Title: New Year Cuddle
Author/pseudonym: Juli
Fandom: Diagnosis Murder
Pairing: Jesse/Steve
Rating: PG
Status: New, Complete
Archive: Yes, to BBQ Bob's, Steve & Jesse's Abode
E-mail address for feedback: challisgal@yahoo.com
Series/Sequel: No
Other websites: None
Disclaimers: "Diagnosis Murder" and its characters belong to Viacom and CBS. This story is written purely for entertainment purposes. No money is being made from it and no copyright infringement is intended.
**********************

"Steve, I can't be seen in public dressed in this get-up!"

Safely on the other side of the bathroom door, Steve Sloan allowed his grin to blossom full force. How his lover got himself into these predicaments, he'd never know.

"C'mon, Jess, it can't be that bad," the detective responded to the unseen man's complaint. "And, remember, it's for a good cause."

"That's easy for you to say," came the grumbling that the bathroom door couldn't quite muffle.

The Powers that Be had decided that the New Year holiday would be the perfect opportunity for yet another Community General fund raiser. Family friend Amanda Livingston had been put in charge of the project and had immediately chosen to stage a lavish party. All of the attendees, except for two, would be required to dress to the hilt. As a result, tuxedos and formal ball gowns would be the attire for the shindig.

The exceptions were the "volunteers" tapped to portray Father Time and Baby New Year.

Mark Sloan took to his assigned role with grace and enthusiasm, but then, the elderly doctor was really a vaudevillian at heart. Usually, it was harder to get him *out* of a costume than it had been to convince him to wear it in the first place. Steve's father had enjoyed donning the long robe and fake beard that transformed him into Father Time and had actually left early for the party in order to get maximum use out of it.

Jesse Travis, on the other hand, was finding his Baby New Year garb a little less than acceptable.

As the youngest doctor at Community General, Jesse had been the obvious choice to portray the coming New Year. His baby face and sunny personality seemed tailor made for the part, although the young blond was decidedly less enthusiastic than his mentor had been at being chosen. Amanda had had to resort to using the full forcefulness of her own character to convince the normally affable Jesse into agreeing to do it and then he'd only conceded when she promised that his costume would be tasteful. Amanda had also been quick to point out that the brownie points he'd earn with Norman would more than make up for any potential embarrassment.

In other words, she'd lied through her teeth.

Jesse's costume hadn't arrived until the very last minute. Mark had already left for the event and Steve had stayed behind to wait for his lover. The cop knew the party would last long past the midnight hour and he had made special arrangements to have the evening off. Not only did Steve want to provide moral support to his nervous lover, but he also had no intention of allowing his mate to drive home when the streets would likely be full of revelers who'd had too much to drink. He trusted Jesse not to drive drunk; he just didn't trust the other drivers on the road to be equally responsible.

When the delivery service had dropped off the plastic-wrapped costume, Steve had watched, amused, while Jesse had darted into the bathroom with it. Luckily, the older man was already dressed and only had the finishing touches to put on his own attire for the evening. After he'd gotten his bow tied fixed and his cufflinks on, however, he couldn't help but notice that Jesse had yet to emerge. His inquiry had resulted in a round of complaints that indicated that the Baby New Year costume was not living up to Amanda's promises.

"Steve, you've got to call Amanda and tell her I'm not coming."

The detective leaned against the locked bathroom door. "C'mon, Jess. They're counting on you."

"They can keep on counting, then, 'cause I have no intention of being seen in public dressed like this. I'd never hear the end of it."

Steve tilted his head to the side. Surely it couldn't be that bad? "Why don't you show me, babe? Maybe it's not as bad as you think."

His suggestion was met with silence, but then in a tentative voice, Jesse asked, "Promise you won't laugh?"

His lover backed away from the bathroom door. "Promise," he vowed solemnly.

The door opened slowly and a very self-conscious young man stepped through. A satiny black top hat adorned his head, which would have looked elegant except that it was several sizes too big and tended to dip down over his eyes. The short figure was shirtless, leaving his chest bare to Steve's appreciative gaze. A silver sequined bow tie, overlarge, was around his neck. The only other part of his costume was a white garment that looked suspiciously like a diaper. It also was too big and had slipped down slightly over one hip.

Jesse bit his lip and looked at the older man. "Wait, that's not even the worst part."

Turning around, the young doctor let Steve see his back side. The words 'Happy New Year' were spelled out in sequins on the back of the diaper, matching the bow tie. As flashy as it was, though, Steve Sloan didn't even notice. Instead, his attention was taken up by the fact that the diaper was slipping down, showing just a peek of crack and the rounded mounds that Steve loved so well.

