Weeks came and went, and then, before I was even ready for it, Christmas was upon us. Harold kept himself busy decorating every inch of the boat he could find, and Quentin even arranged to have a tree brought out that was so big, we had to keep it outside. We didn't decorate it, but it still gave the place a Christmas-y feel. We basically had a no presents rule on board, so that took a lot of pressure off of me to find just the right thing for everybody. The big news floating around now was that Carl's mother was coming for Boxing Day. As this presented endless opportunities to tease Carl, we were all excited.

On the day of her arrival, we all went out on deck, waiting for the transport ship to show up. Carl decided not to join us. He went and stayed on the higher deck. When the little boat was in sight, we all started cheering and waving. As it pulled up alongside our ship, Gavin cried, "Oh, yes. A lady!"

"Ahoy!" Carl's mother replied, smiling. Quentin helped her up to the deck. "What a dump," she said, looking around.

"I'd hoped you'd like it," Quentin replied with a smile.

"Love it."

"This is Doctor Dave."

She shook Dave's hand. "You're not a real doctor, are you?"

I laughed and held out my hand. "Chelsea Black."

"Ah, Cheeky Chelsea," she said, taking it. "I'm Charlotte."

"It's a real pleasure."

Quentin went on with the introductions. "This is Gavin Cavanaugh."

"Ready for action," Gavin quipped.

"I bet you are," she replied.

I waited until she was out of ear-shot, then laughed a little mockingly and playfully poked him in the stomach. "She handles you even better than I do!"

"That's definitely saying something," Simon chimed in.

Gavin watched her go, a soft smile on his face. "Pretty one, that."

"Carl would never forgive you," I replied, knowing by his tone that he was only joking. I vaguely wondered if he was trying to make me jealous, but then I reminded myself that I hadn't told him how I felt or anything, so he would have no good reason to do so.

"Anyone know what's getting made for supper?" Simon asked as we descended below deck.

"Do we ever know what's getting made for supper, Simon?"

He shrugged. "I was just wondering." When we got off the stairs, I jumped on his back. "Woah! Easy!" I just laughed. He carried me all the way to my room where he dropped me off. "See you at the table, yeah?"

"Yeah! Thanks for the ride."

"Any time." He and Gavin both left, and I got changed for dinner.

I ended up arriving last for our meal, but Felicity hadn't even gotten all the dishes on the table yet, so I didn't feel bad. There was a free seat between Gavin and the Count, and I got the distinct feeling that it had been left open for me, so I took it. I managed to not comment about the furry white thing at the table until I sat down. "Gavin," I murmured quietly.

"Eh?"

"Why is Kevin wearing a white bunny suit?"

He looked over at me. "Are you really questioning the why of Kevin's actions?"

I snorted, trying not to bust out laughing. "Good point."

Supper was great fun, as were all meals on Radio Rock. Carl's mother proved to be a very witty woman, and I enjoyed her presence immensely. Near the end, Dave stood up, knocking his glass and fork together. "Now," he began, "I'd like to raise a glass to Carl's mother. Wonderful Charlotte, it was...a shag well shagged the night you made this little fella." He pat Carl on the shoulder while Felicity played with his hair.

"I couldn't have put it better myself," Charlotte replied.

"Now, when he came aboard, I'm sure it's all agreed that we thought he was a bit of a posh tosser." There was some general, playful consent with this. "You know what? He is now one of us!" We all applauded and cheered. "We would like him to stay forever!"

"And ever and ever!" I cried.

"And just to finish off, Kev. Bless you, rabbits are Easter, not Christmas," he told the delightfully bewildered looking Kevin.

"That's why they call it the Easter Bunny," Simon told him.

Kevin looked around at all of us through the face hole in the suit. "Oh, right. I am seriously thick, aren't I?"

"You are!" we all cried, laughing. "Thick Kevin!" we toasted.

John cut in with, "Alright, jokes!"

"Jokes!" Simon cried happily.

