"I think we got you gloves, yeah," she chuckled, dropping down onto the end of the bed once again to pull on her warmest pair of boots. "They'll get wet too, just so you know." She couldn't begin to count the number of hours she'd spent as a child risking hypothermia just to enjoy the weather.

He wasn't too worried about neatness, in a hurry to get out into the snow before it was all gone. He pulled a sweater on over his t-shirt before pulling open the closet to rummage for coat, hat, gloves, and boots. It took a few minutes for him to round up the items and figure out how to get them all on, but eventually, he was dressed and ready for the cold. There was only one problem - he'd forgotten to go to the bathroom first, he realized with a frown. "I have to, uh..." He pointed toward the bathroom with a gloved hand.

"Oh, good gods ..." Jasmin couldn't help laughing at his enthusiasm as she shrugged into her own coat. "So go," she told him, shaking her head. "Seriously, baby, the snow isn't going to disappear just because you've taken your time getting ready to go out in it." She reached out to tug his gloves off him. "Leave the coat out here, go to the bathroom, and then put the coat back on."

He nodded his head at her suggestion, which sounded reasonable enough. He didn't really need the coat in the bathroom, after all. He shrugged it off and left it with her, along with his gloves before darting into the bathroom in a hurry to finish his morning business so he could go play in the snow for the first time ever. "I'll be right back!" he announced, pecking a kiss against her lips before hurrying off.

Left alone for the time it took him to do his business and return, Jaz grinned at the spot he'd left empty for a long moment. It was like waking up with a big kid - albeit a big kid who had her completely wrapped around his little finger. She couldn't even begin to imagine what he was going to be like on Christmas morning. Dropping his coat onto the bed, she rummaged in the pockets of her own for her hat and scarf, settling them comfortably into place and feeling the beginning of that over-heating sensation that would quickly be nullified once they got outside.

He wasn't too long in the bathroom, stumbling out and looking around for his coat before spying it on the bed. "What should we do first?" he asked, his stomach getting all tied up in knots with excitement, as he tugged his coat back on, followed by hat and scarf and gloves.

He looked absolutely adorable all muffled up for the cold weather. Jaz couldn't resist reaching up and giving his scarf a tweak so she could kiss him affectionately. "You are ridiculously cute, you know that?" she grinned, nipping at his lips for a moment before retreating. "It looks like it's been snowing for a while, and it's laying, so ....how about we just get out there and see what springs to mind?"

He grinned back at the compliment which followed her kiss, face flushing either with excitement or embarrassment or a little of both. No one had ever called him cute before, and he wasn't sure how to take it, but he assumed it was a compliment. He cleared his throat, an almost shy smile appearing on his face for a moment. "I guess it's kind of silly, huh' It's just....I've never seen snow before."

"Really?" The surprise on her face was obvious, charmed though she was by this little confession. "Gods, I couldn't imagine a year without snow. You may be sick of it by the time the weather starts warming up, you know." She tweaked the end of his nose, sliding her hand into his to give him a gentle tug toward the door and out into the great room in Ivy Lodge. "Give me a second, I just wanna get a fire started so we can warm up when we get back in."

"Well, I mean....I have, just....not up close," he admitted with a small frown, feeling the prickle of sweat starting beneath his woolen hat and scarf. "Do I really need all these layers" I'm getting hot!" he complained as she tugged him along into the great room. "Why would I get sick of it?" he asked, attempting to shove his hair back inside his hat with a gloved hand and failing miserably.

She laughed, crouching down in front of the hearth to rake last night's ashes flat and build a fresh pile of kindling with the ease of many years' practice. "Because it's probably going to be snowing on and off for the next three months or so," she told him. "Getting deeper and deeper, and harder to clear away unless you're on top of it." She glanced up in time to see him playing with his hair and hat. "Trust me," she giggled. "You'll be very grateful for those layers when you get outside."

His eyes widened beneath the edge of his woolen hat. "How deep?" he asked, curiously. He'd seen plenty of photographs of snow that looked a lot deeper than what had fallen overnight outside their bedroom window. He imagined if it kept that up every day for the next three months, they could easily end up buried in the white stuff. He shoved the hat back a little onto his head before it slid any further down and covered his eyes.

