"Are you sure you've done this before?" Vince raised his eyebrow skeptically and spoke in a smug tone of voice as Jamie once again pressed the button to the electronic device again, and nothing happened.

The man's wife rolled her eyes at her new husband, but the effect was mitigated by the smile that always came across her features these days whenever she remembered that Vince was her husband now. The brunette mentally berated herself for her inability to even fake being angry at Vince for more than a fraction of a second, but she mentally conceded to herself that Vince was pretty much the only person in the world, other than, strangely, her father, who she could never even pretend to hold a grudge against for very long, even when he said or did something stupid, like back when he had threatened to kill Peter Fleming before he knew that man was her own father. Jamie knew that what her husband sometimes lacked in the brains department, he seemed to make up for with a natural charismatic charm that made it impossible for her to stay mad at him, especially when he smiled at her, and the man's effect on her mood had become even more annoyingly powerful after she and her partner in crime had gotten married several months ago. But Jamie supposed that was for the best in the end, since many people who had had to live with Jamie for extended periods of time before Orwell had made some progress in therapy, including her household staff and even Trip on occasion, had found Jamie almost impossible to live with at times due to her sometimes bossy attitude (which had gotten better, but both Jamie and Vince knew her spoiled mentality would probably always be part of her personality to some degree) and her tendency to hold grudges over small things for far too long. In fact, it was those negative aspects of her own personality, rather than her hallucinations and misplaced guilt over what Chess had done, that Jamie had feared would make Vince leave her during the first several months of her romantic relationship with the man. And even though she had a better handle on those negative behaviors now, and she was much more secure in her relationship to her partner in crime than, Jamie was still convinced that she would have driven Vince off months ago if the man didn't possess the inexplicable gift to get past her emotional defenses (the very reason she had been able to fall in love with, then trust Vince with her secrets, at all) and put her in a good (or at least, better) mood even when she was trying to stay mad at him. For all of these reasons, Jamie knew in her heart that she was (usually) more than happy with the tradeoff of being unable to stay mad at her husband for very long in return for having the wonderful man that she had, against all odds, fallen in love with, in a permanent position in her life.

However, Jamie mentally smirked, Vince certainly didn't need to know that, and she really did feel like the almost mocking tone that her husband had asked his last question with deserved some kind of retaliatory response, even if was only in jest. So the hazel eyed woman forced herself to roll her eyes again and put her best fake frown on her face as she spoke in the most annoyed tone she could manage at the moment. "If you must know, I haven't done this before, Vince Faraday. My father's household staff always did the decorating, even during this time of year, when I was growing up, and I didn't really have much use for celebrating any holidays at all after I ran away from home and before I met you, and the Carnival of Crime always decorated the place themselves when you and I where living with them, as you well know. And you are also aware that we barely decorated this place last year, and my household staff, with some help from you, did all of that. But even so, I think I should be able to turn on a few lights! I mean, I've seen this done a hundred times, and watching my father's staff set one of these up was one of my favorite holiday activities as a little girl! I must have watched them do it a dozen times! What am I doing wrong!?" Jamie let out a very real sigh to annoyance, both at the activity she had undertaken for herself, the only decorating activity she had insisted on undertaking without any help from her household staff or (besides hauling the object into the house after bringing it back from the farm and supplying some a few of his family's decorations) her husband, and at herself for not being able to figure out how to string a few lights together so that they would light up. Jamie looked a little bit frazzled as she mentally went over everything she had done with the lights while decorating, and she just couldn't put her finger on what she had done wrong!

Vince choose that moment to take pity on his new wife, who had allowed herself to become very stressed out during all of her preparations for Trip's arrival for this holiday, which would happen in just a couple hours from now. Jamie's husband smiled and pointed at dangling, three pronged object that had not quite reached the wall outlet, something he had noticed several minutes ago. "It's okay, Jamie, I think you just forget to plug the lights in!"

Jamie blushed in embarrassment, but quickly recovered before she plugged the lights into the wall outlet, then playfully, and not remotely hard enough to actually hurt him, although Vince dramatically flinched as if in pain, as he always did, slapped her husband's shoulder. "And you didn't think to point that out to me before I started freaking out!?" Vince just shrugged sheepishly and smiled, causing Jamie to do the same before she turned back to the tree and flipped the switch attached to the lights again, causing the massive Christmas tree in the living room of her mansion to suddenly light up in a mixture of red, green, and white light that would have hurt any human being to look at if it was just a smidge brighter. Vince smiled as he looked at the beautiful sight before him while Jamie crossed her arms proudly and admired her own handy work. The Cape knew that his partner in crime had put a lot of effort into setting up the mansion to be "just right" for Trip's Christmas visit to their home, and he understood why.

