Okay, this holiday fic is inspired by the song "Meet Me Under The Mistletoe" by Randy Travis. A cute song really. Anyway, I hope you enjoy.

MEET ME UNDER THE MISTLETOE

"You havin' fun up there?" Sam Benson called up to her husband.

He looked down from his perch at the top of the ladder, and glared, "You know, this tradition was so much easier when we had lower ceilings."

"Well, we could always nix the tradition?" she offered as he came down the rungs.

He looked up at the sprig hanging from the rafter, and pulled her into his arms, "Never."

He leaned down and gently caught her lips in his as the clock rang twelve. They leaned back and she smiled.

"So, you got the kids to bed?" he asked.

She nodded, "Yeah, and they put up a fight, but I told them Santa wouldn't come if they didn't go to sleep. They told me to get out and go to bed."

He laughed, "You always had a way with them…"

She couldn't help but laugh, "Did you ever think that WE would have kids?"

"Oh come on," he joked, poking her side where he knew she was ticklish, "you couldn't resist me."

"Freddie, I didn't even know it was YOU!" she said, poking him back. He blushed, knowing exactly what she was talking about.

"Well, it worked out anyway didn't it?" he said, kissing her again. She pulled away and nodded.

- - - - -

They were seventeen, and it was the weekend before Christmas. Carly was throwing a big party in celebration of the holiday. The Shay's apartment was packed with teenagers, including Sam and Freddie, who sat on the couch, both wishing they were somewhere else.

"Do you even know most of the kids here?" Sam asked, leaning toward him so he could hear her.

He shook his head, before he nodded toward her empty cup and she gave it to him. He went and refilled their drinks while she defended their seats. When he got back, both cups were almost empty.

"Did you get thirsty?" she laughed, and his eyebrows crossed in confusion. "What?"

"Déjà vu," he answered simply, pouring what was left in his cup into hers. She had no idea what he was talking about, but she just shook her head and took the cup.

"So, who was your Secret Santa?" he asked, leaning again. Her breath caught in her throat, before she remembered it was Freddie, and she was being stupid.

"Oh, um, Carly," she answered, trying to hide her frustration. "I got her some stupid Bath & Body basket she wanted. Why, who was yours?"

He opened his mouth to answer, but was interrupted by the chime of a spoon on the punch bowl, and they both looked up to see Carly standing near the Christmas tree.

"Okay, guys! Time to pass out the Secret Santa gifts!"

Freddie got his quickly. It was a flash drive in the shape of a racecar. He smiled and put in his pocket as Sam waited for hers. She was last.

"Sorry Sam," Carly apologized, "I almost didn't see it."

Carly handed her a small white envelope with her name on it, and she tried not to groan. Who at this party would be so uncreative as to get her a gift card?

"Well, are you going to open it?" Freddie encouraged.

She looked down and shrugged, "It's probably just a gift certificate to Chili My Bowl."

"You should still open it," he said, almost glaring at her. She glared back for a few moments, before giving up and opening the envelope.

It was a folded up piece of paper, with a message:

Sam, I have a confession to make. I asked for your name in the Secret Santa. I thought it would be the perfect chance to tell you something I've been meaning to tell you for a while now. If you want to hear me out, meet me under the mistletoe, midnight, Christmas Eve.

She started to blush, and she couldn't hold her smile in.

"What is it?" Freddie asked, smiling at her reaction.

"It's perfect," she said quietly, before she looked up and looked around the room. She didn't even know that many of the guys here, unless it was a girl, but no, it had to be a guy. It HAD to be a guy. Unless it was a joke, but no, nobody was cruel enough to pull a prank on Christmas Eve, except her, and she wasn't pulling a prank on herself.

Freddie nudged her with his elbow, "Well, what is it? Let me see."

She held it to her chest before he could grab it, and he his hand recoiled, "Its Secret Santa for a reason Fredward. None of your beeswax!"

He laughed at his own personal joke, before he answered, "Well, whatever it is, I'm glad you like it."

She smiled and uncharacteristically hugged him, "I'm sorry. Merry Christmas Fredward."

He hugged her back, if only a little shocked, "Yeah, Merry Christmas Sam."

-

"You have to tell me! I think that's in our contract!" Sam said, begging Carly to reveal her Secret Santa.