"We've had drifts up to twelve feet deep on the Grove," she told him, striking a match to get the kindling going. It wouldn't take long for the fire to start properly, and once it had established itself, she fully intended to leave a log on it and return to the planned winter-land adventure. "It's usually only about two or three feet deep after a blizzard, though."

"Twelve feet!" he echoed in an exclamation of shock, mouth dropping open a moment. "That's taller than me!" It was actually about two times taller than him, to be precise. "How do you not get buried in it?" he asked, curiously. "What happens if you get snowed in?" He'd heard the term before and knew what it meant, but had never experienced a blizzard before, or even a few light flurries, for that matter. This was all new to him, like most of Rhy'Din, and he embraced it all with childish wonder, exuberance, and curiosity.

"It doesn't really happen much," she assured him, carefully settling a thick log onto the fire crackling in the hearth and sitting back on her heels to make sure it caught. "Last year we had a pretty bad snowstorm, and I got snowed in for about a week afterward, but we had a lot of warning. I was all stocked up. Most years, if I can't get the door open, I climb out a window and shovel the snow away so I can use the door."

He predictably got lost in that kiss, never expecting that from her. He might have expected it from Tommy or even Dru, but not Lena and certainly not Jasmin. He'd slurped down a snow-cone on a hot summer day and knew in theory that snow was cold, but taken completely by surprise as he was, he pulled away from her kiss as soon as that cold hit his neck, shrieking loudly enough to wake most of Maple Grove, his laughter echoing through the winter wonderland that surrounded them. And he was off, leaping off the porch to follow her in an attempt to catch her before she got very far, though he wasn't quite sure what he was going to do with her when he caught her.

His unexpectedly wicked girlfriend might have had a head-start, but she stooped to scoop up another handful of snow as soon as she was off the porch, letting out a loud yelp as Jack caught her. Laughing like a drain, she twisted, trying to aim that second handful down the front of his neck this time.

The back of his neck and shirt were already wet from the first scoop of snow she slam dunked down his back. She might have fooled him once, but she wasn't going to fool him a second time. He caught her around the waist and spun her around, ducking his head so that the snow missed his front, landing instead on the top of his head. Thankfully, he was wearing a hat. He echoed her laughter as he let her go, swooping down to catch a handful of snow himself and packing it in his hands into a snowball which he then tossed in her general direction.

He scored a hit on her shoulder, spraying enough loose snow into her face to make her squeal at the cold on her skin in the midst of her laughter. "Hey, you're not supposed to be that good at this!" she protested, skipping away a couple of steps to grab another handful of the soft, chilly snow and scrunch it into a slightly more robust ball. Her aim wasn't exactly brilliant, but at this range, it didn't really have to be.

Her snowball hit him square in the rump as he was bending over to grab up another handful of snow. Thankfully for him, he was wearing gloves, which meant that, unlike her, he could probably keep at it indefinitely. He glanced behind him to brush the snow off his rear before spinning around and winging another quickly rolled up ball of snow her way.

She wasn't expecting that one, coming up with a mouthful of snow that made her cackle with laughter once more. Despite the cold burn in her fingers, she wasn't giving up easily, dashing the clinging crystals from her mouth and scarf to stick her tongue out at him as she looked around for another clump of snow she could violate to make another snowball. "You're gonna get it now!"

He laughed uproariously at her threat. "Oh, yeah' Gimme your best shot!" he shouted back, standing straight up with his arms and legs spread wide and sticking his tongue out, daring her to do her worst.

Jasmin laughed again, narrowing her eyes as she took careful aim. The snowball flew from her hand, scattering loose crystals through the air, and impacted against the center of his chest, but that wasn't really Jack's main problem. No, his main problem was the fact that Jasmin wasn't far behind it, howling like a child playing Cowboys and Indians as she launched herself at him in a roundhouse tackle.

The snowball hit him first, falling apart on impact but leaving an round imprint on the front of his jacket. He just had time to brush the snow off before she was diving at him, and he went down hard on his back, thankfully making a soft landing in the snow with a thud and a muttered, "Oooof." Well, at least he hadn't fallen from a second story window this time. He looked dazed for about half a minute, before pushing her over onto her back and rolling on top of her. He reached for a handful of snow and returned her earlier favor by shoving it down the front of her shirt, cackling madly.

