A/N: I just wanted to thank wendykw for the information she gave me that helped shape the first part of this chapter. I told you I would try to incorporate it somewhere, I hope this is okay!

All Rick wanted to do was talk about what he overheard Alexis say to Kate. He wanted to jump around and clap, maybe even declare it a Christmas miracle. He could tell that Kate was excited too, the way that her shoulders hunched up and her head squished down as the shuffled out of the room, her lips clamped shut despite the corners of her mouth pulling upward. She could hardly contain it.

Once out, she cut his celebration short with a soft hand at his shoulder. "I know you're excited, trust me, I am too. But please don't draw attention to it." Her face had returned to it's neutral state but her elation shone through in her eyes. "She's half asleep, she might not even realize what she just said. And if she goes back to saying 'Mama Kate' or even just 'Mama' tomorrow, she needs to know that I'm okay with that."

They walked to the living room together, his arm snaked around her back. "Why would she go back?"

Kate's quiet laughter filled the room as she pulled the couch cushions off the pull out couch. "You haven't noticed?" His silence must have been enough of an answer for her, as she continued to explain. "She's been bouncing between 'Mama' and 'Mama Kate' for weeks now." She settled on the right side of the bed. "I've been refusing to get my hopes up each time she drops my name, and trying not to be disappointed each time she goes back. I've kind of realized that she'll settle on something to call me on her own, and whatever it is I'll be happy with it."

Rick kneeled on the bed, pressing a kiss to her temple. "You're amazing." She let out a content sigh as he pulled away, standing next to the bed. "So, I was going to help your Dad bring the presents up from the basement, do you want to make our bed?"

She nodded, straightening the sheets that were already on the mattress. "Sounds like a plan. I'll come help you when I'm done."

Rick followed the sound of Jim's footsteps down to the basement, where Kate had been hiding presents for weeks. He stacked as many presents as he could fit in his arms, and followed the older man upstairs. Martha helped them arrange the gifts in the most appealing way that they could, the boxes spilling out from around the tree. Kate helped with round two, and helped arrange everything around the tree. When they were finished, Martha disappeared to her room, and Kate kissed her father goodnight, her arms wrapping around his neck.

As Rick adjusted one more gift before climbing into bed, he felt Kate's presence behind him, her hand resting in the small of his back. "Just wait for a minute." She faced the tree, her eyes closed and a smile on her face. "Enjoy the peace with me for a little bit." He snaked his arm around her and copied her, closing his eyes. The fire was still snapping, and he could feel the warmth of it on the side of his face. The room smelled of sugar cookies and pine needles. And even though his eyes were closed, he could still see the light from the Christmas tree.

He tightened his grip on Kate, pulling her into him and pressing another kiss to her forehead. "Merry Christmas." They climbed into their bed then, Kate settling into his arms, her head on his chest, and they drifted off listening to the sound of the crackling fire.

Alexis woke them the next morning, jumping on the bed. She landed on Rick's chest, her head burrowing down on his shoulder and her hair in his mouth. "It's Christmas! It's Christmas! Get up, get up, get up!" He heard Kate laughing and felt her shift as she sat up, brushing Alexis' hair out of his face.

"Don't you think we should wait for Bean, Martha, and my Dad?"

"Bean is already awake." Alexis answered. Kate's eyebrows raised as she looked at the redhead, slightly annoyed. Alexis raised her hands in defense. "She was already awake, I swear! I didn't do anything to wake her up!"

Kate just grinned and laughed in response, hauling herself out of bed and jogging down the hall. When she returned, Jim was following behind her, Carrie wiggling in his arms. An exhausted looking Martha followed behind the group, her red hair wild, her arms stretching above her head. The exhaustion didn't last long as the girls opened presents, each squealing with delight as the paper came off their new toys. They played with things for a little while, until Bean's little voice asked, "Ice again?" So they strapped on the skates and went back down to the lake. Rick was excited to see that Alexis had a bit more confidence after she and Kate had spent time zooming around the lake the day before. The one who really cracked him up though, was Carrie. That girl was fearless on the ice. She loved to try and go faster, she even tried to jump. Whenever she fell, she didn't cry, and instead picked herself up and made herself continue. When Rick tried to help her, she waved her hand in the air and shook her head. "No no no! Bean do! Don't touch me!" Rick had backed away, his hands up by his eyes.

The cookie decorating contest went unjudged, as they were unable to find an impartial judge. Instead, each person shared whose cookies they liked best and why. They ate their cookies, drank hot chocolate, and played with their toys until the girls started getting sleepy. Rick and Kate put them to bed earlier than usual, and started to pack things up for their trip home tomorrow. Kate and Carrie would go back to their apartment for the night, to sort things and figure out what would go back to Rick's. Kate also needed to go through old clothing and figure out what she wanted to donate. They made their way around the tree, picking up toys and sorting them into piles, Kate's place or Rick's place.

