Dashing through the Snow

Somewhere in Nevada at a little car dealership…

“You’ve got to be kidding me,” Brook said, clutching his hair while staring at the little red beetle. “We have to drive all the way up north in that?”

“Don’t worry, with your driving skills, I’m sure even you can maneuver this little red bug,” Michelle giggled. Brook sighed.

“All I wanted was hot chocolate and some mistletoe…”

Five hours ago in North Valley…

“Come on, guys, it’s our first Christmas together!” Jett whined over the phone. “Last year Brook was in jail and Michelle was off partying in college—”

“Ahem!” Michelle cleared her throat significantly.

“I mean, pining for Brook and NOT partying.” Jett amended his statement. “Which is why we should all deck the halls together this year!”

“Jett, you know how I feel about Christmas,” Brook groaned. Jett made whiny puppy-dog noises.

“It’s our first Christmas with Morgan slash Leslie Junior!”

“The baby’s not even here yet!” Brook roared.

“But… but…” Jett sounded like he was on the verge of tears. Michelle held the phone away for a moment.

“Brook, baby, I know you wanted a quiet Christmas at home but… we can’t disappoint everyone,” she reasoned gently. Brook sighed.

“It’ll be knee-deep in snow there…”

“It’s not like we don’t have snow here,” Michelle reminded him. He cranked his neck back.

"Fiiine, we’ll drive four hours through the snow just to get to this rinky-dink lodge in the middle of nowhere,” Brook yielded sarcastically. Jett whooped.

“WAHOOO! Now remember, it’s Rebel Peek, REBEL PEEK! Don’t get lost and we’ll see you tonight!”

“Wha—tonight? That’s too early—” Brook began, but Jett had already hung up. He groaned, flopping on the couch.

“Can’t believe we can’t stay home for Christmas.”

“Brook, you wanna tell me exactly why you don’t like Christmas?” Michelle asked gently, joining him and entwining her fingers in his hair.

“It’s not that I don’t like Christmas, Michelle, it’s—” Brook’s face saddened.

“Ever since Dad passed, Mom never could celebrate it, she said her best memories of Christmas were with him. So I never really experienced the whole concept of ‘celebrating Christmas’. What was a broken family like ours supposed to do? All she ever did was take me to church.”

“Your family’s not broken anymore, Brook,” Michelle said, kissing his cheek. “You have the crew, you have me.” Brook gave a tiny smile.

“Yeah, you’re my everything, Michelle.” In a minute, they were wrapped up around each other like two christmas ribbons, meeting each other’s lips like there was no tomorrow. When they finally slowed down to rest in each other’s arms, Michelle spoke again.

“I promise, I’m gonna make sure you have the best Christmas ever.” Brook smiled more contently this time.

Don’t you know, baby? With you, it already is.”

Somewhere near Rebel Peek…

“Paige, wait up!” Payton shouted, running after his wife through a pile of snow.

“Don’t try to stop me, Payton, you’re not gonna change my mind!” Paige yelled back, irritation obvious in her voice. Payton grunted, unrelenting in trudging after the black haired woman in front of him. He knew she had been on edge lately with Christmas coming up. She had always been touchy around this time of the year but with Jett’s overenthusiasm and excessive caroling, she had finally lost it and blew a fuse, storming out of the house.

“Paige, if you don’t stop right there right now, I’m gonna strip and freeze here till you come back.” Payton called out with gleam in his eyes. Paige stopped in her tracks, letting out a loud groan.

“ARGH! Are you trying to torture me?!” She whipped around and stomped back with a scowl on her face. “That’s low, Payton, threatening me like that.”

“Well if there’s one thing I can trust to bring you back, it’s your feelings for me,” Payton grinned, catching her in his arms. Paige huffed.

“You can’t drag me back to that—that—”

“Room full of people who care about you and wanna see you smile this Christmas?” Payton asked gently. A little tear escaped Paige’s eye despite her glower.

“If I hear ‘Jingle bells’ one more damn time, I’m gonna shoot something!” she ranted. Payton simply snuggled her closer to himself.

