Here's Part IV of Owen and Abby's first Christmas story. I do hope everyone likes it. I tried to find the right mix of angst, humour and romance. :-D Incidentally, if anyone wants a good laugh, go to YouTube and look at Hai Karate commercials from the 1970's. LOL

A/N In case I hadn't mentioned it before, I don't own the characters but I wish I did.

As everyone knows, I simply love reviews. I hope everyone loves this new chapter.

I hope and plan to have Chapter 5 up before Christmas.

On This Winter's Night With You, Part IV

Abby looked from the Time article, to the window where outside the snow was continuing to fall with no sign of letting up, to the article again. She simply couldn't believe what she was reading. If Owen had read this, she could only imagine the impact it had on him.

She closed her eyes and forced herself to be calm. Opening them again, she reread the article one last time. The early paragraphs recapped the events at the pool –or, at least, what the authorities thought had happened. So far as Abby could determine, nobody was even close to what actually happened. Of course, she wasn't at all surprised by that. The ensuing paragraphs dealt with the aftermaths at the school and the individuals involved.

Owen's old gym coach, Mr. Zoric, was badly traumatized after discovering the carnage on the pool deck. He had spent the remaining three months of the school year on paid medical leave. The previous September he had been transferred –upon his own request- and was working at another school in the district. According to the article, he was still seeing a counselor to help him cope with the tragedy, but he was dealing with it and overall had resumed his life and career.

There was a lengthy write-up about the three students and one ex-student who had been positively identified as dead. It had taken longer than expected to confirm all the identities, as the bodies had been ripped apart so thoroughly.

Abby read with varying degrees of disgust that their reputations as bullies was rather glossed over –at least in the cases of Kenny, Donny and Mark. Kenny's brother Jimmy, at the time of his death, was out on bail and had been charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, not to mention a few charges involving drugs. Those facts weren't so easy to bury. Abby remembered it was Jimmy who had been holding Owen under the water –until Abby literally pulled his skull right off the top of his spinal cord, that is. From what she was reading of Jimmy's past history of violence, she had no doubt that he would have had no problem in murdering Owen.

There was speculation that Jimmy's violent past and questionable affiliations might have had something to do with what happened. Of course, there was still the question of how the large window of the swimming pool –that was very high up- had been completely pulverized and from the outside. It didn't explain how the four victims had been thoroughly ripped apart (and the coroner had determined that horrific mutilations had all been done prior to death –the resulting injuries had actually been the primary cause of death) so quickly and quietly –it was speculated that certain heavy tools or machinery could conceivably had caused such injuries, but there was no noise heard and absolutely no real way for anyone to get such machinery into and out of the pool deck so swiftly. Some forensics specialists maintained that theoretically it was possible for such injuries to be inflicted without tools, but the amount of force needed would require so many people (and strong people at that) acting together that the logistics actually precluded that being considered a plausible theory.

Then, there was the factor of missing student Owen Lindquist. He was the only student not yet accounted for. His fate was unknown after nine months. However, in the days that followed, some very strange facts arose. The body of a Los Alamos police detective was discovered in a forgotten room in the basement of his apartment building. The body was well over a week old upon discovery –when someone had noticed the stench and the superintendant had finally took it upon himself to investigate. The officer had been investigating several other strange events that centered around the apartment complex. Two residents had been met with mysterious deaths in the preceding weeks. One man had been found dead in a frozen pond (curiously by a school field trip that included both the missing and dead students), with the apparent cause being severe neck lacerations followed by exsanguination. The other death was far stranger. A woman had been attacked in the courtyard and had also suffered neck wounds. She'd survived the attack and been taken to the hospital. The following morning she was killed when a massive fire erupted from her room. And this was tied in to a series of what was thought to be ritualistic murders by a Satanic cult. Again, a deceased suspect was thought to have lived briefly next door to the missing student. That was more uncertain as the dead man had never been positively identified and not been seen much around the complex.

