Surprise filled Brooke’s face as she reached for the doorknob and it wasn’t there. The door seemed to be opening on its own, only to reveal Mable, beaming in all her glory.

“Ah…Hi, Mom.” Brooke held the door, waiting for Sam to enter before her. “Sorry it’s so late.”

“Hi, Mom.” Sam passed by the matriarch, dropping a soft kiss on her cheek and giving her a quick one-armed hug.

“Hey,” Mable cast an eye toward Brooke and offered the other cheek to her as she grabbed her sleeve. “Did the present go alright?” The woman’s brown eyes studied her daughter’s face for a sign.

“The present,” Sam interjected with a smile as she looked up to Brooke, “…was very well received.”

The tall woman shook her head slightly and gave a little frown. “Well, two-thirds of it did, Sam’s Dad and Sister were great.”

Mable held onto Brooke’s sleeve, letting Sam move further into the room. “It’s the thought that counts, Brooke. And that was a very thoughtful gift.” She watched her daughter give a little shrug to one shoulder and sigh.

Seeing that Brooke was not directly behind her, Sam took several steps back and tugged at the other sleeve of her leather jacket. “Come on, I think I see a stray box with your name on it under the tree.”

Brooke could feel the blush running up her neck and across her face as she lifted her eyes to the heavens, rolling them in embarrassment as she allowed herself to be led by Sam.

Mable took great enjoyment in seeing her often-headstrong child reduced to mush at the hands of one small blonde. “You’d better go with her, Brooke, or she might have to give it to someone else,” the matriarch teased.

“Excuse me… pardon me…” Sam made her way across the room of set up raceways and sleepy headed children in their mother’s arms, over to the small flat box on the edge of the tree skirt facing the fireplace. She stooped over and picked it up, then stood up as she turned back toward her tall lover. Puzzled by her absence from sight, Sam started to scour the pieces of furniture for the woman.

Brooke waited until she saw Sam’s brow begin to furrow before reaching out and tugging playfully on her pant leg. She held out until the green eyes looked down at her, sitting Indian style on the floor, before she smiled sweetly and gave a little wave of her hand. “Missed me, didn’t cha?”

The blonde shook her head at first then quickly changed it to a nod as she looked down at Brooke with a beaming smile. “Yes.” She held out the small, flat box, offering to her. “Here, Brooke, I…I picked this out special for you.” Sam watched as her lover took the box from her, then brought it up to her ear and gave it a shake. “It’s a two part present, so even if you guess the first part, there’s still more to come,” Sam ended her hint with a wink.

Bringing the box back to her ear, Brooke gave it another little shake, only this time she noticed that the weight of it moved with the tilting of the box. “Hmm…I…I…” she drew out her guess, “I have…no clue.” The woman smiled as she looked around to the rest of her family who gathered eagerly to see what it could be.

“Come on, Brooke.” Terri encouraged her. “We want to see while we still can without the help of bifocals.”

“Yeah,” Randi joined in the heckling. “You know they’re heading my way with all the fine print I have to deal with.”

“Just be quiet over there, Ter.” She shot a glance over to her older sister, “You, too, Randi or I’ll just wait until you have to squint.” Brooke looked over to Sam, then started slowly ripping at the decorative gift wrap on package.

“Jeez, Brooke. My three year old could have already been playing with that.” Brian teased her.

Sam took in a deep breath and watched with anticipation as Brooke started to open the box. She could feel her heart pounding harder and faster with each scrap of paper that was discarded.

With nimble fingers, Brook tore at the paper and soon all the wrappings were removed. Slowly, she took the lid from the box and peered down at the gift. Slightly puzzled, she studied it for a moment. “It’s a…a…”

The blonde spoke softly, afraid that her gift would be misconstrued. “It’s an ornament for the tree…your tree,” she corrected herself, then reached over and took it from the box, showing the front of the ornament to Brooke. “I mean…our tree.” Green eyes searched the woman’s face as blue eyes took in the words that were written across the front of the ornament. “It says, ‘Our first Christmas’,” she said aloud for everyone’s appreciation. Her voice softened as she turned back to Brooke. “I thought that you might like it.”

“Like it…I love it.” Brooke grinned from ear to ear, then asked eagerly, “Does that mean we get a new one every year? You know, our second Christmas…our third Christmas,” she gave examples, then looked up to Sam and winked, “…our fiftieth Christmas?” Brooke watched as the blonde blushed.

