Kate woke up in the morning for another day of Christmas month. She loved Christmas, it was her favourite holiday. She went to the kitchen still on her pj's and prepared her breakfast while listening to music. Pancakes as usual. She finished making them and went to eat on the couch while watching "Home Alone" for the first time that month. Kate then dressed something casual as she was staying home today. She went to sit on the couch again but she heard a knock on the door. She opened it to see Eddie and Chris.

"Katie!" Chris said as he wrapped his arms around her waist.

"Hey, buddy." She said lookig down at him but looking up again to face Eddie with a confused expression.

When they pulled away, Eddie spoke up. "Can you watch him, please?"

"Wait, what?" Kate asked confused.

"I need you to watch him until I come back." Eddie insisted.

"Yeah, sure, but-" Kate said but he cut her off.

"Thank you." Eddie said as he walked away to his truck.

"Wait! Eddie!" Kate called him out but he only smiled before going into the car. "Diaz!"

"Katie, where did dad go?" Chris asked from the hallway as Kate closed the door.

"Honestly, I don't know." She said. Christopher had a sad look on his face. "Hey, let's go do something fun, all right?" She said to distract him. His lips now tugged into a smile. 

"Yes!"

"Have you ever watched Home Alone?" She asked Chris who was sitting on the couch. He had a smile on his face as he shock his head. Kate, now with a smile as well, went to sit next to him and they started watching the movie.

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They had a lot of fun in the afternoon, although Kate was kind of worried. Eddie hadn't called or texted since he dropped Christopher off. She decided to go to his house. But there was something she didn't know. Why Eddie dropped him off.

"Okay, buddy, we're here." Kate said as she helped Chris getting out of the car. 

They walked to the front porch and she used the keys Eddie gave her.

"Daddy!" Chris said as he walked in.

"Eddie? Are you here?" Kate asked as she put Christopher's crutches on the table.

"Why is he here?" Shannon whisper-asked Eddie. They were in his bedroom. That was the reason why Eddie took Chris to Kate's place. They were supposed to work things out, but ended up in bed.

"I'll distract them. You-you head out the back." He said as he pointed to one of the bedroom window.

"Woah, what?" Shannon asked confused.

"What?"

"You want me to sneak out?" She asked as they heard a knock on the door. "That's our son out there. Look, we've been trying to figure out how to tell him. Maybe this is the moment."

"Daddy!"

"It's not the moment, okay? Not with Kate here." Eddie said.

"Kate? Who the hell is Kate? I thought you said you dropped him at your Abuela's."

"That doesn't matter, okay? You-you have to go."

"Eddie?" Kate asked with a frown on her face.

"Hey. Hey, buddy." Eddie said as he opened the door just a little.

"Hey." Chris said.

"Thought I was supposed to pick you up at Kate's." Eddie said as he motioned Shannon to go.

"Oh, but he was so excited to show you the decorations he made." Kate said as she saw Eddie. "Did you have company?" She asked as she saw two wine glasses on the coffee table.

"What? Oh, you know, I'm not the best housekeeper." He lied.

What the hell am I doing?  He thought.

"Show... Hey, show me what you got." He changed the subject.

"We ended up with three Christmas trees." Kate said as she showed the trees." He said, 'This is Daddy, this is Kate and this is me'"

"Yeah? Aw." Eddie smiled and chuckled.

"You loved this green one, didn't you? Well, I'll let you see that with your dad and, hum, I'll go, okay?" Kate said as she noticed that Eddie was constantly looking at his bedroom.

"Wait, why?" Eddie asked confused as Kate got up from her seat on the couch.

"Well, I've still got some Christmas stuff to buy." She lied. "I hope you had a good day, buddy."

"I did!" Chris said as he hugged Kate.

"Yeah? Did you like the afternoon?" Eddie said with a smile as he wached the two. Chris nods, also with a smile on his face.

Kate smiled and walked to the door, Eddie following behind. 

"I'll see you later at the shift." Kate said with a small smile on her face.

"Yeah, see you later." Eddie said also with a small smile.

She nodded and walked to her car. They way home was full of overthinking thoughts.

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On the next shift, they were called to the airport where a man was being shipped inside a Christmas toy box. He had fallen and passed out. On the way there, Buck spoke up.

