A/N: This little story came to me while listening to a Christmas CD a few weeks back, finally had a chance to get it down. Hope you all enjoy. :)
Rebecca Monroe Messer had learned long ago that the third step from the top offered the best view of the living room below. And, if you sit far enough back, you're hidden by the shadows. There were many nights that she snuck out of her room and hid on the step, anxious to see what Mommy and Daddy were doing that was so exciting they got to stay up after she had to go to bed. Most of the time what they did was boring, they just sat on the couch next to each other watching TV. Sometimes they seemed to be having fun, Daddy would tickle Mommy until she laughed and laughed, then they'd get a strange look on their faces and Rebecca knew she had to hurry into her room before Mommy and Daddy caught her hiding on their way to bed.
Tonight, Rebecca was hiding for a different reason. It was Christmas Eve, and she was determined that this year she was going to see Santa. She heard her friends whispering that their older brothers and sisters didn't believe Santa was real. Rebecca, already a budding scientist, was determined to prove them wrong. So, she sat on the stairs quietly, patiently waiting until Santa appeared.
"What you doing, Becca?" a sleepy voice asked behind her and she jumped, turning quickly and putting her finger to her mouth, shushing the intruder. Her baby brother blinked sleepy blue eyes at her before carefully climbing down the steps to snuggle against her side.
"What are you doing up, Jason?" she asked in a hushed voice, "You should be asleep in your bed." At 8 years old she considered herself to be quite grown up and her brother still a baby. Jason, at three, was rapidly leaving the baby stage behind him, however.
"Woke up, you weren't there so I found you." Rebecca sighed, she knew that Jason didn't like waking up alone.
"I'm waiting for Santa. You can wait too if you want, but you need to stay very quiet so Mommy and Daddy don't catch us. Can you do that?"
Jason nodded, his eyes already drifting shut when a thumping sound from the back door caused both children to sit up straight. Pressing themselves closer to the wall the children watched as a figure in a red suit and hat tromped into the living room, their mother close behind.
Rebecca's heart leapt, Santa was really real! Frowning, she bit her lip, now how would she prove to the kids at school he had really come to her house? Mesmerized, they watched in silence as Santa dropped the sack he'd been carrying over his shoulder and proceeded to pull out brightly wrapped packages of all different sizes. With their mother's help Santa put all the presents under the tree, except for one small box that he handed to her where she stood in the archway to the living room, a bough of mistletoe directly above her.
Rebecca watched as Mommy opened the box and gasped in delight. She wasn't close enough to hear the words that passed between her and Santa, but Rebecca recognized the look on her mother's face. When her mother pulled Santa closer and reached up to kiss him under his snowy white beard, her eyes widened. And when Santa grabbed her mother's hand and started towards the stairs Rebecca and Jason scrambled to their feet, nearly tripping in their haste to return to their bedroom. Closing the door softly behind them she scrambled onto her bed, Jason right behind.
"Becca, did you see that? Mommy kissed someone and it wasn't Daddy!"
"Shh, Jason, or you're going to wake Daddy up. I saw it, what do you think Daddy would say if he knew about it? We can never, never tell him. Pinky swear."
Outside the bedroom door Santa turned to his wife and pulled off the beard with a grin. "I think we got them, Montana."
Laughing softly Lindsay replied, "That we did, Danny. That we did."