Well, she should have seen that one coming. If he'd thought her squeal was loud when she'd gotten snow in her face, it was nothing to the eruption of sound that made itself known as he stuffed a generous handful of snow down her top. "Oh my gods, that's cold!" Laughing indignantly, she reached up and pulled his hat down over his eyes, flailing for another handful of snow to stuff up the inside of his coat and shirt in retaliation.

"Now we'll see if your boobs really freeze off!" he teased, a little too loudly, laughing uproariously, loudly enough for those at the big house to hear him. "Hey!" he shouted, temporarily blinded by his hat, he shrieked again, even louder than the last time when he felt that icy coldness hit his skin. "Holy sh*t! That's cold!" he shouted as he rolled to his feet, shoving his hat away from his eyes and shaking the snow out of his shirt and jacket, like a dog might shake water from his fur. A bark sounded from the direction of the main house, and a certain collie came bounding through the snow to join the fun, tail wagging a mile a minute. If they weren't awake at the big house yet, they would be soon.

Snickering gleefully, Jaz clambered to her own feet to shake the snow out of her top, shuddering at the cold, wet sensation even as she grinned in Jack's direction. The bark didn't go unnoticed, although she didn't spot Jon's dog until he was close to - the whole black and white fur thing was perfect camouflage in the snow. She'd been warned about Cosmo's excited hellos, dropping down onto one knee to greet the escaped canine with a warm scratch of his fur. "Howdy, Prisoner 24601, wanna play?" Scooping up another ball of snow, she threw it - not at Jack this time, thankfully. Not even Jasmin was wicked enough to send a Border Collie bounding through the snow at her boyfriend.

Jack didn't quite understand that reference, never having read the novel or seen the musical, which was a little after his time. But he wasn't too concerned about that at the moment. They were in the middle of a snowball fight, and Cosmo, apparently, wanted to play Fetch. "He can't fetch a snowball, Jaz!" he pointed out helpfully, but Cosmo was already off doing just that, looking a little confused when he couldn't figure out how to pick the thing up in his mouth and bring it back.

She laughed as she rose up from her kneel once again, brushing the excess snow from the wet patch on her jeans. "He's a dog, Jack," she chuckled. "Not to mention completely hyperactive. So long as we're playing with him, he'll be cool." And given the lack of leash, no doubt someone would be coming to find him at some point.

"Should we make a snowfort to hide in?" he asked, smiling back at her and peppering her lips with kisses to muffle anything else she might have said, at least for a moment. "You're freezing. We should go back inside," he told her as he broke away from her lips at long last.

"Are you gonna get me out of my wet clothes and warm me up?" she asked him with impish sweetness as he passed comment on how cold she was. To be honest, she hadn't noticed it herself, too distracted with playing and, well, him, to realize that she was shivering a little beneath her coat.

"No, I thought we'd it sit and shiver for a while," he teased, reaching for her hand to tug her back toward the house. There was no point in trying to warm her up out there when there was a warm fire blazing inside. He wondered if half the fun of playing in the snow wasn't going inside and getting warm.

For adults, certainly it was. Children complained something chronic about going inside at all, but when offered the prospect of warming up with Jack, Jasmin had no complaints at all. She grinned as he took her hand, sticking her tongue out at him once again. "You're such a romantic."

From the look of confusion on his face, he wasn't sure if she was teasing or serious, and he wasn't sure he wanted to know. He had a serious lack of confidence where women were concerned, and though he knew she loved him, he was always a little too worried about disappointing her. "Come on," he said, ignoring her comment and leading her back toward the house.

Teasing or not, he could be absolutely certain that he was the only one she was ever going to be so comfortable with. She scuffed through the snow behind him, laughing as an echo of a loud yelp of surprise sounded from the direction of the big house. Apparently Cosmo had located whoever was calling for him, and possibly tipped them into the snow in his enthusiasm. "Hey, Jack?" she asked thoughtfully as they reached the porch. "Do you ever think about getting a pet' A dog maybe, or a cat' Or a monkey?"

He glanced back at the big house, chuckling a little at the yelp, knowing they were guilty in encouraging Cosmo's hyperactivity, as Jasmin called it. "Hmm?" he asked as they thumped up on to the porch. He stomped his feet to knock most of the snow from his boots, arching a brow at her question. "A monkey?" he echoed, with a chuckle. "You want a monkey?"

"Well, I like the idea of having a monkey, but I think one might be more trouble than it's worth," she admitted with a soft laugh, banging her boots against the step with him in a shower of loose snow. "It was more along the lines of ....should we get a pet?"

