Early the next afternoon, Elizabeth bundled up Little Jack in jeans and a warm sweatshirt.

"We are going to get a Christmas tree with Nathan and Aliie today! Auntie Vi is going to stay home and rest a bit, but she is going to help us decorate the tree later."

"Twee, we get twee!"

Elizabeth laughed and kissed Little Jack on the cheek. "Yes Baby, we are getting a Christmas tree." The little boy squealed and waved his arms in the air as the doorbell rang. By the time Elizabeth and Little Jack arrived downstairs, Viola had already let Nathan and Allie into the house.

"Viola, are you sure you don't want to join us?" asked Nathan.

"Yes, I'm sure. You all have been planning this afternoon for weeks now and I don't want to suddenly be a fifth wheel. Besides, I'm beyond jetlagged from this whirlwind trip so I probably wouldn't be much help."

"Vi, are you sure? We'd love to have you with us."

"I'm sure Beth," Viola replied with a big smile.

"Ok well help yourself to anything in the kitchen. There are plenty of books and movies in the den."

"I'll be fine Little Sister. Go and enjoy your afternoon!"

Elizabeth chuckled as Nathan helped her into her coat. She then watched in awe as Nathan squatted down and helped Little Jack put on his little coat. The foursome piled into Nathan's car and drove thirty minutes to Bowen's Farms where in addition to Christmas trees, the location also had family-friendly holiday activities. Elizabeth had signed them up in advance for a wreath making class so the group got settled under one of the large tents set up for seasonal classes. They decided to make two identical wreaths so that each home could have one. After surveying the available materials, Allie asked if they could make wreaths with poinsettias. Loving the simplicity of design, both Elizabeth and Nathan instantly agreed.

With their instructor's help, Nathan prepared the base of each wreath with the pine needles and then Elizabeth and Allie would mix in the poinsettias. Little Jack quietly sat in Nathan's lap and watched their creations come to life. Bowen's also had an area for making customized ornaments so Elizabeth and Allie decided to personalize four ball ornaments with their names. They asked the artist to hand write Nathan, Elizabeth, Allie, and Jack on different colored ball ornaments. The artist used a special glitter paint so that the names would shine and stand out on the tree. Red for Nathan, pink for Elizabeth, light blue for Allie, and dark blue for Jack. When Elizabeth took the children to the restroom, Nathan ordered a custom ornament of his own as a surprise for Elizabeth. It would be one of his Christmas gifts to her.

After crafting, the group finally went out to the tree lot area to look for trees for the Grant and Thornton homes. Four long rows of beautiful trees welcomed them. Allie walked ahead while holding Little Jack's hand. She was very patient with the little boy and kept up with his toddler pace. Elizabeth and Nathan followed closely behind, walking arm in arm. They walked silently for a bit so they could enjoy their children's enthusiasm. Finally, Nathan spoke.

"What are you thinking about, 'Lizbeth?"

"Just that I never expected to be doing this on my own. I always hope that I'm making things special enough for Little Jack. Last year was such a whirlwind with it being Little Jack's first birthday and feeling the reality of Jack's loss. This is the first year where I am conscious of my own choices having an impact on the holiday."

"Yeah, I know it's challenging to try and make things special when you're a single parent."

"When I was a kid, we'd invite all of our family members over for Christmas dinner. Sometimes, we'd have up to twenty people at the house."

"Twenty people! That's a lot!" Nathan nervously ran his hand through his hair.

"It's ok, my love. I promise you our celebration this year will be much smaller." Elizabeth chuckled and then leaned up to give Nathan a kiss.

"And 'Lizbeth, you're not alone anymore nor will you ever be again if I can help it."

Elizabeth beamed. "Whatever do you mean, Detective?"

"You'll just have to wait and see." Nathan smiled and then leaned down to give Elizabeth another kiss.

"Uncle Nathan! Miss Elizabeth! We found them!" Allie interrupted.

Elizabeth and Nathan broke apart laughing. They quickly found the children standing between two identical blue spruce trees.

"How is it you found the two best trees in the entire tree lot?" asked Nathan.

"I wouldn't settle for anything else." replied Allie.

"That's the key, Allie." added Elizabeth.

Jack was starting to sway on his feet so Elizabeth quickly scooped him up while Nathan went to pay for the trees and make arrangements to transfer them to the top of his SUV. About twenty minutes later, both trees were secured and tied to the top of Nathan's vehicle. He'd even had enough time to sneakily pick up his custom order from the ornament tent and hide it in the trunk. Before departing, the foursome had some hot cocoa and Christmas cookies and even bought a box of gingerbread cookies to bring home for later.

They stopped at Nathan's house first to drop off his tree. Elizabeth and the children watched as Nathan quickly set up the tree in the corner of his living room.

"How's that?" he asked once the tree was fully upright.

"It's leaning a little bit to the left," said Elizabeth.

Nathan adjusted the tree a bit to the right and looked at Elizabeth and the kids silently asking for approval.

"That's better!" Elizabeth said with a smile.

Nathan reciprocated the smile. "Ok Al, all we have to do is decorate this monstrosity later on or more likely tomorrow after school."

"Ok Uncle Nathan. Can Miss Elizabeth and Jack help us after we help them decorate their tree?"

Nathan looked at Elizabeth for a response.

"We'd love to, Allie. Though I'm not sure that Jack will last that long tonight and I have to drive Miss Viola to the airport. So tomorrow will probably work better."

"No pressure Elizabeth. We already have your tree to decorate too."

"I would love to decorate both trees, Nathan. We will just have to work around this little guy's nap schedule. I don't want to exclude him from any festivities." Elizabeth said as she gave Jack a kiss on the cheek.

