Hours when there weren't huge crowds of people? Lee had been out and around at almost all hours of the day and evening, and yes there were times when the crowds weren't quite as massive, but around Christmas, she never saw stores that didn't have crowds in them. Unless, of course, the store was open 24 hours, and then things weren't exactly bad at two in the morning.

But Tarin did agree that they could go shopping after lunch was over. That was good, Lee was glad that she was getting him out of the shop and apartment, if only briefly, before they got on the plane.

"It's a date, then," Lee said, grinning at Tarin as he leaned against her side. "We should grab anything else we need to get for our trip, too," Lee continued, a little hesitant about reminding Tarin of her next thing, but also willing to do just about anything to get Tarin out of his funk. "Didn't you say I should probably have a hat or something when we went?"

Thursday Morning...

Ladies and Gentlemen please fasten your seat belts and turn your attention to the flight attendant in the aisle.

Tarin was nervous as he fiddled with his seat belt. He wasn't going to pay any attention to the woman in the aisle, no matter how well she was doing her job. There were reasons he'd never flown anywhere. Trains were less crowded, there weren't as many spirits they were a million feet in the air...

It was a long flight to Dallas from New York, and Tarin had to admit he was impressed with Lee for finding a direct flight this close to Christmas. The bags were packed and hopefully in the belly of the jet. They'd managed to find a present for Tarin's mother, and he was satisfied, convince that his mother would like it.

"God..." Tarin groaned as the engines started up. Looking out the window, he remembered a movie where a goblin sat on the wing, tearing it to pieces while nobody believed the hysterical passenger who was the only one to see it.

"Why can't we just get off the ground and get it over with?" he said, pressing his head back against the headrest and gripping the hand rests.

Lee and Tarin were packed, the shuttle the travel agent had lined up for her had arrived on time, and they were on their way.

Lee had watched Tarin growing more and more nervous over the last couple days, but she had just figured that was because of soon seeing his mother for the first time in 15 years.

She had had no idea that Tarin was afraid to fly until she saw his very increased nervousness as they were making their way through security. Which got even worse as soon as they had stepped onto the plane.

He hadn't even said anything about their first class tickets.

"Hey, hey," Lee said softly, reaching out to put her hand on top of Tarin's where it was gripping his armrest, squeezing his hand gently. "There's nothing to worry about, hon. The weather's gorgeous for this time of year."

Weather...Lee was talking about the weather when they were getting ready to be thousands of feet above the ground in what practically amounted to a pressurized toilet paper tube. Tarin realized as Lee grabbed his hand that she was trying to make him feel better and he forced his body to relax a little bit.

"If you think it's nice here Lee...just you wait until we get to Texas." he said, his posture loosening up even more, only to tense again when the plane began to pick up speed and they were pushed back into their seats.

Tarin looked out the window, big mistake, because as soon as his eyes focused on the ground it disappeared from beneath them. Tarin held his breath until the plane leveled out then heaved a huge sigh of relief.

"I think that's the worst part..." he said, uncurling his cramped fingers from the arm rests. "There's always a moment where I'm not sure the plane is going to stay up in the air."

Tarin turned his head and looked at Lee and smiled, "Now that we're past that part...I checked the weather in Dallas. It was 60 yesterday."

Tarin didn't seem to be taking her reassurances to heart. Or at least they didn't seem to be helping at all. And it got even worse when Tarin turned his head to look out the window just as they were starting to take off.

Lee really wasn't sure what to do to make Tarin relax; she'd never been afraid to fly, and neither had any of her siblings the couple times they had taken trips when they had been younger.

She was just about to reach her hand out to forcibly turn Tarin's head to look at her when he did it himself. The plane had mostly levelled out at that point, though Lee could tell that they were still climbing.

Shaking her head slightly, Lee didn't say anything about Tarin's comment about being worried the plane might not stay in the air. She did, however, reply to his comment about the weather, after she had done the mental conversion. "Really?" Lee asked, excited about the warm weather they were heading toward. Though, it wasn't nearly as warm as what Tarin had made it out to be when they were first planning the trip. Still, it was a lot better than what New York was dealing with at the moment.

"Is it sunny, too?" Lee went on to ask, shifting in her seat to lean against Tarin as best she could with the arm rest between them. Then she sighed slightly. "Warm and sunny...I can't wait..."

The plane was level now, and Tarin felt like he could breathe. In fact, now that the panic was gone, excitement about seeing his family and being in Texas started to permeate his mood. Lee seemed to be stuck in slight disbelief at the Texas climate and he nodded his head, "I remember there being cold snaps, but for the most part it's nice and warm, especially during the day."