The article speculated how Owen was seemingly in the centre of all of these events. It suggested that the chances of it all being a coincidence was simply too great for statistical probability. Owen's own fate was a question of speculation. Not one clue had turned up about him since that night at the school (Abby guessed that nobody at the Los Alamos railway station noticed him enough to remember.) The two schools of thought were that he'd been kidnapped by the cult and –after nine months without a trace- was likely dead somewhere. Or, he'd been seduced into joining the cult and had been an accessory to the pool killings (although just how the killings could have been carried out was still anyone's guess). That was when the article came to the sideline part that simply must have caught Owen's attention. Abby re-read it one final time.

An unexpected result of the pool tragedy involved the parents of missing boy Owen Lindquist. At the time of the murders, the two had been separated with divorce proceedings underway. However, in the wake of their son's disappearance Eric and Yvonne Lindquist have actually reconciled and the divorce proceedings have been terminated. Yvonne Lindquist is now pregnant, with the baby due in March –which will mark the one year anniversary of her son's disappearance and possible death.

When asked about her son's possible fate, Lindquist- who describes herself as a devout Christian- gave an unequivocal answer.

"My Owen is either now with the Lord, or he's thrown his lot in with followers of Lucifer. I can only pray that he's dead now. If he's not dead and in Heaven with Jesus, then he's definitely dead to me. I expect I will one day see him again in Heaven….or not ever again."

When asked about the chance of him perhaps being alive and held captive against his will, she expressed her doubts to that chance.

"If he were alive, he would have asked the Lord to let him escape long before now. I would hope that he would have taken his own life before allowing his soul to be corrupted by the Devil's people. Like I said, the Owen I once loved is dead. If he's not, then he's dead to me and he's no longer any son of mine. I do hope and pray that he's dead."

Eric Lindquist, while not as outspoken as his wife did recall the last word's he had with his son, three nights prior to his disappearance.

"He called me up and asked if there was such a thing as evil. I don't know; maybe he was making his decision on whether or not to join these people, or not. I guess he didn't know any better. He was like those kids who followed Charlie Manson. I remember Manson sort of attracted those losers who didn't fit in either. It's all in the past now anyways."

When asked about the future, both Eric and Yvonne Lindquist expressed optimism for what lies ahead.

"We're not going to repeat the mistakes of the past.", said Yvonne Lindquist. "This time, our child will turn out properly."

This reporter did bring up how serendipitous, but ironic, that their reconciliation came about in the wake of such a tragic event and their own son's disappearance.

"The Lord works in mysterious ways. In the months afterwards, Eric and I simply reconnected. We realized that many of those obstacles we had before were simply gone. This time we're going to have a proper family and not make those mistakes again."

Abby closed the magazine with a barely suppressed shudder. She restrained herself from ripping it into confetti right then and there. She sighed and looked at her surrogate grandfather.

"I can't believe she said those things, Grandpa."

"I can.", Oscar said with a sigh of his own. "My daughter…has a history of not doing the wisest things in the world. Back in the 1960's, she was into the whole hippie drug scene. It wasn't as big out here as it was in California or anyplace like that, but she was still into it. That's where she met that idiot father of Owen's. When the 70's started, and after Owen was born she had her big religious conversion. Nothing wrong with that…except Yvonne tended to forget the part about whoever is without sin casting the first stone. That article summed her up perfectly, I'm sorry to say. As for my son-in-law, he's not into religion as much, but I thought he was an idiot then and I think he's an idiot now." Oscar shook his head sadly as he recalled his family's bumpy road of the past fifteen years.

"I can only imagine what Owen thought when he read that article. What sort of mother prays that her son is dead?"

"Abby, don't try to understand how Owen's mother thinks. I've spent almost ten years trying to do that and I'm no closer now than when I started. Christ…in three months, I'll have another grandchild", Oscar said as the realization dawned on him.

"I don't care about Owen's mother. I don't care about what she thinks or how she thinks it. All I care about is finding Owen."