Nathan approached Elizabeth and put one hand on her back and the other on Jack's back.

"I think we are all set here for now. Ready to head home big guy?"

"Go home!"

Nathan and Elizabeth laughed.

Fifteen minutes later they arrived at Elizabeth's house and repeated the same tree setup process in Elizabeth's living room. This time Viola joined the group. She and Elizabeth stood arm in arm as they watched Nathan set up the tree this time with Allie's help. Little Jack stood in front of them clapping his hands happily every few minutes. Elizabeth had already brought out several boxes of ornaments and tree lights earlier in the day. Once the tree was securely in place, the decorating began. Allie helped Little Jack place ornaments on some of the lower branches while Viola started working on the tree lights.

Elizabeth pulled a little red cardinal ornament out of one of her boxes. It had been one of her first Christmas gifts from Jack and she treasured it. She walked over to place it near the top of the tree, signifying in her mind that Jack was always watching over her and Little Jack. Realizing that the branch she wanted to hang it on was higher than expected, Elizabeth leaned up on her tip toes and tried to hang it again. This time she felt a strong hand on top of hers.

"Here, let me help you with that."

Elizabeth put her heels on the floor and leaned her head back to see Nathan smiling down at her. Together, they hung the cardinal. Elizabeth smiled at the thought of Nathan helping her hang Jack's ornament and then slowly turned around and realized that Nathan hadn't moved. She slowly looked from his chest all the way up to his smiling face. They were so close she could feel his breath on her face. Not able to resist any longer, Elizabeth put her hands on Nathan's sweater and pulled him towards her, initiating a deep and passionate kiss. They stood there for what seemed like hours but in reality was a couple minutes.

"Mama!"

Elizabeth and Nathan reluctantly broke apart and chuckled.

"What is it Jack?"

"Come see!" Little Jack squealed as he pulled Elizabeth around to the other side of the tree.

Elizabeth knelt down next to her son. "Jack, did you hang these? You did a great job!"

"Awee help me," Jack said proudly.

"I can see that. You both did a great job." Elizabeth said as she kissed Jack on the head. She then stood up and also gave Allie a kiss on the head.

"Good job, you two!. I'm proud of you." echoed Nathan. He then went over to Viola to help with the tree lights. Elizabeth saved the new personalized ornaments for the end.

"I hope this is the beginning of a long running tradition and I hope that next year, we can have even more of these ornaments on our tree." Elizabeth said as she gave Nathan a knowing look. She knew that the new ornaments would hang on separate trees this year but she truly hoped this would be the only year where that was the case. With that, Elizabeth lifted Jack into her arms and helped her hang the Jack and Elizabeth ornaments right in the center of the tree at eye level.

As the sun began to set, Elizabeth ordered a pizza at Viola's request. Nathan hung Elizabeth's new wreath on the front door while they waited for the pizza to arrive. Elizabeth also hung the stockings and put out some of her snowmen decorations that she had collected over the years. The group enjoyed a lively but sad dinner as they knew Viola had to leave again in a few hours. Dinner was followed by some of the gingerbread cookies purchased on the farm earlier along with more hot chocolate.

After some minor bickering about safety on the highway, it was decided that Elizabeth would drive Viola to the airport while Nathan stayed at home with both kids. Elizabeth enjoyed the thirty minute drive to the airport and made sure Viola promised to call as soon as she got back home in London the next morning. She thanked Viola again for coming to NY for the show and such a whirlwind trip.

Elizabeth came home to three sleeping loved ones on the couch. Nathan was sitting up with Little Jack on his lap curled into his chest and Allie leaning into his side. Elizabeth carefully took her son from Nathan's arms and quietly walked upstairs to put him to bed. She quickly changed him and then kissed his forehead before putting him in his crib. She stared at him sleeping for a few minutes, in awe of how her love for Jack could create such a beautiful little life. She was especially reflective with her son's second birthday approaching in just a couple weeks time.

Elizabeth felt strong hands circle her waist from behind and felt Nathan's chin comfortably settle on her right shoulder. Together, they continued to watch the little boy sleep.

"Today was a long day for my little buddy."

"I think it was a long day for all of us. Nathan, I'm so sorry. We didn't have a chance to do anything at your house!"

"It's ok. You said tomorrow, remember? And seriously, no pressure 'Lizbeth. Today was a lot so Allie and I can take care of decorating throughout the week."

"Detective, you'll do no such thing. You two helped us and we intend to return the favor."

"Elizabeth…"

Nathan was quickly shushed with a kiss.

"We are not alone any longer, remember?" Elizabeth asked with a smile.

"I do remember. All of this duplicate stuff at two houses just feels excessive when we spend so much time together. I think it's about time we do something about that."

"I won't argue that, Nathan. I was really concerned that we might be rushing things too quickly but that feeling passed rather quickly. It feels like we are slowly but surely forming a family already. I don't think there is a defined timeline for love. I meant every word of that song yesterday. You matter to me Nathan, more than you'll ever know. I love you and I want to spend the rest of my life loving you."

"As do I, Elizabeth. Christmas is the season for miracles so I think it might just also be the time for our own miracles."

"That cardinal ornament that you helped me with earlier was one of my first Christmas presents from Jack. I've always loved it but I recently looked up the meaning of red cardinal and it means that a family member is happy and safe, even if far away. I like to think it means Jack is happily watching over all of us which is why I wanted it at the top of the tree."

"And so it shall always have a place at the top of our tree."

Elizabeth turned around and wrapped her arms around Nathan's neck, giving him a long, passionate kiss. She couldn't wait for Christmas.