Tarin looked out the window again and saw nothing but the tops of clouds. That was way easier to handle than being able to see the ground.

"Yeah, it should be sunny, at least most of the time. Sometimes it rains, but it's not usually that bad."

Now that relaxation had replaced the panic he'd been feeling earlier, Tarin realized how exhausted the past few weeks had left him and he started to feel a little sleepy.

Settling into his seat, Tarin looked over at Lee, then reached out and grabbed her hand in his, then settled in even more, leaning his head onto her shoulder. "I think this was a good idea." he said through a yawn.

Seeing the 'fasten seatbelt' light shut off, and feeling the force pressing her back into her seat lessen, Lee knew that they had straightened out. She also felt Tarin relax more beside her.

And he said that it should be sunny down in Dallas, that they should have a nice, sunny, warm visit in Texas, causing Lee to grin.

But as Tarin settled into his seat, and Lee snuggled against him, she heard a yawn coming from the man beside her. Still, she couldn't stop the grin from coming over her face as she heard his tired comment. "Of course it's a good idea," Lee replied, the grin still on her face. "It was mine."

Taking a breath, Lee closed her eyes as she snuggled against Tarin. "You tired?" she asked, referring to his yawn of not that long before. "Why don't you try sleeping? I'm sure it's going to be a busy day after we get there."

Tarin chucked as Lee owned the idea as her own and agreed that it was definitely a good idea since it had been hers. "I don't know why the thought that it wasn't a good idea even occurred to me. Taking your advice has always been a good thing for me."

Lee noticed that he was tired, but then again, Lee noticed everything, especially lately, and especially when it had to do with his mood. Lee definitely had a point though. He was tired. A nap would probably be good, great in fact.

Lee snuggled into him and Tarin resituated himself until he'd managed to get an arm around Lee and his head snuggled into her shoulder. "I think you're right." he replied, through yet another yawn.

Eyes heavy, Tarin just shook his head at the flighte attendant as she asked him if he wanted a drink and tried to ignore the arm of the seat that was poking him in the ribs as he cuddled into Lee.

"I'll just take a little power nap...I don't want you to get bored..." he mumbled into her neck, his breathing already evening out as he drifted off to sleep.

Lee just continued grinning as Tarin agreed that this trip had been a good idea. And that he should have known it would be a good idea because it was hers. Or, not even necessarily because it was her idea, but because she had said that it was a good idea.

And again, Tarin was agreeing with her, though this agreement didn't result in as large a smile. Still, Lee had a bit of a smile on her face as she felt Tarin settling into his seat even more beside her, snuggling up with her, as he got comfortable for his 'power nap'. Not planning on taking a long one, he said, because he didn't want her to get bored.

It didn't really take long for Tarin to fall asleep and the flight started dragging on. But Lee was not about to wake Tarin up just because she was bored. The flight wasn't all that long, at least not in comparison to other times when she had been there, being bored, while Tarin had slept. And with the movie playing, it really wasn't all that different, though much shorter, than nights she had been awake while Tarin had slept for eight to ten hours at a time.

About half an hour after Tarin had fallen asleep, Lee called the flight attendant over and quietly ordered a rum and coke. It was early, she knew, but it wasn't as if she really had anything else to do, and since she had spent the extra money on the first class ticket, Lee figured at least one of them should go ahead and take advantage of that fact.

No, Lee decided, glancing at Tarin's peaceful face as she waited for her drink, there was no way she was going to wake him up before she had to. Not when he actually seemed to be sleeping well, sleeping restfully, something that hadn't been all that common for him lately.

Lee sipped slowly, nursing it to an extreme degree to try and keep herself busy, but she still went through two drinks during the flight. And that was even with her managing to doze a bit, more out of boredom than out of actual tiredness, but it did help the time pass a bit quicker.

Finally, though, the 'fasten seatbelt' light flashed on again, and the flight was almost over. Shifting somewhat stiffly, Lee hadn't wanted to move too much and wake Tarin up, Lee shook his shoulder now.

"Tarin, hon," Lee said, her voice soft so as not to startle him. "It's time to wake up."

The landing seemed to go a fair bit better than takeoff had. Tarin was still nervous, still tense, but he didn't seem to be quite as bad this time.

And then they were back on the ground. Climbing out of her seat, Lee pulled Tarin with her and then turned toward him, giving a wide smile and a quick kiss. Then she grabbed her carry on bag, followed by Tarin's hand, and made her way off the plane. If he wasn't already waiting, Josh would be there to pick them up soon.