Even though Christmas hadn't been all that special of an occasion for the blogger's family when she was growing up (aside from her admiration of the decorations that her father's household staff always put out for the annual Christmas parties for ARK) even before her father had more or less abandoned her, she was aware that Christmas had always been a very special time of year in the Faraday home. In fact, Christmas had always been such a big family event in the Faraday household that, despite the fact that Vince and Dana alternated their custody of Trip during the other major holidays every year (for instance, Trip had spent last year's Thanksgiving with Vince and Jamie, and this year's with Dana and Travis, although the boy would always give the non-custodial parent for that holiday a phone call), Trip's parents had agreed that they would share custody of Trip every Christmas, so that the boy could see his entire family for that special holiday. In practice, this had been difficult to pull off on a purely logistical level, but Dana, Jamie, Travis, and Vince worked to pull this feat off for Trip's sake.

In the end, the two couples had accomplished this task through an alternating schedule that depended on the year a particular Christmas fell on. This was made simpler after Dana and Vince realized that there were exactly three major events that the two of them had shared with Trip every Christmas before Vince's first run in with Chess: Christmas morning, going to the annual Christmas carnival, and dinner with Trip's grandparents. In the end, it was decided that Vince and Dana would alternate on whose home Trip would spend Christmas morning in and open his gifts, but all four of the adults now present in Trip's life would be there for the event, and exchange gifts among each other and Trip at that location. The two parent's would then alternate who would bring Trip to the Christmas carnival at the park in the afternoon, with the parent who did not get to have Trip in their home that Christmas being allowed to take Trip to that event. Originally, Dana and Vince had decided that the parent that did not get to take Trip to the park would then take the boy to have dinner at his grandparent's house. And because Vince had not yet spoken to his parents since his relationship with Jamie had started last year: last year's Christmas had seen Trip spend Christmas morning at Dana and Travis' apartment with Jamie and Vince as his mom's guests, going to the carnival with Jamie and Vince, and going to his grandparents' home for Christmas dinner with Travis and his mother. But, although that arrangement had worked okay last year, Trip had felt kind of weird about not having both of his parent's around for Christmas dinner, and now that both Vince and Jamie were on good terms with Vince's parents, it had been agreed, with Frank and Julie Faraday's assent, that all four of Trip's parents and stepparents would be present for Christmas dinner at the elder Faradays' home from now on.

So this year would be different. Not only would Trip be spending time with all of his parents and guardians during both Christmas morning and dinner, he would also be experiencing his first Christmas morning in Jamie's mansion, a fact which made Jamie very nervous indeed. Although Vince insisted that he and Jamie didn't need to go through any extra trouble to set up the event, besides helping Vince make breakfast by microwaving a few items while her husband cooked (Jamie, unlike her father, always gave her staff both Christmas Eve and day off, just one reason her household staff liked the current mansion owner better than her father), and putting up the same few Christmas decorations in the mansion as they had last year, Jamie had been adamant that she would spare no amount of time or expense to make Trip's first Christmas in their home memorable. And so, during the past month Jamie had been moving like a whirlwind, shopping for presents for everyone, especially Trip and Vince (buying entirely too many gifts as far as Vince, who still liked to keep his gift giving simple, despite the vast amount of wealth he now shared with Jamie, was concerned) and hiring professional decorators to make her home almost as Christmassy as possible. So now the entire mansion (including the exterior) was practically covered in Christmas lights, tinsel, wreaths, fake snow, and various red and green decorations (including some mistletoe in her and Vince's room that she planned to make good use of later), and there was a ten-foot tall tree currently sitting right in the middle of the mansion's living room that had a small mountain of presents sitting underneath it.

Still, despite how ostentatious the whole ensemble was (and Vince had privately warned Dana that Jamie had gone all out for Trip's first Christmas in their home, and explained it was because she wanted Trip to have a memorable first Christmas here, not because she and Vince were trying to show anyone up), Vince privately admitted to himself that all of the decorators had done a great job, and the home, which now resembled a winter wonderland, was quite beautiful, and Trip would probably love it. But none of the other decorations held a candle to the tree, which Vince had picked and helped transport to the mansion from one of the properties that Jamie owned (although both Vince and Jamie had insisted on having three other trees planted on the property to take its place), and Jamie had decorated. Vince could only stare in awe at the towering fern, which was now lit up with what Vince guessed must have been about a million watts of red green and white light, and was absolutely covered in decorations from both Vince and Dana's (Vince and Jamie had borrowed some of Dana's Christmas decorations for this occasion) families, and even a few items from Jamie's childhood. All that Vince could say as he stared at what he thought must be the most beautiful Christmas tree he had ever seen was "Wow!"

