She watches him as he moves to the coat closet, taking off his coat on the way there. The minute he makes contact with her, their shared brain telepathy kicks in. By the time he completes hanging up his coat, he explains just about everything by simply making facial gestures toward her along with eye contact.

He knows it's been a long day for her, and he needs to do whatever he can to make her life a little bit easier. She moves to intercept him before he can enter the great room. She pulls him into a full-body hug when she reaches him, knowing that whatever is going on, he will explain it to her later.

He looks down at Jake and Reese and then back to Kate. Decision made.

"All right, PB&J, how about if you two help me get dinner ready for us tonight?" Rick asks his two youngest.

"Sure Daddy, we haf ta give Mommy a break," Jake tells him.

"Yeah, she works relly hard being a policewoman." Reese chimes in.

"Okay, so here's what we need to do. We need to get some spices, some eggs, some bread crumbs and of course some chopped meat. Once we get all that, we'll eat in no time." Rick tells them.

Both boys walk quickly over to the Lazy Susan, which is at their level, and take out the required spices: garlic powder, onion powder, salt pepper, oregano, and parsley. They return with the spices, and Rick watches them as he goes to the refrigerator to get the eggs and chopped meat while they get the bread crumbs. He sets up the two safety stools that they stand on when they're standing at the counter to help him before they return the bread crumbs.

"Daddy, what are we makin?" Reese asks.

"Yeah, Daddy, what are we makin?" Jake asks, never wanting to be outdone by his brother.

"We're making spaghetti and meatballs, and they should be done in about a half hour, and it will give your mom a break."

Rick looks over to Kate, and she nods her head in agreement. She turns and takes Lily over to the couch, where she pulls out a book that her daughter has been reading.

"Mom, I think we can finish this book by the time Daddy finishes dinner. It's a long book, and we're almost at the end."

"I bet we could, so let's get started." Kate watches as Lily opens The Wild Robot, book one of a three-book set.

Lily wanted something more challenging to read than the Dr. Seuss books she had initially started with. Kate had found a series of books by author Peter Brown. The books were above her reading level, but she mastered them quickly. Of the three books in the series, each was about 280 pages long. They only have about 30 pages left in this first book, so they start.


They quickly cooked the spaghetti and rolled the meatballs from the seasoned chopped meat that Rick had made with the boys. They were sitting down to a delicious meal in about forty-five minutes. Dinner was finished, and they were in the middle of cleaning up when all three kids wanted to know if they could watch television for a short time before they went to bed. Rick and Kate had limited television exposure daily, but since this was the Christmas season and Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer was on at 8:00 p.m., they decided to let them watch this show before they went to bed.

With their three children snuggled up next to them on the couch in the great room, Rick had made popcorn for them to snack on while they watched the holiday show. Just as the show was beginning to start, the front door to the loft opened wide and admitted his oldest daughter. Once she noticed what was playing on the television, she quickly hung up her coat and sat next to Lily and Kate, reaching her hand into their bowl of popcorn. By the time Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer ended almost an hour later, Jake and Reese had fallen asleep. Alexis volunteered to stay with Lily while Rick and Kate put the boys to bed. When they came back, Lily told them that she was going to her bedroom to brush her teeth and would be back down to say good night later. Rick, Kate, and Alexis cleaned up the popcorn mess from the show, and the three adults retreated to the kitchen nook to have some hot chocolate.

"Okay, babe, out with it." Kate pressed.

"As you know, Gina called me and wanted to meet me at her office. But her assistant escorted me into the conference room the second I arrived. I knew this was something big."

"Uh-oh," Alexis said ominously.

Everyone in the family knew it would never end well once someone was in the conference room. But Rick thinks that they're just over-exaggerating.

"Honestly, guys, it's not that bad. She wants me to go to Florida from the 21st until the 24th. It's a three-city tour starting in Miami and ending in Orlando."

"Oh, okay. At the end of January?" Kate asks.

At least Rick has the decency to look her straight in the eye when he says,

"No, December," he says as he holds his breath, waiting for the wrath of Kate Beckett's temper to follow.

"I see." That is all she says.

"Kate, it seems that Gina had spoken out of turn and promised something she can't deliver. She forgot about me not being under their contract, and now she needs to make good on that commitment, which puts us in a perfect position." Rick says, trying to put Kate in a better mood.

Alexis looks at her father and wonders what he's thinking. She knows him well enough that he would never commit to anything like this. Ever since he met Kate, he has become more responsible towards his family commitments. And now she doesn't know what he wants to do.

"What did you tell her dad?" His oldest daughter asks.

"Alexis, I told her I would talk to Kate and left it at that. Between the both of us, we would make a decision that would benefit Black Pawn or not. My current contract has expired, and we could ask for anything besides the travel expenses and get it. But on the other hand, we could turn them down flat, and there's nothing they can do legally about it against us. So, what do you think, Kate?" Rick asked, throwing the ball in her court.

"Rick, I wouldn't mind if it wasn't so close to Christmas. I know how much you enjoy Christmas with the children. You've always said it's a magical time, and they deserve to experience and enjoy every little nuance about the holiday, so while I don't mind you going, the question you need to ask yourself is how far would you go to please your fans? If you think about this, you might be doing it for Black Pawn by bailing them out of a decision one of their executives badly made, but ultimately, it's the fans who will benefit from this tour." Kate told him calmly and wisely.

He could not understand how wise and logical she was in her assessment of what needed to be decided, knowing that if he chose to go on this tour, it would separate them for a week. For that, he loves her even more.

"Dad, don't keep us in suspense. What are you going to do?" Alexis asks him.

Rick looks into his wife's eyes, searching for an answer. He finds that she is at peace with whatever decision he will make.


The first part of the tour went off like clockwork. Except for it being over 90° and very humid in Miami, Rick was happy that he had decided to go on the tour with Kate's blessing. That and the cool Two hundred and fifty thousand dollars he asked for and got from Black Pawn didn't hurt either.

"Hi, guys! How are all of you doing?"

"We're kay, Daddy!" Reese and Jake answer a little too loudly and in unison.

"What about my Lily Pad? How are you doing, sweetheart?" Rick asks, hoping his daughter will talk to him.

"I'm doing good, Daddy. When are you coming home? Everybody here misses you, Mommy especially." Lily told him.

"Lil, I promise that I'll be back before Christmas. I'm almost halfway through this tour and will be home with you." He'd never forgive himself if he missed being home for Christmas.

"Is mommy there?"

"MOMMY," She shouted. "Daddy is on the phone and wants to talk."

He hears the cell phone being placed on the countertop, and in no time, he hears footsteps coming toward the cell phone.

"So, how's Miami babe?" Kate asks.

"Humid and muggy," Rick complains.

"Well, that's Florida for you. Are you back in your hotel?"

"I was able to get a commercial flight around 5:30 this evening. Right now, I'm at the Marriott in Jacksonville. This way, I won't have to fly out first thing in the morning. How are you and the kids doing?"

"We're doing fine. PB&J finished daycare today, so they're finally home until after New Year's. Lily will be done on Friday. I'm glad I was able to get the next two weeks off. Alexis said she would have stayed with Jake and Reese, but seeing that I took time off from the precinct, she and Michael are doing last-minute Christmas shopping for their friends and his family."

"I just called to see how you were doing and that I will be home soon."

" I miss you, babe.

"Ditto."

He ends the call knowing he only has two more cities left before he's out of the state and back home in her arms.