Andy was waiting for Sam at his desk. Their shift had just ended but he wasn't around. She looked over to Oliver's office but he wasn't there. He wasn't in the squad room. Interrogation rooms maybe? She hadn't heard about any big arrest that would seem to need a detective to stay late to work on so she thought that unlikely. She was about to head that way, regardless when Sam walked from the hallway leading to the interview rooms. He noticed Andy waiting and quickened his pace. He climbed the stairs two-at-a-time to the D' office and approached his wife. They shared a kiss and Sam sat down to put a file away in his desk and log off the computer.

"Sorry I'm a little late. I was with Price and Diaz, finalizing paperwork on a couple arrests we made."

"Yeah, I heard about that. Two guys fighting over hotdogs?"

"Close, it was over relish."

Andy couldn't help but laugh.

"I know, I like relish as much as the next guy but I wouldn't get arrested over it. In fact, I ate a hot dog from there without relish. And look, I'm not in cuffs and still have my badge."

"So, it's possible to not get relish and carry on without fighting in the street. Huh. Well, I've learned something today."

They both chuckled and Sam stood up, wrapped his arm around his wife's waist, and together they left the building.

Together, they walked up the walkway to house of Marlo's sister. They rang the doorbell and Marlo answered shortly after. Andy's first impression was that Marlo looked worn out. Her hair was unkempt and her clothing disheveled.

"Hey guys, come in. I'll go get Mia, she's in her play pen."

They stepped inside and Andy also noticed that the house was also missing many staples of the Christmas season. Like decorations, a tree, or presents. Sam must have noticed it too.

"Thanks, Sam said. It's nice to see you again. Is your sister around?"

"No, she just went out," Marlo said walking towards Mia. "Why?"

"Oh, no worries. Just wanted to say hi to her if she was here."

"Oh, well, I'll tell her," Marlo said as she pulled Mia out of the play pen.

"Sam took her in his arms and made faces with her. Andy smiled at them. Then to Marlo, "Just to confirm, we'll have her tonight and tomorrow through the afternoon, and then we'll bring her back here tomorrow night."

"Uh, yeah, that sounds good," Marlo handed Andy Mia's diaper bag and Andy shouldered it.

Noticing the heft, Andy remarked, "Wow there's a lot of diapers in here, huh?"

"Yeah, and A lot of wipes," Marlo smiled."

Andy nodded, "Okay, well, hopefully we won't use too many in just one day with her."

"Well, you never know, do you?"

Sam spoke up, "Okay Marlo, thanks again for working this out with us. We'll take good care of her."

"I know you will."

Take it easy, Marlo," Andy said as they stepped back out the door.

"Yeah, you too, both of you."

"Bye Marlo. Say bye to Mommy, Mia," Sam said as he lifted Mia's arm to imitate a wave. Everyone smiled and Marlo closed the door when they turned around to walk back to the truck.

They buckled Mia in to the car seat in the back and ten got in the truck themselves. Once they had driven away Andy said, "Did you pick up on everything I did back there?"

"You mean Marlo's appearance, the house doesn't have any signs of Christmas…"

"Yeah that stuff, something just felt off."

"It felt like the house hasn't been lived in in a little while."

"Yeah, now that you mention it, that's what it felt like. So, do you think she lied about her sister just stepping out."

"I don't know."

"What do you think this means?"

"Again, I'm not sure."

"But we need to figure it out, right. I mean, given Marlo's condition and the sudden change in plans…"

"Yes, we need to figure out what's going on. And not just for Marlo," Sam said, indicating Mia in the back seat. "But, it's possible that Marlo appearance is because she is just tired, not a reach with a baby girl. It's possible that Marlo's sister just got back from a trip and that's why the house still feels kind of empty and s lacking decorations. It's also possible that It was easier for Marlo to come her than her sister go to Hamilton."

"I get that you don't want to jump to any conclusions, but I'm telling you, I get a bad feeling about this."

Sam nodded, "Yeah, I feel that too. Which is why we are going to get to the bottom about what is going on. But we're going to approach this with an open mind and under the assumption that everything is fine, until we have concrete evidence to the contrary."

"Spoken like a detective," Andy smirked.

"I guess I've picked up a few things," Sam smiled back at her, grabbed her hand in his, and drove home.

Andy stepped into the apartment first, followed by Sam Carrying Mia. Immediately she noticed the large present under the tree. "Sam, what is that?"

Sam mimicked a face of confusion. "How did that get in here?"

"What did you do?"

"I didn't do anything." He would have put both hands up but since he was holding Mia he simply shrugged.

Andy fixed him with a scrutinizing look. "I thought we agreed nothing big for each other. We were going to keep it simple."

"And we are keeping it simple. It's not a big deal, really. It's been in motion for a while, long before we made that agreement."

"What am I going to do with you?", Andy smiled.

Sam leaned into a kiss. "Hopefully more of that."

Andy took Mia while Sam went to the kitchen to prepare dinner.

After a game of peek-a-boo, Mia was growing tired. Seeing her yawn made Andy yawn and realize she could take a nap as well. She set Mia down in her crib, curled up on the bed, and drifted off to sleep.

Sam found them both that way when he had finished meal preparations a little while later. He didn't want to wake either of them since it was still early enough that there was plenty of time for dinner but he took one too many steps into the room and the floor creaked waking Mia and Andy almost simultaneously.

Andy popped up and Sam apologized. "I'm sorry sweetheart, I didn't want to wake you two. You were both so beautiful and peaceful."

"It's okay, how long were we out."

"A little over 30 minutes probably. Enough time for me to finish dinner.

"I am hungry now that you mention that. What did you throw together?"

"Well for us, some pasta with marinara sauce, garlic bread, and a side salad. For Mia, well, something mushy. I'll have to check the fridge."

"I think we have some chicken with vegetables or turkey with sweet potatoes in there."

Sam picked Mia up out of the crib and asked, "Does that sound good?"

Mia made a couple noises, flailed her arms around a little and the thee of them went out to the kitchen to eat.

Later that night, once Mia was put to bed in the guest room with the baby monitor set up, Sam and Andy were in bed talking.

"After breakfast tomorrow morning," Andy was saying, "I'll bake the ginger bread cookies. The stuffing will be easy to make. I'll throw the ham in the oven to warm it up just before we eat. Do you think we need a pie, or something?"

"If you want one, I won't turn it down."

"Then we need to get that tomorrow. I can't believe we forgot that. And we have to do all of this before we pick up Dad."

"Why don't I pick him up while you stay here and take care of all the cooking. I'll get the pie before I pick him up. I'll even take Mia so you don't have to worry about anything other than cooking. And Boo."

"Yeah, that should work. Thanks, sorry about all the last-minute stuff."

"Don't apologize, Andy. Last-minute winging things is my style."

"I know."

"Someone needs to balance out all your planning and list making."

"And I love you for it."

They kissed deeply and one thing led to another which led to another.