The holidays were approaching with a speed they had never been before. Barry and Caitlin being too busy keeping an eye on the dominator threat and on their son didn't even manage to figure out where the weeks had gone. Eliza had been working almost nonstop in trying to find a cure for Bette and her problem, the two even having to send her home to rest at times, only to find her back at work even earlier than they came in. They finally gave up and had a bed installed in an adjoining room to the lab she was working in, something for which she was really grateful. Something bothered the two speedsters, it had been a while since she had joined the crew at STAR Labs, but she never once made the request to go see her daughters. Barry and Caitlin even thought to put the jet at her disposal to go if she wanted, but now with the holidays approaching, they decided to see what was going on.

The fact that Joe had "disappeared" cleared itself rather quickly when him and Cecile were back in town. Barry was really annoyed at him not saying that he went out for a holiday, choosing to drop off the face of the planet. At first, Joe was really apprehensive about all that. It was his life, he had the right to do anything he wanted with it. Barry had to explain to him why he was annoyed and after hearing that story, everything became clear to the old detective. He had not heard the complete story about what had happened to Maggie and about the Durlan impersonators. He knew something, but upon being briefed, he agreed to let them know the next time he intends to go away with Cecile. Even if it was a simple sentence, the two speedsters would not get worried and start a manhunt for him. In the back of his mind however he was very happy, there were people that cared about him deeply, so much in fact that they wanted to start a manhunt if he didn't show up. That in itself was a beautiful thing for Joe, something that he loved in this extended family.

One day while they were in the lab however, their face recognition system pinged on someone that should have not been there. Kara had given them pictures and information about Jeremiah Danvers, and their won in house detection grid managed to spot him roaming Central City. The two speedsters spared no time in phoning Kara and telling her of the sighting, letting her now that the person she was looking for was not in their home town.

The two were alone in the Cortex, Cisco and Bette were visiting National City to help older Barry and Kara set up another node for the STAR Labs mainframe in the house that they had just bought. Well if you could call it a house, since it was as big if not bigger than the one they had. In the spirit of tradition, Kara wanted to host the usual Christmas party at their new place and had invited them along with everyone else from Central City. The two speedsters accepted without much of a problem. They wanted to hold the party at the penthouse like always, but, at least for this time, saw no issue in getting everyone from Central to National. The couple held a small meeting with their friends in the Cortex a while later to ask who is coming to the party and who is not. The answers were positive all around, except for Cecile who after her time away had to get back to work.

As the two were discussing stuff related to the party, Eliza walked into the Cortex. Something that was very strange for her, ever since she had come to work at the labs, the could count on the fingers of one hand the times she set foot in the central area.

"Hey. Is there anything wrong? You rarely come here" Caitlin asked her.

"No, nothing is wrong. Actually, you could say everything is working out. You asked me to find a solution for Bette's issue. I think I might have found one" she said with a large smile on her face.

"Wow, we thought it might take you much more time. Tell us, what did you manage to figure out?" Caitlin invited her to sit down.

"The samples I have and the ones you took from Bette are pretty obvious and hands down. I assume you realized that yourselves. Bette cannot have children because her ovaries were damaged by the process that gave her the explosives powers she now wields. The simple thing we have to do is find a way to regenerate the tissue" Eliza spoke like that was a simple thing to do.

"While that might sound easy, is there any indication that her physiology would not completely revert the regeneration process after it's completed?" Caitlin asked "Her modifications are on a molecular level and her DNA is altered as well. The moment the cells start multiplying it could just be the same thing over and over again"

"Yes, I already thought about that, but in order to see what happens we will have to come up with something that can actually regenerate damaged or dying cells. After we do that, we will have to keep an eye on her progress and if the plan is a failure then we will have to begin again" Eliza instantly replied.

"Hmm, if it would indeed be as simple as that, then … maybe I can expose her to a cloud of healing fog. See if the cells regenerate" Caitlin was thinking out loud.

"Excuse me? Healing fog? Sorry I'm a bit behind on powers that don't bear any similarities to a Kryptonian" She excused herself

"It's one of my powers. Basically, it's a cloud of fog infused with energy that promotes cellular regeneration by letting the cells absorb what they need in order to duplicate themselves. We have tested it extensively on us and on some of our friends that were injured in our encounters with different villains" Caitlin spoke nonchalantly like it was something normal.

"And you never thought to expose the damaged cells to the fog before?" Eliza asked surprised.

"No, when we took our earlier samples, the cells were dead. We can't bring back anything form the dead, but if you say the older samples show damaged cells, that might mean her body is trying somehow to repair the damage that was done to her" Barry interjected.

