"Sam!"  As they stepped into the terminal, Sam heard a familiar voice call his name.  He led Mallory across to the source of the call.  "Sam!  You made it!" "Of course I did, Mom."  Sam smiled and hugged his mother, and it was easy for Mallory to see where Sam got his dark hair and bright blue eyes.  "Mom, I'd like you to meet Mallory.  Mallory, this is my mother." "Erica Seaborn."  She shook Mallory's hand.  "It's a pleasure to meet you." "A pleasure to meet you, Mrs. Seaborn."  "Please, call me Erica."  She turned to Sam.  "Your sister's already back home, so if you want to get the luggage..." "Dana's here already?"  His eyes lit up.  "God, I haven't seen her since she graduated college!" "She said the same thing, actually, when I told her you were coming."  Erica smiled.  "So let's go get the bags, shall we?"  Mallory found herself liking Sam's mother already, just the ease with which she spoke and joked...it was definitely making her feel less like an intruder. The ride back to the Seaborn family home was made in comfortable conversation.  When they reached the semi-large house, Mallory felt another slight surge of anxiety.  While his mother seemed to like her - especially when she mentioned she was a teacher – but that didn't mean the rest of his family would feel the same way. Sam insisted on carrying her bag in, which made her smile and blush slightly as they walked up the front walk.  It was surprisingly warm - what else would one expect from southern California, but for Mallory, who'd grown up in Boston and then lived in DC which wasn't AS cold but certainly not tropical. Sam threw open the door and entered the front hall, and was immediately almost knocked off his feet by a girl who looked to be about Mallory's age and was frighteningly nearly identical to Sam.  "Easy, Dana!" he laughed as he set down the bags.  "Guess absence really does make the heart grow fonder, eh?"  He grinned.  "Dana, this is Mallory, Mallory, this is my sister, who's gone slightly psyco in my absence,  it seems." "Not just slightly psyco," Dana quipped.  She smiled at Mallory.  "So it seems my brother has brought home a woman..." "Dana!"  Sam looked ready to smack his sister upside the head. "Sorry, the little sister tendencies in me.  Nice to meet you, Mallory."  And had she said it any other way, Mallory would've started feeling an extreme dislike toward the little sister.  But Dana seemed so jovial about it that Mallory found it hard to be mad at her.  Especially since it was the same thing which Mallory suspected she would do if her older brother brought home a girl to the first Christmas he had been at in years.  If she had an older brother. An older man walked out from the living room, a newspaper under one arm, and his face lit up when he saw Sam standing there.  "Sam!  Hey, you made it this year!" "Yeah, the weather was on my side."  Sam grinned. "Good to see you again, Jim." "Jim, could you come help with the dinner?" Erica smiled.  "Sam, your old room's still open, I thought you and Mallory could stay in there...I mean, unless I was assuming in which case I'm sure she could stay with Dana..." "Nah, that's fine, Mom."  Sam smiled and picked up the bags.  "So when's dinner?" "The same time it always is." "Yeah...but that's three hours later than we're used to."  Sam grinned. "Sure, sure, now you want us to change dinner for you, too!" Erica teased.  "Go sleep for a little while." "Okay."  Sam grinned and Mallory followed him up the stairs to a relatively large bedroom.  "Here we are," he said, setting down the bags he held in his hand.  He went over and sat on the bed, staring out the window.  Mallory sat behind him and rested her chin on his shoulder.  "You okay?" "What?  Yeah.  It's just weird to be back, that's all." "Yeah." "...I mean, seeing Dana is great...I miss her, I miss Mom...just sorta bizarre being back here.""...I  understand that..." "And Jim...I haven't even talked to him since I headed East..." "He's your uncle?" He shook his head.  "Step-father." “I didn't know you had a step-father." "Yeah.  My mom kicked my dad out when I was five.  He was a dreamer, and wanted to do great  things...but when they turned out not so great - which was most of the time - he then was a drinker, which then fueled more grandious projects which made him drink more...it was a sort of vicious cycle.  And Mom got sick of it, so she said 'the hell with this' and kicked him out.  Into the snow, actually, since we lived a little town in Pennsylvania at the time."  Mallory tried not to look so shocked...That could've been her father any given number of times... "And then she met Jim and we were whisked out here when I was eight.  Of which, y'know, going from a very northern town to…well...here..." He smiled faintly.  "Culture shock, weather shock, all of those shocks you can have...But here I was, and I dealt with is as best I could...I mean, I like Jim, he's a good guy, he's good for my mother...but for so long I resented him..." "You were eight years old.  You thought he was trying to replace your father.  He was making you leave everything you'd ever known." "I know, I know."  He was silent a moment.  "Actually, though, I owe him a lot." "Why?" "Because he was a lawyer.  And had it not been for him, I would've gone for my other dream." "Which was?" "Chemist." "Really?" "Yeah.  And had I gone with that, I never would've met Josh, I never would've joined the campaign...and I never would've met you."  Mallory blushed and he smiled .~*~*~*~ Christmas dinner - served at exactly 5:00 Pacific Time - was just as wonderful as Sam remembered it.  All his aunts and uncles and cousins flooded the house by 4 and helped with the final preparations, the food was delicious, and even Mallory enjoyed herself while being asked question after question.  The rest of the family exchanged gifts, and Mallory couldn't help but think of her father, who was spending Christmas Eve alone, despite Jed's best efforts to get him to spend it as he had Thanksgiving, with the first family. "Hey, Mom, Mallory and I are gonna go take a walk," Sam said after the gifts had been exchanged. "Okay, honey, just be back in time to go to Candlelight Service." "Got it."  He grabbed a light jacket and took Mallory's hand as they walked out into the slightly cool night.  Mallory had no idea where they were going, though Sam obviously did, and they stopped in a tiny grove of trees.  They formed nearly a perfect circle over their heads, through which they could see the stars, glowing in all their crystaline glory. "What is this place?" Mallory asked, in awe of how so many stars could all look so perfect, like little jewels placed specifically in place in the velvety blue heavens. "Just a special spot I used to come when I lived out here."  He smiled, but Mallory couldn't help but notice he looked nervous.  "And I always loved it, so I thought I'd bring you here..." "It's...it's beautiful..." "I know."  He looked longingly at the stars.  "I always liked how they looked like little diamonds."  Mallory smiled, amazed they'd been thinking the same metaphor and everything.  "...And I'd like to add another diamond to this night."  She stared at him.  He couldn't possibly mean what she thought he did, could he?  He reached his hand into his pocket and pulled out a black velvet jewelry box.  "Mallory, I love you so much that I cannot imagine not having you in my life...Will you marry me?" Tears were glistening in her eyes.  "...Oh my God, Sam..." Her face broke into a smile, and she hugged him with a ferocity the likes of which he'd never known.  "...Yes..."  He couldn't believe his ears.  She drew back from him slightly, and he slid the ring onto her finger, the entire time praying he wouldn't drop the ring and have to spend the next several hours searching for it in the dark grass.  He took her face gently in his hands and their lips met in a mind-numbing kiss which left both of them breathless.