Tim Mangan sighed as he stretched his legs out. Glancing up at the announcement board, he noted that his train still read “delayed”. That was better than “cancelled”, like so many of the others. People were jam-packed into the station, trying to get on other outbound trains. But the entire eastern seaboard was snowed under, buried in the massive Snowpocalypse. He had originally planned to ride his motorcycle home but his mother had begged him to take the train. She hadn’t wanted him on the road, which was for the best, he admitted. He never would have made it up I-95 in this kind of snow. But neither could the train and he was stuck spending Christmas Eve in the Baltimore Amtrak station with a bunch of people he didn’t know, and didn’t want to know.

Despite the festive decorations and Christmas music playing over the radio, the mood in the station was anything but cheerful as stranded travelers waited to get home to their loved ones. They were camped out anywhere they could find a space; Tim had been lucky enough to be there early enough to grab a chair.

Tim wanted to be at home, teasing his brother about being a book nerd, sneaking cookies out of the kitchen while his Mom pretended not to notice, and filching candies from his sister’s stash. He would have missed the tree search with his Dad, but he had hoped to be there to at least sort through decorations. He and Dan used to play a running gag gift every year when Tim was a kid, where they’d take turns wrapping up the same set of Christmas lights. He wondered if he got home in time, if he could locate those old lights. He hadn’t been home last year for Christmas. Yet again, derailed by snow. Before that, he had missed the previous three years, due to military school and his own pride and temper. He had been bound and determined to be there this year. Last year, he had missed Natala’s grand entrance into their lives. This year, the whole family was complete. Well, it would be when he got there, Aralyn had had informed him. Even she was finally home from her “rideabout”, as he called it.

He could picture his mom in the kitchen right now, whipping up her part of the annual feast. The instrumental version of “Sleigh Ride” would be on repeat while she shuffled pies in and out of the oven. Dan would be sprawled on the sofa, probably napping, after refereeing the annual snowball fight, which Tim had missed this morning.

Tim sipped his coffee impatiently. They were still trying to clear the tracks, but it wasn’t looking good. He had managed to call home, though many cell towers were down from the blizzard, where his family was waiting anxiously. Ironic, he thought. Aralyn was finally home, but he wasn’t. This sucked. His eyes went to the board again, hoping it had changed in the last two minutes since he had looked at it.

“Is this seat taken?” a soft, female voice with a heavy southern accent interrupted his thoughts.

For a brief, wild second, his heart leaped, thinking his mother had appeared, but he looked up to find it was not Daisy Duke Mangan in front of him.

He glanced up and smiled politely as he moved his bag out of the way. “Of course not.” She was pretty, he thought, in a classic, old-fashioned way, with delicate features and translucent skin. Despite his mother’s fashion company, Tim wasn’t up to speed on women’s fashion but he did think this woman’s clothing was out of date, although he recalled Daisy had been complaining that the ghastly fashions of the 80s were making a comeback. The woman in front of him wore a pale blue coat but the collar looked unusual, and the high necked, ruffled lace collar of her blouse struck him as from another era, as did the delicate white gloves with pearls on her tiny hands. She wasn’t very big, he thought, maybe five foot two, slender.

Tim studied her, always appreciative of a good looking woman. Her sandy blonde hair swept up in an elegant, bouffant styled bun. The pin on her ruffled collar reminded him of something he couldn’t put his finger on, but he was sure he had seen it before. Her skin was flawless, with the same peaches and cream complexion that reminded Tim of his mother Daisy, and this woman had big dark green eyes as well, not unlike his own.

“Thank you,” she smiled at him, setting her purse on her lap. Even it didn’t look like the purses his cousins carried, he thought.

“Anytime,” he gave her a wide smile, turning on the charm. She was in her late thirties, he thought, but short, slim and attractive. Tim thought at least she would make passing the time more pleasant, having someone pretty to talk to. Tim never passed up an opportunity to talk to a pretty lady.

“Stranded too, huh,” he asked.

She nodded. “Yes. This waiting is quite unpleasant.”

“Yeah, I hear you. My mom is really unhappy. Spending Christmas Eve in an Amtrak station isn’t my idea of a good time.”

“You have talked to her, then?” the woman asked.