Jamie smirked at her husband's reaction. "Not such a smart-alec about my decorating skills now, are you?!" The woman smiled. "In all seriousness, I'm glad you like it. I hope Trip does to."

Vince nodded slowly, still admiring Jamie's handiwork on the tree. "I love it, and I'm certain Trip will to!" The man turned to his new wife and smiled. "You don't need to worry so much about today, you know. Trip will certainly see you put a lot of effort into decorating this place, and you have certainly gone to great, if sometimes excessive, lengths to make him feel at home here, as well as at Dana's apartment. So I'm sure that Trip will have a very enjoyable Christmas morning here. You may not be one of his biological parents, like Dana and I are, but you should know by now that Trip loves you, just like he's come to love Travis over the years. So please just take a deep breath and relax, okay sweetie?!" Vince punctuated his words by gently massaging Jamie's back, causing the woman to visibly relax and slowly exhale while the tension in her shoulders and the rest of her body visibly lessened.

The Cape's partner in crime smiled. "You are probably right." The woman reluctantly pulled away from Vince. "But we still have to make sure that everything in the kitchen is ready for us, and you and I will have to start cooking soon! Trip will be here any minute." As Vince nodded and started moving towards the kitchen, Jamie took a moment to frown at the mountain of presents under the Christmas tree. "I think you are right, Vince. I went way overboard on the presents, didn't I?! Dana's going to hate me for all of this! I mean, I wasn't trying to show her up or anything, I just wanted…"

"Trip's first Christmas here to be special." Vince interrupted his wife in a gentle voice, knowing that it would do no good to make his wife feel bad about her shopping spree at this point. "I know. And Dana knows to. I hope you didn't mind, but I kind of told her that you went all out on Christmas this year, and explained your reasons for doing so, and that we weren't trying to show her up, or make Trip like being here more than the apartment. She knows already."

Jamie nodded. "Thank you for running interference for me there, Vince. I really appreciate it. Still, remind me not to go so overboard with the presents next time. And… I think I will loan out my decorators to Dana for next year for her apartment. I figure it's the least I could do."

Vince nodded. "I'm sure she would appreciate that. But for now, we have a Christmas breakfast to attend to."

Jamie forced herself to smile and followed Vince into the kitchens, still nervous about today. "I guess you are right."

…Almost three hours later

DING DONG!

Vince sighed when Jamie's face took on a panicked expression just before she bolted from the living room toward the front door faster than the blonde haired man had ever seen his wife move. He had just spent the last three hours calming Jamie down and assuring her today was going to run smoothly, and he had thought that it had worked until now. Evidently, though, Jamie was still very nervous about Trip's first Christmas at the mansion, a fact which had not been helped Dana, by Travis, and Trip's hour-late arrival. Honestly, Vince didn't understand why Jamie was so nervous about how her preparations for today would be received. She had gone overboard with the gifts and decorations, true, but everyone who would be here today knew why, and he doubted anyone would truly blame Jamie for wanting to make Trip's first Christmas at the mansion special (although, knowing her sense of humor, Vince knew Dana might jokingly poke fun at Jamie for her excessive preparations from time to time over the next year, but he trusted his ex-wife would be gracious enough to let Jamie know she was only joking). In truth, after the events of earlier this morning, Vince couldn't bring himself to be nervous about any of the rest of the day's activities, since, for him anyway, his and Jamie's early morning visit to Peter Fleming had been nerve-racking enough to make the rest of today's events seem relatively uneventful by comparison.

Earlier that morning, the newlywed Faraday couple (Jamie had changed her last name to Faraday completely, while Dana had changed her last name to Hall) had paid a visit to their most…interesting family member at his current penthouse residence (which Jamie had loaned out to her father) in the business district of Palm City. For the last month, Peter Fleming had been living under house arrest in his new residence after the hospital had, with several caveats, discharged the former villain from their custody due to his greatly improved mental state. Palm City PD had reluctantly allowed the man to obtain a residence for himself with his daughter's help because of the hospital's recommendation and Peter's cooperation with the PCPD since he had been captured by the Cape and Orwell. However, they had insisted on keeping the man on house arrest in his new dwelling for a year to make sure he didn't try to go back to his old criminal ways. And even if the man met all of the terms of his release (such as seeing a therapist daily, taking his meds, and not leaving his dwelling) for that amount of time and was finally granted his "freedom", the former CEO of ARK would still be monitored by PCPD and various state and federal agencies for the rest of his life, he would still need to keep taking his meds and seeing a therapist three times a week, and he would not be able to leave the state. Ever.

