It wasn’t under a tree; it was sprig of mistletoe.

We met at a Christmas party. I didn’t really want to go; I was still feeling kind of sore after a fight with four gorillas in an alley, but Hutch said I should come. I think maybe he thought he needed a chaperone. You see the party was at the house of a friend of a girlfriend of a friend of his…did you get that? And the friend had shown interest in ol’ Blondie, but he wasn’t sure he wanted it. Abby was still in his mind and he wasn’t ready to give up the idea that she’d come back for keeps.

Most of the people there were teachers and social workers and a few nurses. This pretty little brunette came up to me and handed me a drink and I heard something go ‘ping’ in my heart. We got to talking and I found out that she teaches kids with special needs and that she wants to organize some kind of sports thing for them – so I said “My partner and I enjoy playing basket ball maybe we can help.”

“Your partner?”

“We’re cops.”

She looked at me and smiled. “You don’t look like a cop.”

“That’s because we work undercover a lot.”

I was thinking how maybe going undercover with her might be nice too. I went to get her another drink and brought a plate with a few canapés on it. We found a relatively quiet spot and got to know each other.

Around midnight the party began to break up. Hutch and I had to work the next day – later that day – whatever. He came over to see if I was ready to leave.

I introduced her. “’This is Terri.”

Just before we left I took her to the mistletoe and kissed her. A long kiss that was full of promise. I smiled and asked her if she needed a ride home.

Hutch took a cab.

Special thanks to Nicky Gabriel for the screen cap