The flight was...short. Apparently Lee had ignored his request for a short nap, and Tarin wasn't jostled awake until he heard Lee's voice telling him it was time. The landing was alright, but there was still a little white-knuckling, some turbulence, and a small bump on the landing. Tarin would think about the irony of the fact that the only two parts of the flight he'd experienced were the two that he hated most, but for the time being he was simply happy to be back on the ground. However, it did complicate things slightly more, the nerves from the flight were replaced with nerves of a new kind.

Lee helped though, as always, and Tarin squeezed her hand when she grabbed his as he shouldered the duffel bag he'd brought. It was always awkward and annoying to wait for people to exit a plane, and this was no exception. They didn't have to wait too long though, thanks to Lee's first class seats and soon, but not soon enough for Tarin's taste they were exiting the plane.

Moving through the walkway wasn't bad and as they entered the busy terminal, Tarin congratulated himself on the prudence to bring only the basics they would need for the trip. The baggage claim was ridiculous because of the holiday crowds. Once out of the way of the boarding and unboarding passengers, Tarin started scanning the assembled crowd for Josh, wondering what it was going to be like to go home.

Home. Tarin startled himself slightly with the thought. The place they were going hadn't been his home for years. Almost a majority of his life by this time. He was nervous, and glad that his mother hadn't decided to join Josh on the trip into the city.

Pulling Lee gently by her hand, which he still held, Tarin moved them through the crowds until they found Josh. Tarin grinned, it hadn't been that long since they'd seen each other, but after all the years they'd been apart in the past, it was still a joyus reunion. "Hey Josh." Tarin said, holding out a hand for his brother to shake.

"TJ" Josh said, eschewing the offered hand to pull his brother into a tight hug. A tight hug Tarin returned awkwardly at first, then more warmly before they pulled back and Tarin watched with a slight roll of his eyes while his brother hugged Lee just as tight.

"You guys got bags?" he asked when all the hugging was finished. "Nah." Tarin said, "We packed light because of the holidays."

"Awesome." Josh said, "I get free parking if we're here less than half an hour. Let's go!" and with no further ado, headed for the door.

"Good god..." Tarin said, laughing, then turned to Lee, "I guess we'd better go or get left behind."

Now that they were off the plane, Lee could tell that Tarin was feeling better. Well, she could see the nervousness still on his face, but she knew that it was because of where they were, because of the fact that they were going to meet his brother who was going to be driving them all to their mother's house.

But, now that they were off the plane, it was Tarin who was doing the leading, pulling her along with him as they walked through the crowd looking for Josh.

And then they saw him. Giving Josh a grin as they approached, Lee watched as Tarin held his hand out to shake only to be pulled into a hug by his brother. This was good, this was normal, this was the kind of thing they needed to get Tarin back to himself.

That thought was wiped from her mind a moment later when Josh turned to her after letting his brother go, and proceeded to hug her. When she saw him coming toward her, when she first felt his arms wrapping around her, Lee tensed. She most certainly was not used to this sort of thing. Not even before the camp had she been used to this sort of thing, but especially now, it felt very odd and strange.

Finally, though, Lee managed to return the hug before Josh pulled back, though it felt very strange to be doing.

Then Josh was asking about whether they needed to get their bags, and was happy to hear that they didn't have to wait, since apparently he was able to get free parking if he was there for less than half an hour. And was off.

Lee couldn't help but laugh along with Tarin as she grabbed his hand once more. "He wouldn't actually leave us after driving all the way out here, would he?" Lee asked, a joking note in her voice as she started walking. "Hey, Josh!" she then called out ahead of them. "Hold on, I can't walk that fast right now. I'm still stiff from the flight."

It was like they were off to the races now, Josh was speeding ahead of them to get to the car before the magic hour and Tarin was trying to catch up, pulling Lee behind him as they wove their way through the crowd.

Lee called out, something Tarin hadn't thought to do and to his relief, Josh slowed down a little bit, allowing them to catch up and not get lost in the crowd. "Good god..." Tarin said, panting slightly, "Parking can't cost that much."

Josh gave his brother a look then continued to lead the way, if at a slightly slower pace, through the maze that was the airport and soon enough they were out in the fresh, warmer air of Dallas.

"God it's beautiful out." Tarin said with a bright grin as they made their way to Josh's car. "It hasn't been this warm in New York since September."

Josh nodded his agreement, he'd been there in the fall and winter months before and knew how nasty the cold could be in the north east.

