A/N: This is so much fun to write. Thanks so much for all the reviews.

Alex unlocked the door top her house and pushed it open. The smell of warm ham hit them both as they walked into the house followed by the lights from the Christmas tree.

"Are you sure we have the right house?" Bobby said looking around.

"Believe me when I say that none of this was here this morning," Alex replied, puzzled by the tree and other decorations hung around the room.

After a minute, she finally saw a note taped to the TV. It was her sister's handwriting.

Lexie-

There's ham in the oven (don't worry, I turned it off before I left) and potato salad in the fridge. I hope you like tree, Dad put it up. Have a good time with Bobby. We love you and we'll see you tomorrow.

Jenny

Alex smiled and looked up at her partner.

"I happened to mention that I was kidnapping you today to take you shopping," she confessed. "I also might have told her that I was going to make you dinner."

"You had this all planned out didn't you?" he said, finally sitting all of the packages down in the kitchen.

"I swear that I had nothing to do with the tree or the ham. I just hadn't had time to get a tree and I was just going to fix us chicken or something," she said, sliding out of her jacket and going over to look at the beautiful tree. There were two presents underneath, one for her and one for Bobby.

"You have a great family," he said, looking at the packages wrapped in silver paper. "Eames, I should really go. You should be with them."

"I want to be with you," she blurted out. "I mean… I meant what I said, you're family. Now let's open these. I never could wait to open my presents."

Bobby took the gift and smiled at Alex, who shook the package like a curious child.

"Open it," he said, sitting down on the couch and enjoying watching her.

Alex sat in the floor and ripped at the paper. Once the paper was shredded, Alex tore at the tape around the white box and flipped open the tissue paper. She held up the long green silk night gown and raised an eyebrow at her partner.

"I'd say that was from your sister and not your dad," Bobby said, more amused than embarrassed.

"You think?" she said, putting it back in the box.

"Aren't you going to try it on?" he teased, still holding his unwrapped box in his hand.

"Not a chance, Goren," she replied with a smile. "Now, you open yours."

Bobby turned the package over and undid the tape and Alex sighed.

"Your one of those," she said impatiently.

"I like to savor the moment," he explained, finally getting the paper off to reveal a Christmas CD and a card. Bobby looked at the card and opened it. It had a beautiful holiday message and an invitation to the Eames family dinner table any time he wanted.

"That was very thoughtful of them," he said, tucking the card in his jacket pocket.

Alex smiled at him. She was touched by her father's gesture. Her dad had never really liked any of Alex's other partners or even most of her boyfriends. He hadn't acted like this around anyone since her husband.

"Bobby, put the CD on the stereo and I'll go fix us an early dinner," Alex said, gathering up the wrapping paper and heading for the kitchen.

Bobby fought with the CD wrapper and finally got it open. In moments, Nat King Cole's soothing voice filled the air and Bobby went in search of his partner.

She was slicing the ham and singing along to the music.

"Can I help?" he asked, coming up behind her.

"Yeah, there's a bottle of wine in the fridge. I could use a glass," she said turning around. She had on an apron that said "Kiss the Cook" with a picture of that guy from the Muppets on it.

Bobby laughed, "Nice apron."

"Gift from my brother," she explained.

Bobby thought for a moment and leaned over and kissed her on the forehead

"Just following orders," he said, getting the wine.

Alex gaped at him. She was amazed by how he could surprise her even after all these years.

Bobby poured the wine and while Alex sat two plates on the counter and filled them with the stuff her sister had left for them.

"It was really nice of your sister to do all of this," Bobby said, taking a bite of the ham.

"Jenny's great," Alex said, knowing that Jenny thought that Alex should tell Bobby how she really felt about him.

As they ate they talked about all of the changes Ross had made around the office, good and bad, until both of them pushed their plates away and couldn't eat any more.

It was beginning to get dark outside, and Alex went over to the back porch and turned the light on.

"Bobby…" Alex said excitedly.

"Yeah," he answered, walking over to look out the back door with her. The ground was now completely covered with snow. It was beautiful fluffy snow, perfect for snowmen and snowball fights.

"It's beautiful," Alex said, clasping onto Bobby's arm and squealing like a little kid.

"Did you just squeal?" Bobby asked, laughing at his partner. "I don't think I've ever heard you squeal."

"Yes I did. There is nothing better than snow on Christmas Eve," she said, happily. "And I don't think I've heard you laugh so much in one day in a long time."

They stood there for a moment just watching the large white flakes fall. She held onto him, relishing in their closeness. He had pushed her away in the last few weeks and she had missed him.

"I should probably get home before it gets too bad," Bobby said regretfully.

Alex looked up at him sadly and said, "Do you have to?"

"If we wait much longer, it's going to be too late and I don't want you out there driving in this stuff," he said, turning away from the window and putting his plate in the sink.

"You still haven't helped me wrap the presents," she whined, putting her own plate in the sink and the rest of the food in the refrigerator. "You could stay. I have a guest room and it's not like you haven't used it before."

Bobby thought a moment before speaking, "Get the paper out and I'll bring the bags to the living room."

Alex smiled and went to find the paper, while Bobby gathered all of their things in the living room.

"Hey Bobby, grab some of that eggnog from the refrigerator," Alex yelled from the bedroom.

Bobby poured them both a large tumbler and waited for her in the living room, restarting the Christmas CD that John Eames had given him.

She came in with her arms full of paper, bows, tape, ribbon and a Santa hat on her head.

He laughed when he saw her and helped her get all of the stuff organized on the floor.

"How about you wrap and I'll do the name tags and ribbons," he offered, sitting across from her on the floor.

"That's fine, but you have to wear the hat," she said, offering him an extra one.

"I'm not the Santa hat wearing type of guy," he said snatching the hat from her hand before she could try to put it on his head.

Alex tried to grab it but his arms were just too quick and too long.

"Give me the hat back," she demanded, going for it again so that now she was straddling one of his legs.

"I don't think so," he said, shoving it quickly behind his back.

"If I get it, you're going to wear it," she challenged, reaching for it again, but failing.

"You keep telling yourself that," he teased. "There's no way you're going to get it, so you might as well give up now. I just don't do Santa hats," he said, tightening his grip on the hat behind his back.

Alex quickly devised her plan in her head and went for it before she lost her nerve. She was now straddling both of Bobby's legs and leaned in so that he could feel her breath on his lips before gently kissing his mouth. The gentle kiss quickly turned more passionate. Alex slipped her tongue in his mouth and moved herself up so that she was sitting in his lap. She felt him moan and when she felt his hands in her hair, she seized her opportunity and grabbed the hat.

Alex quickly moved off of him and smiled like the cat that just ate the canary.

"I told you I could get the hat," she said, placing it on his head.

It took a moment for Bobby to recover and to realize that what had happened was just part of her game.

"You fight dirty, Alexandra Eames," he said, still trying to wrap his mind around the fact that Alex's tongue had just been in his mouth.

"I get what I want too," she said, putting her own Santa hat back on and cutting the paper for the first gift.

TBC