Randi couldn’t resist a chance to tease. “And you expect to live that long with your driving. No way Sis, remember, I’m the one who takes care of your traffic tickets,” the lawyer chuckled as she received a dirty look from Brooke, causing the whole family to add to the laughter of the moment.

“Yuk, yuk, yuk.” Brooke smiled at Sam, then stretched up to kiss her. “Thank you, Darlin’. I love it.” She took the ornament from Sam’s hand and hung it on one of the lower branches of the tree directly behind them. “There, it looks great.” A satisfied smile graced Brooke’s face.

“Now, for the other part.” Sam carefully stepped over Brooke’s legs as she made her way out of the jumble of Gordon family members who had gathered around them. Once clear, she then headed quickly for the stairs.

“Hey, where are you going?” Brooke called out after her.

“I’ve got to go get it. I’ll be right back.”

The curious woman sat there, watching as Sam disappeared into the hall. There was a moment of silence before Brooke threw out an admiring observation. “Doesn’t Sam look great in that new jacket?”

“Well, not many petite woman like her can pull off that Harley chick look. What’s next, Brooke,” Rick asked, “the halter top or the tattoos?”

The young woman in question had just bounded back down the stairs and was standing in the doorway when the comment was made. Holding the manila envelope behind her back, Sam cleared her throat, hoping to attract her lover’s attention. Not only did a pair of blue eyes rise to greet her, but a room full of brown did as well.

“A Harley chick, eh?” Sam shook her head. “Never. It won’t go with the image that I’m going to have to keep up, once I start my internship.”

Suddenly, Brooke’s heart sank into her stomach at the thought of Sam leaving. She didn’t see the young woman cross the room, offering her the envelope that she held out in her hand, until Sam’s soft voice brought her back to reality.

“I think this was meant for both of us,” Sam looked at the envelope, “but I’d like you to open it.”

Preparing herself for the worst, Brooke took the envelope as she gave a little tug at Sam’s hand, and looked to the empty space beside her. Well, maybe she didn’t get sent to Siberia after all. Maybe it’s just somewhere in the state or the southeast or the Eastern Coast. You’re making it worse than it may be…just open it, Brooke. Meet it head on. Open it. You know, I could settle this all right now and just ask her to marry me. She doesn’t need to be anybody’s intern.

Sam promptly sat down on the floor, leaning into her lover as she wrapped one small hand around Brooke’s strong arm. The young woman watched her lover’s face as Brooke turned the envelope over to see the familiar logo in the upper left hand corner as it proclaimed loudly, Brownstone Records, Inc. She waited silently until Brooke looked over to her, tears forming in those beautiful blue eyes as she opened the packet.

Pulling out the cover letter, Brooke began to read aloud. “Public Relations Course 115 Completion Assignment for Samantha A. Moleson.” Her voice trailed off as her eyes quickly scanned down the page, her mouth sounding out a phrase every now and then, highlighting keywords. “Immediate Supervisor: Brooke L. Gordon.”

“What do you think?” Sam asked as seriously as she could. “Do you think maybe they’ll keep me in the area?” She watched the disbelieving look on Brooke’s face, then made another comment on her new boss. “You know, I heard that she’s a pretty tough boss, but a fair one. I wonder if I could get on her good side,” Sam asked whimsically. “What do you think?”

The drummer’s mouth dropped open as she stared down into her lap at the letter. Slowly she raised her eyes from the page and felt the tears starting to roll down her chiseled cheeks. “So, this…” she picked up the letter and held it in her hand. “This is real? You don’t have to leave?”

“Nope,” Sam said with confidence, then hesitantly she bit at her lip. “Well, not unless you want me to. Do you?”

“Never.” Brooke’s hasty reply came without a second thought.

“Brooke, tell me that you didn’t know about this.” Sam’s small hand rubbed her lover’s far shoulder in a circular motion, as she tried to soothe her.

“I…I didn’t know you were being assigned to me.” Brooke’s eyes darted back and forth as she thought. “I knew that I was going to have an intern but I thought…I mean, after that day in the Student Union…” The dark-haired woman suddenly stopped and turned to her lover as she finally realized what it all meant. “Oh my God…you’re not leaving.”

“No,” Sam wiped the tears from Brooke’s cheeks as they rolled freely down her face. “I guess we both got some good surprises this Christmas.” The blonde leaned into Brooke and wrapped her arms around her in a loving embrace.