Jo stretched, slowly awakening and reached out mindlessly for Alex. Her hand encountered cold sheets, immediately waking her fully. She sat up and looked around questioningly while rubbing her eyes. There was no sign of Alex in the bedroom or bathroom. She furrowed her eyebrows and grabbed one of his shirts off the floor to throw on as she skipped down the stairs.

She really hoped he hadn't been called into work. Since miraculously they were both off for Christmas and didn't have anywhere to be, they had decided to go eat drive thru burgers and see a movie at the theater. She had really been looking forward to it since Christmas was usually so lonely and depressing.

She heard music coming from the kitchen and briefly thought about going back to put on some real clothes in case someone had dropped by, but curiosity got the best of her and she hesitantly walked into the kitchen to see Alex bopping his head along to "Do They Know it's Christmas."

She giggled slightly to herself at the sight. Alex was making pancakes wearing nothing but his black tank and boxer shorts. He hadn't yet noticed her, so she leaned against the door to watch. She knew the minute she had been noticed as Alex immediately froze with a deer in the headlight look, "How long have you been standing there?"

Jo smiled playfully and started walking slowly towards him, "Long enough to regret leaving my phone upstairs. Would have loved to have gotten that on video." She wrapped her arms around his waist and kissed his lips softly, "Merry Christmas."

Alex gave a genuine smile and mumbled, "Merry Christmas" before capturing her lips for another kiss. "You're just in time for breakfast."

Jo smiled softly, "This is a nice surprise. I didn't even know you could make pancakes."

Alex nodded as he carried the stack of pancakes to the table, "This was a tradition in my family for Christmas: pancakes and bacon on Christmas morning. At least the years my mom was on her meds."

Jo walked over to the table with plates and utensils. She ran her hand up and down his arm comfortingly, "That's a nice tradition. You should definitely keep it going."

Alex's lips curled up slightly, "You know you kinda ruined it today. I was gonna be real suave and bring it to you in bed."

Jo gave a look of slight disbelief, "Oh really?"

Alex nodded, "Yep."

Jo pulled him into a hug and kissed his cheek, "I'm sorry, you're just so irresistible I miss you too much when you're not there."

Alex pulled back and gave a cocky grin, "That so?"

Jo looked at him with heavy eyes as they swayed slightly, "Mmmmhmmm."

Alex's voice dropped, "You keep looking at me like that and the pancakes will get cold."

Jo nodded slowly, her breath catching in her throat, "And we'll miss the movie."

The right side of Alex's mouth turned up amused, "It'll be worth it."

Jo nodded and mumbled to herself against his lips, "Best Christmas ever."