Jonah was behind the wheel of his reliable, fairly new, at least new to him, Toyota, navigating the interstates with his GPS app on his phone. Through the windshield the skies were a dark gray, and so far the snow had held off, but the absolutely freezing temperatures outside had him cranking up the heater so that it blew hot air at his feet as well as his hands.

"In ten miles, stay in the right lane and take exit 12 on the right," instructed the female voice from his phone's GPS. Jonah glanced down at the map to see that the app suggested he only had 30 minutes to his destination.

He let his mind wonder. Ten miles is plenty of time to get the butterflies in your stomach all worked up. Jonah would be starting his last semester of nursing school in just a few weeks. He already worked part time nights at the hospital close to his university. He didn't love the emergency room, but knew he was getting lots of useful experience, and his job helped him afford a small apartment close to campus, and of course gas and insurance on his car.

It seemed as if everything was right on track for Jonah, with graduation looming in the next few months, a job secured with very decent pay, and he even managed to put away a small amount of his paycheck each month into a savings account. But the best thing of all that he had going for him was the beautiful girl asleep in the passenger seat.

She was fairly short with medium length, bright blond curls, heart shaped lips, pale complexion with pink cheeks, curvy in the legs and hips. Even with the small snores escaping her slightly agape mouth, she was adorable, the sweetest thing he had ever seen. But that wasn't all he liked about her. She really was the sweetest thing, kind and compassionate, witty and funny. He'd never known anyone as well read as she was. She, too, was graduating this spring, top of her class, probably, with a double major in food design and business management.

Jonah blessed the day he met Sunny Baudelaire, through the friend of a friend at a midnight study group for Calculus. She was always at ease and easily set everyone else at ease. He'd never laughed so much during a study session and quickly secured a date with her for morning coffee before she'd even had a chance to pack her books into her backpack. Thank God she had agreed and he'd been able to keep her ever since. They'd been together for the last four months.

His eyes landed on her left hand that rested on her thigh. Her fingers were long and she kept her nails short because she didn't like the thought of working with food and getting it stuck in her fingernails. It was soon, he knew. They hadn't known each other for very long, but he just knew she was the one he wanted to spend the rest of his life with. He wanted to see the diamond ring that he kept hidden in his shirt pocket adorning Sunny's left hand. They'd talked about marriage before, but always in a playful manner. He wanted to make it a reality, and soon.

Actually, this was going to be the perfect day to propose. It was Christmas Eve. They were driving all this way from University expressly to meet Sunny's family. It might even snow. As he steered the Toyota onto the exit ramp, he gently grasped Sunny's hand in his, bringing it to his lips for a kiss. "Wake up, Sunshine," he said quietly. "We're getting close now."

She smiled before she opened her eyes, turning her face towards him. "Hey," she said, voice raspy from her mild snores. She readjusted her bottom in the seat, pulling her seatbelt looser and rubbing away the crick in her neck. She squeezed his hand which he kept hold of. "You ready for this?"

"You mean meeting your family?" he asked with a small laugh. He'd always been a favorite with all of his previous girlfriends' mothers. He wasn't worried. Well, maybe a little. When Sunny spoke of her family it was always very highly, almost reverently. Her face would light up when she spoke of her brother and sisters, but those stories were far and few between. There were never any details from her childhood. She never mentioned her mother or father. She had a secret way of redirecting conversations without him realizing it until much later, when it was no longer appropriate to ask. He chalked it up to how they had not really known each other for very long. And, if everything went according to plan this evening, he would have the rest of their lives to learn all of Sunny's particulars.

Sunny directed him now, telling him when to turn left, then turn right, so Jonah turned off his phone. As he turned into the driveway of a very large home in a very nice neighborhood, Sunny squeezed his hand again, smiling broadly. "I am so happy that you finally get to meet my family. They are going to love you, Jonah!" He put the car into park and turned off the ignition. He leaned over the middle console to kiss her lips, softly and tenderly.