"Do you want a pet?" he asked, as he pushed open the door to let them both inside, a welcome flood of warmth greeting them. Jack had decided that snow was fun, but it was also cold. He waited until she followed him inside before closing the door behind her, letting her answer the question posed before he pondered further.

She rolled her eyes at the way he'd turned her question back onto her, wondering if he had any idea what she was really asking. She wouldn't even have considered it if Vicki hadn't handed her Baby Emily on a whim the last time they went to dinner at the big house - a little over an hour of holding a sleepy infant had made Jasmin's mind wander in directions she was pretty sure their relationship wasn't ready for. "I'm not sure," she said, toeing out of her boots to leave them by the door, hands unwinding the scarf from around her neck. "I mean, it's a big commitment, and it isn't something I would ever have thought of if I was still on my own ..."

He sat down on the couch to tug the laces of his boots loose and pull them off his feet, furrowing his brows in confusion. A monkey' He'd seen her with Baby Emily; he'd noticed the look on her face when she'd held her. He shared her desire for a family, but he was scared. His mother had left his father shortly after he'd been born, and he'd never known why. If they started a family too soon, would Jasmin do the same" Would he be left to raise a family alone" Would she decide somewhere along the way that she didn't really love him after all, that he was holding her back from fulfilling her dreams" All these thoughts went through his head as he tugged each boot off, one at a time. "If you want, we could borrow Cosmo for a few days and see how things go." It was better than asking to borrow Emily.

She bit her lip, recognizing the look on his face. She'd seen it often enough in the mirror, after all. It looked as though she wasn't the only one in this relationship who was afraid of being left alone. Hanging her coat by the door, she finally pulled off her hat, moving over to sit beside him on the couch. "I love you, Jack," she told him again. "And I never thought I'd say that ever again, much less mean it with all my heart. But I do mean it. Okay, so maybe we're not ready for this conversation. Let's just pretend it never happened. I never said anything."

He looked up at her as she joined him on the couch, looking further confused. Was she talking about getting a pet or something else? He wished she'd just stop beating around the bush, if she was beating around the bush. "Jasmin, are we talking about getting a pet here or something else?" he asked, bluntly. She had brought the subject up, and he didn't want to let it go without understanding why she had asked. It was a simple enough matter to get a dog or a cat, but if it was children she wanted, that was a little more complicated. Hell, a lot more complicated.

She sighed softly. It was just as difficult for her to talk about this, though for completely different reasons. "You have to promise me you're not gonna freak out," she told him sternly. "Just because we're talking about it doesn't mean it's gonna happen right away. But, no, I'm not really talking about getting a pet. I ....I'd like to know if, if having kids is gonna be a part of our future together."

But it wasn't her he didn't trust, not really. It was his mother and his father and his brothers and all those who'd proved to him, either by word or deed, that he was unworthy of love. He looked as shocked by her words as she was by his, but even more shocked by the news that she'd bought him a ring and was planning on giving it to him for Christmas. "A ring" What do you mean, a ring?" he asked, a little confused. Wasn't he supposed to be doing the proposing, not the other way around"

"Exactly what I said." She sighed softly, wishing this didn't feel so much as though they had crossed their wires and were now hopeless tangled in confusion. Her hands slid from his face to rest over his heart as she looked up at him, willing him to believe her. "Jack, I want to be your wife. I want to marry you, to be with you until death do us part and a long way past that. I was gonna ask you on Christmas Eve." She looked down at her hands, feeling his heartbeat beneath her palm. "If I didn't love you, if I wasn't absolutely sure that I want to be with you from this day forward, would I really be planning that' Can't you at least trust that I know how I feel?"

Both his brows lifted in shock and confusion. She wanted to get married" To him' Already? Was she sure" His heart leaped at the thought of it, of spending the rest of his life with her. It was what he wanted, what he'd been trying to tell her he wanted. She wouldn't be telling him all this if she didn't really love him, would she" She wasn't his mother. She was the woman he loved. She wasn't going to abandon him the way his mother had. "Oh, God," he said, sinking down onto the chair. It was all happening so fast. It wasn't a no - far from it - but there were things about him she needed to know before she made a final decision. "God, Jasmin, I'm such a mess."

