This is for JeriBearRN for the September Fanfic author auction at SupportStacie.net.  She requested Burke/Cristina and I tossed in a little side of another pairing I know she enjoys for a little bonus.

This follows Jer's previous Auction Fic "A Guide to Reconciliation for the Difficult Man and Woman" timeline-wise.  While you don't have to have read that to enjoy this story, you might be missing some background.

The Manual on Holidays for Slightly Dysfunctional Surgeons by socalwriter

In 2003, in response to a study on how the strain of a surgical career takes its toll on relationships--marriages, familial connections and friendships alike, Dr. Henderson Fordham, M.D., Surgical Chair of Harvard University, provided tips on how surgeons might avoid these pitfalls.  The article, "The Manual on Holidays for Slightly Dysfunctional Surgeons," was published in the "American Journal of Surgery."

1.  Make plans that don't involve the hospital.  Holidays should be acknowledged and celebrated... they are not an excuse to hide out in an emergency room waiting for a good surgical case, tempting though it may be as an avoidance tactic to dodge your parents' (or in-laws') nonstop questions about when you're going to give them grandchildren.  Family and friends sacrifice you, on average, for 360 days a year.  Give them the holidays, and mean it when you do.

When given a choice, Preston Burke would always choose to run outside.  He preferred the uneven terrain of a city street... dodging tree roots that had pulled up through the cement, avoiding fallen leaves and errant sprinklers... to a treadmill any day of the week.  He liked the wind on his face, even the feel of a light rain spraying his skin.  But today he was running inside on a treadmill because after the head of Ortho had fallen and broken his leg on an ice-covered sidewalk, the chief of surgery at the Mayo Clinic had asked all his attendings to be more cautious, so Preston was using the treadmill in the gym and watching the snowfall outside wondering how many days it would be before he was free to race down the street in the open air again.

When the timer signaled that he'd finished his required miles for the day, he eased off the machine and then headed over to the mat area do some stretching and a few crunches.  Workout finished, Burke then made his way to the shower and once he was dressed for the quick trip to the hospital, he popped his earpiece in and voice dialed the most oft-called number in his cell phone.

"Cristina."

He spoke the word and within seconds, the line was ringing on the opposite end, followed a moment later by a click.

"Guess what I just did."

Preston laughed at the obvious excitement in her voice.

"I'm guessing it has to do with surgery and a heart, so let's see..."

"I used the da Vinci.  I used the da Vinci to clear a pulmonary adhesion.  You know why?  Because I am awesome!"

Despite their distance, he could see the joy on her face, the excitement of her surgical triumph making her eyes sparkle.  He wished he was there to see it.  There was no denying that their current arrangement was working for them--it kept him from trying to speed things up too quickly, and it kept Cristina from feeling too pressured.  But on days like this, when she was so pleased about something or after an exhilarating surgery in his own O.R., he wished they were closer together and able to share the rush in person.

 "You are most definitely awesome, and I am very proud of you.  Congratulations."

"Thank you!  Oh... oh!  Why the hell do you live so far away again?  Because I could seriously use some on-call room time right now."

"You and me both," he agreed, "and I'm pretty sure you told me to stay in Minnesota, which is why I live so far away."

Cristina sighed. "Oh, right.  I did.  Okay, fine.  What's going on with you today?"

"I have been thinking about Thanksgiving, and I had an idea I wanted to run by you."

"Does it involve me being anywhere in the vicinity of your mother?  Because, uh, no."

Eventually Preston knew he'd have to press the issue of his mother with Cristina, but there was no way he was risking the good ground they were on by putting the two most important women in his life in the same room.  They had plenty of time to get to that step... and he was going to need every minute of it to negotiate a peace treaty between his mother and his lover.

"No, no time spent with my mother, none spent in the snow here and none spent in Seattle with me trying to keep you out of the ER."

"So, what, we're hiding in a cave with a bag of takeout?"

Cristina sounded like she'd half enjoy that possibility, which renewed his nerves about the suggestion he was poised to make.  So Preston reminded himself her saying no wasn't the end of the world, and then he forged ahead.

"Addison has invited us to Los Angeles.  Sloan and Callie are flying down, too.  It sounded... fun."

