23rd December

"How do I look?" Stephanie stepped out of the bed room wearing a 3/4 length skirt and a nice shirt. Chris shook his head. "Princess, you're gonna need pants. Comfortable ones."

"Why?" She asked, heading straight for the wardrobe and looking through her pants. There was the black ones, but she hadn't worn them in a while. Chris grinned at Modina, who was sitting on the floor opposite the bedroom door. Mo had been brought in with several boxes of clothes to help Stephanie figure out what she would need for the 10 days holiday in Canada. They looked at each other and grinned as Stephanie called out "Just why will I need comfortable pants?"

"You'll see."

"That's it. I'm not coming. Mo can I spend Christmas with you?" Stephanie pleaded. Chris clenched his jaw and called back. "Over my dead decaying body."

"I can arrange that!" Steph retorted as she opened the door. Chris inhaled audibly, the smart reply flying out of his head. He remembered when Steph had first gotten those, they were rather baggy and loose, now they clung to nearly every inch of skin. Modina hid a smirk. "I love em Princess. They looked great. Lionheart?" her voice was innocent. "What do you think?"

"They look great on you Princess." Chris sounded a little strangled. "But I don't think they'll be good for Christmas Day."

Stephanie glared at Chris and stormed back into the bedroom, slamming the door. Modina cracked up laughing. "How's your heart?"

"Shut up Mo." warned Chris. He'd noticed that Stephanie was looking a lot healthier lately and that she'd been putting on some weight, but he hadn't realised that those extra pounds had given Stephanie what he considered the perfect figure. Thinking quickly, he rapped on the door. "Throw the pants in anyways. Rumour is there's a party on for New Years eve. Wear those pants with that red shirt and you'll look great."

"Got it." Stephanie called back. "Mo, there's no pants that fit. Not casual ones anyways. There's a pair of pedal pushers that fit perfectly and that I'm not giving back, would they do Chr - Lionheart?"

"Put them on and give us a look." Chris hit his head against the wall. If they fit as well as the black pants, he was gonna have severe oxygen depravation to the brain. Modina's nodded as Stephanie walked out in the pedal pushers. "Perfect. However it'll be too cold for them, there's a pair of black leggins in there somewhere that will do perfectly."

"Found them." Stephanie called a minute later. "They fit too. I just need a top to go with them."

"This where I come in." Modina ashed her cigarette into a glass dish. She stood up and looked at Chris sternly. "Now all you have to do is decide is your gonna kiss her for the first time on under the mistletoe or at the stroke of midnight on New Years Eve."

Chris shook his head and glared at Modina. That was something that had been bothering him for a while now. He'd nearly caved in last week while they were having fun in the snow, but he wanted it to be romantic. He didn't think that he'd get rejected, Steph had been sending out the right signals loud and clear, but he wasn't sure if he was reading too much into it.

"Princess, have you got a white tank top?" Mo asked, rummaging through one of the boxes. Stephanie nodded. "It's a little tight.. you know -" she indicated her bust. "But I think it's ok."

"Put it on." Modina ordered. A sly grin crossed her face. "So when are you gonna put Lionheart out of his misery?"

"Huh? What? Excuse me?" Stephanie sounded shocked. Modina sorted through the shelves, muttering to herself. "No good, too male, no one besides Lionheart would wear this in public, ew, not your colour, oh here we go!"

Modina pulled out a red shirt of Chris's. "Have you seen him wear this before?"

"Nope, didn't even know he owned it." Stephanie shook her head. "What did you mean, put him out of his misery?"

"Perfect." Modina grinned. She buttoned up the top half way and pulled it up, so the collar was resting on Stephanie's shoulders. "Y'know Lionheart is gonna flip. Can I tease your hair up?"

"No." Stephanie stepped back and glared at Mo. "Explain yourself."

"Wow, you do come from old money. Y'know Paulie was right for once. What do you need explaining? My comments from before? Surely you can't see it?"

"See what?" Stephanie sounded confused. Modina sat on the bed. "Princess, I can't believe you haven't noticed. That boy is head over heels in love with you. If he thought it would make any difference, he'd jump off that balcony for you. Y'know I have never seen him this happy with any of the other strays, no offense -"

"None taken." Stephanie studied her reflection in the mirror, avoiding eye contact with Modina. Her own feelings for Chris were something she'd tried to avoid thinking about. Sometimes at night though, there was no avoiding the truth in her own heart. She'd never felt this strongly about Joey that was for sure. "Is it that obvious?"

"Well the girls are takin bets on when you two are gonna git your act together. I placed 20 bucks on it being your trip to Canada." Mo grinned impishly. Stephanie sighed as a bang on the wall made her jump. "Damnit are you ready yet?"

"Yeah, come on in." Steph said nervously. Chris opened the door and peered around it. He looked at Stephanie for a long minute, then smiled. "You look great." He frowned, looking closer. "Is that my shirt?"

"Uh, yeah." Stephanie watched him as he looked her over again. "That's a perfect outfit for the Jericho Family Christmas Chaos. Although I don't think I washed that shirt after I last wore it."

"Charming." Stephanie sniffed it suspiciously. The top was clean, but it had a definate smell to it - Chris's scent. Hiding a smile Stephanie shook her head. "All clean."

"Have you finished packing? Cause our lift will be here early in the morning and it's getting late." Chris said with a pointed look at Modina. She rolled her eyes and laughed. "I'm not stupid y'know. I know when I'm getting the boot." She hugged Stephanie quickly. "Have a good time Princess. And you -" she glared at Chris "Remember what I said."

She swept out of the flat dramatically, leaving Stephanie and Chris staring after her in surprise. After a moment's stunned silence they cracked up laughing.

"Go to bed Steph. We've got a long day tomorrow." Chris said, brushing the hair out of his eyes. She nodded. "So you'll wake me before your friends get here?"

"Of course. Don't worry about a thing ok? I have it all under control." Chris promised. He smiled at her. "Goodnight my Princess. Sweet Dreams."