AN: Set a month after the finale. Hopefully I have the math right about Sadie's age. (Jules was 3 months along so Sadie would've been born 7 months later. The final scene took place one year after the bombing and Sadie would be 5 months old. The finale took place during the summer (say July) so Christmas would be 5 months later so that would make Sadie 10 months old?) I wanted to get this all done for Christmas but that doesn't seem likely now. So this will be either 3 to 5 chapters and then I PROMISE I will go back to A Heart's Battle!

"Awwww. Look at that! Did she cry?" Winnie looked at each picture Sam handed her and smiled even wider.

"Not at all." Sam smiled proudly. "She thought his beard tasted funny though." He laughed as he handed Winnie a picture of Sadie with a fist full of Santa's beard poised near her open mouth. She had one eye closed and was looking at the camera with a disgusted look on her face.

"Oh my gosh!" Winnie laughed and covered her mouth. She looked at the brown haired, blue eyed girl in her lap. "Was that beard yummy?" When Sadie looked at her and gave Winnie a single tooth grin she giggled with the adorable little girl. She felt her stomach do a small flip and pushed the nausea it caused away.

"What's so funny?" Spike asked as he approached the desk and walked to stand behind Winnie and Sadie. He looked back towards the lockers, put a quick kiss on Winnie's cheek, picked up Sadie and was rewarded with a giggle and little hands on his face. He laughed. "Hi Sadie lady." He rubbed her back with a hand and looked down at the pictures. "Aww." He smiled warmly at the picture of Sadie sitting on Santa's lap and grinning at the camera. "Did you see Santa?" He raised his brows at Sadie who smiled and looked down at the pictures. "I'll take that as a yes."

"Look at this one." Winnie held up the beard picture.

"Ugh." Spike made a face and laughed. He looked at Sadie. "How'd that taste?" He looked to Sam. "She wasn't scared of it?"

"No, but she almost pulled it off. The Santa freaked." Sam chuckled. "I had to negotiate the release of the beard."

"Ooh. How'd that go?" Spike made a funny face as he juggled the wriggling eight month old.

"Successful distraction protocol." Sam gave him a lopsided grin.

"Perfectly timed teamwork saved the day." Jules walked up and gave Sam a quick side hug before pulling back to maintain their professional distance while at work. "Good shift?"

"It was ok. One rough one. I'm waiting for Ferd to get back from SIU." Sam looked at Winnie then to Jules.

Jules nodded. "His first?" She could see in his eyes Sam was blaming himself for the way the call went.

"He's on his way back." Rollie walked up and put a hand on Sam's shoulder.

Spike walked around the desk and put a hand on Sam's shoulder. He couldn't help but chuckle when Sadie did the same. He could tell Sam could use a little extra support right now.

Sam smiled at Spike and took Sadie when she reached for him, needing the bit of comfort. He nodded in acknowledgement and looked at Rollie.

"You did what you could Sam." Rollie said meaningfully. He was proud of his TL. In the three months since he returned from paternity leave, Sam had really started to whip their team into shape. It was a little rough at first integrating Sam's style into their already established group dynamic. He'd worked the team through many trainings and even organized some team building activities outside of work. "C'mon, we'll debrief once he gets here."

"Ok." Sam nodded. "We'll meet you there." He wanted check on Ferd before they debriefed. He knew the first lethal always the hardest, although they all hurt. He gave Sadie a kiss and hugged her close. When her little arms went around his neck and her head on his shoulder he looked to Jules. The pure love and adoration shone bright in his eyes before he closed them and put his head on her back.

Jules smiled warmly. It was funny how Sadie was so in tune with Sam. It was almost instinctual the way she gave her dad extra love and tenderness when he needed it. There was no doubt that Sadie was daddy's girl.

"You got it." Rollie nodded and said his goodbyes to the rest of Team One as they gathered at the desk.

"The outfit Soph got for her looks cute." Ed smiled as he held one of the pictures.

"It's perfect." Jules smiled at Ed. "Tell her thanks again for us, but you guys don't have to keep buying her clothes. Her closet is overflowing."