"Wait, uh, what... why would Addison invite us to Thanksgiving?"

"Well, you know she and I are good friends, and Addison's had a bit of a rough patch.  So she wants to spend the holiday with friends, and thus... we received an invitation."

"Right," Cristina said, scoffing.  "She invited you, and you asked if she'd freak out if I came."

"No, that is not how it happened at all.  Actually, Addison asked if you'd mind sharing me, and she wanted to know what your favorite kind of wine was so she'd be sure to have it on hand for dinner."

"Seriously?"

He chuckled and shook his head.  "Seriously."

"So, wait, Callie I get, but I thought Satan and Sloan were on the outs."

"Addison..." he corrected, still hateful of the inappropriate nickname Derek had branded his friend with, "and Sloan are... distant.  But Callie convinced her that Mark needed to be saved from Thanksgiving alone in Seattle.  So it'll be the five of us, maybe a friend of Addison's from California."

There was a pause, and he waited patiently as she mulled over the idea.

"We're staying at an expensive hotel, right?  With room service?  And no one expects me to cook anything?  And you're not gonna make me call my parents, right?  Because I'm really not in the mood for the Beverly Hills Jewish Thanksgiving festival."

He couldn't help but laugh as Cristina's list of questions spilled out.  This was so much of what he'd missed during their separation... her personality was as entertaining as it could be frustrating.

"We are staying at a very expensive beachfront hotel with an impressive room service menu.  No one expects you to cook anything, I promise, and I already called your parents to see what their plans for the holidays were, and your stepfather informed me he is taking your mother on a cruise to the Bahamas for Thanksgiving.  So the coast is clear."

He waited as the wheels in her head whirled and clattered, analyzing potential counteroffers, mounting arguments and mulling over the benefits of escaping Seattle Grace drama for a few days.

"Okay, that works.  We'll do the flying stuff later?"

Escape from drama had won out, and Preston couldn't help but grin.

"Callie said she'd just book you together, so let her know you're in.  And now I have to go get ready for a quadruple bypass."

"You know what?  I don't even care.  'Cause I used the da Vinci today, and I am awesome."

"You are.  Love you."

"You, too," she replied, and then they both hit the "end" buttons, moving on to the rest of their day.

*****

2.  You didn't get to pick your family, but you chose your friends for a reason.  If holiday traditions make you insane, then get together with friends and do something different.  Plan a fun activity, go see a movie, have dinner at a fancy restaurant... whatever it takes to take your mind off of medicine for a few hours.  Yes, I know most of your friends are probably doctors, but if you drink enough, you can find something to talk about besides medicine.

"Cristina, seriously, finish packing.  Mark will be here, in, like 20 minutes."

Callie threw her roommate's jacket toward her for emphasis, and Cristina replied by sticking her tongue out.

"Is she gonna expect us to dress up?  She dresses up.  All the time, she dresses up.  So I guess we have to, right?"

"Addison is not going to care what you're wearing.  So wear something Burke will like."

"I don't dress for him."

"Uh-huh.  Not the clothes we can see anyway."

Cristina's jaw dropped, and then she and Torres both burst into laughter.  Meredith was her person.  That had would never change.  But Callie was... fun.  And it turned out Cristina liked having a roommate who was fun.  That she thought Izzie was a whiner, didn't like Shepherd and was sort of responsible for getting rid of Hahn... that just made it all the better.

"You spend too much time with Sloan.  By the way, are you two hooking up again now that you're done doing... whatever with Hahn?"

Callie sat down on top of her waiting suitcase and sighed.

"No.  I was gonna, but then we were talking and he started going on about Addison, and I realized the guy is just never gonna get over her.  So we're staying just friends.  And I convinced Addison to let him come so he can try and... I don't know, do something."

"Matchmaking?  Seriously?" Cristina said, her eyebrows raised.

"Think of it as entertainment.  Dinner and a show."

Cristina threw two pairs of shoes into her bag, unable to make a decision on which she'd really wear, and zipped it closed.  "God, I hope she has booze."

Callie laughed and stood up as a knock sounded at the door.  "Are you kidding?  She's a rich WASP from Connecticut.  There's gonna be TONS of booze."