Visiting his former supervillian father in law had not been anywhere on Vince's list of things he wanted to do today, but he came with his wife to see Peter because he knew how much his support for Jamie's efforts to reconnect with her father would mean to her… and because this had been the first Christmas that Jamie had been able to see her father in years. As Vince had feared, the ordeal had been rather awkward, at least at first. Almost every moment of the first few minutes of his and Jamie's visit, from the Peter greeting them at the door with a nod and a handshake, to the exchanging of gifts, had seemed awkward. Peter hadn't been able to get out to buy anything, so he had to settle for giving Jamie the music box, complete with a miniature ballerina figurine, which he had been planning to giving his daughter on her 17th birthday before she ran away, and the ex-villain hadn't gotten Vince anything yet because he honestly had no idea what kinds of things his ex-enemy liked, although Peter insisted he and Jamie would put their heads together and find something for him to get his new son-in-law, even after Vince said that wouldn't be necessary, since the man was pretty sure Peter was only getting him something for Jamie's sake. Jamie had gotten her father a copy of her and Vince's wedding album, which she had kept for her dad while he was still institutionalized, as well as a heavily edited version of her private journal which contained info on several of the significant events that had occurred in Orwell's life since she ran away that she actually wanted her father to know about. Vince, not having any idea what to give his father in law, former multi-millionaire ex-supervillain who used to be his nemesis who had everything except his freedom, had settled for giving Mr. Fleming something that his son had suggested for this occasion as a joke…a Cape comic book. Although Vince had used some of the money he shared with Jamie to get the former CEO a copy of the first issue of that publication signed by the original artist and writer, so the gift could be passed off as a "collector's item", everyone in the room instantly knew it was a gag gift, as evidenced by Jamie and Peter's reactions. Jamie, who had thought Vince was joking when her husband had told her what he had purchased for her father, had rolled her eyes and shot Vince a brief glare while trying not to laugh. Peter, on the other hand, simply stared at his gift for several seconds before he did burst out laughing, causing Vince and Jamie to join him soon after. After the laughter in the room had subsided, Peter had jokingly stated that the comic book would definitely make for an interesting conversation piece at any parties he might host in this penthouse in the future, if he had any more parties, or any remaining friends to invite to them.

The mood had turned a little bit somber after that comment, but at least Peter's statement had broken the ice enough to start a discussion among the three adults about scheduling some future visits between the Faraday couple and Mr. Fleming. Peter had also inquired when he could meet Trip, his step-grandson, but Vince had, as polite fully as he could, replied he didn't feel comfortable allowing his old nemesis near his child just yet. In addition, the look Vince had shot Jamie while making this statement had made it clear to the brunette that her husband may not ever be comfortable with allowing her father to see Trip, and Jamie just smiled and nodded to indicate that she would respect whatever decision that Vince made for his child in this regard. After that, Jamie had awkwardly stated that it was time for her and Vince to go back to the mansion to prepare things for Trip, and Vince had started to believe that this whole trip to see Jamie's father had been a waste of time…until his wife unexpectedly hugged her father while he was showing his daughter and her husband out the door, and Mr. Fleming had reciprocated after several seconds. Everyone in the room knew the significance of this moment, since Jamie had revealed to Vince that she and her father hadn't hugged since she was twelve. When Jamie had pulled away, she said: "I missed you. Even after I knew all that you had done, what you were, I still missed you. And I… still want my old dad back, if that is possible and I know we have a long way to go before we can have anything resembling a normal father/daughter relationship again, but… just don't be a stranger once they let you off house arrest, okay?"

Then Vince has seen something he never though he would: Peter Fleming actually cried, although the man only shed a small number of tears that he quickly wiped away. The ex-villain tried to pass the few tears in his eyes off as the results of allergies, but both Jamie and Vince knew that was a lie when Fleming replied to his daughter's words. "I won't. I promise." And then, as Vince and Jamie were walking towards their car, just before they were out of earshot, Peter added. "And I… missed you too, Jamie." After Jamie smiled with one of the biggest grins that Vince had ever seen cross his wife's face, Vince had known that this visit, and all of the subsequent visits from his old nemesis that he would have to endure if Jamie and her father started reconnecting in earnest, would be worth it if it meant that his wife could be this happy on a more regular basis. And for the first time, Vince actually started thinking that may be possible. After all, although neither his wife nor her father, has actually said the exact words, the sandy haired man had been smart enough to know that the father and daughter's words and actions at the end of this visit had clearly meant: "I love you." Therefore, he knew that, for the sake of his wife's happiness, he would be willing to put up with visits from his father-in-law to their home (Peter, who had said that the mansion was better suited for a CEO and a family of three anyway, had declined to attempt to regain his old residence) in the future (which was good, since, unknown to Vince at this time, Jamie had already planned to hire her father as an advisor for her role as CEO, both so she could spend more time with her dad, and so she could keep a close eye on him and make sure Peter Fleming stayed out of trouble)…but he would definitely be very cautious, and wear his cape under his clothes, whenever his father-in-law visited him and Jamie In the future. And maybe a Kevlar vest as well.

