This story was written as part of the SNS Christmas Fic Exchange. It is my gift written for Kara Shroyer aka @DragonHeart2006. I hope you enjoy this little glimpse into the friendship between Bill and Nathan! Merry Christmas!

Chapter One: One, Two, Three… Not It

Nathan was sitting alone at a small table by himself close to the kitchen facing the door of the cafe. He took a long swig of what was now lukewarm liquid in his mug. Nathan glanced around the room for a moment and then went back to the current copy of the Valley Voice that was sitting in front of him.

"How's the coffee? I tried a new blend that I ordered from Buxton. Curious to know what you think," a gruff voice asked from behind. Nathan looked up just as Bill stood next to him, holding the pot of the piping hot liquid in his hand.

Bill gestured to Nathan asking if he wanted his cup refilled and Nathan smiled and eagerly handed the almost empty cup to his older friend.

"It's good. I like it. It's very earthy and smooth tasting." Nathan said as he looked into the older man's eyes.

Bill smiled, patted Nathan on the back and thanked him for the input. The two chitchatted about their schedules that day.

Just then, Rosemary entered the cafe, looked around and then smiled brightly when she spotted the two of them across the room. Immediately, she made a beeline to them.

"Just the two people I wanted to speak with! You know, it's nearly December and that means it's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!" Rosemary said cheerfully as she looked between the two men.

They looked at one another quizzically and then back at Rosemary. Exasperated, she shook her head and continued speaking.

"Anyway… I'm here for a couple of matters. Bill, the Christmas planning committee needs a place to meet, and I was thinking that your office would be perfect! We could hold the meeting there this evening once everyone is finished with work. How does 5 pm sound? Rosemary said in a manner that was more of a statement than a question.

"Well, I really …" Bill began but was interrupted as Rosemary started speaking again.

"I knew you'd agree! Splendid! Now I need you both to be there tonight of course. We can't meet without our town Mountie and judge, could we? There are so many things that we need your help with. Santa… oh we must not forget Santa! It's all going to be so exciting!" Rosemary clapped her hands and smiled brightly with a far-off look.

The two men glanced at one another and then back at Rosemary.

"Well, I must be going! There's so much to do before tonight. I will see you both there! Oh, there's Minnie! I must speak with her about some snacks or something for this evening's meeting. Have a wonderful day!" Rosemary called out as she sauntered off to speak to Minnie.

Bill just shook his head and said, "What have we gotten ourselves into?"

Nathan smirked and shook his head without saying a word. Bill rolled his eyes and walked away from the table grumbling under his breath.

Nathan finished up his coffee, folded his newspaper and reached into his pocket to leave a tip before walking over to the counter to pay.

After he paid Minnie, he waved to Bill in the kitchen just before turning to start his rounds for the day.

Later on that afternoon, Nathan was sitting at his desk working on paperwork when Bill abruptly came into the Mountie office and took a seat across from Nathan.

Nathan stopped writing and watched Bill as he sat there, waiting for the older man to say something, but he never did.

"Bill. Good to see you again. Can I help you with something this afternoon?" Nathan asked as he set his pen down, sat back in his chair and looked across the desk at Bill.

Bill scowled at Nathan for a moment before speaking.

"Ugh! This meeting tonight for the Christmas committee has been bugging me all morning. I know Rosemary is going to try to rope me into playing Santa." Bill said in a frustrated manner.

He sat back in his chair and continued talking, "I don't mind helping build booths, floats or even decorating. But I don't want to play Santa. I'm not jolly. And that suit… it's so itchy. No thank you!"

"Come on Bill! You know that you want to put on that red suit this year. In all this time you've been in Hope Valley, you never have played the role." Nathan said to his older friend with an amused tone and a twinkle in his eyes.

Bill scowled at Nathan for moment and then responded, "Oh I did play Santa! It was a few years before you arrived. Elizabeth left it up to Lee, Jack and me to figure out who would do it. We chose to play darts to decide who would play Santa and I lost. So, I've done my duty in that role! There's plenty of other men in this town who can do it. I don't want any part of it!"

