What Really Happened One Christmas

Kate was fast asleep when she felt a tickling sensation on the tip of her nose. With her mind still in dreamland, the redhead tried swatting the feeling away. Then the feeling went to her forehead, and then her cheek, then the other, finally when the feeling settled on her lips Kate slowly blinked opens her eyes.

Crystal blue eyes stared back at her and a few strands of blond hair fell onto her forehead. She opened her mouth to take in the tongue that slid across her lips. Kate smiled into the kiss. Kisses like this always led the way to a very good day.

After a few minutes the blonde pulled away to look at the woman she was hovering over. Maggie practically sings when she says, "Good morning."

"Morning Babe." Kate says rubbing the last bit of sleep from her eyes.

The detective laid back down, this time moving so her head is lying atop her lover's shoulder. "You're normally up before I am. What were you dreaming about?"

The redhead practically purrs as she wraps her right arm around Maggie, pulling her even closer to her body. "Nothing nearly as stimulating as what I'm looking at now."

Kate's comment had them both locking eyes with one another. It's not long before they find each other's lips again. Only seconds pass before moans escape their throats and their hands began to explore the others familiar body. Just when Kate's fingers found their way to Maggie's waistline, they both heard their door being slammed open. They pulled back from their kiss just before a young girl entered the room. Kate gave a mental thanks that both she and Maggie had actually dressed for bed that night.

Jaime jumped onto the bed and fell on top of the two women causing them both to giggle along with the girl. It seemed as though they were giggling every day since the girl had come to spend her Christmas break with them. "It's time to get up!" she said, with an excited look in her eyes.

Maggie looked at the clock beside their bed. "Its 8:30 Sweetie. Since when do you get up before noon during a school break?"

"Since you and Kate promised me that we can go pick out our Christmas tree today." Jamie replied excitedly.

"And for that we have to get up now?" Maggie was used to waking up early every day, but even she normally loved just being able to lay around and watch TV on her day off. Not to mention other things she could do with Kate all day.

"Mom! Come on! Please!"

Kate giggled at the sight of the two of them. "I don't think either of us have a choice in this matter Love."

Maggie sighed, "Ok Rug rat, go take a shower and get dressed and will pick up breakfast on the way."

"Yay! Thanks Mom! Thanks Kate!" With that Jamie gave them both a quick kiss on the cheek and raced out of the room even faster than she entered.

As soon as the child was heard slamming the door to her room, the couple returned to their previous activity. After only a few perfect minute, Kate, reluctantly, ended the kiss. "If we keep this up Jaime will burst in here again."

Maggie agreed giving a sigh of frustration, "We really need to get that damn lock fixed."

A smirk then appeared on the redhead's face, "True, but the lock on the bathroom works just fine. And we would save time by showering together."

Crystal blue eyes met emerald green for only a second before they both took off toward their private bathroom, leaving a trail of t-shirts and undies in their wake.

333

Almost two hours later, the two women were strolling through the Christmas tree park. They watched as Jamie examined each tree, trying to find the perfect one to bring back home and decorate.

"She looks so much like you right now." Kate says as she squeezes Maggie's arm that is linked with hers.

A small smile instantly appeared on the blondes face, "You think?"

"I do." as those words passed Kate's lips, Maggie faced beamed with pride.

"I'm just glad I have both of you back in my life." The detective removed her arm from Kate's, only to hold her hand firmly in her own. Even through her gloves she could feel the small ring on the redhead's finger.

Kate gave her wife a gentle kiss on the cheek. "Me to Love, me to."

It had been a year since Maggie's ex-husband had forced Kate to make the hardest decision of her life.

James Sawyer was a very rich and very bigoted man. Once he heard that his wife was planning to marry another woman, he tried everything he could to win full custody of Jamie.

Even though Kate was willing to put forth any amount of money to help her fiancé, she still felt that it may not be enough. The vigilante had lost her mother at a young age and did not want Jamie or Maggie to go through that kind of pain, she loved them both too much to see that happen.

So she did the only thing she knew would work, she worked out a deal with her fiancé's ex. Promising to break things off with Maggie if he promised to continue sharing custody of their daughter.

The decision had crushed both women's hearts. Luckily for them, their suppuration didn't last long.

Two weeks after James dropped the custody battle, Maggie came to pick Jamie up for another weekend in Gotham. As soon as the girl laid eyes on Maggie she knew something wasn't right. She was like her mother in that way, able to read people at only a glance.

On their way back to Gotham, Jamie kept quiet at first. Trying not to talk about things that might make her mom upset. Yet, when they arrived at Maggie's apartment, Jamie noticed that something missing, or rather someone missing. "Where's Kate?"

The child's question made Maggie freeze on the spot. She still could not think of the redhead without tears forming in her eyes. She changed the subject quickly, "Never mind where she is. How about a nice trip to the zoo? You used to love that."