Bringing his thoughts back to the present after Dana, Travis, and Trip's arrival, Vince helped his wife greet them. After everyone had gotten settled in the living room, and Travis had apologized for sleeping in, citing a late night case the day before in which the attorney had fought hard to get an innocent man freed from jail on time to spend Christmas day with his family, Jamie and Vince showed everyone to the sofas in the living area, which now had five beautiful antique trays made of oak in front of them. In the apartment that Vince and Dana used to share with Trip, it was a Christmas tradition that everyone would eat breakfast on the floor the living room with their food, plates, napkins, etc. on wicker trays, so that everyone could get to opening presents as quickly as possible afterward. Jamie, on the other hand, had had every meal in a formal dining room when she was growing up, a tradition she had resumed when she moved into the mansion, and continued even after Vince moved in with her. Jamie had been willing to budge on her usual eating habits in this regard for Trip's visit, in order to make her stepson as comfortable as possible, but she had insisted on having everyone sit on couches and use her family's antique trays, because, as she put it, "We don't eat like barbarians in this house, Vince!"

Before Vince and Jamie excused themselves to the kitchen (Vince to get the plates, napkins and silverware out, and Jamie to re-heat the food), Dana looked at the large number of presents under the tree, which dwarfed the small number of gifts she, Travis and Trip had brought with them, and raised an eyebrow toward Vince, showing her slight annoyance with Jamie's extravagant shopping spree. Vince just shrugged sheepishly in reply, but Jamie, who had caught the non-verbal exchange between the two exes, silently mouthed "I'm sorry" to Dana before giving her husband an annoyed look of her own for "taking Dana's side", even though, really, he just hadn't directly defended Jamie at that particular moment, before she and Vince left for the kitchen to finish preparing breakfast. However, the brunette had the sense not to actually bring up Vince's "slip up" again.

After breakfast was ready and everybody had a plate full of food, a napkin and silverware set in front of them on a tray, the adults began making conversation, with Dana bringing up the first topic. "You two really outdid yourselves on decorating this place. It really does look like a winter wonderland in here. I'm only concerned that I won't be able to provide an atmosphere like this in my own home next Christmas."

Jamie blushed, while Trip, who currently had a mouthful of food in his mouth that he was chewing, awkwardly started speaking. "Fatts alwight…" But when the boy was met by a pointed look coming from four pairs of eyes, the owners of which had all told Trip at one time or another not to chew with his mouth full, he quickly swallowed his food, and sheepishly added. "I'm sure I'll have just as much fun next year as I do this year, even if the decorations here are really nice. You did a great job, Jamie!"

Jamie blushed while the others looked away from Trip awkwardly. They all knew that Trip hated it when he saw his parents and stepparents had anything resembling a competition concerning him, even if everybody involved was civil about it, so all four of the adults in the room generally tried to avoid doing so, and became slightly ashamed when Trip caught them pointing out differences between the way things worked in the two places he called "home." Thankfully, since all of Trip's parents and stepparents usually got along, that problem didn't come up very often, and it hadn't caused any overt fighting between any of them. Still, trying to steer the conversation in a more positive direction, the Cape's wife and partner in crime nodded. "Thank you very much, Trip! But the decorators I hired did most of the work, with a little help from your dad."

Vince shook his head. "You are really being too modest, Jamie…"

Jamie shook her head. "I'm really not. I'm actually not that great at decorating most things, Vince. You know that. I'm sure you, Dana, and Travis are all better at that stuff than I am, since I was never taught to do anything like that for myself growing up. I supplied a few suggestions, true, and I decorated the tree, but you, our staff, and the decorators did most of the work, including bringing the tree inside!" Jamie turned toward Dana. "I'm going to loan my decorators out to you and Travis for next Christmas, and every Christmas afterward if you want, Dana. I'm sure with your input, they will be able to make your apartment look just as beautiful, and much less gaudy, than they made this place." Seeing the red headed woman was about to open her mouth in protest, Jamie added. "I insist. It's really the least I can do. I know I went…"Jamie's eyes fell upon the large pile of gifts under the tree. "Way overboard preparing for Christmas this year, and I really feel like I need to make it up to you. Please, it would make me feel better if you accepted. Just consider it a Christmas gift, if you want."

