Light One Candle

Multiple couples... 25 days ... 50 short stories ... (Heavily AU)... Come spend the holidays with lovelykc and BoandNora-ItsOneWord as we revisit our favorite soap opera town of Llanview, PA!

Day 1 - Decorating
Natalie Buchanan and John McBain
**Written by lovelykc**

"Spreading holiday cheer everywhere you go, huh," John murmured as he came to stand beside her.

Natalie smiled at him as she tossed another piece of tinsel on to the display. She had gotten the idea to decorate the police station on a whim just that morning. She supposed it was her way of thanking everyone for all that they did all year round to make her job easier.

"Fortunately for me, my mom had all of this stuff just sitting in the attic collecting dust and was only too happy to share it with me." She stood back to admire her handiwork. "How does it look?"

John's lips twitched. "Uh, festive."

"You hate it."

"Well I've never been much of a Christmas lover but it looks pretty nice to me."

"You're lying, but I'll take it. To be honest, I didn't used to like Christmas either. Growing up in Atlantic City with Roxie… Well, there wasn't a whole lot to celebrate, you know. But now here with my family, I appreciate all that the holiday represents. Plus people just seem nicer at this time of year, don't you think?"

"Well the crime rate is down lately," John allowed. He rocked on his heels. "So what are you doing for the holidays?"

"Mom is throwing a huge dinner party and I'm helping to put it together… You should come."

John nodded, completely surprising her. "Yeah, I just might."

Natalie's heart did flip flops in her chest. The way he was looking at her… It was indescribable but it made her feel warm and at peace, feelings that she hadn't enjoyed in so long. She had truly thought that they were never going to get back this ease between them. But now that he and Evangeline were splitsville, maybe there was hope for them to be friends again.

She hoped. Oh she hoped. She shouldn't hope, but she couldn't help it.

"6:30 P.M., Christmas Eve at Llanfair. Be there," Natalie said and then, offering him a smile, went about trimming the tree next. She felt him watching her the whole time from his office doorway though she knew that he would deny it if anyone accused him of doing it.

She smiled. Maybe all was not lost after all.

Day One- Holiday Cards
Molly Buchanan and Jonathon Manning
*Written by BoandNora-ItsOneWord*

A/N: Molly is the daughter of Bo and Nora and Jonathon is the son of Marty and Todd.

"Jonathon, you've been staring at that page for almost an hour," Molly observed." Can't you think of anything to say to your father? It's Christmas."

"The season of Miracles right," he joked, as he turned to look at his girlfriend? She was smiling brightly at him, and it did his heart good, knowing that for so long she hadn't had a reason to smile at all.

"You don't have to offer him an olive branch Jonathon. I'm just saying…maybe you should try to think of something small…Regardless of who he is, he's still your father."

"What if I don't think of him that way anymore?"

"Is this about me…please don't hate your father because of me. He wasn't the one who hurt me."

"But he hurt your mother and mine…and when I think about everything I know about being a good man, it has nothing to do with anything I learned from Todd Manning. If he was a good man, he wouldn't have forced himself on at least two women I know."

Molly draped her arm around her boyfriend's shoulder and kissed his cheek. "I didn't say he was a good man…I said he was your father. You can't change that. Maybe you could just tell him…"

"Not to rape any more women," he said.

"Is that the best you can think of," she challenged.

"Well," he said, pausing as he looked at Molly—"I suppose I could thank him for staying away."

"That's better," Molly agreed. "But come on…you can't honestly think of something nice to say…just for today. The whole point of these cards is to spread the holiday cheer."

He brushed the stray hair out of her face as he gently kissed her lips…She giggled as she pretended to break away from him. "My parents are upstairs Jonathan. You don't want to make my dad come down here do you?."

"Oh please no," he joked, knowing perfectly well that Molly was serious. It was a minor miracle that he had even allowed the boy into his home without them supervising. "He'd kill me."

"Exactly," Molly agreed. "So get back to that Card. No kissing is allowed…for now."

She climbed off his lap and went back to her own cards. Jonathon just looked at her and smiled. He had to be the luckiest man in the world. He was in love with an Angel.