The Dream Mirror

Author: fenm
Title: Feels Like Home
Fandom: Rise of the Guardians
Characters: Jack Frost, Jamie, Sophie, Mrs. Bennett
Prompt: See Notes
Rating: PG
Word Count: 4503
Warnings: None.
Summary: Jamie asks Jack to Christmas with his family.
Notes: The is a reply to this prompt on the rotg_kink meme:
Jack is invited to the Bennett's Christmas dinner.
Disclaimer: Rise of the Guardians belongs to William Joyce and Dreamworks Animation.



It was the first Saturday of Christmas break, and Jamie and all of his friends were playing in the snow. Jack was with them, throwing snowballs and whipping up snow when they needed more ammo (or building material, for the two kids who were building a snowman).

It started to get dark and cold, and the kids began to head home.

"I'm cold," Sophie said. Her brother Jamie was putting the final touches on a snowcastle.

"Oh..." Jamie turned to Jack, who was now just perched on his staff watching. Jamie then turned to a large girl who was making two unicorn toys tromp through the snow.

"Cupcake, could you make Sophie home? I wanna talk to Jack."

"Okay," said Cupcake. "C'mon, Sophie."

"Okay! Bye-bye Jack!" Sophie waved as Cupcake led her home.

Jack waved back. "Bye, Sophie!"


Jack hopped off of his staff.

"What's up, Jamie?"

"I wanted to give you this."

The boy unzipped his jacket pocket and took out an envelope.

Jack took the envelope and opened it. He pulled out a simple, hand drawn card. It had him, Santa, Bunny, Tooth, and Sandman in front of a rather nicely drawn Christmas tree. Opening it up, he saw that it read:

Merry Christmas, Jack!

Love,
Jamie, Sophie, and Mom

It was all in Jamie's handwriting; Sophie was too young to write her name yet, and Mrs. Bennett didn’t believe Jack Frost was real.

"Jamie... this is wonderful! Thank you!"

Jamie smiled.

"I... don't have anything for you."

Jamie pointed to the falling snow. "You gave us this."

Jack laughed. "Okay."

"So... do you have any plans on Christmas?"

"Just the usual," said Jack with a shrug.

"Really? You’re not, like, going to the North Pole?"

"On Christmas? No, as soon as he gets back from delivering presents, Santa likes to take a few days off."

"Oh," said Jamie with a laugh. "Yeah, that makes sense."

Jamie took a breath. "So... come to dinner at my house!"

Jack was stunned. "Your... house? You want me to come eat with your family on Christmas?"

"Yeah! It'll just be me, mom, and Sophie. Well, and Abby, but mom will probably put her in the den." Jamie hopped up and down excitedly. "Please come! It'll be fun! You can even tell me your favorite food and I'll have mom make it; she's a good cook!"

"Jamie, I... you know you mom doesn't believe in me, right?"

"That's okay, you can still come. She humors Sophie about her 'imaginary friends' all the time."

"Jamie... I..."

"It's okay if you don't want to come," said Jamie. "I know you like to do your own thing..."

"No, it's not that! It's just... been awhile."

"Do you want to think about it? We've still got a few days. And my mom always makes plenty, anyway."

"If you wouldn't mind? I'll let you know before Christmas Eve, okay?"

"Okay! I should go. But I'll see you tomorrow, right?"

"Of course!"

"Okay! Bye!"

Jack waved as Jamie ran home. He looked down at the card Jamie had made him with a smile.


Jack skated slowly across the frozen surface of his pond. He loved the feeling of ice below his feet and the cold wind blowing through his clothes and hair.

He thought over Jamie's offer. He could remember eating meals with his family during his human life, but it had been centuries since he'd had a real family dinner. And to be asked to dinner by Jamie, the first child to believe in him...

Something else occurred to Jack: Christmas meant presents. Was he expected to bring some? Maybe he should ask Jamie when he saw him next. Or maybe...

Smiling, Jack made a quick pass across the pond to make sure the ice was thick enough for skating, then he headed off.

The next day, Jack saw Jamie and Sophie in their front yard building a snowman. It was looking a little anemic--until Jack landed on their roof and created a thick snowfall.

"All right!" said Jamie. "Hey, wait a minute..." Stepping back, Jamie looked up to see Jack smiling down at him.

"Hey!"

"Hey there," said Jack, stepping of the roof and letting the wind gently lower him to the ground.

