The rest of the room was decorated with touches of green, red and gold, and the ma.s.sive mantle was bedecked with a velvet cloth that matched the colors of the ornaments that graced the tree. Fresh smelling fir garland was wrapped around the banister that led to the second floor, and it was interlaced with tiny white lights that served to highlight Catherine's slim form as she gracefully descended the stairs. "It is so good to see your friendly faces," she said gratefully as she remained on the lowest step to hug her guests.

"Your house is magnificent," Ryan said in amazement. "I've never seen anything like it."

"I almost skipped it this year, to tell you the truth," she said lightly as she grasped each woman's hand to lead them into the living room. "But the decorators were so disappointed that I finally told them to go ahead. Now I'm glad I did it," she said with a small smile. "It brings some cheer to the old place." Ryan noticed the stress in her features, and observed that Catherine's gait was much stiffer than normal.

Ryan paused to run her hand over a large, elegantly carved Nativity scene. "This is beautiful," she said when Catherine came to stand next to her.

"That's our Nacimiento," she said softly.

"Is this a family heirloom?" Ryan asked.

"After a fashion, Ryan," she nodded with a small smile. "It means a great deal to me. I'd like it to be in your house one day."

Ryan looked at her and caught sight of the depths of sorrow in her lifeless brown eyes. She grasped her hand and gave it a squeeze, saying, "I think you should keep it for the next fifty or sixty years. I want to see your great-grandchildren come down here to marvel at the beautiful decorations you have."

Catherine stifled her tears and took a seat, and soon Marta came bustling out carrying a tray with an insulated pitcher and a set of three heavy mugs. "I made some mulled wine for you to sip on before you go out," she announced.

"Oh, I forgot that this was Thursday, Jamie," Catherine said. "Marta teaches her cla.s.s tonight, so we'll have to go out."

"Nonsense," Jamie said. "You don't mind if we use your kitchen do you, Marta?"

"No, no of course not, Jamie. I would be honored."

"We'll cook for you, Mom," she said happily. "I don't think I've ever made a meal for you."

"That was one thing we had in common," Catherine replied with a sad look.

"Hey, come on," Jamie said as she handed her mother a mug filled with the spicy red wine. "We'll do it together - just the three of us."

"Oh, honey, I can't do a thing in the kitchen," Catherine demurred.

"Not without a little instruction, you can't," Jamie agreed. "Right, Marta?"

"Definitely, Jamie. Anyone can cook with a little instruction."

They sipped their wine as Ryan related the gist of her discussion with Sister Mary Magdalene. "Oh, I need to call her," Catherine remembered. "Kevin started today, and I want to make sure everything is going well on her end."

"That was incredibly thoughtful of you to hire Kevin to do the work, Catherine," Ryan said, "but he's a little reticent to accept payment for it."

"That's why I told him I wouldn't hire him if we didn't agree on his wages up front," she said with a smile. "I could understand if he wanted to do some small job for me, but this will take every hour he can spare between now and the tenth when school starts. He still tried to pull a fast one on me," she chuckled. "He quoted me a ridiculously low number for his hourly wage, so I called the union hall and asked for the going rate for electricians. He's going to be surprised when I pay his bill," she said with a warm laugh.

"You know, Catherine, most clients worry about being overcharged," Ryan grinned.

"Not with your family!" she said with a dramatic rolling of her warm brown eyes. "You'd think you were communists!"

When they got up to make their way to the kitchen, Ryan stopped to regard a framed picture of a very young Jamie sitting transfixed on the lap of a very credible looking Santa Claus. She was about three years old, and the look on her face made Ryan grin so widely that her cheeks ached. "I need a copy of this," Ryan said gravely as she shook the frame in Catherine's direction.

Catherine came to stand next to Ryan and leaned against her when Ryan slid an arm around her waist. "Wasn't she a beautiful child?" Catherine asked wistfully.

"Incredibly," Ryan agreed as they stared at the image. Tiny little Jamie was wearing an emerald green velvet dress, white tights and little black patent leather shoes. She had her hair pulled back in a ponytail with a matching green ribbon tied around it. Her little cheeks were flushed with excitement, and her eyes just sparkled with delight and awe at the presence of the fabled St. Nick right next to her.

"Look at those chubby little legs," Ryan said affectionately.

"Hey, watch it," Jamie warned as she took a look. "Well, I was only three," she said defensively. "You're supposed to be chubby then."