Tim nodded. “Yeah, I’ve called her a couple of times to let her know what’s going on. You’d think with as big a family as I have, they wouldn’t notice one of us missing, but not my mom. I’m the oldest and I missed a few years worth of Christmases, so she’s really upset that I’m not there.” Tim wondered why he had just revealed all of that. He didn’t normally start talking about his family to perfect strangers, no matter how pretty they might be.

“It is always hard to be away from your children,” the woman said wistfully.

“You have kids?” Tim asked.

The woman smile sadly. “I have a daughter. She lives far away so I do not get to see her much. I was hoping to this Christmas.”

Tim smiled at her. “There’s still hope. They might get the tracks clear.”

“Would you tell me a little about your family?” she asked shyly. “My name is Adaline.”

Tim looked into the big green eyes and felt an odd pull, wondering why her name rang a dim bell in the back of his mind. It wasn’t a common name. He mentally tried to grasp the teasing familiar thought but it eluded him and was forgotten when he looked into her eyes. “Sure,” He smiled at her. He pulled out his iPhone and scanned through the pictures. “This is all of us, from this summer. It’s kind of hard to see everyone because there’s so many of us, but that’s the whole gang. People always called us the Belden-Duke Clan because each set of parents has either someone named Belden or Duke in it. The three Duke cousins married into a group of seven friends that used to call themselves the Bob-Whites of the Glen. This is my immediate family. My mom is Daisy Duke; she’s a fashion designer—a really successful one. Isn’t she gorgeous? Everyone always said our cousin Diana is the most beautiful, but I think Mom is. And that’s my dad. He’s a US Marshal, he was one of the seven.”

“She is so beautiful,” Adaline murmured. “Stunning, really. And what a handsome man he is. You look like both of them. You have your mother’s eyes though.”

Tim nodded. “I get that a lot.”

“What is she like?” Adaline asked longingly. “Your mother, I mean. She looks so friendly and happy.”

“She’s awesome,” Tim beamed. “She’s smart as all get out. I mean, she built this fashion business from a tiny little store in Atlanta, with the financial backing of her friend. And she’s great with people. She has this amazing ability with them. It’s like she just casts this spell over people and they start spilling their guts to her. People try to interview her and if she doesn’t like their questions, she just gives them this smile and next thing you know, she’s changing the subject and they don’t even realize it. It’s hilarious to watch. She’s the most awesome cook too. No one makes better fried chicken than she does, or biscuits. She’s given Trixie and Honey and Di —that’s these three here, they’re part of that Bob-White group I mentioned—some cooking tips but it’s just not the same. She’s got the magic touch, that’s for sure. When I’m home she cooks up a feast for me and sends me home with bags full of goodies. She forgives me for everything, and believe me when I say there are some things I probably don’t deserve to be forgiven for.”

Adaline smiled at him, and there was something familiar about it he couldn’t place.

“Mothers do that,” she smiled at him. “She sounds like a wonderful woman.”

“She’s amazing,” he agreed. “I really miss her when I’m at school. I punished her for a long time for something that she really didn’t have control over, and even though it was my own fault, I blamed her for a couple of years. I still feel guilty about it.”

“She probably knows that. But she doesn’t sound like the sort of woman to hold it against you,” Adaline said.

“She’s really not,” Tim agreed, wondering why he suddenly was spilling his guts about his mom. He never talked about his family. Especially with strangers!

“And your father?”

Tim exhaled slowly. ”My dad is a complicated man,” he finally. “He’s a good man, and he’s given me a hefty dose of tough love when I needed it, and he’s made a lot of hard decisions, but I think I can honestly say he loves me, and everything he’s done, truly was for my own good. We have a really complex relationship, though. He sent me away a few years back because he just didn’t know what else to do with me, when I got into some trouble and it took me a long time to forgive him. Truthfully, I don’t know that I know that I really have, but I’m working on it. We’ve never talked about it. Dad’s not really a talker when it comes to that stuff, but he seems to be a little more comfortable around me these days.

“He probably talks about it with Mom, though. He’ll do anything for her. They have this amazing relationship. You can just see how much they love each other. Even when they think no one’ s looking, the way they look at each other, there’s so much love between them, it’s really awesome. It’s a rare kind of love, I think, what they have. Remember when I told you Mom had this uncanny ability to cast a spell over people? Trixie told me once the moment Dad laid eyes on her it was love at first sight. Dad will say that too, but Trixie says Dad pretty much swallowed his tongue the moment she got out of the car, and he never recovered. His world revolves around her. I can only hope I can find someone like that someday.”