“I know Jett can go overboard with the caroling and—”

“And the holly and the jolly and pudding I wanna throw all over his face!” Paige continued angrily. “Payton, you of all people know how I can’t stand Christmas, it brings out the worst memories for me!” Payton nodded, cupping her face. He was the only one she had told the real reason she hated Christmas.

When Paige was little, her mom had remarried the then lieutenant Hudson Ross after her father passed. He and her stepbrother gave her and her mom hell with their rigid rules, even resorting to violence many times. They ruled the roost and never gave Paige and her mom peace. He was especially foul around Christmas and never let them celebrate it like a family.

By the time Paige left home, she vowed to hate every memory of hers that Ross had ruined—including that of Christmas.

“Paige, baby, you’re never gonna go through that again, I promise,” Payton reminded her. “Ross and your stepbrother are long gone. You’re free to be happy, to celebrate, to enjoy everything you missed out on.”

“How can I, Payton, when all I can think about are the awful times I had?” Paige’s voice shook a little. “Coming from a broken, miserable home like that…”

“To a home full of love and people who care,” Payton continued for her. “Your home is with me now, Paige, we’re a team. And I promise, you’re gonna have the best Christmas ever—with me. The one you never got to experience all these years.” Paige looked up into her husband’s eyes, her chin quivering.

“Damn, you’ve gone and made me a softie like you, Payton.” And their lips met in the midst of the icy air swirling with snowflakes. When they finally withdrew, there was a smile on Paige’s face, Payton was glad to see.

“What say you and I go get some dinner somewhere—alone, just the two of us for tonight?” he asked suggestively. Paige nodded, her smile growing wider.

“As long as I don’t have to hear Jett’s caroling, anything with you, babe.” And they walked back together, hand in hand.

In a lodge on Rebel Peak…

“JINGLE BELLS, JINGLE BELLS, JINGLE ALL THE WAYYYY!” Jett was belting out at the top of his voice through the karaoke machine Soriano had gotten him for Christmas—he had let him open it two days early and was regretting it already.

“Honey, you should’ve waited till Christmas day at least,” a very round Leslie said to Soriano with a smile. Her husband grunted.

“Heck, I’m regretting even getting the kid something that he can make noise with—should’ve given him a Christmas blanket instead.”

“I’VE GOT THE EGGNOG!” Reece burst into the room at the top of his voice as well, trying to cut through Jett’s warbling. “And one alcohol-free one for the lady with the baby!” Leslie and Soriano accepted a cup each and took a frothy sip—and winced.

“Reece, did you taste this before bringing it out?” Soriano asked. Reece blinked.

“No, why?”

“Because sugar and salt may look alike, but they sure don’t taste the same,” Leslie said with a wry smile. Reece took a sip from her cup and grimaced.

“Aw, dang, I put a load of salt in this?!” He grabbed Soriano’s cup back as well. “Don’t worry, chief, I’ll be back with the right stuff soon!” And he scrambled back to the kitchen. Leslie laughed.

“Good thing Paige wasn’t around to taste that or she’d have poured it on Reece’s head—I hope she’s okay, by the way.” Soriano snuggled up to her, massaging her round belly, looking unworried.

“Relax, Les, with Payton, Paige is in safe hands.”

Meanwhile, somewhere near north Nevada…

“No, no, no, don’t go failing on me now, baby!” Brook cried, patting the wheel of his bugatti. Michelle’s face turned to the picture of sarcasm and she folded her arms.

“He still calls the car ‘baby’…” she muttered, but Brook didn’t hear her as he was preoccupied with his car. The bugatti gave a cough and a groan and came to a stop in the middle of the snow-blanketed road. Michelle smirked.

“So much for a supercar. Guess it’s superpowers ran out,” she teased. Brook turned to her with his lip jutting out.

“Hypercar, Michelle, hypercar!”

“Super, hyper, it couldn’t get the job done,” Michelle said. “This ‘baby’ finds it too cold outside to run.” Brook moaned and dropped his head on the wheel.

“Now what are we gonna do? We’re already more than halfway there, we can’t just try to go back.”

