Stefan wakes up with Mackenzie lying next to him, and plays back the events of the previous evening in his head.
*** F L A S H B A C K ***
After the Fire and Ice Ball, Stefan is sitting in his study when there is a knock at the door.
Stefan: �Come in, Christabel.�
Mackenzie: (opening the door) �I�m not Christabel, as you can see.�
Stefan: (rising) �Mackenzie, what are you doing here this late?�
Mackenzie looks at him, her eyes red, tearstains on her cheeks.
Mackenzie: �You saw what happened tonight. My own sister didn�t know me.�
Stefan: (soothingly) �Julia was just surprised.�
Mackenzie: �She probably hates me after whatever Ned told her.�
Stefan: �I wouldn�t worry about Ned if I were you. He is a little, little man.�
Mackenzie: �Than why did your sister marry him? She seems pretty smart.�
Stefan: �You know, they�ve been married for three years and I still am trying to figure that out.�
Mackenzie: �Stefan, what am I going to do? Alexis is going to get me arrested for her kidnapping.� Tears are beginning to fall down her face. �Helena made me.�
Stefan: �Did she?�
Mackenzie: (in a very small voice) �Yes. She threatened to kill me. But Stefan, part of me wanted to do it. I wanted to hurt Ned for never finding me.�
Stefan: �I don�t think he knew about you.�
Mackenzie: �And that�s almost worse.� She turns to Stefan. �I don�t know why I�m telling you all this. I don�t even know why I�m here.�
Stefan: �I�m glad you came to me.�
Mackenzie: �Really? You aren�t just saying that?�
Stefan: �One thing you should know about me, Ms. Cisnaros, I never lie when it comes to matters of the heart.�
Mackenzie: �Are you saying that I�m in your heart?�
Stefan: �I don�t know what I�m saying. All I know is that I�m glad you sought me out for solace in a time of trouble.�
Mackenzie leans close to him, and before Stefan can say anything, she kisses him. Stefan shocks himself by kissing her back, even though he�s still in mourning about Katherine.
Stefan: �This is so...�
Mackenzie: (her lips close to his) �Wrong? It feels too right to be wrong.�
Stefan: (finally pulling away) �Mackenzie, I don�t want to be someone who you lose yourself in for a little while to get away from your problems, or to get back at Alexis for being married to Ned.�
Mackenzie: �I�m not.� She looks into his eyes. �Stefan, I need you.�
Without a word, Stefan takes her hand and leads her out of the study, into his bedroom, where they make love in front of the roaring fireplace.
*** E N D O F F L A S H B A C K ***
Mackenzie slowly opens her eyes and focuses on Stefan.
Stefan: �Good morning, Ms. Cisnaros.�
Mackenzie: �I don�t recall this being in the job description.�
Stefan: (laughing) �It�s not. Consider it a bonus.�
Mackenzie: (softly) �You don�t regret last night? I mean, Katherine...�
Stefan: �I have to move on. It�s been almost an entire year since she died. I can�t just sit around like a man in suspension. I have to learn to live and to love again.�
Meanwhile at Ned and Alexis� House.
Alexis is asleep on the couch when the doorbell rings. She gets up and answers it.
Avery and Brooke are standing on the doorstep, their backpacks next to them.
Alexis: �You�re home?�
Avery: �I live here.�
Brooke: �And me too, kinda.�
Alexis: (picking Avery up) �I know that.�
Avery: �Kim dropped us off. She and Scott had to get to work.�
Alexis: �Oh.�
Brooke: �I heard them say my mom�s name. Why?�
Alexis: �It was probably nothing.�
Brooke: �Where�s Daddy?�
Alexis: �At work.�
Just then, the phone rings and Alexis goes to get it.
Alexis: �Hello?�
Ned: �Hey gorgeous.�
Alexis: �May I ask who�s calling?�
Ned: �You�re funny. So funny.�
Alexis: �What�s up?�
Ned �I just wanted you to know that my car is being washed as we speak.�
Alexis: �And how would that be? Did you do it yourself?�
Ned: (laughing) �Please. I had one of the secretaries take it to a car wash.�
Alexis: (laughing) �Last night was fun.�
Avery: (behind her) �What did you do last night?�
Alexis: (turning to look at her) �I�m talking about the ball, nosy girl.�
Ned: �I take it the rugrats are home?�
Alexis: �Yep. Wanna come home and play Spice Girls?�
Ned: �Not really. By the way, Scott called. You�ll never guess who�s representing Lois in the custody case.�
Alexis: �Who?�
Ned: �Gregory.�
Alexis: (feeling her heart drop into her stomach) �Gregory? My ex-boyfriend Gregory?�
Ned: �Yep. I guess she thought it would intimidate you.�
Brooke: (in the background) �Mommy, can we go swimming?�
Alexis shakes her head, distracted by what Ned is saying.
