A/N: I'd like to thank all the readers for always encouraging me to write and the reviewer, Adela, for leaving their lovely reviews. It's always great to know that you all love this story, thanks a lot!

Disclaimer: I don't own Resident Evil or any of its characters, they all belong to Capcom.

Chapter 41

(Chris's POV)

I moved from one group of friends to another, socializing with them a bit and attending to their needs, after all I was the host and it was my duty to take care of the guests at the party. I heard a loud giggle of women and looked in the direction, Jill, who was holding Sam, was surrounded by a bunch of women, including our friends and colleagues. The women were totally charmed by my new born son and he was already a centre of attention and at least in this party he was nothing less than a celebrity since everyone wanted to hold him and play with him. Initially we thought that he might be a little disturbed by seeing so many people at once but he was as usual cheerful baby, enjoying all the attention he was getting especially from the ladies.

I excused myself from the current group of friends as I spotted John, who signaled me to get over to him. I made my way through the crowd, "So any progress?", I asked him almost in a whisper.
He shook his head letting out a sigh, "I asked him to get over here but he said he's going to spend Christmas with his mom", he told me rolling his eyes.
"So he's free now?", I asked in confirmation.
"Yes, he's very much free", John said with a smile.
"Great! All we have to do is convince him to get over here", I said feeling a rush of excitement listening to this information, "I believe if they spent enough time together I can save my sister from marrying that moron."
"And I'd have someone saving my best friend from his loneliness", John said winking at me.
"So any plans?", I asked him getting back to important business at hand.
"Well the plan is already set in action", John said with his signature mischievous grin.

"What plan?", it was not me who asked but Claire. Both John and I froze at spot, we hadn't noticed Jill and Claire walking in on our conversation. They both weren't exactly happy about Kate getting married to Mike but they were more accepting of it and wouldn't agree to the measures that I and John were taking at the moment.
"Chris?", Jill looked at me questioningly.
"Nothing honey, nothing", I shook my head looking at John.
"What are you two planning?", Claire asked looking from John to me, "John, you're making my brother take part in your schemes, now that Leon is not here?"
John looked flabbergasted as if he was caught red-handed and dropped his head dramatically, "You caught me, Red", he said to her.
Claire again looked from him to me, "It's something else", she caught on to us.
"What is it?", Jill asked us seriously.

"Well…", I looked at John, who sighed in disappointment of getting caught in mischief, "We were just planning to get Kennedy over here."
"That's impossible, he'd say he's busy", Claire said casually.
"That's the thing Red, he's not", John said to her.
"It doesn't matter John, to anyone related to Kate, he's busy", Jill said rolling her eyes, "The mere fact is that he asked you not to hand his number to us and the fact that he told you he's not busy even though it's a big probability that you'd pass this information to us."
"Yeah but what if one of you 'accidentally' discover that he's very much free, like perhaps Kate?", John said with a smile that could be compared with a devil's.
"That's impossible!", Claire said with a laugh but one could see that she was curious about this plan and it was confirmed when she asked, "What did you do?"

"Well after I got off the call with Leon, I made a quick call to his mom asking her to convince him to go here, of course not to tell that I called her about it. However she failed to convince him, so she texted me about it and I asked her to 'accidentally' leave her phone in Leon's car. She sent me a text again just before dropping her phone and then I moved to Kate and asked her about Leon's mother and if she would come here, since Leon's mom told me Kate invited her some time earlier. I kind of urged her to call Mrs. Kennedy and so she did precisely at the time when Mrs. Kennedy's phone was with Leon. And luckily he picked up", John explained his plot to us.

"John you're brilliant!", I said totally impressed by ingenious work.
"The plan was full of flaws and so many things could have gone wrong but it seems even the fate is pulling those two together", John said with a smile.
"But her finding it out won't make Leon come here", Jill said in a matter-of-fact tone.
"Yes it wouldn't but after talking to her, he'd find it difficult to not come here", John told us, "He always found it troubling turning her down and he still does."
"Oh I hope he shows up", Claire said hopefully and just then John's phone rang.

"Excuse me it's my Intel", John said taking the call, "Yes Mrs. Kennedy?", he listened to her and we patiently waited for him to finish his conversation, "Thanks Mrs. Kennedy, I appreciate your help."
"What did she say?", Jill beat Claire and me to the question.
"She said Leon got mad when Mrs. Kennedy told Kate that she'd sent Leon on her behalf", John told us and we kept our silence because we knew there was more, "But she kind of argued with him trying to shake his determination of not seeing Kate but she is not sure if she did a good job and she isn't sure if he'd actually show up here", he finished letting out a sigh.

