As all four women stood on the doorstep waiting for Jo to open the door, the anxiety that Olivia and Kate were feeling was palpable. Rarely did the cold get beneath Kate's skin, but it was really biting today. The morning had gone extremely well with the girls loving their gifts, and spending time at home with Olivia in front of the fire was like the fairytale that Kate had always wanted. Sure, the fairytale looked a bit different, but it was still fairytale. Standing on Jo's front porch made that feel like a distant memory.

Eventually, the door opened and they were all greeted by warmth coming from the home. It was extremely toasty. El and Ruby immediately made entrance, both making a charge for the fireplace.

'My fingers are about to drop off!' Ruby complained, 'It's like minus 10 out there!'

Jo watched as both girls headed for the fireplace and she frowned, 'And merry christmas to you too!' She then turned her gaze to Kate and the woman standing next to her, 'Come on in. If the kids are freezing, I can't imagine how cold you two must be!'

Olivia briskly walked by and thanked Jo for allowing them in. After she hung her coat up, she looked around at the decorations around the place and remarked to Jo how beautiful the place was, 'It really is wonderful.'

Kate passed Jo a bottle of wine, 'And here is a peace offering.'

Jo looked down at the bottle and frowned, 'Mulled wine? Not very Scottish, but it's appreciated. Thank you.' Putting the wine beneath her arm, she walked over to the kitchen, 'Can I get you both anything? A drink? Snacks? I have white and red, and some beers in.'

'Full of class you are.' Kate remarked in a humorous tone, 'I'll take a beer please.' She then looked at Olivia, 'Olivia?'

'I'll take a white wine please Jo.'

Jo looked between them. As much as she could see that they were a match for each other, something twisted in her gut and her mood changed ever so slightly. It appeared that when Kate was with somebody else, jealousy became quite the monster. Unlike Kate, Jo was unable to let her go. There would always be a part of Jo that wished she had never let Kate go. Jo knew it was pathetic, dangerous and controlling, but she couldn't help herself. Still, she nodded politely to the new guest in her home, 'Of course.'

Kate and Olivia both wandered over to the sofa and sat down. There was an actual fire roaring away and the two older kids were hogging it. Kate was a bit confused, as far as she was concerned, no one used coal anymore. Still, it made a conversation starter. She called over to Jo, 'When did you have the old fire taken out, and an older one put in?'

Jo was busy sorting out the drinks when Kate asked her the question. She was quick to respond, 'They'll soon become popular again. I just thought that it's nice. Electric ones got boring, but real ones-'

'Are more labour intensive. Believe me, I lived through the Victorian Era, I know what it is to manage those-' She realised what she said and instantly recoiled, and looked at Olivia, 'Or so I've heard. I know a lot about history, it's surprising I never became a history scholar.'

As much as Olivia found the remarks Kate often made strange, she was still somehow fascinated by it. Still, she replied in a tone that was slightly sarcastic, 'You're telling me. You really should think about becoming a history scholar with the amount you know.'

Jo smirked to herself. Again, the jealousy monster reared its head. In her mind, if Kate couldn't tell Olivia the truth, she could find a way in there again. Picking up the tray, she brought the drinks over and handed them to her guests and answered Kate's question, 'Like fashion trends, fireplaces fueled by coal could have a resurgence.'

Ruby scoffed, 'We don't have any coal mines thanks to Thatcher. I think that argument is a bit silly. I mean, it's cool, but they've learned that coal is a pollutant and nuclear is the way to go, according to the rich nuts. I think that nuclear is a bit meh.'

'We're not going to get political, not today.' Kate replied to them. She then looked at Jo, 'When is Nancy coming round?'

'In a couple of hours, she's just spending time with her family. Have you heard from your mum and dad?'

'God no.' Kate laughed, 'Don't speak it into existence, please Jo.' There was a look on Kate's face that Olivia couldn't describe. Was it dread? She wasn't sure. Still, she moved the conversation forward, 'So Jo, you're a cop too?'

Jo nodded, 'Yes I am. I have been since I was seventeen years old.'

'What made you want to be a cop?' Olivia asked her.

Jo seriously considered trying to scare her by trauma dumping. She even looked over at Kate, and Kate shook her head at her. It was clear to Jo how quiet she was trying to keep her double life. Because of this, Jo decided to do exactly what she was considering not doing. After taking a sip of wine, she decided to talk openly about her trauma riddled past, 'Where do I start? I was forced at a young age into a life in organized crime by my father. I saw him kill my mum in front of me, and my only way out was through Kate.'

Ruby and El looked between each other. Not exactly the fluffy Christmas story that anyone would want to hear.

Even Kate put her head in her hand and looked back at Olivia when she addressed her, 'You saved Jo from OCG's? When? How old were you?'

Kate was going to answer, but Jo jumped in.

'We were in our mid twenties by that point, weren't we? I mean, as a police officer in my early days, I was still on the leash of the OCG, but like I say, Kate got me out of it. All of them are now rotting away in prison.'

Ruby frowned, 'So, mum.' She addressed Kate, 'If you were 25, weren't you still a PC at that point?'

Kate had been in the force a long time before she met Jo, but for the sake of covering her backside, she nodded in agreement, 'Yes, it was one of the biggest cases of my early career.' She was really wondering what Jo was trying to do, if she was trying to out her, she was doing a great job.

Olivia looked back at Kate, 'You said you have five children? Where did you find the time to-'

'She was very busy.' Jo intervened, 'One of them is in prison, one is dead, one is currently either no contact or doesn't want to know, and the other two are in front of you.'

