'm trying not to do that to you, dude," he whispered back. "But if inviting Tina and Kitty over will make you feel better, then go for it."

"Quinn too." He shrugged, chuckling when Sam looked impressed. "What? I texted her too. She's back in town and they're going to pick her up on the way over. Kitty's brother is dropping them off soon. His truck has four-wheel drive and chains."

"Quinn Fabray is beautiful," Stacey added, apparently listening to them more than the movie. She turned over her shoulder and frowned when she saw Amy snoozing away. "She's missing it."

"She's seen it before," Artie assured her. The doorbell rang just then, and Amy stirred. Artie looked at Sam. "Could you let them in?"

"Sure." Sam slid out from under Amy's head and repositioned her on the pillow. She hardly even stirred. Sam was conflicted. Should they wake her up, now that company had arrived? She really did seem so tired though, perhaps excessively so. His eyes met Artie's, as the other guy furrowed his brow in concern.

"I guess she hibernates in the winter now," he commented.

Sam shrugged, before heading downstairs. "Guess so."