Chapter 4: Seeing another side

When they had gone up to their room that evening, Lilly was exhausted. She, Allie and Rosa had talked for hours and she was starting to feel a little more comfortable. After getting changed into her pyjamas she had walked back into the room and sat down on the bed. Scotty smiled across at her "Looks like you had fun tonight" He commented as he pulled back the covers and slid into bed.

"Yeah" She replied "I did" she slipped into bed beside him and sighed.

"I wanna say again, just how much I appreciate this Lil" Scotty said and Lilly just smiled.

"It's okay Scotty, your family is great"

"Hey I am gonna take Em to see Santa at the mall tomorrow, wanna come?" he asked

"Sure" Lilly replied "Might be fun"

"Night Lil" Scotty said as he reached up and turned off the light

"Night Scotty"

...

The next morning Lilly woke up, to find herself alone. Scotty must have gotten up awhile ago she thought as she felt his side of the bed and found it cold. She hadn't been sure about sharing the same bed as him, after all they were just partner and friends but despite herself, she had to admit that it was probably the best night sleep she'd had in ages. She hadn't shared a bed with a man since Joseph had left and there was something about not sleeping alone that appealed to her, not that she'd admit that to Scotty. Sitting up, Lilly fished some clothes out of her suitcase and crept across the hallway to the bathroom to have a shower.

When she came down stairs and walked into the kitchen, she saw Scotty, Mike and Rosa finishing off their breakfast and all smiled over at her as she walked in.

"Good morning dear" Rosa said as she got up and proceeded to pile some pancakes on a plate for her "Sleep well?"

"Yeah" she replied honestly

"Well, I better go get Emilio ready for his day with his uncle" Mike said as he got up from the table. Rosa said something about making sure Ramiro was awake and she also left.

"Are you sure you wanna come with me today? I mean I'd understand if you wanted to stay here" Scotty asked as he poured her a coffee.

"Of course I wanna come with you" Lilly said "Unless you want me to stay here, your Mom has offered to show me all your baby pictures" she teased and Scotty groaned.

"She wants to show those to everyone I bring to meet them" Scotty groused. Lilly chuckled as she looked across at her partner, trying to picture him as a young boy, getting excited about the imminent arrival of Santa, brining his sleigh full of presents.

At ten 'clock they set out Emilio trailing behind them as they walked towards Scotty's car.

"So what are you gonna asked Santa for Lil?" Scotty asked his usual cocky grin plastered across his face. Lilly was about to reply when a snowball hit the back of Scotty's head, the fresh snow slipped down the back of his jacket and Scotty shocked face made her breakdown in fits of laughter. Scotty whirled around to see his cheeky faced nephew running behind the big tree oak tree on the front lawn. Scotty turned back to Lilly who was still doubled over with laughter and a determined look appeared on his face. "Oh you are gonna get it now Rush" he said and he bent down and balled up a large clump of snow Lilly shrieked with laughter as he threw it at her and she returned fire.

Emilio watched the two adults throwing numerous snowballs at each other occasionally throwing one of his own. When one of his hit Scotty square on the face, his uncle fixed him with a mock angry glare and chased his nephew across the lawn finally catching him and tickling him mercilessly. Lilly had never seen this side of her partner, if she hadn't seen him playing with Emilio; she would never have thought he was so good with kids. When they were eventually on their way to the mall and Scotty had removed a large majority of the snow out of his hair, Lilly looked curiously at him.

"What?" Scotty asked as he drove carefully on the snowy streets

"It's nothing" Lilly said "It's just I never thought of you as being good with kids"

Scotty grinned at her "Yeah I love kids, away thought I'd have a whole bunch of em. Well at least I did before Elisa got sick" he trailed off and Lilly couldn't help but notice the sadness that began to cloud his cheery disposition. She placed her hand on his leg briefly and gave it a reassuring squeeze. Upon their arrival Emilio happily jumped out of the car. He took grab hold of Scotty's and Lilly's hands in each of his own and began to tug them towards the place where Santa was waiting to greet the children.

"Come on Uncle Scotty" He cried cheerfully as he joined the queue. Scotty managed to extricate his hand from Emilio's grip and chuckled.

"I bet you and Mike were like this as kids" Lilly whispered in his ear.

"Nah, I was much more adorable" He replied cockily causing Lilly to roll her eyes

"Do you know how many words there are for conceited" he said teasingly. They moved further and further up the line, watching the numerous children taking their turns telling Santa what they wanted for Christmas.

"Hey Lil, do you think you could watch Em for a minute?" Scotty asked "There's something I need to pick up" Scotty asked ducking out of line. Before she could protest Scotty was gone, leaving Lilly alone to watch his hyperactive nephew. Okay Rush don't panic, she reassured herself, kids can't be that hard to take care of, Scotty made it look easy. Taking a deep breath she turned to Emilio "So...err what are you gonna ask Santa for?" Lilly asked. Emilio began to rattle off an extensive list of toys and video games Lilly had never heard of and couldn't help but feel a little jealous of his innocence. At his age, Lilly was already taking care of both herself and her sister as her mother lay passed out on the couch. She remembered taking Christina to the Santa at the mall by their school once, and she help Chris climb up on his lap and let her ask for thing that Lilly knew she's never get. When it was their turn, their young girl in the elf costume that took the pictures smiled down at Emilio.

"Your Mommy can be in the picture with you if you want" she said looking between Emilio and Lilly.

"That's not my Mommy, that's my aunty Lilly" he said tugging Lilly's hand over to Santa. Lilly helped Emilio up and listen to him as he repeated his extensive list and Santa listen kindly, nodding occasionally and asking Emilio questions. After his photo, he and Lilly exited both holding candy canes, Lilly managed to grab and extra one for Scotty.

Scotty appeared a few minutes later, holding a small bag in his hands "You meet Santa Em?" Scotty asked. Emilio nodded, holding out the photo for Scotty to look at.

"What's in the bag?" Lilly asked curiously

"Oh, this...err it's just something for Ma" he said cryptically "Come on Em, let's go find something for you Mom and dad" He took Emilio by the hand and he, Emilio and Lilly walked off in search of more Christmas presents.