All of us didn't know what to say in response, it seemed the plan was going bang on but in the end it seemed that it ran out of fuel, "Hey guys!", we all looked up it was Kate smiling at us. Her expression turned to a little confused one as she asked, "What happened? You all seem like someone died?"

(Kate's POV)

"Nah nothing", Jill answered smiling weakly at me, "Can you look after Sam a little, my arms are a little tired and I want to have something to eat as well."
"Oh alright", I said taking the baby from Jill and she moved to get dinner.
"I'll go find Eric", Claire said and left as well.
"And I'll go entertain guests then", Chris said bending to kiss his baby, who in turn giggled when his father did that, and Chris smiled slightly, "Take care of my kid."
"You don't have to say", I said to him rolling my eyes as he left too. I turned to John who was pouring himself another drink, "So where's Rachel?", I asked him and he looked up at me and took a little time comprehending what I said.
"Ah she's over there with Becky", he told me pointing her out.

"So what were you guys talking about?", I asked him rocking Sam, trying to be as discreet as possible. It seemed they all were upset about something or the other.
"Just getting sad over you getting married", he answered me with a jerk of his brows; "I mean you probably won't be able to spend and celebrate your Christmases with us."
"Yeah", I said feeling a little sad about it as well, "but I could always get together during Christmas and stuff, you know", I acted all cheerful.
"Yeah", John said taking a sip of his drink, "oh by the way is Mrs. Kennedy coming?"
"No", I said shaking my head in negative, "She already had plans with her friends."

"Yeah everyone has plans for Christmas eve", John said and I wasn't sure if there was sarcasm on his tone, "By the way your Boyfriend is not here?"
"Oh Mike's mom is a traditionalist so she wants him to be with his family and we are apparently are not his family yet", I told him the truth.
"Oh sad, it would've been fun if he was here", John said and again I felt that he was being sarcastic.
"Well it makes Chris happy", I told him letting out a laugh, jerking my head towards my older brother, "he was relieved that Mike wouldn't ruin his Christmas now."
"Well he does upsets your brother a lot", he said in a matter-of-fact tone.
"Yeah true", I let out a sigh of helplessness.
"Ever wondered why?", he asked me sounding speculative, as if he wanted me to think about it.
"Mike is not someone Chris sees fit for me", I told him shrugging.
"I see", John said and then there was the sound of doorbell.
"I'll go see who it is", I excused myself and walked to the door, with Sam in my arms.

I pulled open the main door and was a little surprised to see Leon standing on the porch with his signature poker expression. He was the last person I was expecting to be here. Although his Mom said she'd be sending him on her behalf but I didn't really expect him to listen to his mother, "Hey", he just waved his hand in front of me, "Earth to Kate?"
"Leon, I wasn't expecting you", I told him with a smile, "but I am glad you came, please come in."
"Well I was really tired but I thought a few moments of presence won't hurt. I thought I'd just wish you guys", he said stepping inside, "Hey baby Sam!", he spoke to the baby tickling him, which made him laugh and made me smile.
Sam grabbed Leon's thumb, "He likes you", I told him smiling and Leon looked up at me.
"Well I am a likeable person", Leon replied looking back at Sam kindly, with an expression anyone would fall for.
"Let's go inside", I said to him.
"Yeah", he nodded and I lead the way inside.

When we stepped in the hall everyone was pretty much shocked and happy to see Leon. John was the happiest and was already telling him some of his schemes. But as soon as he was greeted and welcomed wholeheartedly, he broke out the news that he's here just to meet everyone and that he's too tired to stay and party, which disappointed everyone. And true to his words after a drink and a little socialization he was saying goodbyes to everyone and everyone had just one thing to say to him, 'it would have been great if he stayed', and he would smile tiredly and say, 'I wish I could.'

At the very last Leon moved to me with a smile on his face, "Bride-to-be", I felt a little hurt to be referred to as that but even so I smiled back at him, "Have a great Christmas!", he wished me and hugged me sideways, since I was still holding on to Sam. The hug was really quick and I don't know why but I wanted him to hold me a bit longer.
"You too", I said with a slight smile.
"Bye bye Sam!", he waved to Sam and Sam reached out grabbing Leon's hand with both of his tiny hands. Leon pulled his hand off his grip and for the first time tonight Sam started to cry.

(Leon's POV)

Kate rocked the baby as I wondered what did I do that made him cry. Jill moved to take Sam from her but even when he was in his mother's arms, he didn't stop crying. Everyone started suggesting stuff to the mother saying something on the lines that maybe he's hungry, maybe he needs a change of diaper but Jill just shook her head saying, "He's sleepy", collectively to everyone, proving that she had that maternal instinct that only a mother could have.

