Disclaimer: Glen A. Larson and Universal own the Knight Rider characters in this story. Bonnie's family and her family background were created by me.

Chapter 4

"Bonnie ... but ..." Emily Barstow didn't know what to say when she saw her oldest daughter standing in front of her. The surprise was a success. Emily's face lit up and she pulled Bonnie into a tight hug. "Oh Bonnie, I thought you weren't coming." She smiled happily at her daughter and looked at her. She immediately noticed that Bonnie looked tired and wondered if it was because of the trip or because Bonnie worked too much and neglected to get enough sleep. Then she realized that Bonnie wasn't alone. A tall, handsome man with flowers in his hands was standing next to her. Emily raised an eyebrow and looked questioningly at him. Bonnie had never mentioned that she had a boyfriend. But who was he?

"Bonnie?" Lauren finally caught up with her mother and heard her mention her sister's name. "Oh my god, it's really you. What a surprise!" Lauren carefully pushed past her mother and hugged her sister. She saw Michael standing next to Bonnie, smiled at him and gave him a hug too. "Hey you. Handsome as ever. It's so good to see you."

"You two know each other?" Emily was surprised that Lauren seemed to know the stranger well. Did her daughters have secrets?

"Oh, sorry, Mom, I forgot that you haven't met yet. Mom, that's Michael Knight. We work together at FLAG." Bonnie explained quickly while Michael said hello to Emily. "Michael, meet my mother, Emily Barstow. You already know Lauren. And this is her husband, Luke Peterson. And that's …..", Bonnie pointed proudly to the black Trans Am in the driveway. "…. that's KITT. He and Michael are the reason I can be here after all."

"So you are the one who ruined my driveway." The smile disappeared from Emily's face and she turned to Michael while he and Luke were shaking hands.

"Mom! Try to be bit nicer. Thanks to Michael, Bonnie can spend the holiday with us" Lauren shook her head. This behavior was typical for her mother. "I'm sorry, Michael, my mother doesn't really like surprises."

"I'm sorry, Mrs. Barstow, I didn't think the EBS would leave such traces. We were trying to get here as quickly as possible and therefore went very fast most of the time. Bonnie invented Super Pursuit Mode which increases KITT's speed." Michael explained to Emily. Then he remembered the flowers. " By the way, Happy Thanksgiving. These are for you."

"Thanks. They are lovely." Emily didn't know Michael Knight, but after the first impression she had already decided not to like him. Not even the flowers could change that. She hoped he was indeed only someone Bonnie worked with and not involved with her daughter. "And thank you for driving Bonnie to Boston. I'm glad you are here, sweetheart."

"Me too. I really missed you." Bonnie said. Michael could tell how happy she was. "Where's Dad? He's not working, is he?"

Luke and Lauren laughed. "No, he's not working. He's in the living room, watching the parade with Lilly." Lilly was Lauren's 5-year-old daughter. She was Bonnie's goddaughter and adored her aunt. "Come on in, it's freezing outside. Are you hungry?"

"A little. But I could really need a coffee. We were driving all night long and I'm not used to sleeping in the car. Although I have to admit that KITT's seats are quite comfortable." Bonnie laughed and Michael followed her to the door.

"So the black T-top is KITT?" Luke stopped them and pointed to KITT. "I saw it earlier downtown. You guys were going about 150 mph if not faster. What kind of car is this?"

"I'm the Knight Industries Two Thousand. I'm the car of the future." KITT explained through Michael's comlink.

"It talks?" Luke said confused. He knew that his sister-in-law worked with computers and Lauren had mentioned KITT, but he had never met him before.

Bonnie and Michael laughed. "Yes, he talks. KITT is my baby. He's an AI inside the car. The car is a modified Trans Am. KITT isn't a normal car though. He is safer and faster than any other car and has other features but that would be too complicated to explain. What you saw was his Super Pursuit Mode, which allows you to go up to over 300 mph. That's why we made it in time for Thanksgiving to Boston."

"Well, ok. I knew that you were a genius, Bon, but this is totally cool." Luke replied, still admiring KITT in the driveway. "Are you also a genius, Mike?"

Michael smiled. "No, I'm just the nut behind the wheel, as Bonnie likes to call me. I wreck KITT and she fixes him." Bonnie playfully nudged him in his side. This was a long time ago and she no longer called him that. "KITT and I are partners, we solve cases for the Foundation for Law and Government. Bonnie mentioned that you own a restaurant. That's a cool job too." Bonnie had been right, Michael already liked Luke. But he could tell that Bonnie's mother wasn't too impressed with him. And the driveway wasn't the only reason why she was rather distanced.

