The living room was dark except for the glow from the enormous green fir tree illuminated by multicolor lights strung around it delicately. Nick watched from the entryway, grinning at the sight of Julie asleep on the couch. After a wild Christmas party at the Russell's, she had flung herself there upon their return home and dozed instantly. Clutched in her hand was a crumpled piece of paper she had carried with her for the last few days. He smirked as she moved in her sleep, tightening her grip on the paper, thinking back to what she had written on it and the events that had transpired since the moment she presented him with that paper at the airport when he flew in to Vegas from San Diego.
December 23rd 2016
The airport was crowded with people, as she expected but was still annoyed by as she stood on her toes, struggling to see over the swarm of people rushing around her. She kept checking her phone for the time and any text messages he may have sent her. So far the plan was still in place, and the last time they spoke, his flight was landing around two o'clock. It was now two thirty and she figured a delay at the security check points was holding him up. In addition to stealing glances at her phone, she was also immersed in a folded sheet of paper clutched tightly in her hand. That moment of distracted reading cost her because she felt a presence next to her. As she turned to look, he was there, pressing a kiss to her cheek and grinning smugly at having found her first amongst the crowd.
"You made it," she sighed, relieved, standing on her toes to wrap her arms around him and lean her forehead against his.
They were silent as they hugged, swaying on the spot, savoring the moment and hating all the time that had passed since the last time they could be together like this. But as usual, she could never stay still for very long, especially when they had important business to discuss.
"We should go," she said, uncurling her arms from around him,"we have so much to do, I have a list."
"A list?" he questioned as she unfolded a piece of paper in front of him.
"It's our first real holiday together so I made a list of all the fun stuff we can do before Christmas Day," she dictated, showing him the paper that was entitled "Fun Things For Nicky and I To Do Over Christmas Vacation" Each line had a number and an activity, one through fifteen, carefully written in her neat handwriting.
"Wow," he said glancing over the activities which included "Watching Christmas Movies" "Baking Cookies" and "Building a Gingerbread House"
"It's gonna be so much fun," she gushed excitedly bouncing anxiously.
He loved her enthusiasm but wondered how they would have time to do all those things in just a few days. Nevertheless, he smiled and allowed her to take his hand and drag him through the terminal and back to the car.
"You're gonna love what we did to the house," she gushed excitedly when they arrived home and meandered up the walkway to the front porch.
Already he could see strings of lights hanging from the shrubs and exterior of the house.
"Don't look yet," she said, waving at him to stop staring at the house as she struggled to jam her key into the front door. When she finally got it open, she bounced into the foyer, motioning for him to follow her.
When Nick stepped inside, Julie turned on a switch on the wall and the entire hallway and living room were brightly lit with Christmas lights. The lights were stung up from the foyer, circling around the molding on the ceiling before ending around a giant green fir tree. Silvery tinsel and shiny round ornaments covered every inch of the tree. Underneath were several wrapped gifts, decked out with bows and ribbons. Topping it all off was Sam the dog who trotted up to him, a red bow tied loosely around his collar.
"Do you like it?" Julie asked him, swaying on her toes excitedly.
"Very festive," Nick said ruffling Sam's ears "looking good buddy."
"Did you do all this by yourself?" he asked her now.
"No, Morgan and Greg were here," Julie explained "Sara too, and Hodges and Henry put the tree up, oh and Russell said around two o'clock on Sunday for the party."
As she spoke, she took off her jacket and scarf, tossing them lazily onto the chair before marching into the kitchen, digging around in the cupboards and pulling out mixing bowls, spoons, a baking sheet and other things needed for making cookies. He mimicked her by tossing his jacket aside and following her into the kitchen.
It occurred to him as they stood in the kitchen, stirring ingredients, sugar, flour, vanilla, chocolate chips, together in the bowl, that she had planned this for days. Once the cookie dough was properly mixed, they began rolling spoonfuls of it into tiny spheres, pressing them out onto the baking sheet and sticking them in the oven. It was relaxing to talk as they worked. He watched her delicately form each cookie with care and it melted his heart all the effort she put towards this list for them.
The first batch of cookies came out of the oven while she was still rolling dough. She leapt out of her seat at the counter, holding her hands out since they were still covered in the gooey mix and peered at the finished batch.
"I want one," she demanded.
