She considered ignoring the knocking but there was a persistence about it that dragged her upright.

Her phone lit up, still on mute from when her mom had called for the third time and left an unbelievably narcissistic voicemail. It wasn't her mom this time and as she squinted at the device she saw a slew of missed messages in addition to 'Full Metal' calling her.

She answered it.

"Hello?"

"Merry Christmas, kid."

A smile broke her face and Jess answered, "Merry Christmas to you too!"

"So, you gonna answer the door?" Sonny's voice bellowed in the background. "Cause I haven't kicked in any doors lately and I'm itching to."

"Wait, are you on my front porch?!" Jess was flying out of bed now, wide awake and totally confused.

"Striking in ten…nine…"

A chorused countdown sounded over the phone indicating there was more than just Sonny and Scott out there, which had Jess both worried and baffled.

"Wowowoowww, hold on!" She squawked, thundering down the hall. "Don't break the door! I don't own it!"

Hanging up as the countdown got to three, Jess jumped the last stairs, skidded to a stop, turned the bolt and threw the door open, panting. All seven of them were on her porch looking extremely pleased with themselves.

"Pay up, Sonny." Clay said, "She made it before two."

"Did you sleep in your clothes again?" Scott asked.

"Did you even sleep?" Trent chimed in, squinting at the bags under her eyes.

Jess took them all in and blurted with utter confusion, "What are you all doing here?"

"Well, here's the thing, Jess," Jason took the lead, crossing his arms and peering at her as he bounced on his feet. "We've all had a little chat and it seems to us that once you've gotten drunk with Bravo Team and gone for pancakes with one of our deadliest skull crushers, that pretty much seals your fate. You're basically family now so there's no way we're letting you spend Christmas alone."

Mind locking up and unable to accept what she was hearing, Jess gapped at them.

"What?! R-really?"

"Come for Christmas." Scott told her plainly.

"I- you- but-" Jess struggled to form words and the seven waited patiently. "I couldn't- I can't!"

"Yeah, see, that's a bit of a problem," Ray played with his wedding band. "See, Naima was pretty clear that we needed to bring you with us and we don't accept mission failure that easily."

"But-"

"Unless you have other plans already," Clay chimed in, that smug look telling her that he knew full well she didn't.

"Now what would be better than spending Christmas eating Naima's baking and my cooking?" Sonny asked.

"Why don't we ask her," Scott rumbled, his tone sharpening a little and reminding them all to take it easy on the teasing. "Jess, did you plan on anything else today that didn't involve being slouched at your computer?"

She shook her head and managed, "You guys are actually serious?"

"Yeah, Jess, we're dead serious." Jason paced a little closer to the door, lowering his tone to a gentle lull for her frazzled nerves. "We also figured you wouldn't believe that we actually want you there unless all of us showed up, so here we are. Now, all teasing and joking aside, do you want to come spend the day with us or would you rather stay here."

"You actually want me there?"

"Yes."

The word came from all sides, in unison.

"Are you sure?" A rush of emotion finally broke through and Jess gulped down a near hysterical sob as tears sprang to the surface.

Jason edged closer, arms still crossed but looking like he was having to keep them that way by force. "Well I mean, the table cloth might get a little damp if you keep that up, but that's ok. We have towels."

Jess choked on a laugh, then immediately burst into tears and covered her face with her hands.

"Heyheyhey…none of that…" Instincts kicked in and Jason was reaching out for her, only just stopping himself from grabbing her into a hug the same way he would his own daughter.

"I'm sorry." She sobbed.

"Don't be sorry- Metal! How do we turn the tears off?"

"What are you, amateurs?" Amusement colored Scott's expression as he stood back and watched his team mates shift with well hidden panic. "Jess, do you need a hug?"

Mutely she nodded, still not lifting her hands from her face and crying nearly uncontrollably now.

"That's good enough for me," Jason muttered, stepping in before Metal could move and tugging the girl gently into a bear hug. Jess leaned into him and her shoulders fell with the tall tale sign of someone who was exhausted, hurting and wishing the ground would swallow her up. "Hey…shh…it's ok…you're ok."

