A/N: This came to me as I was lounging in bed this morning drinking tea. It's quite fluffy.
Kate walked into her bedroom quietly, not wanting to wake anyone up. It was 1 am and she had just arrived home from a crime scene that she had been working at all evening. She went over to the bed and kissed her husband lightly on the cheek and then went to the other side of the bed and smiled as she watched her two and a half year old daughter sleep. Somehow Josie always ended up in her bed when she had to work late. Her dark brown curls were splayed across the pillow and were still slightly damp from her bath; she had her pink flannel blanket wrapped in her fist with her thumb in her mouth. She looked so sweet and content in her one piece footed pajamas.
Kate hated to move her, but knew they would all sleep better if she was in her own bed. She reached down and gently scooped her into her arms. Josie kept her thumb in her mouth and put her head on her mother's shoulder. Kate wrapped her arms around her and just held her, slowly rocking her and taking in her sweet scent. After a few minutes she took her into her own room down the hall and placed her gently in her bed, kissing her on the forehead and pulling the quilt over her; she made sure the baby monitor was on, then turned on the night light and left the room, quietly closing the door behind her.
She went into the bathroom and took a quick shower, when she was done she put on Rick's dress shirt that was hanging on the back of the door and climbed into her own bed and snuggled up next to him. He immediately wrapped his arm around her and pulled her towards him so they could sleep spoon style. He kissed her softly on the cheek and then her neck, hitting the spots that made her shiver.
He whispered into her ear "I'm glad you're home."
"Ummm me too, I'm so tired" she barely got the words out before she fell into a deep sleep.
It felt like she had just climbed into bed when she heard voices downstairs. The brightness in the room indicated that it wasn't very early. She could hear her daughter giggling. She knew Rick was up with her but mostly all she could hear was him saying "Josie, shhh." Kate smiled and rolled over and drifted back to sleep.
Hours later she could feel someone breathing in her face, and then she heard a sucking noise and knew it was Josie watching her sleep. Without opening her eyes she said "Good morning, sweetie."
"How did you know it was me, Mommy?"
Kate smiled and said "Hmmmmm, I'm a detective remember?"
Josie giggled and Kate lifted up the covers so she could climb in. Josie rubbed her nose against Kate's and whispered "I love you, Mommy."
Kate snuggled her closer, without opening her eyes, she placed kisses all over her daughter's face and said "I love you too, baby girl. What's Daddy doing?"
"He's makin' a surprise for you." Josie rolled onto her back and stuck her thumb back in her mouth, Kate reached for her other hand and Josie grabbed Kate's pinky and wrapped her fist around it.
"So, what kind of surprise is Daddy making?"
Josie giggled again, she loved this game. "I can't tell you."
"I can guess though, right?"
Josie sighed, "Yep, three guesses."
"I bet he's making us ice cream sundaes for breakfast."
She giggled again "Mommy, you slept through breakfast, and I never get ice cream for breakfast when you're home."
Kate smiled, wondering how often Rick actually gave their daughter ice cream for breakfast, she'd have to speak to him about that. "Oh, well, let's see, maybe he's baking cookies for lunch?"
Josie shook her head, not taking her thumb out of her mouth and mumbled "Uh uh"
"Hmmm. I guess I'm going to have to use my detective skills, I sure do smell something yummy, are you sure it isn't cookies? How about cake? Daddy knows I love chocolate cake?"
Kate's eyes were open now and she watched as a smile crept across her daughter's face.
Josie pulled her thumb out of her mouth and looked over at Kate "You lose, Mommy. You used up all your guesses, now you just have to wait."
Kate reached over and pulled Josie close and started tickling her gently under her chin. This brought a fit of giggles from her and Josie tried to escape from her mother's arms. Just then Rick walked in with a tray full of food; including an omelet, a basket of chocolate chip muffins and mugs of steaming hot coffee. She sat up in bed rolling her daughter off of her. This sent Josie into another fit of laughter.
She ran her fingers through her hair, untangling the loose curls, as she arranged the pillows, she looked at Rick and smiled and said "Hey, this smells great, thanks for letting me sleep in."
Josie was so excited she started bouncing up and down beside Kate. "I helped Daddy make the muffins."
Rick looked over to Josie and said, "How about you get the bouncy balls out of your jammies so the coffee doesn't end up all over Mommy." She smiled at her father and immediately stopped bouncing and settled down beside Kate, sticking her thumb back in her mouth.
He placed the tray on Kate's lap and she reached up and placed both hands on his face and gave him a long kiss, he moaned softly and once the tray was safely on her lap, he climbed into the bed beside her. He took a small plate from the tray with a chocolate chip muffin and a sippy cup full of warm cocoa and reached around Kate and handed them to his daughter. Josie pulled her thumb out of her mouth and said "Thanks, Daddy" and started in on her muffin.
Rick sat back up against the pillows and placed his arm around Kate and hugged her tight as she leaned her head on his shoulder and looked up at him and stole another kiss.
"Ummmm, you taste like chocolate chips." She said as they broke away from the kiss smiling and listening to their daughter giggling beside them.
Short, I know. I would still love to hear what you think. Thanks for reading!