Oh but this year is different for you and for me

Our own little miracle on our own little street

Never before have I loved 'Silent Night' so

But now that you're here by my side

Baby, it is – baby, it is

It really is a wonderful life.

~Chely Wright/Mindy Smith, It Really Is (A Wonderful Life)

Rick couldn't take his eyes off of her. Most of the time she was a combo of fierce detective and independent woman. Right now, in this moment, she was all woman – hot, sexy, and softly feminine. She held the baby in her arms, her hair cascading over her shoulders, her voice lilting quietly as she cooed at the infant. His heart twisted painfully in his chest as his mind leapt ahead to what he hoped would be his future, and the desire that punched him in the gut nearly felled him. Unable to stop himself, he stepped to Kate's side and let his hand rest against her back, his fingers brushing her hair. He crouched next to her chair and used his other hand to gently cup the back of Joshua's fuzzy head.

"Hi, little one," he whispered, his voice husky. "We've been looking for you."

Kate turned her head, which brought her face very close to his. Her brilliant smile made him blind to the rest of the room, and he swore that time stood still as their eyes met. His gaze dropped to her lips, and his breath caught when her tongue peeked out to swipe self-consciously across her mouth. Her bottom lip migrated between her teeth, and he lost all semblance of self-control. She was too close. She was too warm. She was too… Kate.

The hand at her back rose to caress her neck, weaving through her tresses and gently tugging her closer. Her eyes darkened with yearning before fluttering closed, and her lips parted in anticipation. He thought briefly about pinching himself – because this surely was a dream – but he decided he didn't care. Dream or no dream, he was going to enjoy this.

Every.

Single.

Electric.

Minute of it.

His lips brushed against hers on a sigh – whose sigh, he couldn't be sure – but just when he had shifted to his knees to deepen the contact, a piercing cry split the air around them. Kate jerked her attention back to the squirming infant in her arms and lifted him to her shoulders, patting his back and standing to her feet to walk him around the bullpen with a slow rock to her hips. She shot a look of apology in his direction before nuzzling Joshua's downy soft head and pressing her lips to the fuzzy hair that dotted his scalp.

Rick maneuvered himself into his chair and sighed heavily, letting his head fall back and covering his face with his hands. The FBI had found baby Joshua after a tip had come in from Grand Central Station – a young couple buying one-way tickets to Dallas, Texas, for themselves and their newborn. Nothing about them had aroused suspicion until the friendly clerk had started asking them questions about their baby. In her words, the pair became 'squirrely' and she'd remembered the news reports about the murdered parents and the missing baby.

"Crazy night, huh?"

Rick lowered his hands, peering at Kate as she sank wearily to her chair. "Where's Joshua?" he asked while glancing around the room.

"I made Ryan take him for a while," she told him with a wry grin. "Told him it was good practice for whenever he and Jenny have kids."

"His grandparents are coming?"

Kate nodded and looked at the wall clock nearby. "They should be here in a couple of hours."

"So… Mary and Joseph were murdered for their baby."

"Yep." She raked her fingers through her tousled mane and leaned back in her chair. "Wandamarie Parker went to high school with Mary. They kept in touch – she was even in Mary and Joseph's wedding. Apparently, they'd gotten pregnant around the same time."

"But Wandamarie lost her baby."

Nodding again, Kate smiled sadly. "And then she snapped. According to the FBI arrest report, Wandamarie said that she felt God had given Mary a baby to replace the one that she'd lost. She was the one who'd been making those harassing calls her uncle told us about. When Mary and Joseph left town before the baby was born, Wandamarie saw it as stealing her baby. So, she and her boyfriend Billy followed them to New York."

"And killed them."

"And killed them," Kate agreed. She glanced across the room to where Ryan and Esposito were making idiots of themselves trying to entertain the baby, a faint smile gracing her lips in reaction to the scene. "They almost made it back to Texas with Joshua, too."

Rick leaned forward and fixed Kate with a compassionate stare. "But they didn't. We got them." She flipped her hand over in invitation, and he looked down at it in surprise, hesitating a moment before covering her palm in a tender grip. "We got him."

She smiled. "We did."

Fidgeting uncomfortably, she bit her lip and grimaced before speaking again. "Castle – about this evening…'

"This evening?" he asked, feigning ignorance. "The ice skating, or…?"

"The ice skating," she hurried to reply. "We'll talk about the other – later."

"Ah yes. The ice skating." He grinned impishly and leaned back, clasping his hands behind his head with a dramatic flourish. "How many years of lessons did you have?"

She winced. "Five."

"Five," he repeated, chuckling and shaking his head. The dimple in his cheek deepened, and the blue in his eyes took on a gleaming hue. "So – 'I usually hug the wall' – must be the latest euphemism for – 'I can skate circles around you anytime, anywhere'."

"If it helps, I only pretended that I couldn't skate so I could …"

"Hug me?" Rick supplied when her voice trailed off to silence. "Take a few trips around the rink in my arms?"

"M – maybe. Something like that," Kate stammered, swallowing thickly and raising embarrassed eyes to his face.

"You want me!" His voice crowed in delight, and she pressed her lips together with a matching glare from her gaze. "Face it, Beckett. You have the hots for me, and you couldn't resist my charms any longer. I'm right, aren't I?"

"Yes, well… clearly, all the Christmas cheer in the air has warped my mind." Briskly standing to her feet, she grabbed her scarf and coat and headed for the elevator.

He hadn't missed the fiery red circles on her cheeks. She was mortified at her behavior and – darn it – he'd shoved it in her face. Scrambling after her, he caught her elbow and steered her down the hallway to a secluded alcove where they would surely be alone this time of night.

"Rick."

"Kate," he soothed. "I didn't mean to embarrass you. I'm sorry."

"I embarrassed myself," she explained. "I don't usually… act like that. I don't know why -"

"I think I do… and please notice that I wasn't complaining. Anytime you want to feign incompetence in some area so that we can… canoodle… please know that I am one hundred percent supportive of the endeavor." He watched happily (fondly even) as the humiliation in her eyes began to fade and the blazing flush on her face started to turn a rosy pink instead. His thumbs drew light circles against her upper arms, and he felt her breathing skip a beat when he skimmed his touch along her collar bone.

She licked her lips and arched closer to him – something he was quite certain she didn't realize she was doing. "Got any of that mistletoe on you?"

Her breathless voice nearly brought him to his knees, and a groan slipped from his throat without his permission. "No," he croaked out, his gaze riveted to her face. "It's … at home."

Her eyes caressed his features, and she stepped closer. Her breasts brushed his chest as she slid her hand over his shirt and then around his neck. Her fingers splayed through his hair, and she tilted her head experimentally until her lips were in the perfect position to caress his. All he had to do was lean forward and …

"Might be a good idea to keep some mistletoe handy the rest of this week," she purred, puffs of air tickling his senses. "In case… the mood strikes again."

Grinning devilishly, she stepped away, leaving him cold and oddly overheated in her absence. "See you tomorrow, kitten," she called over her shoulder as she ducked around him and resumed her trek toward the elevator.

He followed her retreat with his eyes, muffling a groan at the sway of her hips and the sensual stride of her legs. Slumping against the wall, he took a few deep breaths and conjugated a few verbs in his head to tame the arousal that had ignited under her seduction. When he felt he was presentable and once again in control of himself, he returned to her desk to grab his coat and whistled jauntily as he exited the bullpen once more.

This Christmas definitely seemed to be the season for miracles.

Sorry for the delay in posting - I'm sorta stalled out in this one ... can't stay motivated. Reviews might help :-)