The dimmed lights of Christmas ornaments rhythmically cast vibrant colors throughout the house, adding joy to the festive atmosphere and bringing a sense of relief to the soul. Bright red and gold pine garlands adorned the doors of the apartment and each chair was decorated with large red Santa hats that completely covered each back.

"Guys! Guests are ringing the doorbell, please somebody answer!" Connie's voice reached them from the kitchen, occasionally interrupted by the sound of dishes banging.

"Okay, mom!" Jake replied from the living room as he closed the last small window of his advent calendar and excitedly showed Ted the large chocolate he had found.

The man was crouched next to the stereo as he selected a playlist of Christmas songs in a jazzy key to play in the living room. He smiled at Jake and nodded before getting up and opening the door, his heart pounding in his chest.

The white dog opened one eye to check where Ted was going, but did not move from his comfortable spot by the fireplace.

Ted let out a deep sigh before working up the courage to open the door.

"Hi, Dad. Merry Christmas."

"Hello, Spike. Thanks for coming." the guard said, his voice trembling with emotion. He had not seen Spike for a long time and was touched to see him now as a grown man. It was as if the rebellious little boy he often quarrelled with had disappeared, making way for a young boy with a proud look on his face and hands full of paper bags decorated with Christmas pictures. The only thing that had not changed was the garish red punk crest towering over the young man's head, the subject of many arguments in the past. He could not resist giving him a strong hug.

The young man closed his eyes and returned the hug, saying nothing for several seconds. "Thank you for inviting me." he whispered before letting go and stepping back. "This is Nina, my girlfriend. Nina, this is my father."

A charming girl with very short hair gave him an energetic smile before extending her hand in greeting. "Nice to meet you, Mr. Lutz. Spike has often told me about you." her voice was warm and welcoming, with a slight German accent. She watched him intently with her expressive black eyes, as if studying him carefully.

"Nice to meet you too, Nina. Ah, I don't doubt it. He may not have always spoken of me in flattering terms to you." Ted said, returning the handshake and blushing slightly with embarrassment, chuckling at his own awkward joke.

Nina didn't know what to say, so she just laughed awkwardly and looked at Spike.

Her boyfriend quickly took control of the situation to avoid an awkward silence. "Well, we're here now, and that's what matters. Let's put the past behind us." He said in a firm but soft voice. "Oh, hello!"

"Hi!" Jake said cheerfully, appearing from behind Ted. "My name is Jacob, nice to meet you! But you can call me Jake." he added with a laugh.

"Hi Jake, it's always a pleasure to meet my stepbrother." Spike said, winking at him and clenching his hand into a fist, inviting Jake to do the same in greeting. "This is Nina, my girlfriend."

Ted breathed a sigh of relief and as soon as Jake and Nina had finished introducing themselves, he invited the newcomers in.

"Hey, hello doggie!" Spike got down on his knees to greet the dog, who had come to the door with a slight limp. The dog sniffed him warily for a few seconds. "Do you remember me? The last time we saw each other you were a puppy." Spike murmured. The animal's tail began to move faster and faster until it licked Spike's hand. Later he did the same to Nina, who giggled amusedly and bent down to stroke him as well.

"Eh, unfortunately the years are passing for him too." Ted commented in a gentle tone. "He's a little blind and a little deaf, but he's still a good boy. Always will be."

"Oh, welcome! Welcome!" Connie came out of the kitchen in a cute apron embroidered with reindeer and went to greet the new guests. "Nice to meet you! I'm Connie, thank you for joining us this evening! Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to get back to the kitchen. I'm not used to having so many guests at Christmas." she said with a smile before rushing into the kitchen.

"Are you sure you don't need any help, honey?" asked Ted, following her to the kitchen door. "I'm sorry you're doing this all by yourself! Really, if you tell me what I can do, I can help you..."

"No, no, dear. Thank you, but you know I have to do things my way in the kitchen. The presence of other people makes me nervous." Connie gave him a hasty smile before putting the roast turkey in the oven. "Go hang out with them for a while, and when Yutani and his parents arrive, let me know."

"Sure." Ted stepped into the kitchen briefly, just to give Connie a kiss on the cheek, which she returned affectionately. "But really, call me if you need any help." he added before returning to the living room, shuffling noisily in his slippers.

