Note: Thank you to sm2003495, max2013, ErinJordan, and hbndgirl for your reviews on the last chapter. I appreciate them. I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday and best wishes for 2019.

Fly Away

Chapter 5

Christmas Day

Joe smiled as he looked around the family living room. It was Christmas, by far his favorite holiday, and things couldn't be going better. That morning, he and Frank had finished all of the decorations for their party this evening, and everything had turned out beautifully. Lights hung down not only from their richly decorated tree, but also from the banister and doors as well. Little snowflakes decorated nearly every room, and he had strategically placed mistletoe in the various areas into which he knew he'd be steering Vanessa. That plan had worked!

Now, as he looked around and grabbed a handful of his mom's cookies, Joe couldn't help but to feel satisfied. This-this is what Christmas was supposed to be like. His entire family was around, laughing and joking. His friends were there as well. Chet was trying to balance a spoon on his nose and kept poking himself in the eye as a result. Biff and his girlfriend were there as well, showing pictures of their recent trip to Colorado where they had experienced a great deal of snow and a lot of skiing. Tony and Aunt Gertrude were exchanging pizza recipes, Liz was dancing with Frank, trying unsuccessfully to teach him how to swing dance. Frank was looking desperately for Callie to save him. Joe laughed- everything was great. The only person missing was….

"Hey!"

The voice startled Joe and he almost choked on his cookie. Reaching quickly for a glass of milk, he downed it quickly, sputtering until he at last settled down. Vanessa stood next to him, laughing.

"What's so funny?" he asked her, wiping his mouth with a napkin he had just picked up. "You could have killed me!"

"I know… I'm sorry," Vanessa replied, trying to keep a straight face. "But I knew my big, bad boyfriend would be able to withstand such a sneak attack, so I figured I'd try," she finished, dryly.

"Is that your way of saying that you're sorry?" Joe asked, raising an eyebrow at her.

"More or less," Vanessa replied, a smile creeping to her face.

"Well, all right," Joe responded, finally returning to his old self. "I suppose I can forgive you- considering it's Christmas and all." Pulling her into his arms, he kissed her deeply. Breathless, Vanessa finally pulled away. "What was that for?" she asked.

As an answer, Joe went behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist, leaning his head on her shoulder. Kissing her ear, he whispered, "You're going to have to work LONG and HARD to make me feel better after that attack! That was phase one."

Laughing, Vanessa leaned back against him and sighed contentedly. "I guess we all have our price to pay," she said, teasingly. Looking into the room, she had to smile. "Joe, this is great, isn't it?! I LOVE Christmas! And we still have the big New Year's party to go to as well."

"I know," Joe said, and gave her a gentle squeeze. "This is the best time of the year."

Turning, Vanessa smiled at him. She fingered the pendant that now hung about her neck. "You shouldn't have done this—really," she emphasized. "It was way too much money."

"Well, you did too much yourself," Joe responded, thinking of the new Apple TV that Vanessa had gotten him for his room.

"Yeah, but this…" Vanessa's voice trailed off and she bit her lip. She knew Joe had spent a lot of money on the beautiful necklace that she was now wearing. Still, when he had given it to her… her heart had stopped. Finally, Joe had confided that Callie had helped him pick it out, and she smiled. Leave it to Callie to have such exemplary taste! And, leave it to Joe to go so out of his way for her.

"Hey, nothing's too good for my girl," Joe said seriously, and grabbing her hand, he led her into the living room to watch Chet's latest fiasco…..

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Meanwhile, Frank was breathing a sigh of relief that he had managed to escape from Liz with some semblance of dignity in tact. Apparently, Phil Cohen, one of their friends, was an expert at swing dancing and, seeing Frank's look of desperation, he had quickly rescued his friend. Giving him a grateful glance, Frank had gracefully slid out of the living room to search for Callie. He still hadn't had a chance to give her the Christmas gift that he had bought for her, and he couldn't wait. He just knew that he had to tell her…something…about the mysterious letters she was receiving, but he couldn't tell her what he knew…not yet.

After searching around, he found Callie in the spare bedroom where she had been staying the past two days. She was looking out the window, and a faraway look was in her eyes.

"Hey," he said quietly to her, causing her to jump. When she turned around, Frank had to catch his breath. She looked beautiful, as always, but her dark eyes held a note of sadness to them that had rarely been there before this month. I should tell her, he thought to himself. Still, he knew he couldn't tell her what he had found. It wasn't the right time- not on Christmas.