"I know. Is…Is there anything you can do now that could find him?", Oscar said. Although Abby generally did not explicitly demonstrate her supernatural abilities in front of Oscar as readily as she did in front of Owen, he still knew that she stood a far better chance of resolving things now than he could ever hope to do.

"I think so. Let me go look by the side door.", Abby said as she walked swiftly to the door. She stepped outside into the cold and snowy night. She looked down at the snow, focusing intently on something. Abby gestured for Oscar to be quiet, so she could listen. She looked up and ahead of her, then closed her eyes and lifted up her head. She turned it ever so gently one way and then another, apparently inhaling deeply as she turned.

Abby stopped and opened her eyes. She turned back towards Oscar, who stood in the doorway. Relief was tangible on her face.

"I think I know where he is, Grandpa."

"You do?"

"Yes."

"Is he alright?"

"Yeah, I'm pretty certain he is."

"Thank Christ. OK, you'd better go and talk to him."

"What about you?", Abby asked softly.

"Abby, you and I both know that he's going to respond to you a thousand times better than he would to me. When I was young, my Elina could reach me whenever my father or grandfather couldn't. Now just go and find him. It's getting cold though, I wouldn't let him stay out too long."

"Alright Grandpa, I'll go get him.", Abby said. She started walking slowly towards the forest path, following the trail she detected on the wind. She knew she could have been there in a matter of seconds with the speed she was capable of. She could even have flown. But, she walked slowly so that she could have time to mentally rehearse some of the things she was going to say to him. She knew he was hurting. Owen's self-esteem had been frighteningly low when they'd met. The ensuing months together had built up his self-confidence as surely as it had hers. Now, she was afraid that all the progress they'd made together since March had been destroyed by what his parents said.

Abby's fists tightened when she thought of what his parents had said. What sort of parents could say that about their own son? How could they say that about Owen? In Abby's opinion, if there was one truly good person in the world it was him. Part of her, once she got Owen back to the house and taken care of, would have loved to taken to the skies and flown back to Los Alamos and gone straight to Owen's parents –his mother in particular. What then? Well, she knew she wouldn't lower herself to take the woman's blood. She'd made a new life for herself and wasn't about to fall back on her old habits for a woman who, in her opinion, wasn't even worth the time away from Owen. If Yvonne wasn't pregnant, Abby did smile at the thought of simply beating her back to the Stone Ages.

Abby entered the forest path, walking softly through the snow. She could just barely make out the indentation of Owen's tracks, as the trees prevented the falling snow from completely refilling them. Of course, Abby didn't need to see the tracks to trace Owen.

At a point where the path forked, Abby saw a distinctive looking stone. With her bare foot, she brushed off some of the snow from it. Chiseled into the flat face of the stone was an inscription:

Thomas Haykan

1927-1983

Dona illi requiem sempiternam

Abby knew that Thomas' real name was unknown in Los Alamos. He would have no marker to commemorate him. One of her deepest regrets was dragging him into her insane life decades before. If only she'd known then what she knew now. If she had, many peoples' fates would have been different, including that of Thomas. That spring, she and Owen, had found a rock and she had chiseled the words into it. They'd left it in a peaceful spot in the woods where at least there would be some memorial to a man that Abby felt she owed more than she could ever pay back. She sighed sadly and continued on her way down the path.

Abby knew the path well. It led to the riverbank where she and Owen liked to sit and talk on warm summer evenings. A fork in the path led to the deep estuary pool that was their swimming hole. That was the path Abby now took. She took a final turn and emerged in a clearing by the swimming hole. Not ten steps ahead of her, seated morosely on the rock that was their diving platform in the summer, was Owen.

He was sitting there, shaping up snowballs on his gloved hands and casually whipping them across the frozen pond. He gave no indication he knew she was there, as he was looking down and she knew she had not made a sound. His lonely vigil reminded her very much of their first meetings in Los Alamos. Abby bent down and scooped up some snow in her own hand and packed it into a ball. Taking aim at where his own snowballs now lay, she gave it a hard throw. Her snowball landed right in the middle of them, causing them to scatter. Owen looked up and sighed. The glum look on his face spoke volumes to her.

