At Home Under the Tree

"I'm so glad we are on stand down," she said as she sat on the sofa in the den, sipping tea and watching Dave put the last of the gifts under the tree.

"Me too Babe." Dave agreed. "After missing Thanksgiving, I don't know how I could have faced the kids if we had to miss Christmas. Besides, I want to sample what's in your stocking for Christmas."

"My stocking? You want to spritz on some of my Fiori di Capri, Dave?"

Dave grinned diffidently. "Saw me slip that in, did you?"

"I did," she smiled warmly, her eyes locking lovingly with his.

"But it isn't that stocking I want to sample," he cooed.

"Oh?" she asked coyly. "And what stocking did you have in mind…as if I don't already know?"

"The kids are all asleep," he hinted.

"In bed maybe. But it is Christmas Eve. I seriously doubt that they are asleep…at least not the twins."

"So we'll be quiet. I've always wanted to get it on with a beautiful woman under the Christmas tree."

Emily choked on the sip of tea she'd just taken. "You mean you haven't already? I thought the great David Rossi had pretty much done it everywhere imaginable."

"My reputation far exceeds the reality."

"Oh, in what way?"

"Well, I haven't had every woman in the Bureau for one."

"No, just all over the age of thirty…" she scoffed.

"Not all," he teased. "There's that agent over in cyber crimes …you know, the one with the wart on her nose?"

Emily snickered. "Okay…so other ways?"

"Not every place imaginable… not under a Christmas tree for certain."

"Oh, well…we'll have to find a way to remedy that," she cooed.

"So get down here with your remedy," he beckoned.

The next morning Emily and Dave sat and watched as their children gleefully attacked their presents under the tree. The boys pushed past the boxes that looked like they might hold clothes and dove into ones that promised toys. Bella, with her pudgy toddler legs, sat with a gift almost as large as she was. While the boys ripped through the paper, Bella picked and pulled at her gift, carefully preserving the ribbons and as much paper as she could. Dave was tickled by his baby girl's meticulous behavior.

He felt Emily slide her hand over his leg in search of a hold. Covering her hand with his, he leaned back on the sofa, pulling her with him. She shifted so that her legs folded under her and her head rested in the crook of his shoulder, his arm wrapped around her.

She smiled when one Joey, the younger by fourteen minutes twin, jumped up and charged toward the stockings. "Here Mama," he said excitedly as he brought Emily her stocking. "What did Santa bring you?"

The other two children stilled, each looking up long enough to watch their mother pull the perfume from her stocking along with some Christmas candies and a pair of warm socks. "Do it mell good?" Bella wanted to know as she toddled over.

Emily smiled and took her baby's hand, spritzing a little on Bella's wrist. "It do, it do!" Bella squealed.

Joey had retrieved Dave's stocking and brought it to his father. Dave noticed the boy's frown. "What's wrong, Joey?"

"Santa didn't give you much," the boy worried.

"Were you bad this year?" questioned his brother.

Dave grinned and Emily laughed. "No, your Daddy was good this year, very good," Emily informed them. Then softly she added, "especially last night."

"But Santa jus' gave you candy," Joey pointed out.

"Its okay, Joey," Dave replied. "I couldn't wait, I unwrapped my present last night."

To borrow from Dickens: Merry Christmas and God Bless Us Everyone!