Jim and Martha sipped on cocoa by the fire. "When are you two going to just give up this charade and move in together? You're engaged, for goodness sakes!" Martha asked, sitting comfortably in the chair, her legs bent underneath her.

"We're working on that. We just both have so much stuff, and Carrie has so much stuff, and it's a bit overwhelming." Kate answered, taking a break and settling on the couch next to her father. "Plus, I work a ton of hours, and I like to spend my time off with my family, not packing."

Rick sat next to her, handing her a mug of hot chocolate, and sitting back to enjoy the conversation.

"You know," Jim started, "you can always request time off, and take that time to pack. I get worried about you anyway."

Rick watched her spectacular eye roll that she shot at her father. "Dad, I'm fine. I pretty much just sit in a surveillance van and listen to the wires. I can do on-site translations, I help the team know what's up. I never see any sort of action, and I haven't even needed to draw a gun on anyone. I'm safe, I promise!"

"So you've told me." His hand had found it's way to her knee, and Rick wondered if the soothing gesture was meant to calm Kate, or to reassure Jim that she was in fact, okay. "Can I be a nagging father here?" She sighed, but nodded her head, indicating for him to continue. "Have you worked on a will yet?"

She threw her head back, her eyes closed. "I said I'm safe, and you start talking about a will? Come one, Dad, where is this coming from?"

"You might be safe but what if, Katie? What if something bad happens to you? Don't you want to make sure Carrie is taken care of?"

"I have life insurance. She'll be taken care of."

Jim raised his eyebrows and waited for Kate to look him in the eye again. "Yes, but do you want her to have it all when she turns eighteen? Do you want stipulations, like she has to use it for college, or can she just have it all? You were forced to learn to be responsible with your money, how do you think it would have gone if you didn't have to be though?" That got her looking at him, her face serious as she listened. "Would you have looked for a job, or used it for school, or would you have used it frivolously because of the lack of guidance on my part? You can say in your will how you want her to use that money, set her up for life."

Kate nodded, playing with the handle of her cup. "Okay, I get it."

Jim continued. "And lets say something happens to you before you get married, before this whole adoption thing happens. What happens to Carrie in the meantime? You can decide all of that and put it in your will."

"I can?"

"Richard was supposed to go to my oldest friend Irene who lived in the city. My parents wouldn't have taken him, and she was the most stable option I could think of." Martha spoke up, leaning forward in her chair to address the couple.

"Ew, Mother! She had like, seven cats or something!" The room laughed as he wrinkled his nose in disgust.

Kate moved her hands in front of her, stopping the discussion. "Okay, I understand now. I'll work on that when we get home. It's my new year's resolution."

Jim tapped her knee, a grin on his face. "Good. I'll stop nagging for a little bit now." He pulled himself off of the couch, setting his cup down on the end table. "I think I'm going to hit the hay. I had forgotten how tiring Christmas with little ones could be."

"Goodnight, Dad."

"Goodnight, Jim. Merry Christmas." The room chorused.

They spent some time out in the living room, chatting with Martha, until she retired for the night, citing their long trip tomorrow. Rick and Kate finished cleaning and packing what they could before sinking into bed themselves, exhausted from their busy holiday.

Once back in the city, life returned to normal. Kate went back to working crazy hours, even volunteered to be on hand during New Year's Eve. Rick was somewhat disappointed he couldn't spend it with her, and had to remind himself that he got to spend an entire three days with her for Christmas. The New Year wasn't really that big of a deal.

After New Year's, Kate's case picked up. She woke early each morning and went into work, and sometimes wouldn't return until after the girls were in bed. She always looked run down when she finally returned home, bags under her eyes, her muscles stiff. And on her few days off (it seemed like she was lucky to get one day off a week) all she wanted to do was sleep. So the next day, as she woke, he grabbed her and pulled her close. "This case is running you down. Call out sick and relax one more day."

She chuckled, turning her head to press a kiss to his lips. "That sounds wonderful."

He sighed, releasing her. "I sense a 'but' coming."

She turned to face him, meeting his eye. "I'm close to a breakthrough, I can feel it." She assured him. "I'm not the only one this is exhausting." She continued, as she rolled away from him. He watched her get ready, pulling on a blouse and grey pants. Her hair she pulled back into a high ponytail. "Hopefully soon this will all be behind us, and work will return to normal."

He didn't like the way that she said it. She sounded almost disappointed, and somber. Her shoulders drooped as she watched herself in the mirror. He almost said something. Almost. But he had learned that pushing her for information that she didn't want to give never turned out well. So he just nodded and flashed her a brilliant smile. "I'm looking forward to the moment that you break this case, babe."