"Hi Owen.", Abby tried. "I read the article. I'm so sorry.", she said as she walked over to him.

"I kind of want to be alone.", Owen sighed sadly.

"Well, that's just too bad. If you think I'm going to let you sit out here all by yourself like this, then I'm afraid you're just wrong." Abby sat down on the rock next to him. "And this time, you can't tell me that I should leave because you've lived here longer either.", she said. She hoped that a joking reference to what he said to her on their second meeting might help get through to him.

"I guess I can't, now can I?"

"No, you can't."

"You said you read the article?"

"Yeah, I did."

"I guess our trip to Alberta is off."

"I think that's best for now."

"Yeah…So, how long are you planning on sitting here?"

"I don't know. How long are you going to stay out here?"

"I don't know. Why?"

"Well, I'm not going back to the house without you. So, sooner or later you're going to have to come back. I mean, the sun rises later now, but it IS going to rise again. How long are you going to stay out here?"

"You're serious?"

"Yeah, Owen, I am."

"You mean, you'd actually stay out here as long as I am, even if you'd be risking getting caught at sunrise?"

"Let me put it to you this way, if I was human and you were like me, and I was hurting like you are now, what would you want to do?" Abby saw that Owen's eyes softened and the faint beginnings of a smile tugged at his mouth.

"About the exact same thing, I guess.", he conceded.

"Exactly! Owen, I love you and I'm not going to budge from this spot unless you're coming with me."

"Alright," Owen sighed, "I'll come back in. Do you think we could just sit here a bit longer though?"

"Of course.", Abby said softly. She figured Owen wanted to talk about what his parents had said. Her appraisal was not incorrect.

"All this time we've been here, Abby, I've been so happy. I am happy with you. The only thing that really bothered me was thinking she might be worried about me. That was why I wanted to just call her, or write to her. To let her know I was alive. That way, I thought she'd not worry anymore. I guess she stopped worrying a long time ago. I mean, she hopes I'm dead. I suppose calling her would have really disappointed her, wouldn't it?", he said sadly.

"Owen..", Abby started to say.

"She hopes I'm dead. She prays I'm dead! She prayed all the time back when I was with her. Was she praying for that back then too?"

"I'm sure she didn't.", Abby said as she found herself in the unexpected position of having to defend Yvonne Lindquist.

"What type of mother prays for her son to be dead?", Owen asked in a low voice.

"I don't know. But, I can tell you that my mother and father actually tried to ensure I was dead. I think that goes a step beyond praying for it."

"They what?", Owen asked with a dumbfounded expression.

"They tried to kill me.", Abby said sadly. "It was when I was…changed. I wasn't entirely sure what had happened to me. I was attacked at one of the old buildings on the plantation. I don't know how long I was there afterwards. It couldn't have been too long, I guess, because it was still the same night. I stumbled back to the main house. I was covered with my own blood. My clothes were torn. I was crying. I just wanted to go home and I thought my mother and father could make it all better.", she sighed and looked at Owen. He was staring at her intently. His own problems were apparently forgotten for the time being as he listened to her tale. She steeled herself for the worst part.

"I came up to the house. I remember seeing them come out onto the porch. It was strange, I could see in the dark so clearly. I could hear the slightest sounds. All my senses were overwhelming me. It's funny, in a way. I could see that my father had a gun in his hands. He had the heavy Brown Bess musket. I could see it so clearly, but I couldn't see what he was going to do with it. I thought he was trying to protect me from who attacked me, but…But he raised it up to his shoulder, he aimed…and he shot me."

"Abby…", Owen said as he felt like his own heart skipped a beat. His own despair was forgotten now as he was filled with anger at the idea of someone trying to harm his Abby.

