A/N: ...I can't apologise enough for this major delay...exactly 7 months to this day was the last time I updated this story...so so so so so so sorry! I hope you've all stuck with me through this, I've been so busy with exams and setting up websites and getting ready for University my writing all went haywire and my muse just ran away from me...but I'm back on track now and I promise that before this next week is up the final chapter of this story will be posted! I swear that!

Hope you like the chapter, please review!

Ani xx

All four adult occupants of the barn stood in shock staring at each other, the little baby in Grace's arms wailing as all newborns did until they settled down. This stunned silence didn't last long though as all of a sudden Bo ran forward as Luke stood up at the same time, crashing into his older cousin and hugging him tight.

"Bo! Bo what the heck are you doing here? I thought you said you couldn't get through the snowstorm…"

Bo nodded against the warmth of his older's cousins shoulder where he had buried his face, his arms wrapped tightly around Luke's middle.

"I know….but I couldn't…let you spend Christmas eve alone…ain't fair….I only said cars couldn't get through the storm…ain't nothin' stoppin' good ol' footpower…"

Luke frowned deeply, taking a moment before figuring out what Bo had done, pulling the boy away from him and holding him by his shoulders at arms length, a sudden inexplicable wave of both worry and anger washing over him.

"You mean you walked through that?!"

Bo winced a little as he saw the worry and anger rise in Luke's eyes, swallowing softly as he nodded and tried to keep the tears from slipping down his cheek.

"What in blue blazes were ya thinkin'?! You could have got lost, you could have got hurt and no one would have been able to find ya! You could…could Luke found he couldn't carry on as he saw the tears start to trickle from Bo's eyes and down his cheeks. He hated it when Bo cried, because he had that look that he had perfected over the years that could make anyone's heart melt and make you feel like the smallest person in the world. Shaking his head, he pulled Bo close again and hugged him tightly.

"I'm sorry Bo…I'm sorry…"

"No Luke! I'm sorry! I shouldn't have said those things…shouldn't have argued with ya when ya wanted to stay here alone…I should have respected your decision…"

Luke shook his head, swallowing as he heard Bo's guilt that he had guessed was one of the reasons Bo had come back to the farm in the first place. Guilt and Bo Duke were two things that just were not compatible, if Bo didn't find something or someone to ease the guilt it would consume him. He rubbed the younger boy's back gently and rocked him in his arms.

"It's alright Bo…I…I'm just as much to blame…I just….all this…after Jason…"

Bo shook his head too, burying into Luke's shoulder gently as he mumbled out.

"I know…that's why I shouldn't have pushed ya or said them things…I didn't mean 'em…I didn't Luke…"

Luke sighed and nodded again, keeping Bo where he was as he felt the younger boy dissolve into sobs. He could see the bruise on Bo's cheek and felt his heart thud painfully and guiltily against his chest, remembering that he would still need to explain that to his family and find some way to make it up to them for the way he had been behaving. He looked over as he saw movement out of the corner of his eye and watched as Scott finally started to approach his wife and child.

Scott appeared to be in a daze as he headed forwards and Grace wasn't much better, her mouth hung slightly open as the little baby continued to wail and writhe a little in her arms. Scott dropped down beside her, tears forming in his eyes as he whispered.

"Grace…I….how…."

Grace shook her head, just as stunned as she was as she explained how she got here and then Scott took his turn, both of them ending up crying by the time Scott had finished his tale.

Now folks, the writer's been real smart here….because in the earlier chapters they already told Bo and Luke how they came to be there which means you already know what they just told each other…ain't that slick?

"I came back…I looked for you everywhere Grace…I got home but you weren't there so I went to your parents and they said you'd gone visiting a friend…"

Grace nodded, rocking the still wailing baby.

"I was trying to get to Jenny…"

"In your condition?! That's miles away!"

"I'm sorry…I just…my parents were…just being unbearable…you know how they get and I needed someone else…the birth was getting closer…I was so frightened…I just needed someone…"

Scott nodded and hugged his wife and their baby close, rubbing her back with his good hand, his other still in the sling.

"I know…I'm sorry…I'm sorry for makin' you worry…"

Grace shook her head, resting against him and sniffing softly as she looked over the little baby in her arms, smiling a little through her tears.

"That's not what's important now…what's important is that the good lord's given you back to us…this little one's got his father…and…we're a family again…"

Luke swallowed gently hearing that, watching the pair with a heavy heart and a confused mind. He had set out that day with a stringent focus - God was nothing but an icon and a made up symbol for people to believe in. He wasn't real, there was no heavenly force shining down on them and protecting them all, providing the miracles that everyone seemed to pray for day in and day out. That morning, he couldn't see how that was real.

