Disclaimers - not mine
A/N - Happy Christmas everyone, second part up later today :)
'Mele Kalikimaka is the thing to say on a bright Hawaiian Christmas Day
That's the island greeting that we send to you from the land where palm trees sway
Here we know that Christmas will be green and bright
The sun to shine by day and all the stars at night
Mele Kalikimaka is Hawaii's way to say Merry Christmas to you'
- Robert Alex Anderson
"Hawaii?" Liv pawed her way through a stack of brochures on Alex's coffee table as the blonde finished getting ready. They were probably going to be late for their reservation at Chez Henri, but court had run late that day. "You thinking of taking a holiday?"
In the bedroom, Alex tightened the belt on her jeans, throwing a lose fitting cream cashmere jumper over her black tank, she finished the look with some jewelry Olivia had bought for her last birthday. "Maybe …" She called out, "Hawaii's nice at Christmas time." She checked her appearance one last time before making her way back to Olivia.
Olivia tried not to convey disappointment in her voice. "You should," she agreed. "I can't remember the last time you took a holiday? It was probably Africa!"
Alex chuckled, "Probably." She took the brochure from Liv's hands. "It was just a thought."
Truthfully though it was more than a thought. It was a provisional five-day booking at a five star exclusive beach resort, two business class plane tickets and a quiet word in Donald Cragen's ear to see if his senior detective had personal time owed.
"You should come with me?" Alex suggested softly, her eyes looking everywhere except in Olivia's direction.
"I don't know Alex …" Liv chuckled. "Hawaii is hardly for me!"
Alex bit back the urge to come up with a hundred different reasons why Hawaii might be 'exactly' the place for the stubborn brunette to relax and unwind. They'd spent last Christmas together watching black and white movies on Olivia's couch, drinking wine and eating cold turkey and stuffing sandwiches because neither of them could be bothered to cook the vegetables. She couldn't imagine spending Christmas without Olivia, which was why she'd left it until the 16th of December to try and convince her to come.
The brochures placed half out of sight on her coffee table were no accident.
"You're serious?" Liv said, only partially surprised.
Alex smiled shyly and shrugged. "Can't think of anyone I'd rather go with." She replied, honestly.
Liv stood, laughing it off. "I can't go to Hawaii Alex, what about work?"
"You can take leave." Alex replied. "Lord knows you have plenty …"
"But …"
"But what Liv?" The blonde stared at her, picking up her camel coloured pea coat from the back of the sofa. "But … it could be fun? But … it'd be warm? But … we'd be in Hawaii?"
"It's Christmas …" Olivia whined, a little childishly. "Christmas is snow on the ground, Munch putting up twenty-year-old decorations at the precinct and playing effing Christmas music all day long, and you and me huddled under blankets eating Chinese food because the heat went out …?"
"Or …" Alex found herself stepping closer, "Christmas this year could be you and me, drinking Mai Tai's on the beach getting a tan and saying 'Mele Kalikimaka' to each other when we wake up in Hawaii on Christmas morning?"
"Mele … what?"
"It means Merry Christmas Liv."
Liv frowned. "Oh …"
"So?"
Olivia stood beside her, thinking. As much as she enjoyed their previous Christmas traditions she had to admit, the thought of the blonde going away without her over the holidays had stirred feelings of ill ease. Christmas in Hawaii with Alex would mean cocktails on the beach, seafood – one of Alex's most favourite things, and the blonde attorney in a – hopefully – very skimpy two-piece.
"Oh my god Liv!" Alex laughed. "Anyone would think I was asking you to give me a kidney!" She took the brunette's hands in her own. "You don't have to answer me right now, but at least promise me you'll think about it, okay?"
Liv grinned at her, "Okay."
Alex smiled. "Thank you."
"No … I mean 'Okay' …" Liv corrected, emphasizing the last word.
"You mean you'll come?" Alex squealed with delight. "This is going to be the best Christmas ever!"