"Enough car talk, let's go inside. Bonnie needs her coffee fix." Lauren interrupted Michael and Luke. She took her sister's hand and dragged her into the house.

"I'll get our bags quickly..." Michael remembered that they were still in KITT's trunk.

"Oh, you are staying too?" Emily turned to Michael. Bonnie felt her face turn into a light red shade. She regretted not having called her mother before. "I assumed you were only dropping Bonnie off here." She knew she sounded unfriendly. She was happy to see her daughter and grateful that she was here, but she wasn't sure why Bonnie had brought Michael along. "Bonnie, you should have called and told us that you were bringing a guest. You knew that we were redecorating the guest room."

"Mom, Michael doesn't have family and I thought it would be nice for him to celebrate Thanksgiving with us. I hope you don't mind. And he doesn't have to sleep in the guest room ..." Bonnie planned to tell her mother that Michael could sleep on the couch in the living room or on the one in her bedroom when Lauren interrupted her.

"He can sleep in my old bedroom. Luke and I are staying at our place anyway. The only person who occasionally uses it for a nap is Lily." Lauren explained. She and Bonnie still kept their old bedrooms at their parents' house. Since the house was big enough, there was no need to turn them into additional guest rooms or a study and Bonnie and Lauren appreciated using their old bedrooms when they were staying at their parents' house. "You don't mind sharing a bathroom with Bonnie, don't you, Michael?"

"Not at all." Michael smiled at Lauren and mouthed thank you.

"Fine. Well, looks like we've solved this problem. I'll see if your father has fallen asleep in front of the TV." Emily made a mental note to have a word with Lauren later. It was her house and Lauren and Bonnie could at least ask before they invited guests.

"Sorry about that, Michael. Our mother can a bit difficult. Especially when she is surprised and caught off guard" Lauren apologized. "She isn't always nice to Luke either."

"Bonnie warned me before and told me not to take it personally." Michael carried his and Bonnie's bag inside the house. He couldn't help noticing that just like Emily Bonnie sometimes reacted similarly when she was caught off guard. He knew both women didn't mean to sound harsh. It was their way of hiding their feelings and it had taken him time to realize this and to anticipate Bonnie's reactions to surprises "Thanks for letting me sleep in your bedroom."

"You are welcome. Why don't you and Bonnie put your bags in your rooms and in the meantime Luke and I will make some coffee for you?" Lauren suggested and headed to the kitchen.

"Follow me, Michael." Bonnie guided him to the staircase, and they walked up the stairs to her bedroom. She pointed to one of the white doors. "That's my bedroom. Lauren's is the one next to it." Michael followed to Lauren's old bedroom. Lauren's bedroom was just as he had imagined. Girly and pink. He looked around and noticed a door next to the closet which piqued his curiosity. "What's behind this door?"

"Oh, it's a connecting door to my room. I hope it doesn't bother you. You can lock it of course." Bonnie quickly said. She had forgotten about the door to her sister's room, but she was sure Lauren hadn't.

"Nah, why should it bother me?" Michael laughed and put his bag on the dresser.

"Michael? Thanks again for doing this for me. And I'm really sorry about my mother. She didn't mean to be that rude but didn't expect me to bring you. She probably thinks we are in a relationship and I didn't tell her." Bonnie knew that this was the reason why her mother was not friendly.

"And let me guess, she would not be happy if we were." Michael wondered what Bonnie would answer if her mother would ask her about their relationship. He briefly thought about asking her but decided not to.

"You are right." Bonnie admitted, then quickly changed the subject as she always did when she felt insecure about something. "You haven't met Lilly yet, right? You'll love her. I'm sure she will fall for KITT." She opened the connecting door and dropped off her bag before returning to Michael's room. "Do you want to get some rest or are you ready to go back downstairs?"

"You want your coffee, don't you?" Michael teased her. She was still standing in the door frame and was waiting for his decision. He didn't mind hiding a bit longer, but coffee sounded good. "Um, Bonnie? Don't worry about me. I'll be fine. Enjoy spending this day with your family. I'm happy because you are happy."

Bonnie's face lit up and she walked over to Michael and hugged him. "Thank you, Michael. That means a lot to be. I won't ever forget this. And if I do and yell at you, please remind me."