Spike and Nina had taken off their jackets, hats and scarves and were sitting on the couch across from Jake, chatting amiably. Ted was pleased to see that Spike had finally gotten into the habit of not walking around the house in his shoes, but had neatly stored his snow-soaked boots on a special plastic tray next to the front door.

Shortly thereafter, the doorbell rang again and Ted rushed over to greet Yutani's parents, who were barely able to shake his hand as their arms were full of colorful gift packages.

Jake stood up to greet them, blushing visibly when he noticed how much care his girlfriend had taken with her look for this special evening. She wore her hair up in two buns that adorned the sides of her head and a fluffy green Christmas sweater that matched her white skirt perfectly.

Soon Connie came to greet them and assured them that dinner would be ready soon. Ted hurried to bring the guests several trays of appetizers, a bottle of champagne and an alcohol free wine.

Fortunately, the table was already set and so carefully decorated that it received several compliments from the guests. The embroidered white tablecloth was placed on a long table with porcelain plates painted with pine branches on matching underplates, in keeping with the style of this elegant table. The silverware was meticulously placed in its proper order, as were the Christmas decorations, that adorned the table without making it look messy. Connie was an etiquette fanatic and had personally made sure that nothing was out of place: the size and type of silverware, the centerpiece, and the colors of the table were all masterfully and elegantly matched. Long red candles towered over the table, giving the banquet a soft and inviting light.

"I'm so glad you came tonight, baby." Jake said with a big smile.

"So am I. Thank you so much for inviting me, babe." Yutani smiled in return before nibbling on a smoked salmon tartlet. "Hmm. So tasty, I really must compliment your mother."

"She'll be happy." Jake nodded as he munched on some homemade chips. "Hey, I haven't seen the others for a while, except for Fresh. Have you seen them lately?"

"Hmm, since college started I mostly see Bruno, King and Tricky. Oh, did you know that Tricky has found love?"

"Really? I'm happy for her. After being dumped by that girl... what was her name..."

"Lucy?"

"Yes, her. I remember Tricky saying that after Lucy left her, she would never find love again."

Yutani chuckled and shook her head. "Those are things you say when you're heartbroken."

"What's her new flame's name?"

"Jia. A very pretty girl who recently moved to our city from Singapore. They met at a hip-hop class where Tricky was working as her instructor. I think she even introduced her to her parents, but I didn't dare ask how her mother reacted." Yutani took a sip of non-alcoholic white wine and shrugged. "Anyway, she seemed happy. Oh, and if I remember correctly, Rain is now a full-time paramedic in New York. They have a lot to do, but they seem to really enjoy their job. I never could, too much stress. They send regular letters and gifts to Tricky and her family from New York."

"I'm really happy for both of them. How is King doing instead?"

"I know he's in his first year of psychology. I think you knew he's been in an eating disorder clinic for a while, right?"

"Yes, he told me that. But he's better now, right?"

"Apparently he is. Now he wants to become a psychotherapist and help other people with the same problem he had."

"I see. I wish him all the best." Jake nodded with a sincere smile.

"Me too, but I'm sure he'll make it," Yutani nodded in turn. "We should all have dinner together sometime, like in the old days. How is Fresh doing?"

"He is doing well. He enrolled in the conservatory, I think he wants to be a movie soundtrack composer. And I agree. Unfortunately, with this situation of us studying at different universities, we kind of lost touch. It's a shame."

"What are you studying now, Jake?" Spike asked him, having overheard part of the conversation.

"Oh, I'm in my first year of software engineering. My dream is to develop a video game. But I also really like to draw, so maybe I'll also do the graphics part of the project." Jake replied proudly. "What about you?"

"Nina and I have started an underground punk rock band. We do concerts, we perform at events." Spike hugged Nina from the side, covering part of her opposite shoulder with his arm.

Nina smiled at Spike and nodded enthusiastically at Jake. "If you ever need a singer and guitarist for your game soundtrack, you know who to call. What do you do for a living, Yutani?"

"I'm studying robotics with my foster brother Bruno. He wants to major in biomedical engineering to design prosthetics for amputees. I am still not sure what I want to specialize in. I would like to work in the space field, maybe to create those robots that explore other planets." Yutani replied enthusiastically. She loved to talk about her work and her passions.

