Gail awoke to the exquisite sensation of Lucas' tongue gently trailing up the inside of her thigh. Her anger of the previous night had not prevented her from dreaming of all the things Rosemary experienced in her first intimate encounter with the Master Buck of that time and her body was clearly reacting to the desire she witnessed, as she could not muster the strength to deny Lucas at this moment in time.

Lucas sensed her acceptance then began licking and sucking her sweet spot. He had awoken to Merlyn sneaking in and taking the baby, clearly trying to find a way to get on Gail's good side. When she had left them alone, he had instantly sensed Gail's arousal and could not leave her in that state without offering a helpful hand.

Gail lay back and allowed Lucas to please her, she was past trying to take charge and accepted his need to give her a release. The patterns he was making inside of her caused intense pleasure to flow through her and it did not take long for her to reach her climax. She called out his name without thinking, then smiled when she did not hear the sound of a crying baby.

Lucas slowly pulled himself up, kissing her stomach and breasts on the way then smiled down at her. 'It appears someone is trying to get in your good books today' he smiled, then kissed her passionately.

Gail could feel his hard manhood against her leg and reached down to pleasure him.

'Ah-ah Miss Emory, you had a hard day yesterday planning that big dinner party...Let's just call this payback' he teased and pulled her hand off him.

Gail was pent up and was getting sick of being considered as fragile; therefore, she pushed him onto his back and climbed on top of him, ready to straddle him. 'So, you wouldn't want this then?' she asked sweetly, as she hovered above his hard manhood teasingly.

Lucas wanted nothing more than to pull her down and push himself deep inside her; however, he needed to show restraint, no matter how much it was killing him. 'Do you know what day it is tomorrow?' he asked, trying to distract himself.

Gail rolled her eyes and returned to her previous position on her back. 'Well today is Sunday so I think it's safe to safe Monday follows that, but you might want to ask your little Teacher to be sure' she answered sarcastically.

Lucas rolled onto his side and propped himself up on his elbow, then gentle moved a strand of hair from her cheek. 'This isn't because I don't want to, you know that...' he reassured her, sensing her frustration about not being able to be fully intimate. '...Now, what's comin' up tomorrow ain't my department'

'And you think it's mine? Technically my child doesn't care less what day it is' Gail snapped, brushing his hand off her cheek and getting out of bed. When the cold hit her, she instantly regretted her decision to exit the warm bed; however, she would not allow him to see her regret.

Lucas watched as she began to put her robe on and sighed, he was still getting used to having a family and being in a relationship; therefore, he tried not to react to her comment in his usual dominating way. Instead, he reached over and pulled her back into bed when she attempted to pass him to get to the wardrobe.

Gail tried to pull free of his grasp; however, she knew deep down there was no point in fighting him. She allowed him to cover her with the thick quilt and run his hand over her body.

'I'm gonna let that one go' he whispered and nipped at her lips playfully.

'Now why would you do that Sheriff? Are you getting soft in your old age?' she goaded and scraped her nails down his bare chest.

Lucas could see the desire in her eyes and his restraint began to falter. 'Careful Miss Emory, we wouldn't want me to have to punish you for your insubordination' he warned, then moved his hand inside her robe and squeezed her breast hard.

Gail let out a low moan and bit his lip teasingly, 'Punish away Sheriff' she dared, then smiled as he climbed on top of her and parted her legs with his knees.

'I'm sorry' Merlyn apologised, as she stood with Luke crying in her arms at the open bedroom door.

Lucas cursed out loud when he felt Gail push him off her and shot Merlyn a hateful look.

Gail re-wrapped her robe, then got out of bed and took Luke from the girl. She could not believe they had been so distracted that they had not heard the crying baby coming up the stairs. She regarded Merlyn with irritation and left the bedroom, to find a private place to feed her son.

'What did I do? I only took him to help!' Merlyn snapped, then stormed out of the bedroom.

Lucas sat up in the bed shaking his head and sighed. 'I think I liked it better when they were getting along' he said to himself, then lay back down in bed and contemplated what he wanted to do with his day off.


Matt stood in the kitchen of Gail's house drinking a cup of coffee, he could not believe what he had been caught doing the previous night and was attempting to figure out why he had allowed himself to lose control like that. He had known it was wrong and would never want to be inappropriate towards M, she had been a rock when he required it and he did not want to hurt her.