She turned to him then, mirroring his smile. She climbed over her side of the bed and pressed another kiss to his lips. "Thank you for that. I needed that vote of confidence!" She made her way to the door, grabbing a long leather jacket out of their closet. "I'll see you tonight. Love you."

"Love you too." He waited until he heard the front door close before he rested his head again, drifting back to sleep.

After they walked Alexis to school, Rick and Carrie had a fun filled day. They put on a concert, Rick somehow managing to play a toy trumpet, maracas, and a tambourine all at once. They watched the Little Mermaid. Twice. And they played catch around the loft, Carrie squealing with delight each time Rick caught her and held her upside down.

Right after lunch, she started yawning and rubbing at her eyes. Rick kneeled down next to her, brushing her curls out of her face. "Hey, Bean! Why don't you go pick out a book for us to read? We can have some quiet time."

"Bean not tired." She told him, her brown eyes meeting his.

Rick nodded enthusiastically. "I know! No nap, just quiet time, okay?"

She studied him, deciding if she believed him or not, before sliding off the couch and walking over to where her books were located on the bookcase downstairs. "Read bean book, Daddy?"

He grinned, crawling over to her. "Okay, we can read your bean book." He scanned the shelves, looking for it.

"Where it go?" She asked, pulling a few books down as she searched.

He racked his brain. It was always here. "I'm looking, sweetheart."

Bean threw her arms down in defeat. "It's wost."

"It's not lost." But where was the last place he saw it? It was always here. They read it before bed, before naps, and any other time the mood struck them. The last time he remembered seeing it, Jim was reading it to her. At the cabin. No, that wasn't right, his Mother read it to her in the car on the way back. So if it wasn't here then… "It's not lost! It's at Mommy's house!"

He head shot up, and a grin stretched across her face. "Go Mommy's house, get bean book!"

"Later, after we get Alexis." He assured her.

"Get Lexis now!"

Rick chuckled, shaking his head. "Not now, she's not done with school yet!"

Carrie stood up, and grabbed on to his shoulder, fake grunting as she pulled to get him to stand. Her hand slipped into his. "Come on, Daddy! Go get Lexis!"

He had to laugh as she pulled him toward the door, the determined look on her face reminding him so much of her mother. "Carrie! We can't yet!" He kneeled down again to talk with her. "Do you want to watch Aurora once with me, and then we can go get Alexis?"

She narrowed her eyes, weighing her options. "Okay." She answered slowly, as if she was worried it was still a trick. Rick settled with her in his lap, the movie playing at a low volume while she fought sleep.

The timing was perfect, because by the time the movie was over, it was time to go get Alexis. He bundled Carrie up and put her in the stroller, and they went on their merry way.

Alexis attacked him when she saw them, a flying leap into his arms as her own limbs wrapped around his neck. "How was school, Pumpkin?"

"Great!" She pulled a piece of paper out of her pocket, waving it in his face. "I aced my spelling test!"

"Again?" He feigned shock, pointing to the green smiley face sticker in the corner. "Maybe you should be the author in the family!"

She rolled her eyes at him, a trait she was learning from Kate. "I don't want to be a writer!"

They walked down the sidewalk, making their way to Kate's apartment to grab the bean book while she was at work. He felt the key she had given him months ago in his pocket. Still unused, but added to his keychain just in case. "What do you want to be?"

Alexis shrugged, falling into step next to him. "I don't know. Maybe a doctor. Or a vet! Or I could be a pilot, or an astronaut!"

"Space cowgirl?"

"Dad!" She laughed, bumping into him as they walked.

At Kate's apartment building, the doorman marveled at how big the girls were getting before allowing them upstairs, giving them each a lollipop as they passed the desk. Once in front of her door, he slid the key in for the first time, allowing Alexis to turn the handle and enter first.

Rick almost hit Alexis with Carrie's stroller. She had stopped just inside the door. "Pumpkin, you have to move!"

"Alexis! Shoot, don't look!" Came the familiar voice. Kate was kneeling in front of her coffee table, papers strewn everywhere. She was covering photos with blank pieces, and official looking reports. "I'm sorry, sweetheart. Just please don't look at the pictures, okay?"

Rick scratched his head, trying to make sense of it all. She said she was working, so why was she here? And why were there pictures of… is that a dead body? He turned Alexis by her shoulders so she was facing him, and not the mess on the table. "I'm sorry to barge in, but Carrie wanted her bean book, and I'm pretty sure it got brought here by mistake. I thought you were working a case."

"I am."

"At the station?"

Her eyes scrunched closed and guilt washed across her features. "Not today. Today I'm working on this case."

He glanced around at the few pictures he could still see. "But, you work vice, and you are helping translate. This looks like a homicide. What case are you working, Kate?"

Her eyes opened, and she flicked them to him for a split second before looking away again. "My mother's."

A/N: Please don't hate me...