Erin frowned as she woke up some time later. She felt like something was wrong, even as she looked across the bed to see that Alex was next to her, curled around a pillow as she still slumbered on. Looking over the woman's shoulder, her eyes widened when she saw that it was after eight, and she had slept through the midnight service. "Fuck," she whispered lowly as she sat up and stretched.

"I knew this would happen, Erin."

Looking over at the doorway, she saw David coming into the guest room, tray in hand, and gave him a sheepish smile. "I didn't mean…"

"You were finding your footing with Alex again, so it's okay. The kids understood that this is important, too. I've brought breakfast in bed for you two, and I'm going to be starting our afternoon meal, when you're ready to come downstairs."

"Thank you." Erin took the tray from his hands, smiling against his lips as he bent down to kiss her. "We'll see you soon." As soon as he had closed the door, Erin set the tray on her lap and then reached over to shake Alex's shoulder, watching her wake up slowly, a confused smile on her lips as she opened her eyes to see Erin looking down on her.

"What time is it?"

"After eight. David let us sleep, I think he heard us still talking at almost midnight. And he decided to bring us breakfast in bed. As soon as we're finished eating, I think that it will be time to open gifts. Would you like to stay, or do you have to go home and be with James?"

Alex looked down at the tray of food on Erin's lap as she sat up, shrugging a little as she reached out for a mug of coffee and taking a long sip. "James is still overseas, so I'll be alone for the rest of the day."

"You don't have to be. Stay, spend Christmas Day with us. You won't have anything to open, but I would love to have your presence here. And Elise is infatuated with you, so it would truly make her day. You can change into one of my sweaters, too, if you want something fresh to wear."

"Still as stubborn as ever," Alex muttered as Erin gave her a small smirk, handing over one of the plates before digging into the remaining one, finding herself hungrier than she had thought. They ate in a soft silence, and Erin tried to keep her emotions in check, since she had never expected a Christmas miracle to happen to her, and yet, here she was in the flesh. "I suppose that I can't disappoint your Leelee."

"Thank you," she murmured as they finished eating. After piling the plates back on the tray, Erin clambered out of bed, cracking her back before looking over at Alex. "All right, follow me to our bedroom, and I'll pick out a sweater before showing you the bathroom so that you can brush your teeth and hair." Alex gave her a small nod before falling into step behind her. Erin opened her closet to Alex and then went over to the bathroom door, slipping behind it to take care of her morning needs before heading downstairs, knowing Alex would follow when she was ready.

"You're finally up!"

She looked over at Tabitha, giving her a withering look as she rolled her eyes. "Just because I fell asleep talking to my lost friend, does not give you the right to sass me on Christmas morning."

Her middle daughter giggled before coming over to her side and hugging her tightly. "I know, but I like teasing you, Mama. Is she awake, too?"

"Yes, and she's picking out a fresh sweater from my closet before heading down here. Now, what did I miss at this year's service?"

They settled into a short conversation as Erin waited for Alex to come down and join them. "I have a little shadow," Alex announced as she led Elise in by the hand, a delicate look on her face. "I think she thought that you were the one in the bathroom. I don't know if she was upset or thrilled to find me there instead."

"Thrilled! You're the nice lady from the softball game." Elise grinned up at Alex before letting go of her hand and dancing over to Erin, climbing awkwardly up into her lap before letting her head thump down heavily on her shoulder. "Come over here and sit by me."

"Far be it from me to say no to our princess," Alex replied with a slight chuckle as she sat down next to Erin. Soon enough, Catherine was toddling over to the sofa and crawling up into Alex's lap, curling up close to her.

"I'll go wake Bruce up so that we can start presents, Momma."

She looked up at Karen, giving her a small smile as she nodded, watching her oldest leave the room. "There's even a gift for you, Alex."

All the adults quickly turned their heads to look at Tabitha, but David was the first to react. "I'm sorry? None of us knew that she was going to be over here, and so there are no gifts from us under the tree."

"No, they were left on the porch. You were so busy getting Cathy into the house that you didn't notice them, so I brought them in and put them under the tree. I figured that maybe Penelope dropped them off on her way out of town."

Erin shook her head, knowing that Penelope had actually stayed home this year to do volunteer work at the homeless shelter near her home, she had told her as much when handing over her present before the break. "No, darling, Penny's home this year. David, would you take the girlies over to the tree and have them find their gifts while Tabitha brings us those packages?"

He nodded as she shifted Elise off her lap, nudging her towards her husband while Catherine squirmed off Alex's lap and ran towards the tree at the mention of gifts. Tabitha hesitantly knelt down and picked up two similarly wrapped gifts and brought them over to the sofa, handing them to the correct recipients before settling down on the floor in front of them, watching them carefully. "Why is getting a Christmas present a bad thing?" she asked quietly, and Erin pursed her lips as she thought about how to answer her daughter without saying too much.

"Because we don't know who they're from, Tabitha. There's something inherently creepy about that, especially when we weren't involved in a Secret Santa exchange. And it comes with the territory of our jobs, since we deal with awful people on a daily basis. You didn't do anything wrong, we just have to be careful about what happens."

It was the perfect answer, and Erin gave Alex a tender smile before taking a look at the tag that was tied to the package by a ribbon. The writing appeared to be the same as in their letters, and she shuddered a little to realise that they were still being watched. Alex reached over and squeezed her elbow gently. "I'm okay."

"We will be okay, yes. But we're not going to open these in front of the kids. We want to keep Christmas happy for them." Erin nodded at the wisdom in her words as she set the unwanted gift on the floor next to her, watching Alex follow suit before scooting closer to her and as Karen and Bruce reentered the living room, she focused on the joy that was their children opening gifts and the warmth of the friendship that had been renewed between herself and Alex.