Jamie, however was a very persistent little girl. She used every chance she could to ask about Kate. While she didn't want to hurt her mom, she just couldn't shake the feeling that Kate's absence was connected to the phone call her father had taken several weeks ago, the one she had listened in on.

It took nearly the whole weekend before Jamie got all the information she needed to crack her 'case' wide open. In the end, all she had to do was ask the right question, "Did Kate leave because of me?"

Maggie let out a heavy sigh. After all the tiptoeing around the subject she had done over the weekend it appeared that Jamie had gotten the wrong idea about Kate leaving. "Jamie, Kate loves you, almost as much as I do."

"Then where is she? And please don't change the subject again."

Her mom kneeled down to meet her face to face. "Look Baby, the truth is...your dad didn't want you to come here anymore. At least, not while Kate was here."

"What do you mean?"

"He didn't like the fact that Kate and I wanted to marry. So he tried to take full custody of you."

"So Kate left, just so I can still come visit you." It wasn't a question; she finally had a crystal clear picture of what her dad had tried to do.

Jamie didn't hate her dad, she loved him. But she also loved her mom and Kate. In fact, she cared more for Kate than she did her dad's new wife.

As soon as she got back to Star City, she told her dad about Kate and what it would mean to her to have her mom be happy again.

At first, James wouldn't be swayed by the girls pleas. Yet, it was amazing what a few temper tantrums during her parent's important business meetings at home, as well as a few at her step mom's fancy parties could do.

Three months after Kate had made that dreaded phone call, she received another. James Sawyer called Kate and spoke through gritted teeth when he told her he would never keep Jamie away from her mother, no matter what. Maggie had gotten a similar phone call from her ex, and also, an excited one from her daughter.

With that the two made plans to meet at that same bar where they had their first date, to start all over again. Within a month the two were finally married. It was a much smaller ceremony than they had originally planned, yet neither could bare to wait for very long after being forced to separate. Since they had said "I do." both had been happier than they had ever been in their lives.

"I want this one!"

Kate and Maggie looked up to see Jamie pointing to a tree in the middle of the lot. The tree itself was at least six foot tall with full thick branches. It was clear to see why the child was drawn to it.

The two stood behind the girl. Maggie spoke up "You better be sure this is the one you want. We're not coming back for another."

"I'm sure!" Jamie replied with confidence.

"Okay, but don't you think you should ask Kate first? After all this is her first official Christmas." Since this was their first Christmas as wives, the women had agreed to combine both their traditions and celebrate both Christmas and Hanukkah. They had already placed Kate's families Chanukah in their living room, and was awaiting the first day of Hanukkah to light the first candle.

Kate giggled, not only at her wife's statement, but at the pleading look on her stepdaughters face. "I think it's perfect."

The smile that had appeared on the redheads face got even bigger when Jamie let out a squeal of delight and hugged Kate's waist.

As Kate returned the hug, Maggie went to find the owner of the park and pay for the first Christmas tree that they would decorate as a family.

333

"Incoming!" Maggie heaved a huge box full of decorations, including ornaments, onto the floor where her wife and daughter were seated. They had agreed to just spend the day working on the tree and focus on the rest of their holiday decor the next day.

Kate looked up at the blonde "Didn't even know you had this many Babe."

A sly smile came across Maggie's face, "This is only half. There's another box upstairs."

The redhead only stared at her wife with disbelief. "I remember what you apartment looked like last year, there was not nearly this much stuff."

"Yeah well, there's more to celebrate this year I suppose." Maggie bent down to give both of the women in her life a quick kiss on their heads, which caused them both to smile, before heading up to get the last of the decorations.

When she returned Jamie and Kate had already sorted most of the contents of the first box. It was clear Kate was enjoying it just as much as just as much as her stepdaughter was. The blonde took a minute to look at the two of them before getting to work herself.

Maggie had just untangled about half of the colored lights when her daughter made a discovery. "Mom, we're not going to hang this one on the tree are we?"

The blonde looks over to see Jamie holding up an ornament in the shape of Blossom from the Powerpuff Girls.

"Of course we are sweetie. What's wrong with it?"

"I'm too old for this cartoon stuff." Jamie's face slightly farrowed. Despite being only 10 years old, she hated being thought of as little kid.

"Trust me Jamie, you're never too old love a superhero." Maggie then leaned over to whisper in her wife's ear, "Especially redheaded ones." Kate blushed at her wife's comment.

"But Mom...!" Jamie still continued to argue.

"What do you think?" Maggie addressed her question to Kate.

Kate looked between mother and daughter quickly. Taking the ornament from Jamie. "I think we should…" Kate paused mid-sentence and hovered the ornament over the box for a couple seconds, looking like she was going to put it back in, "hang it near the top!" she finished holding the ornament up high and towards the tree.

