Happy Tuesday everyone - sorry there was no chapter yesterday but the website wasn't playing ball.

Thank you for the kind reviews on my return, it's nice to hear from new readers (and I'm ct2191 glad you're still with me)

SPOILERS - this week - David picks up an unusual passenger, Marissa and Bianca make plans and the Christmas feast is served.

...

David did know what to do about Christmas. After reuniting Bianca with his daughter he crashed at the Pine Valley Motel that night, not wanting to risk driving out to the cabin now the snow had made the roads so treacherous. He had resigned himself to Christmas alone; after all he a lot to sort out now the CEO of Globakline… or whatever that criminal drug company was called… was under arrest; he would be free to release his Orpheus serum to the world. If only he could be sure it was really working the way it should be.

Come morning David decided to risk returning to the cabin. All his laboratory equipment was out there and he had a lot on new research to do on his Orpheus formula. He turned his car off the highway and headed on up the track into Pine Valley forest. So far the route hadn't been too bad, but it paid to be careful.

He turned off at the fork and passed a hitchhiker on an orange jacket holding out his thumb for a ride. David just gawped at him as he drove past. The guy must be an idiot, out in this bitter cold, hitchhiking to the middle of nowhere. I mean where did he think he was going? There were only a few log cabins out here and most of them only in use in the summer.

David slowed as the road got steeper and the snow got deeper. He skidded a few times and lost traction, and on more than one occasion, got the nose of his vehicle wedged into a snow bank. It was getting ridiculously dangerous. The final straw was when he found his route blocked by a huge branch fallen from the weight of snow.

"Great that's just what I need." he muttered to himself.

There was no going round. The only option was to go back. He put the car into reverse and turned back down the way he came. His thoughts were still on Orpheus though; maybe he could use the labs at the hospital if his cabin was out of reach?

As he drove back down the track he saw the hitchhiker again, still stumbling in the snow, still holding out his thumb. This time David took pity on him. He stopped a wound down the window,

"You're not going to get far that way, the road's blocked." he called.

The guy pulled back his hood.

"Thanks." he said, there was a faint Irish lilt to his voice.

David could see now that it was quite an old man, with white hair and a lined face. It certainly didn't look like he should be out in this weather.

"Where are you heading?" David asked, now concerned for the man's safety.

"Anywhere," said the old man, "I was just looking for way out of these woods."

David unlocked the passenger door.

"Look I'm heading back to town. I can give you a lift."

"Bless you." said the man, climbing in to the warm car. "You know Christmas is the time to look for your guardian angel."

…

They drove in silence for a while as David concentrated on the road and the old man focused on warming his hands on the car heater, but the silence couldn't last forever.

"So what are you doing for Christmas?" the old man asked.

"Oh, I'm a doctor." said David. "I'm working today."

"That's a shame. Do your family mind? You have family?"

"Yes."

"And don't they miss you?"

"I don't know." said David. He hadn't thought about his family today, only his work.

"Do you have children or are they all grown up?"

David sighed, the old guy wasn't going to stop asking questions so he might as well answer.

"I have two daughters, and son and a grandson. My eldest daughter is in her early thirties but my son Charles is just a newborn... well he's crawling now but…"

The old man grinned.

"A baby? So this would be his first Christmas!" His face then grew sad. "And you're missing it. That is a shame."

"It will Leora's first real Christmas this year too." said David, now he thought of it. "She's been in hospital her whole life…"

"Is Leora your elder or younger daughter? It's a lovely name."

"Youngest. She's twelve."

"And her first real Christmas in twelve years? That is a lot of Christmases for a child to miss."

"It is." said David. His mind stayed with his daughter, all alone in the centre at Llanview. He made so many promises to be the best dad he could to Charlie and Leora, vowed to do better than his father did. And yet here he was, work coming first as somehow it always did.

"But I guess your eldest daughter is with her?" the old man asked, lifting David from his guilty thoughts.

"She'll be with her own family." said David. He then laughed, "It will be a first for her too. Her first Christmas with AJ and Bianca and girls…"

"You are missing a lot of firsts." said the old man. "It's just such a pity you have to work."

"It is." said David.

"And you do have to work? You could swap shifts or take the afternoon off."

"It's important work." said David, he was turning off the junction of the highway back into town.

"It must be, if it's a bigger priority than your family." said the old man.

David could see all the faces of his children in his head now as he drove into town. It was Christmas day, was his work really that important?

"I guess it is." said David with a thoughtful frown. One conversation with a stranger and his plans were changing. Surely Orpheus could wait for another day. Christmas was a time for family.

"You could drop me off here." the old man said as the neared the church.

Once they pulled in the old man shook David by the hand.

"My name's Clarence by the way. Thanks for the ride, David. I hope you have a wonderful Christmas."

"You too." called David. He was already trying to work out if he could see Leora in Llanview and be back in time to wish Marissa, AJ and Charlie a Merry Christmas too.

It was only when he reached the interstate that he realised he had never told the man is name. How did he know to call him 'David'?

David tried to shake the thought from his head. There must be a logical explanation. It must be a by-product of latent stress from his captivity… but a part of him couldn't help but wonder if he hadn't just had his own little Christmas miracle.

What had Clarence said about guardian angels?

…