A/N: Sorry about the delay in getting this up! I was hoping to get it posted last night, but it didn't quite work out that way. Thanks to everyone who took the time to review last chapter! I hope you enjoy this one!


"Come on, Blue," Rossi said the next morning. "We're going to be late."

"I can't find Henry's other…mitten!" JJ exclaimed joyfully as she straightened, holding up the red knit item with a grin. "Found it! Henry," she called. The little boy came running into the living room with his coat already buttoned up to his chin and a mitten on his left hand. "There," JJ said as she put the other one on his chubby little hand. "I think that means we're ready." She lifted Henry into her arms and kissed the tip of his nose. "Oh," she said as she turned to Rossi. "You only need to call me Blue when my parents are around," she informed him. "No need to put on a show for no one to see."

"Sounds good…Ocean Eyes."


"Your mother's name is Beth, and your father's name is Phillip," Rossi recited a bit later as he took a ticket and pulled into the airport parking lot.

She nodded in affirmation.

"You went to college on a soccer scholarship, and graduated number two in your class."

"Yes," she told him.

"OK," Rossi said. "I think I know everything I need to know."

"Ahhh…" JJ teased with a grin. "A know it all."

With a grin, he carefully pulled into the closest parking spot he could find—thanks to the mitten fiasco they were running late—and turned the vehicle off.

JJ reached across the seat and lightly touched his arm. "Rossi," she started.

"Dave," he corrected.

"Dave," she repeated firmly. "I can't tell you how much I appreciate this. My parents worry about me, and…well, that's the last thing I want…the last thing they need. I…thank you," she said sincerely.

His lips began to twitch. "You might want to rethink that sentiment tonight when I'm hogging the blankets," he informed her.

JJ's cheeks immediately began to flame when he reminded her of the fact that they'd be spending the night together.


JJ took her spot between Rossi and Henry after placing the platter of cold cuts on the table, and forced a grin in her parent's direction. "Dig in," she told them, reaching for a roll. She layered it with sandwich meat and cheese, and then put some crackers on the plate before depositing it in front of her son. "Eat up, Little Man."

There was an uncomfortable air around the table, and JJ wasn't able to put her finger on quite why. She wasn't sure if her parents had had a fight on the plane or what it was, but it was unnerving. She was already playing the part of happy girlfriend. Peacemaking daughter might be enough to send her over the edge.

"So, Mr. Rossi," her father suddenly said as he rested his forearms on the table and clasped his hands together. "Perhaps you can explain to me exactly what it is you find so fascinating about my young daughter."

JJ's jaw nearly dropped at her father's words. "Dad!" she exclaimed, as the sound of her fork clattering against the table filled the room. She turned to Rossi. "Dave, you don't have to answer that," she informed him.

He reached over and gently placed his hand on hers. "It's OK," he assured her. And the warmth in his eyes immediately diffused any tension she'd been feeling as she smiled softly at him.

He turned to look her father square in the eye. "To answer the question you're too polite to ask, yes. I am aware of the age difference between your daughter and me. And believe me when I tell you that…this," he swept his hand back and for between JJ and himself. "…wasn't something I expected to happen. So...I took everything I was feeling for her, and I pushed it aside." His pulled his eyes away from Phillips and fixed his gaze on the topic of conversation. "But when I saw the hurt she felt after everything that happened with…" Rossi turned to look at Henry and smiled softly. "Suffice it to say, I never want to see that look in her eyes again. But there's only one man I know who'd move heaven and earth to make sure that never happened again." He looked at her father again. "Any other questions?" he asked in a courteous tone.

"No," her father said quietly. "Nothing else."

Beth smiled warmly. "I like that answer."


"…Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night," JJ said as she finished up Henry's bedtime story. "Good night, Little Man," she said as she leaned down and kissed him on the cheek.

"Santa," Henry said, his eyes lighting up.

"Yes," she said with a smile as she pushed his hair off his forehead. "When you wake up in the morning, Santa will have come."

"Presents!" Henry said excitedly.

JJ couldn't help but laugh. She wasn't even sure he understood the concept of Christmas; she thought he might just be playing off her own excitement. "Yes, Baby," she said. "He's going to leave you some presents."

With a grin, Henry tugged the blankets up to his chin and squeezed his eyes shut. Unable to help herself, she leaned down and kissed him again before standing. By the time she'd made her way to her bedroom, Rossi was already tucked beneath the blankets. With a nervous grin, she plucked her pajamas off the foot of the bed and headed quickly for the adjoining bathroom. She nearly fell on her face when she tripped in her hastiness, and when she shut the bathroom door, it was to the sound of Dave chuckling.


Twenty-five minutes later, after she'd done her nightly routine and plucked her eyebrows (some of which didn't even need to be plucked) JJ sighed and decided it was time to take the plunge. She was going to have to go crawl into bed with David Rossi.

And how awkward was that going to be? And…how much of what he'd said earlier had been true? Had he seen the look in her eyes…been able to see the devastation she'd felt? If so, she shouldn't be that surprised. The man was, after all, a profiler. And a damn good talker.


"I don't think your parents liked me," Rossi said in amusement as she tucked the blankets snugly around herself.

"I think you won them over," she commented dryly. Once the ice had been broken, Rossi and her father had acted like long lost fraternity brothers with all their laughing and joking. No one had been able to get a word in edgewise.

"They just need to know that someone is looking after you, JJ," Dave remarked softly.

Just seven days ago, if anyone had told JJ she'd be lying in bed on Christmas Eve having pillow talk with David Rossi…she never would have believed them. And she certainly wouldn't have thought he'd be charming her.


The cool blue Christmas lights blinking just outside of JJ's bedroom window weren't enough to take Dave Rossi's mind off of current events. He knew he found JJ attractive…he'd known that for a while now. But until he'd actually spoken the words aloud to her father, he'd had no idea just how deep those feelings ran.

But he'd made the decision a long time ago that he wasn't going to do love again. He'd tried it many times…and each instance had ended unsuccessfully. It was the third time that was supposed to be the charm, and clearly that hadn't been the case for him.

Did he have the courage to believe that he could finally get it right? Now…after all of these years?

And if not now, then when? This was, after all, the season of miracles wasn't it?