"You're adorably chubby," Ryan insisted. "Boy, Caitlin will be a very lucky child if she continues to look like you."

"Come on you two," Jamie urged. "I've hardly eaten all day and I'm famished."

After doing an inventory, they decided to roast a chicken and have some rosemary potatoes, asparagus and Pennies from Heaven, one of Ryan's favorite carrot dishes. She loved the little sliced carrots sauteed with b.u.t.ter and brown sugar until they shone like copper pennies, and she asked Jamie to make them every time there was a bunch of carrots in the refrigerator. There really wasn't much to do except a little chopping and slicing, so Ryan sat at the counter sipping her wine, while Jamie provided her mother with a short cooking lesson. After receiving her instruction, Catherine did a decent job of cutting up the carrots and the rosemary. Jamie checked on her frequently and praised her for her efforts, making her mother beam with pride.

Catherine loosened up a little as the evening wore on, but she still looked drained and pale when dinner was finished. Ryan decided that nothing felt better than some human touch when one was down, so she cleared the table and offered, "Since you two cooked, I'll clean up. Why don't you both go put on your suits, and we can go sit in the spa for a while?"

"Excellent idea," Jamie agreed and Catherine seconded the vote. They left as Ryan was filling the sink, but just as she pushed up her sleeves and submerged her hands, another pair of hands grasped her around the waist.

"Catherine," she hissed sharply, "I told you not to do that when Jamie's here!"

"Oh, you are such a naughty little girl," Jamie scolded as she squeezed her tightly.

"Hey, where's your suit?" Ryan asked, turning around to catch a look at her still fully clothed body.

"I had to go to the bathroom, so I went down here and came back to grab a handful of this delicious a.s.s," she said seductively as she did just that.

"Hmm, you get very randy when we're down here, don't you?" Ryan commented as she stuck her b.u.t.t out for Jamie to grab at will.

"Do you mind?" she asked slowly as she grabbed Ryan's hips firmly and pressed against her in a tight little circle.

"Not in the least - since your father's gone," she gasped out as one of Jamie's hands slid up her stomach and grabbed a breast. "But we're gonna have to give the spa a miss if you keep that up."

"Oh, you're just so easy," Jamie whispered into her pink ear as she covered her body fully. "A simple little touch and you get all fl.u.s.tered." As she spoke, she grasped the waistband of Ryan's slacks with her left hand while her right slowly slid her zipper down. "Now you'll be telling me that this excites you, too," she scoffed huskily as her small hand slipped past the zipper and cupped Ryan's mound. "Mmm, I love you in your tight little boxers," she whispered as her fingers slid between Ryan's legs.

Ryan's dark head dropped back against Jamie's shoulder as the determined hand squeezed her lips together rhythmically. Ryan's feet moved apart automatically as her hips shifted forward and pushed her pelvis down against Jamie's searching fingers. "Oh, G.o.d," she murmured in a strangled cry as Jamie quickly realized that she had bitten off more than she could chew at the moment. Hearing her mother's footsteps, she slid her hand out and dashed out the other door, leaving an astounded Ryan with her fly and her mouth hanging open as Catherine came into the room.

"Need any help, dear?" she asked as she came up next to Ryan.

No, but would you mind if I stuck my hand in my pants and finished what your evil little daughter started? she thought, but her rational mind said in a voice at least an octave too high, "No, no, no help. Just go get the spa ready for Jamie."

Catherine smiled at her companions when they were all relaxing in the spa. "What do you two have planned for your free time this week?"

"We don't have much free time," Jamie admitted. "We're not having formal golf practice until school starts again, but I've decided I've got to really start playing a lot. And Ryan's got to spend every spare minute getting her applications for grad school in, as well as basketball practice, of course."

"We haven't really talked about this, honey," her mother said, c.o.c.king her head curiously. "Are you planning on attending school next year?"

Jamie smiled at her partner and said, "I make fun of Ryan for being unable to decide, but I'm even worse than she is. I just can't make up my mind, Mom, and doing it just to do it seems silly."

"I suppose I just a.s.sumed you'd go on for a masters in English," Catherine mused. "You used to talk about doing that."

"Yes, and I talked about going to a writing program, and I've toyed with the idea of getting a Ph.D. in psychology. Ryan thinks I should go to law school - just because she thinks I'd be a natural." She paused to stick her tongue out at her grinning partner. "She tries to make it sound like a compliment, but I think it's a veiled way to call me argumentative and manipulative."

Ryan's eyes went round as she pointed to herself with exaggerated innocence.