"Merry Christmas," he said to her. "You know I love you, right?"

"Yes. I love you, too," she replied. "Come on, let's go inside." Her excitement had her bouncing in her seat. They unloaded the car. There wasn't much, just two large bags filled with smaller wrapped presents. A couple in their mid thirties stood on the porch. They looked nothing like Sunny. These two had dark brown hair, both were tall and thin, with none of the roundness that Sunny displayed. The woman, dressed in a burgundy A-line dress covered modestly with a soft gray cardigan had her hands clasped in front of her, fairly bouncing with excitement, mirroring Sunny. Sunny ran to her and they embraced for a long time. The man, dressed in nice jeans and a button up shirt covered with a dark gray pullover, reached out his hand to Jonah as he approached. He also wore a short beard, glasses and a big, welcoming smile.

"Hello! You must be Jonah. We've heard so much about you." The man shook his hand firmly. "I'm Klaus Baudelaire." Ah, so this was Sunny's brother. He was much older than Jonah had imagined. His own brother was just three years older than him.

"And this is Violet," introduced Sunny, kissing Violet on the cheek before pulling away from her sister to hug Klaus. Violet pulled Jonah into a warm, motherly embrace.

"Welcome. It's a pleasure to meet you. Did you have a nice trip?" Violet said kindly, all the while ushering the family inside, out of the cold. The house smelled of cookies, and roast meat, and burning candles. In other words, a little like heaven.

Jonah was steered through a wide, bright foyer, down a hall where he caught a glimpse of the kitchen, white and square and clean, then he was pulled by the elbow into a cozy den. There was a large fireplace, dark comfortable furniture, and bookshelves on every wall. Jonah was sure he'd never seen a private collection of books so expansive before. A massive Christmas tree, a real one, took up the far corner of the room and filled the space with its pine needle fragrance. Strings of tiny light bulbs glowed through the ribbons and decorations, casting colored twinkle lights on the small mountain of presents that spilled out like an avalanche from underneath the tree. Jonah wondered briefly how many people they were expecting for Christmas.

Klaus turned on a vintage record player, placing the needle down scratchily to begin a Nat King Cole Christmas album, one of Jonah's grandmother's favorite. They sat comfortably on the chairs and couches, Sunny next to him, her thigh against his, and they chatted easily about the weather and school and their car trip north that day.

"Would you like a glass of wine, Jonah?" asked Violet, standing from her armchair.

"Yes, thank you, if it's no trouble," he replied.

"Sunny?"

"Sure. Would you like some help?" asked Sunny, standing up also.

"What about me?" asked Klaus as the girls made to exit the room.

Violet only raised her hand at him on the way through the doorway, not looking back. "Yes, yes. I already know you want some," she reassured with a laugh. She put her arm around Sunny's waist and Jonah could hear the girls giggling all the way down the hall.

Jonah stood and approached the tree, taking the bag of presents from the side of the couch to distribute them under its branches with the other brightly colored parcels. He was amazed at the decorations. Every ornament was literary themed. There was a white rabbit made of the thinnest glass. There was a black raven carved from some sort of dark wood, mahogany maybe? There were glass slippers made from crystal. There was a gingerbread house, a lion, a tiger, and a bright red apple with a single bite out of it fashioned from papier-mâché. He couldn't place every story, but wondered at the beauty of the collection.

"These ornaments are amazing," observed Jonah. Klaus joined him at the tree and fingered a delicate baby Jesus in a manger made of fine porcelain and painted exquisitely.

"We love books," Klaus stated simply.

Jonah looked around him at the towering shelves filled neatly with all sorts of books. "Yes, I can definitely see that."

"Do you like to read?" asked Klaus. Jonah felt like there was only one right answer to a question like that in a room like this.

"Yes, but right now there is little time to read anything but med-surg textbooks. Classes, clinicals and work take up most all of my time."