Dana nodded, seeing the guilty look in Jamie's eyes. The ex-Faraday admitted to herself that it really was hard to stay mad at Jamie for long when she got like this. After all, the young woman was still almost child-like in so many aspects of her personality that staying angry with her for any length of time when the brunette already felt guilty was like kicking a puppy. It just didn't feel right. "I guess I have no choice but to accept, then. Thank you. I'm sure Travis and I will think of something to do with the apartment next year. And for the record…" Dana smiled. "This place doesn't look gaudy at all. You managed to make this place very beautiful for Trip's first Christmas here. And I'm sure everyone here appreciates your efforts."

Everyone else quickly agreed with Dana's words, and the conversation between the four adults and Trip concerning alternated between various topics, such as their work lives, how Susan and the members of the Carnival of Crime (who Vince and Jamie had visited the day before to celebrate Christmas with their old friends early) were doing, and some of the highlights of the last few days in Trip's life, and what the boy hoped he would be getting as gifts this year. Although they didn't discuss it now, Vince's thoughts also dwelt on what Max, Jamie and himself had discussed on Christmas Eve, including Max's stated fear that the bloody legacy of the Cape couldn't be washed away by just one do-gooder, and that Palm City would probably not have its crime problem solved in a single generation (Max had paused, laughed, and added, "or at least I hope not!") and it would continue to need heroes whenever Vince retired as the Cape. Although the magician hadn't specifically said so, the sandy haired man was concerned that his old mentor might be alluding to a desire to have Trip take up the mantle of the Cape after his father was done with it, based on the Carnival's attempts to train his son in various skills, and Vince definitely wasn't comfortable with that idea.

On the other hand, he knew that Trip enjoyed spending time with the Carnival now, and they were his and Jamie's friends, so he didn't really want to stop Trip's visits to the Carnival (the boy actually asked to go there after school sometimes these days) without any hard evidence backing up his suspicions. However, Trip's fidgeting on the sofa, which indicated the boy's anxiousness to open his presents, was enough to cut his father off from his serious thoughts and make him smile. Trip was at that awkward age where he knew better than to complain about something like being impatient to open his presents, but was unable to hide his impatience to do so. Deciding to relieve his child's "suffering", Vince asked if everybody was ready to open presents now, everyone assented, and after he had helped his wife clear the remnants of the day's late breakfast away, everyone sat down near the massive Christmas tree to open presents, talk some more, and admire the tree which Jamie had decorated with Christmas lights, tinsel, fake snowflakes, various decorations that came from every member of Trip's extended family, and various other pieces of flair.

Soon it was time for everyone to open their presents, and Dana and Travis did their best to hide that they had noticed that Vince and Trip had received more gifts than anybody else, courtesy of Jamie Faraday, a task made easier by the fact that the CEO had bought everyone at least half a dozen gifts each. Also, it being their first Christmas as a married couple, Vince had also "splurged" (by his standards anyway), and gotten Jamie five gifts instead of the usual one or two per person that he usually gave out. And, although Jamie had gotten her husband twice as many presents as he had given her, the newest Faraday was still very impressed by Vince's biggest gift to her, a handmade desk for her personal computer rig (the one Jamie used as Orwell) that Frank Faraday had helped his son make during some of Vince's visits to his parents' house (since the mansion lacked a tool shed of any kind, a fact which Vince and Jamie planned to remedy early the next year), which Vince had hidden under a tarp in one of the mansions garages (which Jamie seldom spent time in now that she used a limo to get to most places). Despite all of this, however, and the huge hug that Jamie Faraday had given her new husband, the highlight of the morning was definitely when Trip opened his presents.

All eyes were on the youngest Faraday as he opened all of his gifts, and Vince smiled as recognized that all of the other adults in the room were smiling as well. Not for the first time, Vince mentally noted that, although he still got along well with Dana, and he had gotten used to being around Travis, and even considering him a friend, despite the fact that the lawyer had a withdrawn, bookish type of personality that Vince usually found boring, Trip was the main reason that he, Dana, Travis, and Jamie all spent time together. Trip, and all four adults' love for the boy, was what held this unconventional family together, which was just one reason out of many that the Cape thanked God every day for his son. As happy as Jamie made him, after all, Vince knew that his life would still be missing something without the presence of the other members of his "family." So, it was no surprise that, when Trip opened all of his presents, a miniature robot building set from Travis (to compliment Trip's recently acquired love for building things with his hands), some school supplies (a practical gift) and some Cape comic books from Dana (Vince had even paid for a copy of issue #1 for his son and let Dana give it to his son as a present from her, partially to offset the large number of gifts he just knew Jamie would get his son, an offer his ex had reluctantly excepted, but only after insisting that she would pay Vince back, despite her ex's insistence that wasn't necessary), and a set of baseball stuff that Vince promised his son they could "break in" together, including a throwing mitt, wooden bat, and, of course, a baseball, the man's heart was filled with happiness every time his son smiled after opening his presents.

