Lucy was sitting in the backseat of her parent's car, staring out the window, trying her hardest not to yawn. It was only eight o'clock and she was already tired, but she couldn't be. It was New Year's Eve, and she wanted to stay up to midnight like all of the adults. She just needed something to entertain her, which she was hoping this party her parents were dragging her to would do just that.

"So Messer, who're you planningon kissing tonight?" Lindsay asked, a hint of teasing in her voice. Lucy's ears perked up at her mother's words and her curiosity took over. This should be interesting. After all, Lucy thought that her daddy only kissed her mommy.

"Oh you know, I'm hopin' there'll be some hot blonde at this party tonight," Danny answered, grinning when Lindsay smacked him on the arm. "Kidding, I'm kidding. I'll be kissing you at midnight."

"What makes you think I want to kiss you?" Lindsay asked, "I may find someone else."

"Woah now, Montana. This ain't a swinger's party that we're goin' to. There's gonna be kids at this party," Danny said, glancing back at Lucy.

"You're the one who started it--"

"Mommy, Daddy," Lucy said suddenly, "Why are you guys wantin' to kiss people at midnight?"

"It's a tradition. People always kiss people at midnight," Lindsay answered.

"Why?"

"Because who you spend New Year's Eve with will determine how you spend the rest of the year," Danny said, causing Lindsay to laugh, "What?"

"Babe, have you been watching The O.C. on SoapNet again?"

"What? No, why wouldyou think that?"

"Because that's definitely a line from the show," Lindsay said, smirking at him.

"Whatever, it's still true," he said, directing the conversation to Lindsay instead of Lucy, "All the New Year's Eves I spend with random women, the rest of my year didn't go well, but the year I spend it alone, I met you during that year," he explained.

"Oh, I find that hard to believe. Danny Messer, alone on New Year's Eve? What, were you having surgery?"

"No. I had the flu," Danny said, ignoring the laughter from his wife.

Lucy rolled her eyes at the conversation her parents were having. She was annoyed by the fact that they seemed to have forgotten that she was there.

"So do I get to kiss a boy at midnight?" Lucy asked innocently, smiling when they both stopped talking about whatever it was they were talking about. She had their attention again.

"Hell no," Danny answered automatically. "Wait, I take that back. You can kiss me, but I'm the only one."

"But why?" Lucy asked.

"Because it's a rule. A rule that says no litle girls that have a daddy are allowed to kiss other boys, especially little girls named Lucy."

"But Daddy, you kiss Mommy all the time! And Mommy has a daddy," Lucy argued.

"That's different," Danny stated.

"How?"

"Yeah, how?" Lindsay asked, giggling. Danny cast a glare in her direction.

"Well, I, uh..."

Lucy gasped loudly.

"Daddy! You broked the rule!"

Lindsay was laughing harder now.

"Way to go, Montana. Make me look like the bad guy."

Lindsay shrugged, then turned so she could face her daughter.

"You see baby, what you have to do is find someone who's willing to break the rules because he loves you and isn't afraid to take on your daddy. Then you'll know that he's the one for you," Lindsay said. Lucy thought about this, then nodded.

"Okay, I get it," she said.

"Good, great. Now let's end this conversation," Danny said, parking the car, "We're here."

_____________________________________

It was midnight, and Danny was about to kiss Lindsay when they were interrupted by Stella.

"Hey you two, hate to interrupt, but what is your five year old daughter doing?" she asked, pointed across the room. The two looked to where Stella was pointing, and what they saw was Lucy giving a boy a kiss. Danny's jaw dropped as he made his way across the room.

"Lucy! What're you doin'?" he asked when he got to her.

"Guess what, Daddy! This is Max, and he says he's willing to break the rule!" Lucy said excitedly, a proud grin on her face.

Across the room, Lindsay laughed when she saw Danny's face grow red in anger. She swore, if the boy weren't only five years old, he would have kicked his ass.

"Well," Stella said, handing her friend a glass of champagne, "here's to another year of Danny being a wonderfully, overprotective father." She held her own glass out, and Lindsay clinked hers against it. They took a sip, then stood and watched as Danny tried to deal with his baby girl's first kiss.

So it's Halloween, and I wrote a New Year's Eve story. I'm a little screwy on my holidays, don't ya think? But this idea came to my head the other day, and I just had to write it. It's short, but I like it. I hope you do, too. And happy Halloween, everyone!