It took a minute or two for her to collect herself and calm down but when she did, Jason asked, "Do you want to come for Christmas?"

Jess nodded and mumbled, "Yes, please. Is that still ok?"

Jason gently pushed her out of the hug so he could see her face. "Yeah. It's still ok, so go grab what you need to and let's get going."

"I should change…" Jess said, mopping her face with her hoodie sleeves.

"You have ten minutes. Get moving. Take any longer and we're coming in after you. Got it?"

Jason was back to his usual bossy self and Jess drew on that to get a hold of herself.

"Yup. Got it."

She turned tail and hurried back inside, leaving the door open in the process and heading up the stairs by the entry.

"And Jess?"

She slowed at Jason's call.

"Yeah?"

"Don't even think about trying to sneak out the back door when you start second guessing yourself. It won't work."

Almost offended, Jess opened her mouth to argue but it quickly dawned on her that that was actually exactly the sort of thing she would talk herself into doing within the next five minutes. How the hell was he one step ahead of her?

Suspicion wormed its way up and she narrowed her eyes at the door.

"I was coming with you guys today regardless, wasn't I."

"And she's learning!" Sonny cheered. "Pay up, Clay."

Jason grinned at her and shrugged unapologetically. "Ray did tell you that we were given a job and it's a matter of pride to get it done."

"Failure's not an option." Trent and Brock chanted from outside.

"Consider it another drawback to being adopted by us." Scott added, coming to lean on the doorframe. "Hurry up. You are nearly down to nine minutes."

Huffing in disbelief, Jess bounded up the stairs and down the old, creaky hall to her room.

The girl had a mini freak out next because what was even happening?! She was going for Christmas with people she'd known for a few months, and for some reason they'd gone from watching out for her on barnights to deciding they liked enough to call her part of the family. For the life of her she couldn't figure out why.

Uncertainty crept in quickly, despite the reassurances at the door. By the time Jess had splashed water on her face, changed clothes and thrown her hair into something relatively presentable she was seriously considering climbing out her window and never going to the Bulkhead again. They were being way too nice to her and she was taking advantage of them, wasn't she?

Jess recoiled as she looked at herself in the mirror while she put on deodorant.

Shit! Was she turning into her mother?! Had she somehow manipulated them into feeling so sorry for her that she'd found a way to not spend Christmas alone? They really didn't have to do this, especially when they hardly knew her. She couldn't-

"Two minutes." Jason yelled from downstairs. "Hurry up!"

The tone was compelling and firm, expecting to be heeded.

"Coming!" She found herself calling back as she headed for the door of her room and opened it. Then another thought occurred to her which had her retreating to her window.

They had families already…what the hell would they think of her, some strange college girl coming and crashing their Christmas?!

The thought of climbing out the window got more appealing despite how much it would crush her heart to do it. She couldn't deny it. Being with people who gave a crap about her and seemed to accept her entirely as she was just so happened to be something she'd been lacking for a long time. A family. Real family.

They'd given her little hints of what being part of their family could be like, which she'd treasured. No daring to hope at all, she'd only even secretly wished to be truly a part of it. Then she'd had a bigger taste yesterday, and the previous day. There was no way to shake how it made her feel and she wanted nothing more than to go with them.

"I can't…can I?" She whispered to herself.

"One minute." Ray yelled next.

Jess's fingers were on the locks of her window, frozen with indecision. She could make out. She'd tested the theory once before just for fun and the climb down was easy. Only problem was that she was being an absolute coward and she wasn't wearing her shoes.

"I knew it."

The voice behind her in the hall had her leaping out of her skin and brought a solid yelp out her mouth.

"Holy SHIT! How'd you get up here so quietly!?"

Scott was in the hall, stone faced as always with his arms folded sternly.

"You were seriously considering climbing out the window, weren't you."

Jess feigned innocence, "What? Nah, I'm just making sure it's locked! Yup! Looks good!"

"I don't believe that for a second." Scott snorted and asked seriously, "What's got you headed out the window? Were we not clear enough before or are you just afraid to say no?"