Ned: �Lex, are you still there?�
Alexis: �Huh? Oh, yeah, I�m still here.�
Ned: �Scott is bringing Kim in as his assistant council.�
Alexis: �That�s great. Ned, can we talk about this later? My head is spinning and I have to go explain to Brooke why she can�t go swimming.�
Ned: �Sounds like you have your hands full. We can talk about this later.�
Alexis: �I love you.�
Ned: �I love you too. Bye.�
Alexis hangs up the phone and turns to the girls, who are sitting on the couch.
Avery: �Mommy, why can�t we go swimming? It�s not that cold out!�
Alexis: �Not that cold? Avery, the weatherman said it�s going to snow.�
Brooke: �Snow? Yay! At home, the snow is all yucky.�
Avery: �Let�s get our snow clothes on, Brooke.�
Before Alexis can say anything, they race up the stairs.
Alexis: �Avery! Brooke! Oh, never mind...� She throws herself down on the couch, shaking her head.
Christmas Eve.
Ned: (at the bottom of the stairs) �Alexis! Avery! Brooke! We have to get going!�
Brooke: (coming down the stairs) �Why are we going to church? At home, we go to mass.�
Ned: �We go to church on special occasions, and this is Christmas Eve.�
Avery: �Wait! We have to put out the cookies for Santa.�
Ned: �Okay, but hurry. Nikolas and Emily are meeting us at church.�
Two hours later.
Ned and Alexis are walking through the snow in the parking lot of their church. Alexis is carrying Avery and Ned is carrying Brooke. They are both asleep.
Alexis: (looking up at the stars, the snow, and then at Ned) �I love you.�
Ned: �I love you too.�
Five hours later.
Ned and Alexis awake to both Brooke and Avery jumping on their bed. It�s six in the morning.
Brooke: �Wake up! Wake up! It�s Christmas!�
Avery: �Let�s see what Santa brought!�
Ned and Alexis allow their daughters to drag them out of bed and downstairs.
Avery: �Wow! A bike!�
Brooke: �I got one too!�
Ned and Alexis look at each other and smile.
Later that morning, the Ashtons, as well as Nikolas and Emily, are opening gifts.
Ned: �Avery and Brooke, we have one more present for you, but we�re going to give it to you when Kim, Scott and Serena get here for dinner.�
Brooke: �Another present! Yay!�
Ned: �Alexis, I have one more present for you.� He hands her a small box.
Alexis opens the box to find a key. She looks at Ned, confused.
Ned: (in a low voice) �Look outside.�
Alexis goes over to the front door and opens it.
In the driveway is a brand new jet black Mercedes convertible, with a big red bow on it.
Alexis� eyes grow huge and she clamps a hand over her mouth.
In the box is a little piece of paper.
It reads: �To my favorite girl- For our future moonlight beach trips. I love you, EJ.�
Ned: (coming up behind her, in a low voice) �Merry Christmas, Alexis.�
Alexis: �Oh God, Ned. I can�t believe this!� She throws her arms around him. �I love it!�
A few hours later.
Kimberly�s BMW pulls up in the driveway and Kimberly, Scott and Serena get out, their arms full of gifts.
Kimberly: �Merry Christmas!�
Avery: �Serena, we�re getting another present!�
Serena: �I got the Spice Girls dolls from Santa!�
Brooke: �We got bikes!�
Serena: �Cool!�
When everyone is sitting down in the living room, they begin passing out presents.
Alexis: (reading a tag) �To Alexis from Kim and Avery.�
She opens the box to find a picture frame that says �Mommy�s little Princess� all around it. In the frame is a picture of Avery in her Spice Girls� outfit (Alexis� clothes.)
Alexis: �Oh Kim, I love it! I�m going to put it on my desk at work!�
Just then, Scott turns to Kimberly.
Scott: �Kim, I have one more present for you.�
Before Kimberly can say anything, Scott gets down on one knee and pulls out a ring box.