Nathan chuckled and Bill shook his head, glaring at him as he said, "If you think it's so funny, why don't you volunteer this year?"

Nathan just laughed even harder at the tone of the comment, shook his head and waved both of his hands in the air.

"Nope, I wear a red suit almost every day. I'd like to be able to be out of uniform for his holiday. You know it is my first Christmas with Elizabeth. Besides, what do you think Jack would think if he found out Mountie Nathan was Santa?" Nathan said matter of factly.

Bill sat thoughtfully and then said, "Hmmm, true! But if you're worried about Jack, then I could use that same excuse this year if I was pressed on the matter. How do you think my godson would react to finding out his godfather was Santa?"

Nathan snorted in laughter as he slapped Bill on the back. "Looks like we both have a reasonable excuse. Do you think the town will buy it though?"

"Oh, I hope they do, or I throw anyone who challenges it in jail. Well, I better go and get some work done before this meeting starts in a few hours. I'll see in my office after a while." Bill said with a wink as he exited the Mountie office.

Nathan just shook his head as he chuckled and went back to his paperwork.

The group sat in various chairs around Bill's office. It was decided that the Hope Valley Christmas committee would consistent of the key representatives from the community's businesses: Coulter Enterprises, The Valley Voice, the Queen of Hearts, the pharmacy, the clinic, the barber shop, the school, the Mounties, Abigail's Cafe, the mercantile and the church.

The room was filled with chatter as the friends discussed ideas for their Christmas festivities amongst themselves.

Bill cleared his throat to try to gain their attention but failed. Next he attempted to speak but the voices filled the room where even his gruff voice couldn't be heard. Finally, annoyed enough at the lack of attention his attempts were receiving, he shook his head, picked up his old gavel and pounded it abruptly on the dull wooden pad in front of him.

The room grew silent, and all eyes fell on him, waiting for what the judge had to say for himself.

"Well, finally! It took you all long enough." Bill said gruffly as he sat back in his chair. He gestured to Rosemary to take the floor.

With that Rosemary nodded and stood. She glanced around the room at her friends and smiled brightly.

"This year we want to make Christmas extra special. We have much to celebrate here in Hope Valley! Our very own Lucas becoming mayor, the success of the hot springs and the arrival of little Goldie."

Rosemary beamed with pride at Lee at the mention of their baby girl's name as he smiled back at her. Bill cleared his throat and brought Rosemary out of her reverie.

"Anyway, so the plan is that in addition to the usual Christmas gathering at the Queen of Hearts on Christmas Eve and the town tree, we need to decide on this year's Santa. In addition, I thought that it would be fun to have a Secret Santa gift exchange for the night of the party at the Queen of Hearts."

The friends looked around and nodded their heads in agreement.

"Splendid! Let's have everyone write their names down and I will collect them. Before everyone leaves tonight, make sure to draw your person's name and that will be the person that you will give a gift to at the Christmas party." Rosemary said in an excited tone as she checked one item off her list on her clipboard.

"Rosemary, I have a question. Do you think that we could bring back the Christmas parade like we did Jack's last Christmas? It was such a great thing for our little town and the children loved it. I know I personally would love to have Little Jack be part of it and I'm sure some of the other children like Allie and Sarah would love to participate too." Elizabeth said as she looked at her friend and then at Nathan. Nathan smiled at her, then reached over and gave her hand a squeeze.

Rosemary smiled at Elizabeth, waved her pencil in the air and said in response, "I love that idea! It's been too long since we've done that! What a great community event to kick off the festivities I'd say."

She scribbled furiously onto her page as Fiona chimed in next.

"You know the festival was a hit a few years ago. We wouldn't have to go all out like Lucas did. But I think having some of the booths like we did back then would be wonderful. Of course, we'd have to have roasted chestnuts." Fiona said as she winked at Faith.

Rosemary put the pencil top to her chin for a moment in thought.

"That's a good idea too, Fiona! Let's brainstorm a little more to see what things we could come up with." Rosemary commented as she jotted down some things in her notes.