A week later and their bags were packed and stood side by side in Alex's hallway as they sat waiting for the car to come and pick them up.
"I can't believe we're going to Hawaii!" Olivia exclaimed, for about the tenth time that morning.
Alex chuckled, despite her earlier reluctance the detective sure knew how to get excited about her first holiday in several years.
"Just the short matter of an eight hour flight to Los Angeles to get out of the way first." Alex said woefully.
"Oh come on Alex, it'll be fun." She jumped up to show the blonde her iPod. "Look, I made us a playlist full of Christmas songs I got from John."
Alex groaned. "Is that supposed to make me feel better?"
A glass of Champagne and a Valium later and Alex was feeling a whole lot better sat waiting in the executive lounge at JFK airport. Liv tried to hide her amusement at the slightly addled attorney, it really wasn't Alex's fault that she couldn't fly unless chemically stoned.
"Alex … hey Alex … slow down there," Liv insisted, taking the blonde's empty Champagne glass and retuning it to the table so it wouldn't be re-filled by an overzealous waiter. "I think you've had enough honey, I don't want to have to carry you onto the plane."
Alex made a face, but then replaced it with a broad smile. "We still have an hour," She said. "Let's go shopping."
Years ago Olivia had reconciled her discomfort with the Cabot wealth, in part, largely because Alex had no airs about it. She was as content at a black tie event wearing a ball gown that would've cost Olivia's entire yearly salary as she would be sitting in the bleachers at a Bruins game eating hot dogs and drinking beer out of plastic cups. She made a point of emphasizing to Olivia that it wasn't the money that mattered, it was how the money got spent.
As they made their way to the gate, Liv kept putting on and taking off her new Ray-Bans, catching a glimpse of her reflection in the tinted glass of the airport corridor.
Alex tried hard not to watch her, but it was tough. Everything about the brunette screamed glamour and sex appeal, the casual dress she wore, her chestnut hair cascading down around her shoulders, free falling in the light as she flicked it back – trying out her new shades. Liv glanced sideways and caught Alex looking at her as she walked. "Thanks …" She mumbled, "I really like them!"
Alex said nothing but simply grinned, linking her arms with her detective as they approached the gate. In roughly twelve hours they'd be in Hawaii and then operation 'Alex's Christmas wish' would begin in full force.
Olivia groaned as she adjusted to the dim light of the room, somewhere in the distance she could vaguely make out the sound of waves crashing and people singing, she opened her eyes – rubbing sleepily, the long flight having taken its toll on the unaccustomed traveler.
Alex was more au fait with jet setting through different time zones, she employed a tried and tested method of alcohol and prescription pills to induce sleep on the flight and then always woke at the other end looking surprisingly refreshed. Liv, on the other hand, had managed about an hour on the flight to LAX and none on the flight to Honolulu, nor on the short flight from there to Maui. When they finally arrived at their hotel, Alex was sprightly and asking about the weather and all Olivia could think about was going to bed.
She got up and went into the bathroom, splashing her face with cold water before taking a good long look at the reflection staring back in the mirror. Someone, somewhere, was having a joke.
Because they arrived late in the afternoon, only to be told that the booking agent had made a mistake and the only lodge room available had a superking bed not two queens. Alex looked across at her and shrugged, they were girlfriends after all … right?
Olivia groaned at her reflection in the mirror. Yep, someone was indeed having a good old laugh.
She made her way out onto the deck, the lodge was set back from the water's edge by a vast lawned area, a walkway and then beach, yet it still felt almost within touching distance. Alex was sat in the love seat reading a book, her bare feet resting upon the veranda.
"You're awake!"
Liv chuckled, "I think so, what time is it?"
"A little after 7pm …" Alex replied, "We've still plenty of time to go out and enjoy the evening."
Liv sat beside her in the swing chair and began to rock slowly back and forth. "I'm sorry to have slept so long." She mussed. "We're you bored?"