Scott: �Kimberly Corday, I love you. Will you marry me?�
Serena: �And be my new Mommy?�
Kimberly: (her eyes filling with tears) �Oh Scott. Of course I�ll marry you.�
Scott slips a magnificent diamond ring on Kimberly�s finger and then kisses her soundly.
Serena: (jumping up and down) �YAY! KIM SAID YES!�
Scott and Kimberly pull Serena into their hug.
When they pull away, Ned turns to Avery, Brooke and Serena.
Ned: �Girls, this is a present from me, Alexis, Kim and Scott.�
He hands each of them a small, flat box and they tear into them.
At the same time, all three girls� eyes bug out.
Serena: (the first to speak) �Spice Girls tickets?�
Brooke: �Oh my gosh! The Spice Girls!!�
Avery: �I get to see Posh? For real?�
All three of them throw themselves at Ned.
Avery: �Thank you, Daddy!�
Alexis: �We�re all going, you three and the four of us, and since it�s in New York City, we�re going to fly there, and take a limo to the concert.�
The looks on the faces of Avery, Serena, and Brooke could have each lit up an entire Christmas tree.
Brooke: (not completely believing what she�s hearing) �Really? A real limo? I mean, Mommy calls the broken down taxis at home limos. Is that what you mean?�
Alexis: (stifling a laugh) �Brooke, it�s a real limo. It belongs to ELQ, where we work.�
Nikolas: �And Emily and I thought you three might like these.� He hands them each a flat package, wrapped in gold foil.
Serena: (getting hers open first) �The new Spice Girls CD! Thanks, Nikolas and Emily.�
Avery: �Does this one have that song from MTV on it? Goodbye?�
Nikolas: �I believe so.�
Brooke: �Yay! That song is awesome!�
Ned: (teasingly) �Thank you so much Nikolas. More Spice Girls songs to be played over and over for at least two months.�
Kimberly: (laughing) �Alexis, I noticed a very nice car in the driveway. Is that yours?�
Alexis: (her face glowing) �Ned gave it to me.� She turns to Emily and Nikolas. �Did you two see my new car?�
Emily: �Uh, yeah, actually. Ned had us drive it down from my family�s house around three in the morning.�
Nikolas: �And he threatened to lock us in the cellar with Edward if we got so much as a scratch, drop of snow or anything else on it.�
Everyone laughs as Ned shrugs defensively.
Ned: �So? I wanted to give you the perfect gift, Lex.�
Alexis: �Believe me, it is.�
They exchange a smile.
Ned: �By the way, you�re going to get it washed yourself.�
Alexis: (to everyone) �He gets so testy about a little sand on his precious car.� She grins. �He was more worried about that than the fact that I was doing seventy miles an hour on a deserted road in the middle of winter.�
Kimberly: �Seventy miles an hour? You go girl!�
Just then, the oven timer dings from the kitchen.
Ned: �Everyone, will you please proceed into the dining room, whereupon, Alexis and I are going to try to serve the first successful Ashton Christmas dinner.�
Nikolas: (mockingly) �Last year�s was okay. I�m sure that you meant to put sugar in the pumpkin pie.�
Emily: (snickering) �And those char-broiled mashed potatoes the year before?�
Nikolas: �The only thing that wasn�t burned the year before that was the whipped cream.�
Ned: �Well, Alexis has lots of experience with whipped cream. Just ask her about what she gave me for my birthday.�
All of the adults hoot and whistle as Alexis blushes.
Ned grabs her hand and drags her into the kitchen.
Alexis: (once the kitchen door is closed) �I really love my car, Ned.�
Ned: �I�m glad. I was going to get you an ice blue one, but they don�t make them.�
Alexis, forgetting about why they�re in the kitchen, goes over to him, and winding her arms around, kisses him passionately.
Ned responds eagerly, slipping his cold hands under her shirt and placing them on her lower back.
Alexis: �Ned! That�s cold!�
Ned: (suggestively) �Than warm me up, Mrs. Ashton.�
Alexis: �In case you�ve forgotten, we have seven people waiting for dinner out there.�
Ned: �And your point is? They should be glad it isn�t burned this year. They won�t mind if we�re a few seconds late.�
Alexis: (thinking about it) �You�re right. I mean, they don�t have to know that we�re not working on dinner.�
Ned: �We�re working on each other.�
Before Alexis can say anything, he pushes a chair against the door, grabs Alexis and lowers her to the floor, unbuttoning her shirt.