"There's nothing wrong with reading textbooks," Klaus said matter of factly, placing a hand on one of Jonah's shoulders as he rose from distributing presents. "I've read a great many of those myself. My favorites are law and medical textbooks." Klaus waved vaguely to a section of bookshelf that was the home to many large tomes that looked like they would bore the average man to tears.

The girls returned each carrying two wine glasses each. "Sunny told me you prefer white wine," explained Violet, as she handed him a glass of red wine. "I hope this will be all right? It's Klaus's favorite," and she looked affectionately at her brother, then handed Klaus the other glass. Klaus took the proffered wine from Violet's hand, then pulled her down to sit very close to him on the couch before she could take up her previous spot in the armchair. She didn't move away, even though there was plenty of other cushions to spread out to, but leaned into him, pulling her feet up under her. Sunny only laughed at their behavior and then handed Violet her glass of wine.

Jonah liked these people, but couldn't help but feel like there was something off, something odd, but he shook his head at himself. There was always inside jokes and little traditions that he wouldn't yet be privy to. He'd only just met them and nobody was ever like your own family. It would just take some getting used to.

They listened to music and chatted a bit more, the siblings catching each other up on everything that had been happening. Apparently, they were expecting only one more person for Christmas. Sunny's younger sister, Beatrice, a name that was spoken quite frequently in all of the Baudelaire's conversations, would still be arriving before dinner.

From what Jonah could gather, Beatrice also went to University, but also several hours away, living in the dorm on campus. She was scheduled to work part of the morning, but then would be heading over.

"Wow," said Jonah. "Putting two kids through college at the same time must be hell on your parents." He laughed, but realized quickly that he'd said something wrong. Sunny was looking steadily at the floor, cheeks pink. Klaus was looking at Violet, and Violet was looking at Jonah, her mouth a small oh. The atmosphere was heavy for only half a moment, and then he wondered if he imagined it because Violet was laughing, taking a sip of her drink, then standing with a push off of Klaus's thigh.

"Well," she said a little too loudly, a little too cheerfully, "dinner isn't going to make itself." She did give Sunny a small, sort of sad smile, then left the room. A loud scratching noise signaled the end of the album and Klaus got up to turn the record over.

"Did I say something wrong?" whispered Jonah into Sunny's ear.

She only shook her head. "Want to see my room?"

Hand in hand, the pair headed up the stairs. The walls in Sunny's room were painted pale yellow. A full size bed covered in a thick white quilt took up the far half of the room. Sunny had her own shelf full of books, but a lot of them were cookbooks.

"I keep my favorite ones with me," she explained when he stopped to inspect the shelf, although he knew that already. She had several very floury, gritty, dog-eared cookbooks stacked in a neat row on her kitchen counter back at school. Really, she didn't even need them as she had all of her most favorite recipes memorized already.

Jonah crossed the room to sit on the edge of the bed to look out the window. From there he could see his Toyota in the driveway, and a large pin oak that still held onto its dried, brown leaves growing tall in the middle of the yard. Sunny came to stand between his knees and he turned his gaze on her. She wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him softly. She pressed her thumbs gently over his eyebrows then along the soft skin under his eyes, where he knew dark circles must be evident from his late shift last night.

"You could take a nap here if you want, Jonah," suggested Sunny. "The food won't be done for awhile, and nothing will happen until Beatrice can get home. I'll let everyone know you worked last night. They'll totally understand."

A traitorous yawn escaped his mouth. "Will you stay with me?" Jonah asked hopefully.

Sunny laughed gently. "It does sound nice, but I promised Violet I would make the pies. Want me to wake you in an hour or so?" She pushed him back onto the mattress, barely escaping his hands as he grabbed for her, but she rounded the bed, grabbed a blanket off the chair to cover him with and kissed his lips again before leaving. She cracked the door to an inch and then she was gone. It felt wonderful to close his eyes and sleep came quickly.