"No. It's not that at all," Jess closed her eyes and covered her face, taking a breath. "I do want to go…like…a lot…and that's the problem because you've all been way too good to me already and I feel like I'm taking advantage or something and what are all your families going to think of some random-"

A tiny chuckle rippled into the air and Scott shook his head at her, "You have nothing to worry about, Jess. You couldn't take advantage of us that easily and I promise they are all happy to have you. Naima especially is really hoping you'll come because she's got the kindest damn heart in the world, so stop talking yourself out of this, alright? Let yourself have this one."

The stress rising in Jess tapered off and she finally gave in, "Ok."

"Good," Scott started back down the hall, the floor now creaking under his weight despite not making a peep before. "Because we sometimes forget kidnapping is an unacceptable way of getting a job done when we aren't working, and they may or may not be hashing out a plan of action down there right now."

The tiniest of shivers rolled down Jess's back as she followed her friend because on some level she could totally see that happening, while on another she didn't really believe they would ever force her to come.

"I really can't tell sometimes if you are joking or being serious."

"Good."

Hearing the smile in Metal's voice brought one to Jess's face and she relaxed a little.

"Annnnd she makes it out just in time. You're lucky. We were about to make entry." Jason was checking his watch as Jess got her shoes on and grabbed her coat, keys and phone. "Alright, boys. Let's get moving. Jess, you're with Metal."

"I don't think I can do this." Jess stated as she stood on the sidewalk outside Ray and Naima's house.

"Sure you can. Put one foot in front of the other and start walking."

"I shouldn't be here." Jess hissed as Scott put pressure between her shoulder blades and gently propelled her up the walkway.

"Yes, you should."

"Maybe this is a bad idea."

"Jess…"

"What if they don't like me?"

"I am about to toss you over my shoulder and that'll really raise a few questions. Do you really want that?"

"No, I most certainly do not."

Ray threw open the front door as Jess forced herself to walk up the steps and waved them in.

Next thing Jess knew she was through the door, having her coat hung up and getting introduced to way more people than she'd been expecting. Some were familiar faces from the Bulkhead and others were new. Eric Blackburn, Lisa Davis, and Stella were all familiar even if she had never really spoken to any of them before today. There was also Jameelah and RJ, Ray's kids. They were the first ones to actually get a smile out of Jess that wasn't mixed with a dose of terror and it was clear she loved kids with the way she interacted with them. There was a hope that Ray's babies would bring her out of her shell enough on their own, but it wasn't quite enough.

There were more people than Jess had imagined, and she quickly got overwhelmed with all the names and noise.

The instinct to practically hide behind Scott was nearly impossible to resist up until the point where she was ushered into the kitchen and met the near legendary Naima.

The beautiful dark haired woman looked up from ordering Sonny around and greeted Jess with the biggest, most genuine smile. The air around the woman radiated with all the gentleness she'd wished for in her own mother and only known when she was young.

"Jess! Oh, I'm so happy you came!" Naima immediately set down the plate she was holding and came towards her, drying her hands on a tea towel. "Those boys better not have scared you or bullied you into coming! I asked them to invite you, but they have a bad habit of getting a little carried away and don't always use their heads."

"No, they were great! T-thank you!" Jess fumbled with the sleeve of her shirt. "I really don't know what to say...or what to do with myself- c-can I help with anything?"

"Oh, honey, you don't need to say anything at all!" Naima swooped a motherly arm around her shoulders and guided her further into the kitchen. "This is probably all a little overwhelming. Why don't you come help me for a bit and we'll just ease you into the group, nice and slow. How does that sound?"

Relief flooded Jess's bones and she blurted, "Yes, please! Thank you! You are amazing!"

"Oh, not at all, Jess! Not at all. You're ok." Naima gave her shoulders a little rub and cast a knowing look at her as she pulled away, grabbed a pair of oven mitts and pulled two trays of cookies from the oven. "Here. Take those off the tray for me and put them on the cooling rack. Scott, get out of that fridge. Lunch is nearly ready."

"I'm just getting a beer!"

