Episode 746: Home For The Holidays

"I’ll open yours, first," Avalon said. She took her sweet time doing so as if the delay would magically change the gift she’d wrapped up for him. She longed to pick a fight with him over the cost of the beautiful gift he’d given her - an angel for their tree - it had been pricier than they’d agreed on, but it was so thoughtful of him to notice how she’d admired it in a shop window. She had no choice other than to accept it with the action she truly felt for him, and watch him unwrap his gift.

At first, Sebastian only noticed the home-baked treats in the box. His genuine pleasure over such a humble gift touched Ava. It reminded her of how his enthusiasm over a similarly quiet gift had surprised her once upon a time and had helped her see that there was more to him than a privileged rich kid, there was a man with a far more tender heart than you’d think.

And, she’d kept that tender heart in limbo for far too long, so, on a deep breath, she handed him the envelope from the bottom of the box, and tears sprang in his eyes as he read the note.

Curran nearly had a heart attack when he opened the door to Lucy on Christmas morning. He stepped outside and closed the door behind him, hoping his wife and daughter were too busy in the kitchen with Christmas music and hot cocoa preparations to notice that they had a visitor.

Somehow, he had to stop this. He’d called her many times and knocked on her door, but hadn’t received any response. She’d chosen this of all days. "If you’re here to-"

"This is for her." Lucy handed him a gift wrapped in shiny silver reindeer paper with a big red bow. "I just needed to give her something, you don’t have to explain who I am and I don’t want to see her, well, I mean, I do want to see her, I just… Leave it alone, okay, leave me alone."

"I’ll be just a bit longer than I expected," Katherine said, calling from her clinic. Technically, she wasn’t supposed to work, she’d stopped by to check on things since the holidays were often hectic, and well, once she found herself in the middle of it all, she hadn’t managed to walk away.

"Well," her husband Phillip said, "I was just about to call you to tell you I’m going to be delayed at the office. I wanted you to apologize to Adria for me running late, but now I suppose she’ll be showing up any minute to find neither of us home. It’s no wonder we have such a lousy reputation when it comes to family holidays."

Episode 747: Anything For Love