Spike and Nina nodded, but before they could respond, they were interrupted by Connie's ringing voice inviting them to join the table.

As the guests approached the table, Connie smiled softly. "This Christmas Eve I feel so blessed. This year I am thankful for the health of my family, for your company, and for the happiness of my home. I hope you enjoy this magical evening as much as I do." She said sweetly as she invited her guests to sit down. "I hope you enjoy my cooking. Tonight you will enjoy a delicious salad, a large turkey, a warm Swiss-style fondue, fruit, and finally an excellent glazed panettone from Italy. My pastry chef has personally vouched for its quality."

She smiled at the exclamations of amazement and excitement from her guests before sitting down to enjoy that joyous dinner.

~

Yutani sat on the sofa with her eyes closed, occasionally sipping a cup of warm milk. Jake sat next to her, stroking her prominent belly that peeked through the blanket. The wedding ring on his finger occasionally shone, reflecting the sunlight.

"Just a few more months and we could meet our girls." Jake murmured with an affectionate smile.

Yutani opened her eyes and nodded quietly. "Yes. I can't wait for Mimi and Rin to be born. Who knows what their lives will be like... I hope I will be a good mother."

"You'll be the best mom in the world, honey," Jake said softly. Yutani giggled and shook her head.

"Thank you, love. Thank you also for letting me give them my last name. It really means a lot to me to carry on my parents' last name."

"Don't thank me, it's my pleasure that my asshole father's last name dies with me." Jake said with a bitter laugh.

"Do you know what happened to him?"

"No, and I don't care. Not after what he did to my mother. Good thing she remarried Inspector Ted, who was able to give her the love she deserved."

Yutani smiled amusedly. "Amazing how fate changes things. I remember when we were kids and you called him 'old fart' and he chased you around the old subway yard."

"I was a pretty pestiferous kid, yeah." Jake laughed with glee. "I was really into graffiti back then. It seems crazy to me, too, everything we went through ... sometimes I wonder if it was just a weird dream or if it really happened."

"It seems weird to me too. Remember Frank, that strange man with the rabbit mask? How scary he was!"

"I remember him well. You know, I still dream about him sometimes. I also dream of a strange symbol, a kind of circle with two elongated X's in it. In the dream, Frank often tells me to be careful, that they can control me and track me through my dreams. I never understood to whom he was referring." Jake said, shaking his head.

"That's crazy. Hopefully it is not a premonition or a warning; after all, there is a belief that dreams are portals to connect different dimensions."

"I guess we will never know." Jake sighed and shook his head.

"Yeah... By the way, Jake...There is one thing that has never left my mind. I remember well that the head of our team - what was her name? Maia? She had said that Frank had gone back in time to steal codes from a brilliant scientist who had the same last name as me." Yutani suddenly became serious and put a hand on her belly as well. "Do you think...?"

"I don't think so, don't worry. That would be too much of a coincidence. It would be like saying I invented the sport of super runners of the future just because I made this game based on our experience." Jake laughed. "Do you think Frank stole the codes from one of our daughters?"

"Who knows - maybe they will become scientists like me! I'd better warn them before they do something stupid." Yutani's mood did not seem to change despite Jake's reassurances. "After all... I remember Andy laughing just before we escaped into the time tunnel. Maybe he didn't stop us completely or change the settings of the time machine because he knew that..."

"Really, baby, I don't think so," Jake interrupted her gently. "Andy would have shown up by now, don't you think? He never came back for us. Maybe Miss Maia didn't die, maybe she was saved by Tagbot, and maybe they were able to defeat him before he could come back to hurt us."

"Maybe you're right. But maybe he also let us do it because he knew that our daughter would then create the codes they needed."

"I don't think so. Try not to think about it too much, a pregnancy already brings so many worries. We don't need these conspiracy theories." Jake concluded, trying to calm his wife.

"Plus, what will you tell our daughters? Will you tell them not to start an important work project for fear of creating codes that might change the fate of mankind? They would ask you how you know that, of course, do you think they would believe our story of having traveled through time?"

"No, actually that wouldn't make much sense." Yutani nodded before closing his eyes again and smiling serenely. "It was probably just a coincidence, you are right."