Going home for the holidays. According to TV commercials it's the perfect thing to do, and will make you able to forget your everyday worries while spending quality time with your family. If only it were that simple. I love my mom but for some reason I just wasn't that excited about seeing her this year.
Actually that's a lie, I knew exactly why. I didn't want to go visit her because it meant I would have to leave town, and more importantly leave Sydney.
"You know there's a fine line between caring and obsession," my subconscious reminded me.
As if I really needed reminding. I knew that it wasn't healthy for me to have trouble sleeping at night when she was on a mission, or to worry about going out of town for fear that something might happen to Sydney and I wouldn't be there to help her with it.
I remembered our meeting the other day. She seemed upset and stressed out. When I asked her what was wrong she told me it was Sloane getting on her nerves, but I suspected there was more to it than that. I would imagine that this would be a hard time of year for her. Everywhere she went she'd see symbols of the spirit of family togetherness, reminders of all of the problems she's had this year. Problems that I saw her face with amazing strength. I only wished that I could be there for her now.
"I wonder if she misses me.........okay you are so full of yourself! First of all Sydney Bristow can take care of herself. Secondly she's probably having fun on her friends right now and thanking her lucky stars that she won't have to worry about SD-6 or the CIA for a few days." The two sides of my mind argued. I told them to shut up and returned my focus to the road.

At about 6:00 that morning I pulled up in front of my mom's house. I drove around to the side and parked next to a blue Lexus that I did not recognize as belonging to anyone I knew. I went around to the back door that lead into the kitchen, and let myself in with the key that usually hung unused at the bottom of my key chain.
I didn't expect her to be awake yet so I set my duffle bag down by the door and got to work on making a pot of coffee. She came into the kitchen about half an hour later just as I was in the middle of my first cup.
"I was just not destined to sleep this morning," she said shaking her head.
"Hey mom," I said and attempted a smile as I got up to hug her.
"Merry Christmas," she said as she hugged me back.
"Who's car is that outside?" I asked.
"You mean the blue one? Mr. and Mrs. Clarkston in room two," she responded.
I set my coffee cup down to look at her, "Wait a minute! You're taking guest over Christmas?"
"Well you were the only person coming over this year so I figured there was no reason to shut down just for two people," she said calmly as she sat down at the table across from me and poured herself a cup of coffee.
"And you talk about how much I work," I pointed out.
She looked at me skeptically, "Michael, your line of work and mine are........considerably different."
I knew she had a point so I didn't argue. "Besides," she went on, "It's only a few guests. There's Mr. and Mrs. Clarkston, and a couple named Dave and Clara, oh and late last night a young woman showed up. She said she had car trouble I think."
"Whatever you say mom," I teased.
She chuckled lightly, "Well while we're on the subject. How are things at your office?"
"Fine," I said nodding.
"Yeah right! 'Fine' is probably the last word I would use to describe it," I thought to myself, which yet again brought me back to thinking about Sydney, "Damn it! Can't I get her off my mind for at least five minutes?"
"Michael are you alright?" my mom's voice interrupted my thoughts.
"Yeah, I'm fine," I said, "Actually I'm a little tired. I think I'll take my stuff to the guest room and try to get some sleep."
"Okay," she said. I picked up my stuff and headed to the side of the house where her room and living quarters were.