"It's alright Owen. I need to tell you this. I've never told anyone this, not in over two hundred years. He shot me right in the chest.", she opened her shirt to reveal her bare breasts and torso. She pointed to a spot just above her left breast. "It was right here that the musket ball hit me."

Owen looked at the spot hard. It was difficult to see in the darkness as the clouds hid any moonlight and he had no flashlight with him. He had, of course, seen Abby naked far more times than he could count. He knew full well that there was absolutely no mark or scar anywhere on her torso.

"Oh, you can't see it Owen.", Abby said as if reading his thoughts as she closed her shirt again. "There's literally nothing to see. The shot hit me and knocked me down –I think because I just wasn't expecting it. I stood up, and I really thought I was dead already then, but then I felt something heavy in my mouth. I spat it out. It was the musket ball. I looked down at my chest. There was a hole in my dress, but the skin was closed up perfectly. God, it was all happening so fast. My parents saw this. My mother screamed and held out a Bible towards me. I guess she thought it would repel me. My father grabbed a broomstick and broke it in half, so one end was sharp. He started down the steps towards me. I still couldn't believe it was all happening, but I knew he wanted to drive it into me. So I ran. I ran away from my home, my family, everything. That night was the last night I had any sort of real home…until I came here with you in March."

Owen was trying to wrap his head around what she was telling him. His mother's words were fuelled by her own zealotry, and perhaps –he suspected- some psychological issues of her own, (He recalled her mood swings, her drinking, etc.) not to mention ignorance. Abby's parents had actively tried to kill her. As bad as what his mother said was, what Abby's parents had done was infinitely worse.

"I'm so sorry, Abby."

"It's alright Owen. You make it alright. Do you remember what I said in July about how most people would think of me as a monster? How they'd want to stake me and leave me out for the sunlight? I know that for a fact because that's what my own parents tried to do to me. It's why you're so special. You showed me kindness. You accepted me when the two people who're supposed to love you no matter what didn't.", she said as she gently caressed his face with her hand.

"What happened after that?"

"I ran as fast as I could. I didn't realize how fast I actually was. -My awareness of what I could do came to me as I went along.- Towards dawn, something told me I had to hide away from the sunlight. I found an old shack and hid there. At dusk I made my way back to my family's house. I saw that the door was dressed in black. I hid in the trees as I saw neighbours passing by, talking about the recent tragedy that befell my family. Apparently, I had died of a sudden fever the night before –at least that was as far as anyone else knew. That was the story my parents told everyone. The next day, apparently, I was to be buried in the family plot -I guess they put some stones in a coffin and buried it. So, that ended my life as it was. All I had was this…existence…to deal with. It lasted until this past March. That's when, as far as I'm concerned, my life started again.", she turned to Owen with a loving smile.

"That's so terrible, Abby."

"It was. But, it's not like that now. I have you. You've managed to make me forget all that hurt from before."

"I have?"

"Yes. So now it's time for me to return the favour."

"I guess it's not that bad. Not after what you told me. I just wish…"

"What do you wish?"

"I wish I could someday explain things to my mother. Introduce you to her, and let her know what really happened. Maybe she'd accept it, or maybe she wouldn't. But at least she'd know the truth. There'd be…what's that word they use?"

"Closure."

"Yeah, that's it. We could both have closure."

"Maybe we'll do that one day."

"Abby."

"Yeah?"

"If we did that, I don't think I could go like I am now. I think…I think I'd have to be…like you.", Owen looked at her to gauge her reaction.

Abby just looked at him and smiled faintly. "Owen, you don't know what you're asking."

"I do know."

"You do know what you'd be giving up if you became like I am?"

"I know what I'd give up if I didn't. I'd lose you eventually. As far as I'm concerned, that settles the issue."

"Owen, you really have to be sure. It's not something that can be undone. I know what you're worried about, Owen. We can afford to wait a little while longer."

"So, you're saying that you will do it, sometime?"

