Leslie Moore picked up the picture frame that was resting on her son's dresser, and sighed. It was a picture of herself and her husband, Sean Moore, when they had first met in Marquette Cove. She didn't even have that picture, so she had no idea why Michael Hanley had a copy of the picture. But she was nevertheless grateful that Michael had given Vince the picture.

"Mom, what are you doing?" Vincent Moore asked, walking into his bedroom at the Hanley mansion.

"Just looking at this picture," Leslie said. "You know, maybe I was wrong about Michael. Maybe he has changed."

Vince sighed. "I told you, mom. He's been like a father to me."

"Vincent, don't —" Leslie stopped herself. "So, what are your holiday plans?"

"I have plans?" Vince asked, sitting on the edge of his bed.

"Are you coming home?"

"I am home," Vince insisted. "For now, at least."

"Vincent, we miss you," Leslie said. "Your sister needs you at home. I need you at home."

"I don't need to be home," Vince said. "I'm already at home here."

"Merry Christmas," Akilah Moore said, approaching Matt Holden as he sat alone on the living room couch.

"Bah humbug," Matt grumbled, turning away from Akilah.

"Wow, that's a great attitude to have," Akilah said.

Akilah took a seat next to Matt and rested her hand on his leg.

"You said that you and Vince were practically like cousins, right?" Akilah asked. "Doesn't that make us cousins too? Granted, cousins who've dated one another. But maybe that doesn't count, since we were only pretending to —"

"Why are you bringing that up?" Matt demanded.

"I don't know," Akilah said. "The holidays are for remembering."

"Yeah, well maybe I don't want to remember," Matt snapped. "We're not getting back together, Akilah."

"Excuse me?" Akilah demanded. "I never said I wanted to. I'm just trying to be friendly, Matt."

"Well you can save your goddamn kindness," Matt said, rising to his feet. "Because I don't want to hear about it from a two-timing bitch like you. What, is Alec busy today? Why don't you go and bother him? That is, if he hasn't gotten a restraining order against you yet."

"Matthew!"

Valerie Hanley-Holden walked into the living room and smacked her son in the back of his head. "Matthew Holden, what in the hell is wrong with you?"

"Back off, Valerie," Matt said, turning around and storming out of the living room. He grabbed his coat from the rack in the foyer, and then he flung open the front door and hurried outside without bothering to close the door.

Valerie shook her head in disappointment and turned to Akilah. "I'm sorry for what my son said, Akilah."

"It's okay," Akilah said softly. "That's just Matt."

"Trust me," Valerie muttered. "Unfortunately, I know all too well."


KIMBERLY BLACK & DUNCAN KINCAID'S APARTMENT

Duncan Kincaid picked up a bag from the floor and handed it to Kimberly Black, who was sitting across from him on the couch in the living room. Kimberly smiled and shook the bag to discern what was in it.

"Hmm…I wonder what this is," Kimberly sighed.

"Well, it's in a Victoria's Secret bag," Duncan said. "Not that much room for the imagination…although, maybe that's the point."

"That's a bit presumptuous, getting my sister a gift from Victoria's Secret," Gregory Black said, from his seat on a stool in the apartment's kitchen.

"Well, I was just…oh, not that much imagination," Duncan said. "It's only perfume, really."

"Way to ruin the surprise," Tim, Kimberly's second brother, remarked as he looked through the fridge for something to drink.

"Wow, you two are really helpful," Duncan said, standing up. "No, really. I mean it."

"It's okay, Duncan," Greg said. "We're only kidding."

"Welcome to a Black family Christmas," Kimberly said.

"Well, it's at least better than Christmas with the Kincaids," Duncan said. "We usually come to blows."

Tim entered the living room with a soda in hand. "Maybe things have changed since you've been to jail."

Kimberly shot him a dirty look.

"What? We're not joking anymore?" Tim asked, frowning.

Before anyone could respond, there was a knock at the door.

"Could it be? Someone wants to join in the festivities?" Greg stood up and walked over to the door. When he opened it, he found Detective Joel Kincaid, Duncan's brother, standing outside in the hallway.

Everyone in the room remained silent for a few moments, until Tim finally broke the ice.

"Did a record just skip?" Tim asked, speaking just above a whisper. "Because this is totally that kind of moment."


MARQUETTE COVE MEMORIAL HOSPITAL

Officer Jamie Grady entered Kelli Anderson's room, which was now crowded with her mother Tina, her father Cyrus, and her brother Morris, as well as Blake Thomas and Chris Server. Having received word from her doctor Simon Holden that Kelli might be waking up, Jamie had hurried to the hospital to see if she would give any indication of what really happened to her at the park when she was shot.

"Merry Christmas, folks," Jamie said.

"Merry Christmas, Officer Grady," Cyrus said, turning away from Kelli's bed. "Did Simon call you?"

"Yeah," Jamie replied. "Hopefully your daughter wakes up and will be able to shed some light on what happened to her."

"Thank God," Blake said. "Whoever's responsible for this deserves to have the book thrown at them."

On his comment, Blake cast a suspicious glance in Chris's direction. Chris nervously rose from his seat and started toward Kelli's bed.