"So," Jack began, "after much deliberation-"

"Much what?"

"After thinking about it carefully," Jack clarified.

"Oh."

"I've decided to come to Christmas dinner."

"YAY!" yelled Sophie.

Jamie laughed. "All right! So, is there anything you want to eat?"

Jack shrugged. "Not really. I'm sure I'll be happy with whatever your mom makes."

"Okay," said Jamie. "Wanna help us with our snowman?"

"I'd love to."


"You want to what?" Mrs. Bennett looked at her son curiously.

She checked the turkey, then began cutting the yams. Jamie was peeling potatoes and Sophie was playing with their greyhound, Abby.

"I want to set an extra place for Jack Frost! He said he'd come to dinner."

"Jack Frost is coming to Christmas dinner?"

"Yeah! Please? You don't have to make any special food or anything. Please?"

"Please, please, please?!" Sophie added.

"Okay, okay..." said Mrs. Bennett with a laugh.

"Cool!"


When it came time to set the table, Mrs. Bennett brought in an extra chair and Jamie made sure to set four place settings. Jamie had just set the last one when the doorbell rang.

"That's him! That's Jack!"

Jamie began to run to the door.

"Jamie, let me get it."

"Okay..."

Mrs. Bennett opened the door. Of course she saw no one there, but Jamie and Sophie did.

"Jack! Merry Christmas!"

"Merry Christmas, Jamie! Merry Christmas, Sophie! Merry Christmas... er, Mrs. Bennett."

Jamie laughed.

"Is Jack here?" Mrs. Bennett asked.

"Yeah. Mom, you might want to move over so he can come in..."

"Oh, of course." She moved over. "Come on in, Jack."

"Thanks," said Jack as he walked in. Jamie noted that he had changed into nice blue shirt, and along with his staff, he was carrying a small bag.

"What's in that?"

"It's just some of my stuff..." said Jack casually.

"Okay..." Jamie was suspicious.

"So, Jack," said Mrs. Bennett, "I hope you're hungry."

"Oh, I am!"

"Come on, let's eat."

"Yeah!"

Jack stopped short when he entered the dining room. The table was covered with a festive table cloth, and most of the food was already on it; turkey and stuffing and mashed potatoes. Jack had snuck into houses during holidays and loved the smell of the feasts, but this was the first time in centuries he knew some of the food was for him.

"Oh!" said Mrs. Bennett. "The green beans!" She disappeared.

Jamie shrugged. "She always does this... she spends half of dinner running into the kitchen."

Jack laughed. "I see."

"Here," said Jamie, walking over to the table and pulling out a chair. "This is your chair."

Jack stared at the chair for a moment. His chair...

"Jack?"

"Yes... thank you," he said.

Jack hung the bag he'd brought so that it would stay on the crook of the staff. Then he leaned the staff against the wall.

Walking over, Jack sat down, pulling his chair in.

Mrs. Bennett came back in with the green bean casserole.

"Is everyone here?" she asked, looking vaguely in Jack's direction.

"Yep!"

"Good."

"Everything looks great," said Jack, reaching for the spoon in the mashed potatoes.

"No, Jack, you have to wait to be served!"

"Oh, sorry..." said Jack. Then he turned to the head of the table. "Sorry Mrs. Ben-."

"It's okay," Mrs. Bennett interrupted accidentally, "I should probably serve him first anyway, since he's a guest."

"Okay," said Jack, reaching for his plate. His hand went right through it. "What...?"

"I'll do it for you," said Jamie, picking up Jack's plate and holding it out for his mom.

"What does he want?"

"Uh... a little of everything, please!"

"He says 'a little of everything'."

"Oh, looks like we've got a hungry spirit, huh?"

"Yes, ma'am."

Mrs. Bennett indeed put a little bit of everything on Jack's plate.

"You can have more of what you like when you're done with that," she said.

"Okay."

Jack understood what she was doing: She thought he was just a whimsy of the kids, and didn't want to dish out more food than she had to. No doubt she was anticipating having to eat this herself, or put it away after the kids had left the dining room.

Mrs. Bennett got food for Sophie and Jamie (nobody minded that Sophie started eating as soon as the food was set in front of her), and was dishing out her own dinner when she let out a sigh.

"I forgot the rolls. And the butter." She got to her feet. "I'll be right back."