"How long's he been in the air?"

"Plane took off from LAX 18 minutes ago. It was diverted to SoCal Airport." Bobby said.

"18 minutes. It's nearly long enough to reach altitude. It's not good. Cargo isn't pressurized or heated." Eddie informed.

"I thought coach was bad." Chim said.

"Hey, Chim, make sure we have a oh-two and warming blankets standing by." Bobby instructed.

"Copy that."

They arrived at the airport.

"Put your lights on. Let's go, Chim." Bobby said.

They entered the hold of the plane which was full of boxes and it was not going to be easy to find Brandon, the victim.

"Oh, joy." Chim said as Kate and the rest of the team had surprised looks on their faces.

"Well, looks like we're opening presents early this year, huh?" Buck joked.

"Clock is ticking, guys. We got to find this kid." Bobby said. "Dispatch said he had trouble breathing even before he went up in the air."

Kate heard a ringtone playing. "Wait. Did you guys hear that?" She asked as it continued to play.

"Stethoscope?"

Eddie started searching with his stethoscope around the boxes. They heard the ringtone louder.

"That's our guy!" Eddie said.

"Hey, get this shrink-wrap off."

They managed to open the box.

"What do we got?" Kate asked.

"Yeah, I got him. He's in there. He's in there." Eddie said. "Okay. I see him. He doesn't look good."

"He out?" Bobby asked. 

"Yeah."

"Okay. Get the bear out." Bobby said as they took a huge stuffed bear toy out of the box.

They got Brandon on the gurney.

"He's cold, Cap." Chim said.

"All right, get some blankets on him." Bobby ordered.

"I don't have a pulse." Kate said.

"Starting compressions." Chim said.

"How's he doing, Kate?" Bobby asked.

"Still nothing."

"Buck, switch." 

"All right, switching."

"Hold for pulse check." Kate said as she put two finger on Brandon's neck. "Still nothing."

Buck keept doing compressions until the machine beeped again. "All right, I got a pulse! Temp's rising."

"Welcome back, Brandon." Bobby said.

"Well someone really wants to talk to you." Chim said as he picked Brandon's phone up.

"She told me not to answer it." Brandon said.

"Who did?"

"Maddie. The 911 lady." A small smile appeared on Kate's face as Brandon mentioned her sister's name. "She said she would ring me for you to find me."

"Maddie?" Chim answered the phone.

"Chim?" She asked confused.

"Oh, fancy meeting you here."

She chuckled and asked "How's Brandon?"

"He's good. He's here. Do you wanna talk to him?"

She sighed in relief. "Oh, I do. Hi, Brandon."

"Thank you. Thank you."

"You're welcome."

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The next day, the 118 organized a campaign to donate Christmas toys. This was probably one of Kate's favourite activities in the firehouse. Kate, Buck, Eddie and Chim were getting the donated toys from people who donated it at the table.

"Thank you." She said with a soft and big smile to a little girl who gave a small white teddy bear.

"Thank you." Eddie said to a woman. He looked up to see Shannon who gave the toy. "Shannon. What are you doing here?" He asked confused. Kate turned her head with a surprised expression to look at the two.

"You won't answer my texts or return my calls." Shannon said. 

"This is not the place." He said while still looking at her but then looking at another woman who gave a toy. "Thank you."

"Maybe it's the perfect place. We can actually have a conversation that doesn't end up with us in bed." Shannon said as Buck and Chim look at Eddie with surprised faces.

Kate froze while looking down at the toy she was wrapping. That was when she realised. The sudden Chris drop at her place. The two glasses of wine. The constant glances at his bedroom. Eddie had lied to her.

Eddie looked embarressed at his team, especially at Kate who is now staring at him with an emotionless face. 

Shit. Eddie thought before looking back at Shannon. "Follow me."

Buck looked at Kate who was staring down at her toy. He nudged her as he asked. "You okay?"

She snapped out of her thoughts and finished wrapping her toy. "Yeah. Why wouldn't I be?" She said before going upstairs to sit on the kitchen island. Hen was getting a bottle of water.

"Hey, you okay?" Hen said with a soft voice.

Kate sighed. "He's been sleeping with her."

"What?" Hen asked confused.