“There’s no one special in your life?” Adaline asked, her eyes sad for him.

“There’s a girl, but…it’s complicated. She lives in New York and works for Mom, and I’m down here. I have trouble…committing to her when I’m so far away, even though I'm crazy about her and I think about her al the time. She's really the only girl I want but being five hours apart, and she travels for her work...it's really difficult.”

Adaline nodded. “You are awfully young to be so committed. There are a lot of young ladies out there, but if it's meant to be with this one, it will evenutally.”

Tim nodded. “Maybe when I’m done with school we can work it out, but in the meantime, we have fun when we can and the rest of the time, we see other people.”

“Sometimes that is best, to be sure of the heart,” Adaline said, patting his hand. Tim almost flinched at her cold hands. Even through the gloves, he could feel the cold, he thought. “Are you an only child?”

“Nah, I’ve got a brother and sister. Both are pretty cool. I’m the oldest. This is Jesse,” he held up his iPhone. “He’s a year younger than me. Total bookworm nerd. He’s studying history at New York University. Smart kid, real introvert. Finally got a girlfriend in his junior year of high school, this really cute cheerleader named Stephanie. They broke up for college but are still friends. He’s enjoying college, and he’s a good kid. It took him a long time to really understand why I was gone so long. He didn’t really grasp what I had done, how far I had pushed Dad. But he forgave me what I did to him too, and we’ve been able to build a relationship back up.”

“He sounds wonderful,” Adaline said admiringly. “And your sister?”

“This is Dana,” he showed her his sister’s picture. “She’s awesome. She’s as pretty as Mom and as feisty as my cousin Aralyn. She’s sassy and doesn’t take any crap, excuse my language, she doesn’t take any guff from anyone, and she’s got guys lining up to go out with her. She’s a lot like Mom, men just fall at her feet. She’s incredible at soccer too, and training for the Olympic team tryouts. I can’t believe she wouldn’t get picked, she’s so good. That’s her big dream, to represent the US Women’s soccer team at the next summer Olympics. I’m sure she will too.”

“They all sound simple marvelous,” Adaline drawled happily, her face lighting up. “And so many cousins!”

Tim chuckled. “That’s where the fun really gets going. They’re a crazy bunch, especially Aralyn and Tiffany. Aralyn is the oldest. Well, she was until Natala showed up. Aralyn, Tiffany and I were all born a couple weeks apart. Aralyn in late October,Tiffany in early November and me in mid-November. So we all grew up together and were thick as thieves. We did everything together, and that included getting into plenty of trouble. Mom would make these awesome little apple fritters and set them out to cool. Well, Tiffany and I would distract her while Aralyn snuck into the kitchen and loaded up her backpack with them. Then we’d meet up in the backyard and stuff ourselves with them. We thought we were just so slick and cool,” he laughed. “It never occurred to us that Mom was onto us, and purposely made extra, in a smaller size that fit better into a little hand, and placed them within easy reach of said little hands.”

Adaline was grinning, her big green eyes shining.

“And Moms—that’s Aralyn’s grandmother—was in on it. She’s purposely would make these great windmill cookies—an old friend’s recipe— and frost them with gooey chocolate frosting and set them out and leave the kitchen to go ‘rest’ or clean the house. So we’d go creeping into the kitchen and take off with a whole plateful, and hang out in the orchard gorging on them. Then we’d come back to the house and try to clean up and all the grownups would try to ignore the fact we had chocolate frosting all over our fingers and faces. It was awesome.” Tim gave a wistful sigh, remembering his childhood antics with his cousins.

“Then there was the time Aralyn chased a skunk in the preserve, thinking it was a cat…Tiffany was smart enough to hang back but me and Aralyn…we got nailed. Boy, was that awful,” he shook his head with a rueful chuckle. “But those were fun times. We all have siblings but the three of us were inseparable. We got into trouble together, we had fun together, and we always had each other’s back. I beat up a few boys who called Aralyn fat in elementary—she wasn’t, she was just a little on the sturdy side. And she punched out some bully of a girl who tried to kiss me in second grade.” He grinned. “I’ll never forget the look at the girl’s face when she saw Aralyn come flying at her, fist swinging.”