As soon as she had her back turned, Jack reached for his spoon. He was pleased to find that he could pick it up. He took a bite of his mashed potatoes.

"Ah... hot..." Resting his hand on his plate, he cooled it down, cooling the food at the same time. He took another taste. "Ah, better."

Jamie smiled.

"Me, too, me too!" Sophie held her plate out for Jack.

"You should probably cool her food down a little," said Jamie.

"Okay," said Jack, touching Sophie's plate. He turned to Jamie. "How about you?"

"I'm good," he said.

"Okay," Jack said as Mrs. Bennett re-entered the dining room with the rolls.

"Butter!" Sophie exclaimed.

"Oh, d-dangit!"

Jamie giggled. Jack did too, since he knew what Mrs. Bennett had intended to say. Sophie giggled because Jamie and Jack were.

Jack took the opportunity of Mrs. Bennett being out of the room to get some more; he got some turkey and mashed potatoes eaten by the time she got back in.

As Mrs. Bennett started to sit down, she looked at Jack's plate.

"Oh!" She looked at Jamie.

"I didn't do it; it was Jack!"

"Okay," said Mrs. Bennett with an indulgent smile.

"These are really good potatoes, Mrs. Bennett."

"He says he really likes the potatoes, mom."

"Uh... thanks," she said, looking in Jack's general direction.

Jack smiled.

They started eating. Jack sat politely watching and enjoying the cozy family atmosphere. He actually didn't even mind not being to touch things or join in the conversation; watching Jamie and his family be together was enough for him.

"Mom... Jack can’t eat while you're watching."

"Oh, is that so? Well... oh, I could go get some salt for the corn."

She got up again. "It might take a few minutes," she said with a mischievous look.

As Mrs. Bennett went into the kitchen once more, Jack was able to eat some more of his dinner. By the time came back in, Jack had eaten almost all of the food on his plate.

"Oh... I guess he was hungry!"

Sophie giggled again.

"Mom," said Jamie, "he really is eating it, honest!"

"It's okay, Jamie," said Jack.

"But I want all of us to eat together!" whined Jamie.

"I know, but... it's not always that easy, Jamie... just be happy with what we have, okay?"

Jamie pouted.

"Jamie..." Mrs. Bennett sighed. "Look, I... I'm sorry, Jamie. It's just..."

Jack winced. It was clear that while she wanted to humor her kids, Mrs. Bennett had her limits; and Jamie's pouting was carrying things too far.

"But he really is real mom! He's been eating, and he cooled down Sophie's food for her so she wouldn't burn her mouth!"

Mrs. Bennett rubbed her hand over her face. She looked over at Sophie. After a moment, she reached over, gently touching the girl's mashed potatoes. She then touched her own.

"See, yours are hotter, huh?"

"True..."

Mrs. Bennett put her head in her hands.

"Look, Jamie... could we please just have a nice quiet dinner?"

"Jamie, really, it's okay. Your mother made a nice dinner, just enjoy it."

"Thank you," said Mrs. Bennett.

She looked up in shock. Jack and Jamie both looked at her.

Mrs. Bennett looked at Jack. Not at his chair, or in his general direction: She was looking right at him.

"... Jack Frost?"

Jack got to his feet.

"Yes, ma'am. It's very nice to meet you, Mrs. Bennett."

Mrs. Bennett got to her feet, as well.

"Oh, I um..." she nervously played with her hair. "It's very nice to meet you, sir."

Jack made a face. "'Sir'? Ugh, no... please call me 'Jack'."

Mrs. Bennett smiled. "Well, in that case, call me Marilyn."

Jack smiled. "All right."

"Oh! Um, would you like some more food? I'm afraid I didn't give you much..."

"I understand. But I'd love some more turkey, mashed potatoes, and green beans. I mean it's all good but-"

"No, it's fine," Mrs. Bennett said, taking Jack's plate and getting him some more food.

Jack sat back down and took his plate.

"Thank you," he said. Checking the temperature, he again touched his plate to cool it. Noticing the look on Mrs. Bennett's face, he said, "Oh. It's all very good, but it's a little too hot for me."

"He's Jack Frost, mom, he likes stuff cold."

"Oh, of course," said Mrs. Bennett with smile.

The rest of the dinner went by wonderfully. Jack enjoyed the food and the feeling of being part of a family.


Soon they were all sitting around quite stuffed.