Alexis follows suit, unzipping his pants, and taking off his shirt. She moans as his lips travel down her body.
Ned: (barely coherent) �Oh God, Alexis.�
Alexis fights back the urge to make noise as she and Ned roll around on the floor, frantically pleasing each other.
Twenty minutes later, in the dining room.
Everyone hears a loud crash from the kitchen, as Alexis� foot kicks a cabinet door open and two pots, three pans, and a lid come rolling out on top of Ned.
Ned: �OW! Alexis, what did you do that for?�
Alexis: �Sorry.� She starts laughing hysterically.
Emily: (calling into the kitchen) �Ned, Alexis, do you need any help?�
Alexis: (after a minute) �Uh, no, we�ve got everything under control.�
Ned and Alexis scramble around to put the pans back in the cabinet and to get dressed. They overlook a pan lid that rolls across the floor.
A few minutes later, they emerge, carrying the turkey and a bowl of mashed potatoes.
They set down the food and go back to get the rest.
Kimberly notices that Alexis� hair is messed up, and she starts laughing.
Scott: �What�s so funny?�
Kimberly: �Nothing. Nothing at all.�
Alexis and Ned take their seats at the end of the table.
Alexis looks suspiciously at Kimberly, but doesn�t say anything.
Ned: �Let us bow our heads...�
When Ned has finished saying grace, everyone begins to eat.
Nikolas: �Wow! I�m impressed, you guys! You didn�t do anything wrong this year!�
Emily: �Ned, I think you�re the first Quartermaine to ever cook a turkey correctly.�
Ned: (smiling) �I read the directions three times and Alexis read them twice.�
Avery: (looking at Alexis) �Mommy, didn�t you have a barrette in your hair before?�
Alexis: �Uh, no, I don�t think so.� She stuffs a piece of turkey in her mouth as Ned looks at her out of the corner of his eye.
They kick each other under the table, knowing full well that Alexis� rhinestone barrette is somewhere on the kitchen floor.
Scott and Kimberly both start laughing.
Serena: �Why do you keep laughing?�
Scott: �Nothing. Uh, eat your turkey, Serena.�
Suddenly, Ned�s hand slides up Alexis� thigh and she stiffens.
Alexis resumes eating her dinner, trying to ignore the fact that Ned is stroking her thigh and it�s driving her crazy.
When she finally makes eye contact with him, he�s trying very hard to keep from laughing.
Kimberly: �This food is excellent, you guys. You really outdid yourselves.�
Ned: �It was nothing. It�s so simple when you refer to a cookbook when cooking.�
Alexis lifts her wine glass of sparkling cider and takes a sip just as Ned slides his hand higher up her thigh. Before she can stop herself, the cider comes flying out of her mouth and lands across the table on Kimberly�s hand, which was reaching for her wine glass.
Kimberly: �What the...?�
Alexis: (totally mortified) �Sorry, Kim. I sneezed with cider in my mouth. Bad idea.� She glares at Ned. �Very bad idea.�
Kimberly: �It�s okay. I�m going to go wash my hands though before the cider gets sticky.�
When she returns from the bathroom, they finish eating.
Ned: �Would anyone like dessert?�
Scott: (to Kimberly) �I think Ned and Alexis have already had theirs.�
Kimberly starts laughing.
Avery: �I want some.�
Brooke: �Me too.�
Everyone chimes in with their affirmations for pie.
Alexis: �We�ll go get it.�
Kimberly: (tauntingly) �Don�t be too long, now.�
Ned and Alexis get up and go into the kitchen.
Once the door is closed, Alexis smacks Ned on the arm.
Alexis: �What is the matter with you?� She�s trying to sound mad, but she starts laughing. �Ned Ashton, you aren�t supposed to get it on during Christmas dinner.�
Ned: (suggestively) �I didn�t think you minded it too much.�
Alexis: �That�s not the issue here. Can you behave yourself for the rest of dinner?�
Ned: (kissing her quickly) �I�ll try to restrain myself until we get upstairs.�
They quickly cut the pumpkin pie and put whipped cream on the pieces.
Ned: �Maybe we should save some whipped cream for later...�
Alexis: �Ned! You�re incorrigible!�
She picks up the plates and heads out of the kitchen.