A/N: Aha! I got this up before midnight! :D Ahem, so anyway, I really like this oneshot, even if it is shorter than most of the other ones. :3 I think you all will like it, too. At least, I hope you will. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own Harvest Moon or any of its characters or plots. This fanfiction is merely for recreational purposes.

I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus
December 22, 2008
Rick x Karen

It was the night before Christmas, and a certain six-year-old child was creeping down the stairs, eager to catch a glimpse of the legendary Santa Claus. The previous years had proved unsuccessful in his quest to see the jolly, red-suited man, but this year would be different. His dark-blonde hair was framed messily around his face and his wire glasses sat crookedly in front of his attentive green eyes. Grabbing onto the banister, he peeked out from behind the stairwell and was, well, surprised to say the least. Sure, he saw Santa Claus, and that itself was cause for celebration. It was what "Santa Claus" was doing that surprised him.

Good old Saint Nick was kissing his mommy front of the Christmas tree. And the word "kissing" was a watered-down term for what they were really doing. With a tiny squeak of shock, Sam, Karen and Rick's eldest, bounded back up the stairs as quietly as possible.

"Emma! Emma!" Sam whispered fiercely, shaking his younger sister awake. Emma was almost five, and had blue eyes and a head of light pink hair. She turned her sleepy eyes to her brother before rubbing them with her tiny hands.

"Sammy?" she asked in her quiet voice and looked at him again.

"Guess what!" Sam sounded excited, which in turn made Emma excited.

"What?" All of the sudden, she had slipped out of bed and was now looking around the room eagerly.

"I saw Santa!" Sam whispered and started pulling Emma towards the stairs.

"You did?!" Emma almost yelled out and Sam put his hand over her mouth to keep her quiet.

"Yeah! And you know what he was doing?" Sam continued, his eyes gleaming with anticipation. Obviously, Emma wouldn't know, so he continued. "Santa and Mommy were 'going at it'!"

Emma furrowed her eyebrows in thought. "What does that mean?"

"I don't know, but I heard Daddy say it once when he was talking to Mommy. I think it means that weird thing we saw Uncle Kai and Aunt Popuri doing that one time."

"Oh," Emma's mouth formed a little circle as she figured out what Sam was talking about.

He proceeded to pull Emma along as they snuck down the wood stairs, quiet as mice.

This time, when they both peeked their heads out from behind the wall, though, what they saw was different. Santa was now sitting on the couch next to Mommy and they were just staring at the fire. Occasionally, Santa would use a metal poker to move the logs around and a few cinders would fly through the air and land in the ashes.

"Sammy, I thought you said they were 'going at it'," Emma whispered to her brother and yawned.

"Well, they were," Sam whispered back, confused at how things had changed so quickly.

"Shouldn't we get back to bed? Mommy and Daddy will get mad if they find us here," Emma said, and turned to go back up to bed, but Sam held her in place.

"Wait." He adjusted his position on the stairs and peered out again. "Maybe they'll do it again."

"I don't know, Sammy," Emma trailed off doubtfully, but looked anyway.

After what must have been five minutes, Sam got impatient and stood up, pulling Emma with him. "Come on, let's go to bed."

While Sam was pulling Emma up the stairs, she lost her balance and tripped, hitting her shins on the edge of the stairs. "Ouchie!" Emma whimpered quietly and the expression on her face was heartbreaking.

"Come on," Sam urged, pulling her up to the second floor.

"Hey, Sammy? Santa had blonde hair like Daddy. Isn't that weird?"

"He did?"

Emma nodded rapidly, her pink curls bouncing around.

"Are you sure? You were probably seeing things."

Once Emma was tucked in her bed, Sam made sure she was okay and kissed her forehead before scrambling into his own bed and pulling the covers up to his chin.

"Did you hear that?" Karen asked Rick and turned towards the direction of the stairs.

"Yeah. The kids were probably trying to see if Santa was here," Rick smiled at his wife and they both returned their attention to the flames.

"Good thing they didn't see us making out. That would've been a shock," Karen chuckled, and tugged on the fake white beard that Rick had on.

"Well, I hope they didn't see that." Rick looked over at Karen and they shared a glance that said, "Oh, god."