"Yes…I guess I am.", Abby said as she realized the implication behind her words. The idea of turning Owen was something she herself had thought about since almost the beginning. She loved the idea of spending eternity with him. However, she did know how large a step it was. She definitely wanted Owen to have a little more experience with life before she did that though. She privately thought that sometime next summer might well be the ideal time.

"Thank you.", he said simply. Abby smiled at him as she took his hand, realizing that she and Owen were truly meant to be together for all time. Owen rubbed his chin manfully. "I'll have to shave before you do it. I wouldn't want to be turned and always need a shave."

Abby came close to dying that moment; she was sure that suppressing the laughter she felt would cause her to explode. "Um, yeah, Owen, I'm sure that's going to be a huge problem.", she said as she forced down giggles.

"Are you making fun of me?"

"What do you think?", Abby said as she started to lose her battle with the sheer silliness of what Owen had said.

Owen glared at her then started laughing himself. It felt good to laugh again, after the sheer misery of the last hour.

"Oh Abby…I am so lucky I have you."

"Well, I'm lucky to have you."

"Can we say we're lucky to have each other?"

"Yeah, that works."

"Is Grandpa worried about me?"

"Yeah, but when I told him I knew where you were, he was relieved. He sent me to find you. He said he thought you'd listen to me more than him."

"Well, he was right about that."

"We should get back soon, you know. You must be getting cold, and I'm sure Grandpa will want you home so he can relax and watch ice boxing without worrying."

"You mean hockey?"

"Whatever. They skate around, they have a fistfight, they skate around, and they fight. It looks like ice boxing to me."

"Hey, at least it's not fake like wrestling."

"What do you mean 'fake'?", Abby asked him with an intent look on her face. Owen decided it wasn't the time or place to break that little piece of news to her.

"Um, nothing."

"Alright then.", Abby said. She smiled and gently looked at Owen. "Are you feeling a little better now?"

"No, I'm feeling a lot better. You always make me feel better. It's like a gift you have."

"Oh, come on.", she giggled.

"It's true. Even back when we met, you could make me forget all my troubles. You know, I really feel sorry for other kids who get picked on at school. Most of them don't have someone like you in their lives."

"You mean…", Abby asked. She thought he was going to say she was someone who would take care of the problem. Instead, Owen surprised her yet again.

"I mean, they don't have someone who just be there after school and make them feel better about everything. They don't have someone they can talk to, or laugh with, or share their Rubik's Cube with. That's what meant so much to me when we first met Abby. I had nobody at all. And then all of a sudden, I was looking forward to every evening, when I could see you. I feel so badly for all the people who don't have that." Owen took her hand and placed it on his cheek, duplicating the way she so often expressed her feelings of love and affection. Abby smiled gently as she recognized the gesture and what he was saying with it.

She looked down at Owen's left hand which was gently hold her right hand. She noticed a small, faded scar on his thumb. She traced it with her own thumb.

"That scar…That was so scary. I thought I was going to lose control, you know."

"Yeah, I didn't know what was happening. I mean, I saw what was happening but my mind just wouldn't accept what I was seeing right away."

"I remember I told you to go away, to run. But you stayed. Why would you do that?"

"I don't know. I was too shocked. And I guess, I thought you were in trouble and needed my help."

"Hold on, you thought I was the one in trouble?"

"Uh, yeah, like when you puked up the candy."

"Do you know how dangerous that was?"

"I do now. But I couldn't just leave you there.", Owen said with soft yet forceful determination.

"You're just too special, Owen.", Abby said with a smile as she kissed him on the cheek. "I do have something I've been wanting to know for months, though."

"What?"

"When you took me down to that room, is that what you were planning on doing?"

"Um, what did you think I was going to do?"

"I thought you were going to try and kiss me, of course."

"You did?"

"Owen, you wanted to take me down to some private room. That's what boys generally do. I kind of thought you might want to do that with me."