"They're hot," he warned her.
She fidgeted still, holding her messy hands at bay until the cookies were cool enough to scrape off the tray. He annoyed her by taking the first bite before holding one for her to try.
"Not bad," he said, praising their cooking skills.
"These are amazing," she said "give me another one."
But again, he annoyed her by eating one all to himself. With her hands all messy with cookie dough, she couldn't snatch it from him so she pouted and said "Not fair"
He made it up to her by putting his hands on her hips, pulling her close to him and kissing her. They swayed on the spot, her hands still held up, slowly lowering the longer they stood there captured in a kiss. She could taste the chocolate that lingered on his lips from the cookies he stole and she smiled knowing now he had done this as an excuse to kiss her.
And so it continued on like this for the rest of the day. After devouring the cookies, they curled up on the big cushiony reclining chair and watch holiday themed movies under the glow of the multicolored lights, staring at the decorated tree and the numerous wrapped presents under the tree, wondering what each one contained.
On Christmas Eve day, they went to the station to help the officers take toys to children who lived in low income households; they served meals with LVPD at the cafeteria for the homeless and helped gather up donations with the K9 unit to take to the animal shelters in the area. Back at home, they built a massive gingerbread house with Sara, Greg, Morgan, Hodges and Henry, sharing it and a light dinner with them before biding everyone goodnight with the plans set for Christmas Day dinner at the Russell's tomorrow.
Between traveling and all the activities Julie had planned for them, Nick was exhausted and ready to sleep but she was wide awake still, energized by all they had accomplished in such a short time and of course by the fact that it was Christmas Eve. He could feel her turning restlessly under the covers, anxious, wishing the night would be over so she could surprise Nick and her friends with all the presents she picked out for them.
"I can't sleep," she complained to him after a good hour of tossing and turning.
"You will," he assured her, smiling at her child like innocence and joy on Christmas Eve "come here"
He held his arms out for her and she snuggled up to him. He tucked the blankets around her snugly.
"Just relax," he soothed, running his fingers through her hair. The continuous motion relaxed them both. She stopped fidgeting, feeling herself beginning to slip away; his comforting whispers growing fainter as she dozed peacefully at last.
December 25th 2016
If trying to sleep in on her birthday was difficult, trying to sleep in on Christmas morning was worse. She was wide awake at seven in the morning, squirming under the covers, whispering to Nick "Wake up, it's Christmas"
"Five more minutes," he grumbled tiredly, keeping his arms around her so she would stay still.
"Don't you want presents?" she asked, thinking of the pile under the tree waiting for them.
"You're the only present I need," he teased her "how about I just unwrap you instead?"
He tickled her side making her squirm, giggle and protest "No, real presents."
"You are a real present," he reminded her "the best gift I could ever get."
She smiled, knowing he was just being sweet in their special moment.
"Merry Christmas Nicky," she said.
"Merry Christmas sweetheart," he replied, kissing her forehead.
That was the last time he got her to sit still. Seconds later she was dragging him out of bed, and into the hallway, wincing when she stepped barefoot on the cold floor but bouncing on her toes as she led him downstairs and into the living room. She immediately turned on the switch for the tree and living room lights, illuminating the semi dark room.
"You have to open the blue paper one first," she explained to him of the gifts she had for him as she pranced into the living room "then the red one, and the two by the door and-
She paused in her diction to stare at the tree and the amount of presents underneath it which was considerably larger than it had been the night before. She stared at the extra wrapped gifts in shock, feeling him hug her from behind and sway with her.
"Are all those for me?" she asked.
"Some are for the guys," he explained "and some are for Sam, but the rest are yours babe."
"Wow," she breathed dropping to her knees in front of the tree, riffling through the colorfully wrapped boxes and dragging out half a dozen into a pile.
"Here," she said pushing the pile of gifts towards him clumsily in her excitement "open them"
When he sat back on the couch, he pulled her with him to sit in his lap, keeping one arm draped around her lazily as he opened each box. She spoiled him with what she had picked out this year; new shirts for work, a fancy new watch, tons of new Cowboys merchandise, cool speakers for his home in San Diego, a new case for his gun, and finally, one last box whose contents made him stare, confused for a moment while she dissolved into giggles. She had given him a Seattle Seahawks shirt.
"Nice," he said knowing how much they play fought over whose teams were better.