"All right, kids," said Mrs. Bennett, "Why don't you go into the living room and play with your new toys. I'll get this stuff put away and then we'll have pie."

"Pie!"

"Yeah, Sophie, in a little bit..."

"C'mon, Sophie," said Jamie, helping her out of her chair, "let's go play with your new bunny."

"Okay!"

As the kids hurried to the living room, Jack got to his feet. He began piling up the plates and flatware.

"Oh, no, Jack, don't-"

"It’s okay, I don't mind," he said, carefully carrying them into the kitchen. "We'll get done faster and can get to the pie sooner," he said with a grin.

"Ah I see... I should have known," said Mrs. Bennett, grinning back.

She got up and got the glasses. Walking forward, she stepped right on one of Jack's feet.

"Ow!"

"Oh, I'm so sorry! You... are barefoot."

Jack shrugged. "I've never really liked shoes."

"Ah," said Mrs. Bennett as they made their way into the kitchen. "And your feet never get cold? Oh, wait, no, I guess you... don't really get cold at all, do you?"

Jack smiled. "Nope."

Mrs. Bennett nodded as she began to rinse the dishes to put in the dish washer.

"So, if you're real... the others are too? Santa, the Easter Bunny and... all of them?"

"Yeah," said Jack.

She nodded.

"Yetis?"

"Yep."

"The Loch Ness Monster?"

"Sadly, no..."

"Aw... I always liked that one..."

Jack smiled. "Me, too."

"I just... this whole thing... it's a little... weird. No offense."

"None taken."

"So... you're responsible for winter? I guess you're been around a long time, huh?"

"Actually no; I'm only about three hundred years old."

"O-only 300, you say?"

Jack laughed. "Hey, Bunny's as old as Pangaea. And Sandman's even older!"

"Wow... I guess you are pretty young, then..."

"Yeah."

Mrs. Bennett smiled. "And you... live here? In Burgess?"

"Kind of." Jack shrugged. "I come and go."

"You... don't have a home?"

"Not really." Jack noted the look on Mrs. Bennett's face. "Oh, it's all right, I don't mind. It's okay, really."

"I should start bringing the food in for you to put away."

"Okay," said Mrs. Bennett. "I really appreciate this."


Jamie came into the kitchen just as Mrs. Bennett was putting the last of the food away.

"Mom, when are we getting pie?"

"Well..."

Jack walked over to his staff. He took the bag off of it and held it up.

"Do you want pie or presents first?"

"You got us presents?!"

"Oh..."

Jack turned to Mrs. Bennett. "It's alright, isn't it?"

"Yeah, it's fine."

Jack smiled. "Okay. I got one for Abby too-"

"Oh," said Mrs. Bennett, "you can go let her out of the den."

"Okay!"

Jack followed Mrs. Bennett into the living room. Sophie was sitting by the tree playing with a stuffed bunny.

As Jack sat down next to Sophie, Abby bounded into the living room. She stopped when she spotted Jack, approaching him slowly.

"Hey, girl," said Jack, putting his hand down for her. She sniffed it, pulling back when her nose made contact with Jack's hand.

"Sorry," he said. "My skin is little cold..."

Reaching into his bag, he pulled out a chew toy shaped like Yeti. "Here ya go, Abby."

Abby took the toy from Jack, then curled up next to Sophie.

Jamie had come in and sat next to Jack.

"So, who's next?"

"You don't mind if I give Sophie hers first, do you?"

"No."

Jack took out the next gift.

"Here, Sophie," he said, holding out the gift for her.

"Prezzie!" she shouted, dropping the bunny and taking the gift. She quickly tore through the paper to reveal a small stone egg. It was painted in bright colors, and had Sophie's name written on it.

"It's a special egg from the Easter Bunny himself!" Jack explained. "He gave it to me and I painted it."

"Hop, hop, hop!" said Sophie, bobbing the egg up and down as if it were hopping.

Jack laughed. "Yeah."

"It's not an actual egg, right?" asked Mrs. Bennett.

"No," said Jack as he reached into his bag for Jamie's present. "It won't go bad or anything. And it's light, it won’t hurt if she drops it."

"Thanks."

Jack smiled at Mrs. Bennett. Then he turned to Jamie.

"Here ya go," he said, handing him his gift.

As soon as Jamie took his gift, Sophie reached across Jack and grabbed for it.

