December 2 - 2017

The baby is picking up on his restlessness, and it's making her antsy as well. Rick has been pacing the loft in circles for the last half hour, Lily in his arms. She's chattering away in that babbling baby talk he loves so much. Her favourite toy of the moment, a wooden caterpillar whose legs twist and make sounds, is tight in her little fist. A couple of times she's smacked him in the face with it in her excitement.

Kate texted him thirty minutes ago to say she was leaving the precinct, which means she'll be home soon. She took a whole six months off after Lily was born, so it's only been a few weeks that she's been back at work at all. He's still figuring out how to do this without her. Not taking care of their daughter, he's got that covered, but functioning around the chasm of her absence. He constantly catches himself turning to say did you see that?

Every evening, she comes home to them. It's worth not having her in the daytime just to see the way Lily's whole face lights up when Kate walks through the door.

"Hey, Lilypad, wanna look at the tree?" he murmurs.

Lily smiles widely and pats his cheek. "Dada."

"That's right, sweet girl. Let's go look at the pretty lights."

He walks with her over to the tree and stops in front of it, far enough away that she can't reach to grab hold of anything. She's just starting to pull herself up to standing now, and they're both terrified that she's going to bring the whole thing down on top of herself.

"See this one? Grandpa got that for you." Rick points out the Baby's First Christmas ornament Jim had given them last week. He came by to help decorate, along with Martha and Alexis. With five adults there, they were actually able to get everything up in record time even with their eight month old crawling around the floor and grabbing for everything.

After they were done, Jim had given Kate the box with the ornament inside. It's tasteful, inscribed with Lily's name and the year. Rick taps it to make it spin around on its string and Lily gasps, transfixed by it. The tree lights reflect off of the ornament and she reaches out a tiny hand, her fingers starfished.

"No, Lilypad." Rick dwarfs her hand in his. He brings her grumpy fist to his mouth and pretends as if he's going to munch on it. She squeals with laughter and squirms in his arms. "Just for looking. No touching."

Rick dusts his lips to the dark cap of Lily's hair. Right at the crown of her head she still has that newborn smell and he breathes deeply. It makes her giggle, and then she wriggles violently in his grip. Her babbling gets louder, grouchier, and he laughs.

"Okay, okay. Here." He sets her down on the floor. She starts crawling almost before she even touches the ground, charging for the play station they got her recently. It has various levers and buttons and flashing lights, and Lily is endlessly entertained by it.

When the door opens he's on the couch, taking photos of Lily while she plays. These days his entire camera roll is full of pictures of their daughter, of her and Kate. His wife chuckles from the doorway and he whips around to see her.

"Hi. How was work?"

"Exhausting." Kate sheds her coat and steps out of her heels. Her hair spills in those attractive curls over her shoulders and she catches it up in a ponytail. "Had to discipline one of my detectives. I'm still not used to it. It's so awkward."

He gets up from the couch to meet her in the entryway. Kate leans against his chest and sighs. He kisses her forehead, gives her a minute to shed her day. When she straightens up again she's smiling. She kisses him, freezing fingers curled at his ears.

"Never mind," she says. "I'm here now."

Lily is only just noticing that Kate is home. She yells out her joy, calls for her mama over and over until Kate goes to scoop her up.

"Hi, my beautiful girl. Hey there. Did you have a good day with Daddy?"

Their daughter babbles away and Kate listens attentively, talking back to her. She keeps Lily on her hip as she moves through the loft, holding their daughter with one arm tight around her while she rummages in the refrigerator for a snack.

Lily clamours for the carrot sticks and Kate breaks one in half for her, passes it over. She's just figuring out hand-eye coordination, so her self-feeding can get quite messy, but she chomps happily on the carrot. Rick follows his wife through to the bedroom and takes Lily from her, settling on the end of the bed while Kate changes into leggings. While she gets dressed she chats to him, offering up the details of her day. Every so often, her voice rises in pitch as she responds to something Lily has garbled at her.

"Come here, baby girl." Kate scoops Lily up again and squeezes her tight. "She had any dinner?"

"Yeah, she'll just need a last bottle before bed. You hungry?"

"Starving." She says it so firmly that Lily's eyes fly to her face. A tentative hand reaches out and lands at Kate's cheek.

"I know, sweetheart. Mommy gets grumpy when she's hungry, huh?"

Kate pokes his shoulder and he snags her finger, kisses the tip of it. Her face melts into tenderness, the way it has done so many times since their daughter was born. She smoothes her thumb underneath his eye, her palm at his cheek.

"You open the calendar today?"

"Nope. Haven't burned the candle either. Waiting on you."

He found a calendar online that was perfect for Lily. It has twenty four reindeer on a garland, and each one's shiny red nose is a balloon. Every day they pop the balloon, and he and Kate have been taking it in turns to eat the chocolate inside. Rick felt cruel eating chocolate in front of their daughter, but Kate has insisted that she doesn't want her having candy until she's at least a year old.