After brainstorming a little more, the committee had decided to do a festival like atmosphere the week leading up to Christmas Eve. On Christmas Eve, the day would kick off with the town parade and later that evening, the program at the church and then finally followed by their feast and Secret Santa exchange. There was an air of excitement in Bill's office.

Rosemary gasped loudly and stood to her feet again as she excitedly said, "Wait, we almost forgot! We still need someone to play this year's Santa. Do I have any volunteers?"

A hush fell upon the room and the men looked around nervously at one another and subtly shook their heads.

Rosemary placed her hands on her hips and looked at Lee pleadingly.

"Honey, if you remember, I've already played Santa a few years back. Besides, it's Goldie's first Christmas. I'd really like to spend the time with my girls." Lee responded with a puppy dog look on his face.

Rosemary contemplated what Lee said and nodded her head. She moved her gaze on to Bill. When the pair made eye contact, Bill instantly shook his head and waved his hands.

"Oh no! I've done my duty as Santa too! It's someone else's turn this year. "Bill said firmly as he folded his arms across his chest.

Rosemary scowled and looked around at the group then her eyes fell on Nathan.

"I … uh… I need to make sure I'm available in case I need to go on rounds. Besides, I'm always wearing red, so everyone would know it's me. And what would that do to Little Jack's image of Santa if he discovered it was me." Nathan stammered over his words as he looked at Elizabeth for assistance and then at Bill.

Bill chimed in and said, "The same goes for me. It would devastate Jack if he discovered his "Uncle" Bill was Santa. We can't have that now, can we?"

Rosemary shook her head wearing an annoyed look on her face. Seeing her frustration and the lack of response from the men in the room, Fiona stood to her feet and put her hands on her hips.

"Oh, you men! Where's your Christmas spirit?!" Fiona said in a frustrated tone.

She crossed her arms in front of her and looked at each man in the room, deep in thought. Finally, she looked back at Rosemary with an excited expression on her face.

"Rosemary are you set in having one of these unwilling men be Santa this year? If not, I think I've got a solution." Fiona said confidently.

Rosemary sighed and started to say, "Well, I had hoped…".

But before she could finish, Fiona walked up to her, looped her own arms in Rosemary's, turning her away from the view of the group and pulling her away out of earshot. She whispered her idea in Rosemary's ear and Rosemary's face lit up as she heard the full plan.

"I love that! Thank you, Fiona," Rosemary said as she checked off Santa on her list.

Fiona went back to her seat with a smug face. Bill and Nathan looked over at one another and Bill rolled his eyes in response. Nathan simply held back a chuckle.

On their way out that evening, the committee each pulled a name out of Rosemary's basket for their Secret Santa.

Nathan walked Elizabeth home and dropped her off. When he got home, he unbuttoned his Serge and hung that along with his hat by the door. Allie was cooking dinner in the kitchen, so he took a seat in the living room. Nathan sat back and unfolded the paper that revealed the name of his Secret Santa assignment. He chuckled as he saw the name.

"Well, this should be fun." Nathan said out loud.

"What's that dad?" Allie asked as she came over to where Nathan was sitting.

Nathan held up the paper and responded, "This is the name of the person who I'm gifting as Secret Santa. Mrs. Thornton will have you all draw names tomorrow as a class."

Allie smiled brightly, clapped her hands and replied, "Oh I love that idea! It will be so much fun! Who did you get Dad?"

Nathan held out the paper for Allie to read herself. She leaned over and read the name.

"Mr. Avery. He should be easy for you Dad. You two are good friends." Allie said as she headed back into the kitchen to check on dinner.

Nathan thought to himself, "Yeah, Bill is a good friend. He's probably the best friend that I've ever had."

Meanwhile, across town, Bill was preparing to leave his office. Just as he went to grab his keys out of his pocket, he felt the paper with the name of the person that he had pulled for the Secret Santa. He hadn't gotten a chance to read the name before Rosemary came over to thank him for the use of his office.

He pulled the paper out of his pocket and quickly unfolded it. He snorted when he read the name scrawled across it.

"Nathan… well, this should be easy…" Bill chuckled to himself as he put the paper back into his pocket and switched off the lights.