Olivia frowned, 'Why do I have a feeling that there is a lot more that's not being said here?' She looked between Jo and Kate. Kate was stuck for words and had no idea what to say.

Just as if on cue there was a knock on the door. Nancy entered with Skye and Thomas. Both of them were dressed in their best Christmas clothes and were incredibly happy. Jo gave Kate a look, and Kate gave her the daggers. Swiftly, Jo switched her attention to the grandchildren, gleaming with joy, 'Hello kiddos!'

'And these are your grandchildren?' Olivia asked Kate. Kate nodded in acknowledgement. Olivia looked back at them and smiled, 'They are adorable!'

'Aren't they just?' Jo smiled, 'And they're getting so big!'

Thomas ran over to Kate, almost stumbling as he did so. Still, he beamed with happiness the entire time, 'Grandma!'

The grandkids were a nice distraction and Kate embraced it. She opened up her arms to him and he hugged her, 'Hey Thomas! It's so nice to see you! Did Santa come last night?'

Thomas nodded eagerly. He showed Kate his new toy reindeer, 'Look! Santa left this!'

'That's wonderful!' Kate beamed, 'Does it have a name?'

Thomas shook his head.

'That's okay, we can give it a name later.' Kate smiled.

Jo was attending to Nancy across the room. Clearly, she was in need of a stiff drink. She can imagine that the kids were up extremely early, and that Karen would be on her case, 'How early were the kids up today?'

'Half five.' Nancy laughed, 'They were desperate to see what Santa left. He left them a good few toys.'

'Now, are we talking about Santa or The Doctor?' Jo giggled, 'We know he can be generous.'

Olivia overheard the conversation that Jo and Nancy were having and she frowned, 'I didn't know that it was normal for your doctors to give your children gifts…That seems strange.'

Kate laughed nervously, 'No, no. The Doctor is my dad. He's a scholar and he just likes to be called-'

The door burst open and in walked the very person they were talking about. Never did Kate want a miracle like she did now.

'Good afternoon my wonderful sparkly family!' The Doctor was loud and incredibly happy, sporting a white and red Christmas jumper with generic Christmas patterns on, 'Merry Christmas everyone!'

Immediately, Olivia liked this guy, 'And who is that?'

The Doctor heard Olivia's question and his gaze turned to her immediately.

El and Ruby looked between each other. Ruby uttered oh no, before the pair decided to make themselves scarce. Still, the Doctor sauntered over with swagger. He sat on the arm of the sofa beside Olivia, 'I am The Doctor, Kate's father, and you must be Olivia Benson?'

'Yes…Yes I am.' Olivia laughed sheepishly, 'Actually, Kate was about to tell me why you're called "The Doctor"'

The Doctor looked back at Kate. He could see that she was in the seventh pit of hell right now, signaling for him to not say anything. Quickly, he recounted everything he was about to say, 'I am a traveler in space and time figuratively!' He didn't fancy ending up in Kate's bad books and it was clear that Olivia didn't know anything about the alien nature of the family.

Olivia was surprised by his quirkiness. It was endearing, 'Figuratively…Interesting, so the title of "Doctor" is…?'

'It's a scholar name, I…I studied astronomy and history. I…I dabble.' He laughed.

'That explains where Kate's interest in history comes from.' Olivia laughed, 'It is a pleasure to meet you!' Gently, she shook his hand, and he kissed the top of hers, like the polite gentleman he was.

'The pleasure is mine.' The Doctor smiled. He then straightened his back and put both his hands behind him.

'Forgive me…For pointing out the obvious…But you…You look younger than Kate…and the obvious.' Olivia said to him.

'It's just genetics. She spends more of her time in history books and I spend my time living it.'

Kate glared at him now.

'Oh! So you do like immersive shows where you sort of live in the time period? I've seen TV shows that do that. There was one about a Victorian Farm. I found that quite interesting.'

As much as the Doctor was disappointed in this conversation, he understood why Kate wouldn't have said anything yet. He's seen it end badly for her too many times. Normality is something he knew she yearned for and he wouldn't be the one to ruin it for her, so he went along with the conversation anyway, 'Immersive experiences are the best, however, for a black guy like myself, for it to be authentic it's…It has its limits.'

'Of course.' Olivia nodded in understanding, 'But in your workplace, surely they'd bend the rules?'

'They do, they do, I'm speaking in a respect of if it was truly authentic my role would be limited. It is fun though, if you put aside the obvious, being immersed in history is great fun. My speciality at the moment is world war two, I sort of choose different areas of study. No two days are the same.' He laughed, 'Olivia, it was lovely meeting you.'

Something then occurred to Olivia, 'Wait…Wait.' She grabbed his arm before he fled, 'Sorry um…' She laughed nervously, 'If Kate is a grandmother, and you're her father…You'd be…forgive my saying, but you look nowhere near old enough. You must be thirty at least?'

'Like I said. I moisturize.' The Doctor smiled before walking away.

Olivia turned around and looked back at Kate. She felt like a game was being played and it was only everyone around her that knew the rules. She scoffed, 'I'm being punk'd, right?'

Kate gulped her wine and looked back at the glass, 'What do you mean?'

'There is no way that guy is your dad, he's at least ten years younger than you and…Going by human genetics, if he is your dad, he should be in his sixties by now, maybe older?'

'Like I said.' Kate commented, almost done with everything now. She looked back at Olivia with the most serious look on her face, 'I'm an alien.'

Olivia was at a loss for words. She didn't believe the alien thing in the slightest, but Kate's reactions said more. She chose to ignore what was in front of her and she chose to believe the most logical explanation she could come up with.