Hi everyone! I usually update this story at weekends but I'm here because I wanted to give all of you a New Year's gift - the newest chapter I was working on during this Christmas. I hope you'll enjoy it.

Chapter 41

The next morning came. The weather was great, the sun was shining brightly, it was going to be another beautiful day in paradise.

Kumu just came back from the shops where she had bought some groceries for Thomas and Juliet because she thought it would be nice if they had some fresh fruit for breakfast. She started with Thomas' place. She wasn't surprised at all when she knocked on his door and nobody answered her. It was understandable that he must have been sleeping. She let herself in and went right to the kitchen to unload the bags. After doing that, she decided to check on Magnum, those feelings she felt after her friends' kidnapping were still fresh in her mind. Besides, she knew that he discharged himself from hospital, which wasn't very wise to do, especially in his condition, and she thought it would be a very good idea to see if he was okay or if he needed anything.

She went upstairs and stopped in front of the door. Very gently, she knocked on it but there was silence.

"Thomas, are you there?" She asked quietly and when she didn't get any answer, she added. "I'm coming in."

She opened the door and went inside.

"Thomas?"

Kumu looked at the bed where she was sure she'd find him but unfortunately it was empty. She looked around, even checked the bathroom but the PI was nowhere to be seen. With each passing second, she felt panic levels rising in her body. Where was he? Did something bad happened to him? He wasn't kidnapped again, was he? So many questions were clouding Kumu's mind, yet no answers were showing up.

She had to think. He may need help so time was of essence now, then a thought struck her. Juliet. What if Juliet was taken too? Kumu knew she had to act fast and needed to go check the main house. Just as she was about to move out of Magnum's bedroom, something caught her eye – the bed was made. She instantly had a 'déjà vu' feeling. Just a couple of days earlier, the situation was the same and she found out that her friends were missing.

She swallowed hard. No, it couldn't be true, those two couldn't go through those terrible things again. She pulled it together and quickly went downstairs and out of the building towards the main house.

Kumu didn't even bother to knock, just burst inside. She didn't worry that she could disturb Juliet – after telling her that Thomas' life may be in danger again, the woman would surely understand her emergency. Knowing Juliet, she must have already got up, she was an early bird – with jogging or horse riding on the beach the first thing in the morning.

"Juliet?"

Kumu looked around the living room area but evidently her friend wasn't there.

That's odd. Kumu thought but then it came to her that after the past events, Higgins may have felt exhausted and she may have slept in. It would be quite possible.

Kumu climbed the stairs to check her friend's bedroom.

"Juliet, are you in here?" She asked and reached for the door handle. "It's important. Thomas is…" She pushed the door open and what she saw inside shocked her greatly. "…missing.' She finished and stopped dead in her tracks.

She couldn't believe her eyes – there, in the middle of the bed, was Juliet in Thomas' arms – the same Thomas who Kumu thought was missing. At first she stood there dumbfounded but then, when it sank in, the feeling of pure joy appeared. That sight made her ecstatic, if she could, she would shout and jump with happiness at this as she's been cheering for those two to become a couple for so long. She could see there was something between them, sparks were flying in the air whenever those two interacted since the day they'd met. The chemistry between them was undeniable. Everyone could see that. For some time now, they were betting on when Thomas and Juliet would get together. However, Kumu had no idea that she would be the first one to witness that.

She was engrossed in happy thoughts when there was a sudden movement in bed. She froze when she saw that Juliet shifted slightly out of Thomas' embrace and then turned over. Kumu wanted to get out of there and let those two have some privacy, when at the same moment Thomas moved closer to his partner as if sensing deep in his sleep that he wasn't holding her anymore. He put his arm around her and at once his hand found hers. This loving gesture made the woman smile in her sleep.

Finally, Kumu backed silently out of the room, not wanting to intrude any longer. She closed the door as quietly as she could so as not to wake them. After all the things they had experienced this week, they surely deserved all the time to rest and regenerate.

Two hours later, Juliet finally started to wake. She stretched lazily, first her legs and then her arms. To tell the truth, she didn't feel like getting up at all. She lifted her eyelids just a little so she could glance at her watch. Wow, it was quite late, way past her usual getting up time but actually for the first time her mind was telling her that she didn't need to rush and she truly deserved time to relax. She closed her eyes again.

The idea of spending the whole day in her bed with Magnum seemed to be very tempting. She smiled at the thought and then it hit her. Magnum. She didn't feel his loving arms around her. She moved to the other side and stretched her arm to check on her partner but she didn't feel him. She opened her eyes, finding this side of the bed empty.

"Magnum?" She asked deeply surprised. She was alone in the room.

Where was he? Did he wake up and go to his place? Surely, he didn't go kayaking as his injury would prevent him from doing it. Then a sudden thought struck her – was it possible that he was kidnapped again? No, that was preposterous. All those men, led by Peter Burns were gone, she and Thomas were safe now.

Although it was reasonable to think that, she couldn't help but feel some sort of uncertainty so she quickly got out of bed and rushed to the door. As soon as she opened it, she was met with a smell of freshly cooked food. She went downstairs, straight to the kitchen where she was greeted with a peculiar view. Her partner was bustling there, obviously making breakfast. However, looking closely, she noticed there was a lot of other stuff which surely wasn't needed for the meal Thomas was preparing.

"Magnum?" She asked quietly.

He raised his head and looked at her. "Oh, hi, sleepyhead. You were sleeping so peacefully, I didn't want to wake you so I left quietly and went downstairs to make us breakfast." He said with a smile.

