The sky became dark outside as the cab weaseled its way back to the Brooks mansion. Nick wondered what the Brooks and the Rochesters were doing. He looked to his arm, feeling a little pain, but he pushed it to the back of his mind. His thoughts drifted back to the encrypted message. Now that the excitement was over, the words "How's life?" spun around his mind. For some reason, he couldn't let go of those words. They seemed to be mocking in a way.

And why were those masked men in that company on the evening of Christmas day? Surely they didn't know he would be there, or did they? Nick looked out the window at the calm dark night. True, he felt a little closer to the truth. He actually thought that he was getting somewhere, but after a little careful thought, he felt half amused and half confused at the situation. He could think of a thousand motives for stealing data from Daniel's company, but he could not possibly think of any reason for anyone to hurt Daniel's family. They seemed to be pleasant enough.

The more he thought, the more agitated he became. Apparently, there was a clan, not an individual, working against the Brooks family. No matter, Nick calmed himself. The greater the numbers, the easier to track down.

Gift wrap was strewn all over the floor as both the Rochesters and the Brooks unwrapped their gifts anxiously. Each smiled at the presents that they received. It had been a little over 9:00 at night. All had just finished supper and were now crowded around the Christmas tree with presents in hand.

The guys appeared more excited than the girls as they aggressively opened their gifts. Katerina, Caitlyn and Elisa, on the other hand, were less enthusiastic than usual. They had wanted Nick to be back home quickly so that they could give him the cold shoulder, but as the arms of the clock circled, Nick still hadn't come home. And the more time that passed by, the more oil lit the fire of their anger. They were extremely upset by the fact that Nick would rather stay elsewhere than celebrate Christmas with them.

But the guys didn't seem to notice as did most of their parents. Only Daniel saw the anger in their eyes as he too was discomforted by the thought of Nick being elsewhere but home. He was not angry though, just disturbed that the youth was out there, alone. Daniel had wanted to find Nick that afternoon to tell him to come home and have some dinner with the family. But then, he did not want to appear too anxious about Nick's absence.

Now he regretted the decision. He felt sad leaving the teenager alone in the company when he had allowed all his other employees to take the day off. And seeing the children also upset gave him the urge to go get Nick. It had been nearly fifteen hours. Even robots needed time to cool down, let alone humans. He knew that Nick had stayed all fifteen hours at the company. He had seen the resolve in Nick's eyes that morning-the desire to work like a madman.

Daniel got up from his couch ready to call his chauffeur when the door opened. Everyone, including the children, looked up in surprise to see Nick enter, his face solemn and calm. He stared at everyone, slowly brushing a few strands of hair back. As soon as he did that, Katerina, Caitlyn and Elisa turned away and continued opening their presents as if he were invisible. Nick focused his gaze on Daniel, feeling slightly awkward that he had interrupted during such a special time.

Daniel gazed at Nick, smiling. "Come here, Nick! We were just about to open our gifts."

Nick walked silently towards Daniel Brooks, and in a low deep voice, he answered. "Sorry to interrupt. I will go upstairs . . . " Nick's voice trailed as Daniel patted Nick on the back.

Daniel smiled, brushing off Nick's comments. "But you haven't opened your presents yet!"

"Presents?" Nick exclaimed weakly, dreading what was about to come. He didn't want to be a part of this. It seemed wrong somehow. He looked towards the other seven teenagers in the room. The guys smiled brightly.

"Yeah, Nick, dad and us were a little bored this morning so we went out and got you a few gifts," Michael said enthusiastically.

"Yeah, Nick, we're not that empty-headed!" Rick laughed. "We couldn't forget ya!"

Everyone laughed, all except the three teenage girls whose expressions remained indifferent. Nick noticed their frowns and again felt as if he didn't belong. But he also felt a tear swelling in his eye from a slight ecstasy due to the fact that the others had thought him important enough to buy him a gift. Both emotions began to tug at his heart and he felt the time standing still. He did not know what to say or what to do. He wanted to show the gratitude, but he did not know how.

He had never received any gifts before, none during Christmas, none for his birthday either. In fact, he didn't know when his birthday was until he found his birth certificate under a heap of trash in the attic. His adopted father simply did not celebrate anything at all. And during Christmas, Nick would just watch the snow fall from inside the house. He loved to count the snowflakes as they floated in the air and gently landed on the floor then.

He remembered how quiet it used to be. His adopted father would go out to the restaurant with his friends, leaving Nick alone at home to enjoy Christmas solo. But Nick didn't mind. He adapted to the silence very well. What he did mind was when his adopted father would always come home drunk afterwards and start screaming at the top of his lungs, calling Nick every dirty name that he could think of. Nick didn't know why his father was so hostile then. He had thought that after a night of partying, his adopted father would simply go to sleep.

But no, his adopted father had called him out to bully him and shout degrading terms at him. That was why he never looked forward to Christmas. It was a time when his father's abuse would be at its peak. To this day, Nick still didn't know why his adopted father disliked him so much.

Daniel's light tap on Nick's should brought Nick back to the present. "Open your gift, Nickolas." Daniel said. Nick was amused at they way Daniel said his name. It made him seem so much more refined, less bestial.

Daniel firmly pushed Nick forward towards the Christmas tree. Nick quickly yielded, to Daniel's surprise and relief. Daniel had seen Nick's eyes begin to water and wondered what kind of thoughts were running through Nick's head. The boy was a puzzle. When Nick turned his head to look at Daniel with uncertainty, Daniel bent down and picked up the gifts. All eyes in the room were focused on the two as they interacted.

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