As he stepped away, Jasmin felt herself freeze, hugging her hands to her own chest as she tried to come to terms with what had just happened. She had put herself completely out on a limb, thrown herself on his mercy, put her heart and soul underneath his heel ....and he'd walked away from her. His only response to her confession that she loved him enough to commit herself to him for the rest of her life was to abandon her where she stood" She stood perfectly still for a dangerously long moment, fighting to keep herself under control as her arms wrapped about herself. It wasn't the embrace she wanted; certainly not the reassurance she had told him she needed. But it seemed as though it was all the reassurance she was going to get. "Okay," she managed in a shaky voice. "Okay, I, uh ....okay."

Jack leaned over, resting his elbows on his knees and his face in his hands. He wasn't sure what had gone wrong. Just a few short minutes ago, they'd been laughing, and then she'd gone and mentioned children and marriage, and he'd felt that old sinking feeling he always felt whenever he thought of his mother. It wasn't that he didn't love Jasmin or want to spend the rest of his life with her. He loved her more than anything. He'd told her he wasn't going anywhere, and he meant it, so what was the problem' "I don't know what?s the matter with me," he murmured to himself, not even aware for the moment that she'd moved away from him, that he was unknowingly breaking her heart and his own along with it. Why couldn't they just forget the past and be happy' Hadn't he tried to tell her as much' "I'm such an *ss, Jasmin," he said lifting his head to look for her through a haze of tears, needing her to understand. Somehow he needed to tell her. "I love you so much. I'm just scared."

She sniffed softly, letting the silence draw out as she pinched the bridge of her nose, unsuccessful in the attempt to keep tears from her eyes. "Yeah, you are an *ss," she agreed with him unexpectedly, turning to look down at him. Hurt anger was foremost in her expression, confusion stirred into the mix and only making things worse. "Do you realize how much courage it took for me to put myself out there and say that I want to be with you for the rest of my life" That I am absolutely certain that I will never love anyone the way I love you, that I am so sure of myself I want to marry you? Do you think any of the acceptable responses to that are just to walk away and ignore it?"

Her agreement with his self-degradation only drove him deeper inside himself, the tears in her eyes mirroring his. He didn't want this; he didn't want her angry with him. He wanted things to go back to the way they were, but he wasn't sure how to fix it. "I want to be with you, too," he admitted quietly in a shaky voice. "I'm just....I'm scared I'm gonna end up alone again. I don't know what I'd do if I lost you." He saw the hurt and the anger and knew it was his fault, and that only made him feel all the worse, all the more guilty, all the more unworthy of her love.

"So talk to me," she burst out, moving to crouch in front of him where he sat in his own little world of misery. "How the hell am I supposed to know how to reassure you when I don't know what the problem is?" She sighed, shaking her head in frustration. "Baby, I've told you where I'm coming from. I've told you why I'm the mess I am, and despite that, you love me. Why is it so hard for you to believe that I love you? That I am not going anywhere, no matter what happens."

He followed her with his eyes as she moved closer and crouched down in front of him, feeling like the lonely child he'd once been, the broken-hearted youth. "Because, Jaz....Nobody ever has before. Nobody but Tommy. He's my only friend, you know. He's like a brother to me. My own brothers..." He broke off, chewing on the inside of his mouth, knowing he had to come clean, but it was easier said than done. What would she say when she found out the truth' He didn't want her pity, but he needed her understanding. "My mom..." he started, his voice breaking on the word. He'd tried to think of her as dead. It would have been easier that way, but that wasn't the truth of it. "I never knew her. She left when I was a baby."

She had known there was something in his past that he held close like a shield, but Jaz had never even considered this. As his voice broke, she let her own anger go, recognizing how painful it was for him to let that barrier down and just tell her what he was so afraid of. "Oh, gods," she whispered, settling onto her knees between his, wrapping her arms about his hips as she looked up into his face, guilt flaring in her expression. "Baby, I'm so sorry. You don't have to tell me anything, I don't want to force you into sharing something like this. I'll shut up, I promise."

"Shorter," she told him with a faint chuckle, surprised to find how easily he could be distracted from the heartache he'd shared with her. "I don't want you bald, but that cut doesn't suit you, really. It's your hair, though, so it's your decision." She leaned in to kiss him again, nipping affectionately at his lips. "What's next, snow baby' Hot chocolate, or slippery sex in the shower to warm up?"

