A/N: I apologize for the long delay in updating my WIPs. My daughter was very ill from Thanksgiving to mid-May and I wasn't able to work on my stories much. We nearly lost her in early May. She is doing much better now, and I am working on updating, hoping to finish Divided and Fragrance of the Violet in one or two more chapters so I can post a new story I have been working on for a long time. sell: I have gotten your reviews asking for more chapters, but had no way to respond to you. They are on the way. Thank you for your passion.

Logan reached out to snatch another piece of bacon, and she grabbed the origami tree her partner had made, whacking Logan's hand with it.

"Ow! Paper cut!" he complained.

"Stop it," she chastised.

"There's plenty in the kitchen."

"Well, go get your own."

He chuckled and gathered Maggie's toys, setting them quietly in the toy box in the far corner of the room. "Are any of those from you?" Alex asked.

"Yeah, a couple."

"You both spoil her too much."

"Eh. Who else do we have to spoil?"

She sighed and walked to the window. "The streets look bad."

"They are. The roads going to outer Queens and Long Island are still closed. Crews are working to remove snow from the city streets, but with the snow still falling, they're fighting a losing battle."

"Thank you for coming out after us."

He smiled. "I didn't have any other plans and he would have gone out there by himself if I hadn't been here. He's reckless when it comes to you."

"I know."

A knock at the door interrupted their conversation. Bobby stirred and Mike jumped to answer the door before he woke fully. He pulled the door open and immediately tensed, his eyes scanning the hallway.

"Relax," Nate Bedford said. "Rick's snowed in at home. He sent me over to see if Alex is here. Is she?"

Mike remained where he was, neither inviting Bedford in nor answering his question. The two men stared at each other until Alex came to the door and broke it up. "Hi, Nate. Yes, I'm here."

"Hi, Alex. I kinda figured as much with the roads being as bad as they are. What do I tell him? He knows you're not at your dad's."

"How does he know that?"

"He talked to your brother. I guess he didn't get the message to cover for you."

"It's not like that." She tugged on Mike's arm and he backed out of the doorway. "Come in. Have some breakfast."

"Thanks. I already ate."

"A cup of coffee then? It's cold outside."

"Yeah, Okay, thanks."

She gave Mike a gentle shove. "Get Nate a cup of coffee, please."

"Yeah, yeah," he muttered. "Cream or sugar?"

"No. Black is fine."

Mike went into the kitchen and Alex motioned for Bedford to sit. He sat on the couch and she sat beside him. He sighed. "Rick will flip shit if he knows you're here."

"He made you come out in this storm to check on me?"

"I don't live too far from here. He's stranded for the time being or I'm sure he'd be pounding on the door instead of me."

"There's nothing going on here."

"I know that." He accepted the cup of coffee Mike handed him, noticing Goren asleep in the chair with the baby. "How's he doing?"

"He's healing."

He grunted softly and nodded his head. "You'd think Rick would be grateful for what he did. Losing you would have been bad enough. But being stuck with a kid he never wanted in the first place would be worse for him. I've seen how he is with her. She's such a sweet little girl, and he's made her dislike him. That's sad. But he doesn't see things the way the rest of us do."

He took a sip of his coffee, and Mike asked, "What are you gonna tell him?"

Bedford was quiet for a moment, considering his options. "Why are you here?" he asked, looking at Alex.

"We came into Manhattan for a couple of hours and were on our way to Dad's. The storm was a lot worse than I thought. I got run off the road into a ditch. I don't know how long we were there when Bobby and Mike found us. They brought us back here because the roads were so much worse heading away from the city."

"We knew what it was like the way we'd just come," Mike added. "No sense tempting fate with those roads."

"And here we are," Alex said.

"In his condition, he went out looking for you in a blizzard? How'd he know you were out there?"

"Dad called looking for us when we didn't arrive at his house."

The soft voices roused Bobby from his sleep. He looked toward the couch, saw Bedford and sat upright, cradling Maggie and searching the room for Bedford's partner. "It's okay, Bobby," Alex said. "Ricky's not here."

"He sent his lackey to do the grunt work," Bedford said bitterly.

"Why do you put up with him?" Mike asked.

"Because I have to," Bedford replied. "I can't explain any more than that."

Bobby struggled to get out of the chair without waking Maggie. Mike trotted over and gently lifted the little girl from his friend's arms. "Thanks," Bobby grunted as he got up.

Mike settled her back on the chair and grabbed a blanket from the back of the couch, behind Bedford, covering her with it.

Bobby left the room. When he returned, his face was pale and his hair was damp. He sat beside Alex on the couch, and she turned to him. "Are you okay?"

He waved his hand impatiently. "Yeah, I'm okay. What are you doing here, Bedford?"

"Ricky made me come looking for Alex because he can't get out and do it himself."

Bobby nodded. "Did you have something to eat?"

"I'm fine. Coffee's enough for me." He was surprised by the welcome he had received, cool though it was. "I'm just trying to figure out what to tell Rick. If I tell him she's here, he'll snowshoe into Brooklyn to kick your ass."

"Nothing happened," Bobby replied.

"Yeah, I know. Alex already told me nothing's going on and I can see you're in no condition to do much anyway. Alex said you and Logan rescued her and Maggie from a car wreck. I can't say Ricky would have done the same if he knew. If anything, he would have sent me looking."

He almost laughed because it was almost funny. Ricky's obsession was out of control and he hadn't been able to stop the spiral. He sighed, a heavy, weary sound. "I won't tell him that you're here, Alex. It's Christmas. He's alone and you're with people who love you. That's how it should be; you deserve to be here."

"Tell him she's with me," Mike said. "He's less likely to care about that."

"That won't fly. He knows you and Goren are tight. To be totally honest with you, I don't think it really matters to him where Alex is as long as she's not with Goren."

Mike made a noise and said, "Let him snowshoe to Brooklyn and show up at my door. I'll shoot his crazy ass."

Bedford smiled. "That's almost worth telling him." He looked at Alex. "I'll tell him you got stranded in the city and you crashed at a friend's. I know how to handle him when he doesn't believe me. Uhm, you didn't answer your phone, though I doubt that would have stopped him from sending me over."

"My phone must still be in the car, in that ditch..."

Bobby coughed, then said, "Lewis is gonna get your car as soon as the roads are passable and he can get his tow truck out. Your stuff will be safe. We can pick up your phone once he has the car."

Bedford lightly touched her arm. "I'm gonna go and leave you folks to your Christmas."

"Why don't you come back for dinner?" she offered.

He smiled sadly. "Thanks, but I know I'm not welcome here. I have a can of tuna and a six pack waiting for me." He got to his feet. "I'd better go before he starts calling. Thanks for the coffee."

She walked him to the door. "Thank you for not saying anything to Ricky."

"No problem. Maggie's happy here and you're a lot more comfortable than you would be at my place...or even your own. Merry Christmas, Alex."

He kissed her cheek and left. She returned to the couch and sat beside Bobby. "So, how creative do we have to get with dinner?"

"That turkey breast you bought last month is in the fridge. I took it out of the freezer the other day. I figured Mike and I could have it once it thawed."

"You timed it just right," she replied.

"I guess so. Merry Christmas."

She ignored the sarcasm in his tone. "Merry Christmas to you, too, Scrooge. Why don't you go lay down? You need more rest. Take Maggie with you."

He thought about arguing, but decided against it. Mike already had Maggie in his arms, and he followed Bobby down the hall. "Ho, ho, ho," he muttered.