Naima raised an eyebrow. "I saw you take a pastry. Do I need to put you on RJ duty? Or maybe Jameelah needs to paint your toes again while you're sleeping."

Metal just grinned bigger than Jess had ever seen, shoveled the whole pastry in his mouth and walked out.

"Now, how come he gets away with that and I don't?" Sonny all but whined as he started in on putting the potatoes into a serving bowl next.

"Who says he got away with it?" Naima asked lightly as she tossed another tray of cookies in the oven and set a timer. "Now, Jess, Ray mentioned you're in your last year and finishing your major in Biology and are thinking about doing some further schooling! Tell me more about that!"

"Sure!" Over half the tension left her body every time Naima spoke to her and Jess found herself sharing as easily as if she'd been talking to her favorite aunt. "I took a Bio Major, but then a minor in Botany too. Some of my courses are transferable for a Marine Biology program at a University near here, so I might do that, or there's an option of getting into Environmental Sciences. Another option is to get into the research side of things. There are few opportunities on the plants side of things that are super interesting! I don't really know right now what I'm going to do."

"There's nothing wrong with having lots of options." Naima told her as she took the cool cookies from the rack and put them in a cookie jar.

Even with the woman bustling around the kitchen, she spoke to Jess in a way that made her feel like the most important person in the room, and it worked miracles. By the time everything was ready to get put on the table, Jess was miles more at ease. Naima was like an expert weaver the way she would find a reason for almost every member of the party to be in the kitchen once just so Jess could get just a little acquainted with them before eating.

Eating was a little bit of a free for all. The house was on the cozy side, so Jess ended up getting comfortable being close to every fairly quickly.

She met Mikey and Emma Hayes, Jason's kids. Emma was lovely and not much younger than her so while Jess was tempted to be a little intimidated, they ended up conversing quite comfortably when they sat next to each other for the meal. With each minute that passed, everything Jess had been afraid of just sorta slipped away until she got to a point where she found herself laughing with Emma and Naima about something ridiculous and Scott caught her eye.

The smug smirk on his face said it all. He didn't need to say the words for her to know he was telling her, 'I told you so.'

She grinned and rolled her eyes.

Yes, he'd been right. She was wanted here, had been welcomed with open arms and it was a million times better than just sitting at home playing computer games. She relished each moment while telling herself that, even if it was just for today, she had a family and she was grateful for it.

They ate and drank (well, the boys mostly drank, but within reasonable limits with the little ones around). They talked and shared stories. They played games as a whole group. Trent and Brock produced a huge cooler that somehow contained snowballs and a bunch of them had a snowball fight in the backyard.

And then it was over faster than Jess wished for and before she knew it she was receiving hugs and warm farewells at the door. She couldn't find it in herself to be anything but happy. She practically buzzed with warm contentment as Scott took her the few blocks home to her own house.

"So. Was it as bad as you thought it would be?" Scott asked, utterly deadpan. Jess knew he was teasing her.

"Nope. It was great. I'm really glad I came!"

The man smiled and nodded. "Me too."

Just as they pulled into the drive, Jess had another call come in from her mom.

"You don't have to answer that." Scott told her, glaring a little at the phone.

"I know." Jess sighed a little. "However, she's kind of persistent and I'm finally in a headspace where I can deal with her without getting really upset or frustrated, so guess I better. Can I give you a hug before I go and deal with this?"

The bear hug Scott dragged her into spoke for itself.

"Thank you for everything!" Jess said, trying not to get choked up.

"Any time. And I mean that. Also, don't let your mom get to you."

Jess grinned in response to the gruff words and she slipped out of the truck, answering her phone.

"Hi mom. Merry Christmas."

Scott could still hear her even when the door closed. The girl spoke with a confidence in her worth that he knew she didn't have that morning.

"Nope. I was at a Christmas party with friends. It was lovely, thanks for asking. Nope you don't know a single one of them. Wow. Well, that's not really any of your business, now is it? Nope. We aren't having that conversation. Would you like to talk about something else?" Jess turned and waved as she disappeared into her house.

Scott nodded to himself, satisfied. She was going to be ok. There was a pack of wolves watching out for her.