"Open, open!"

"No," said Jamie holding it out of her reach. "I wanna open it myself!"

Seeing that this could lead to problems, Jack quickly whipped up a flurry of snowflakes in his hand.

"Sophie, look!" He moved his hand, making the snowflakes fly up and away from Jamie. Sophie jumped up, chasing after the snow as Jack made it move slowly around the room.

"Wow," said Mrs. Bennett, nearly as mesmerized as Sophie by the display.

Jack smiled.

Jamie took advantage of the distraction, quickly unwrapping his present. It was a book about Yetis and other legendary creatures.

"I know you have one, but this one has some more," Jack explained. "And it's made for slightly older readers. And the pictures are a lot cooler!"

"Yeah, they are!" said Jamie as he looked through it. "Thanks, Jack!"

"You're welcome."

Jack pulled out one last present, handing it to Mrs. Bennett. "I wasn't sure exactly what to get you, so it's... kind of impersonal."

Mrs. Bennett unwrapped a plain box; opening it she pulled out a candle. It was red and white, the design looked very much like a candy cane.

"Oh, Jack, it's lovely!"

"It smells like peppermint, too," said Jack.

Mrs. Bennett smelled it. "Oh, it does!"

"Can I see?"

Mrs. Bennett handed it to Jamie. Jamie smelled it.

"Oh, yum!"

He held it sideways and opened his mouth as if to bite it.

"I... don't think that would be such a good idea," said Jack.

"I think I'm going to wait to light it," said Mrs. Bennett as she took the candle back from Jamie. "With all kids and Abby and the tree and all this..."

"That's okay," said Jack.

"I really love it, though; thank you."

"You’re welcome."

Jack smiled. He felt wonderful, seeing the three of them so happy.

"This was very sweet if you Jack," said Mrs. Bennett. "But we didn't get you anything."

"Well, actually..."

Jamie crawled behind the tree and pulled out a present with snowflake wrapping paper. He held it out to Jack.

"I got this for you."

"Oh, Jamie..."

Jack took the small package.

"Jamie, how...?"

"I've been saving some of my allowance, Mom," Jamie explained. He turned to Jack. "It's not much."

"Oh, I'm sure it'll be great," said Jack.

As with Jamie, Sophie immediately went to grab at Jack's gift, wanting to unwrap it.

"Sophie, let Jack open his own gift," said Mrs. Bennett patiently, reaching for her daughter.

"It's okay, Mrs.... er, Marilyn," said Jack. "Wanna help me unwrap my present, Sophie?"

"Yeah!"

"Okay."

Sophie and Jack pulled on wrapping paper the together. The whole thing probably took longer than if Jack had opened it himself. Still, the gift got unwrapped, revealing a small jewelry box. Jack opened it to find a chain necklace; on the necklace was a small snow globe with a little house inside it. Jack shook it up, watching the white flakes swirl around the little scene.

"See," said Jamie, "this way, you'll always have your home with you."

"Yeah... that's right," Jack said, his voice wavering. "Thank you, Jamie, this is wonderful."

Jack was tearing up, the water freezing on his eyelashes.

"Oh, Jack..." said Mrs. Bennett sympathetically. She got up and got a box of tissues from the coffee table.

"Thanks," said Jack, taking a tissue and wiping the ice away.

There was a somewhat awkward pause.

"Oh," said Jamie, "We still have pie!"

Sophie jumped to her feet. "Pie, pie!"

Mrs. Bennett laughed. "Yeah, all right, let's go. Jamie, could you get the plates and forks?"

"Sure."


It was pumpkin pie, straight out of chilling in the refrigerator. Sophie got a thin slice, while Jamie got a larger one, with a little whipped cream on top. Mrs. Bennett cut two larger slices for herself and Jack.

Jack took a bite of his pie. "Wow... this is amazing."

"Oh, thanks..." Mrs. Bennett said, blushing. "It's just the recipe on the can, though I add a little bit of spices of my own."

"Well, it's great," said Jack. He finished his slice quickly. "May I have some more?"

Mrs. Bennett said, "Sure, let me get it."

"No, I can get it, you just enjoy yours," said Jack.

Standing up, Jack picked up the knife. With a smile, he placed it so he'd be cutting the remaining pie in half.

"Yeah, that should be just about big enough."

Jamie giggled. Mrs. Bennett just gave him a playfully stern look.