"We don't have a contract," Carly reminded her, applying lip gloss from her Secret Santa gift.

"Well we should!" Sam grumbled, throwing herself onto the couch where Freddie had been just a few hours earlier.

Carly came over and sat next to her, "Come on Sam, he worked really hard to make this a surprise. I'm not going to ruin it for him. I mean, come on, it's so romantic!"

"I'm confiscating your copy of The Notebook," Sam continued to grumble. "How am I supposed to know whether or not to go? I mean, I don't know who this guy is, I don't even know where the mistletoe is—"

"Oh! Now that was my job! He didn't want to clutter up the note. Um, the mistletoe is out on the fire escape. You know the one at the end of the hall? I don't know why, I mean, it's kind of out of the way, but it's kind of perfect, don't you think?"

Sam groaned again, "Now I'm starting to wish it HAD been just a gift card. That would have been so much easier!"

Carly put a reassuring hand on her shoulder, "Just trust me Sam. I wouldn't put your heart on the line if I didn't think it would work out. This is going to be the best present you've ever gotten. I promise!"

-

Sam shivered out on the fire escape. It hadn't been hard to sneak out of her house. Her mom had OD'ed on eggnog, and there was nothing between her and the mistletoe except her and her jumbled nerves.

It was five minutes to midnight, on Christmas Eve, and all she could do was fold and unfold the note, and check the time every four seconds. This was the first time she'd been early for anything before, and it was bugging the crap out of her. Where the hell was he?

She turned around and focused on the Space Needle, counting backwards from three-hundred, until she heard a voice behind her, "Are you cold?"

She turned, and smiled, happily surprised at the boy who climbed through the window frame.

"Here," he said, wrapping his jacket around her shoulders. "I really should have picked a better place to do this."

"No, it's, it's perfect," she managed, with a goofy smile on her face.

"So, you shocked?" he offered, his brown eyes unable to leave hers. She shook her head, and he laughed. "That's funny, I thought you would be."

"Freddie, if anyone knows how much this fire escape means to me, it's you," she said, pulling the jacket closer to her body. "I'm glad it was you."

"Yeah, I was afraid I would give it away. Then, I was afraid Carly would tell you. But I'm glad I got to surprise you," he paused. "Surprise!"

She took a step toward him and whispered, "This is the best present ever."

"I'm glad you like it," he answered, taking a step towards her, so that they were only a few inches away from each other. "Oh! Crap, one second…" he said, as he struggled to find something in his pockets, before realizing she was wearing his jacket.

"I would be the one to ruin the moment, wouldn't I? Okay, if you would just reach into the right-hand pocket of that jacket…"

She reached in and pulled out what looked like a ring box. She looked up at him, "You're not…"

He realized what she thought, "Oh, NO! Wow, that's a scary thought. No, just open it."

She opened the box, to see a necklace with a heart pendant in it. She looked up at him, and he motioned to turn it over. Engraved on the bottom were the words, "I love you."

She hugged him, before pulling back for a second and looking up, "Uh, Freddie, where's the…?"

He pulled back and searched his pockets, softly swearing under his breath, before realizing, once again, that she was wearing his jacket.

"Uh, left-hand pocket," he motioned. She pulled out the sprig of mistletoe, and handed it to him. He looked up, trying to figure out where to put it, before he gave up.

With one hand, he pulled her body against his, and with the other, he raised the mistletoe above his head. She helped him by pulling his face to hers, and kissing him, hard. After a few minutes, they pulled away, breathless.

"Merry Christmas Sam," he whispered.

She answered, "Merry Christmas Freddie."

- - - - -

They pulled away from one final kiss, "You know, we should probably start getting those toys together. Only your son would ask for a computer."

"Yeah, well only your daughter would ask for an Easy Bake Oven, with ready-made cupcakes," he replied.

"You say it as if you don't like cupcakes!" she said, pecking him one last time. "But, yes, we should probably get to work."

He went to walk off toward the garage to assemble bicycles, but she held him by the hand, "Merry Christmas Freddie."

He winked, "Merry Christmas Sam."

Hey, that turned out better than I thought it would. I hope you liked it, and I hope you all had a Merry Christmas! Happy Holidays! And please review :D