"Nick," Sara began as Nick grasped her by the hips, "I don't know how to tell you this, but I am mortified of this situation."

"Sara, hon," Nick replied, "This thing is all about trust."

Sara wiggled her way out of Nick's grip. "I know that it's about trust, but it's also about skill and, in case you didn't know, newsflash: you've only been doing ballet for twelve days."

"Newsflash: our performance isn't even two days away. I thought you wanted to look good. We can't possibly do that if we omit certain bits of the choreography when we rehearse." Nick was beginning to feel very impatient with Sara. Only a week before, she had been excited about performing. She had gotten back into the swing of things and Nick had impressed her with his speedy ability to pick up new dance steps. Now she refused to rehearse one of the lifts in their routine. "You're going to have to do it on Sunday night, so why not do it now?"

Nick had her. She realized how silly she was acting. She knew that Nick was perfectly capable of doing the lift (in fact, he seemed tireless when they were rehearsing the other lifts in their routine). Why on earth would she be so nervous about this one?

Because I could fall on my head and be severely injured, she thought, yes, that could easily happen.

But didn't she trust Nick in much more dangerous situations? There had been times when she and Nick were completely alone at crime scenes and there was always a chance of the perpetrator returning. Didn't she trust Nick to have her back in case something bad happened? Yes, she did.

"You're right, Nick." Sara smiled warmly and Nick could feel the whole dance studio brighten (or did the sun come out from behind a cloud). "I've been very silly. It's just...wouldn't you be nervous if Warrick was going to lift you over his head and have you dangling eight feet in the air, practically upside-down?"

"Sara, it would make me nervous for Warrick to even touch my hips, let alone use them as a gripping point to hold me upside-down."

Sara giggled. "I guess that wasn't such a good example." Her giggles didn't completely wash away the seriousness of her face. She was still visibly worried.

"I get your point, though, Sara." Nick lowered his voice so that Sara would know that he wasn't joking. "I know it's a scary situation. Maybe we can go back to the hotel and I could put some cushions on the floor in case things get awkward or off-balance."

Sara shook her head decisively. "Lift me right now, Nick. I'm ready."

Nick grasped Sara's hips and hoisted her high above his head. She carafully arched her back and then slowly moved her legs to imitate the pose that they had seen on their instructional video. Nick walked slowly for a few steps and then lowered Sara gently to the floor.

"That really wasn't so bad," Sara said, smiling, "It was actually kind of fun."

"Do you want to practice it with the music?"

"No. Not yet. I think we need to work on the timing a little more. It took me a while to get into the right position. I'll need to be able to go there more quickly. Do you feel up to lifting me a couple dozen more times?"

"Sara, I've carried bags of horse feed that weighed more than you." Sara blushed. "Of course I can do it."

After about eight more tries, Sara had begun using one fluid movement to achieve the necessary position in the air. Before practicing the entire routine with musical accompaniment, Sara and Nick tried sandwiching the newly learned step in between the steps that preceded and followed it. They did one run-through of the entire performance before they called it a day and decided to return to the hotel.

"Do you think any of the other people are practicing as much as we are?" Sara asked as she slung her tote bag into the back seat of Nick's SUV.

"I don't know," Nick replied, "I haven't really been talking to much of anyone."

"Whenever I'm at the hotel, the floor is always filled with people and they never look very sweaty."

"I've kind of noticed that, too. And attendance has dropped in the regular ballet classes. Mrs. MacElroy's fit was really something today."

"I figured that people would show up more because there's only one class a day now, but I guess they think that they know enough to only have to practice the choreography. I guess they don't realize that even professional ballet dancers do the same barre work before they dance."

"No, Sara. Not everyone is a know-it-all like you."

Sara playfully punched Nick in his arm and then leaned over to kiss his cheek. "So are we having dinner together tonight?"

Nick shrugged. "I don't know. I kind of have an errand that I need to run at the mall. My oldest niece is turning eighteen on next Sunday and I need to buy her something and send it in the mail soon so that it won't show up too late."

"How many nieces and nephews do you have?"

"I can't answer that question while I'm driving," Nick deadpanned.

Sara chuckled. "That many, huh?"

"I'm afraid so." Nick looked over at Sara and smiled.

"So I guess Christmas really does and number on your wallet, huh?"

"Not anymore." Nick smiled broadly. "At least not since I suggested that we do a Secret Santa for the big family Christmas. I'll let my brother and sisters buy presents for their own flocks of children. I only buy individual gifts for birthdays. Thank goodness they're all spread out. I try to make the gifts special, though."

"Do you already know what you're getting your niece?"

"I'm not sure what her real present will be--I guess I've still got some time to think about that--but I know what her gag gift will be."

"Gag gift? You know, if you're going to buy two gifts for their birthdays, you might as well throw in Christmas."

Nick smirked at Sara. "I only do gag gifts for milestone birthdays. That way they don't hate me; they just think I'm a little nutty."

"Only a little?"

Nick flashed another smirk and then shrugged his shoulders.

"So what's the gag gift?"

"A Raffi CD."

"A raffle CD?"

"Raffi. He was a popular children's singer in the mid nineties. When Caitlyn was eight years old, she would constantly whine about wanting some of his CDs, but my sister didn't think that she was old enough to take care of one--and she didn't want to have to buy Caitlyn her own CD player--so none of use were allowed to buy her a CD. By the time Caitlyn was deemed old enough to have a CD player, she no longer cared for Raffi." Nick paused and shook his head. "By then, she'd moved on to 'NSync." He feigned a shudder.

Sara pursed her lips to hide a smile. "So then why are you getting her the CD?"

"Because it's funny, Sara--and because it's probably pretty difficult to find. I'm a sucker for a quest."

"It still seems like somewhat of a waste to me." She raised an eyebrow to demonstrate her distaste.

"Don't worry, Sara. Caitlyn's younger brother Andrew is seven. I'm sure he'll get to use the CD--if Caitlyn doesn't listen to it in her car." Sara raised the same eyebrow, this time in amusement. "You haven't met Caitlyn. She's a little kooky--a fun kid. She'll get a big kick out of this."

Nick pulled into a parking space in the garage behind the Tangiers. "Do you want me to walk you to your room?"

"I'm sure I'll be fine. Have fun at the mall."

"I'll try."

Nick shifted into reverse and backed out of the space. He was pretty sure that he would end up having to buy the CD on the internet, but that didn't bother him. He was glad to have an excuse to spend a long time at the mall.

He was sure that Sara wouldn't suspect a thing.