Jesse finished his slow-motion pirouette and turned back to his lover. Steve wasn't laughing. In fact, the older man's face looked like it was set in stone. "Steve?"

"I'm calling Amanda and telling her that you're not coming." The detective responded in a tight voice.

The younger man blushed and looked down. "That bad, huh?"

Dressed mostly in just his bare skin, Jesse felt the warmth of Steve's body before it had even registered that the older man had come so close. One large hand tilted Jesse's chin up and Jesse looked into Steve's face. He relaxed at what he saw there, melting into the taller man's embrace. What he'd thought was disapproval in Steve's voice when he said he was calling Amanda and canceling Jesse's appearance had been anything but. Looking into Steve's eyes, all Jesse saw was profound appreciation and more than a little lust.

"I'm going to call Amanda and tell her that you're not coming," Steve repeated, "And then I'm going to take you into the bedroom, babe, and we're going to ring in the new year together." The older man slipped one hand down the soft cotton fabric of the doctor's costume, cupping one cheek firmly.

"Sounds great," Jesse laughed, relieved not to be paraded in front of his colleagues and hospital benefactors dressed so outlandishly. "But, please, just for tonight, do me a favor and don't call me 'babe' or 'baby.'"

**********************

Across town, Amanda Livingston gently set the telephone receiver back down into its cradle. She'd just been chewed out for a solid five minutes by Steve Sloan, but looked remarkably calm for a woman who'd been on the receiving end of his temper.

Turning to her infant son, she cooed, "Well, C.J., looks like Mommy's plan worked."

Come tomorrow, she'd confess her trick to Jesse and Steve. Had they really thought her so heartless to expect Jesse to dress up as Baby New Year for a hospital function? The party was real, but Jesse's participation had been totally manufactured as a belated Christmas present for her two friends. She might be an old married lady herself, but Amanda was a romantic at heart. She knew Steve well and counted on the fact that his protective streak would keep Jesse from any humiliation.

And she also had a feeling she knew what seeing Jesse dressed in little more than a loin cloth would do to Steve's restraint. In fact, she'd deliberately arranged to have too large a costume delivered, figuring the more it sagged and exposed Jesse's assets, the more inflamed the detective would become. Mark Sloan wasn't the only schemer at Community General and, judging from the breathless giggles in the background that had ended her conversation with Steve, her machinations had worked perfectly.

Gathering up baby C.J., the *real* Baby New Year for the fund-raising event, Amanda headed for the party, satisfied in a job well done. She couldn't wait to tell Mark. Under the circumstances, she had a feeling he wouldn't be disappointed when Steve and Jesse didn't put in an appearance.

**********************

Steve normally grumbled when he was awakened unexpectedly in the night, but not when the cause was one of Jesse's kisses.

"It's midnight," the younger man explained when he finally broke off the kiss. "Happy New Year."

"Happy New Year to you too, bab-... sweetheart," Steve caught sight of the sequined bow tie where it was wrapped around the headboard post and amended what he was going to say at the last minute, it having reminded him of Jesse's earlier request not to be called 'babe' or 'baby' while the memory of the hated costume was still so fresh. Considering subsequent events, perhaps the younger man's opinion of the get-up had changed, but Steve figured it was better safe than sorry.

Jesse sighed in contentment and curled back up on top of Steve. Fingers tracing an idle path up and down the older man's chest, he said wistfully. "Mistletoe... the first kiss of the New Year... I'm going to miss all these kissing holidays."

Steve stroked up and down his mate's back, tilting his head to brush his lips across the smaller man's hair. "That's going to be my resolution for the year. Every day is going to be a kissing holiday."

The doctor grinned sleepily at the idea. "I can live with that." Snuggling closer to Steve, he yawned heavily before coming up with a resolution of his own. "I resolve to make love to you as often as humanly possible this year."

His lover laughed, "Like you need a special reason to resolve to do that."

Jesse lifted his head to look at Steve in sleepy defiance. "And you need a special resolution to kiss me every day?"

"You got me, Jess," Steve admitted. "Still, every day is a holiday *some*where in the world. Why shouldn't we celebrate and make it a kissing holiday?" When Jesse's only response was a yawn, he cupped the back of the younger man's head with his hand, encouraging Jesse to snuggle even closer. "Go to sleep, I think you're going to need to rest up so we can spend the day working on that 'making love as often as humanly possible' promise of yours."

Both men drifted off, confident that, for once, they would have no trouble at all keeping their New Year's resolutions.

~finis~