Christmas in the Brown's house the next morning had been worth waiting for. Not one of the three spent the rest of the day dissatisfied. It was only material satisfaction, but for that morning it was enough. Actually, as the three of them considered it, the presents were not the best thing to happen that day. After the gift exchange and breakfast, the three drove over to the hospital to wish Edna and Irv 'Merry Christmas.' To their surprise the entire Abbott family had shown up. Even Bright, who was still tired, but sported a new watch. Just as the three approached the room, they received an unexpected surprise. Jig exited the room and saw them. She smiled and waved, fully aware she was doing it. The three Browns stopped in their tracks. Ephram's mouth was hanging wide enough to catch flies, while Dr. Brown and Delia only smiled, pleased. Jig, in a wheelchair, rolled herself over and stopped in front of Ephram.

"Here," she said, handing him a gift bag.

"Her temperature is still a little high, and she's still tired, but besides that she seems to be feeling fine," Dr. Abbott updated Dr. Brown. Dr. Brown nodded. The two were leaning against the wall near the door in Jig's room. Their children were in the middle of the room, crowded around the girl in the wheelchair who seemed to be enjoying the attention.

"And what about her legs?" Dr. Brown asked. Dr. Abbott frowned.

"They're weak, but not totally useless. With some therapy she'll be walking again in a few weeks," Dr. Abbott told him.

"Does she know?"

"Oh yes, of course. They're going to wait a few more days before starting her on physical therapy. Give her a few more days to regain her strength."

"That's probably a wise decision."

"It was my idea," Dr. Abbott said and the two doctors glanced at each other and then turned back to the younger ones.

Ephram sat in a chair close to Jig as he removed the tissue paper and removed the picture frame. Pictures were a popular gift item this year. This picture, however, did not include a mother. It was a black and white picture of Ephram and Desi kissing. He smiled and turned to Jig, who was happy to see his smile. Ephram remembered the scene, it was about two weeks ago. Jig must have printed it in Orrie's darkroom right before he left. Maybe even the last picture.

"Thanks, Jig," he told her. She nodded. Then Ephram reached into the bag he had brought and handed her a CD player. She put it on. He handed her the wrapped CD. Curiously she opened it and looked confusedly at the unmarked disc. Ephram took it out of the holder and placed it in the player. He hit 'play' and watched as Jig listened to the song. She smiled and turned to him.

"This is pretty, what is it?" she asked him.

"It's called 'Juliet's Lullaby,"" he told her and she smiled, closing her eyes and listening to it.

"It was composed by a woman named Katherine Green," he said, Jig's eyes opened and she looked at him, surprised, "supposedly, she wrote it for her daughter."

Suddenly Jig's eyes filled with happy tears. They fell down her cheeks and gathered at her chin. She leaned forward and hugged him.

"Thanks, Ephram," she told him. He nodded.

"Can I hear it?" Amy asked her. Jig nodded and handed her the headphones. Amy smiled.

"You're mom was good, Jig," Amy told her. Jig nodded again.

"She was, wasn't she?" Jig asked, raising her hand to her mouth to stop herself from crying. Edna noticed that and shooed everyone from the room except Ephram and Amy, and, of course, herself. Irv helped her and closed the door behind him.

Amy took off the headphones and gave them back to Ephram. She leaned forward and hugged Jig, letting Jig cry a little onto her shoulder. Ephram frowned.

"Jig I didn't mean to…" he started.

"No, it's okay Ephram. Thank you for the gift, I love it," she reassured him. He nodded.

"Come on kid, let's get something eat," Edna said, more pulling Ephram out of the room than ushering him. Ephram made no objections though.

Outside of the hospital room Edna closed the door again. Ephram was about to go talk to his father and sister when Desi ran over to him. She was obviously in a very excited state and, still in her nightgown. She tried running into the room but Ephram held her back.

"Is she up? Is she really up!" Desi yelled. Someone had called her. Ephram looked at Dr. Brown who turned away from his son's gaze.

"Yes she's up and talking to Amy. Aren't you cold?" he asked her.

"I'm freezing, can I see her?" Desi asked. Her shook his head. Desi stopped struggling to get inside.

"Why not?" she asked.

"Girl talk."

"Oh," she said, starting to turn around to walk away. Then a thought occurred to her.

"Wait a minute! I'm a girl!" she yelled and tried to get into the room again. Again Ephram stopped her.

"Come on, let's get you some clothes," he said carrying her down the hall. Delia started laughing but placed her hand over her mouth to stop herself. That action made Bright laugh a little, but he never thought to hide it. Delia smiled.