“I think we can still get there—with a new set of wheels.” Michelle pointed to a tiny car dealership store a few meters ahead of them and Brook blinked.

“Huh. What do you know? Okay then, looks like we’ll be renting a new ride. I’d hate to leave this baby here though—”

“Oh for crying out loud, Brook, the bugatti will be fine!” Michelle exclaimed. Brook grinned.

“Alright, alright. I’d better get going before I make my wife any more jealous.” Rolling her eyes but taking Brook’s arm, the two of them waded through the snow to the nearby dealership—which wasn’t bigger than a barn. A kindly old man with a raspy Texan accent and a greasy cloth in his hand greeted them.

“Howdy, folks! The name’s Steve. What can I do ya for? Lookin’ for that perfect lil’ ride to gift your sweetums?” He waggled his eyebrows at Brook. Brook grinned sheepishly.

“No, er, actually we’re just looking to rent a ride. See we wanna get to Rebel Peak before nightfall and need something that’ll run.”

“Well, if them fancy wheels don’t give y’all the horsepower ya need, I got ya covered.” Michelle blinked in surprise.

“How did you know?” She asked. Steve laughed.

“I could ‘ear yer ride huffin’ and puffin’ fer the last ha’mile.” Michelle looked blank.

“He means half a mile,” Brook explained. “So, er, Steve, think you could rustle up a set of wheels for us?” Brook looked hopefully at Steve who gave a wheezy cackle.

“Ha, course I can! Anything fer young folk. Y’all seem like a purty sweet couple, I ain’t refusin’!” Michelle clutched her head.

“It’s like Texan is a whole other language,” she mumbled, making Brook grin. Steve led them to the back of the dealership which mostly had minivans and rickety nineties’ sedans—until they came to a little red Volksvagen beetle. Brook’s grin faded.

“You’ve got to be kidding me,” Brook said, clutching his hair while staring at the little red beetle. “We have to drive all the way up north in that?”

“Don’t worry, with your driving skills, I’m sure even you can maneuver this little red bug,” Michelle giggled. Brook sighed.

“All I wanted was hot chocolate and some mistletoe…”

“Well, if y’all wanna get to this Rebel Peak, Herbie here can get ya there!” Steve beamed. Michelle raised her eyebrows.

“Herbie? Like… the car that came alive from the movies?” she asked. Steve slapped his knee, breaking out in laughter.

“Well, fer all ya know, it might be!” Michelle laughed nervously. The old man sure liked to joke.

“As long as this bug doesn’t decide to do wheelies on it’s own… thanks. We’ll take it. How much will it cost to rent it for a few days?”

“Dang, lil’ lady, ain’t no charge for a fine couple like y’all! It’s free!” Steve said with a wink.

“Oh, that’s too kind of you,” Michelle began, but Steve shook his head.

“Ain’t nobody need this lil’ ol’ bug, she’ll be happy to just be in good hands and see the road again. You two have fun now, and Merry Christmas!”

“Merry Christmas, Steve, and just a sec—” Michelle pulled out a tin from her bag, “some homemade gingerbread cookies for you. Don’t worry, there’s plenty.”

“Thank yer kindly,” Steve nodded to them with a wide smile before waving them off.

“Talk about a Christmas miracle, getting a car out in the middle of nowhere—for free too.” Brook said when they were back on the road.

“Help never fails from above,” Michelle said with a soft smile, patting Brook’s arm. He smiled back.

“True words. Now let’s go crash on the crew.” They drove on for a couple of hours, covering the snowy mountain and making good time.

“Hey, at this rate, we’ll get there before sunset!” Brook said in good spirits. “Who knew this little car could—” before he could finish, the car slowed down, coughed and came to a stop.

“You gotta be kidding me!” Brook groaned, trying to restart the car. “Great, so much for the little engine that could.”

“Brook, gas.” Michelle pointed to the fuel meter which showed empty. Brook whined.

“Damn, should’ve filled her up before we left.. Guess this one’s on me. I better call for help—”

“Wait, we’re only about fifteen miles away from the lodge!” Michelle said, showing him the map on her phone. “Let’s call the crew, maybe they can pick us up.” She tried calling the number Jett had given several times but there was no answer.

