"Terry, what's that?"

Terry turned, glancing up at the doorframe and the small green thing that Rock was pointing to. "It's mistletoe," Terry replied, squatting to eye level. "If you see a pretty girl standing underneath it, you're supposed to give her a kiss."

Rock made a face. "Gross," he said emphatically, making Terry laugh. "Why d'you want to put something up that makes you have to kiss girls?"

"Give it time, rookie," Terry chuckled, ruffling Rock's hair. "You'll like it well enough when you're older."
But Rock avoided that doorway like the plague all night, until it eventually slipped from his mind and he was following Mary into the kitchen for a drink of water. Terry didn't realize what was going on either, until Mary knelt to give Rock the water and he groaned.

"What's wrong?" Mary asked, looking up at Terry in confusion. Terry shrugged—he didn't have any idea, either.

Rock rolled his eyes and leaned forward just enough to kiss her cheek, then staggered backward, holding onto his water cup with both hands. "Terry said I gotta," he explained, pointing up at the doorframe.

Terry choked with the effort to keep from laughing out loud. Mary smiled, reaching out to ruffle his hair without saying anything.

Rock shrugged. "I guess it's okay, since you're not really a girl. At least not the kind with cooties. Thanks for the water." He walked off, presumably to find something to do.

Mary stood up, still smiling as she stepped away from the doorframe. "Don't even try, Bogard," she said, shaking her head at Terry. "There's no way you can do anything cuter than that."

It was a couple of hours later when Andy walked up to him, a sleeping Rock on his arm and Mai following close behind him. "I think this is yours."

"Thanks, Andy," Terry said as he took Rock from his brother. "I suppose I should get him home." He squeezed Andy's shoulder, and leaned over to accept a hug from Mai. "Merry Christmas, you two."

"Merry Christmas," Andy echoed solemnly.

"Merry Christmas, Terry!" Mai said happily. "Tell Rock Merry Christmas for us, too!"

Terry promised he would, and then went around saying goodbye to the rest of his friends still at the party. He couldn't find Mary, though, and was just about to give up when he spotted her.

"You know, for a cop, you're not very observant," he remarked when he got to her, gesturing above her head.

"Damnit," she replied quietly, starting to step back.

Terry caught her with his free hand. "You can't get out of it twice. It's in the rules." He bent down and kissed her quickly, not knowing exactly where they stood and not wanting to push it. "Unless you're doing it on purpose," he teased lightly when he pulled away.

Mary shrugged. "Maybe I'm just a sucker for handsome blonds."