Alex shook her head slowly. "No …"
The sight of the detective, freshly woken from sleep was the most adorable thing Alex could recall seeing in quite some time. Olivia's face seemed relaxed, and refreshed, as if the weight of the worries that kept her down in New York had been left behind in the airport lounge at JFK.
Alex wanted her to look like that always, so gorgeous it almost hurt to breathe.
"Alex?" Liv glanced at her sideways, a touch nervous. "What's wrong? You're staring at me."
Alex grinned. "Nothing's wrong, you look different here, that's all."
After eating fresh tiger prawns grilled on the barbeque and delicious salmon steaks washed down with copious amounts of beer, in Olivia's case, and too many blue Hawaiian cocktails for Alex to keep count, the two New Yorkers stumbled back to their lodge, giggling like foolish schoolgirls along the way.
Once they got inside the room the air suddenly turned fresh; taking a nap alone in the bed was one thing but snuggling up with Alex's warm and tipsy body beside her for a whole night was another thing entirely and Olivia felt nervous.
"Relax Liv …" Alex slurred, doing her utmost to take off her sandals without falling to a heap on the floor. "I promise not to spoon you …"
Olivia turned just in time to stop Alex from face-planting onto the tiled floor. "Steady now …" She grumbled. "And I wasn't thinking about that."
Alex squared up to her, shoes off and tossed over by 'her' side of the bed. She was shorter without them on, but not by much, what made her seem smaller than usual was the way she swayed – only maintaining an upright position due to the firm grasp of Olivia's strong hands around her waist.
"Yes you were …" The attorney battled, sounding more drunk than she felt.
Olivia rolled her eyes back in her head; it was a long while since she'd seen Cabot this drunk-off-her-ass. She forgot how the attorney liked to argue!
"You're drunk." Olivia noted, softly.
"Am not …"
Liv chuckled, "Are too … see?" She let go of the blonde and watched her almost fall before quickly grabbing her again.
"Okay …" Alex conceded. "Maybe a little …?"
"Let's get you in to bed?" Liv suggested, guiding her over to the far side. She helped Alex sit on the bed, steadying her from flopping backwards. "You need me to help you get undressed?"
Alex shook her head, but made no move to do anything useful. Liv left her sitting there and went to the dresser drawers to fetch one of the oversized t-shirts she knew the attorney liked to wear to bed.
"Here Alex, put this on?" Alex was even more drunk than she'd seemed just a minute ago. Liv sat beside her on the bed, one knee bent behind to steady her as she grasped the bottom of the lose pink camisole Alex was wearing and pulled it off over her head. "How many of those blue things did you drink?"
Alex stuck out her tongue by way of response, displaying that it was bright blue in colour. "A lot?" She let her head loll against Olivia's shoulder, suddenly interested in the view down the brunette's top.
"Here …" Liv sat her up to dress her in the t-shirt, all the while trying hard not to look at the soft peach underwear she had on underneath. 'It's just the same as a bikini top' Olivia told herself. "You think you can manage with your pants? … Alex?"
Alex was snoozing against her. Liv let her fall back slowly onto the bed, focused on the graceful way her blonde hair fanned out beneath her. She took a deep breath, telling herself that the thing she was about to do next was perfectly acceptable.
She slid the zipper of Alex's white Capri pants slowly down, all the while holding her breath. Alex didn't stir, so in the same breath Liv shimmied them off, desperately trying to ignore the lacy peach panties that lay beneath and the barest hint of auburn hair nestled visible through the thin lace gusset. She cursed her own eyes, letting out the breath and looping her arms around Alex's middle to pull her up as she drew back the covers and lowered the blonde back onto the bed.
Alex's arms wrapped around her in response, she sighed and snuggled tighter against Liv's embrace.
"Ssssh …" Liv soothed. "Go back to sleep sweetie."
Alex mumbled something incoherent and then turned over onto her front. Liv was on her way to the bathroom to fetch tylenol and a glass of water when she heard Alex mumble her final words before sleep.
"Love you Liv …"
Tbc ...