The opened door revealed Sloan, his usual leather-jacket replaced by a black long-sleeved sweater.

"Car's waiting. You two ready?"

"Yang?" Callie asked, glancing back over her shoulder.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm ready."

She picked up her bag and headed toward the door.  Sloan stepped aside to let Callie pass and Cristina pulled the apartment door shut behind her as she eyed him cautiously.

"So you're... fine, I guess, but for the record, I do not care about your whole 'stole McDreamy's wife, couldn't hang on to her' drama, so if you're gonna talk about it, wait until my headphones are on and my music is drowning you out, okay?"

Despite her roommate's personal interest in the very drama Cristina had just dismissed, Yang heard Callie laughing from the end of the hall.

*****

Ever the gentleman, Burke had arranged for a car to pick up the Seattle travelers and deliver them to Addison's and the Huntley Hotel respectively, since his flight got in two hours later than theirs.  Cristina, who had finished a self-imposed 48-hour marathon at the hospital to make up for the time she was going to be gone, was thinking more of a hot shower and sleep than she was about her boyfriend's arrival, but she knew that would all change once Burke was there in front of her.

Things with them were good.  And it kind of scared the hell out of her to admit that, which is why she hadn't said it out loud to anyone yet.  But this thing they were doing... each focusing on their own careers while supporting one another from afar, meeting whenever they could for as many hours as they could steal, burning up the phone lines... it fit them somehow.  She felt like she could breathe... but she didn't feel like she was going to lose him.  And Burke seemed to believe she was all in even if they were living in two different cities.

That didn't mean that she hadn't wanted to freak out and screech her way into a solitary Thanksgiving with him on a beach somewhere.  The idea of being all couple-y with a big group of people was still intimidating to her, especially when said people weren't "her" people.  But really, Burke had asked her for so little since their reconciliation.  It seemed petty to say no to this holiday when he hadn't tried to force the family thing or the coming to Minnesota thing.  And at least Callie was going to be there and there was always Sloan's mooning over Addison to mock, so there was potential things wouldn't be totally awful.

Her demand for a luxury hotel, she discovered, had been fulfilled wholeheartedly.  Burke had booked them into one of the Huntley's signature suites, and it not only had a great view of the beach, it had a spa tub a girl could do unsavory things for.  Which is why about ten minutes after arriving, her suitcases, purse and clothes formed a line that led straight to said tub with Cristina soaking, her eyes closed, the TV on for company.

The soft click of the door roused her from near sleep, but Cristina didn't open her eyes or whip her head around to see who had come into the room.  Burke's scent... a mix of Armani cologne and Ivory soap... tickled her senses and she smiled slightly waiting to be discovered.

"I see you're making good use of the suite."

His voice was low, and she knew if she were leaning against him, she'd feel the vibrations the timbre caused flow through his body into hers.  When Burke had left, that sensation late at night was one of the things she had missed the most.  Now she had it back... even when they were in two separate states, she knew that feeling was hers again.

"I had to do something to occupy myself while I waited for you," Cristina quipped, eyes opening as he crouched down beside the mammoth tub.  "Now get out of those clothes and into this tub."

"My, we're abrupt today, aren't we?"

"We have been having dream sex for five weeks.  Clothes... off... now, or I can't be held responsible for what happens next."

He laughed, but then did as commanded, fabric dropping to the floor, adding to her already created mess.  When he was done, Burke sank into the water, his movement creating slight waves that sent water over the flat edges.  Cristina kept her eyes on him as he leaned back against the opposite end, his hands moving gently, keeping small waves rippling through the water.

"Hi," she said, a smile leaking across her face.

"Hello.  Trip was okay?"

She sighed.  "Callie took the brunt of Sloan's 'I love Addison blah blah blah,' so yeah, it was fine.  You?"

"Good," he answered.  "We had clear skies for Minnesota this time of year."

"Good."

They sat there quietly for a beat, and then he started toward her, and Cristina waited, taking in every beat of the anticipation that built until his movement brought his skin against hers.

"I'm very glad you're here," he whispered, his lips almost touching hers.

"Yeah," she answered, before her mouth erased the nearly undetectable distance between them.