Soon they were at the car and Tarin and Lee dumped their things in the trunk and climbed into the back of the sedan. Then they were off. From the suburbs outside the city it was about a half hour's drive to the place that had been home for so many years. Through talks with Josh, Tarin knew that the area had populated some over the years as the smaller farms sold their land to developers, but their little rural area had stayed generally the same.

There wasn't a ton of discussion going on, Tarin had a feeling Josh understood the anxiousness Tarin was feeling and didn't force the issue, keeping conversations to small talk as they closed the gap. Tarin was still a wreck.

As they moved further and further from the city, Tarin realized how much and how little things had changed while he'd been gone. There were new, bigger developments and a few shopping centers where there hadn't been things before, but the landscape was the same, ranging from brush to light forest as the houses grew fewer and further in between.

Then they were there. Had it already been a half hour? There was no way...but there they were, pulling down the long drive that led to the small house Tarin remembered from his childhood. Where things had changed other places, it looked like time had stopped in its tracks as it approached this house.

"Oh god..." Tarin said, suddenly self conscious about anything and everything he'd done for the past 15 years. Casting a look towards Lee as Josh pulled up in front of the house and put the car in park, Tarin swallowed then said, "Are you nervous at all? You're the one who's supposed to be nervous. How do I look?"

It was stalling, Tarin simply didn't want to get out of the car yet, wasn't ready to get out of the car yet. Hopefully Lee would understand.

Lee wasn't in as good of shape as she had been a year previously, due to the great decline in her walking since she had met Tarin, and she knew that Tarin wasn't in even close to as good of shape. So Lee was glad when Josh slowed down at her call, letting them catch up and then going at a slower pace the rest of the way to the car.

It really didn't take much longer for them to get outside, and Lee couldn't stop the momentary revelling in the warmth. Closing her eyes as she took a deep breath, she let Tarin's hand lead her on their way as they continued on to the car. Tarin was right, though; they hadn't had heat like this, or sun bright like this, since September, and Lee was not going to waste it.

After climbing into the back of the car, Lee turned her eyes to Tarin briefly as they started out of the parking area around the airport. He had seemed to have been a bit better, but now that they were in the car, actually directly on their way to his mother's house, well, Lee could clearly see the nerves on his face. Reaching her hand out, Lee rested it on the back of his neck, her fingers playing with his hair as she spoke with Josh over the seat. She knew that her hands in his hair, at least as long as they weren't kissing at the time, had always been a relaxing thing for him. She could only hope that it worked this time.

The further out of the city they went, the more turns they made, the smaller and smaller the roads became. And then they turned off the road and onto a winding drive, and Lee saw Tarin grow even more nervous as he seemed to realize how far they had come, how close they were.

And then as Josh was pulling the car up to the house, Lee saw Tarin turn toward her. "How do you look?" Lee asked, taking a moment to let her eyes move up and down Tarin's whole body where he was seated in the car next to her. From the jeans that were covering the tattoos on his legs, up to the black Social Distortion jacket that was currently covering the tattoos on his arms. Finally up to his face and hair. At least he hadn't insisted on taking his piercings out, and had let her give him a fresh dye job before the trip; his hair really was looking a lot better than the partially grown out, faded colours it had had a couple days earlier.

"You look perfectly fine, dear," Lee said, leaning over to give Tarin a quick kiss as she fixed his hair a bit. "And of course I'm nervous, but I've already met both your brothers, and I figure you're more than nervous enough for both of us, so there's no reason for me to worry."

What a role reversal, Lee couldn't help but think as she leaned in for another quick kiss. Normally, it was her being the worry wart and Tarin telling her to relax. Now it was the other way around, although she wasn't actually telling Tarin to stop worrying, at least not yet.

"Let's go," Lee whispered. "We shouldn't keep her waiting."

He looked perfectly fine. Tarin nodded his head slowly and kissed Lee back when she leaned forward while fixing his hair a bit. Part of him was wishing he'd gone for something slightly more conservative when Lee had insisted on coloring it before they left, but another part of him was thinking that if his mother was happy to see him, she'd be just as happy with him like this as she would any other way. That didn't change the fact that he was glad he had his jacket and jeans. Leaving one shock at a time was probably a good thing.

Lee kissed him again and Tarin sighed, his unease not abating to the degree he would have hoped. There was still the chance that his mother would demand answers that Tarin wasn't sure he could give. There was so much relying on faith and trust that he'd probably lost a long time ago. He'd just keep going with the hope that she'd be happy to see him after all these years. Hair and all.

Lee pointed out that they shouldn't keep his mother waiting and Josh heaved a sigh from the front seat, turning to stare at Tarin as he stared at the front door of the house.

