Thank you so much for being patient! I know it took way too long to post this chapter. Hope you'll enjoy it.

Disclaimer: Glen A. Larson and Universal own the Knight Rider characters in this story.

A Knight's Christmas

Chapter 24

Christmas Eve.

A day which used to be magical for Michael when he was a child, anxiously awaiting to celebrate Christmas with his parents. This anxiousness vanished when he became Michael Knight. While he still loved and enjoyed the holiday season, he had lost his fascination with Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. Instead, Christmas became a holiday filled with loneliness and longing for one more celebration with his family. He dreaded the cheerfulness at the Foundation's Christmas banquets, the questions about his holiday plans, and the small talk with the guests who happily mentioned how much they were looking forward to being with their families, unaware that he would never be able to spend Christmas with his family again.

This year, however, felt like a new beginning. For the first time in what seemed to be an eternity, he hadn't even considered not showing up at Devon's Christmas function. Michael's life had changed, and he owed his happiness to the woman he was in love with: to Bonnie

His eyes were glued on her as they walked together to the ballroom. How he wished he could spend the evening with her as his date. Usually, Devon asked Bonnie to welcome to the guests with him. Once everyone was seated or began to mingle, Bonnie's task was the same as Michael's: engage their donors and guests in conversations, inform them about their projects without revealing too many details, and politely try to convince them to support their cause. Afterwards, there were plenty of opportunities for Michael and Bonnie to enjoy the functions together or to sneak out unnoticed.

Unfortunately, this year would be different as Jennifer Knight was welcoming the guests with Devon, and Irving Faber had requested to have Bonnie by his side at the banquet. And of course, Irving was already anxiously waiting for Bonnie to arrive. An annoyed sigh escaped her mouth as she left Michael and joined Devon and Irving.

"Save me a dance." Michael's effort to cheer her up made her smile. He had told her he had a plan, and Bonnie hoped whatever he had planned would save her from having to spend the entire evening with Irving. Instantly, she felt guilty about her thoughts. Irving was one of the good, harmless members at Helios and he's always been well-behaved around her. It wasn't entirely his fault that she was dreading the banquet. Though she wasn't looking forward to Irving's monologues, she knew that it was important for the Foundation to show Irving around. What annoyed her, however, was that April, who was cheerfully standing next to Devon, had been asked to be Michael's "date".

Irving's eyes lit up at Bonnie's arrival. Four years had passed since he had met her at the Helios mansion. Her beauty had caught his eye that day and he had been desolated that he was robbed of a chance to discuss his research with her. Today was his lucky day, however. He'd spend the evening with the woman of his dreams.

Watching Irving so happy made Michael realize that there was no reason to be jealous or angry. For Irving a dream had come true. He was given the opportunity to sit next to a beautiful woman and discuss his passion for the renaissance with her. She was his date, if one can call this a date, for the entire evening. Michael was well aware how excited and overjoyed Irving felt and he couldn't blame him. However, Michael was in fact the luckier man of them. He was the man Bonnie was in love with. The one who woke up next to her most mornings. The one who was allowed to be her date for more than only one evening.

"Finally." April's voice interrupted his thoughts. She grabbed his arm and pulled him into one of the rooms adjacent to the ballroom. "I've been looking for you everywhere today. I need to talk to you."

Michael grinned at her. "Well, apparently not everywhere. You would have found me otherwise."

"Funny." April closed the door behind them to guarantee their privacy.

"Shouldn't we go somewhere else if you want to be alone with me?" Michael teased her. He knew exactly why April wanted to talk to him in private. She still hadn't informed him about her lie to Devon and now she was worried that Devon would mention it to Michael.

"I'm not in the mood for jokes, Michael." April had spent the day looking for Michael, while at the same time she hadn't left Devon's side to make sure he didn't talk to Michael. She assumed that Michael was probably at Bonnie's as she wasn't at the mansion either. She could have called there but didn't dare to because she didn't want to infuriate Bonnie. "This is serious." She sighed and sat down on the armrest of the sofa before she continued. "Devon asked me and Bonnie to stop by his office last night. He is quite worried about you being alone over the holidays. So, I told him that you'd be driving me to my sister's house and that you'd spend the break with me there. "

April's eyes focused Michael as she explained the reason why she had lied to Devon. She would never tell Michael how happy she would be if her lie came true. She had fallen for Michael when she started working at the Foundation. Though Michael had been susceptible to her flirting with him, he had been honest and had made it clear to her that his heart belonged to Stevie. And after Stevie's death it was obvious to her that it now belonged to Bonnie and that she would never have a chance with Michael. Still, she wouldn't give up hope that one day he'd finally have feelings for her.

Moments passed before Michael decided to speak. He wasn't upset with April. How could he be? All she wanted was help him and take a load off Devon's chest. "How did Devon react?"

"You aren't going to yell at me?" April's eyes widened as she realized that Michael wasn't furious at her. "He was relieved. As if all his worries suddenly disappeared. I know it wasn't right to lie to him. However, the fact that you decided not to tell anyone about your plans made Devon fear that you'd break down or drown your pain in alcohol. Bonnie tried to explain to Devon that he doesn't have reason to worry. But Devon didn't believe her. Therefore, I lied. And it worked, didn't it? Besides, you have an alibi now. No one will ask you about your mysterious plans anymore. And don't worry, I don't need a ride. Unless you want to. And of course, you are more than welcome at my sister's house. Becky would love seeing you."

He saw the look in her eyes. The hope that he'd say yes buried behind the fear that he could tell Devon that she lied to him. "April, I'm not going to yell at you. To be honest, I might have if you hadn't done it to help me. And Devon, of course." He sighed. "There is no reason for him to worry. I've told me several times, but he won't believe me. Granted, I had told him last year too that I was fine, when I wasn't. That's why I can't blame him for worrying. But it's different this year. And yes, I do have plans. Plans I prefer to keep private." He smiled and his eyes lit off as he thought of Bonnie. "So, thank you, April. For being a friend and finding a way to convince Devon that I'll be okay. We don't want him to spend his "date" with Maggie Smith worrying about me, do we?" Both burst out in laughter. "And thanks for the invitation. But as I said, I have plans for my vacation. I'll stop by your sister's house some other time and say hi to Becky."

"I figured." April replied with a knowing look on her face. "Whoever managed to put the smile back in your face is very lucky."

"I'm the lucky one." Michael explained. "Also, because I have friends like you." He offered her his arm which she eagerly accepted. "We better head back to the banquet. Devon might think that we've decided to skip it and believe that I'm a bad influence on you."

"Besides, we'll have to save Bonnie from Irving, don't we? I saw the look on your face when she walked over to him. It was written all over your face that you'd rather trade places with him." April asked as they walked back to the ballroom. "And RC mentioned something about a plan to distract Irving? What do you have in mind? You do have a plan, don't you?"

"I did." Michael sighed. He had wrecked his brain all day long to come up with a good plan. He had promised Bonnie the night before that he had an idea how to get her away from Irving. "However, I found out that Dr. Tanner and Barbara Ralston weren't able to make it to the banquet. So my original plan won't work anymore. I might have to fake an emergency with KITT again. Unless you have a better idea."

"Maybe I have." The grin on April's face widened. "You'll see."