"Or that somehow she was exposed to the energy we generate and her cells started mending themselves. We do speed around quite a lot and we never took into consideration what other metahumans that are exposed to that energy might do with it" Caitlin thought out loud.

"I brought a sample of the damaged cells with me" Eliza took out a few slides in a plastic box from her pocket "Maybe you could do that and I could go see what the effects actually are?"

"Of course, put them on the table" Caitlin smiled. As Eliza backed out she noticed the change that Caitlin went through, from her normal form into her Frost form. In a matter of seconds, the table was covered by a red fog with silver tints. She then returned to her normal appearance.

"So how does this work?" Eliza asked.

"The fog will dissipate the moment it loses its energy. At that point you can go see what happened to the cells. So we will have to wait a moment" The reply came.

"Did you still think about going to see Kara and Alex?" Barry asked, Caitlin was surprised at the way he was poking into Eliza's business.

"I have, but … I don't know if I want to. Besides I haven't been able to find a good excuse to go see them" She replied.

"Wait, you`re their mother, why would you need any excuse to go visit your daughters. That seems more like … you`re looking for an excuse for yourself" Barry voiced.

"I guess I am. I don't know. I want to go see them, but at the same time it's like I don't. I know, I know, I should make up my mind already" she gave a bitter smile to the two speedsters.

"Well, if you do decide to go. We've been invited to a Christmas party at their house in National City. It's more of a tradition for us and the people we call family and close friends. Last year we held it in our penthouse downtown, this year, Kara and Barry bought a new house themselves so … they thought it would be a good idea to hold it there" Caitlin told her flat out

"Ah. I see. So, you will be going there anyway" she replied with a lost gaze

"Yes, normally we would have done it here. But they would have been present anyway, Kara is like family to us. Anyway, we thought we should mention that to you. Of course, attending the party is not mandatory, but if you wanted an excuse, there it is" Barry gave her a large smile.

"I might take you up on that offer. I'm supposing we're going to National with the jet?" she asked and then continued "I … have a bit of problem with flying, ever since Kara tried her powers on me when she was young"

"Well, if you don't like flying, we can always run you there. It's not like we can't reach National in less than 5 minutes these days" Caitlin replied nonchalantly, leaving the aging biochemist with her jaw on the floor. She kept forgetting who she was talking to, her working so closely with two superheroes and knowing their identities was a first for her. She was away the time that Kara had become Supergirl and after Superwoman.

"That would be preferable. It's not that I dislike flying, but it seems to always be a bit uncomfortable when the moment the plane takes off you get nausea, headaches and start to relieve the contents of your stomach" Eliza replied.

"To be fair, that sounds more like a psychosomatic issue more than anything else. But yes, we can get you to National City without much problems" Caitlin smiled "All you have to do is make up your mind about going to visit the girls. As per your request we have not told them anything about you working here. However, you have to understand that Kara and Barry are family, they can drop by here at any time"

"Which is why you stay away from the cortex" Barry realized "You don't want to per chance drop in here when one of both of them come for visits. Is that right?"

"Yes, that is … accurate" Eliza had a sad face when she was saying this

"Well, I think you should stop this and go see your daughters. However, that is just an opinion. Make what you will of it" Caitlin looked over at the table to see if the fog had started to dissipate and it did. A few minutes later the samples that Eliza had brought in were clear of the fog.

"You may be right, Dr. Allen. I will need to see them at one point" Eliza went to the table and picked up the containers.

"Don't you Dr. Allen me. My name is Caitlin and this is Barry. No point in using honorifics with the mother of one of the family" she said with a stern voice

"Yes, then I would be Eliza. It's strange, you know. After all this time away from Kara and Alex, not knowing if Jeremiah is alive or not. I got used to living and working alone. Being part of a … family again is something that I forgot a while ago relating to how good it feels" The aging biochemist replied to the two speedsters.

"Well, welcome to the family then" Barry gave her a grin as she left to her lab to continue the tests on the cell samples.

The two speedsters went out to do some Christmas shopping, nothing too heavy this time since they were not even going to be at home for some of it, but they thought some food, a tree and some other things were necessary anyway. Ever since they were in their own little apartment, that first Christmas they spent together as a couple remained as one of the memories that would shine brightest when it came to this particular time of the year.

This time however, they did not way for Christmas Ever to decorate, the two spending about an hour into making their penthouse have the holiday spirit, since they would be gone.