"Yeah." Juliet replied but she didn't seem to be very pleased, she was rather deeply bothered by something.

It couldn't be about breakfast itself, he was sure of it, he could bet his dad's watch on it. It had to be something else. He thought and then it hit him – he left her and when she woke up she found herself alone, God knows what she thought about it. Last night with those nightmares she was so fragile, she needed him then and she needed him in the morning too but he wasn't there for her. He felt he let her down.

"Higgy, I'm so sorry. I shouldn't have left your side just like that." He told his partner.

"It's okay, Thomas." She replied.

"No, really. I apologize for that." He stated, rushed to her side and took her in his arms.

"You don't need to apologize but thank you." Juliet smiled and closed her eyes, enjoying this precious moment and wishing it could last forever.

"Okay, now tell me what's this all about." She finally said, surprising Magnum.

"What?"

"All these things." She said, pointing to the bowls, jars, eggs and other things lying on the kitchen counter.

"Ah, these. They are the ingredients."

"Ingredients for what."

"Gingerbread cookies." He replied innocently.

"What? Magnum, you must be joking."

Thomas thought the look on her face was priceless.

"No, I'm not. You didn't believe me when I told you I helped my mom with the Christmas food preparations and I was good at it so here we are now – I'm going to prove to you that I can do it."

"But you should rest. What about your arm?" She asked glancing at it. She noticed that this time, the bandage was clean and there was no trace of blood. He must have changed it while she was sleeping.

"I was able to do it even when my arm was broken and they put a cast on it. I had to do everything only with one hand. You can imagine it wasn't easy but I managed to do it and now I have an assistant who will help me." He said and gave her a charming smile. "Of course, that is if you agree to do it." He added and waited for her reply.

A long moment passed before Juliet spoke with a very serious face.

"I don't… know if I can do it. I've never made gingerbread cookies before." She told him with a shy smile.

Magnum could finally breathe with relief.

"Don't worry, I'll teach you everything."

"Oh, I'm sure of it." The woman replied, sending her partner a knowing look. Her eyes were shining and her lips looked so welcoming. He couldn't fight it anymore and finally drew her closer and kissed her passionately.

They were quickly getting lost in each other when all of a sudden, he broke the kiss and spoke, struggling to catch his breath.

"It's so good… you agreed to help me… cause there's one important thing, you need to know about."

"And what's that?"

"We're having a Christmas dinner here tonight."

Juliet froze, suddenly going speechless. She definitely didn't expect from her partner anything like that. Seeing her reaction, Thomas wasn't sure if she liked this idea.

"Higgy, are you okay? If you don't want to, we won't do it. I know Christmas Day was yesterday and it may be too late for that but I thought we could celebrate not only Christmas but most of all our coming back home. But it's all up to you." He told her and noticed how her hand flew to her mouth and her eyes instantly became glassy and tears started to run down her cheeks.

"Hey, what's wrong?" He asked her, wiping her tears with his thumb.

Juliet shook her head. "I'm okay, Thomas. And I think it's a wonderful idea. Thank you." She said quietly and snuggled closer to her partner.

"I'm glad you like it." He replied and they stayed like that, holding each other, for a long time.

"Magnum?" She finally spoke.

"Yeah?"

"I'm sorry I've been such a crybaby lately."

"What? What are you talking about?" He said and moved himself away a bit from her so that he could look her in the eye.

"You're not a crybaby at all. You're just reacting very emotionally. You've been through a lot during the last couple of days and you have every right to feel and act this way. It's not bad, you know. I told you that you don't have to be so tough and self-reliant because you have here people who love you, just give it some time. Everything will be all right and you'll feel better." Magnum stated.

"You're so kind. Thank you." Juliet mumbled. Soon, she pulled it together and added. "Come on, let's get to work. If we want to be ready for the evening, we have to start now."

"Slow down, Higgy. I'm sure Rick, TC and the rest of our friends will gladly help us with the dinner." The PI stated.

Juliet stepped out of his embrace, put her hands on her hips and squinted her eyes at her partner.

"Magnum, do they know about the dinner?"

All she got from him was a sheepish grin and a guilty look.

"Not yet." He muttered. "But I'll call them after we have breakfast and I'm sure they'll agree to do it."

"No." She suddenly said. "You should call them right now, maybe they have other plans. It's already late, there's not much time left and so many things to do – the food, the decorations…"

He smiled at her sudden reaction. Yes, she was evidently feeling much better now.

"Hey." He told her gently, took her hands in his and gave them a comforting squeeze. "It'll be okay. They're our friends, they'll help us. You know that we can count on them whenever in need. And you're right –I'll call them now. Don't worry."

"I'm sorry I snapped at you." She said quietly.

He put his index finger on her lips to silence her.

"Hey, not a word beginning with 's'. I don't want to hear it again, okay?"

She smiled and nodded her head in agreement.

"Now, you can start eating and I'll call everyone and let them know about our plans."

"No, I'll wait for you. I feel really bad about those words I told you."

Hearing this, Magnum sent her a meaningful look.

"What? I didn't use the 's' word, did I?" Juliet asked innocently.

The man just shook his head in exasperation. Yes, his partner was definitely back and he wouldn't admit to her but he loved this side of her. With that, he grabbed his phone and started calling their friends.

I want to thank you so much for sticking to 'Hold On' and our favorite PI duo for exactly two years and for your strong support. Dsnygal - I'm sure you're happy about this chapter too:) Tany - thank you so much, your review made my day, it was so nice to read that:)

I wish you all a wonderful, peaceful year and lots of interesting and engaging stories to read:) Happy New Year!