"Do you like it?" she asked worriedly.
"I love it," he said, tossing aside the crumpled up paper and empty boxes to hug her tight "I love all of it, thank you sweetheart."
She sighed, relieved that all her careful planning and delicate wrapping and organizing had paid off.
"All right, your turn" he said lifting her out of his lap so suddenly she gasped in surprise.
He crawled under the tree just like she had to retrieve her pile of gifts, setting them down gently on her knees.
She tore into them ferociously, her eyes lighting up at every gift. He got her new tennis and baseball gear, the earring she had been eyeing for months, her favorite perfume, a wool scarf for when they had night crime scenes outside, a set of framed photos of the harbors in San Diego she loved so much to hang up here in the Vegas house, a new blanket for their bed since she was always cold and loved layering them to keep warm, and finally, the last box she opened made her smirk then eye him smugly as she unfolded a Dallas Cowboys shirt, just like his Seattle one.
"Do you like it?" he asked her like she had.
"I love it," she said clutching the shirt to her chest "all of it, thanks Nicky"
She kissed him once, twice, half a dozen times, making them both fall back on the couch, until they were lost in paper, boxes and each other.
Once they cleaned up the mess of paper and boxes, they presented Sam with his gifts. The energetic dog tore through his wrapped gifts, while Julie lay on her stomach on the floor recording Sam with her phone and giggling at his reaction to his new toys.
With all the gifts opened, she turned her attention to the ones left for the guys at work.
"Can we go take them their gifts now?" she asked eagerly.
"Soon," he said, grinning when he saw a strand of silver tinsel in her hair from when she had crawled under the tree.
"Breakfast first," he added when he saw her pout in disappointment.
He turned her gently towards the kitchen but she was stubborn and dug her heels into the floor, sliding back against him. He tickled her sides to get her moving but she still refused, squirming, but staying still. As a last resort, he tucked one arm behind her back, the other under her knees and scooped her up in one motion. She squealed with delight, wanting him to do this all along, as he carried her into the kitchen and set her down on the counter top.
"O.K sugar plum," he teased her of her energy this morning "what would you like for breakfast?"
She scrunched up her face, thinking it over then said "Surprise me" giggling when he kissed her cheek, then turned to the fridge, digging around for ingredients to get started.
After breakfast, his homemade cinnamon French toast, he cleaned up and ventured back into the living room where he found her sitting cross legged on the floor in front of the tree ripping the tags off her gifts. He watched her meticulously line up each gift, examining them with tender care. The last thing she did was tug at the sleeves of the Seattle shirt she was currently wearing and yank the Dallas shirt he bought her over hear head. She was the definition of adorable.
"Having fun?" he asked
"Yeah," she said folding up the tossed aside shirt "I was thinking of washing some of this stuff before we leave."
"Nah," he said "that can wait, come here."
He motioned for her to follow him to the couch, which she did, settling in his lap again.
"You did a wonderful job with all of this," he praised her, nodding at the tree, the decorations and the list that rested on the coffee table.
"You made it special too," she reminded him.
"Not the way you did," he said "all the plans, the list, your energy, and after everything you've been through, you always find a way to make everyday special and I love it, this has been the best holiday I've had in years."
He paused to kiss her forehead, getting lost in memories of her in a coma and the thought of never getting to share the holidays with her ever again, for one brief moment before the reality of how much they had survived overtook those negative thoughts and pushed them aside.
Later that afternoon, they dressed up and headed out for the Russell's party. It was just as epic as she had boasted about to him for weeks. They exchanged gifts with Sara, Morgan, Greg, Hodges, and Henry. They indulged in the homemade Christmas dinner Barbara and D.B served. They danced in the spacious living room, admiring the uniquely decorated tree in the corner.
Back at home hours later under the glow of the Christmas tree, Nick watched Julie turn in her sleep on the living room couch. He stepped over quickly to stop her from falling off the couch, gently scooping her up, laying down with her and sighing contently.
"Did we make it?" she asked tiredly.
"Make what sweetheart?" he asked.
"The list," she mumbled.
He had to pry it from the tight grip she had on it, unfold it and read through all her scribbles, every single activity from the last two days had indeed been checked off.
"Yeah baby, we did," he assured her, running his fingers through her hair as they both dozed in peace, all was calm.