"Echo?" 

"What's up?" Echo asked, turning to Adelia as she fumbled with the tape. They'd been wrapping presents for hours, laughing over the mess they were making. Echo was used to just paying for things to be wrapped for her but Adelia had insisted that they do it themselves. Of course, this meant they had to wait for Luke to be gone to do all their shopping and wrapping. So, here they were, just a couple of days to Christmas and trying to get it all done. 

"Do you have..." Adelia blurted as she continued to try to unroll her tape. "the things... the... for cutting?"

"The scissors?" Echo asked with a smile, holding them out to her. Adelia sighed. 

"Yes. Thank you." Adelia said, as she rolled out another piece of wrapping paper. "How many do you have left?"

"Let's see... I have one for Romy... and one more for Luke... and one for Ben." Echo said, glancing at the bags that were left. "You?"

"Just one for Luke and one for your parents." Adelia said with a smile. Echo sighed. 

"You know, you really didn't have to do that." Echo said, looking at all the gifts Luke and Adelia had bought for her family. 

"Oh, we're happy too." Adelia said, counting over the gifts. "I'm really excited about Christmas. Last year it was just Luke staring at me as I unwrapped a bunch of gifts."

"Really?" Echo asked, raising her brow. "What about your aunt Daniela? Didn't you go spend it with Nadia and them?"

"No, they've invited us but Luke isn't really the type to join in. Usually we have some dinner here and the next day we watch TV as we open presents." Adelia said. Echo frowned. Her parents made such a big deal about Christmas. Everything from Christmas Eve until the day after was an endless stream of food, cheesy games, movies and presents. 

"Well, we're happy to have you. My parents... they've got holiday spirit in their DNA. They love it and honestly, their enthusiasm is contagious." Echo said, "They're excited you're coming. It's been a long time since they had a kid in the house."

"I'm not a kid." Adelia said, sitting up straight.

"Of course not. I mean someone so young." Echo said with a nod as she tied another bow. "It's hopeless."

Adelia laughed. 

"Alright, I'm going to take baby out. Wanna come?" Echo said, setting the gift aside and standing. 

"No, I want to finish up." Adelia said as she carefully continued cutting. 

"What's going on in here?" Marco's voice cut through the room, a big smile on his lips. 

"Hey!" Adelia said brightly. "We're just finishing up our Christmas wrapping. Don't worry- we already wrapped yours."

"I'm honored." He said, turning to Echo who was trying to get a ridiculous looking harness on the little dog. 

"I... was just about to take this little guy for a walk." Echo said, standing with a smile and admiring the dog. 

"I'll come with you." He said, following her as she made her way out the back. 

"You okay?" He asked after they'd walked on in silence for a few minutes. 

"Yeah, I'm just... I hope Luke doesn't mind." She said, making his raise his brow. 

"Mind?" Marco asked nervously. 

"Yeah, you know his study. I just sort of took over and I'm lucky he hasn't gone in there." Echo said. Just across the hall from his study was a bedroom, not very large but not too small that she'd decided would now be their library. It was an ambitious task to undertake, especially to try to complete in a week but it turned out that in this town, being Luke's wife really pulled a lot of strings. Marco had helped her by getting some men to pick up large bookcases, and furniture had been delivered to make sure the room was a comfortable one. As it was just across the hall from the study, it was very convenient to cart the books in once the shelves and book cases were installed. While the men were busy installing them, Echo and Adelia went through all the books in the study, plus the books Echo had brought with her from home and they carefully indexed and cataloged them.  

"I'm sure he won't mind once he sees the finished product." Marco said, relaxing again. "It looks great. You did good." 

"You think so? I hope he likes it." She said with a nod. 

"I'm sure he'll love it." Marco said, stopping and prompting her to do the same. "You're amazing, Echo. Luke is very lucky."

Echo blushed, lowering her gaze from his. She wasn't sure why but Marco's words made her nervous. 

"I..." She began to say but stopped when she suddenly felt the leash relax. She turned, wondering what Baby was doing and immediately she freaked out. "Oh my god... Baby?"

Marco glanced at the broken leash, wondering how in the world the small dog had managed to do that. 

"Baby!" Echo called out, walking down the sidewalk and picking up her speed with every step. "Baby!"

Echo turned the corner, glancing frantically. Where did he go? Echo felt as her hands began to go numb, she could feel as it was becoming harder and harder to breathe. 

"Echo... hey..." Marco said, catching up to her and noting how pale she was. "Calm down, we'll find him."

"I just... I looked away and... what if..." She said between breaths, trying to make sense. 

"Hey... you're fine." Marco said, putting a hand on either arm and rubbing them up and down. "Relax."

Marco began to look around, searching for any sign of the small dog. 

"Baby!" She called out again, putting a hand to her forehead, trying not to get overwhelmed. 

"Look..." Marco said, suddenly spotting a white fur ball, hanging out beside a trash can across the street. Echo turned, her eyes widening as she saw the bright harness. 

"Oh, thank god." She said, about to run after him but the little dog seemed to notice something else and promptly began sprinting after it. 

"I've got him." Marco said, taking off in a jog after the dog. Echo watched him, a knot in her throat as she tried not to cry, and her hands now pressed tightly together as she watched him chase Baby.  How could she not notice that he'd been chewing through the leash? If anything happened to that dog... no, it was fine. Marco would catch him. 