'Quit beatin' yourself up Harvard, that girl ain't as innocent as you'd like to believe' Lucas said, seemingly appearing out of nowhere and pouring himself a cup of coffee.

Matt regarded the man suspiciously, he had everything he required to lock him up; however, he did not appear intent on that action, which was out of charactor for Lucas Buck.

Lucas read Matt's mind and laughed. 'I'll let you in on a little secret Doc, I'm well and truly intoxicated by a certain someone...I mean, this girl could tell me jump off a bridge and providin' she was givin' me a taste of even a little of what she had to offer, hell I'd probably go ahead and do it'

Matt felt his back go up at the thought of Lucas touching his best friend and his irritation for the man started to show. 'What are you getting at Buck?' he snapped and refilled his cup with coffee.

Lucas sensed Matt's jealousy and smiled. 'What I'm gettin' at is I ain't stupid enough to cart you in, especially when my girl is finally startin' to accept her place with me...Besides, I got better things to do with my time than waste it on you'

'So why are you here?' Matt asked, not liking how candid Lucas was being.

Lucas sighed and leaned against the kitchen counter. 'I hate this time of year, did she every tell you that?' he asked casually.

Matt laughed and shook his head. 'This might be hard for you to believe, given your superiority complex but Gail doesn't feel the need to share when it comes to you and I couldn't care less if she did. Now get to the point, I'm running late'

Lucas smiled, it was good to know his love was as loyal and kept their business to herself. 'The point is that there's a young boy who appears to love this time of year and the adults around him have no desire to cater to this overrated holiday, especially with a new baby to take care of'

'So what? You want me to take over the festive planning?' Matt asked in disbelief.

Lucas shook his head and sighed. 'What I want you to do Harvard, is to stop being distracted by a little bit of skirt and make sure your true friend has all the support she requires'

Matt resented the insinuation that Lucas was making; however, he had been distracted recently and had not noticed Gail may be struggling to manage Caleb as well as the new baby. He knew Caleb had never been given a proper Christmas, until Gage died and Gail did not take to the holiday with being alone through her childhood. This was a hard time of year for his friend and he had been too caught up in his own problems to consider whether she required help.

'There you go Doc, I'm glad I've been of some assistance...Now don't worry about your shifts for the next few days, there'd be hell to pay if I allowed Saint Matt Crower to be stuck in a lonely hospital over the holidays. You just focus on what's important' Lucas said as he casually walked out of the kitchen, leaving Matt to stew on the matter.


Gail stood outside of the large dining room holding her baby tight in her arms, attempting to fight the urge to go in. She had seen enough of her past self to know she was stuck here; however, she could not get the visions out of her mind.

Gail was not the type of person to believe anything was set in stone, in fact she had openly set out to disprove anything that appeared this way; however, the constant stream of visions were hard to contend with and for the first time she was beginning to feel truly trapped. Gail did not react well to being backed into a corner, regardless of whether that was the desired intention or not. Her mind was in overdrive and she could not think of anything but the room that started this all.

'Gail?' Caleb asked, as he approached his cousin cautiously.

Gail stared at the room for a moment longer, then turned towards her cousin. She found herself to be distancing herself from Caleb lately, she supposed it was her instincts kicking in after what had happened with her first pregnancy. When she looked at him now, he appeared to be the sweet little boy she had grown to love; however, she would not be fooled twice and she felt her darkness stand to attention, ready to intervene if required.

'What are you doing here Caleb? You've been warned about venturing away from the front of the house' she sighed, turning away from the dining room and began walking back down the corridor.

Caleb followed her closely and disregarded his curiosity about what she was doing. 'I came to check on you, Merly's worried about you and I wanted to make sure you were alright' he answered honestly.

Gail laughed and shook her head. 'Merly's worried about herself and what I think of her, not about me...' she said knowingly, '...Besides, what are you still doing here? It's Sunday, shouldn't you be out playing with your friends?'

Caleb placed his hands in his pockets, he had never realised how cold it was in this part of the house and picked up the pace so he could get back to Lucas' warm Study. 'Boone's with his family at the Christmas fair, I think Josh is too...I'm happy being here with my family' he shrugged.