Jamie let out a big grown and let her head fall back onto the couch, causing her parents to laugh hard.

Not long after that, Maggie had all the lights untangled. Once the tree was wrapped in twinkling lights, the adults followed the young girl's instructions on where to hang the ornaments on the branches she could not reach, with the exception of the Blossom ornament of course.

It doesn't take long before the adult's notice something is off about the child's choice of placement. "What about putting this one here?" Kate held up a crystal star ornament near the top middle of the tree. For some reason Jamie has not let them hang any in that spot yet, leaving a decent size 'hole' in the tree.

"Can you hang it over there instead Kate?" Jamie points near the right of the tree. "I have a plan for that spot."

The wives gave each other confusing looks before Maggie spoke up "What kind of plan?"

"You'll see!" With that, Jamie shot a clever grin to the two before placing a candy cane near the bottom of the tree.

Kate and Maggie simply shrugged shoulders and went back to work.

Once the tree was all a shimmer of colorful balls, candies, bells, and tinsel, Maggie looked at her daughter with an expectant look. "So you gonna let us in on the big secret now?"

Jamie simply smiled and ran full speed up the stairs.

Kate looked at the blonde, "What do you think she's up to?"

"With that girl, there's no earthly telling."

While waiting on Jamie to return, Kate stared at the work they had just completed on the tree. "You know, Beth and I once tried to convince our parents to get a Christmas tree one year. Just for the fun of it you know?"

"They wouldn't go for it huh?"

"Nope. Mom actually didn't care all that much but Dad was big on keeping with tradition." A giggle escaped her lips. "Beth and I whined about it the entire day."

"That's not hard to imagine." Maggie earned a slight shove from her wife.

"Both of us were pretty upset about it at first. Then when Hanukkah began we just got...I don't know, swept into the whole tradition thing. By the last day, neither of us could imagine spending the holidays differently."

Suddenly, a distant look came across Kate's face. "That was the last Hanukkah we spent as a family."

Maggie instantly wrapped Kate in her arms and squeezed tight. "Who knows?", Maggie gently whispered in the redheads ear, "Maybe next year Beth will be able to join us."

Kate looked up at her love, "You'd really be okay with that? After what she's done?"

"She's your sister that makes her my sister too. As far as I'm concerned she's welcome here any time."

Kate's only response was placing her lips on her wife's. Maggie squeezed even tighter as she returned the kiss.

History repeated itself when the two separated when they heard Jamie dashing into the room.

With the smile still on her face, she walked straight up to her stepmother and pulled out a neatly wrapped gift she had hid behind her back. "For your first Christmas." Jamie giggled at the slight look of surprise that appeared on Kate's face.

Kate slid down on her knees in front of the child, "Thank you Sweetie, but shouldn't I wait till Christmas day to open it?"

"We'll make an exception for this."

"Okay!" Kate spoke with laughter and slowly pulled the ribbon wrapped around the small box.

Kate smiles brightly at Jamie as she lifts the top off the box, revealing her gift. Her eyes widen once she sees what's inside. It's a picture of the three of them taken just last month, during the first snowfall of the year.

The frame it was encased in was clearly crafted by Jamie's own hands. It was decorated with tiny hearts and snowflakes. The word 'Family' was hand-written at the bottom and there was a green ribbon glued to the back for hanging and placed on the top of the frame, was a red bat, identical to the one Kate wore on her costume.

"Jamie, it's beautiful!" Kate held up the photo so Maggie, who was now standing behind her, could see it as well.

"I just figured...well…" Jamie suddenly turned shy, something that was very rare for her.

"You figured what Sweetie?" Kate's face turned from delight to concern.

"I...I remembered something Mom told me, back when you guys split up. She told me that you wanted her and me to be together because of what happened to you, but she didn't really give me any details….so I may have...um...googled you."

"Jamie!"

"I know Mom. I shouldn't have done it, but I guess I felt like I had a right to know."

Maggie, obviously was not pleased with what she was hearing but Kate stopped her from saying anything else by giving her a look. "Go on Jamie."

"Well...I found out what happened with your family when you were a kid."

Jamie looked at Kate and saw sadness in her eyes, but there was no sign that she needed to stop her explanation.

"And then I found about how your sister wasn't really...um...gone, and what happened with her. Then after we took that picture I just figured that maybe this would just make it official."

"Make what official Sweetie?"

"Well two things actually. One, it's a 'thank you' for sacrificing something that meant a lot to you, just so I could still have my mom."

Kate smiled at this and any anger that was on Maggie's face disappeared.

"And two," Jamie continued, "the picture means that we're your family now. So you won't have to worry about being alone anymore."