"I've told you a hundred times since the beginning of this week that she's going to be happy to see you Tarin. I'm sick of sitting in the car. So I'll be inside." That said, Josh climbed out of the car and made his way to the front door of his mother's house.

Tarin only sat for a few more moments, mulling over his options, which pretty much just amounted to going inside or sitting in the car for the rest of his life. For a short time, sitting in the car sounded like a pretty sound option. That feeling abated quickly, however, and Tarin reached out, opened the door, and exited the door.

The walk to the front of the house seemed like it took forever, but the whole reasoning process and getting out of the car had only taken a short enough time that Josh was still waiting.

"I knew you'd pull your head out of your ass quickly enough." he said, then knocked on the door.

Tarin's heart was beating loud enough that he could hear it in his ears as he waited for the door to open. There would be no surprise, Josh had assured Tarin that his mother knew all about his visit. Then the door opened.

Tarin stopped breathing for a moment, because he felt like he was transported to another time and place. For the first time since he'd met her, Lee was the last thing on Tarin's mind.

The years had been exceptionally kind to Adele Brooks. Her blond hair had only lightened slightly on the sides, silver streaking them and her face, though lined, looked considerably younger than her years would have suggested. Her brown eyes, slightly lighter than Tarin's but a similar shade of brown were crinkled at the edges, mostly because she was grinning as she opened the door.

She was a few inches shorter than Tarin, and he couldn't remember if she had been when he left. He'd grown slowly over the years, though, so it could have been either way. "Tarin..." she said softly and if possible, her grin brightened as she moved forward and wrapped her arms around the son she hadn't seen in so long.

"Hi Mom..." he said, choking only slightly on the huge ball of emotion that had suddenly lodged itself in his throat. The hug lasted for a long time, and Tarin spent the time trying to compose himself so he could form coherent thoughts once his mom pulled away. She still smelled the same, and Tarin wondered if after all these years she still wore the same perfume he could remember her putting on every morning even though they were going to work on the ranch all day.

Finally, his mother pulled away and Tarin felt guilt keenly when he saw that she was crying. "Oh Mom...don't cry...I'm sorry..." he said thickly around the lump of emotion that had appeared again.

She waved him off, "Don't be silly Tarin...I'm just happy to see you. " she said, wiping her eyes and looking around, "Now, are you going to introduce me to this beautiful young woman or am I going to have to pry for information myself."

Tarin jumped, his head jerking to Lee. Lee, who he'd left in the car...but who had followed him and watched this whole thing while he ignored her. More guilt.

"Oh! I'm so sorry." he said, instantly rushing to her side, "Mom...this is Lee, Lee Smith for now...she's my fiance."

Lee had to admit, she liked Josh's way of getting Tarin out of the car. However, despite the fact that she was sure it would work much better if she was the one to do it, to get out of the car and go wait in the house, it wouldn't really go over too well due to the fact that it wasn't her house, she hadn't even once talked to the woman who lived there.

So she sat in the car with Tarin while he worked on gaining the courage to get out and go see his mother. At least it didn't take Tarin much longer once Josh had gotten out to make his decision, and he opened the door and got out. Seemingly having forgotten about her as he walked up to the house in Josh's wake.

Taking a deep breath, Lee climbed out of the car on her own, closing the door behind her, and followed the two men at a much slower pace. By the time Lee had reached the porch, the front door had already been opened, and a woman, Lee could only assume Tarin and Josh's mother, had stepped out and wrapped Tarin in a huge hug.

As the hug dragged on, Lee stood off to the side, trying not to intrude on this family reunion. But she stood there looking at the woman who had raised Tarin. As with Josh, Lee could see the family resemblance, though it wasn't so close that it was obvious that you would guess if you saw them at two different times. Lee could clearly see where Tarin got his eyes, though.

This was a very different situation than it would be with her parents. Very different than it had been the previous year with her parents. Lee couldn't be happier about that fact for Tarin, even more so because he had wanted his mother, his entire family, back in his life.

Finally, the hug ended, and Lee heard his mother ask for Tarin to introduce her. Which caused Tarin to jump and look...was that guilt? But he still rushed to her side, wrapping his arm around her shoulders, as he started speaking, introducing her to his mother. And in the same breath as he had said her name, he had told his mother that they were engaged.

That caused a slight blush to cross her cheeks. Lee knew that this would happen, and probably would have happened rather sooner than later, but she hadn't expected it quite this fast.

"It's a real pleasure to meet you," Lee said after a moment, extending her hand toward Tarin's mother.