At shortly after 2AM, his coffee tasted different than it did in the office.
The bitterness was replaced with a feeling of subdued purpose, his aching muscles reminding him of the years on the force that hadn't been kind to his body and the never-ending cadence of time marching on, sometimes a lot faster than he cared to admit, making one day blend into the next.
And before he knew it, another year was over with.
The Midnight Mass had been his highlight of the week, no doubt, rivaled only by the unexpected Christmas gift he'd received in the office.
The kind gesture still threatened to make his eyes well up with tears many hours after the fact; the thought and love that had been put into it absolutely heartwarming, especially in a year that had challenged everyone to the very core.
Taking another long sip, Mike headed to the living room, where a folded up copy of today's San Francisco Telegraph awaited his arrival patiently- at least the sports section thereof.
After a brief review, he put the paper back down and got off his chair, too antsy to sit down after a long day of chasing shadows.
As he stood by the bay window overlooking the city he called his stomping grounds, it was a set of headlights stopping in front of his house that caught his attention. Much to his surprise, it was Jeannie exiting the Tri-Circle Cab, the driver having a hard time dragging her heavy luggage out of the trunk before carrying it up the stairs.
"What in the world…"
Torn between surprise and utter delight at the sight of his beloved daughter, Mike set the coffee down on the side table, then opened the front door in unmasked enthusiasm.
As the chilly breeze of a starry night filled his living room, so did the warmth of Jeannie's smile as she climbed up the stairs to his front door, a broad smile on her face.
"Well good morning, Mike! And Merry Christmas!"
"I thought you weren't going to be here until later today…", he returned surprised, then wrapped his daughter in a tight embrace, before kissing her on the cheek.
"I ended up changing my tickets to an earlier trip. I thought I'd be nice to surprise you for once!"
Beneath the wily smile, there was deep love shining through Jeannie's blue eyes, as she gratefully accepted her father's help to bring in her luggage, along with a generous tip for the cab driver.
"You must have been travelling all night. Aren't you tired?"
"Not tired enough to see you!", Jeannie returned and took off her tweed coat, before following her father back into the living room.
"So what did you do with Eric? He didn't want to come?"
His curiosity disguised in an innocent question made Jeannie hesitate for a moment, her glance wandering over to Helen's picture, as she wrapped her arms across her chest.
"He…was busy. And it seemed that…after everything that's been going on this year…I guess I felt it would be nice to talk to you without him around. You know? Just the two of us. Figure things out that we couldn't do over the phone."
When her voice was beginning to shake, Mike reached for her shoulders, gently squeezing them as he smiled warmly.
"I'd like that very much, Jean."