That feeling continued when Trip started opening his presents from Jamie, although it was now mixed with anxiety and embarrassment when he noticed that all of the remaining presents in Trip's still sizable pile of gifts were from his wife. To her credit, Jamie at least had the good sense to look embarrassed as well as her stepson opened all of her gifts to him, which included a new handheld game device to replace one that Trip had accidentally broken last month, as well as a replacement for the game that had broken inside it, a new home gaming console, with three games for that system as well, as well as a new laptop, which Jamie offered to help Trip get the full use out of its computing power (Jamie had insisted that no stepson of hers would be forced to go without his own computer at 12 years old, since she had been given a personal computer when she was only 9) . Truth be told, Jamie had originally wanted to add another game system, two games for that, a big screen TV, and get a top of the line computer twice as expensive as the one she had actually bought her stepson, but Vince's insistence that Jamie shouldn't go overboard on getting Trip presents had made the billionaire decide to "draw the line" with what she had actually bought.

Now, however, it was obviously clear to Jamie, who kept alternating between smiling when Trip smiled after opening a present, and hiding her face in embarrassment every time Trip opened yet another gift from his stepmom, that she had still gone way overboard. This latter reaction eventually became so pronounced that it looked like Jamie might actually end up crying out of shame that she had bought Trip not only more (and more expensive) gifts than anyone else, she had even gone over last year's splurge of getting Trip five, less expensive gifts for her stepson. Jamie knew she had clearly bought too many presents for Trip now, to the point that she realized she may have made Dana and Travis feel like their gift offerings to Trip were inadequate, which is not at all what the CEO had intended to happen. At one point, after all the gifts had been opened, Jamie's guilt over her actions became so obvious that Dana herself had taken pity on the blogger and had sent Travis and Trip out of the room on the pretense of "finding something in the car" that Dana and Travis both well knew they had purposely left at home. Sensing what was about to happen, Vince had also excused himself from the room and Dana, after looking at Jamie and frowning for several seconds, shrugged, sighed, then laughed softly. "You certainly went all out with Christmas this year, didn't you, Jamie?"

Orwell hid her face with her hand in embarrassment. "I know. I'm so, so sorry. I did… I bought way too much stuff. I swear I wasn't trying to show you up, though. I just wanted to make Trip's first Christmas here…"

"Special." Dana interrupted with a small smile. "I know. Vince explained that to me. And I'm sure that, growing up, you probably got even more extravagant gifts during the holidays than Trip did this year. But, as I'm sure Vince has made you aware, Trip's upbringing has been very different than yours. And, no offense, but Vince, Travis and I are trying to keep it that way." When Jamie opened her mouth to apologize again, Dana interrupted the blogger. "That being said, I know that your heart was in the right place, and that you just wanted to make Trip's first Christmas here special because, in your own way, you love him. I can appreciate all of that, and I'm sure Trip does too, but…" Dana sighed. This was an awkward subject of conversation for a mom and stepmom of a child to have to address in conversation, but the red head knew that had now become necessary. "…you should know by now that my son already loves you. You didn't need to go these great lengths, or buy him this many things, just to impress him."

Jamie smiled and Dana's reassuring words. The blogger was grateful that she got along well enough with Vince's ex to have this conversation. "I know. Vince keeps trying to tell me that too. But I guess I still have a tendency to go overboard buying too much stuff for people that I care about, even if I'm getting better at that and mostly confine my…overzealous generosity to holidays these days. I promise I will try not to do it again, though. And..." Jamie looked at Trip's giant pile of opened presents. "I'll take Vince with me for Christmas shopping next year. I'm sure he'll tell me when I'm about to cross the line between generous and tacky when it comes to buying gifts. Also, I kept all of the receipts for Trip's gifts, so, since I bought your son way too much stuff, if you want me to return some of them…."

Dana laughed. "Your first idea was a good one, but I don't think we need to go so far as to return anything. I may have Trip do some extra chores around the house for a few weeks though, so that he feels that he is actually earning some of this stuff, and Travis and I will definitely limit the amount of time Trip spends on the computer or on videogames when he is at the apartment. It will be up to you and Vince to decide if you want to do the same when he is here of course."

