Months had now passed since the incident. Eames still constantly went to therapy for his hands and even though it was long and hard, some progress had been rewarded over this long period. It was now November, tomorrow would be Thanksgiving.

Robert had his hands on top of Eames' guiding them as they chopped food and mixed ingredients into bowls. As they finished pouring flour into one bowl, Robert nearly jumped out of his skin as Phillipa got up behind him and said, "Boo."

Though Eames couldn't see it, he could imagine Robert's face as he felt him lean up against him. "Phillipa," Robert said, "please don't ever do that again."

"So I did frighten you. I knew I could do it," she said grinning as Robert and Eames turned around. "James said that he doubted I could do it but I told him that it was Uncle Robert that was the scaredy cat and not Uncle Eames."

"Oh great, now I'm wimp," muttered Robert, doing a face palm before he remember that there was flour all over his hands.

"And a not very smart one either," Phillipa replied. Eames doubled over in laughter as Robert just glared at both of them.

"Alright, where's your dad?" he asked, picking her up before she could say anything about it.

"Put me down!" she yelled at him, hitting him on top of his head which only made Eames laugh all the more.

Robert took her out on the balcony then where he saw Cobb reading a book and quickly sat her down in his lap. "I believe this is yours."

"Why do you have flour all over your face?"

"Because I feel like!" Robert yelled in irritation as he turned around and headed back towards the kitchen, wiping the flour off his face. Behind him he could hear Cobb asking Phillipa, "What did you do this time?"

When he got back to the kitchen, Ariadne was now in it, asking Eames what he wanted for Christmas.

"I don't know."

"That doesn't help me at all Eames," she said with a sigh as she rolled her eyes.

"I'll tell you when I think of something, alright," Eames finally said.

"Fine, but you better. Oh, hey Robert. So what did Phillipa do this time?"

"Scared the crap out of me and now I'm thinking of throwing her out the window."

"I don't think Cobb would appreciate that very much," Ariadne said though she was obviously trying to hold back a laugh.

"I swear, her teachers must hate her," Robert muttered in reply.

"You know you love her though," Eames said.

"That doesn't mean she doesn't get on my nerves."

Ariadne then began to help them cook some or at least prepare things when she asked, "Is Arthur coming? I wasn't sure if you were able to get a hold of him or not."

"I did get a hold of him but I'm not sure if he'll be able to come. However, I do know that he's coming for Christmas if he doesn't make it in by tomorrow. And Saito is coming in tomorrow."

"Isn't he bringing his niece?"

"Yes," Robert answered. "Maybe Shiori will be able to keep Phillipa busy for a few hours."

Everyone smiled at that and then began working again. At about two they stopped and all got together to play a board game, Monopoly. James was to young to actually play of course so he sat on Cobb's lap. At first Ariadne offered to partner up with Phillipa but it quickly became obvious the rebellious young girl would be fine on her own.

Everyone enjoyed themselves and because there was enough people they actually finished it. Robert and Phillipa got really aggressive at one point but when Eames ended up making both of them go bankrupt they burst out laughing.

They ended up watching a movie together next, child friendly of course. At about seven, Eames and Robert went back to preparing the next day's meals as Ariadne and Cobb began reading a story to the kids. At eight they had a late dinner like snack and then so that everyone would get up early they went to bed.

As Robert was pulling on a simple white shirt for bed he looked over at Eames who was sitting on the bed, slowly clenching and unclenching his hands. Robert watched him for a few minutes and then sat down next to him as he asked, "Are you alright Eames?"

Instead of answering the question, Eames simply replied, "They're never going to heal fully."

"Eames don't—"

"I'm not trying to be depressing or anything so don't worry. I think I've finally come to terms with it. The fact that I'm able to use my hands as well as I do is great."

"Did you just come up with this or have you been thinking about this for a while?"

"Thinking about it," replied Eames. "Don't get me wrong, I'm still as mad as hell but I'm not going to mope over something that I can't fix."

"Good, I don't like it when you mope anyway," Robert said. He kissed Eames on the cheek and then clasped his hand, gripping it tightly, in a silent promise.

AN: Thank you to everyone who has reviewed, followed, or favorited for my longest story in length and chapter so far. I hope you enjoyed this; it was immensely fun to write even if the idea was quit depressing.