On this Christmas morning there was one person who had been nearly forgotten. It bugged him, sure. He was worried. It had been days since he's seen his favorite person in the world. She had probably forgotten about him by now anyway. He supposed he just wasn't her type. Not clean enough, a little rough around the edges. But that wasn't a reason for her to abandon him like this. He loved her, and he thought she loved him back. Just because he was a raccoon was no reason to discriminate. Now here he was, alone in this huge house, and no one to share it with. Everyone was gone, and no one had told him where. Well, he wasn't going to stand for this! If they weren't going to come to him! He was going to go to them!

Ein had been to his house enough times to get there by himself. He could still smell Jig there, even though it had been a few days since she's walked these streets. He could smell him too. If he didn't have an odor. Ah, there, that house looks familiar. Yes! That's definitely the house. Jig spends a lot of time in there. Ein scratched on the front door for awhile with no luck. No one answered. He climbed up onto the near by windowsill and jiggled the handle. The door popped open. Good. Inside the entire place smelled like him. It was horrible, almost unbearable. What qualities Jig saw in him to be his friend Ein would never know. He found nothing about Ephram Brown appealing unless it was deep-fried. No one was home. No family, no Jig. Perfect, he came all of this way and nothing. How unpleasant. Well, he'd wait on the front porch and demand the first person who came home to take him to Jig. He must find her!

About an hour later a black car pulled up in front of the Brown's house. Two people emerged, one bearded man and one little girl. The man Ein had no distinct feelings for, but the girl he liked. She gave him food sometimes, when no one was looking. She was good people. The man stopped, seeing Ein sitting on his front porch. Dr. Brown sighed.

"Come on, let's go see Jig," he said. Ein stood up on his hind legs. He liked this guy.

They had a paper bag that fit Ein perfectly. They placed some tissue paper on top of him and carried him undetected into the hospital. It was not unusual for dogs and cats and other pets to be brought into hospitals to help patients, why shouldn't a domesticated raccoon? So, Dr. Brown carried Ein into the hospital and into Jig's room, unnoticed. Jig was back into her bed and Edna, Irv, Desi, Amy, and Ephram were sitting around her. They all watched curiously as Dr. Brown placed the bag on the bed at Jig's feet. Suddenly a small tear in the paper bag became bigger, and a raccoon's head popped out. Everyone smiled and Delia closed the door.

"Ein!" Jig yelled. The critter, excited, tore through the bag and over to her. She hugged him and rubbed his head. Desi petted him too.

"I almost forgot about him. Thank you Dr. Brown," Jig told him. He nodded.

"Actually, he was waiting on the front porch when we got home. I think he missed you," Dr. Brown told her. Jig smiled.

"I missed him too. But, is he allowed in here?" she asked him

"Uh, he's not actually here, Jig," Irv told her. She looked at him and nodded.

"Oh, right. No raccoon," she said. Suddenly there was a beeping noise and immediately all eyes went to the equipment Jig was hooked up to. But, it wasn't that. Desi looked down at her beeper.

"Up, oh, damn, I gotta go. My grandparents just got in. See you tomorrow," she said giving Ephram a kiss goodbye and walking out of the room.

"We better leave too, with Ein," Dr. Brown said. Jig nodded, hugged the raccoon once more, and placed him back into the torn bag, covering the hole with tissue wrap. Irv walked the three out. Jig turned to Ephram.

"Her grandparents?" she asked. Ephram nodded.

"From France."

"Are you going to meet them?"

"As soon as I learn French."

"So you're never going to meet them?"

"Right."

Later that night as Jig lay asleep alone in the room, Dr. Abbott slowly opened the hospital door and peered in. He could never get over how much Jig looked like her mom. He and Kathy had grown up together, here, in Everwood. She had been like his little sister. Dr. Abbott walked into the room and closed the door behind him. He walked over and sat in one of the chairs beside her bed. Through some perfect timing Jig's eyes opened and she looked at him. It took little time for her to recognize his face.

"Hi Harold."

"Hello, Juliet, how are you feeling?" he asked her. She smiled.

"Can't complain. What are you doing here?"

"Just checking up on my favorite first cousin once removed," he said, placing a small smile on his face. Jig sighed and turned away from him, back to the ceiling.

"You know Harold, well of course you know, that I never met my dad. But what you don't know is that whenever I imagined my father, who he was, what his morals where, I always hoped he was exactly like you," she said and paused.

Dr. Abbott sighed and took her hand in his.

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