"What is the largest living mammal on Earth?" John read. We all repeated it, then waited for the answer. "The blue whale! Weighing over 150 tons. Oh...these are facts! These are the fact ones. They're not jokes."

"Failure!" I laughed. Then, something occurred to me. "John, read it again."

"What?"

"Read it again!"

He looked at me, plenty confused, but he humored me. "What is the largest living mammal on Earth?"

"Your mum," I said.

The table erupted in laughter. The Count was laughing so hard, I feared he might lose everything he had ingested, and since I knew just how much that was, I scooted a little closer to Gavin. I had even made Charlotte laugh, so I felt like I had accomplished something. Impress the guest. Quentin, in all his calmness, was actually laughing too. Oh, yes. This had been a job well done.

Carl's mother left the next morning, and that after Christmas bummed out mood set in for me. It always lasted for at least three days. It was made remarkably worse by an announcement from the mainland on December 28th. In an evening newscast, John said, "In the House of Commons today, the new Marine Offenses Act was passed unanimously. From midnight on New Year's Eve, all pirate radio stations, including, of course, Radio Rock, will be breaking the law. Everyone who works on them, and indeed everyone who listens to them, will be in contravention of the new law and risk prison sentences, both short and long."

This said, I just aimlessly wandered onto the deck, wishing I could just jump into the waves, and when I came back up, all of this would go away. This ship was my home. Being a DJ was my life. Rock and roll was everything. The government had taken it all away. "Chelsea." I hadn't noticed the Count sitting on the higher deck until he spoke.

I went up the steps, then plopped myself down on the ground in front of him. "You ok?" I asked, hoping he was better than I was.

"Yeah, just...a few months ago, I made a terrible mistake," he admitted.

"Really?"

"Yeah. I realized something. And instead of crushing the thought the moment it came, I...I let it hang on...now I know it to be true. And I'm afraid it's stuck in my head forever."

"What was the thought?"

"That these are the best days of our lives." He gave me a rather unconvincing smile. "It's a terrible thing to know, but I know it."

I couldn't help but want to comfort him, even if I wasn't feeling much more optimistic myself. "I don't know about that," I said.

"Oh, well, yeah," he laughed. "Maybe you'll be lucky. Maybe you'll have better days, but I doubt it." He smiled and affectionately tapped my foot with his. "We stood on top of the mountain, chica. It's a long way doobie-doobie down."

Our eyes met, and against everything I believed in, a tear fell from one of mine. I wiped it away quickly. "Fuck. Look what you made me do!"

He grinned. "Let it out, Chels. Tell me what you're thinking."

I shook my head, sighing. "I just...I have nothing outside of this ship. This is my life. I knew it would be the moment I laid eyes on it. I can't go back to working at that café. Not after this."

"Maybe you and Gavin can run off and have amazing adventures together or something."

"Pfft, yeah right."

"Well, then maybe you and Simon will realize you're madly in love with each other, then get a cute little house in the country."

I busted out laughing. "Oh, yeah. That's a lot more likely. Seriously, why does everyone think Simon and I should get together?"

"Well, if you don't mind my saying, you're perfect for each other."

"No, we're not. We're perfect friends. We can tell each other everything. If we started dating, secrets would start to crop up and we'd fall apart. I'd rather not do that."

"So, you and Gavin are more compatible?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Not necessarily," I answered.

"You just love him."

I searched my brain for another explanation, but failed to find one, so I just nodded. "Yep. I love him."

"Are you ever planning on telling him?"

"Maybe the day I die. He'll just laugh at me."

"You don't know that! What if he grabs you up in his arms and tells you he loves you too, or some other romantic something you girls seem to like so much."

I smiled. "Can you really see Gavin doing that? I mean, can you actually picture it?"

He shrugged. "It's not out of the question, Chelsea. You should tell him. Tell him before you lose him. That's all. Don't let the opportune moment pass you by."

"Thanks for the advice, Count, but...I don't know." I stood. "We have three days left of work. I'm going to go sleep so that I can perform tomorrow."