"Now we know how the others felt when they were coming to our parties. They had to do everything in advance" Barry chuckled as he and his wife were speeding around getting everything ready

"I don't mind. I'm glad that Barry and Kara got their own home. What do you think? How much time does it take for them to actually start a family of their own?" Caitlin chuckled

"More than likely as soon as they are married. Oh who knows, it could be even sooner. It's not something you can plan, it just happens. Unless those two are careful" He replied.

"I still find it odd that Eliza wanted to stay away from her family. I mean, I kind of understand where she is coming from, but even when I'm concerned and knowing how much I dislike my mother, I still consider her family" Caitlin started to put decoration in the living room as she was speeding around.

"Darling, she might be your mother, but to be fair, and don't take this the wrong way. Her not even caring to be at our wedding was a bitchy move. I mean what the shit could be more important than your daughter getting married" He voiced his thoughts on the matter

"Not even that, but she didn't even come to see her grandson. Even after I sent her a message that I was pregnant and that she was to have one. I thought that everyone would like to see their blood, but I guess I was wrong. It doesn't bother me that much now, before this whole thing would have stayed with me and made me bitter beyond belief" Barry turned and saw her smile.

"I'm glad it doesn't. Some people just don't deserve the attention they get. I know she's your mother, but if Joe would do something like that, I'd tell him to buzz off right away. In the end, she is an adult and she know where to find us, her own problems are her own. She does know where to find us now, right?" the speedster asked quite bluntly

"Yes, I have sent her emails with our new address and even the last time I sped over there and talked to her assistant I left the new location. All I can say now is that she probably does not want to see me at all. Or you. Or Alex. I can't make her like me, or our child and I am not even going to try . Too much hassle" She stopped and kissed Barry out of nowhere. It took them a little bit but they had their house all done and stopped to eat something. At that time they received a call from the lab, it was Gideon.

"Yes, Gideon. Is something the matter?" Caitlin replied

"I do believe you have forgotten to give Dr. Danvers your phone numbers. She came to the Cortex looking for you. I took the liberty of calling to let you know that she is expecting you in her laboratory" the Ai simply stated

"Thank you, if she is still there let her know that we will be right over" Barry voiced toward the phone that was now on speaker.

"Understood" the line closed and the two grabbed Alex and sped over straight to the Bioengineering section. The lab they gave Eliza was quite large and out of the way, as long as they were careful about no one noticing their lightning trails inside, they could reach that location easily. Them popping into Eliza's lab scared the living lights out of the poor woman.

"You would think that living with a Kryptonian in the house for such a long time would make me immune to jumpscares. You two are fast, I just went to see you a few minutes ago" she replied steadying herself.

"Gideon notified us that you came by. Since you don't have our numbers, she called us" Barry smiled.

"Ah, Gideon. I have been wondering what that construct was that I had heard other people here talk about" She seemed really interested

"We can give you more information later. What did you want to show us?" Caitlin went straight to the point.

"You were correct in assuming that the cells can and indeed will regenerate. Take a look at this" Eliza pointed toward the microscope on her table. Caitlin went to check out what was there.

"Oh, so the healing fog did have a regenerative effect on those cells. Did you manage to see if they can or could produce viable embryos?" She asked.

"I have been trying to. I used every protein and hormone I could think of, I think the sample itself is way too small to produce any results" Eliza returned.

"Which would mean that the only way we can find out if this works is to expose Bette to the fog and take another sample. Giving us a clearer picture on what might happen in the future if we continue to do so" Barry thought out loud.

"Yes, this could be a cure for her problem, but as you two know, nothing comes easy. We are scientists, we will have to experiment, draw conclusions from those tests and after that come up with something that would help her. Do you think she would accept being a lab rat for a bit?" Eliza looked at the couple a bit strangely

"She was already a lab rat, for General Eiling. We know for a fact she didn't enjoy that one bit. However, this time if she is to be one, then she is doing it for herself and for Cisco. I don't think she will refuse, especially if there is the slimmest chance that what we are doing will succeed" Caitlin drew a conclusion.

"Well, there is no point in discussing this now. We'll talk more about it when Bette comes bac after the party in National. What about you, Eliza? Did you make up your mind about coming with us?" Barry inquired.

"Yes, I did. It might seem weird but your proverbial boot in the ass helped. I do want to see my daughters, I want to be back in their lives. Even if now I'm working here and I will more than likely have to come back to Central City. That doesn't mean I can't go and see them from time to time" She voiced with a large smile on her face.

"To be fair, if Kara wants to see you she can have Menace take you back to National City. It only takes him like what? A minute to go there and back?" Caitlin started to laugh "All right then, come on. Go home and get ready, we are supposed to meet the others back here in two hours so we can all go to National"

"Wait, you`re not taking the jet there?" Eliza asked.