"Eddie. He's been sleeping with Shannon." Hen had now a surprised look on her face.

"I-I thought he liked you." Hen said.

"Well, so did I. Looks like he doesn't."

"You should talk to him." Hen said with a serious look on her face.

"What?" Kate asked confused. "Are you crazy?"

"Look, you know that he doesn't want to get back with Shannon. And you also know that he likes you. A lot. So you should talk to him about that." Hen said before a firefighter called Kate.

"I'll think about it. Thanks, Hen." She said before heading down to her table.

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Later that night, Eddie and Chris had invited Buck and Kate to go see Santa Claus.

"I offered to wait in line with him but he said this is, uh, private." Eddie said as he sat down between the twins.

"I admire that kid." Buck said. "I love the way he always wants to do everything on his own."

"Yeah." Eddie laughed. "So... not gonna say anything?" Eddie asked in which Kate sighed. He looked at her confused before turning his head to Buck as he spoke.

"Nah. About what?" 

"You know what about."

"We figured it was none of our business." Kate said as she begged on her mind to change the subject.

"It's not."

"That's what I'm saying."

"It just kind of happened, okay? It's not like I planned it."

"We never said you did." Buck said.

"I only even reached out to her because I needed her help getting Christopher into his new school." Eddie denfended himself.

"Totally understandable."

"We just kind of... ended up in bed."

"Yeah, we got that." Kate said sarcastically.

"I'm sneaking around behind my kid's back with his mother." Eddie said.

"Wait, Christopher doesn't know?" Kate asked confused.

"I don't know what he knows."

"You're trying to protect your kid. I mean, she ran out on him, right?" Buck said.

"I ran out first." Eddie said which made Kate look at him. "I ran out on both of them. When Christopher was first diagnosed I was in Afghanistan. Right at the end of my tour. Instead of going back home... "

"You reenlisted." Kate said in realization.

He nodded and keept talking. "I told myself it was to pay the bills. But I got to pretend like it was for a noble cause. Serving my country. But when Shanonn broke, nobody thought she was a hero. She just got called evil."

"Which is kind of true." Kate muttered loud enough for them to hear her.

"What?" Eddie asked confused.

"Look, from what I know, when you went to Afghanistan you tried to contact them in any way you could. Texts, calls, letters. But when she ran out, she didn't even try to contact you. She-she didn't sent texts, or tried to call you or sent letters. You did all you could, but she didn't. Now she wants to get back in your life." Kate explained. She just wanted to stop talking about this.

Eddie had a surprised expression on his face. He wasn't expecting that she would be the one to open his eyes.

"But, I think you should let her see him." She said, which she regretted.

"Wait, what?" He asked confused. 

"She's his mother after all." Kate explained.

"But, I don't think I want her back in our life." Eddie admited.

"Then you have another option..." She said, looking at him.

Divorce.

He knew that that's what she meant by that. Eddie snapped out of his thougths when Buck looked at the woman dressed as an elf. The trio got up to walk towards her and Christopher.

"How'd it go, pal'?" Eddie asked Christopher.

"It went great."

"So what'd you ask for?" Buck asked.

"Can't tell. Santa said he'd work on it."

"Oh." Kate muttered. 

"Let's go." Eddie said as he picked Christopher up. The two and Buck start walking to the car, but Kate stood in front of the woman, looking at them with adoring eyes.

"You and Mr. Diaz have an adorable son." The woman said.

Kate looked at the woman and her cheeks get a little red. She didn't know what to say. "Um... thank you." She smiled a little and walked faster to catch with the boys while still thinking about what the woman had said.

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On their last shift before Christmas, the 118 got called to an accident between a bus and a truck. The cops were already there. They got out of the engine.

"I'll take the driver." Hen said.

"So, I don't know how, but we have mostly minor injuries, some cuts and bruises, excepts for this guy." A cop explained as she lead the team to where a military was helping the man. "and I don't know if he's gonna make it."

"Sargent." Eddie said and the team bent down, Kate next to him.

"That truck came out of now, man. Piece of glass clipped him in the neck. Feels like it hit a major artery."

"Carotid. You got your finger in the whole?" Eddie asked.

"That's what we're trained to do." The sargent said. "I've seen it before, unfortunately."