"Will do. So is Izzy's." Ed smiled and nodded. "I'm expanding Izzy's closet over the holidays."

Everyone laughed.

"I put another bag of clothes from Wordy and Shel in your Jeep." Sam nodded. He put a hand on Sadie's back, she sat up straight and gave him a smile. He couldn't help but smile back. "Thanks for that little one. Daddy needed a hug." He said softly.

"We found the cutest shop when we were in Hamilton the other day. We couldn't help ourselves. She got one like it for Izzy." Winnie said excitedly. She moved from the desk so that Sydney could sit down. She'd just finished briefing him on what was happening now that her shift was over.

Leah, Jules, Ed and the two newest members of Team One, Dale and Frank were looking through the pictures smiling and making comments.

"So, when do you guys leave for Italy?" Sam asked and looked between Spike and Winnie when she joined them.

Spike put a hand on Winnie's shoulder. "Sunday the 23rd at 3:25. We can't wait."

Winnie nodded and smiled, but felt her stomach flip again. Oh, please don't puke, she thought.

"Nothing to be nervous about. I'm sure Spike's ma will love you." Sam said reassuringly to Winnie who looked up at him in surprise.

"Of course she will." Spike smiled and squeezed her shoulder. He hoped Ma liked Winnie, otherwise his plans for their week in Italy would get awkward. He was so excited, he couldn't wait. "You heading to Ottawa after shift Friday?"

"Yep. My parents are so excited for Sadie's first Christmas. I'm pretty sure we're going to have to add on to the house when we get back." Sam chuckled. His mom already sent him a picture of their tree, presents overflowing from under it. He knew some of those were for the rest of the family, but a second picture showed a pile for Sadie. When Sam saw Ferd walk in, he looked to Spike. "You mind?"

"Of course not." Spike frowned slightly at the implication that he wouldn't love to hold his goddaughter. He waited while Sam gave Sadie a kiss and a hug, put his hands out and smiled when Sadie leaned towards him, her chubby little arms reaching for him. "Hey sweetheart." He cooed softly to the little girl who smiled.

Sam looked to Jules apologetically. "Be careful out there. We'll see you when you get home." He said quickly and gave Jules their usual short hug goodbye. Working different shifts sucked when it happened, but it gave them each alone time with Sadie which they treasured. Jules spent the day with Sadie while Sam got the evenings.

"See you later." Jules smiled and hugged Sam before he jogged after Team Three's rookie, Ferdinand Cheer. She liked that they shortened his name as a nickname, but their first debriefing as Team Three had been hilarious. She and Sam had a good laugh at the way the autoscripter had changed Ferd to turd. Sam told her that it'd been really hard for them to get through debrief. It didn't help that Spike got wind of it and put a fake pile of poop in Ferd's locker the next day. They'd all had a good laugh at that one.

She watched Sam stop Ferd before he got to the briefing room and talked quietly with him. Jules was so proud of the way he was taking on his role as Team Leader. He'd told her the same thing, but she was still settling in to the position. Her attention was diverted when she heard Spike's exclamation.

"Ugh. Ahh. Aww shh-" Spike lifted the arm holding Sadie and grimaced.

"Spike!" Jules warned and then laughed at the scene before her. Spike was holding her daughter up away from his body while steadying her with his other hand as green poop ran down his uniform and arm onto the floor.

Spike looked up at Winnie and then Jules with a completely disgusted look on his face. "Eww. Uh, um, help?" Spike raised his brows at Winnie who was bent over with laughter.

Winnie held her stomach as she stood up straight and attempted to stop laughing. "Come on." She put her hands on Spike's shoulders and turned him toward the lockers after Jules handed her the diaper bag she'd left at the desk.

Ed couldn't help chuckling as he approached Jules and raised his brows. "Please tell me you-"

"Oh yes." Jules smiled back and held up her phone. "I can't wait to tell Sam."

"And Ferd." Ed added and wiggled his brows.

