Part 9

Michael's gaze tracked the couple as they left the room and his mind conjured up the different scenarios that could be happening there. None of the possibilities were good in his opinion. Someone kicked him under the table and his eyes narrowed as he glanced around at the others.

Kyle gave a sharp nod of his head, letting him know he was the one who had kicked him and he motioned to the mustard on Michael's left side. He shrugged one shoulder and went about coating his burger with mustard when the other guy started focusing on his own food instead of staring at the doorway the couple had disappeared through. He knew why Michael was so hyper vigilant even in an atmosphere where the rest of them had started to relax to some degree, but he had a feeling it was making Edward draw the wrong conclusions about them.

Eddie leaned forward slightly, making a grab for the horseradish sauce when Michael put it down. He watched as the guy piled hot ingredients on top of his burger and he started copying him, starting with a thick coating of the horseradish sauce on both buns. Next it was pepper jack cheese, sliced jalapenos, American cheese, more jalapenos, a good dousing of Tabasco sauce and finally topping it with the bun.

Next to him Brian was watching him as he chewed on his own burger, made in a similar fashion. His little brother normally ate his hamburger with mustard, ketchup and cheese and nothing else. Every once in a while he'd put a little horseradish sauce on it, but never anything of this magnitude.

The younger boy picked his burger up and squished it together, eyeing it cautiously before looking up to see Michael take a huge bite. He opened his mouth and took a big bite and his eyes started to water as soon as it hit his tongue. He shoved down the instinct to grab his water and drink the entire glass in one shot, knowing he'd look like a big sissy if he did.

"You make good fries," Maggie said as she held one up. "Mama's don't have this color. They're pretty." She turned to look at Maria, showing her the French fry with the reddish-orange tint to it. "Isn't it pretty?"

"They're very pretty," she agreed. "It's almost a shame to eat them." She smiled when Michael just looked at her and rolled his eyes before shoving several of them in his mouth. She knew he used paprika because he liked the flavor and not because he cared about the coloring but she was pretty sure that Maggie's fascination didn't carry past the pretty color.

Eddie shot a longing glance at his glass of ice water as he reached up to wipe away a bead of sweat that had rolled down from his temple.

"How's your burger?" Brian asked with a smirk. He was just waiting for Eddie to give in and dive into his glass of water. He'd never seen anyone actually sweat just from eating hot food.

"Good," Eddie choked out. "Think I'll have another one."

"Yeah, me too. I don't think Mom's ever gotten the burgers this hot before." He lifted his eyebrows. "Do you?"

Brian shook his head. No, Mom had definitely never gotten them this hot. At least… he didn't think so. Of course, he'd never put all this hot stuff on a burger before, so how was he supposed to know?

"I think they're perfect," Maggie said as she looked up at Michael. "Does Santa like everything hot? Is it 'cause he lives in the North Pole an' it's cold up there?"

Michael shook his head. "Not so much hot as spicy."

"But he likes cookies too, right?" She chewed on her burger thoughtfully. "He gots to like sweets, he's Santa! An' he eats the cookies every year."

"Yeah, he likes sweets too."

"Hmm, so Santa likes things sweet an' spicy," she mused. "Do you know what kinda cookies are his favorites? Does he really like milk?" She frowned. "That's a lotta milk for him to drink in one night, huh? Lots of cookies are okay, but… maybe he don't like lots of milk like that."

"Well…" He started putting another burger together and he glanced at her. "He does have a lotta ground to cover an' everyone leaves milk out for him. Honestly, he kinda gets tired of milk."

She shifted around to sit on her knees as she looked at Michael and she reached out to touch his shoulder. "You can tell me an' I won't tell no one else," she promised. She bit her lip as she waited for him to reveal the secret and after a moment she brought her right hand up, little finger extended in his direction. "Wanna make a pinky promise first?"

He looked down at her hand, frowning. "A what?"

Max actually snickered as he watched the scene playing out at the other end of the table. Michael Guerin, ladies and gentlemen. Clueless when faced with a little girl and a pinky promise.

Maggie reached across him to take his right hand, pulling it towards her and uncurling his fingers before folding all but his pinky finger down again. She curled her pinky finger around his and then used her other hand to push his pinky into the desired position. "It's a pinky promise," she said with a smile and a nod. "It's the mostest important promise you can make an' you can never break it. Not never ever."

"Oh, okay then." He felt stupid sitting at the dinner table with everyone staring at them while they swore a pinky promise over Santa's favorite drink.

The little girl shook her head when he tried to pull his hand back and she quickly grabbed onto his wrist, holding him still. "No, you gotta say it or it don't work."

"Say what?"

Boys, she thought. "We gotta go like this," she raised their joined hands in mimicry of a handshake, "and we gotta say 'pinky promise' at the same time."