"I wish I could have done something more to save her from this," Chris said.

"Don't blame yourself, Chris," Cyrus said. "We all know that you've tried to change your life around."

Simon opened the door to Kelli's room and stepped inside. "Sorry to break up the pow-wow, but this is far too many people. You'll all have to wait outside, except for one family member."

"You can stay here, Tina," Cyrus said.

Tina shook her head. "No, I'll let Morris stay in here with her."

As everyone filed out of the room, Chris lingered for a moment by the door until Simon closed it and turned back to Kelli.

"Dr. Holden, I think Kelli might be trying to say something," Morris said, speaking up as Kelli's eyes began to blink.

"Step back for a minute, Morris," Simon said, approaching the bed. "Kelli, it's Dr. Holden. Can you understand me?"

It took a few minutes, but eventually Kelli manage to speak something. "Yes…where am I?"

"Kelli, don't try to move," Morris said. "Just rest, okay?"

"Chris," Kelli called out. "I want to see…Chris."

"I'll go get him," Morris said quickly, hurrying to open the door for Chris. He pulled Chris into the room and closed the door behind them. "She wants to see you."

Chris slowly walked toward the bed and took Kelli's hand. "Kelli? It's Chris."

"Chris…" Kelli gasped. "I have to…I have to tell you something."

"What is it?" Chris asked, expecting the worst.

Kelli gripped Chris's hand and moved her head slightly to meet his eyes. "Go to hell, Chris."


HOLDEN HOME

Matt shoved open the door to his bedroom and stepped inside, quickly searching for his hidden stash in his room. Not a few moments later, Valerie followed him into his room. Since he had walked to the house, Valerie beat him by taking their limousine back.

"If you're looking for your drugs, I've already removed them," Valerie said. "Again."

Matt rolled his eyes and lay across his bed. "Leave me alone."

"I told you once before that I'm not going to stand for you using drugs in my house," Valerie snapped.

"Then maybe I don't need to be in your house," Matt insisted.

"Is that a challenge?" Valerie demanded.

"Mom, get out of my room," Matt said.

"Give me your wallet," Valerie said.

"Excuse me?"

"Give me your goddamn wallet, Matthew!" Valerie shouted. "I'm not going to ask you again."

Matt reluctantly sat up on the bed and removed his wallet from his back pocket. He handed it to Valerie, and she proceeded to remove all of the money he had inside. She stuffed the money into the pockets of her coat and then removed all of Matt's credit cards.

She threw the wallet onto the floor and walked over to his desk to pick up a pair of scissors. She cut the credit cards in half and threw the remains onto the floor.

"Mom!" Matt cried. "What the hell is wrong with you?"

"I'm going to call the credit card company and make sure you don't use those," Valerie said. "And I've already taken the liberty of freezing your checking account, so you won't be using any more of your father's or my money to help you with your disgusting habit."

"Mom, this is ridiculous," Matt said. "How am I supposed to —"

"What?" Valerie demanded, cutting him off. "Get high? That's your own problem. But you won't be doing it in my house anymore, so I suggest you get your act together right now."

"This is —"

"Get up," Valerie said. "You're coming downstairs."

Valerie folded her arms and waited for Matt to stand up and exit his room. She followed him downstairs into the foyer, and then told him to stop by the door. She grabbed his coat from the coat rack and opened the front door. Valerie threw Matt's coat onto the lawn outside, and then pushed him out the door.

"I'm accepting your challenge," Valerie said. "Merry Christmas, Matthew."

Valerie slammed the door shut and locked it. While Matt remained outside, stunned that his mother had just thrown him out of his own house on Christmas, Valerie walked into the living room and picked up a magazine that was lying on the coffee table.

Valerie sat down on the couch and began to flip through the magazine. "Merry Christmas indeed."


HANLEY HOME

"Mom, stop trying to guilt me into coming home," Vince snapped. "Akilah doesn't need me. She can take care of herself."

"Vincent, you belong at home," Leslie said. "I'm trying to rebuild our family, don't you see that?"

"And I do need you, Vince," Akilah said, entering his bedroom.

"Am I the only one who didn't get an invitation to the party in my room?" Vince demanded. "What do you all want from me?"

"I love you," Leslie said. "Just remember that, Vincent. I love you, and your family loves you."

Leslie wiped away the tears that were forming in her eyes and started toward the door.

"I'll be downstairs, Akilah," Leslie said, leaving.

Once their mother was gone, Akilah stormed over to her brother and kicked him in the leg. Vince cried out and stood up, walking toward the window to avoid his sister.

"Jesus, Akilah!" Vince cried. "Can't you just leave me alone?"

"You are so damn selfish, it's ridiculous," Akilah said. "Don't you see how you're hurting mom?"

"Maybe she should have thought about that before she abandoned us when dad died," Vince said. "No one told her to get hooked on drugs and go to rehab."

"Don't you dare bring that up," Akilah snapped. "Our mother has paid for that every single day of her life since then, Vince! You know that. And God, you even saw what our bastard uncle did to her last year."

"All I'm saying is, maybe it's my time to have some space," Vince said.