*****

3.  Once you submit the vacation paperwork, surrender.  The fact that a holiday is involved doesn't mean it's not still vacation.  If you're traveling to see family, plan something special that gets you some quality "me" time... a visit with an old friend, a walk with your significant other.  If you're staying home, make it an event.  Check into a hotel with your spouse and live it up, even if it's just for an afternoon.  And if you're with friends, relax, laugh and store up details to mock each other with at a later date.

Cristina wasn't the kind of person who made decisions about people based on what others said.  It was something she and Burke had in common.  Not even his opinion on someone would sway her if she'd had a different experience of them.  So just because Burke had decided he liked Addison Montgomery (nee Shepherd), Cristina didn't have to jump on the train.

The thing was, she kinda did.

Most things involving Derek Shepherd only partially penetrated Cristina's consciousness.  She absorbed the details that really affected Mer and let the rest drift by, mostly because, despite his moniker, she found him annoying and he talked down to people, to her, and it pissed Cristina off.  So when the redhead showed up and blew Meredith and Derek's romance out of the water temporarily, Cristina really hadn't minded.  She'd supported her friend because that was her job, but when she let herself think about her "person's" love life, she thought Mer would probably be better off with someone a little less "dreamy" and a little more honest and supportive.

Everyone had pretty much joined in the bully collective that said the She-Shepherd must have been awful because she cheated on McDreamy (at least until they'd all seen McSteamy for the first time... it had admittedly made more sense then), and Cristina had nodded and "uh-huh'ed" her way through the conversations, but other than the day Addison had snapped at her, O'Malley and Karev for staring at the orgasm lady, the woman had never done anything to really bother Cristina.

And then there was that whole "saved her life thing."

That was the thing no one ever talked about.  Addison Montgomery had saved her life when the ectopic pregnancy had ruptured her ovary.  And so she hadn't held a grudge about the snapping... or the upset in Meredith's life or the yelling at Alex or any of the other sins for which her friends had kept a strict accounting.

So she might not have had much to say to or about the woman who was playing hostess to her today, but Cristina didn't have any issues with her either.  Still, it was a little surprising to find that she was not only having an okay time spending Thanksgiving at Addison Montgomery's home; Cristina was having a really good time.

To her great delight, Burke had been 100% honest about the day's setup.  The dress was casual, there was not a bit of cooking being done except for the warm-up of the gourmet turkey dinner Addison had ordered, and as they sat on the deck, enjoying the 72-degree, sunny day, Cristina's favorite pinot gris was swirling in her glass.

When her cell phone rang, Cristina was halfway done eating a stuffed mushroom off the hors d'oeuvres platter Addison had left out while she started to heat dinner.  She glanced down at the screen and saw "Mer" flashing in front of her.  Mouth still full, she answered.

"Hey, what's up?"

"You sound... good.  What are you doing?"

Cristina glanced out at the in-progress beach football game in front of her and then took a sip of her wine to wash down the last of the mushroom.

"Sitting on your boyfriend's ex-wife's deck watching my hottie hot boyfriend play football on the beach with Torres, Sloan and some smokin' friend of Addison's while drinking a really good glass of pinot gris."

"That sounds like it doesn't suck," Meredith said, sounding a little disappointed.

"You know, it sort of doesn't.  What's going on there?"

Meredith sighed, "Izzie and Lexie are having some kind of weird cook-off that seems to be a fight over George, Alex is refusing to page me for any good cases and Derek is still fishing with the Chief.  I'm eyeing the tequila."

"Get your purse, go to the hospital and trip Alex if he tries to keep you from finding Bailey to get on a case.  Go now.  I'm your person.  Do what I tell you to do."

"Okay.  I'm going.  Don't like L.A. too much.  Remember, your mother will come home eventually."

"Shut up and go find a patient.  Bye."

As Cristina hung up, Addison sat down at the table and picked up the bottle of wine, topping off her own glass.

"How are things in Seattle?"

Cristina shrugged.  "The usual, though apparently the Chief is in on the action this year.  He's out fishing with..."

She paused, suddenly unsure if she should mention Shepherd.  Addison smiled and took a sip of her wine.

