A/N: Yay! I finally made a fanfic profile. This is my first go at fan fiction and I'm a little hesitant. Please read and tell me what you think. It's very fluffy.
Disclaimer: I own nothing, all references to Sea Patrol, its characters and anything you recognise belong to McElroy Media and the 9 network. *sigh*
The First Christmas
Christmas was the time of year where people like Mike Flynn realised just how much it sucked being married to their jobs. This year, at least, he wasn't roughing it alone; NAVCOM had invited the crew members of all Cairns based boats that were not part of the holiday skeleton crew to a Christmas Eve party. And so Mike was preparing to spend his first Christmas Eve in just over 8 years in the company of others.
As he straightened his suit one last time, the Hammersley's captain headed for the door. At least for this event they were not required to wear dress whites and so Mike had donned a suit, a nice change from his usual navy attire.
Locking the door of his house behind him, Mike made his way to the waiting taxi and gave the driver the address. He sat back to enjoy the ride and as he did so, couldn't help but wonder what his XO Kate McGregor would be wearing tonight. Stop it Mike, just stop. She doesn't see you like that anymore and neither should you.
A few minutes later, a suburb or two away, Kate McGregor straightened her knee length dress and headed out the door. Always security conscience, she double checked it was locked before she too hopped in a waiting taxi. Mike always loved blue on me, she thought, glancing down at her dress. Kate! You can't think of him like that, it was a long time ago and he doesn't see you in that sense anymore!
No later than 7:30 did both taxis pull up outside the venue for the party.
"Sir" Kate said a little too harshly, not wanting to be disrespectful but not wanting to say much, unsure of what her mouth would do seeing this beautiful man before her.
"Kate, we're not on duty, first names will suffice," Mike replied, nodding his acknowledgment. Damn it Mike! Get your act together. Kate? For Pete's sake.
Only then did the Lieutenant Commander notice just how beautiful his 2IC looked tonight.
"Very well Mike. You're looking handsome tonight," she answered. Geez woman! You can't be saying that to him! He's your boss for crying out loud!
"Kate, you're blushing" he said as she turned her face away from his. He placed a hand on her shoulder but quickly retracted it. "Relax. And may a say, you're looking stunning yourself. Shall we?" He offered her his arm.
Kate nodded in agreement and together they headed towards the ballroom for the function. If this is so wrong why does it feel so right? Kate's thoughts entirely on the man leading her towards the function.
Oh boy, it's going to be a long night. Mike thought as they rounded a corner and entered the ballroom.
"Mike, Kate, lovely to see you." Nikki greeted them; arm around the waist of her husband and Hammersley's electronics technician Josh Holiday.
"Nik! It's so great to see you!" Kate cried, leaving Mike and moving to hug her best friend as the two men shook hands. Now that Nikki had transferred off of Hammersly to be with Josh, she had missed seeing Kate almost daily.
Nikki laughed and hugged her friend back. "It's great to see you too."
Eventually, the four of them found the crew of the HMAS Hammersly and they enjoyed an evening of laughing and talking. Though they had finished their last patrol of the year only 2 weeks prior to the function, when you live in such close proximity with people you get to miss them.
Soon, Marshal began with the speeches, thanking everyone for the year and giving other announcements. Though he knew it was wrong to leave, Mike Flynn went outside, his excuse, needing fresh air. In actual fact, because the crew's were required to sit together, Mike felt that he needed to escape his beautiful XO for a few minutes. He needed to get these job-threatening thoughts out of his head.
Unbeknown to him, Kate had followed Mike, wanting to make sure he was alright. She reached his destination just as he began thinking out loud.
"Damn it. Why does she have to be so beautiful and oblivious to my forbidden lust? Why does she have to be so damn attractive and why the hell did I leave her all those years ago?"
Kate was slightly taken aback. She knew that Mike was talking about her. She decided to make her presence known by coughing softly.
Mike spun around, startled.
"Katie?"
"Yes Mike."
"Katie, I don't know how much you heard but obviously you heard some of my spiel so, here goes. Katie, I love you with all my heart. Turns out I never stopped loving you and I didn't realise until you boarded the Hammersley as my XO 3 years ago. The biggest mistake of my life was when we went our separate ways 8 years ago." He stopped, out of breath and anxiously awaiting her reaction.
"Oh Mike," she said barely audibly as she moved closer to him and wrapped her right arm around him, neither concerned about how inappropriate this was but rather savouring the familiarity of the touch. "I'm glad you said that 'cos Mike Flynn, I never stopped loving you. I just needed to know you felt the same way."
Kate pulled her left arm from behind her back and showed him what she had been hiding, a plastic sprig of mistletoe.
"You cheeky sailor," said Mike, moving his hand to hers and raising both their arms over their heads.
"You know what this means," Kate said cheekily as she leaned towards him.
Their lips met somewhere in the middle and to Kate, it was like coming home; Mike Flynn tasted every bit as she remembered.
"You haven't changed Katie," Mike all but whispered when they pulled apart, speaking her thoughts.
"Maybe one thing has. Maybe I'm ready to make the right choice this time round." She whispered back, snuggling into his chest.
One long last kiss later, Mike spoke "Come on, they're going to be wondering where we are."
And together at last, Lieutenant Commander Mike Flynn and Lieutenant Kate McGregor walked back into the party, both eager for it to finish so they could head home and really celebrate the first Christmas in a long time.
A/N 2: Sorry for the second A/N. I apologise if it was long but I just couldn't spilt it into two parts.I hope you enjoyed it! Please review cos I need to know if people like my writing! I'm also open to suggestions regarding other stories.