"Kidding..." Jack moved the knife over, taking a more reasonable slice.


"Ok, kids, time for bed," said Mrs. Bennett. "Jamie, go brush your teeth. Sophie, go get the toothpaste on the brush and I'll come help you brush in a minute."

"Okay, mom," said Jamie, leading Sophie to the bathroom.

Mrs. Bennett started getting the dishes together. Jack got to his feet.

"I can do this," he said, taking the dishes from her. "You go help Sophie... I'm sure Tooth would be happy to know you're making sure she practices good oral hygiene."

"I... okay, thanks."

Jack put the lid back on the pie and put it in the fridge. Then he rinsed the dishes (with cold water, but it did the job until Mrs. Bennett could put them in the dishwasher). After making sure the table was clean and the chairs were pulled in, he got his staff and headed into the living room.

Leaning on his staff, Jack looked at the tree. At first glance it was... typical; lights, tinsel, and ornaments. But looking closer, Jack noted the number of ornaments that hung low on the tee; no doubt hung by Sophie and Jamie. And most of the glass ornaments and baubles were hung high up; probably to keep Abby from getting at them, and Sophie from bumping into them. Jack also noticed two teddy bear ornaments, one blue and one pink, celebrating the first Christmas for Jamie, then Sophie.

"Hey."

Jack gave a start, turning to see Mrs. Bennett standing in the doorway.

"Oh, uh... I was just-"

"It's okay," said Mrs. Bennett. "The kids want to say good night to you."

"Sure, I'd like that."

The kids came into the living room. Jack knelt as Sophie came up to him but was still surprised when she nearly tackled him in a big hug. He managed not to fall over, though, and hugged Sophie back.

"Good night, Sophie."

"Night, Jack!"

"Okay. Get into bed and I'll come tuck you in," said Mrs. Bennett.

"Okay!"

"Oh, here," said Jack, picking up Sophie's bunny and handing it to her. Sophie hugged it close and headed off to bed.

"Good night, Jack," said Jamie. "I'm glad you came; it was great having you here."

"Thank you for inviting me, Jamie," said Jack.

Smiling, Jamie hugged Jack.

"And remember, Jamie," Jack added in a falsely stern voice, "just because Christmas is over doesn't mean you can stop being good. Santa keeps track all year."

"Yes sir," said Jamie just as playfully, saluting.

"Good man."

They both giggled. Then Jamie went off to bed, as well.

Jack got to his feet.

"Well, I should go," he said to Mrs. Bennett.

"You... don't have a home, right?"

Jack shrugged. "It’s okay, I-"

"It's not okay," said Mrs. Bennett. "Look, I made up the guest room; I'd love for to you spend the night."

Jack was stunned... Mrs. Bennett was offering him a place to stay. A room, a bed...

"Jack...?"

"I... couldn't impose-"

"Yes, you can. It's fine. I've already changed the bedding and closed the vent so if the heater turns on it won't go in there."

Jack laughed.

"Well, I guess since you went to all that trouble, it would rude for me to say no."


Mrs. Bennett opened the door to the guest room. Jack walked in, looking around. It was small--though Jack preferred the term "cozy"--with just a bed and dresser. Mrs. Bennett had taken the blanket off the bed and put it on top of the dresser, leaving just a sheet and pillow on the bed. Along with closing the heating vent, she'd opened the window. Jack sighed happily at the wonderful chill in the air.

"So... here you are. It's not much-"

"No, it's wonderful, thank you."

Mrs. Bennett smiled. "I didn't tell the kids you were staying in case you wanted to leave early. But it'd be great if you'd stay for breakfast. We'll probably just have cold cereal; that would be okay for you, right?"

"Yeah... yeah, it'll be great."

Mrs. Bennett smiled. "All right. I'll see you in the morning. Sweet dreams."

"You too, Marilyn."

Mrs. Bennett smiled and left.


Jack walked over, sitting on the bed. It had been ages--centuries, in fact--since he'd slept in a proper bed. He slowly lay down on it... it was odd, having a pillow. But nice, he decided. He was glad there was no footboard; his staff was longer than the bed, but he never felt comfortable sleeping without it. He pulled it close as he relaxed into the mattress. He gently wrapped his hand around the house pendant on the necklace Jamie has given him. He smiled, and as he fell asleep, he knew he was finally home.