Jamie smiled warmly and said, "I am manipulative, baby. Truth hurts."

"You're persuasive," Ryan demurred. "That's a good trait."

Jamie turned back to her mother. "As you can see, my interests are all over the place. So I think I'm going to pa.s.s on applying anywhere right now. Once we see where Ryan gets in, it'll be easier to narrow my own choices down."

Catherine looked to her daughter-in-law. "Well, fill me in, Ryan. What have you chosen?"

"I'm still on the fence, too, Catherine. I'm going to apply to Cal and Stanford in math and biology, and Stanford and U.C.S.F. for an M.D./Ph.D. program. Then I'll see where I get in, and make my choice."

Catherine blinked a bit and said, "I had no idea you wanted to be a physician, Ryan."

"I don't," she shrugged. "I want to do research, but at the higher levels there's a built-in bias against people who don't have their medical degree. I also can't conduct clinical trials on my own without an M.D. That's not such a bad thing if I work in an academic setting, but if I want to work in private industry, I really need the credentials. I hate to have to do it, because it will take me a very long time to finish - but if I get in, that's probably what I'll do."

"How do you feel about locking yourself into more schooling?"

She shrugged and said, "I don't mind the schooling part. But we've decided to wait to have children until we're through with school. I'm a little b.u.mmed with the thought of not having our first child until I'm over thirty."

Catherine smiled and said, "You never know what will happen, girls. You might just be surprised with a baby before you expect one."

Now it was Ryan's turn to blink in surprise. "Uhm... we can't have an accident, Catherine. We have to make a conscious choice to get pregnant. There's not a single sperm between us."

Throwing her head back and laughing heartily, Catherine said, "I know that, Ryan! I just meant that you might decide to get pregnant much earlier than you're planning at this point. Goodness!" she laughed again. "I sometimes forget that you're lesbians, but I've never given a thought to either of you having the ability to impregnate the other."

Ryan laughed as well, shaking her head as she said, "Maybe that's what I'll do my research on. Wouldn't you like to have an adorable little clone of Jamie running around the house?"

Smiling at her daughter-in-law, Catherine admitted, "Knowing you, I might as well get the nursery ready, Ryan. I'm continually impressed by your talents."

After a relaxing dip in the warm water, Ryan said, "I'm in the mood to give two ma.s.sages. And I choose you to go first," she said as she poked her finger against Catherine's chest.

"Oh, Ryan, you don't have to do that," she demurred weakly.

"But I want to," she replied. "You don't want to disappoint your guest do you?" she asked while batting her eyes.

"I'm helpless around both of you!" Catherine declared dramatically, but she allowed herself to be led out of the spa and into the ma.s.sage area in the pool house.

Catherine went to bed as soon as Ryan was finished with her, and Ryan did such a good job on Jamie, that she was snoozing peacefully on the ma.s.sage table by the time her ma.s.sage was finished. "I have got to think this through better in my thick head!" Ryan mumbled audibly as she lifted the st.u.r.dy body and carried her into the house, smiling down at the serene expression as her partner woke just enough to give her a lazy, satisfied smile.

Early the next morning, Jamie's nose twitched in Ryan's direction. "Why do you smell so sweet?"

"That would not have been your question 20 minutes ago," she a.s.sured her. "But I smell sweet now because I went for a nice long run, stopped in the kitchen for a just baked cinnamon roll, and hopped in the shower. I've washed my hair, shaved my legs and brushed every little tooth. All of that adds up to sweetness," she conjectured.

"And why are you back in bed?" Jamie asked with a sultry tone to her voice.

"I'm here to collect," Ryan answered in her own s.e.xy voice. "You left me with the female equivalent of blue b.a.l.l.s last night, missy!"

"Oh, let me see," Jamie teased, giggling as she ducked her head below the covers. "I don't see anything blue down here," her m.u.f.fled voice called out. "Everything's pink and sparkling clean." She popped back up and said, "I'm gonna go get all sparkly too. I'll love you forever if you dash back down and get me one of those rolls while they're still warm."

"Do you think Marta will mind?" Ryan asked casually as she trotted over to the door, her firm b.r.e.a.s.t.s jiggling just the way Jamie liked them.

"I think she would faint dead away, gorgeous. Put some clothes on before I have to call the paramedics!"

When Jamie emerged from the shower Ryan was back in bed, contentedly sucking her fingers clean of the glaze that covered the sticky cinnamon rolls. "You'd better hurry," she teased.