"Oh." Jules raised her brows. Oh that was too perfect! "Spike is rubbing off on you finally." She giggled conspiratorially.

Before Ed could answer, the klaxon alarm went off and most of Team One was headed to the SUVs while Jules ran to the locker room. She knocked and entered as soon as she heard Spike say "decent!". He was buttoning up his clean shirt while Winnie was just picking Sadie up from the changing pad on the counter. "Could you-"

"Not a problem." Winnie cut Jules off before she could finish. She'd been helping Sam and Jules out with the shift transition for the past week or so and she had no problem continuing. She enjoyed spending time with Sadie, and it was good practice.

"Thanks Winnie. Ok Sadie. Momma has to go to work. Love you sweet girl." Jules held Sadie for a moment before she kissed her and returned her to Auntie Winnie. "Ready Spike?"

"Yep." Spike nodded, gave Winnie a quick kiss on the cheek before he followed Jules out of the locker room.

Winnie watched Spike go then looked at Sadie. "Whatcha think? You wanna go play?" She laughed when Sadie babbled happily. "Me too." She picked up the changing stuff and put it back in the bag before heading to the desk to let Sydney know they were going to play in conference room three until Team Three was done with debrief. She felt the nausea hit again as she walked into the conference room. She sat in the chair and looked at Sadie. She wished she could've talked to Jules before they went on shift. She put a hand on her stomach. "I hope you like to fly." She smiled when Sadie put her hand over Winnie's. Maybe she'd call Shelly. She grabbed her phone and hit speed dial.

##### SUVs heading to call #####

"Mary and Joseph Ata, 1 Seigneur Drive. Domestic disturbance. The neighbor, Albert Théodora says he and his wife Mary walked over to the Ata's to bring them Christmas cookies, but Mary Ata answered the door with a gun. Mrs. Ata started yelling at his wife, saying she was a home wrecker and was having an affair with Mr. Ata. Albert tried to grab the gun and it went off, hitting him in the shoulder. Mrs. Ata pulled his Mrs. Théodora inside the house while he got away and called 911." Sydney relayed.

"Do we know what kind of gun it is?" Dale asked from the passenger seat next to Jules.

"No. Mr. Théodora, said he didn't know."

"Ok thanks Sydney. Spike, see what you can find on both couples please." Jules made a turn. "Is EMS on scene?"

"Arriving now." Sydney answered after Spike said "copy".

"Copy." Jules nodded and looked at Dale. He'd come a long way in the past years. He started out as a temp when they needed coverage for injuries and vacations and had quickly established himself as a valued member of the SRU. She was very happy when he applied for one of the openings on Team One. It'd been an easy decision. His strength was negotiation and tactics so she often chose him for her second. After a momentary pause to consider the other members she decided. "Dale, you're my second today. We'll interview the victim. Leah?"

"Yeah boss?" Leah looked at Frank sympathetically from the driver seat of their SUV. She could see he was disappointed.

"You and Frank talk to the neighbors, see what they may know. Boss?" Jules asked Ed in the command truck with Spike.

"Copy." Leah answered and turned off her radio as Ed was handing out assignments to the rest of the team. She looked at Dale and he did the same. "You'll get your chance."

"I can't improve if I don't get the field experience." Frank blew out a breath in frustration, lifted a hand and dropped it. "She never picks me as her second."

"Talk to her after debrief." Leah tipped her head to the side. "Just remember when you're the democratically elected leader you get to make autocratic decisions."

"Mmm." Frank nodded. He understood, he just wanted the chance to improve and be a better team member. He'd bring that up to Jules later. He looked at Leah. "Thanks."

Leah smiled. "Anytime."

An hour later, they were riding back to the barn. Jules had gotten Mrs. Ata to lay down the gun and let her neighbor go without anyone else getting hurt. Mr. Théodora was taken to the hospital and was going to be ok. Suddenly the alarm went off and Sydney came over the headsets. "Shots fired, 25 Noel Avenue. Neighbors say it sounded like firecrackers going off for the past couple minutes."

