Last time, I was not too careful and forgot to fill in the complete status, so now I must fulfil a promise to come up with a continuation, and hopefully an ending to this holiday themed fic.

The first chapter came from my warped sense of humour and something I watched recently. I did try to keep it as light as possible, to keep with the story tag.

Christmas is Magic Time, Part II - Resolution

The end of a year was an opportunity for Olivia to reflect on who she is and what better time to commit to a promising future, if Peter was willing.

"Peter!"

Walter struggled with his tie in front of the bathroom mirror. He gave up and merely let it hang loose. Finally, he saw Peter pop up his head from the stairwell.

"Oh Peter. There you are. Help me with this inferno thing, will you?"

Standing behind his father and facing their reflection, Peter helped him do up the tie with ease. Once he was done, he held up the suit jacket for Walter to slip his arms into. Peter marvelled at the sight. He had never seen him this dapper before. Even without gel in his hair, he looked almost as debonair as his real father. It was only natural. Walter was his dad too. Turning him around to look at his face, Peter gave him a proud smile; Walter did look good in his rented tuxedo.

"Shouldn't you be getting ready too?"

Peter looked down at his sweater.

"I am ready."

"That's not what I mean." Walter jerked his finger at the other suit hanging on the bathroom door.

"Wh-What? Me in a tuxedo?" Peter shook his head laughing.

"It's New Year's Eve! Get into the spirit."

"Uh-uh. Walter, read my lips. I am not wearing it!"

In her own apartment, Olivia Dunham was having a fashion crisis of her own. While she was making up her mind, deciding which earrings will go with her outfit, Astrid rummaged through Olivia's closet for options.

After about five minutes, Olivia breezed into her bedroom to ask Astrid for her opinion on the unicorn earrings. "What do you think?"

She answered her question with another question. "What are you going to wear?"

"I was thinking the cardigan." She indicated the sweater lying on her bed.

"Grey? Girl, you need to wear a little colour." Astrid held up another top. "Try this one.

"Ah...No, I can't." Olivia shook her head.

"Come on, Olivia. Are you or are you not ready for a change? Speaking of which. Your hair."

"What about my hair?"

"Peter! The carriage is here!" Walter put on his cap and was halfway out to the sidewalk.

"Coming!" Peter took a last look at himself in the foyer mirror, tux and all, minus the bow-tie. Ridiculous.

It was snowing again, as he made his way to the curb. Walter was already waiting in the carriage.

Peter couldn't believe Walter actually hired carriage to take them into town. He had said it guaranteed a romantic date for Peter.

It was white with a black rag top, drawn by an equally white horse. Since it was quite chilly out, he failed to understand the reason for leaving the top down. As soon as he had settled on the seat, Walter draped a blanket over both their legs, and signalled for the driver to get a move on.

It was usually slow going with horse drawn vehicles. The icy condition of the roads didn't help things. They only managed to go six blocks, slip sliding along, before the carriage slid to a complete halt.

"Driver, why have we stopped?"

"The horse's hoof is stuck in the snow bank, sir."

Peter watched Walter clamber down in an instant. He had the hoof loose out in no time and was massaging the animal's shin, when Peter caught a whiff of something pungent. He craned his neck to watch Walter's progress, just as the horse was about to do its business.

"Hey Walter, I wouldn't stand too close..."

He was relieved to see Walter's quick reflexes in action. Thankfully, he was able to side step the horse's droppings just in the nick of time.

Peter sprayed Walter with fabric freshener. The vapours landing everywhere, their clothes, the seat, the blanket. He sprayed him again and then again, until he was certain the stench was completely masked.

"You were lucky."

"Do I still stink?" Walter held up one arm to his nose. It had been so cold, that neither of them could hardly sense anything.

"Hopefully, you will smell like..." Peter held up the aerosol can to read the label. "...April showers."

When they finally arrived at the concert hall, Peter made sure to ask his father if he had everything he needed to get home by himself. He remembered how bad it was the last time Walter got lost in Chinatown. He felt compelled to stay close to him until he enter the theatre. He inadvertently picked up on the beginning of his conversation with Rebecca Kibner. He found her comment about how lovely Walter smelled completely amusing.

Once he saw Walter and Rebecca off, Peter instructed the driver to proceed to his next destination for his rendezvous with Olivia.

It was 11:45 pm, by the time he arrived. After the trip he had had, Peter relished the warmth inside the New Orleans pub. He saw Olivia waiting for him at the bar, her head turned toward the live entertainment for the evening, a small jazz trio consisting of a bass, piano and trombone.

The trombone solo was in the middle of "What A Wonderful World", when Peter made his way over to Olivia's side. On the bar, in front of her, were a couple of noisemakers and paper hats, which were variations of what everyone in the pub were sporting for the countdown to midnight.

Sensing his presence, Olivia turned to grace Peter with a smile, which Peter noticed for the first time was the same as the other Olivia. That was not all she had in common with the woman he had fell for so many weeks ago. He was astonished by her overall physical transformation.

He had not seen Olivia let her hair down, since the first year they worked together. She also wore her bangs much like the other one. He forgotten how she had disguised herself to look like her doppelganger. To top it off, Olivia was wearing the same blue sweater, he had seen on her. So for an instant, Peter thought he was having a flashback to their first dinner date.

"Hey. You OK? It looks as if you've seen a ghost."

Her voice brought him out of his reverie. Peter found he had to swallow a lump in his throat before speaking.

"Yeah." He kissed her on the cheek.

"You look nice," Olivia said about his tux.

She noticed the way Peter looked at her. "Astrid said that this was either an icebreaker or it would be rather awkward. Judging by your reaction, it definitely has an affect."

He laughed. "Y-Yes. So you kept it knowing full well that it was hers.".

"You forget. Life over there was not all that bad." Putting on her party hat, she tossed one to him. "Some things were too good to give up. Do you like it?"

"Heh...I do. You look very nice." Olivia showed how much she enjoyed the compliment with a small chuckle.

"Let's dance." Olivia pulled Peter onto the dance floor when "In A Sentimental Mood" was played.

"I didn't know you liked jazz."

"Well, I like to dance to it."

They were still in each others arms when someone started the countdown. "...Nine. Eight. Seven. Six. Five. Four. Three. Two. One! Happy New Year!"

"Happy New Year, Dunham."

"Happy New Year."

"Happy New Year!"

Somewhere in Time Square, Philip Broyles embraced Nina Sharp, while the fireworks went off around them. Then they share are friendly kiss. Nina spoke right into his ear to make sure he could hear her.

"Philip, I have a feeling things are going to be fine for all of us."