Akilah rolled her eyes. "I have never seen such an ungrateful person in my life. You talk all the time about how important family is to you, and yet when your own family needs you, you have to shack up with the goddamn Hanleys. The people who tried to ruin our lives on more than one occasion."

"Get out, Akilah," Vince snapped. "Or I'll have you thrown out."

"You're disgusting," Akilah said, turning around to leave the room. Before she left, Akilah paused at the door and turned back to say one last thing to Vince. "You know, maybe it's better that you don't come home. We don't need you there after all."

"Get out!" Vince shouted.

Akilah slammed the door as she left, prompting Vince to spin around and angrily focus his mind on the door, causing it to open and slam shut several more times. It had been weeks since he'd used his psychokinetic abilities, not since he got out of the coma from the accident at the church. He'd almost been afraid to.

Vince walked toward his dresser and stared at himself in the mirror. A few seconds later, the image he was staring at was no longer his own. It was that of Antonio, the demon currently residing within Vince's mind and feeding off his power.

"Get out of my head," Vince snarled, focusing on the mirror and causing the glass to shatter.


KIMBERLY BLACK & DUNCAN KINCAID'S APARTMENT

"Merry Christmas, everyone," Joel said, stepping into the apartment.

"Um…merry Christmas," Greg said. "Can I take your jacket?"

"No, I won't be staying long," Joel replied. "I just came to bring my brother a present."

Joel stepped forward and raised the gift he was carrying. Greg closed the door behind Joel as Duncan walked into the kitchen to take the gift from his brother.

"Thank you, Joel," Duncan said. "I'd have gotten you something, but…"

"No, it's fine," Joel said. "This is from me and Anna."

"You two buy gifts together now?" Duncan asked.

"She bought it and told me to deliver it," Joel explained.

"Ah…that makes more sense," Duncan said, setting the box down on the counter. "I mean, my brother wouldn't have gotten me a present of his own accord."

"Duncan, just thank your brother for the gift," Kimberly said, rising to her feet and approaching the brothers. "Merry Christmas, Joel."

Kimberly wrapped her arms around Duncan and gave him a hug, and then she turned to face Joel again.

"Are you sure you don't want to stay for dinner?"

"No, I already ate," Joel said. "But thank you."

"Thanks for stopping by, Joel," Duncan said. "It means a lot that you —"

Joel cut him off. "It's Christmas. We're family."

Joel touched his brother's shoulder for a moment, and then he turned away and headed for the door. As he left, Greg followed him out into the hallway.

"Detective Kincaid…your brother isn't the monster you think he is, for the record," Greg said. "He's been a great roommate for my sister. He's like part of the family now."

"He's getting pretty close to Kimberly," Joel said, ignoring Greg's comment. "He got awfully close to Kelly before he raped her. Then he murdered her."

"It's Christmas, can't you forgive him?" Greg demanded. "I mean, the courts said he didn't do it. Can't you help him try to find the person who really did?"

Joel walked away from Greg without looking back. "Merry Christmas, Gregory."


MARQUETTE COVE MEMORIAL HOSPITAL

"Kelli, it's Chris," Morris said. "Your friend, remember?"

"You were there…" Kelli gasped. "The drug deal."

"That's right, Kelli," Chris said. "I was there when you got shot. I…I tried to save you, remember?"

"No, you were already there," Kelli said. "I tried to stop you from selling. "

Chris froze as Simon and Morris turned to look at him in surprise.

"I don't know what your talking about," Chris insisted.

"Stop lying, Chris," Kelli snapped. "You had a gun. Did you…did you shoot me?"

"Did you have a gun?" Morris demanded, pushing Chris away from the bed. "Were you the one who shot my sister?"

"No, you misunderstood her," Chris said. "Kelli's just…she's disoriented."

Morris turned back to his sister. "Kelli, tell me what happened."

"Morris?" Kelli asked, surprised to see her brother. "When did you…"

Kelli's eyes closed and she stopped speaking, prompting Morris to spin around and punch Chris in the face. Chris stumbled backward and hit the wall. Before he had a chance to move again, Morris wrapped his hands around Chris's neck and started to choke him.

"You son of a bitch!" Morris shouted. "You tried to kill my sister!"

"Morris…no…" Chris cried, gasping for air. "I didn't try to…"

"Don't you want to know how it felt for Kelli?" Morris asked, tightening his grip.

"Morris!" Simon shouted. "Let him go!"

As Simon rushed to help Chris, the door to the hospital room flew open and Jamie dashed inside to grab Morris and pull him away from Chris. Morris reluctantly released Chris and stepped away from him.

"That son a bitch tried to kill my sister," Morris said, breathing heavily. "Kelli admitted it!"

"Is this true, Chris?" Jamie asked.

"I can…I can explain," Chris insisted. "Really, I can!"

"You can explain it down at the station," Jamie said. "You can come willingly, or I can use the handcuffs. Though I'd assume that would be pretty embarrassing on Christmas day."

"Not like he isn't used to it," Morris said.

Chris closed his eyes to fight back tears. "I'll go. You don't need to handcuff me."

"Let's go," Jamie said, leading Chris out into the hallway.