"No, there aren't so many people and we can run them all over to there especially since we can make copies of ourselves. See you in two hours. Come back to the lab, we're meeting in the parking lot" Barry voiced. Eliza nodded and left for home.

Two hours later, Everyone was assembled in the large parking lot in front of the labs, they were looking around for the two speedsters, but when people started disappearing in trails of lightning, they knew that they were around. They managed to make it in time to National city, even before Clark, which for some reason had decided to take the plane instead of flying with Lois.

The party was a blast, but that wasn't even the most important part. Barry and Caitlin were right in … convincing Eliza to join them. The happiness that was on Alex and Kara's faces when she turned up was something that the two were happy about. They knew that the alien blonde had missed her mother ever since Jeremiah was gone and they did guess that Alex would feel the same. Under that tough DEO agent exterior, she was still human after all.

As always when everyone got back together, the event was a blast for everyone involved, even if it was held somewhere else, their extended family loved it. Early the next day the two speedsters woke up and helped Barry and Kara to clean up the house, they thought it would help them to continue to enjoy the holidays and they took everyone home. Leaving word for Cisco and Bette to be at the labs the day after Christmas day. On that day, the speedsters decided to take it easy and just enjoy the holidays. They were lounging around in the large living room watching Alex crawl from place to place and trying to stand up.

"I don't think I could be happier than right here, right now, with you and our son" Barry thought to his wife who was sitting in his lap watching

"No. You are right. There is nothing more beautiful than spending time with the men you love" Caitlin smiled

"Which reminds me, when do you think we should tell him that Santa doesn't exist?" The speedster tried to make a joke

"How about we don't. But to be fair, if he's as smart as we both think we is, I don't think Santa would last more than 5. Especially if we're speeding around with the presents" Caitlin chuckled.

Alex kept trying to stand up, the two deciding to help him since he seemed so adamant in trying. He kept getting up as best he can and then falling down. Barry brought a camera and let it record while Caitlin was next to him holding him up. It didn't take long for the child to realize that he needed balance to stand on his own two feet and that the diaper was a large part of the weight offset that was pulling him down. In the span of a couple of hours, where Barry and Caitlin took turns to try to help him keep himself up, He managed a short trek on his own two feet from the tree to the bed. The two speedsters just cheered him on and looked at the little one which had brought so much light in their lives.

"Mommy, food" the child spoke and Barry could swear that he could see Caitlin melt right then and there. Alex had been learning words while spending time with Gideon, but his speech had not yet been fined tunes, he still slurred some words and prolonged the R sounds in almost anything.

"Yep. He is definitely your son" Caitlin said almost crying. The first steps of the little one had brought so much happiness that it was contagious. They could both feel what the other was feeling like in immense river which they almost drowned in.

"No, Cait. He is our son. Even if he gets his appetite from me. Our beautiful little boy" Barry spoke with a soft voice continuing to look at the child that was sitting with wide eyes that were demanding his hunger be quenched.

The next morning Bette and Cisco were waiting in the Cortex as the two speedsters made their appearance. Eliza was requested to join since she was the one that was dealing with Bette's issue.

"Merry Christmas, you two. So, what's the deal in calling us at the lab?" Cisco asked taking a seat in a chair.

"Well, you know about Bette's issue. Since this whole thing started with the dominators we didn't really have time to research that more in depth, but since Eliza arrived we put her in charge of finding something that could help" Barry started.

"She did. The samples we took from you , Bette showed that the cells were damaged, leading to you not being able to have children. Eliza, however, postulated that they could be regenerated by something. While this might not be a permanent fix, we still need to run more tests to see if that happens" Caitlin continued.

"Regenerated, wait … can't the healing fog that you produce have the same effects?" Bette suddenly realized that Caitlin could have the power to help her.

"Precisely. The samples that Eliza was studying were exposed to the fog, while the cells did indeed regenerate, without a samples and a subject to try it on, we cannot know if this type of treatment would be helpful, or the cells would regenerate with the damaged DNA from the powers you have" Frost continued leaving Cisco with his mouth open.

"We thought we should ask if you want to be a voluntary subject. We know the problems you had with Eiling using you for a lab rat. As you know from the first time we asked you for samples, the biopsies will hurt no matter how much pain killers we give you, so … it's up to you" Barry looked at Bette whose face was frozen.

"You mean, this has a chance to work?" She finally managed to articulate after staring at the two people in front of her.

"Yes. It has a good chance it can work" Eliza interjected from the side "My tests show that Caitlin's healing fog can indeed restore those cells. The problem is if your body can actually figure out they aren't dead anymore and start using them"

"DO we know what would be a good indication of the treatments actually working?" Cisco asked from the sidelines.

