"Where are we?" she peered out the window of the sleazy cab they were sitting in. They had reached Canada all right, right on time, and now the car that they had been sitting in since it picked them up at the airport. It was snowing, not enough to call it heavy, but not at all light. It was probably 7 PM Canadian time—well, OK, whatever time they were in. That was another thing that confused her, and she realized it wasn't worth worrying about. Whatever the clock said, that was the time.

"We're home." He informed softly. She turned to him to see a large smile on his face. He looks really happy. I wish I looked that happy when I find myself in my home. I hope his parents like me—wait a second, why the hell am I worrying about this? This feels like that time when I met my boyfriend's parents the first time. This shouldn't be crossing my mind—I'm cracking up. Just gotta breath, Steph—it's pretty bad when I start talking to myself—

She found herself stiffly getting out of the cab, pulling her coat nearer to her, pushing the sleeve of the coat up to cover her numb wrist. It was cold, very cold. Stephanie didn't remember Canada this way. But then again, this is in the winter. I went in the summer. I'm not exactly a first timer, like Chris said—all right, well, I really am, considering I only went to like—one house the entire time. I think that's what he meant. Well, all right, or else he was just too high on his caffeine binge to remember. Now I wouldn't be surprised with that either.

"You all right?" She noticed he was beside her now, watching the cabman pull out their bags. She let herself lean against his side, and he seemed a bit surprised at the sudden show of affection. Usually, she didn't really show it so up front, but this time she needed some sort of support to ebb her nervousness. She felt an arm around her waist, and realized he had understood what she was doing. "Don't worry so much."

"I don't usually do this—" she explained. He grinned.

"And I do?" he laughed. She shrugged.

"You never know—"

"CHRISTOPHER JERICHO—" Both jumped as a voice yelped in back of them. She blinked as suddenly someone pulled Chris into a very large hug.

"Oww! Hey hey hey—Ma!" he winced.

"You're late young man!" she scolded when she let him go. He fully faced her as Stephanie watched the two interact with each other. She looks like someone who brought up someone like Chris. "And what was I seeing before? Cuddling?" She suddenly looked from him to her herself. She felt herself turn red, but the darkness masked it.

"Mom—" his tone was warning. She turned to him, and then chuckled lightly.

"Let's get you inside so I can get a better look at you." She responded, grabbing a bag easily and holding it with ease. It was a bigger bag. Stephanie couldn't help but stare in awe for a second. Oh yeah, definitely a parent of his. I suppose you would have to be strong to control him—

She followed suit, taking her own bags that she could carry. Chris paid for the ride and followed as well. Stephanie kept feeling that knot grow more and more in her stomach. This is going to be one interesting Christmas, I know that much.

They went up the steps of the cozy looking home, and Stephanie tried to shake some snow off, but found herself not succeeding. His mother opened the door, and she stepped inside as she was led in.

And then she found herself flying backwards. She landed on one of the softer luggage she was carrying. However, she was pinned to it. She shut her eyes tight when something started licking her. She suddenly became aware of laughter. She opened her eyes to see a big furry thing on her.

"Chris, why is there a dog on me?" she asked, breathlessly, staring up at the thing still licking her face. She tried to push it off but found it to be to no avail.

"She wants to say hello." He sniggered. "Adidas, get off her." She felt the weight move off her and she sat up, rubbing her back.

"Adidas?" she asked.

"Chris, you need to train your dog." His mother berated, offering a hand to Stephanie. She took it and pulled herself up. She turned to see Chris joyfully hugging the dog, which looked exactly like a husky.

"She is trained." He grinned. "In, Adidas." The dog obeyed perfectly, trotting inside. He turned to Stephanie. "See?"

"Why didn't you do that before she jumped me?" she smirked. He grinned innocently as she turned and pulled the luggage fully inside.

"Just plop them down, hun." Jericho's mom nodded.

"All right." She said, putting them down on the side.

"Is Chri—" Stephanie looked up to see a young man standing in one of the doorframes. He looked squarely at her. "Whoa! Chris, who's the girl?!"