"Meredith shouldn't count on him coming home anytime soon.  If he's fishing and he has company, he's a lost cause."

"Yeah.  I told her to go to the hospital and beg Bailey for work."

Addison laughed and leaned back in her chair.  Right about then, Callie tackled Pete, freeing Sloan to race past Burke and score a touchdown.

"It's good," she said, "you two back together.  It's good."

Cristina glanced out at the topic of their current discussion.  Burke was plotting with Addison's friend.

"Yeah, it's good.  Speaking of...  uh, you and the quack guy... are you..."

The redhead shook her head.  "Almost, but no.  We had crappy timing.  I have crappy timing with everything but a scalpel."

"You don't miss it?" Cristina asked, her attention drawn to the tiny opening she had to ask the question she'd been dying to have answered since she'd heard that Addison Montgomery was giving up the neonatal unit at Seattle Grace to move to Los Angeles.  "You don't miss the--the high of being in an O.R. hour after hour, day after day?  I mean... really?"

Addison shrugged.  "It's not like I don't do surgeries anymore.  I'm at St. Ambrose all the time, scrubbing in and out of operations.  I just... you probably won't get this yet because you're still in that stage where the thrill of the chase, of beating out the other guys for a case, is still half the fun.  See, when your life starts to fall apart, you can hide out in the O.R.  And it's great, because you don't have to deal with what's wrong.  The thing is... when your life starts to fall apart, you can hide out in the O.R., and then you never deal with what's wrong.  And at a certain point, you start to run out of time to figure things out."

Cristina assumed the look on her face must have communicated how terrified that idea made her, because the other woman chuckled softly.

"Not everyone is me and Derek, Yang.  But in our case... he hid out and didn't deal with being unhappy, I hid out and didn't deal with feeling like a failure, and thus you have Mark/Meredith/Seattle, blah, blah, blah.  Now?  Now because I'm not on call or running an entire NICU, I can hear myself think.  I may not like the thoughts, but... at least I'm finally dealing with them."

That wasn't as alien a concept to Cristina as her hostess might have thought, and she took a sip of her wine, remembering how a day spent in the morgue, away from surgery and hearts and competition had finally let her grief over the un-wedding day rise to the surface.  The pain of that day, of the sense of betrayal she'd felt regarding Burke, had been almost unbearable.  And yet, until it had finally happened, until the cauldron had finally bubbled over, she'd been unable to even admit there were wounds that needed to heal.

Still, she couldn't imagine taking quite as drastic a step as Addison had.  Giving up your own unit in a hospital seemed like pure insanity to her.  Still, somehow now that she was here, this made more sense to her.  Montgomery fit into this beachside life... it was evident in her manner, in how she talked about her practice and her combative relationship with the St. Ambrose chief of staff.  Change had been good for the neonatal surgeon in the same way it had been for Burke.

The day would come eventually when Cristina knew she'd have to consider a change of her own.  Someday she'd be offered an attending job... if not in Seattle, then somewhere, and if Burke wasn't ready to leave Mayo, they'd have to figure out how their life together continued in two different cardio wings for the long-term.

Or maybe Burke would come back to Seattle... or go with her to where the job offer came from... or maybe she'd learn to live with the snow.  Because she was sitting on Addison's Montgomery's deck on Thanksgiving day drinking wine and watching beautiful men play football on the beach... proof positive that things you'd never imagined happened every day in this life.

"So you totally get that Sloan's here to get you back, right?"

Addison laughed, nearly choking on her wine, and glanced toward her.

"Mark only wants me back because I'm not there.  That's how he is."

This wasn't her business and she could easily have just let the subject die there, but Cristina still felt like she owed this woman something, not just for the life saving thing, but for the "being there for Burke" thing, too, and so she sat up and leaned against the table.

"People change.  I mean, I used to think they didn't, but then... then I figured out how to take a day off to spend it with my boyfriend and Burke learned how to... wait.  People change... when they realize they have to."

The words out of her mouth, Cristina suddenly felt a little awkward.  Seeking an escape, she took a gulp of her wine, and then she stood and kicked off her shoes.

"I thought you weren't interested in playing?" Addison said, and Cristina shrugged.

