Chapter 1

The white snowflakes whirled against the darkness, caught in the headlights, and rushed up against the windshield of Jennifer's car. She was perhaps driving a bit faster than she should have, considering the weather, but was anxious to get home. The winter holidays were finally here. Jennifer had been looking forward to it, what with all the assignments and studying in college. It would feel good to get away from it all and spend some time with her father, as well as her other relatives.

Since her mother passed away a few years ago, her father had been living alone since Jennifer moved out, so she made sure stay over on the weekends as often as she could. She still considered it home. They lived in a suburb to a larger city, so it would have been an easy commute, but at 21, she still felt the need to have her own place. Luckily, her car, an old Nissan Altima, allowed her the option to visit often and still maintain a social life. The trip only took her about 40 minutes or so.

'Last Christmas' was playing on the radio as Jennifer turned into the streets of her childhood. Same songs every year, as far back as she could remember. She didn't mind. She liked the repetition, the tradition. Same streets, same people, same white snow she used to build her snowmen from. Same house.

Jennifer parked the car on the driveway, in front of the garage. She walked up to the door through a thick layer of snow, creaking satisfyingly under her steps. She put down her bag and rang the bell. Peter, her father, opened the door with a smile on his face. He was wearing jeans and a long-sleeved white shirt which looked comfy and warm, and it also showed off his biceps. His chestnut colored hair was combed and full of volume, and his beard has been shaved. He was also wearing his favorite Axe cologne. The fragrance was enticing. Her father, who was 42, looked great for his age. Hell, he looked great for any age.

"Princess!" Peter greeted with a big smile.

"Daddy!" Jennifer exclaimed, as they both hugged each other tightly.

"Merry Christmas," he added as he held her in his embrace.

"Merry Christmas to you too, dad. You look great!"

"Thanks sweetie!" He beamed at the attention. "I made myself look extra good today, since my only daughter is coming home for the holiday. You haven't seen her have you? A tall, beautiful girl with an amused grin on her face?"

Jennifer couldn't help smiling at him.

"There she is," he said playfully and surprised her by leaning in and planting a kiss right on his daughter's lips.

"Dad!" Jennifer exclaimed.

"What? You're standing under the Mistletoe, see?" he explained and pointed behind her, above the door. Jennifer turned to look.

"Like you didn't put that there on purpose," she said sarcastically. Not that she minded.

"Oh, relax. It's just a 'Christmas kiss' I'm just so excited to have you home with me for this long."

"And the rest of our relatives?" Jennifer asked.

"Ah, yeah. Them too, of course," he answered, with less enthusiasm. "Which reminds me, I better take this down now so your Aunt Tina doesn't get any ideas."

Jennifer chuckled as he reached around her and took the plant down. Tina would try almost anything she thought she could get away with when it came to Peter, especially with some eggnog in her. It never got her anything from him though, other than cold looks.

Jennifer took off her jacket and carried her bag into her room.

"Jen! You want some coffee?" Peter called from the kitchen.

"Sure," she answered and began unpacking.

The presents lay hidden under layers of clothes in her sports bag. A couple of toys for the young ones in the family and a gold watch for her dad. Peter had handled buying the rest of their shared gifts for the others. Shared, even though he insisted on not letting her help pay for them.

Jennifer took the gift wrapped box with the watch and hid it under the pillow on her bed and let the rest sit on her desk.

Peter was waiting by the dinner table, two steaming cups of coffee in front of him.

"All set up?" he asked and handed her a cup.

"Yep, there's not a lot to unpack."

Peter was sitting with the steaming cup held in both hands, holding it up to his face and blowing on it to try and cool it down. He smiled at her, his mouth half hidden. Jennifer quickly tore her eyes away from him, to make her attraction less obvious.