From the end of Chapter 5

As the door swung open he was shocked to find himself on the receiving end of that all too familiar icy stare from a pair of blue eyes. He blinked at Jonas, trying to clear the sleep from his brain and eyes. "Jonas?" he asked, "What are you doing here? Is something wrong?"

Jonas kept his gaze steady and said firmly, "I just want to make sure you know. If you hurt my mom, you're going to have to deal with me."

Chapter 6

For a moment John didn't know whether to laugh out loud at the little boy's very adult warning or to scoop him up into a hug for his sincere desire to protect Natalie. Finally he decided that since the Jonas clearly wanted to be heard as an adult he would treat him as one. He nodded. "Good to know," he said solemnly, "why don't you come in? You and I should probably talk about this."

Jonas stepped inside, still eyeing him suspiciously as John let the door swing closed. John McBain, who'd faced some of the most dangerous criminals the world had to offer without flinching, found himself feeling strangely intimidated by this eight-year old boy. He also found himself hoping that Jonas wouldn't look around the room too carefully; the half eaten plate of cookies the boy had helped make was sitting beside the bed and John swore he could still smell Natalie's perfume lingering in the room.

He cleared his throat. "Your mom's real lucky to have you looking out for her," he began.

"Not just me," Jonas said, "my uncles too. I have a lot of them. But I'm the one you have to worry about."

"I believe that," John said, "but I want you to know that I don't plan on hurting your mom. I care about her a lot."

"But you hurt her before," Jonas said, his hands clinched in fists at his side.

The kid didn't pull any punches. "Did your mom tell you that?"

He shook his head. "Nobody tells me anything like that, but I've heard people talking about it. They don't think I'm listening or they don't think I understand, but I do. And I know you hurt her real bad. And ever since you came to visit she's been talking on the phone and crying a lot. And I don't like it when she cries."

"Neither do I," John said honestly, "and you're right—I did hurt your mom before. And I even made her cry. And I'm real sorry about that and I'm trying to make up for it."

"Good," Jonas said.

"I'm glad you came to talk to me," John said smiling at the boy who still didn't smile back. "Is there anything else you want to tell me or ask me?"

Jonas shook his head.

"Okay, well… aren't you supposed to be downstairs helping your grandmother decorate?"

He nodded.

"Well I'll tell you what, let me grab a shirt," John said reaching into his open suitcase for one and throwing it on, "and I'll go down there with you."

By the time they approached the lobby he could hear Natalie's voice, tight with worry, "How could you just let him wander off like that?"

"Hold your pants on!" Roxy's voice urged, "It's a small hotel, he won't be that hard to find."

"Assuming he's still in the hotel. Assuming he-"

"He's right here," John said as they reached the bottom step and he nudged Jonas forward with a gentle hand on his back. Jonas trudged guiltily towards his mother.

"Jonas! There you are!" Natalie said closing the rest of the distance between them in an instant and throwing her arms around her son. "I was so worried."

"I'm sorry mom," he mumbled.

"It's okay," she said releasing her grip and smoothing his hair, "but where-?" She gave a questioning look to both him and John.

"He came to see me," John supplied, "Jonas and I had some things to talk about."

"You did?" Natalie asked straightening up a peculiar look of panic washing over her face.

"Yeah," John nodded then turning his eyes to Jonas said, "but I think we're clear now, right?"

Jonas nodded and walked away with Roxy who was saying, "Come 'ere, I need you to help me test the lights."

John looked around at the lobby—Christmas decorating Roxy style was in full swing. A large artificial tree had been assembled in one corner and beside it lie an enormous pile of lights waiting to be hung on it. Piles of boa and garland littered the room. A blond girl he recognized from the photos as Sophie stood on the check-in desk affixing pink boa above it like garland. Four other girls ranging in age from around nine to about four, who he could only assume were Natalie's other nieces, were scattered around the lobby engaged in various tasks.

"Sophie sweetheart," he heard Rex call as he rounded the corner with a large cardboard box, "could you not stand on top of the desk and give your father a heart attack?"

The girl turned and flashed an angelic smile at her father. John realized what his brother had been talking about when he called Sophie a little con-artist; he suspected that smile got her just about everything she wanted. Rex set the box down by the tree and walked over to the desk, snatching the girl up and spinning her around as she giggled.

"Sorry if I kinda panicked there for a minute," Natalie said in a low voice as he turned back to her, "Roxy sends me out to buy light bulbs and I come back and my son has disappeared."

"I think that's pretty understandable," John said.

"What were you two talking about?" she asked anxiously.

He smiled to make it clear that he wasn't in any way upset by the conversation. "He just wanted to make sure I wasn't going to hurt you. And to tell me that if I did I'd have to deal with him."

To his surprise Natalie's eyes instantly filled with tears and sensing she wouldn't want to cry in front of everyone he quickly pulled her around the corner. "Hey," he said touching her cheek, "what's wrong?"

She shook her head still trying to hold the tears in and said, "I just swore I wasn't going to let this happen."

"Let what happen?" he asked searching her face, "You mean us?"