Gail let out a small laugh as they walked through the kitchen and to the Study, he was the second person today who had brought her attention to the upcoming holiday and she wondered whether this was some trick administered by Lucas. She could not think of anything worse than parading around the townspeople, pretending to be the perfect family and she was relieved Caleb appeared content enough with just being here with her.

'There you are' Abe said, as they entered the Study.

Gail regarded him suspiciously, then spotted Matt behind him attempting to hide in the corner. 'How did you get here?' she asked, as she gave Abe an affectionate hug and shot Matt an irritated glance.

Abe turned towards Matt and bellowed the man forward.

'Lucas dropped us off, he had something to attend to today and thought you could use some help...' Matt started.

'I don't need anyones help...' Gail interrupted, '...So you two can turn around and go back to where you came from'

Abe had heard enough, he understood Gail had been alone most of her life; however, now she was here with her family and he would not allow her to close herself off. 'Now you listen here Missy, you're gonna get off your high horse and conduct yourself like a normal adult would at this time of year' he ordered.

Gail narrowed her eyes at Abe, then laughed. 'Normal? I've just had a child to my cousin's father and now I'm stuck in this place with him and his dea...' she started, then noticed the look of horror on Caleb's face and held her tongue. '...The point is, none of this is normal'

Matt had not seen Gail react in this manner before, especially in front of Caleb and he did not like his friends new found behaviour. He had known her long enough to understand that pondering to her moods would not get them anywhere; therefore, he pushed all of his shame and fears to one side, then regarded his old friend as though nothing had changed between them. 'Oh for god's sake, get over yourself...Regardless of whether any of this is normal, you made your bed. I'll be damned if I'm going to let you shut yourself away in this den of iniquity on your own' he said, then sat down firmly on the couch and crossed his arms.

Gail stared at Matt with amusement, this is the man she had grown close to many moons ago and his stern way of addressing the situation reminded her that her old friend was still in there somewhere. Gail was stubborn and she would not be controlled so easily; therefore, she sat down next to Matt in silence and reached for Luke's bottle.

Merlyn came into the Study when she heard several voices, then stared at Gail and Matt curiously. She smiled when Caleb came to her and placed his hands around her hips, then turned her attention towards Abe. 'What did I miss?' she asked confused.

Abe watched the stubborn display on the couch, then shook his head and signalled for the children to follow him out of the room. 'Come on, Floyd is outside waitin' to take us to the fair...let's leave these two to their own devices'

Caleb smiled at the mention of the Christmas fair and pulled Merlyn out of the room. He had wanted to spend time with his whole family; however, it appeared his cousin would not be reasoned with.


Lucas walked casually around the stalls full of Christmas decorations and ornaments, putting on his best charming smile for his townspeople. He had been trying to avoid all the gossiping old biddies who would no doubt be fishing for information on his relationship status and was focused on the children playing close to the water.

This whole time of year made him uncomfortably, it always had; however, he respected it was a time for families and enjoyed watching parents of all ages carting around their children. He had always been an advocate for good old fashioned family values and it was nice to see that his town was still renowned for it's traditional way of being.

Lucas felt something dark stir within him, then scoured the area and spotted Abe with Caleb and Merlyn on either side of him. When he glanced around and could not see Gail, he sighed and approached the group. 'I take it Harvard failed in his task to spread the Christmas cheer?...Either that or my other half killed him and buried him under the patio' he smiled to himself, amused at the thought.

Merlyn rolled her eyes and unhooked her grip of Abe's arm. 'I'm goin' to get somethin' to drink' she said irritated and left the boys too it.

'Did you really think she would conform so easy boy?' Abe asked curiously.

Lucas shrugged, then turned towards Caleb. 'What do you think son? You think she buried him somewhere deep in the woods where no one would find him?' he asked sarcastically.

'With the mood she's in today I wouldn't put it past her' Caleb laughed, then ran off to find Boone and Josh.

Lucas smiled as he watched Caleb rush off, then started thinking about Gail and his new boy. He felt her slipping away slightly and was concerned at her lack of wanting to be with her family at this time of year.

Abe shook his head and took hold of Lucas' arm. 'You need to shake off this doubt of yours and get back to work...duty calls' he said and nodded towards the old women approaching them.

Lucas let out a long sigh, then put on his best smile for the approaching women.

-To be continued-