"I have an idea, but first answer me this Bette. Ever since the particle accelerator explosion, did you have any periods?" Barry inquired simply. Cisco almost wanted to say something and then remembered that his friend had an OBGYN license. Bette however responded quite quickly.

"No, that was the first indication I had something was wrong"

"Then we have our marker, if the healing fog works, then you will begins to have pains again and the periods will return. At that point we can be pretty sure that everything has regenerated and we can do some more tests to see if the eggs are actually viable" the speedster continued "It might not be right away, but at least there's a chance that you can be cured"

Bette was stuck with her hands on the consoles looking at the two speedsters. Her eyes were watering, she remembered that time when the harsh truth was forced on her and the weeks of agony and thinking about how she could not have the thing she wanted most. Her own child. These to managed to find something that might be able to help her. Just like they had promised. Cisco on the other hand was completely out of it. His face looked like 10000v of electricity went through it. The thoughts that were going through his mind were so many that he only managed to say a few words.

"You two actually did it. You promised us you would try to find something and you actually did it" he kept repeating like an echo of something that was long gone and yet always there.

"Well, we didn't do it yet, but … at least it's a start" Caitlin smiled.

"Ok, I want to try it. Screw the pain, screw the needles. I want to see if this works. Tell me what I have to do" Bette said with a determination in her eyes that was almost inhuman.

"Sit on the chair. I'll fog you a few times and after that we see where it goes" Caitlin motioned to her. Bette stood up and took a chair, dragged it to the middle of the room and sat on it. Frost changing for a few seconds and putting out a concentrated red cloud of fog. "Now you sit there until the fog dissipates. We will continue to do that at least once a day for as long as it needs to be done. I'm guessing the effect will become apparent after a week or two"

"Depending on the rate her body can absorb the energy from the fog, it could be even sooner" Eliza voiced.

"Thank you for keeping your promise" a voice came from the fog.

"That wasn't even a point. We promised we would try to help. We never stopped" Barry smiled.

"I know you didn't" Cisco came to his senses and approached the cloud "You don't think I couldn't see the multitude of times when I came into the Cortex and you two were working on this particular issue. Even when having Alex, not being able to sleep and a whole lot of villains and nasty stuff going on, you were still working to keep your promise. I was and always will be grateful to you for that" He gave them a large smile. The cloud dissipated and Bette stood up.

"We'll continue this tomorrow. Eliza will take care of the tests, she knows what to look for. Remember, once a day every day until we get some sort of results" Caitlin smiled toward the bomb expert.

"Yes. I'll remember. Thank you for trying" she managed to speak, but her voice was severely cracking.

"Consider it our Christmas gift to you. Merry Christmas" Barry spoke toward the two that were visibly affected by the news "Now go home and rest. Thank you for being here, Eliza"

"No problem, I am really anxious to see if this works, the applications for something like this would be astounding" she managed to speak then realized that most people didn't really have access to Frost's healing fog. "Now all I have to do is come up with something that acts like the healing fog Frost can produce and we're set" she cringed a bit.

"We shall see. Rest well everyone, we're going to take Alex on a stroll. See you tomorrow" The two speedsters were immediately gone out the door with their child.

"You were right, Cisco" Bette managed to comment while the tree were heading out of the labs "These two can do anything If they put their heads together"

"Hey, what am I, chopped liver? I helped" Eliza chuckled from behind them

"Yes, we know. And that's why we are thankful to you too" Bette retorted.

"Don't worry. I was joking. The research those two did was massive in its scope. It helped me reach my conclusions even sooner than expected. You two are right. Those two can do anything if they put their heads together" the aging biochemist smiled at the two people that were strolling hand in hand in front of her.

"Somehow I have the feeling we haven't seen anything yet. They have many more surprises in store for us" Cisco voiced.

"At least we know life will never be dull with those two around, especially once their child grows up" Bette spoke her mind and everyone started to laugh. They knew for a fact that life around the two was anything but dull and Eliza would find that out herself, very soon. She had only been here for a few weeks and even in that short time she had managed to see the busy lives and the way the two speedsters started to mold the world around them. Right now, she was happy being part of the group, her own new extended family.

An : Hello Everyone, I am sorry for the slow updates, but my life has taken an unexpected turn for the worse. I am going to put both stories with the On hiatus tag so people know that updates will be scarce as i try to figure out the bind i am in . Anyway, enough of that, i managed to put a chapter together in the time that i was gone so, in the meanwhile, enjoy the new chapter of the story and stay safe.