"No," she said quickly, "not that. Jonas, I just- You know I grew up so fast because I had to because Roxy wasn't there and I had to take care of myself and Rex and… And I just swore I wasn't going to let that happen with Jonas I wanted him to get to just be a kid. That's part of the reason I came home, but… He's so serious and seems to think I'm his responsibility, it just- What did I do wrong?"

"This doesn't mean you did anything wrong," he assured her, "It means you raised a kid that loves his mom. Which actually means you did something right. And I don't know him very well, but speaking as someone who knows what it's like to be the oldest son of a single mother I think it's pretty natural that he feels protective of you."

She wiped her eyes and said, "You know, there are actually times he reminds me of you." He couldn't tell from her tone if she meant this as something good or bad but before he could find out they were interrupted by Roxy.

"Hey you two here to decorate or you just lookin' for a little alone time," she said sashaying up to them, "'cause if you are I could keep an eye on-"

"We're here to decorate," Natalie said quickly stopping Roxy before the conversation got more suggestive.

"Good," Roxy said, "'Cause I need a tall strong man to get the lights on the top of the tree." She took John by the arm and led him over to the Christmas tree. Jonas was already standing there draped in several strands of lights. "You got 'em working kiddo?" Roxy asked him.

"Yep," he said sounding like a child again instead of the premature adult his mother worried he was becoming.

"Okay," Roxy said, "well you feed them to Johnny and he'll get them hung way up high there."

Jonas flashed John a hint of a smile as he unhooked a strand from around his neck and handed the end to John. As they were stringing the lights Sophie walked over to join them an exaggerated pout on her face. "Daddy says I'm not allowed to climb on anything anymore," she said petulantly.

"Well that's just 'cause he doesn't remember how hard it is to be short," Roxy said sympathetically.

"And because you fall off of stuff and have to get stitches," Jonas added.

"Only twice," she said with a roll of her eyes.

"I'll tell you what, Soph," Roxy said opening the box Rex had brought in, "why don't you help me get the ornaments out while the fellas get the lights all strung up?"

Sophie noticed John and eyeing him curiously said, "Hello, I'm Sophie."

"I'm John McBain," John nodded unable to shake her hand as he was tangled up in the tree, "it's nice to meet you."

"I'm sure it is," she said primly sitting down beside her grandmother who was pulling a selection of flashy ornaments out of the box.

"You know," Jonas said as he fed John more lights, "when my mom was little she used to have pink Christmas trees."

"I did know that actually," John said.

"This isn't the first time Johnny's helped your Nana decorate," Roxy said. "He helped out your mom and me one time a long time ago."

"Really?" the boy asked sounding interested.

"Uh huh," John said, "your mom and I also grew up in the same town."

"Atlantic City," Jonas said.

"That's right," John noticed.

"But they didn't meet till they got here," Roxy continued. "Small world, huh? Probably walked by each other a hundred times and never knew it before then and then… Fate's a funny thing, you know."

John noticed Natalie who had been assisting the other girls look around as if she was trying to see if anyone was watching her and slip out the front door. He was too entangled in his task to follow her but he could see her through the glass windows as she walked out front. To his surprise he realized Michael was standing out front. The two of them stood talking for a moment; he couldn't hear them but Natalie looked upset. She rubbed the back of her neck wearily and stood very close to Michael as if she didn't want to be overheard. Finally she stopped and bit her lower lip, on the verge of tears again as Michael pulled her into a hug.

"Um… excuse me," he heard Jonas say impatiently and realized he'd stopped wrapping the lights through the tree as he watched them. He refocused he attention to finishing their task and a moment later saw Natalie and Michael walk in the front door.

"Dr. Mike!" Sophie called out cheerfully.

"Hey Sophie!" Michael said brightly, "staying away from high places?"

Sophie rolled her eyes, "Unfortunately. What are you doing here? Is somebody sick? If you're here to give me stitches again I don't need any right now."

"Actually," Michael said laughing at the talkative little girl, "I came to see if my good for nothing brother had time to eat lunch with me. Since he supposedly came here to see me and all."

Sophie turned to look at John, realization dawning on her face. "Oh! He's your brother. I don't have a brother. I asked Daddy for one for Christmas but he said he'd rather get me a step-mother first and I don't want one of those. I read all about them in Cinderella."

"Well take it from me kid," Michael said patting her on the head, "you don't really want a brother either. They're more trouble than they're worth most of the time."

"I'll vouch for that," John said with a smirk.

"Well you can't take your brother away," Roxy said, "I still have work for him to do. But why don't you stick around. You can spend some quality time with your brother and make yourself useful."

"Or he could make himself really useful and go pick up some lunch for the rest of us," Rex suggested. "I'm starving."

Rex and Michael left together to pick up the lunch order that Natalie had already called in to Rodi's while the others continued with the decorating. As they finished stringing the lights on the tree and began hanging the ornaments Sophie decorated herself with tinsel and pink feather boa. "Hey Nana!" she called to Roxy who was helping the other girls with an inflatable nativity set, "Don't you want to take my picture?"

Roxy jumped up, "I sure do! I've been totally forgetting to take pictures." She ran over to retrieve the camera from behind the front desk as Sophie posed for her picture. "Hey Nattie!" Roxy called, "Come over here by the tree so I can get your picture with your guys."