"It's a free pass to knock my boyfriend on his ass."

The redhead's laughter followed her as she bounded off the deck and raced toward Burke.  Callie, seeing an opportunity, ordered Mark from the game to keep it even.  The ortho shot her a wink as Cristina jumped onto her lover's back, her arms wrapping around his neck as he reached back to stabilize her in a piggyback hold.

"I thought you didn't like football."

"I like you.  But I'm showing you no mercy.  Torres, I get the quack!"

But before she ran off to join her partner, Cristina curled around Burke's body and gave him a kiss.

"Advance makeup for the ass-kicking."

"What happens if I win?" he asked as she ran across the beach.

"Um, you get locked out of the hotel suite tonight?"

But she knew from the flash of heat that spread through her as a smile spread across his face and a laugh boomed out of him that there was no chance in hell she was locking Preston Burke out of anywhere tonight.

*****

4.  Once the holiday is over, take note.  You've survived!  One day out of the hospital (or one weekend or week depending on how lucky you are when it comes to vacation time) and the world didn't end.  Instead, you probably made someone you love feel special... and you probably had fun whether you expected it or not.  Bravo.  Now go back to being a surgeon.  And remember, a day or two of not being one?  It helps you remember how fantastic life is... and it'll help keep you focused on just why you sacrifice those 360 days a year to save other people's.

"So... just so I'm clear... "

"Uh-huh" Cristina replied as she wriggled free of the sheets and pulled on his Tulane sweatshirt.

"You like my friend?"

She shrugged and bopped over to the picnic basket that sat on the coffee table.

"She's a good, no, a great surgeon, she likes you, but not in a creepy way that would make me jealous, and she irritates Shepherd.  What's not to like?"

Preston laughed, entertained by her shockingly Cristina-like answer.  But still... they had a friend in common now, a friend that was his peer and someone Cristina could relate to.  It was a first for them, really, and it felt... he wasn't sure what to call it.  But it felt like they'd grown somehow in the past 24 hours, and he was content to just enjoy the sensation without adding further commentary.

"Besides," Cristina said, her voice capturing his attention, "she sent us home with snacks!"

She bounded back onto the bed with the basket in tow.  Addison had insisted on sending baskets of leftovers back to the hotel with them and home with her friend Pete, who had also left with Callie in tow.  Though she'd whispered to Preston that it was just cover to give Mark and Addison a chance to talk, Cristina had teased Torres, saying she just couldn't make up her mind what team she wanted to play for.

"God, we have to find out where she got these rolls.  These rolls are amazing."

By the time she finished her sentence, her mouth was full with half of one of the specified rolls, and Preston quickly snatched the other half from her hand and ate it in one big bite.

"Hey!  Get your own.  You're the reason I'm so hungry.  That's why you wanted to come to L.A., right?  Lock me in a hotel room and make me a sex slave."

"Yes," he answered as he stretched out on the bed, his head propped up by his hand.  "You uncovered my dastardly plot."

Cristina made a face at him and pulled a carefully wrapped piece of pumpkin pie out of the basket, biting off the end.  A small moan escaped her mouth as she savored the flavor.

"This pie, too.  We need to find out where she got the pie."

"I promise, I will call Addison tomorrow and find out where the rolls and the pie and anything else you decide you love came from."

"So you think she'll take him back?"

The random change of topic threw him a moment, but then he got his bearings and considered his answer.

"I think... there's always hope when there's still love.  There's still love there."

Cristina nodded and took another bite of the pie before she set it aside and snaked her body toward him.  He leaned back, letting her crawl up so her head was on his chest, and his arms circled around her.

"This was... not as awful I as thought it might be."

"No?"

She shook her head and then snuggled even tighter against him.

"But I think you should come to Seattle for New Year's.  The chief will totally let you work, and you know there's gonna be some awesome, heart-ripped-out-of-a-chest kind of something on New Year's because it's New Year's, and people are idiots, and they'll need us to save them.  And maybe I... we... can use the da Vinci and I can show you how hard I rock it."

Preston smiled and leaned his chin down so it touched against the top of her head.

"I can't imagine a better way to spend the holiday.  I'll call Richard when I get home."