"Is everything okay, Allie," Nathan asked, looking over his shoulder from his spot at the stove. He and Ally had gone out fishing this morning and had managed to catch three nice size fish. Those fish were now sizzling in the pan for their lunch. His stew might be bland but he cook fish, in a pan or over an fire.

Though she had been her normally bubbly self, Ally had become more subdue since they had come home. Nathan thought it had to do with the fact that Opal had originally planned on coming to join them on their tree hunt this afternoon, the Weise's planning on waiting until the next weekend to get their tree. However, Melissa and Walter had wanted to include Byrony in the Christmas tree hunt and decoration and as they still weren't sure what she would tell Constable Kinslow when he got here, their plans had moved up.

However, Nathan did not want to jump to conclusions. He wanted Ally to tell him what was bothering her as something clearly was.

Ally was setting the table for three as Faith was joining them for lunch and the tree hunt today. Faith was not planning on putting up a tree in her own place but Nathan had felt that she should not miss out on a tree hunt. He was still hoping to convince her to let him cut down a small tree for her once they were out in the woods. He knew this Christmas was hard for her as Carson was away and she still wasn't sure he was going home. Nathan also knew that the simple act of going through the holiday traditions even when you were not feeling into them could be therapeutic.

"Why did you invite Dr. Carter to join us today?" Ally asked, looking down at the extra plate she had set for Faith. The utensils were still in her hand.

"I asked you if you were okay with Dr. Carter joining us before I asked her, Ally," Nathan reminded her gently.

"I know," Ally replied. "But why did you want to invite her?"

"Because Dr. Carter is missing Dr. Shepherd and those types of feelings can get worse for people around the holiday. Spending time with us today will keep her from sitting around missing Dr. Shepherd for a few hours at least."

"So Dr. Carter and Dr. Shepherd are still together?" Ally inquired as she slowly put the utensils on the table next to Faith's plate.

"Yes," Nathan replied, flipping the fish and then looking back at Ally. He was starting to get a feeling he knew what was bothering his niece. "Dr. Carter and I are simply friends. I respect both her and Dr. Shepherd too much to let things go any further than that while they are still trying to work things out."

"Do you think they will? Do you think a long distant relationship can work?"

Nathan turned back to the fish. He had a feeling Ally was now thinking more of her and Robert than Faith and Carson.

"If two people were meant to be together, then it will happen no matter what obstacles they have to face, Ally. If two people truly love each other, then time and distance will not change those feelings."

Ally was quiet for a bit. Nathan thought the conversation might be done. As he lifted the fish from the pan though, Ally asked another question.

"And you and Dr. Carter are just friends? There is no chance of her breaking your heart?"

Nathan placed the plate with the fish down on the counter as he turned to give Ally a hug. His niece was hurting because of her own crushed hopes but she was hurting for his sake as well. Nathan wanted to take that pain from her more than anything, but he did not know how.

"Dr. Carter and I are simply friends," Nathan assured her. "Being able to share our feelings with each other is helping both of us."

"And spending time with us will make Dr. Carter's holiday more happy?" Ally asked.

"Yes," Nathan replied.

"Then I am happy you invited her," Ally told him, looking up at him with a smile. She then wrinkled her nose. "Are you burning lunch."

The pan! Nathan realized that though he had removed the fish, the pan was still over the heat.

"Not lunch, just the pan I used to cook lunch in," Nathan replied, letting go of his daughter and turning back to the stove.

Grabbing a towel, he picked up the pan just as a knock sounded on the door.

"I'll get it," Ally assured him.

"Thank-you," Nathan replied as he deposited the pan into the sink. He knew he would need to soak it if he had any shot of getting it clean but he wanted to let it cool a bit first. Unfortunately he had plenty of experience dealing with burnt food and pans.

"Hello, Dr. Carter," Ally said from the door. "Sorry about the smell, but do not worry. The fish was no longer in the pan so it is fine. Burnt pans are one of my Dad's specialties though."

Faith laughed even as Nathan shook his head. Leave it to Ally to get directly to the point.

A couple of hours later, Nathan, Ally and Faith were bundled up and traipsing through the woods. Ally had looped her arm through the arm that Nathan was not carrying the saw with. Faith walked on the other side of Ally. The teenager had been talking nonstop since they reached the wood, telling Faith the type of tree she wanted and also trying to convince Faith that she needed a tree in her home, even if it was a small one.

"There is the perfect tree for your home, Dr. Carter," Ally said, pointing to a tree that was about her height though it had full branches.

Letting go of Nathan's arm, Ally skipped over to the tree. Reaching it she circled it. "There are no holes in the branches," Ally informed them. "You need to have a tree in you home, Dr. Carter. It would not feel like Christmas without it."

Faith smiled. "Decorating a tree alone though is not much fun," she told the girl.

"You would not need to decorate it alone. Dad and I could help you! Right, Dad!"

Nathan laughed, smiling at his daughter's enthusiasm. This was the Ally that he liked to see. The Ally who had been missing quite a bit lately. He was not about to say anything to dampen her spirits.

"If that is the only thing keeping you from putting up a tree, then yes, we would be happy to help decorate it," Nathan told Faith.