He nodded. "Agreed. Now, help my fat ass out of this chair." I laughed, then offered him my hand. He took it, and after a few heaves and hos, he managed to stand.

As we went down the stairs, I added, "Really, though, thank you for the advice. And you were the best protector I've ever had."

"You've been a good subject," he replied with a phony pompous air. Laughing, we went below.

The next night, I was lying on my back in Gavin's bed. He was lying beside me. Neither one of us could sleep. The only light in the room was the faint glow given off by the moon. "Gavin," I said quietly.

"Yeah?"

"Where will you go? When this is over, I mean."

"I haven't decided. Maybe back to America. There's nothing really keeping me here."

There was this terrible sinking feeling in my gut that I tried very hard to ignore. "Nothing at all?"

"Not really. At least, nothing that has yet come to light. I dunno. Maybe something will come up. Life is full of surprises."

"It is that," I said, strongly considering blurting out the 'I love you' statement.

"What about you, pigeon? Where will you go?"

"Um...I haven't got a clue. I don't think I can go back to Sheringham. Maybe I'll go to London or something. Or go check out Ireland with Simon."

"Is he going back?"

"He hasn't told me what he's doing. I'm just throwing out options."

"I don't blame you." There was a long pause before he said, "Maybe you could come with me to America if I go."

I turned my head to look at him. "You'd have me?"

"Absolutely."

"Why?"

He looked over at me. "Why not? Besides, you're too much fun to just lose contact with."

"Oh, I don't intend to lose contact with anyone. Hell, I'll even write the damn crew members," I said. "This has been the best year of my life. The absolute best. I was going to do this for the rest of my life. Now..." A few tears leaked out of my eyes. I blinked them away quickly, hoping it was too dark for him to see.

"I'm sure you'll figure out something. You're a charming, smart, beautiful girl who can get anything she wants with a threatening expression. You'll be fine."

I chuckled. "Yeah, I'm good at the threatening. They'll give me what I want because I scare them, but not because they understand why I want it or anything."

"Why don't you let people in, Chels? I've always noticed that about you. You build walls around your head and your heart, and you rarely even let yourself in."

I stared at him. "Well, that's frighteningly philosophical. What did you eat?"

He smiled, but quickly got serious again. "I want an answer."

I bit my lip. This kind of thing was just the kind of thing I avoided. I didn't open up. I didn't tell people these truths. "I'm just afraid of getting hurt," I said quickly so I couldn't stop.

I waited, expecting him to laugh or something, but he simply nodded. "You can't be afraid of getting hurt. You'll never find joy, or love, or happiness without the pain."

I put a finger over his lips, frowning. "This is just creepy coming out of you. Stop. Seriously, when did you get all counselor-like?"

He pulled my finger away and smiled. "It's in here. I just don't think to use it a lot."

"I wonder why. You're always thinking with your cock, not your brain." He stuck his tongue out at me, so I did the same. Then, I smiled softly, looking at his faint outline in the dark. "Are you glad you came back?"

"I am. Are you glad I came back?"

I snorted, but replied, "Yeah. This job would've been a lot less exciting. It's...it's been very fun."

He nodded. Suddenly, he said, "Hey, let's go stay out on deck again."

"It is bloody freezing out there."

"We'll take a lot of blankets. Come on! Please?"

I had never heard him ask for anything like that before. It shocked me. "Yeah...yeah, ok. Let's go."

We gathered all our materials, then quietly made our way up to the higher deck. It was bone-chilling cold, but we brought about 10 blankets. We put two of them beneath us, then used the other eight as insulation. I looked over at him, and he looked at me. We were both thinking the exact same thing. I scooted against him and put my head on his chest, and he wrapped his arm around me. I didn't know what this meant. I wasn't going to worry about it. I was just going to absorb the moment. The life I had known with Gavin Cavanaugh was drawing to a close, so I might as well enjoy it. Fuck the government and their stupid laws.