Snow in Chicago was nothing new. But a solid 40 hours of snowfall? That was not something that happened every day.
Jay Halstead was leaning against the windowsill of the apartment he shared with his girlfriend. Erin was making pancakes, a classic snow-day breakfast in her book, watching Jay watch the snow. He looked like a little kid, the way his eyes lit up at the fresh white blanket over the city.
"Snow's not going anywhere, Jay," Erin laughed, sliding the last of the pancakes onto a plate.
Jay turned to face her, a grin spread across his face, "Yeah, but there's like four feet of snow out there, Er! It's insane."
"Be lucky you don't have to shovel the sidewalk," Erin said, putting two plates of pancakes onto the table.
Jay grabbed the butter and maple syrup, kissing Erin's cheek as he sat down, "How about a snowball fight?"
Erin raised an eyebrow, mouth full of pancake.
"Seriously?' She asked after swallowing, "What are we? Five?"
Jay nudged her foot under the table, "Aw, come on. Snowball fight, snow angels, snowman. This snow is perfect for that stuff!"
Erin crinkled her nose; she really didn't feel like being stuck inside all day, and the city was basically shut down.
"Okay," she nodded, "You're on, Halstead."
Jay let out a whoop; "I've got big plans for the Chicago snow day."
"You are such a child," Erin laughed, eyes sparkling.
"Aw, get off your high horse," Jay waved his fork at Erin, a piece of pancake dangling on the edge of the tines, "You know you want to build a snowman."
Erin grinned, "We should build a Snow-Platt. Ruzek and Kim would get a kick out of that."
Jay practically choked on his coffee, "Snow-Platt it is."
Erin grumbled as they headed out into the snow, "I can't move my arms."
Jay laughed at his girlfriend, one gloved hand on her back as they carefully made their way down the front steps, "You're like the brother from A Christmas Story."
"Yeah, yeah, don't shoot your eye out," Erin deadpanned, a small smirk forming on her lips.
They finally reached the sidewalk, not that it mattered. The snow was well past their thighs.
"If we try to make snow angels in this, we'll disappear and never be heard from again," Erin said, doing high knees to move a few feet away from the cement stoop.
She shrieked as a snowball hit the back of her head. Erin whirled around (well, it was more like a very, very slow turn because of all the snow) and found Jay cracking up.
"You ass!" she exclaimed, leaning down and smacking some powdery snow in Jay's direction.
The snow that now covered his face didn't stop Jay from laughing. Instead he gathered more snow and threw it at Erin.
"You said we could have a snowball fight!" Jay countered, dodging a snowball thrown at his head.
"Yeah," Erin giggled, "But I wanted a fair fight."
She stumbled in the deep snow, but lobbed another snowball without falling.
This time Jay's dodge wasn't flawless; he fell into the snow, buried up to his shoulders.
Erin cracked up at the shocked look on her boyfriend's face, "Oh my god! Let me get a picture."
She fumbled with her gloves, pulling out her phone and snapping a quick shot as Jay struggled to get to his feet.
Jay waited until Erin's phone was safely in her pocket before lunging forward and tackling her to the ground.
Erin screamed in shock as she went down. Her shout faded into laughter was Jay's body pinned hers down.
"You're beautiful," Jay said. Erin's nose and cheeks were bright pink from the snow, her eyes looked green in the light, and her dimples were out in full force.
"And you lost," Erin grinned, shoving a palm full of snow down the collar of Jay's jacket.
The former Army sniper yelped and rolled off of Erin, landing on his back next to her.
"You play dirty," he growled.
"Would you want me to play any other way?" Erin asked cheekily, kicking her legs to the side.
"Nah," Jay turned his head, grinning despite the snow seeping through his jeans, "You're a Chicago cop, and I love you just the way you are."
"Charmer," Erin sighed, moving her arms to create a snow angel. Jay mimicked her moves, and they were quiet for a few minutes, arms and legs moving in sync to create impressions in the snow.
"Two spiked hot chocolates coming up," Erin said, handing Jay a steaming mug.
"Mmmmm," he inhaled gratefully, taking Erin's mug so she could climb up onto the couch and curl next to him.
Erin wrapped both hands around the mug, sipping tentatively so she didn't burn her mouth.
She rested her head against Jay's shoulder, enjoying the feel of his worn flannel shirt under her cheek.
"This was nice," Jay said, eyelids drooping a little bit. They had played in the snow for hours, alternately throwing snowballs, making a snowman and making out.
Erin agreed, "We should have snow days more often."
The bourbon in the hot chocolate was working its magic, and Erin felt deliciously warm and sleepy. Tucked up next to her boyfriend, warm wool socks on her feet and a DVR loaded with back episodes of Chopped made for a very good snow day in Erin Lindsay's opinion.
Jay's arm looped around her back, adding an extra layer of warmth to Erin's body.
"Let's play hooky again tomorrow," she suggested, pressing her nose into Jay's shoulder, inhaling his unique scent.
Jay grinned, "We may not be shoveled out by tomorrow. If the roads are bad, there's no way we're driving to work."
"Doe sit make me a bad person to wish for bad roads?" Erin wondered, sipping her hot chocolate.
"Nah," Jay said, "I'm wishing the same thing."
"Maybe Kim and Adam can come over for a girls versus boys snowball fight," Erin mused.
Jay laughed, "Ruzek would be all for that."
He put his empty mug on the coffee table and picked up the remote, "Ready to critique amateur chefs?"
Erin looked up at Jay, "Oh you know it!"
They whiled away the hours curled together, laughing at the gross mystery ingredients.
And the next day, when they were still snowed in, Kim and Erin triumphed over the boys in a snowball fight.
Although if you asked Adam Ruzek, he would say that he and Jay threw the fight.
A/N: I'm snowed in here in NY… so I asked for some Tumblr prompts. This was the first one I got from queenhalstead (Tumblr) =D
Enjoy! And send a few prompts my way =D