Faith gave a sigh. "All right," she relented. "As long as the two of you help me decorate it, I will put that tree up in my house."

"Yay!" Ally said, jumping up and down.

Faith laughed at the young girls antics.

"Well, as I am just one person," Nathan said, "I am going to cut down this tree, and put it in the wagon before we continue the hunt for Ally's big tree. I definitely can not carry two trees out of the woods at the same time."

Nathan cut down the short tree and with Faith getting a hold of the tree at the top while Nathan grabbed the trunk, they carried the tree out to where the wagon waited. With Faith's tree loaded in the wagon, the trio returned to tree hunting. They had been walking about ten minutes when a frantic yell reached their ears.

"Jack!"

"That was, Elizabeth," Faith said glancing over at Nathan.

"It came from that direction," Nathan said pointing off slightly to their right.

As Nathan started out with long strides, Faith reached out for Ally's hand. Hand-in-hand, the two women hurried after Nathan, who continued to follow the sound of Elizabeth's yells. Coming into a clearing, Nathan came up behind the Weise's.

"We'll find Jack, Elizabeth," Walter said calmly to the frantic mother.

"How? We do not know what direction he went in!" Elizabeth replied. She looked to Lucas. "You were suppose to be watching him."

"My scarf got snagged in a tree. I turned my back for less than a minute to free it," Lucas replied, his tone and expression apologetic.

"He is not even three! You can not turn your back on him at all!" Elizabeth cried, tears falling down his face.

"Stay there," Nathan told Faith and Ally as they stepped into the clearing. From the short exchange he knew that Jack had wandered off. If he had any hope of getting clues from the footprints in the snow he needed to limit how many more footprints were created. "I need everyone here to stay where they are," he added addressing the Weise's and Lucas and Elizabeth.

"I need to look for Jack!" Elizabeth said taking a couple of steps from Lucas.

"Elizabeth, I will find Jack," Nathan told her. "But I need you to listen to me and let me do what I was trained to do."

Nathan's words brought Elizabeth to a stop. She turned and faced Nathan who still had not moved far into the clearing. Elizabeth nodded her consent, wrapping her arms around herself as the tears continued to fall.

Nathan asked questions, figuring out how everyone had come into the clearing, where everyone was when Jack had disappeared, and where Jack was when he was last seen by Lucas. While getting the information, he had handed his saw to Walter Weise to hold for him. After collecting the information, Nathan began walking further into the clearing, looking for Little Jack's footprints. Unfortunately, his little prints had intermingled with that of the adults, but Nathan still had an idea of his movements. Coming near Lucas, Nathan could clearly see Jack's tiny footsteps going in mutliple directions. Examining them though, he found one set that wandered off away from the other footsteps into the woods that did not coincide where Elizabeth said she and Lucas had entered the clearing.

"Everyone remain here. Try not to move around much just in case I need to examine prints again," Nathan instructed, having noticed that Lucas had went to Elizabeth's side. As Lucas tried to put his hands on Elizabeth's shoulder, the woman shrugged the comforting gesture away.

Nathan followed the tiny footprints into the trees. He was thankful for the snow which gave him something to follow. He felt confident that the trail would lead him to the boy.

That confidence was rewarded as Nathan approached the little creek that ran through the woods at this point and fed the bigger river. He spotted Jack sitting by a boulder not far from the creek branch. Though the creek was pretty well frozen at this point, Nathan was thankful the boy had made his way to the ice.

"Hey, Jack," Nathan said calmly as he approached the boy. Though there were trails of former tears on the toddlers cheeks, there was no fresh tears. The boy was simply sitting on the ground. "It is, Nathan. Do you remember me?"

"Nathan!" the boy called out, joy coming over his features as he held his hands up toward him.

Nathan closed the distance quickly at that point and scooped the boy up. "Do you hurt anywhere, Jack?" Nathan asked the boy even as he looked the boy over, carefully moving the boy's limbs.

"No," Jack replied. "Daddy was right," he added.

"What do you mean, Jack."

"Me crying and Daddy came. Daddy told me to stay. Then you come, like Daddy said."

Nathan looked around the clearing. He saw no signs of any other person. There were no other footprints in the area except for his and Jack's. Had Jack really seen his father's spirit or was it his imagination. Nathan was not sure, nor did it really matter. Jack was safe and Nathan would soon be able to hand him to Elizabeth.

"You are safe now, Jack," Nathan assured he boy, confident that there were no injuries. "I am going to take you back to your, Mama."

"Mama," Jack said happily, as Nathan turned to follow his own footprints back to the clearing.

As Nathan walked away, Jack waved to the empty area by the rock. "Bye, Daddy," the boy said.

Nathan looked over his shoulder. He still saw nothing but as he turned away, he thought he saw a flash of red in his peripheral vision. Turning, he saw nothing that would explain the flash of red.

Perhaps Jack's childhood innocence was letting him see things that Nathan couldn't. As he started back to the clearing though, Nathan knew that he was not about to tell anyone about the flash of red or Jack waving at thing air. The boy could tell Elizabeth what he wanted and she could make her own conjectures. Jack was safe and that was all that really mattered.