“No service?” Brook asked in worry.

“No, no answer. Hang on, lemme try Paige.” She dialed Paige’s number and in two rings she picked up.

“Michelle! What’s up? Thought you guys were coming over to put Jett on a leash.” Michelle giggled at Paige’s remark.

“Not gonna ask. But we need help. We’re stranded about fifteen miles south of the lodge, think you can give us a ride?” Paige chuckled.

“Wow, did Brook actually screw up a driving job?” Brook grunted, rolling his eyes in the background as the call was on speakerphone. Michelle patted him soothingly while replying to Paige.

“We’ll be waiting, thanks Paige.”

“Sure, we’ll be there in about an hour to save your butts.” Michelle hung up as Paige continued chuckling over her own joke.

“Great, we’re stuck for an hour trying not to freeze to death.” Michelle smirked.

“That’s okay, I’ve got us covered.” She unpacked tins of food from her bag—sausage rolls, gingerbread cookies and even flasks of hot chocolate. Brook’s expression brightened.

“You came prepared? Baby, you’re the best!” Michelle pecked his cheek.

“Well, baby, it is cold outside,” she joked, and they both shared a laugh and enjoyed the little feast together while waiting.

Meanwhile at a little diner on Rebel Peak…

“Pack it up, Payton, looks like we’ll be playing rescue rangers tonight,” Paige said to her husband, shrugging into her jacket. She and Payton had just finished a cozy dinner date and had practically forgotten her annoyances from earlier.

“Brook and Michelle needing rescuing? Damn, never thought snow would get the better of him,” Payton grinned as they walked to his car. Paige chuckled.

“I know, right? It’s hilarious. He’s bested cops, criminals, cop-criminals, mafia masterminds… and a little snow leaves him stumped.” They got in and sped off through the snow.

“You’re gonna be teasing him till he leaves again, aren’t you?” Payton asked with a sly smile as he drove. Paige’s eyes softened.

“Nah, I’ll save it for next time. I know how much this time of year gets to him too.” Payton held his wife’s hand with his own, keeping the other on the wheel.

“I’m proud of you, babe. And I love you.” Paige went pink in the cheeks and looked embarrassed.

“Make me blush in front of the others and I’ll be on top next time we’re in bed,” she warned her husband but with a sparkle in her eyes.

“I’ll look forward to it,” Payton answered sensually. “Now let’s go rescue those two.”

Back in the bug…

“Please tell me those two are gonna get here fast,” Michelle shivered, her teeth chattering. The heater had died out with the battery a while back and she and Brook had huddled together to keep warm. It had gotten dark and a light snow started falling. Michelle didn’t know how much longer they could hold out.

“I think help just arrived,” Brook replied, seeing headlights in front of them. Relief filled Michelle. In no time, the door opened to Paige’s sarcastic smile.

“That only works with your clothes off, people,” she teased, seeing them hugging each other.

“Okay, you can joke later, right now, please tell me you have the heat turned up,” Michelle stuttered with cold as they all made their way to Payton’s car.

“Warm as a summer in here,” Payton replied with a smile, hearing Michelle. “It’s good to see you two not frozen stiff.”

“Yeah, when you said your car broke down, I thought it’d be in the bugatti,” Paige said.

“It was,” Michelle smirked, nudging Brook. Paige blinked.

“Then how’d you guys end up in that ugly red bug?” Michelle looked secretive.

“Hmm. That’s a story for another time.”

“Yeah, maybe you can shut Jett’s singing up with it,” Paige groaned, and everyone laughed.

“Let’s go. Everyone’s waiting for us at the lodge,” Payton said. Paige leaned back.

“Yeah, it wasn’t the same without you guys this holiday. Now that we’re all together again, things finally feel complete,” Paige said earnestly, and Brook smiled.

“Yeah, guess it will be a good Christmas after all.” He glanced at Michelle and kissed her hand. Michelle smiled back with joy in her eyes.

“It will. Because we’ll all be together.”

The end.