"Nice to see you too." He smirked lightly, but then grinned. "This is Stephanie."

"So let me get this straight, you actually didn't scare a girl off for once?" he asked, a wide grin that almost mimicked Chris' own. He looks just like him, actually—talk about family resemblance.

"Ha ha, funny." He rolled his eyes. She watched the man slink over to her, extending his hand.

"Name's Luke." He introduced. She shook his hand.

"Stephanie is Chris's friend." His mother explained.

"Oh that's highly doubtful." He grinned mischievously at Chris. "You honestly think I'm going to believe you brought a girl that's just your friend?"

"You're only 16. What do you know?" he replied sarcastically, but his tone was friendly. They seem pretty close, but the kid's overly perky—

"Well I know I wouldn't bring a girl to this family unless it was absolutely necessary." He laughed.

"Luke!" she watched Chris's mom whap him over the head.

"Oww! Aunt Joan!" he pouted. Stephanie finally let out a small chuckle. "Yeesh, I was just kidding."

"Be nice to our guest." She scolded. He smirked, but said no more.

"Where's dad?" Chris inquired.

"Around. Probably where everyone else is." She responded. "In the entertainment room. You two should go there. Luke will help me get your bags to the right room, right Luke?"

"But Auntie—" he whined.

"RIGHT Luke?" she asked again. He sighed in defeat.

"Yes Auntie." He mumbled. He shot Chris a look. "Thanks a lot."

"It'll be good for you." Chris laughed. He mumbled something under his breath so low that Stephanie couldn't hear and began to help Chris's mom with their stuff. Chris turned to her. "Come on, Steph."

"All right." She nodded, following him. As she walked past Luke, he caught her arm lightly when Chris's mom wasn't looking. She looked at him, a bit surprised.

"Don't listen to him. He's lying." He simply said. She could have asked what he meant, but didn't bother, as his aunt was pulling him away. What did he mean by that? She shook her head, finally following Chris again.

She followed him downstairs into another slightly larger room. The tree was there, as she noted. And there was a lot of people. Stephanie felt suddenly very nervous. She could take meeting two, but there had to be at least 6 people there—and she didn't know any of them.

"Chris, my boy—" one man stood up upon seeing him, walking over to him. They hugged, and Chris smiled brightly.

"Hey Dad!" he exclaimed.

"Good to see you made it. How was the flight?"

"The usual." He grinned.

"Ha!" Stephanie suddenly blurted out. Oops. Well, there goes my 'not attracting attention' idea. Chris's father turned to her, looking her over.

"Why are you laughing?" he smiled.

"Your son was insane on the plane." She explained, and Chris grinned innocently.

"He was like that when he was little, too—kept climbing on everything—you're never going to grow up, are you?" he smirked at Chris, who was now beaming.

"What's the fun in that?" he asked.

"But where are my manners?" Chris's father pondered. "I'm this idiot's father, though I don't tell people that often." He winked at her, and she couldn't help but smile as Chris pouted. "And you must be—Stephanie, was it?"

"Yeah, that's me." She nodded. "It's nice to meet you, sir." As they talked, Chris walked over to the other members of his family.

"So, my wife tells me you're staying with Chris?" he asked her when Chris was far enough.

"Yeah. He's sort of taken me in," she explained, nodding. "My family is a less then normal, to put it lightly."

"So you came to us?" he chuckled; it was a deep-throated chuckle that reminded her of her own father. "Well, I'm not sure if it'll be a big difference here, but let me be the first to welcome you to this house."

"Thank you." She smiled, and he nodded.

"Any friend of my son is welcome here. As surprising as this might sound, he does judge character well. Gets that from me, he does." He chuckled lowly.

"Yeah, he's a great guy." She nodded absently, watching as he picked up a little girl, who had to be only 2 or 3 years old. The girl squealed as he threw her up and caught her. I can't believe I'm here right now. My family parties never had this odd air of warmth in it. Does my family even care about anybody but themselves? Am I like that? No—I can't be. I do care about people. She watched Chris again, as he continued to make the little girl in his arms smile. I care about Chris.