Tim was laughing at the memories. “We still have each other’s backs. Aralyn and I are still pulling each other out of trouble.”

“She’s your cousin, right?” Adaline leaned forward, eager for more.

“Yep. Her dad is Bo, my mom Daisy’s cousin. This is them. They’re they blond branch of the family, except for Sean.” He flipped to their picture.

“So handsome of a man,” Adaline murmured happily.

Tim thought he heard her whisper something along the lines of, “He grew up so well.” The thought slipped away from Tim’s mind, though, quickly forgotten.

“He’s a pretty cool guy. Family hothead. Impulsive. Just like Trixie, his wife. She’s my dad’s best friend. One of, anyway, part of the seven I told you about. They’re a perfect pair. Both were kind of reckless when younger. Impulsive. Hard-headed, hotheaded. All fine qualities Aralyn inherited. But they’re also kind, and loyal and wonderful people. Aralyn’s always had my back, no questions asked. Even when I thought I lost everyone else, and the world was against me, she was always there, ready to defend me,” he said softly. “She’s my best friend.”

“She looks like an amazing girl,” Adaline said. “She looks strong, and vibrant.”

“She really is. She’s had a tough year but we got through it. Those are her twin brothers. They’re nutballs, but good kids. They keep us laughing. And Sean, he’s Autistic, but he’s a great kid. Super sweet.”

“And Luke?” Adaline asked gently. “His family?”

“This is Luke’s family,” Tim moved to another picture, never realizing he hadn’t mentioned Luke by name. “He married Madeleine ‘Honey’ Wheeler, Trixie’s best friend, another friend of my Dad’s. They were all US Marshals together, back in the day. Dad, Luke and Bo still are, actually. Luke and Honey’s kids are Tiffany and Jace. Tiffany is Aralyn’s and my other best friend that I mentioned. She’s wonderful. Sweet, kind, thoughtful—she balances me and Aralyn out. She’s our voice of reason when we start to get into or head for trouble. She’s no wuss, though. She’s right there by our side no matter what, ready to walk into danger with us. She had a really rough year too, but she’s turned it around. She and Aralyn went through some tough times together the last six months or so, but I think they’re tighter than ever now.

“Jace is a good kid. He’s kind of a loner but he’s got a got a bright future. He’s a senior this year, and probably going to play football at Virginia Tech next year.”

“And this Honey Wheeler ? She is a good woman? Good to Luke?”

Tim nodded.

“She’s awesome. Tiffany is a lot like her. Honey’s super sweet, which is how she got the nickname of Honey. She’s really kind and has a very gentle heart. She does a lot of philanthropy, and good work like that, she’s always looking out for the well-being of others, especially those who are less fortunate. Luke couldn’t have asked for a better woman.”

“I’m so glad to hear that.” Adaline’s green eyes were shining with happiness. “He deserves it.”

Tim thought that was an odd comment but quickly forgot it.

“Yeah, they’re really great people. The Dukes and the Bob-Whites were a great pairing.”

“And so many more cousins. Your grandparents?”

Tim smiled but it had a touch of sadness. “Mom’s parents were killed in a car accident when she was a little girl—so were Bo and Luke’s. Same accident, actually. Dad’s dad was killed in the Vietnam War when he was a baby, so he never knew him, and his mom died when he was twelve, I think. But we never lacked grandparents. When Dad was fourteen, he met the other Bob-Whites and came to live with his uncle Regan.

“Dad always thought Regan was either dead or didn’t care about him, so they had a pretty rough start. Dad was a bit of a punk himself, so Regan had him live with a friend, this old guy, in the woods, Mr. Maypenny. Between the two of them, they helped Dad straighten his life out, and Dad loved the old guy like a father. So we had Mr. Maypenny and Regan, as our grandfathers. And then there’s Moms and Grandpa Peter Belden – they’re the parents of Trixie and her brothers, Grandpa Matt and Grandmother Madeleine Wheeler – Honey’s and Jim’s parents, and Grandpa Edward and Grandma Judy Lynch – Diana’s parents. They consider all of us their grandkids, regardless of our last name, and we call them all Grandma and Grandpa. It would have been nice to have known Mom and Dad’s parents, and sometimes I wish we could talk to them, but at the same time, we really had plenty of grandparents to love us. I don’t feel like we got gypped at all.”