"It doesn't?" he asked, frowning a little. He'd been rather proud of that haircut, the first he'd had in years. He'd had long hair and a beard for so long, he wasn't even sure what he'd look like without it anymore. He'd gotten rid of most of the beard, proving to himself that he did have a face beneath all that hair, but he hadn't had the nerve to cut his hair too short. It was encouraging how easily she could distract him from his heartache; maybe there was hope for him yet. He returned her kiss, unsure what was next on their to-do list. Maybe more playing in the snow later, but they hadn't even had breakfast yet.

Both suggestions were tempting in their own way, but only one of them caused him to blush. "Um..." he replied, uncertainly and a little bit shyly, which wasn't much of an answer.

Jaz grinned against his lips, pretty sure she'd either just stopped his brain entirely in its tracks or that he was having an embarrassed moment. "Tell you what," she suggested, leaving a last kiss on his lips. "I'll just start taking my clothes off, and you can make your mind up as I go along." With a wink, she rose from the couch, peeling her damp sweater up and over her head with a playful shimmy of her hips.

His mouth dropped open a little when she got off the couch and started stripping, though it was only her sweater she'd taken off, so far. He sat watching as if spellbound, riveted to the spot, whether she was only teasing or not. There were lots of ways to get warm, but this way was certainly the most fun, not to mention tempting. "That's cheating, you know," he told her, when he finally found his voice.

"How is this cheating?" she asked him innocently, though the slow sway of her body as she undid her jeans, turning her back to him to bend and slide them down her legs, was definitely on the wicked end of the scale. Straightening, she offered him a definite come hither smirk over her own shoulder. "Do you want me to put my clothes back on while you decide?"

"Do you have any idea what happens to me when you take your clothes off?" He couldn't believe she didn't know what kind of effect she had on him and on his libido. Who wanted hot chocolate at a time like this" Breakfast could wait. If the fire wasn't already warming him up, the fire burning inside him certainly was.

Arms crossed over, she turned slowly back to him as she raised her t-shirt, revealing not just the underwear that had been put on so hurriedly less than two hours ago, but also the very knowing curve of her lips as she looked down at him when that t-shirt dropped away. "Tell me," she breathed to him, her voice husky with promise as her hands skimmed down her own sides.

"You're gonna give me a heart attack," he warned, his heart pounding in his chest, his face flushed. Maybe she couldn't see what effect her striptease was having on his body, but he sure as hell could feel it. "I want-I want you," he admitted his gaze skimming her barely-clad body.

"I have complete faith that you know the cure for your current discomfort," she assured him with a new wink and smile, rolling her shoulders as she turned her back to him once again. This time, she was definitely teasing him, dragging her fingertips up along her own spine as her hips shimmied for his entertainment, only to linger on the clasp of her bra without yet undoing it. "You're not gonna be able to do much about it sat there."

"What do you want me to do?" he asked from the relative safety of the chair, fingers twitching at his sides. This wasn't the first time they'd made love - he knew what came next, but he wasn't quite sure if she was only teasing him or if she really wanted him to make love to her right then and there.

"Whatever comes naturally," she told him as the claps came undone beneath her fingers, sliding red and black satin off her shoulders to toss it over her head and into his lap with a chuckle. And still she didn't turn around! "C'mon, baby ....have a little faith."

"Oh, my God..." He breathed as her bra landed in his lap, feeling his pulse getting erratic. He picked up the bra and held it to his face, breathing in the scent of her, which seemed a little bit silly since she was standing right there in front of him. He threw the bra aside and tugged his sweater hastily over his head as he scrambled to his feet. "Faith's got nothing to do with it!"

"Says the guy who just proclaimed God," she laughed playfully, turning to face him as his sweater thumped onto the floor. Her hands smoothed up beneath his t-shirt, greedily taking the first touch for herself, tracing the defined sculpture of his torso as a tender grin crossed her face. "I'm not gonna break, baby. Promise."

"I know, but I..." But what? She wanted him and he wanted her. What did it matter if they were in the living room instead of the bedroom' His eyes roamed over her greedily, his arousal deepening. He was awestruck by her beauty, by the mere fact that she wanted him, loved him - him! He shuddered at her touch, dropping to his knees in front of her, like a pagan worshiping at the feet of a goddess. He laid the palms of his hands against her thighs and smoothed them up over her hips, leaning close to touch his lips to the flat of her stomach before his hands slid around to clutch at the curve of her rear.