To say Kate was overwhelmed by what her stepdaughter, no, her daughter, had just said would be an understatement. Her eyes instantly leaked tears as she reached to hold Jamie tight against her. "Thank you Baby." Kate gently kissed her on the head. "Thank you so much. This truly means the world to me."

Maggie was shedding a few tears of her own when she wrapped her own arms around the two of them. It meant just as much to her to know that her daughter thought of the three of them as a family.

Jamie allowed her mother's to hold her, it meant her present and her little speech showed her true feelings. She was never really good at that, she was glad this time she got it right.

Finally pulling her arms away from the girl, Kate asked, "How about helping me hanging it on the tree?"

Jamie nodded her head and took the photo from the box where Kate had placed it back before hugging the girl.

Kate stood and pulled Jamie up with her. She lifted the child up high enough so that she could hang the photo on the branch, filling up the bare spot and completing the tree.

"You did good Jamie." Maggie ran her hand lightly through her daughters hair once Kate placed her back on the floor. "But if I ever hear of you googling anybody for any reason ever again…"

"I'll be grounded till I'm ninety one. I know Mom."

333

Later on that night, Maggie carried Jamie into her room, with Kate following close behind. The girl had fallen asleep watching TV with the two of them.

"All that talk about being too old for cartoons and she still insisted on watching Frosty the Snowman." Maggie whisper so not to disturb the girl.

Kate opened Jamie's bedroom door for Maggie, "I suppose none of us ever really grow out of that kind of stuff. Hell, those cartoons were the only Christmas thing Dad ever did let us do when we were kids."

"Really?"

"Yeah, it wasn't until I was 16 that he finally admitted that he let us was just so he could watch them with us."

Maggie had to hold in her laugh as Kate pulled back the blankets on the bed so her wife could gently place their daughter in her bed.

Kate placed the covers back over the girl and each gave the child a light kiss before heading back downstairs.

The redhead curled herself on the couch as the blonde headed straight for the kitchen. Kate still seemed mesmerized, not just by the tree, but also by the meaning behind the photo that was now hanging from it. The smile on her face had yet to disappear since Jamie had given her the gift.

She was staring at the tree so intently that she was startled when Maggie reentered the room with two glasses of wine in her hands. Handing one of them to Kate, the blonde sat next to her wife and wrapped her arm around her. "Not a bad job if I do say so myself."

"It's perfect." Kate takes a sip from her glass before resting her head on Maggie's shoulder.

Maggie couldn't resist giving her love a kiss upon her forehead. Neither could remember when they had been so content and relaxed.

A few minutes pass before Maggie remembers something they should discuss. "I know this may not be the time, but don't you think we should talk about that?" she points towards the photo Jamie had given Kate.

"I thought you liked it."

"I do. I'm not talking about the photo; I'm talking about what she put on it."

"The bat?"

"Yeah that."

Kate looks Maggie in the eye, "Don't tell me you're actually surprised that she figured it out."

"I don't know. I guess I just wanted to keep her out of that part of your job, or rather both our jobs."

Kate leaned up to repeat Maggie's earlier action and kissed the blonde on her forehead, "I know Mags. I want to protect her too."

"Have you….?"

"Have I what?"

"Have you ever considered leaving Gotham? I mean I know the work we do is important, and I could never regret becoming a cop, but...this city is so damn scary sometimes." Maggie finished off her wine as some harsh memories came back to her.

Kate snuggled closer to her wife, " I don't see why we couldn't at least discuss it. I'm sure there's a safer city out there that could still use a kick ass cop like you."

Maggie just giggled as wrapped both of her arms around Kate, "Not to mention a hot ass hero." she added causing Kate to giggle too.

After a few minutes pass, Maggie decides to steer the conversation in a different direction. "So, what do you think of your first official Christmas so far?"

"Like a miracle." Kate stares up a Maggie who gives her a gentle kiss on her lips before the two slip into silence once more. They both hold on to each other and go back to staring at the tree.

Once Kate finishes her glass of wine, they both agree to go to bed a bit earlier than they usually did. After all, they still had a lot of decorating to do tomorrow.

As they both stood up from the couch, Maggie reaches for Kate and pulls her into her arms, carrying her like she did her daughter an hour earlier. "Should I even ask why I'm being carried?"

"Just trying not to break the romantic, relaxing vibe we have going."

Kate simply smiles back at her wife and leans her face into her neck and allows Maggie to carry her up the stairs.

Maggie stops just before crossing the open door into their room. "Why'd you stop?" Kate asks curiously.

"Look up."

Kate turned her head toward the ceiling. There taped to the door frame is a small piece of mistletoe. "Maggie." she speaks her wife's name softly.

"Merry Christmas Kate." Maggie kisses her wife deeply.

The two keep their lips together as Maggie walks them into the room and places Kate gently on their bed. Eventually both fall asleep, holding each other in their arms, neither ever wanting to let go.