“That makes me so happy to hear,” she smiled warmly at him. “It sounds you grew up in a very loving environment.”

“I really did,” he agreed. “Which really just makes me feel all the more guilty for being such a jerk when I was younger. “

“You can’t change the past, Tim,” she said gently. “What’s done is done, and obviously you are not that person any more. The fact you carry guilt for your behavior is a clear indication that you have grown since then.”

He smiled at her. “Thanks. That makes feel a little better, hearing it from someone that I’m not related to. I try to make up for it, in little ways. I’ve got a special present for Mom, if I can get home.”

“Can I ask what it is?” Adaline sat up eagerly.

Tim smiled shyly. “One of the few family heirlooms she had, I guess you’d call it, was this thing called a compote. It’s kind of like a big chalice-looking thing that can sit on a table and hold potpourri or something. Well, Mom had one that had been in the family for a long time, and it got broken a few years back, because of me. The look on her face when it got smashed—” Tim paused, and swallowed hard. “I couldn’t bear it. I knew how much it meant to her, being one of the few things she had left of her parents. So this year, I took up woodworking classes, with the specific purpose of making her a new one. It’s not perfect, but it’s pretty close to the old one. I had my sister find an old picture of it so I could recreate the design as closely as possible. It’s in my bag right now. Want to see it?” he asked impulsively.

“I’d be honored,” she whispered.

He opened his bag and carefully removed a package wrapped in thick layers of padding, that he unwrapped with great care. The look of love on her face and her smile warmed him.

“It’s perfect, Tim,” she murmured, looking at it, her green eyes brimming with tears. “Every detail.”

Tim beamed, and gently, carefully rewrapped it. “Thanks. I worked really hard on it and I hope she likes it. It belonged to her mother, and her grandmother before her, and when it got broken…I felt like such a jerk.”

“I expect she’ll love it,” Adaline smiled softly at him, her green eyes shining with unshed tears. “You really do seem to have a wonderful family, Tim. I hope you get home to spend the holiday with all of them. There are so many, and they seem like such a fun crowd.”

Tim nodded. “Yeah, there’s really a ton of us. You should see us at holidays.” That reminded him why they were stranded and he glanced up at the board, which still read ‘delayed’. He sighed. “Man, I hope we get home in time. I missed plenty of Christmases during what should have been high school, I don’t want to miss any more.’

“Are you sure you don’t just want your mom’s fried chicken?” Adaline teased.

Tim laughed. “I do, but mostly I just I just want to see my family. I owe the twins a good prank and Aralyn said she’d help me. I want to hang out with Dean and Cam and the girls, and I want to spend some time with Lyris. I promised Jesse I’d help him with his jump shot and Dad and the guys want to go bow hunting in the preserve. I missed out on all that for a few years, and with all the younger cousins starting to go off to college…I’ll miss more. I’ve got grab those opportunities where I can.”

He showed her another picture on his phone. “This is the seven of us together, my best friends. Honey took this picture at Thanksgiving and sent it to all of us. She said it reminded her so much of the old Bob-Whites, it made her cry tears of joy. See how we were all crowded onto the sofa, laughing? That’s Cam on the arm, next to Aralyn. He's not a cousin, which is good, because he's so in love with Aralyn he can't see straight. That's my girl Lyris sitting on my lap, Tiffany squished in between us and Natala, and Dean sitting on the other arm-he's not a cousin either, but an old friend of ours, and he's head over heels for Nat. I have no idea what we were all laughing about, but I think this is one of my favorite pictures in the world. I want more moments like this.”

Adaline’s icy hand covered his as she smiled at him. It was eerily familiar and yet Tim just couldn’t place it. “It’s a beautiful moment, Tim. I’m sure there will be lots of chances for more of them.”

“Ladies and gentlemen, it looks like we’ve got a Christmas present for you. The tracks are clear and train 549 to New York is ready to board. We should have you at Penn Station in New York later this evening, in time for a late Christmas Eve with your families.”