She bit her lip, holding in a soft yelp as he dropped to his knees unexpectedly, her fingers teasing through his hair as his lips brushed the smoothness of her stomach. "No buts," she told him, arching as his hands grasped her backside. She was never going to understand how he could be so nervous and shy, and still so possessive in his touch all at once. With a gentle shift of her body, she dropped to her own knees, straddling his thighs to catch his lips in a slow, deep kiss. "Don't hold back," she told him. "Don't think. Just feel."

For a long time the only sound that intruded above the in and out of their shared breath was the pop and crackle of the log in the fire, blasting waves of heat in their direction to keep the wintery chill at bay. Tangled up in Jack, Jaz breathed him in with quiet delight, tilting her head to nuzzle tenderly at his throat. "Said it before, gonna say it again," she murmured, her arms tightening around him with possessive intent. "I love you, Jack."

It took a while for him to catch his breath and come down from the high of their lovemaking. It seemed like they laid there a long while before either was able to speak, and it was Jasmin who spoke first, his eyes filling with tears when she told him she loved him, feeling ashamed that he'd broken down and become scared when she'd mentioned the future. It wasn't a future with her that scared him, but just the opposite - the thought of a future without her. "I love you, Jasmin," he whispered back, brushing her hair from her face, tears of joy glistening in his blue eyes as he looked down at her.

The tears that rose in his eyes brought a worried frown to her face, wondering what she'd said wrong this time to bring on such a strong emotional response. "No tears, baby, please," she murmured to him, brushing her fingertips against his cheek. "You got nothing to cry about. Have you?"

"Sorry," he apologized as he brushed the tears away, though unlike before, these were happy tears. "I just love you so much....I never thought I'd ever love anyone the way I love you..." It would have been easier to tell her how he felt if he had a guitar in his hand, but this wasn't really the time or the place for serenading her. Words would just have to do.

Like him, Jaz found it easier to express herself using music, but they were both going to have to learn to be honest with each other without a guitar in their hands or a song on their lips. How else were they going to survive the years they wanted to spend together, if they couldn't talk" She kissed him softly, once, twice, drawing her fingers through his hair as they lingered together in that tangle of limbs before the fire. "You have no idea just how honored I am that you love me, Jack," she told him softly. "How special you are. Love just doesn't seem like a good enough word to cover how I feel about you."

"I'm never gonna leave you, Jasmin. I promise. I love you too much to ever live without you." If that didn't answer her earlier questions, then nothing else would. Whether he was ready for marriage or children or not, he wanted to spend the rest of his life with her and no one else. He blushed a little, not thinking himself special at all. In fact, he thought himself very ordinary, though he was starting to see that he wasn't quite as worthless as he'd been led to believe all his life. He kissed her again, softly, slowly, tenderly, putting all his feelings into that kiss, hoping she would understand how deep his feelings were for her.

How could she not, when his kiss touched something buried deep in her soul that arced to meet his in answer" As tender as his kiss was, hers was equally so, echoing the sentiments he felt so inadequate to say to her in the same fashion he chose to express them. Whatever her doubts, they were gently brushed aside in the wake of that kiss, until nothing remained but Jack and the thumping of her heart. "You're gonna spoil me so bad."

"You deserve spoiling," he replied, with a smile that was a good deal warmer and happier than a short time ago and just a little bit teasing. And suddenly, he felt like an *ss for having upset her, especially when she had been trying to open up to him and tell him of her own hopes and dreams. "Jaz, I want you to know....I do love you. I truly do."

"I do know," she promised him, happy to idle away as many hours as she could right here in his arms. He made her happy, in a way no one else had ever even tried to, and yet there was still that undercurrent of uncertainty. She knew he loved her ....but did he really believe her when she told him she loved him' "I want you to believe that I love you. That you're worth loving. You're the best guy I know. Don't shut yourself away because you think you don't deserve something. I'm telling you now, you deserve it."

"So do you," he pointed out, kissing her again with a soft, contented sigh. "Maybe we're too much alike," he said, rolling onto his side, arms wrapped around her to pull her along with him. He didn't want to get into why he thought so little of himself. He didn't want to talk about his father any more, or his past. He wished he could just forget it all together. Maybe with her help he could. "Maybe we should start over. I mean, make a fresh start, just the two of us."