Jamie leapt to the bed from at least five feet away, and only Ryan's quick reflexes saved the buns from winding up on the sheets. "Why do you do things like that?" she cried in exasperation.

"Because I know you're as quick as a cat, and I love to see the look on your face," she said happily as she snagged a roll from the plate resting on Ryan's lap.

That comment merited her a gentle kiss... and another... and another until they were grappling together in a mess of sheets, down comforter and tangled limbs. Ryan had the presence of mind to secure the plate prior to her opening volley, but just when Jamie was about out of control she pulled the plate back and s.n.a.t.c.hed another roll, idly commenting, "I'm hungrier than I am h.o.r.n.y."

Jamie lunged for her and grabbed the roll from her mouth, stuffing the entire thing into her own mouth before Ryan could even bite down. "Hey, give me that back!" she cried as she tried to tickle it out of her. But Jamie leapt to her feet and danced around behind an upholstered wing chair, moving it quickly to keep a bounding Ryan at bay while she chewed noisily with a wicked look on her face.

She finished the morsel and opened her mouth wide to show that it was all gone. Ryan leapt for her and managed to get her arms around her waist despite Jamie's fierce defensive moves, then she tossed her over her shoulder while she lightly paddled her b.u.t.t, before dumping her back onto the bed. "Just for that, I'm going to lift weights instead of make love!" she declared defiantly.

"Oh, Ryan," Jamie pouted, "don't leave me... I'll be good, I promise," she added with her best innocent look.

"I didn't say I was going to leave," she reminded her. "I said I was going to lift weights!" And with that she grabbed her by the waist as she rolled onto her back. She used her powerful chest and arm muscles as her hands slid down to Jamie's hips and powered her up and down amid her screams and nearly hysterical giggles.

The game became much more creative as Ryan managed to perform a set of abdominal crunches with her partner straddling her lap and limply resting against her chest; 20 pushups with Jamie lying completely atop her; and another 20 with Ryan's body poised over Jamie's. The last pushup was aborted when Jamie snaked her arms around her partner and pulled her to her chest, refusing to allow her to finish. Jamie's warm, wet kisses made Ryan very pleased with her decision, and they spent the next hour making love enthusiastically and athletically.

When they finally emerged from Jamie's room, it was just past nine o'clock and they nearly collided with Catherine as she emerged for the first time. "Oh, how nice!" she said happily. "You managed to sleep in!"

"Yep," they answered in unison, with matching contrived looks of innocence on their very satisfied faces.

Ryan ran off to practice while Jamie and Catherine sat in the sunny kitchen, idly picking at the last remaining cinnamon roll. "I'm a little worried about you, Mom," Jamie said softly as she gazed at her mother's drawn face. "I've never seen you look so sad."

"Christmas is hard," she admitted. "Harder than I thought it would be. I think back to our first Christmas together... how filled with promise and plans we both were, Jamie. You were due to be born soon, and we were so much in love." She sighed and wiped at a tear with an irritated gesture. "It seems so long ago."

"Your mind is really made up, isn't it?" the younger woman asked, her concern evident.

"Yes, I'm afraid so, honey. I know this is hard for you, but I can't go on like this."

"Mom," she said gently, "I promised myself I wouldn't get involved, and I really don't want to," she said, "but I honestly think that Daddy's telling the truth this time."

Catherine nodded, a resigned look on her face. "I think there is a very good chance of that, honey," she said softly, surprising Jamie.

"But..."

"Honey, the issue isn't whether or not he's telling the truth this time. The issue is that I have not been able to rebuild my trust in him." She looked at Jamie and asked, "Could you stay with Ryan if you were innately suspicious of every woman that she spent any time with?"

"No, no, I couldn't," Jamie admitted. "Every once in a while I feel a little jealousy, and it drives me nuts. And that's with me knowing that she would never cheat. If I couldn't trust her... we'd have nothing," she said softly.

"That's exactly it," Catherine agreed. "I didn't know that until this last incident, Jamie. I thought we could just start anew. But even if he could - I couldn't. I have too much resentment built up over his behavior - I can't let go of it, honey. I wish I could - but I can't."

"I understand, Mom," she said as she scooted her chair close and offered a gentle hug. "I would do the same thing. I've told Ryan that I have a 'one strike and you're out' policy on cheating. It's unforgivable."

"Thank you for understanding," Catherine sighed, her breath warm against her daughter's neck. "I was afraid this would be impossible for you to accept."