It's her turn to get the chocolate today, which means Rick gets to be the one to burst the balloon. Kate keeps a tight hold of their daughter, far back enough that it won't explode in her face. He uses a push pin from his office and jabs it into the balloon. Lily's face goes slack with shock for just a second, and then she giggles and claps her hands and grins widely at them.

He untangles the chocolate from the rubber and pops it into Kate's mouth. Her eyes flutter closed and she hums, the very tip of her tongue darting out to touch her lips. She's so alluring, and ever since their daughter was born he's found her more beautiful every day.

"Do you want to get her ready for bed and I'll make some dinner?"

"Good plan." She rewards him with a kiss, and then she disappears upstairs with Lily.

While he cooks he can hear the sounds of bath time upstairs. Lily loves the water, loves doing her best to splash whoever it is that's bathing her. He can hear her high, happy voice and Kate's lower, more melodious one as she talks back to their baby girl.

The two of them reappear, Lily in her red and white striped onesie. She looks like a candy cane and he kisses her cheek, smelling baby shampoo and the sweetness of her beneath it. He gets a kiss from his wife as well. Her hair is piled on top of her head now, little curling tendrils escaping to frame her face. Just gorgeous. Want flares in his guts and he touches his tongue to the corner of her lips.

She moans softly and breaks apart from him. "Need help?"

"Not with dinner."

That makes her laugh, which makes Lily laugh in echo. Kate bounces the baby in her arms and leans her head in close to Lily's. "Alright, sweet girl. Let's get out of Daddy's way, huh?"

He is thoroughly distracted all the way through finishing dinner. Kate is on the couch, her feet pulled up and Lily leaning against the slope of her thighs. She makes faces at their daughter and sings to her. Lily is absolutely enthralled by Kate, has been from the moment she came red-faced and silent into the world.

Once he's done he calls Kate over to the dining table. She slides Lily into the high chair and takes her seat beside her. While they eat they appease her with little scraps of their dinner and she plays happily with her toys. Lily is just discovering that she has better control over her grip now, and her new favourite game is to drop a toy on the floor and wait for one of her parents to pick it up for her. Over and over again, but she's so delighted by it that neither of them really minds.

"Have you decided what vacation days you're gonna take?"

"I was thinking Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and then New Year's Eve and Day. Work the days in between. That okay?"

Rick reaches for her hand across the table and squeezes her fingers. "You know I want you here all the time. Those six months maternity leave were the best six months of my life. But that sounds wonderful, honey."

"You big sap," she grins at him. Her hand flips underneath his so she can lace their fingers together. Her thumb strokes slow circles at the heel of his palm and she eats with her left hand.

"Mama!"

"Yes baby?" Kate turns to see their daughter. Lily points insistently at some of the cucumber from the salad he made. "You want to try some?"

She offers it to Lily and their daughter takes it in her fist. She waves it around for a minute or so, but they're practicing letting her eat things in her own time. It goes better if she's allowed to explore it before it goes in her mouth, so they leave her to it. They continue their conversation, watching her from the corner of their eyes. When she finally crunches on it, her face lights up and she beams at them.

"Mama! Dada! Yum!"

"I'll get her some more." Rick collects the cucumber from the fridge and chops it into batons for his baby girl. She watches him from her high chair, waving her fists in delight, and when he comes back and passes the cucumber to her she claps her hands.

Kate is watching their daughter, her elbow propped against the table and her chin in the bowl of her palm. "She's so perfect, Rick. How did we get so lucky?"

"Of course she's perfect with you as her mom." He sinks into the chair next to Kate's and wraps his arm around her shoulders. She's warm and soft and she leans against him. "You okay?"

"Yeah. Just- I miss her. Both of you. Work is good, I still love it, but it's not everything anymore. It hasn't been for a really long time."

He studies her for a long moment. "Are you in pain today?"

"Yeah. How'd you know?"

"Makes you maudlin." She laughs, and then she lays her head against his shoulder. "Put her down after this, and then you can take a bath or something?"

"Good plan."

"And Kate? You don't ever need to miss us. Just say the word and we'll come bring you lunch or something."

Lily starts to fuss now that she's finished with her cucumber. Kate plucks her from the high chair and snuggles her close, murmuring something into the shell of her ear. Their daughter is, as always, thrilled to be getting cuddles with Mommy. Rick tightens his arms around his wife's shoulders, keeping both of his girls close.

Everyone seems to think it's hilarious that Rick spends most of his time surrounded by women, but he wouldn't have it any other way. These two dark haired beauties, and Alexis and his mother, are his whole world. Something about the holiday season makes him especially grateful for all the blessings life has brought him.

"Hey?" Kate's elbow nudges against his side. "Help me put her down?"

She's already standing, heading for the stairs, but he has to stay where he is for a moment longer. He's struck by how incredibly lucky he is, and when she turns back to him with an eyebrow arched he can only smile.

"Right behind you, Kate."