But now his mind was starting to spin in circles as he saw exactly what had been done that night. By some miracle, Grace had managed to find her way in a snow storm to his barn when he was at his lowest…he was absolutely prepared to drink himself silly before Grace had come in, so much so that it would have been easy to do something stupid and end up taking his own life our of grief. And then there was the miraculous birth of the healthy baby boy that was lying wailing between his parents…and another of the dad actually being able to be there…and then Bo being tucked safely in his arms on Christmas Eve like a little kid…even though he was 18…near 19 years old now.

He couldn't yet believe that this was all just some big miracle…after all he had been telling himself they just didn't happen…he looked to Grace and Scott and asked softly.

"Grace…just…how the heck did you find your way through a blizzard to a barn….you can barely see yer hand in front of yer face out there…"

To his surprise, Grace frowned and shook her head.

"Honestly I don't know…I got out my car and climbed up the short hill to what I thought was the road…I was freezing and…I didn't know which way to go…I was so frightened…just praying for some miracle…and then I saw kinda…a shadowy figure on the road…just standing there surrounded by whirling snow. I called out to it but it started to walk away…I followed it, trying to get its help but it led me here then disappeared…"

Luke was frowning just a little bit as he sat with Bo on the floor. The 18 year old was still hugged tightly into him and Luke suspected that he was falling asleep which he really couldn't blame Bo for…walking against a snow storm was hard work.

For a long while, all the occupants of the barn did was sit in silence and sleep for some of them – the baby, finally, Grace and Bo being the three lucky ones who did. Scott was too excited to sleep, not able to tear his eyes away from his newborn son. Eventually though he did, and looked over to Luke.

"I don't know how to thank you…"

Luke was broken out of his thoughts by the words and looked over to him.

"Huh? Sorry I was lost in thought…"

Scott chuckled and nodded.

"I know how that feels…"

Luke smiled a little, looking down at Bo again who was resting in his lap. He couldn't feel his legs anymore…Bo certainly wasn't the 14 year old he had left behind anymore. He had muscle, weight and strength – no longer looking like he could hide behind a tree. It hadn't yet ceased to amaze him just how much Bo had grown up over the years he had been away.

"So…why were you home alone on Christmas Eve…I would have thought you'd have been with your family…"

This caused Luke's eyes to shift from Bo to a point on the far wall, once again sinking into the mildly depressive state he had been in for a long while.

"I urm…they were going to church and…I decided not to go with em…because of things…"

"Didn't believe in all that religious stuff huh?"

Luke looked to Scott in surprise, nodding a little.

"Yeah…"

Scott smiled and nodded, looking down once more at his own little family beside him, biting his lip before looking back to Luke.

"You know…my father once told me…that Christmas was always about friends and family, being with the ones you love…but there's always three components to Christmas that, as long as you never forget them, Christmas will always be Christmas no matter whether your alone or in a whole room full of people…"

Luke nodded a little.

"What's that then?"

"Faith in the lord that blessed us with the holiday, the Hope that next year will be better than the last…and that always on Christmas somewhere in the world a Christmas Miracles…"

Luke smiled a little as Scott practically rattled off everything that he had been mulling over. Every year they had always celebrated Christmas, be it away in 'Nam or back home, as Jesus' birthday that he shared with everybody. There was always the hope that everyone was having as good as a Christmas as they were and that the farm would continue to prosper…and then every year a miracle happened…be it a farm animal giving birth…Bo surviving a fall out the hayloft of the barn when he was just 7 years old….or that Luke had survived 4 Christmas' in a battlefield…something happened that would really give them something to celebrate about.

"Faith, Hope and a Christmas Miracle…sounds like the title to a story don't it…"

Scott laughed a little and nodded.

"Sure does…"

For the rest of the night, the two men talked about everything from 'Nam to the future and what it would hold. Each moment that Luke spent in the barn with Scott and the little baby he had helped deliver into the world convinced him more and more that someone somewhere had planned for all this to happen as it all just seemed to link in. Sure, someone's life had been taken that, Luke still firmly believed, really didn't deserve it…but then again that sacrifice had led to another life being born and he was sure that if, wherever he was now, Rob would be happy about the exchange even if his family weren't. Somehow, he had a feeling that the ghostly figure that had led Grace to him in the snow wasn't a coincidence…