"Roxy," Natalie groaned in weak protest but she let Roxy drag her over by the tree and arrange her with John and Jonas.

Rex and Michael returned by the time Roxy was finished forcing everyone to pose for pictures and as everyone made their way to the couches to eat John noticed a distant look on Natalie's face. "You okay?" he asked putting a hand on her shoulder.

"Yeah," she said smiling, "I just- I was watching you and Jonas and- I was just being silly and girly."

"How so?" he asked.

She leaned closer and said quietly, "Watching my son and the man I love… it just felt good to see you together."

"Yeah?" he asked, "well I've been enjoying it."

"Really?" she asked smiling more broadly and letting herself lean against him a little, even when Rex gave her a disapproving look.

Later after they'd finished the meal and Michael left Natalie looked around and said, "Well Roxy, I don't think we could fit any more decorations in here."

"You think?" Roxy asked sounding unconvinced as she looked around.

"Actually Aunt Natalie," Sophie said, "we still need an angel or a star or something to put on top of the tree."

"Oh I think we're just going to put you on top of it," her father said tickling her as she giggled.

"She's no angel, Rex," Natalie pointed out with a good-natured smile.

Rex gasped with feigned indignance and put his hands over Sophie's ears, "How can you say something like that about my sweet little girl?"

Before his sister could respond her phone rang; as Natalie looked at the caller ID the smile faded from her face. "I'll be right back," she said rising and walking away.

"So what do you want for Christmas, cutie?" Roxy asked turning to Sophie.

"A new tiara," she answered, clearly having thought of this before.

"Didn't you get two for your birthday?" Jonas asked.

"Yes," she said with an exasperated sigh, "but they're old!"

"Men don't understand the need to keep up with the latest trends," Roxy said patting the girl on the knee, "get used to it now."

"What about you Jonas?" John asked.

The boy looked at him for a moment before saying solemnly, "It's a secret."

"You know all about those, don't you McBain," Rex said looking at John steadily.

John nodded, he could hardly deny it. "Used to," he said.

Either out of fortuitous timing or a desire to relieve the tension between the two men Roxy turned to John and said, "You know, I think I had some sleigh bells to hang on the front door. I put them in my top desk drawer in the office in case I needed them for anything else throughout the year-"

"What else would you need sleigh bells for?" Rex asked before quickly adding, "please don't answer that."

"-could you go look for them for me Johnny?" Roxy finished, "I ate too much, I can't move."

"Sure," John said as he stood up. He couldn't exactly blame Rex for harboring resentment towards him, but as he walked he worried what kind of position animosity between them would put Natalie in. Answering that would require knowing what kind of position he and Natalie were in on their own, he thought.

It hadn't occurred to him that Natalie had gone to Roxy's office to take her phone call until he heard her voice from just outside the door. She sounded agitated, almost angry. "-no, I don't think it'll sound particularly good coming from either one of us but I think he deserves to hear it from me. … I said I would, didn't I? … I will just-… Yes!... Thank you. … Okay. … Yeah. …Bye."

As she closed her phone John walked in trying not to let on that he'd been listening. It had been unintentional. "Hey," he said, "Roxy sent me to-"

"We need to talk, John," she sighed.

"Okay," he said thrusting his hands in his pockets trying to prepare himself for whatever she had to tell him.

"Not now," she said, "not here. Later tonight?"

"You want to come by?" he suggested.

She shook her head, "Might be too easy to get distracted." She thought for a moment and then said, "No one's living in my mom's carriage house right now. Can you come there around nine?"

"Sure," he said, "is everything okay?"

He could tell by her face that it wasn't but she nodded anyway as she walked from the office with her arms folded across her chest.

The level of anxiety he felt as he climbed into the car he was borrowing from Michael that night surprised him somewhat. He and Natalie needed to discuss whatever had been happening between them the last several days and what it meant for their future. He also suspected that Natalie planned on giving him the answers she'd promised, even though he couldn't say she owed him any. But he'd been so convinced she was overestimating how upsetting these answers could be, so why did the impending conversation seem so ominous?

He discovered a thin layer of ice on the windshield and cursing the sudden drop in temperature looked around Michael's car for a scraper as he turned on the defrost. Not seeing on immediately he opened the glove compartment thinking maybe Michael had stashed one in there. Apparently Michael had stashed quite a few things in there because papers tumbled out as soon as the compartment was opened. Gathering them up John noticed a photograph in their midst and held it where a streetlight was illuminating the dark so he could see.

It was a picture of Michael with Jonas; they were smiling and Michael had his arm around the boy. The picture confused him for a moment and then he noticed something about their faces and bits of information began to coalesce in his mind. The way Michael had urged him to come and then manipulated and planned to force certain things to happen. Natalie's insistence that there were things she couldn't be forgiven. The green Honda peeling out of Michael's parking lot and his disheveled appearance when John arrived. The conversation he'd seen that morning outside the hotel…

He stared at the photograph hoping something would convince him he was seeing things but he couldn't deny it. His little brother and Natalie's little boy had the exact same eyes.

To be continued.