Casey was at the McDonald-Venturi residence for the holidays. The whole family were lounging nearby, watching a Christmas movie after their dinner feast. She was currently bouncing her 9-month old girl on her knee, causing the baby to giggle.

"Your Daddy is going to be so happy to see you," she cooed. Her husband always fawned over Jamie when he came back from away games, but considering that she had the baby wearing a mini Maple Leafs jersey was sure to up the cooing.

Her phone then buzzed – speak of the devil.

"Hey, Der," she greeted happily, making comical faces at her daughter while she talked to her husband. "Are you about to board your flight?"

She heard Derek heavily sigh over the phone. "Case…" he started hesitantly, and her stomach dropped, her smile instantly dropping. "It snowed harder than they thought. All flights are still cancelled."

Her throat closed up, her eyes prickling. "So, you won't be home for Christmas?" she asked quietly, though her entire family heard and were currently staring at her sadly.

"I want to be there," he insisted, "especially since it's Jamie's first Christmas, but no planes are leaving Chicago right now."

Casey stayed silent. When he had called the day prior, telling them that a storm was burling through Chicago, cancelling many flights, she knew that it might extend to the following day. She thought she steeled herself against the possibility, but she guessed wrong as she felt a few tears slip down her eyes.

"Casey?" Derek spoke, his tone worried. "Are you still there, Princess?"

"Yeah," she breathed out, her voice wavering. "It's just that this will be the first time in 11 years that we're not going to be together on Christmas …"

"Our 15-year old selves would have been ecstatic," he joked, trying to lighten the conversation.

She managed to laugh, something only Derek could do when she was so upset. She just wished he was there to comfort her instead of miles away and in another country. "Current self really hates it," she admitted softly.

"Me too," he gently confessed. "Trust me, I'd rather be with my hot wife and awesome kid than with this pack of smelly bastards," he said, referring to his teammates.

He elicited another laugh out of Casey. "Just get home to me, safely, as soon as you can," she told him, biting her lip.

"I will," he told her earnestly. She then heard chatter near him on the other line. "Case, I gotta go. The guys want to get something to eat. I'll call you if anything changes."

They then exchanged goodbyes, Casey hanging up with a sigh.

"Derek's not coming home?" Nora asked, frowning.

"Snow was really bad down there; everything is cancelled," she quickly explained to her family, getting up from Derek's recliner, holding her baby girl close. "I'm going to get Jamie ready for bed," she said, making her way up the stairs and trying to ignore the pitying stares from her family.

…

A few hours later with Jamie sleeping away in her crib, Casey ventured downstairs again, happy to see only her mother and George present.

"Jamie down?" her mother asked, patting the seat next to her, asking her to join.

Casey nodded, sitting down next to her mother, who immediately embraced her, knowing her eldest needed the comfort. "Are you okay?" Nora questioned, rubbing a soothing hand up and down her arm.

Casey let out a sigh. "Just really disappointed," she said, smiling sadly. "I really want to make tomorrow special and document it for Jamie, but it won't be the same without Derek here…"

"He might miss Christmas morning, but maybe he'll be able to get home by tomorrow night," George optimistically commented. "When Derek wants something, he gets it."

Casey smiled to herself, remembering the 15-year-old Derek saying that to her. It had irked her to no end then, but now it was a sign of hope.

The three adults talked some more, discussing some of the past Christmases they had under the house – from the hijinks to the tearjerkers. They laughed and reminisced until the clock rang an hour too late, forcing George and Nora to go to retire to bed to be able to get up early the next morning. However, Casey was not tired in the slightest.

She got up to sit in Derek's recliner, snuggling deep into the leather as if it would bring him closer in a way. She stared at the Christmas tree lights, blinking and illuminating the room. But no matter how bright they were, Casey still felt a sadness wash over her, causing her to let out a few more tears in the silence of the night.

She must had eventually fallen asleep, because she was abruptly woken up by the window near the TV opening slowly. Her heart immediately jumpstarted, racing fervently. She wasn't sure what to do as she stared at a shadow climbing its way in.

Quickly grabbing the nearby remote, she threw it at the mysterious person, surprisingly hitting them right on the head.

"OW!" she heard the person let out, rubbing their forehead, where it had made contact. "What the hell? Casey?" the shadow continued, staggering into the living room.

The lights from the tree soon lit up the stranger's face and Casey melted. "Derek?" she let out hesitantly.

"What are you, a Kevin McCallister in training?" he asked, his tone clipped with annoyance as he continued to rub his head.

Casey quickly rushed over to her husband. "Sorry!" she said, accessing the bump forming on his head, "I thought you were a burglar though! If you had called then this wouldn't have happened!"

"If I called," he said pointedly, "then it wouldn't have been a surprise!"

Casey huffed, crossing her arms. "Der-ek!" she lightly hollered, but paused, looking at him strangely. "Wait…you're home…"

"Evidently."

Casey shook her head at his words, ignoring them. "How – How are you here? All the flights were cancelled. I even checked before bed."

"I didn't take a plane." Derek smirked. "I managed to get a rental and drove."

Casey's eyes bugged. "You drove all the way from Chicago to London, in a blizzard?!"

Derek shrugged, waving it off. "That was only the first hour or so. Then it was nothing."

"You're home," Casey repeated again, looking up at him happily.

"Did you undergo a loboto-" he pointed out only to be interrupted by Casey kissing him.

Derek quickly hoisted her up, letting her wrap her legs around his waist possessively. He deepened the kiss, sliding his mouth over hers expertly and lavishly. "Why don't you greet me like this every time I come home?" Derek wondered, as he placed hot kisses down her throat.

"We'd probably already have 5 kids by now if I did," she answered breathily, chuckling slightly as she unwound her legs from his torso and slinked back down to the ground. "I'm just so happy you're here for Christmas. Our first Christmas as a little family."

Derek gave her a rare genuine smile as he leaned down and gave her another kiss. "I said I'd come as soon as I could," he said, caressing her cheek. "I always get what I want."

A/N: And here we are, this is it! Which one was your favoite? Thanks to everyone who read, and especially to those who reviewed! It means a lot to me. I hope everyone has a happy and safe holiday. And if you still want more and you haven't read the 12 Days of Dasey I did in 2013 and 2015, read those! :)

REVIEW REPLY:

Thanks for reviewing Balyndaba, simplyraya, vale1103, jperks, Daire123, and geetika!

CatzzCK: I'm glad you liked it. lol. Good smut can be difficult to find for exactly the same reasons you said, which definitely defeats the whole purpose of why you're reading it. lmao! Thanks for reading and reviewing!