Jamie nodded. "I will talk to Vince about it, but that sounds like it would be a good idea for when Trip is here at the mansion too. Thank you for being so understanding about everything. And once again, I'm sorry, and I promise I won't become so overzealous with Christmas next year."

Before another word could be said, however, Vince entered the room again, and Trip and Travis reentered the mansion, shortly before Trip did something unexpected by dashing up to his stepmom and giving her a hug and saying "thank you" for all of the gifts she had given him. Travis, who had told Trip to say thank you for all of Jamie's gifts, was still surprised that his stepson had decided to do so in such an enthusiastic fashion. Jamie's eyes widened in shock, as the billionaire was temporarily at a loss about what to do in this situation. Trip hugged his parents all the time of course, and he had done so not too long ago after opening Vince and Dana's presents for him, and he had even been known to hug Travis on occasion, but this was the first time the child had hugged his stepmom. Glancing at Vince and Dana's reactions to this event, a pair of reassuring smiles, Jamie finally relaxed and hugged Trip back. "Your very welcome, Trip. Just don't get used to me getting you quite this many gifts. I just wanted to make your first Christmas here special."

Trip's body straightened up and he slowly pulled away from Jamie after reminding himself that he was 12 years old, going on 13, practically an adult in his mind. He was getting "too old" for hugging his parents, much less a stepparent. "Right. Of course. Thanks again, Jamie."

The rest of the day, including Dana, Travis and Trip's visit to the Carnival, and the whole group's visit to see Trip's grandparents, went off without a hitch, and that Christmas was one that would be remembered by all of them as one that was filled with a lot of love, laughter, and fun. Not a word was spoken about the gift that Max Malini had given to Max and Jamie to give Trip on Christmas Eve, a miniature, lighter, and softer (and therefore, less potentially lethal) version of the Cape that his father now wore which could be used to perform many of the same tricks as the original. And Vince and Jamie's suspicions that Max was trying to groom Trip to be the next Cape, and their reservations about that plan, which had caused them to hold off on giving Trip Max's present just yet, were certainly not spoken of on that day. Trips extended family was also blissfully ignorant of the jail break, masterminded by Gregor Molotov and the supervillainess known as DICE, which would occur the next day. That incident, which one newspaper would label "The Great Boxing Day Jailbreak", would see the escape of not only those two villains, but also several other dangerous criminals, such as Goggles and Hicks (the latter of whom had been arrested after trying to bust his brother out of prison), the Lich, and several former mob bosses and their cronies from Owl Island prison. This event would make it apparent that Palm City needed the Cape and Orwell now more than ever, and confirm many people belief that Palm City would always need a Cape.

None of these troubles, however, past or future, were on the minds of Vince and Jamie Fleming as they drove home after having Christmas dinner with Trip's whole family. In fact, the only thing the married couple thought about on the drive back to the mansion (other than how they were going to get some use out of the mistletoe in their room that night) was how lucky they felt that they had each other, and that everything was looking up for them and their blended families. As far as they were concerned, after four years of hard work, drama, and sacrifice, the Cape and Orwell had finally earned their happy ending together.

And that is was the epilogue! Yes, I finally, finally, finally posted this! I don't blame anyone if they doubted that I would after so long, but I was finally able to post the end of this story, just as I promised I would. I'm so sorry for the delay, but a lot of real life stuff has been getting in the way of me getting this story done, and the epilogue kept mutating on me and getting longer and longer as I wrote it, so it took a lot longer than I anticipated to post this. I hope it lives up to your expectations, but please don't hesitate to be honest in your reviews! I really do appreciate honest feedback from my readers, since it helps me grow as a writer. I also hope that you don't mind that I left so much business unfinished for our heroes, but as one famous comic book character stated, "Nothing ever really ends.", so I thought I would finish the story with our characters still earning their happy ending one day at a time, just like the rest of us. Oh, I would once again like to thank all of my readers for reading this, especially the two of you who have bothered to review chapters of my story, Troll99 and scorpio38457! Your input has meant a lot to me.

And once again, a special thanks goes out to my proofreader, without which a child's finger painting would look like a masterpiece compared to any piece of fanfic I have ever written. Your help is greatly appreciated!

And finally, a question for all of my readers. Does this story really need to be rated M? I am always paranoid when rating one of my fanfics, and I rated this story M because of the repeated references to the Jamie in my story having been molested as a child. Do you think that is a good enough reason to have the story rated M, or should I drop it down to a 'T' rating? Please let me know your thoughts about this in a review or PM. I would greatly appreciate your thoughts on this matter.