"Merry Christmas, Monty." After walking through Deeks' door, the first thing Kensi did was bend down to scratch her favorite mutt behind his ears.

"Hey there. Glad you made it." He took the packed she handed him. "What do we have here?" He brought it up to his nose.

"Pumpkin bread."

He cringed. "Oh... are you sure it's safe?"

"Whatever." She said, rolling her eyes. "My mom made it, so you can relax."

"Well, that's a relief. It's really too bad you didn't inherit her culinary skills."

"Very funny. Watch yourself or I might just reconsider sharing it with you."

He chuckled as he walked towards the kitchen. "You can't take it back if I've already started eating it."

"Hang on. I want some too." She followed him.

As he was slicing, she asked, "So what movie you want to watch?"

"We have a lot to choose from. It could keep us busy until New Years."

She laughed, shaking her head. "I don't know if I want to watch that many." She was quiet for a few moments before speaking up again. "You know... I was really looking forward to this with you. I've had some pretty shitty Christmases in my life and I'm ready for that to change."

"You mean, like last year." He offered her a slight smile. Last Christmas was bad for him too.

"Yeah, that one sucked. Definitely in the top two worst of my life."

"Well, I can promise that this one will definitely be at least a little better than that one."

Then her eye was caught by something green on his counter. "What's that?" She knew full well what it was.

"What's what?" He knew full well what she was talking about.

"Don't play dumb with me." She pointed. "That."

"Oh, that. Um, I mean, I'm no expert in botany, but it appears that it might be... um... mistletoe."

"And why do you have it in your house?"

"I don't know... I think Monty wanted it around. He has a crush on the poodle down the street and he was hoping she would stop by."

Someone had decorated OSP for Christmas and it seemed like she saw that damn plant everywhere. Of course, Deeks didn't miss a single opportunity to embarrass her. He would announce for everyone to hear that it was probably Kensi's doing since she wanted nothing more than kisses from him for Christmas.

As infuriating as he was, he wasn't wrong. She was mad at him for embarrassing her, but she was also mad because she knew he wanted that too.

But she laughed it off and said in his dreams (which gained her a smile that was both mischievous and sincere).

And now here was more mistletoe that he had obviously taken home from work. They were alone and there was no show to put on for others, no reason to laugh anything off, no reason to hide.

It was ridiculous yet convenient to blame this on his semi-retired police dog. He knew she saw right through him, but that didn't stop him from always deflecting his true feelings and intentions. Instead of getting mad, she decided that playing along might be a little more fun. She stepped closer, leaning against the corner next to him. "Is that so?"

"Yeah." The smile on his face was a combination of excitement and apprehension and she loved it.

"So, do you think Monty will get lucky this Christmas?"

"Um..." He was getting more flustered. "He certainly hopes so."

"You think the poodle will fall for the mistletoe?"

"I don't know... she's pretty smart. But I think she likes him too."

"Even though he's all shaggy and scruffy?" She reached up and ran her fingertips along his jaw.

"I think she likes that about him..." He placed his hands on her hips and drew her in. "Even though she's stubborn and would probably never admit it."

"Yeah, well if Monty wasn't such a wimp then maybe he would just tell her he liked her rather than resorting to trickery." Her hands were resting on his chest and she could feel his heart pounding (much like her own).

"Really?"

"Really."

Their faces were so close. He was stalling by nudging his nose against hers. This was definitely happening. When he brought the mistletoe home, he thought he would at least get another laugh at her expense. He certainly didn't think it would actually work. Now, he was savoring being so close to her. Their previous kisses had been spontaneous and sudden and even full of frustration... now he wanted this one to be perfect.

"Um... do you think it counts if we're next to it and not under it?"

She smiled against his lips. "Would you just shut up and kiss me?"

He certainly didn't need to be told twice. The second their lips touched, he knew this was how he wanted to spend every Christmas for the rest of his life. He kissed her over and over and never wanted to stop. She ran her fingers through his shaggy hair and moaned when he gently bit her lower lip.

She sighed as he left a trail of kisses along her jaw. He nibbled at her ear lobe and made her shiver as he whispered, "So... how about we skip the movie for now?"

She turned her head so she could look him in the eye. His smile caused a fluttering inside of her and couldn't help but smile back. "That's a pretty great idea."

"I'm known for my great ideas."

She laughed. "Yeah, right. I bet you are."

"Hey, the mistletoe worked."

She was so happy, she just couldn't argue with him. She just scrunched her face and kept smiling. "Merry Christmas, Deeks."

Right before bringing their lips together again, he whispered, "Merry Christmas, Kens."