“Well, I’ll be damned,” Tim beamed at her. “Excuse my language, please, Adaline, I’m just a bit excited.” He stood and reached for his bag, glancing down as he did so to make sure nothing had fallen out of his bag. “We’re on our way after all. Would you like to sit—” He looked up and blinked in surprise.

She was gone. Tim looked around. There was no sign of her anyway as the people rapidly lined up, eager to get home.

“Adaline?” he called out. People glanced at him oddly and looked away, whispering to each other. The hair on the back of his neck stood up.

He joined the crowd moving towards the door and pulled his ticket out, searching the crowd for the petite woman, but there was no sign anywhere of her. No sandy blonde bouffant bun to be seen.

Where had she gone? She was so familiar. The eyes, the smile…the charm…she reminded him so much of Daisy, he thought suddenly. Even the accent was like….no. The puzzle pieces started falling into place. He had started spilling his guts to her, just like Daisy could get people to. And Adaline had mentioned Luke, when he hadn’t, he realized. She had called him by name at one point and yet he didn’t remember introducing himself. And there was the familiar pin at her throat. The pin that had been sitting in his mother’s jewelry box for years. How had she…his mind suddenly cleared in the cold, fresh air as he walked and the picture became clearer. How she had said every detail on the carved compote was perfect, yet she couldn’t know that unless…People looking at him strangely when she disappeared and scooting away from it. It wasn’t possible. It couldn’t be. It couldn’t.

He pulled out his phone and dialed home as he hurried towards his train. “Mom?”

“Tim, sugar, any word?”

“Yeah, we’re boarding now. With any luck, I’ll be home in time for dessert. Try to keep that pig brother of mine out of the pies until I get there.”

“Don’t you worry, sugar, I’ll make sure there’s plenty for you.”

Tim could hear tears in his mother’s voice. “Thanks, Mom. Hey, Mom, I’ve got kind of a strange question for you.”

“Of course.”

“You know I'm bad with names...what was Grandma’s name? I mean, your mom’s name.”

He could visualize his mother’s surprised face. “Adaline. Adaline Beauchamp Duke.”

Tim swallowed. “That’s what I thought. I’ll explain later, Mom. See you soon. Love you.”

“I love you, too, Timmy. Hurry home, we’re waiting for you.”

Tim hung up the phone and smiled to himself as he boarded the train. He glanced back at the station. It wouldn’t have been so awful being stuck there, he thought. At least he would have had his grandmother to keep him company.

Meet the cast in full & see the family tree!

***

Author’s Notes
- Merry Christmas, to my dear and wonderful friend, Pat! I put some serious pressure on myself by assigning you to me this year! How could I possibly write something that I felt would match your level of talent? This isn't a traditional Christmas story and I hope you'll forgive me but when Tim Mangan offered to help, I couldn't say no to him, and I hope you’ve enjoyed spending some time with him. Now you know why I couldn’t discuss the story at WWW, other than to say it featured Tim – I was just making sure he was a character you liked, LOL! I’m sure you guys figured I was writing for one of you, but I couldn’t say who.
- Some backstory on various parts: The compote - Pat had a compote that had been in her DH's family for many years, and it was destroyed when her house was broken into years ago. Her son took up woodworking and made her a new one to replace it. I thought it worked out nicely that Tim would replace the one for Daisy he broke due to his volatile past.
- The Christmas present of the lights being rewrapped every year is also a tradition of Pat’s DH & DS. I thought it made a nice touch for Dan and Tim, and something Tim hopes to restart.
- One of Pat’s favorite Christmas song is “Sleigh Ride”. Daisy likes to play it while she's baking the pies.
- A huge thank you to my lovely editors. Ronda got a very rough draft of this, and then went through it again after I did some work on it, and Ryl gave me another set of eyes to make sure it was gift-ready. Thank you, my friends!
- The train station in the header graphic is not the Baltimore Amtrak station, but the Lancaster, Pa. train station, which I used specially for Pat.
- If the font looks familiar, it's Tim's handwriting, and used on his chapters.
- Daisy, Bo and Luke’s parents were killed when they were small children. It’s never stated clearly in the show how, so I chose car accident years ago.
- Daisy’s parents are never named, so I chose Adaline.
- Word Count, 4,993