"Hey," she said, and walked over to him, giving him a hug.

"You okay?" he asked her, not letting go.

After a moment's hesitation, she smiled. "Yeah. I'm fine."

"Mmmmm…" he muttered, unsure of what to say next.

"I just came up here for a few minutes to collect my thoughts, you know?"

Guiding Callie over to the bed, he sat down next to her and wrapped his arm around her tightly. "Miss your parents?" he asked her.

"Well, yeah," Callie admitted. Then, she smiled. "But your parents are great. Thanks."

"For what?"

"For making me stay here with you. It would have been a pretty miserable holiday without you."

Frank leaned down and kissed her. "Nah- I did it for purely selfish reasons," he said with a smile, his dark eyes twinkling.

"Did you and Joe find out anything yet about the case?" she asked. Callie needed to know what was going on. At the same time, she was trying hard not to think about it, as scared as she was. And, after what had happened earlier tonight….well, that seemed impossible.

She felt Frank hesitate and knew that he knew something. When he didn't answer, Callie sighed. All right—Frank wasn't talking. He probably had his reasons. But I should tell him, a little voice in the back of her mind said to her. Still, she didn't talk.

"Not tonight," he said at last.

"Okay," she reluctantly agreed.

After a moment's silence, Frank came out with, "Hey! Cal, I forgot to give you your Christmas gift!" Excitedly, he got up and left the room. When he came back, Callie was feeling excited, too- she couldn't wait for him to receive his gift, either!

Sitting next to her, Frank presented her with a beautiful small silver box.

"What's this?" she asked, taking it.

"You'll find out when you open the gift-wrap!" he said to her with tender smile.

"Well… okay!" Callie said and tried to contain her enthusiasm. Opening the card Frank gave her, she read it, and felt her eyes brim with tears which she quickly wiped away.

Laughing, Frank said, "Hon, you haven't even opened your gift yet!"

"The card was beautiful," she said softly.

"Well, it's all true—you know that," he said with a blush creeping up his face. For a long instant they stared at each other, until Frank finally couldn't take it anymore. "Open!" he said, so childlike that Callie burst out laughing.

"All right, all right," she said with smile. "But wait!"

Frank sighed in exasperation. "You're killing me!" he quipped.

In response, Callie reached under the bed and handed a gift wrapped box to Frank. Stunned, he looked at it for a moment. "But… I mean, you didn't have to get me anything!" he said, surprised. He meant it, too. Callie couldn't afford much this year, and certainly she should be saving her money.

"I know- I just…wanted to. Go ahead," she encouraged him in a soft voice.

"You first."

"No- together," Frank insisted.

"Okay," Callie said, unable to stop herself from smiling at what Frank's reaction would be.

The next few moments were spent tearing wrapping paper from the boxes… and then in absolute silence as each of them stared at their gifts in disbelief.

"I… I don't know what to say," Frank whispered, staring at the watch that he had wanted so badly but had been unable to afford. Turning to Callie, he was dumbstruck. There was no way that she could have afforded to get this for him!

Still, as he was about to talk, he felt his heart warm at the look on Callie's face.

She was staring at the box, and she looked so incredulous that he snapped back into reality.

"Do you like it?!" he asked, totally pleased with himself. He made a mental note to insist that Callie return the watch. There was no way he's allow her to get something like that for him. Still, the thought touched him deeply.

Callie turned to him, no longer trying to hide the tears. Wiping them away from her face, Frank took his gift her out of the box. Standing up behind her, he clasped it around her neck as he spoke to her.

"Look, Cal. It's the necklace I've wanted to get you forever. Finally, I could afford it. See? It's the one that matches the bracelet that I got you a few years ago." He had wanted so badly to complete the set for her, and was thrilled when he could finally afford to do so. He knew with absolute certainty that the next big piece of jewelry he'd get her would be an engagement ring… this was almost as valuable. When she didn't speak, he hugged her to him. "I'm so glad that the set was still available! The store where I had initially bought your bracelet was closed, but the former jeweler is still at the new location and knew exactly what set I was looking for. He recognized me from a few years ago and wondered if I was going to complete the set. The fact that he was still there just when I had lost hope was kind of ironic, huh?"

Burying her face in his chest, she whispered, "You have no idea…"