"Well, I did, you know. But, my friend Tommy –the guy who set the place up- he told me that doing the whole pact thing was something girls really went for."

"He told you that?"

"Yeah, he said that girls would want to do stuff with you afterwards."

"I see. Owen, you know I love you, so please don't take this too personally, but Tommy…was an idiot."

"He was?"

"Yeah, he was a complete and total idiot. Or he was lying to you. Or, he just maybe was with the dumbest girls on the planet. Maybe even a combinaton of all three."

"I guess it really was a bad idea all around, wasn't it? If I hadn't have found out that night, would you have told me the truth on your own?"

"Yeah, I would have. I wanted to already, but I was afraid I'd scare you away though."

"I wish I'd tried to kiss you then. You'd have really made out with me?"

"Of course I would have."

"Guess I blew a good chance there."

"You did…But, we can make up for it in your room later on tonight, if you want to.", Abby said with a smile. Owen looked at her and smiled himself. She looked intensely pretty just then. The snow wasn't melting on her hair and skin since her skin always tended to be quite cold outside in winter. It was sticking to her hair, her clothing and the exposed skin of her hands, face and barefeet. To Owen, she looked like the Snow Queen from The Nutcracker.

"I definitely want to."

"Good. Your room is nicer than that place in Los Alamos. It might have been pretty cool to hang out in, but it was filthy."

"Yeah, I never thought about that."

Abby grinned and looked around at their surroundings. This was a favourite spot for the two of them. It was where they spent many summer nights swimming together. Abby had long known how to swim, but she couldn't recall ever swimming for fun until the past summer. And being with Owen made it all the more fun. After his 13th birthday, the place became even more special. It then became a romantic spot for them. They'd once made love on the very rock they were now sitting, diving into the cool water together when they were done. Abby did think this was a far nicer place to be with Owen than a dingy basement room. Giving in to her emotions, she leaned over and kissed Owen on the lips for a few passionate seconds.

Abby stood up and Owen rose to his feet as well. It would have been a strange sight: Owen in his heavy coat and boots, while Abby was only wearing a light shirt and pants, with not even any shoes on. Abby took his hand in hers and lead him back along the forest path to the ranch house.

"Abby.", Owen asked as they started back.

"Yeah?"

"I'm just curious about something. Just how did you know where I was? You didn't have a lot of snow on you when you sat down next to me, so you couldn't have been outside for long. How'd you know I was at the swimming hole?"

"I was able to track you."

"How could you do that? Did I leave tracks in the snow?"

"I didn't need them."

"Then how did you do it?"

"I was able to smell you?"

"You could smell me?"

"I could."

"Could you smell my blood?", Owen asked as he wondered briefly what it would be like to have Abby's senses when he was made into a vampire.

"No. Not quite."

"Then what did you smell?"

"Um, how do I put this? Owen, you know that cologne you love so much?"

"Hai Karate? Yup, it's awesome."

"Yeah, about that; do you know the saying that a little goes a long way?"

"Yeah, but I put on more than a little."

"Bingo."

"You mean you could smell my cologne all the way to the house?"

"Owen, I love you, but you put on so much today that I could have smelled your cologne if you'd made it all the way to Missoula."

"Really?"

"Really. Like the commercials say, be careful how you use it."

"You want me to put on a little less?"

"A lot less would be ideal. Trust me, a little dab will do you."

"Grandpa puts on just as much Brut. Do you want him to use less too?"

"It would be an early Christmas present.", Abby said.

"Oh alright,", Owen said with an exaggerated sigh. "I guess my bottle will last longer then.", he finished with a smile.

"Awww. Thanks.", Abby grinned as they emerged from the path into the yard.

It was later that night and they were laying together in Owen's bed. Their late night ritual was invariably the same. They would go to Owen's room together, undress completely and get in bed. More often than not –at least since Owen's birthday- they made love. Afterwards, they would lie together and read, or just talk. Sometimes Owen would fall asleep before Abby had to retire to the root cellar, sometimes he remained awake to see her off (usually via the window). Some nights, they lost track of the time –often when they got carried away and made love again- and Abby opted to sleep in her steamer trunk, which was kept in Owen's room for just such a situation.