"How do we do that?" she asked him softly, rolling easily onto her side under his guidance, wriggling one arm free to prop her head up as she held his gaze. Her other hand traced his face from temple to jaw in a gentle, soothing touch, promising without words that, even without a fresh start, she wasn't going anywhere.

"I'm not sure." He quieted a moment, furrowing his brows in thought. He wasn't sure how, but Tommy seemed to have made a fresh start. He rarely, if ever, spoke of the past, even though Jack knew he had his own demons in the closet. "Maybe you just get up one morning and decide you're not going to think about it anymore." He was sure it wasn't that easy, but it was worth a try.

"Maybe," she mused thoughtfully, biting her lower lip as she considered this. "So I guess just having copious amounts of sex in weird and wacky places won't swing it, huh?" Jaz smiled impishly; she wasn't trying to trivialize his issues, but she was not at home to trying to analyze anyone, much less herself. She'd much rather just brush it all under the rug and hope the dust bunnies didn't come to ambush her when she was least expecting it.

"Maybe," he agreed with a smile, taking her by surprise by rolling her onto her back again and covering her with his body. "I do know this....I'm happy here with you, and I never want to go back." He kissed her again, a light feathery touch of his lips to hers. "You make me happy, Jasmin. You're the best thing that's ever happened to me."

She squeaked in surprise on finding herself on her back once again, her smile widening to a tender grin as her arms and legs wrapped about the covering heat of his body as he loomed over her. "I feel the same way about you," she assured him, her voice fervent with certainty. A stray thought reminded her of a question he'd asked earlier that she had completely failed to answer, and though it might not have been the best time, she offered up an answer now. "You know ....I need to get some new Christmas decorations, or our tree is gonna look pitiful. When we get it."

Though the time was a bit off, her talk of Christmas brought a smile to his face. He'd never really had a proper Christmas before or even a proper home or family, but all that seemed to be changing, and it was all or mostly all because of her. "I'll go with you," he volunteered. After all, it was their first Christmas together, and in a way it almost felt like his very first Christmas ever. "I've never really....I mean....We didn't really do Christmas back home."

"Well, of course you'll go with me," she agreed with a low chuckle. "You don't think I'm gonna choose a topper for the tree all by myself, do you?" She was glad to see him smile, a little of that childlike enthusiasm returning to his expression as they talked. "And, you know, we have to get the tree, too. Tinsel and baubles and candies, and hope like hell Tommy can't work out which ones are the candies, or he'll eat them all before Christmas."

"What makes you think Tommy will eat them and not me?" he asked, teasing her a little. There were still so many things they didn't know about each other, but somehow none of them seemed very important. All that mattered was that they were in love. It made his heart flutter just to think of it that way. He was in love with Jasmin Granger, and he wanted all the world to know about it. He smiled, her body so close to his having an obvious and renewed effect on his again. "We're never going to have breakfast this way."

"Because I'll spank your *ss with a wooden spoon if you eat all the treats before the big day," she informed him with a wicked grin, smoothing her hands down to give him a quick taste of what that might be like, followed by a squeeze as he stirred against her. "I have an idea," she murmured, lifting her head to nuzzle affectionately to him. "Let's fill a couple of hours and have brunch instead."

He gaped in surprise a moment before realizing she was teasing, laughing a little at the teasing grope of her hands. "If we're going to do that, don't you think we should do it in bed?" he asked. "We should just spend the whole day in bed, only getting up to go to the bathroom and get something to eat."

"Mmm, that sounds very tempting," she agreed in a warm tone. "No one's expecting us to do anything today ....I vote we go with your idea." She nipped his lower lip playfully, patting his rear end once again. "Of course, that will kinda rely on us getting off the floor and going back to the bedroom."

"Oh, I don't think that's a problem." He flashed a playful grin as he moved off her, moving to his feet, but leaning over to grab hold of her and hoist her over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes or maybe a cavewoman. It was a very un-Jack like thing to do, but he was feeling a swell of self-confidence after all of her buttering him up. With any luck, they'd have the day to themselves. If Tommy or Lena or Dru came looking for them, they might only hear a mixture of giggles and groans, interspersed with occasional snoring. Maybe a day in bed was exactly what the doctor ordered for both of their sakes.

((Issues and tissues! Bless 'em, they'll work it out eventually. Huge thanks to Jack's player!))