Spoilers: No spoilers in this one.
Disclaimer: I don't own the guys, but maybe I'll get them for Christmas…?
A/N: This is some Christmas fun that I've wanted to write for quite a while. It was inspired by an online post I saw from my local fire department, and as soon as I read that post, I thought of Station 51. :D
A/N2: I was going to wait a bit longer to upload this, but given the terrible fires currently burning in Southern CA, I wanted to publish it a little sooner. I hope that it gives everyone reading a reason to smile, at least for a moment or two.
As always, I also thank my Lord Jesus Christ for his incredible mercy and grace and his many blessings. I would be utterly lost without him.
Deck the Halls
Captain Hank Stanley blew out a relieved breath as he typed the last sentence of the report that was due next week. He hit the period with a little more force than necessary, then leaned back in his chair and stretched, trying to work the stiffness out of his muscles. He'd been working in his office all morning, and after that much time at his desk, his shoulders felt a little bit like they did after a few hours of hauling hose.
He snorted softly. He could just imagine that injury assessment: Captain Stanley appears to be suffering from desk-related fatigue. He's experiencing neck and back strain and has a severe case of writer's cramp.
How would the Department deal with that, anyway? Would they offer him desk duty up at Headquarters while he recovered?
Hank shook his head at himself and pulled his finished report from the typewriter.
His shoulders might not agree, but he was still glad to have it done. While he never liked paperwork, he liked it even less during the holidays, and Christmas was next week. He and the rest of A-shift actually had Christmas off this year, and the report wasn't due until a couple days after that, but he knew he would enjoy his time with Emily and the girls much more if he didn't have that report hanging over his head. So, he'd told his men not to bother him for anything less than an emergency, dragged himself into his office, and gotten to work.
The morning had been quiet, thankfully. There'd been one call for the squad, but it had been a routine run and John and Roy had been back in about an hour or so. Other than that, there hadn't been any interruptions.
Hank frowned. Come to think of it, maybe it had been a little too quiet.
It was the sort of quiet that he'd learned to be wary of as a dad, and really, sometimes being a Captain was a lot like being a dad. Not that he was ever gonna tell his crew about the comparison. He'd never hear the end of it.
His frown still in place, Hank pushed himself up out of his chair and headed out to the day room to check on his men.
He stopped as soon as he got around the corner, and he couldn't help but stare. He wasn't sure exactly what he'd expected to see, but this certainly wasn't it.
There, next to the couch, was a Christmas tree…one of those small, table-top sized ones. It wouldn't have been such a surprise except that C-Shift had already decorated the station a couple weeks ago, with B-Shift and A-Shift making their own touches over the next few days, and no one had added anything else since then. But, this tree was new. It was decorated with a small string of colored lights, a few glass ornaments, and a hand-made, paper sign that was tucked into the branches, proclaiming, "Merry Christmas!"
That wasn't the only thing that made him look twice, though.
In lieu of a traditional tree topper, there was a very familiar red and blue trophy fastened to the uppermost branch. Considering that the trophy was almost bigger than the tree, Hank wasn't even quite sure how they'd managed to tie it on, but he had to hand it to his men - it looked pretty solid, and the tree was bending only a little under the additional weight. The trophy itself had been embellished with another small string of gold lights wrapping around it, and the golden figure at the top was now holding up a star made from a gold-colored garland.
Chet, Marco, and Johnny were all gathered around the tree, apparently admiring their handiwork, while Roy and Mike were both seated on the couch, Roy skimming through the newspaper and Mike reading a book.
Hank cleared his throat, and everyone turned to look at him.
"Doing a little more decorating, fellas?" he asked.
Chet, Marco, and John all exchanged a glance before Lopez answered sheepishly.
"Yeah, Cap."
Hank walked a little closer, studying the tree once more. "Where did that tree come from?"
John pointed over at Kelly. "Chet had it."
"My old apartment didn't have a lot of space," Chet explained, "so this was my Christmas tree. I've got a lot more room in my new place, and I finally have a full-size tree this year. But, I didn't want my old tree to go to waste, and since I figured the station can always use a little more Christmas cheer, I stuck the tree in the back of my van this morning and brought it with me."
"There were a few decorations left in the storage room," Marco offered. "We used what we had and then improvised the rest." He waved a hand at the tree, a sweeping gesture that was probably meant to encompass both the paper sign and the trophy.
Hank blinked, still not quite able to believe what he was seeing. "Is that…the trophy from the Police Versus Firefighters Benefit Softball Game?"
"Yep!" Johnny grinned, rocking back on his heels proudly. "Beautiful, isn't it?"
Hank blinked again and glanced over at Mike and Roy.
Mike caught his gaze and shrugged. "Don't look at us, Cap. We were outvoted. We wanted to use that plaque we got at the Firemen's Picnic."
Roy nodded and looked up from his paper. "They insisted that the trophy would work better with the lights," he added, as though that explained everything.
Hank stared at his engineer and senior paramedic for a long moment, then shook his head.
This, Hank thought, examining the tree once again, is what you get when firefighters are allowed to decorate their own Christmas tree without adult supervision.
Still…it didn't really look that bad, he had to admit. And they were right - those lights really brought out the shine on that trophy. He supposed it was kind of beautiful. Besides, he couldn't deny that the memory of that game brought him a lot of cheer all by itself. (Purely because it had been for a good cause, of course.)
But, one thing was for sure - if the chief stopped by, his men were going to be the ones to explain their decorating choices, not him.
He told them that much, and then, throwing up his hands in surrender, Hank turned away and started for the kitchen, planning to grab one of the Christmas cookies Joanne DeSoto had made.
And if he found himself admiring the tree while he ate, well, no one else had to know.
Fin
A/N: Cap's thought, "This is what you get when firefighters are allowed to decorate their own Christmas tree without adult supervision," is drawn from the post I mentioned in my first author's note. And, the tree described in this fic is the tree that post talked about…right down to the trophy on top. :D
Thank you for reading!
Take care and God bless!
Ani-maniac494 :)