This night, as the two lay together nude under the covers, they were talking about the events of the evening. Oscar had been greeted Owen with a hug as he stepped back into the house as the two realized they would forever share the strained and complicated relationship with Owen's mother. Oscar gratefully greeted Abby with a strong hug and a kiss atop her snowy head. After he and Owen ate their dinner, they settled into the living room to watch that night's 'ice boxing' game, as Abby termed it. NFL football, which was on the next day, was even more perplexing to Abby. As she described it, two teams of immensely large men –who if she'd ever fed on, back in the day, were so large she'd have to taken a doggy bag- line up and then crash into each other until everyone fell down. As she understood it, the game seemed to they had to kill whoever had the ball by crushing him under combined bodyweights. Owen had learned that of all professional sports, Abby seemed to like baseball the best. She told him and Oscar that she'd once seen Babe Ruth hit a home run. She'd also been witness to the last World Series titles of both the Boston Red Sox and the Chicago Cubs. She added wryly that she figured that since she was going to live forever, there was at least a 50/50 chance of seeing those teams win the World Series again sometime. Owen thought that one day maybe he and Abby could go see a ballgame together sometime. Then his thoughts turned to events in New Mexico and he sighed.

"Owen, what's wrong?", Abby asked.

"It just hit me…Before springtime, I'm going to have a little brother or sister and I'm probably never going to see him or her."

"Well, maybe one day…after…we can go back down there.", Abby said as she thought about what was going to happen next summer. "If you want, you can talk to your mother and make peace with everything. If you don't, then maybe you could at least get a look at the baby. I do feel sorry for the baby, though."

"Why's that?"

"It won't be able to grow up with having an amazing big brother which I'm certain you would be."

"I would try to be a cool older brother. Like your brother George was with you."

"George…I wish I could have seen him one last time to say goodbye."

"Yeah, I know. Abby, I was wondering about something."

"What?"

"Us. Do you think that this was all meant to be? Or, was this all just a series of lucky chances for the two of us?"

"I think…That part of the reason I could never find anyplace with peace for so long was that I wasn't meant to have it yet. I think that I was meant to be with you, Owen. And I had to keep roaming all over the place until I found you."

"You think that?"

"I do. It was like I was Jacob Marley's ghost. I couldn't stop and I couldn't stay anywhere for all those years. But when we met, it felt like something was just…right. It was like I was meant to know you. And then, when we first came here in March, the minute I saw this place it was like I knew this was it. It felt like my home. It was the first time I felt that about anyplace since I fled from the plantation in 1763."

"It felt pretty much the same to me, Abby. I'd been here before, when I was little. But, I just knew that this was to be our special place. I was really worried back when we got here that you'd leave so Grandpa would let me stay."

"You were sick. I couldn't let you stay out with me."

"I didn't care."

"I know. But, you had to get better."

"I'd have left on my own, you know. I'd have gone out looking for you if you'd have left."

"I thought you might. That's why I'm so glad he let us both stay."

"What would we have done if we couldn't have stayed?", Owen asked.

"There were a few things.", Abby mused. Abby had thought of that over the last months. She realized that she might have been forced to turn Owen back then. If he'd been willing –and he obviously would have been- she could have turned him as an alternative to them wandering around Montana with him sick and hungry. She was eternally grateful they'd been allowed to stay.

"I'm glad we could stay too.", Owen said quietly.

"And, it's only a week now until Christmas.", Abby said happily.

"Yup.", Owen agreed. He was thinking of some of the things he and his grandfather had gotten for Abby. This would be their first Christmas together, and probably her first real fun Christmas in who knows how long. He was determined it would be a special one for her.

Abby returned the smile and pulled him into a kiss as they snuggled under the covers while the snow continued to fall outside.