She pictured the first time she saw the little pup, peeking out from the box. She'd be devastated without him. As Marco disappeared in the distance, she closed her eyes, silently praying to whoever was up there in the universe that her puppy would be okay. 

"Echo." 

She opened her eyes and found Marco standing less than a foot away from her, a very dirty little poodle, wiggling about wildly in his arms. 

"Oh Baby..." Echo said, scooping the puppy away from Marco and cuddling him close. "Why would you do that to mommy?"

Marco watched as Echo held the dog up to her face, babbling like an idiot to it sweetly and incoherently. It was utterly ridiculous, but then again, Echo had a unique talent for making the ridiculous adorable. 

"You stink." She said, shaking her head and turning back towards the house. "Playing in filthy garbage."

He could tell by the way she trembled that she was still nervous, still not feeling completely calm. Luke had mentioned that Echo had anxiety issues, and he'd learned about it while investigating her earlier on. Still, he hadn't seen it first hand, she'd done so well during the incident before with Nadia, how was it that something this small go her so worked up?

"Echo." he called out to her as she rushed back into the safety of the back gate. "Wait up."

Echo could hear Marco calling out to her but she couldn't stop, she needed to get inside, needed to try to feel some normalcy. It wasn't until she heard the gate close behind her that she stopped.

"Echo." Marco said again, putting a hand on her shoulder as she approached her. Echo turned around to face him, red in the face and absolutely embarrassed by her panic. "Are you okay?"

"I'm sorry." She said, hoping she wouldn't cry, unable to meet his gaze. She couldn't believe she'd freaked out that way. She'd been doing so well. She remembered the way that Luke had helped her that night on their way to his Aunt's house. He'd been so patient, it was like he knew instinctively how to help her and in return, she trusted him blindly. "I... I stress out easily."

Echo would have said more but she suddenly felt his arms go around her and pull her close. If it wasn't for the wiggling and cries of the dog, she might have never reacted. 

"Don't apologize, Echo." Marco said without releasing her, what he wouldn't give to be the person that could give her peace, put her at ease. "I just want you to be okay. I just want to help you feel okay."

Echo felt that knot in her throat, confused. She could feel the warmth coming from Marco, the firm grip, the tone in his voice. For the first time she felt everything begin to click.  

"Echo... I..." Marco began to say, feeling that words would escape him before he could stop himself. Lucky for him, she stepped back. 

"Marco." She said, stepping away, knowing that whatever he was about to say was not a good thing. "Thank you. Thank you for helping me catch Baby and for always being so attentive."

Marco was still, hesitant to completely release her but unable to think of a good excuse not too. Slowly, he relaxed his arms, practically gritting his teeth as he did so. 

"I'm happy to help." He said with a gulp, forcing the words out. Echo smiled softly.

She leaned forward, placing a free hand on his shoulder and gently, tentatively placed a chaste kiss on his cheek. 

"I'm going to go get this little guy washed up." She said, slowly turning and making her way back.  Marco stood, fixed in place, watching her as she walked away, knowing he had been a fool to even think it. 

---

Nadia was still. Quiet. Confused. She couldn't believe what she was seeing, couldn't understand what it was she was seeing. It was absolutely not possible. 

But she couldn't deny what she was seeing... It was Marco and Echo, and he was holding her in his arms as if she was the most important thing in his life. She waited, holding her breath, hoping that what she was seeing wasn't what she thought it was. She watched as Echo slowly pulled away, a smile on her face before she suddenly leaned forward, bringing her face to his...

Nadia quickly turned on her heel, unable to watch any longer. She'd arrived only 10 minutes before, no sign of Adelia or Echo in the foyer but there was piles and piles of wrapping paper.  Nadia had led herself out to the yard, obviously not expecting to see... that. She placed a hand on her chest, feeling how her heart sped up. 

Then, because she couldn't stand to run into Echo, she ran towards the front door as fast as she could, feeling a desperate need to get out. 

"Hi... hey." 

Nadia almost fell over as she crashed into Luke, who was just barely coming up the steps to the house. 

"Woah." He said, picking her back up as she had stumbled. "You okay?"

Yeah... I..." She said, dusting herself off and smoothing her hair. "I'm good."

Luke raised his brow. She was nervous, it was obvious she was nervous and Nadia, she was not the type of woman to be easily rattled.

"Did something happen? Is it Adelia? Echo?" He said, gripping her shoulders and trying to get her to focus. Then he saw it, the flicker in Nadia's eyes at the sound of her name. "Is Echo okay?"

Nadia looked at Luke, feeling the tightening in her chest. She couldn't bear to see him hurt again but could she keep this to herself?

"Nadia, tell me what's going on. Please." He said. 

"I... I'm sorry Luke." She said. "Echo's fine... but... I..."

"What?" He asked. 

"She's with Marco out back." She said, feeling how Luke's grip tightened on her shoulders. Her heart sank. Their eyes met and somehow, they filled in the blanks. Luke nodded. 

"What did you see?" He asked. "Doesn't matter... I'll kill him."

"No, Luke, STOP." Nadia said, pulling his arm as he turned to storm into the house. "Don't. Don't do anything you'll regret."

"REGRET?" Luke spat back, his eyes darker than she'd ever seen them. Nadia jumped back, terrified. She knew her cousin was a man capable of extreme violence, cruelty even but she'd never seen it.

She opened her mouth but nothing would come out. 

"I have to get out of here." Luke said, pushing his way around her and storming off. He didn't know where he was going, he didn't know what he would do but he did know he needed to get away.