"Go make him sleep", Chris said to her, "I'd shut the music now, so he can sleep."
"It won't be enough", Jill said looking at me and then to Kate, letting out a sigh and smiled for some reason.
"What do you mean?", Claire asked her concerned.
"Well he developed a stupid habit", Jill said moving to me, "He wants the same lap and same toy he's holding until he sleeps. It means Kate's lap and Kennedy's hand."

"You have to be kidding?!", I said surprised.
"Well give your hand to him then and we'll see", Jill said in a matter-of-fact tone.
I didn't have any option but to do that and once the baby took hold of my hand, he didn't stop crying until Jill handed him over to Kate. Once he was calm enough he closed his eyes to sleep, "Now you take over", Kate said handing him back to Jill but the baby woke up and started crying again.
"Told you", Jill said shrugging handing the baby back to Kate, "Now go put him to sleep and then you can be free."

Kate sighed and I really couldn't believe that the little guy had such a weird habit. I withdrew my hand again from his grip and he cried again confirming everyone's doubt, "Don't do that!", Kate snapped at me.
"Once he's asleep, you can put him in crib and you can release your hand from his grip", Jill said to Kate and me respectively.
"Let's just go to his room, he won't be able to sleep here in this noise", Kate said to me and we both walked away from the party and the people.
"Just call me if you need anything", Jill called after us and Kate nodded in reply, letting out a sigh.

We entered the said room and Kate told me to put on the lights, since she had the baby in her arms, and I did what I was told. We both settled on a loveseat in the room and sat in silence. I felt a little impatient to leave, being alone and so close to Kate was making it hard for me to get a hold of my feelings. I looked at her she was looking down at her nephew, smiling slightly. I couldn't help but think that her genuine smile seemed to be so rare these days when it should be the other way around. She was a bride to be, aren't women the happiest when they are getting married? I guess it might be a little stressful as well, but for Kate it seemed more stressful than a delightful experience.

(Kate's POV)

"Is he asleep yet?", I looked sideways as Leon asked me.
I shook my head, "Not yet", I answered in not more than a whisper.
"It's a really troublesome habit he has", he commented.
"Yeah", I agreed with him and our conversation died down.

"Is he sleeping now?", Leon asked again after some time, looking at Sam, who stirred a little hearing his voice.
"If you keep asking, it would just take more time", I said to him. It wasn't like I wanted him to shut up but it was the truth, "If you want to leave soon then we have to keep our silence and not disturb his sleep."
"Yeah, I never thought about that. I am sorry", he said being apologetic.

I didn't reply since it was pretty much understood that the sooner Sam sleeps, the sooner we'd be released from this situation. Although Leon was a little impatient to leave but still he kept his silence and it wasn't like we had something to talk about. It didn't take a genius to figure out that he was trying to avoid me again and if he sees me as a pest I won't pester him. I kept my eyes on Sam rocking and humming to him a little so he could sleep. I watched Sam's grip loosen on Leon's hand signaling that he was fast asleep.

I looked at Leon to give him the news but to my surprise he too had fallen asleep, maybe he wasn't lying when he said we was tired, but then again he was always tired. I sided Leon's hand and moved to put Sam in his crib. I covered Sam with his baby blanket, he really looked cute. I looked at Leon, who was looking equally cute, even though his tiredness was evident even on his sleeping face. I moved to him and made him lie down on the loveseat, putting him in a more comfortable position. I removed his shoes and covered him with a blanket.

I stared at his sleeping form for a bit before starting to move away. And as I was moving away he grabbed my hand and I felt a jolt of electricity run through my body, making me remember all the times he did that, the first being the night he came to get a bullet out of his arm, to the times in the hospital when he was admitted for his injury and to the last time in the clinical room. All those times he was unconscious but it seemed he was aware of my presence but this time I wanted him to be awake, just this one time.

I slowly turned to look back at him, my heart beating ten times the normal, but unfortunately he was sleeping. I felt a little shaky but kept a hold on to my tears as they threatened to run down my face. I grabbed his hand with my other hand and released the one he was holding on to. I put his hand by his side, adjusting his blankets again. I was thankful that he showed up, at least my Christmas wish of spending some time with him, got fulfilled. I silently wished him goodnight before I headed out to join my family and rest of our friends.

A/N: Thanks for reading! I hope you all enjoyed the chapter and I apologize for any grammatical mistake or typos that caused an inconvenience. See you all next week, just 2 weeks to go before this story ends.