Okay, this had officially gone beyond embarrassing, he thought as he went through the process, muttering the sacred oath before being released.

"Okay, an' now you can tell me Santa's favorite drink. Is it hot chocolate?" She shook her head, following his movements. "No?"

"Huh-uh." He motioned for her to come closer so he could whisper in her ear.

Maria watched them and smiled. The little girl rested her right arm on his shoulder and her left hand held onto a handful of his shirt as she leaned in close. Being around Maggie would be good for him. She was so young and still so innocent; she trusted him without question, and she interacted with him without a single reservation.

"Really?" Maggie asked, her eyes wide. "That's his favorite drink?"

Snapple, Maria thought.

Michael turned his head to meet Maria's gaze over the little girl's head and for a moment he was sitting back in Roswell with a little boy in his lap, telling her to fetch him a Snapple. He shook his head to clear it before that train of thought could follow its natural path because it hadn't ended the way he had wanted it to… the way it should have. He focused on Maggie once more and nodded. "Yeah, guaranteed to put a smile on his face."

"Okay." Now she just had to make sure Daddy bought a Snapple for Santa.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Edward stepped into their bedroom and wrinkled his nose at Julia. "So, this is 'your office'?"

"Yes, it is."

"Funny. Looks more like our bedroom to me."

"Then you would be wrong. It's my bedroom, I just let you sleep here with me," she responded, eyes twinkling mirthfully.

"Julia…"

"Edward… Look, I know today hasn't exactly gone according to plan…"

"It 'hasn't exactly gone according to plan'?" he repeated, exasperated. "Julia, no vacationers, no kids, nowhere to go, and nothing to do… how often does that happen? Almost never. You do remember our guests from…" he brought his hands up to make air quotes, "Miami, don't you? The ones who claim to be on their way to visit a friend in Sault Sainte Marie? The ones traveling in style with their cardboard boxes and black garbage sacks? Why is it not one single one of them has even asked to use the phone to call someone?" He shook his head.

She bit her lip, forcing her expression to stay neutral. It would just be wrong to let him know she found this humorous. It wasn't that the situation or his frustration was funny because they weren't. She looked up at her guy; warm, gentle, and not comfortable with too much talking and she decided to make her appeal from a different direction.

"Edward, we don't have to know or understand their situation to care. They're just kids and they need our help. It's Christmas." She took a deep breath. "You do remember the play we did as kids, don't you? You know, No Room at the Inn?"

He shook his head again. "Julia…"

"A young couple that was looking for a place for the night and the innkeepers all saying there were no rooms available?" she went on. "Well, we actually have an 'inn' of sorts. The cabins are just sitting empty."

"No, stop right there." He pointed in the direction of the kitchen. "That's not Mary and Joseph sittin' in our kitchen. They're an odd gang drivin' through the country in the Mystery Machine. And Michael… that boy's dangerous."

"Nonsense," she denied with conviction. "Protective, perhaps, but he doesn't come across as dangerous to me."

"Not dangerous?" he sputtered. "He's trouble, Julia, and you know how I know that."

Julia knew to wait it out and let her husband say his peace. She watched her strong, savvy man mentally looking at it from several different angles before finally coming to his own decision that she was right.

Edward shoved his hands into his pockets as he pulled in a deep breath and glanced around their room. He thought about Michael for a moment and then Maria, who seemed to be able to calm him simply with her presence; a look, a touch or a simple word or two. Their strong connection to each other was obvious. He hid a small snort as he remembered himself around Julia years ago when they were teenagers. Yes, in his mind they were a concern, Michael especially, but watching him with Maria and Maggie gave him just enough ease to give Julia what she wanted. After all, they would be out in the cabin. But still, he wondered what they were running from and why.

His eyes fell to their unmade bed and the sight of the rumpled sheets triggered his body's automatic reaction. He wondered at his chances of being with her tonight if he was the innkeeper who didn't have room for the weary travelers. He glanced at the traitorous window that revealed the dark beyond and in the light cast by the cheerful Christmas lights he could see the snow falling heavily. He shook his head at the futility of his argument.

Edward's stomach growled as he slipped his arm around Julia's waist and pulled her up against him. "Alright," he said finally, "but you're sooo gonna owe me for this." There was a glint in his eye as he met her gaze. "I'm hungry. Let's get back to Santa's burgers. And Julia, I expect my favorite cookies with the special frosting in the mornin' for breakfast."

Julia got up on her tiptoes and gave him a preview of what she had in mind for later. Cookies for breakfast, yeah, right. Her eyes shone with delight. "I think that can be arranged.

He opened his mouth to respond but the sound of the smoke alarm screeching in the kitchen stopped him from saying anything.