"Are we there yet?" whined Lydia. Chris peered out the window. "I think so."

"Good, cause I'm dying for a smoke!"

"I thought your news years resolution was to quit baby?" Christain asked. Stephanie laughed. "Do you know how drunk she was when she said that?"

"Jericho, why the hell didn't you introduce us to this lovely lass before?" Edge asked. Chris laughed and wrapped his arms around Steph's waist. "Cause I didn't want the Wakefield twins here to corrupt her. If one of them was Elizabeth it wouldn't bnother me, but as far as I can tell we have two Jessica's on our hands." Integra and Lydia looked at him very strangely. "My sister used to read them constantly. She was addicted. OK?"

"What's important is that you believe that." Lydia informed him, looking at Integra and making the 'crazy' signal at her ear. Chris rolled his eyes. "And besides, I don't share my prized possesions too well with others."

"Chris!" Stephanie blushed. Integra laughed. "Look, give us your number, and we'll keep in touch. God knows, I get sick of seeing the same faces all the time and I see more different faces than you do. There's no keeping us away now!"

"Isn't the First sign of the Apocalypse?" Edge asked his younger brother as he pulled the van over. Christain nodded. "Our women are hanging out together."

"Don't call me woman!" warned Lydia. Stephanie jumped out of the van and glanced around. "There's Mo!"

"Hey Princess! Have good a holiday? Did the Lionheart take good care of ya?" Modina wandered over with a smile. Lydia shook her head. "Do you ever work? Every time I see you, you're talking to these two."

"Honey, I'm higher priced than the rest of these gals. And that's so I can bring in the neccessary money for Paulie, have a little left over and not have to spend the day flat on my back or on my knees." Mo informed Lydia with a grin. She turned back to Chris and Stephanie and smiled. Chris was now standing behind Stephanie with his arms around her waist. Stephanie was leaning into Chris and had her hands resting on his. Chris was whispering something in Stephanie's ear that was causing her to smile.

"Well Princess, I think we should officially rename you Lioness." She grinned as Stephanie turned red again. Mo clapped her hands happily. "Oh this is great! When?"

"New Years Eve." Chris said with a smile. Mo punched a hand into the air. "Yes! I knew it! Thanks kids!"

"For what?" Chris was confused. Stephanie laughed. "I'll tell you later baby."

"Are you two going to unpack your shit so we can leave or not?" shouted Integra from the van. Chris rolled his eyes. "Just dump the bags on pavement and we'll take them up."

"Done!" The bags came flying out of the door and landed with a thud. Lydia's grinning face peered around the door. "Steph, I'll call you and we can do lunch!"

"That's a deal!" She and Chris waved as the van pulled out. Modina sighed. "Well I better get back to work. Be good kids."

Chris shouldered both his and Stephanie's bags. "Holy shit girl! What did you pack?"

"Just the Christmas presents from your family."

"They gave you presents?" Chris asked in surprise. "Wow, they must really like you."

"Of course they do. What's not to like?" Steph teased, leading the way up the stairs. Chris shrugged. "Dunno. But I'm biased, I think you're pretty much perfect."

Stephanie unlocked the door and opened it for Chris. He dumped the bags on the floor and stretched. "Sorry Princess, but you can drag your own stuff into your room."

"Oh such a gentleman." Stephanie teased, pushing her bag into her room. She collapsed upon the bed. "Home sweet home."

"And you know what the sweetest thing about it is?" Chris appeared in the doorway. Steph looked up. "What?"

He sat on the bed next to her. "You."

"Chris -" Stephanie was cut off by Chris's mouth closing over hers. She held him tight and when the kiss ended, he put his head on the pillow next to hers and kissed her temple. "Steph, I mean it. You're not just the woman I love, you're my best friend. At first I thought it would be tough adjusting to having someone around, but you were just so amazing to have around. You've made this place a home to me. Until you came, it was just a flat. I love you." He chuckled self-consciously. "And I don't think those three words explain how I feel about you."

"You don't have to Chris. I understand. I've been asking myself why I automatically accepted your offer of a place to live and I finally made a decision. It doesn't matter why. I just know I instinctively trusted you and that it seemed like the right thing to do. So I did it."

They lay together for a while, not speaking, just delighting in being close to each other, without worrying about anything until they fell asleep, wrapped in each others arms.