"Automatic fire." Ed looked to Spike. "See what you can find out about the house Spike. Sydney, put Team Five on standby."

"Team Five is in the middle of a call." Sydney looked up and saw Team Three was still in the conference room. "Team Three is still here."

Ed sighed. He hated to ask since he knew they were technically off shift and Sam would want to get Sadie home. "Ok, yes ask them if they could hang for a few minutes." Hopefully they wouldn't need to use them.

They stopped the SUV's down the block from the house and geared up.

"Spike any information on the owner of the house?" Jules asked as she headed to the command truck.

"Owned by a numbered company, 1215-23875 Corporation. There's a Guns and Gangs file on them. Looks like G & G has been building a case against the company and it's owner, Frohe Urlab a german immigrant they believe to be international gun runner Freche Junge." Spike said as Jules sat next to him.

"Junge is one nasty character. He was allegedly involved in a firefight with German police that left 15 dead, most of them officers. We need to go careful here Sarge." Jules read from the screen.

"Copy Jules." Ed nodded. He looked at the house from behind the SUV. He felt a sense of deja vu. This reminded him of the call with Roy three years ago. He'd nearly lost Roy that night and it'd scared the hell out of him. He was glad in a way that it happened as it put a few bricks in the bridge between him and Roy. They'd started hanging out more and were much closer now. "All right. Spike, call G&G, see if what you can find out about Junge."

"Copy." Spike answered with a smile. He dialed the number by heart and smiled when the familiar voice picked up. "Hey, Wordy." After several minutes, Spike hung up with Guns & Gangs. "Wordy said that they haven't been able to prove that Junge is Urlab. He's very camera shy and careful about being seen anywhere near the guns or the drops."

"Until tonight." Ed grumbled. Shit this was not good. He looked at the house again. Dammit. "Sydney, Team Three on standby?"

"Yes Boss." Sydney looked up at Rollie and Sam.

"Put Sam on." Ed said and looked at Leah next to him.

Sam frowned when Sydney told him Ed wanted to talk to him and he picked up the receiver. "We can be there in 10. Short one, but we can be there."

"I'm good Boss." Ferd said from beside Sam. He didn't feel great about having to take a life, but he could do his job.

"Short two Sam. You need to get Sadie home." Ed said with a little more force than he meant.

In the truck, Jules looked at Spike. This was a tough choice. One they hadn't had to make yet.

Sam looked to the conference room where he knew Sadie and Winnie were. One part of him wanted to be in that room and the other with Jules on this dangerous call. The choice was tearing him up and his stomach turned. "Hold one sec." He ran to the conference room and opened the door startling Winnie and Sadie. "Sorry." He breathed. "Winnie, Team One needs us on a call, I hate to impose but,"

Winnie put up a hand. "Not a problem. I can take her to your house in case she gets sleepy so I can put her own in her own room."

"Are you sure? That'd be great." Sam said relieved. He still hated the idea of leaving Sadie, but making sure she still had two parents come home tonight was more important.

"Yeah absolutely." Winnie nodded and stood with Sadie in her arms. "Go see Daddy." She whispered to Sadie who looked at Sam, smiled and put her arms out.

"Hi my baby girl." Sam smiled at Sadie who cooed and babbled. "Daddy has to go help Mommy at work, but I'll see you later ok?" He gave her a quick hug and kiss and handed her back to Winnie. "I'm not sure what we have to eat at the house, but make yourself at home. She usually gets tired around 8 so if I'm not home by then you can put her down. Feel free to use the guest room if you get tired. You're welcome to stay the night if you want."

"Ok. Don't worry, she's in good hands. I'll grab the seat from Jule's Jeep." Winnie shook her head and gave Sam a sympathetic look. She felt for the choice he was making. She wasn't sure if she could do it.

Sam turned looked at Rollie. "Let's go."

AN: I couldn't resist playing with the names for the holiday. Mary and Joseph Ata. Ata means holy in French. So Mary and Joseph Holy. Seigneur is French for Lord. Théodora means God's gift so Mary God's gift. Merry Christmas!