"Me, too. Where were you?" Eddie asked and Kate took a quick glance at him.

"Leatherneck." 

"Ah. I was at Bagram."

"Army?"

"Uh-huh."

"Nobody's perfect."

"Let's run the fluids wide open." Kate ordered. "You mind keeping your finger there for a moment? You don't have anywhere to be, right?" She asked the sargent.

"Right." He lied. His daughter was going to perform a solo choir for Christmas and he wanted to surprise her. "I'm good."

"Okay."

They managed to put bandages on the man's neck to stop the wound from bleeding as much. They put him on a gurney and transported him to the ambulance.

"Is he gonna make it?" The sargent asked which made Eddie and Kate turn around and then Buck and Bobby.

"Thanks to you, Marine." Eddie said as he put a hand on his shoulder to check if he got hurt. "How you feeling?" He asked. Kate could see the way Eddie cared for the man as they were both in similar jobs.

"I'm fine. Anything else I can do?" 

"We're good. Thank you for your service. Literally." Bobby said and nodded in a thankful way.

Kate gave the man a small reassuring smile in a thankful way as well and they start walking to the cop's car where a woman told them about the sargent wanting to surprise his daughter. Kate and Eddie made their way back to the man who had pulled his phone which was broken.

"We hear you have a show to get to, Marine." Eddie said as the man looks at him.

"Yeah. But I'm never gonna make it." The man said sadly.

"Oh, yes, you are. Let's go." Kate said with a smile and started walking towards the fire engine, both man following behind.

They got to the engine and started speeding up to the show where the sargent's daugther was going to perform at.

"You better hurry up and get dressed, we're gonna be there before you know it." Eddie said.

"I'm gonna cry. I-I know I'm gonna cry." Buck said as Kate chuckled a little. "Those soldier reunion videos on YouTube always get me."

The man got dressed and in less than 3 minutes they finally arrived. The sargent jumped out of the engine and sprinted up the stairs of the school, the team following behind. The team walked inside the pavilion and stopped to watch the family get reunited again. The girl, his daughter, gasped and stopped singing as she saw her father. She jumped out of the stage and, with her mother who got up from her seat, ran towards the father as the crowd cheered. Kate and Eddie have small tears in their eyes and a smile on their lips as they watched the beautiful scene in front of her. 

"Yeah, every time." Buck said as he wiped off one of his fallen tears. Kate gently patted his back in a friendly way.

Bobby and Buck started going back to the engine. Eddie felt an arm around his waist and when he looked down, he saw that it was Kate who also has a smile on her face. He put his arm around her shoulder and they started walking to the engine as well.

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The next day was Christmas!! Buck and Kate were going to Athena's to celebrate it with her, Bobby, Michael, Hen, Karen, May and Harry. They were so excited, not just because it was Christmas but also because Bobby and Athena were engaged. They finally arrived at their place and knocked on the door.

"Merry Christmas!" Athena said as she greeted the twins.

"Merry Christmas, Thena!" Kate said as she hugged the older woman.

"Merry Christmas. Thanks for inviting us. We brought Christmas, and... We brought congratulations." Buck said as he held a champagne bottle.

"Ah, thank you. Well, you are always welcome. Maddie didn't want to join us?" Athena said.

"I think this year she needed a different kind of Christmas." Kate said.

"All right, well, come on in."

"I'm excited." Buck said as the twins came in.

Every one was having fun and laughing and telling jokes while eating dinner. It was a beautiful night. After dinner, they decided to do karaoke. They turned on the TV and start singing songs. Kate sang "Christmas Tree Farm" by Taylor Swift with May and "Last Christmas" by Wham! with Hen and they all had fun. She sat on the couch while watching Bobby and Buck sing "All I Want For Christmas Is You" by Mariah Carey. She laughed when Buck tried hit the high note. After a few more songs, she got a message.

It was from Eddie.

"Merry Christmas, Katie." She smiled at the message and answered it.

"Merry Christmas, Eds."

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Ooh, this was quite a big chapter, but I kinda liked it. I'm sorry once again for taking so long, just regular life and you know... it hasn't helped. I'll try to write fast. We could finally see that Kate doens't really like Shannon. Thank you SO SO SO SO SO much for reading and voting. Love you all so much! :))