The car doors shut with an audible thud.
"Well that was….."
"That was shit as usual, brother. Get us the hell out of here, I have massive amounts of alcohol to drink in order to forget the last few hours." Gail demanded, already looking forward to the relative peace and sanity of Traci's house.
The rookies had accidentally managed to start their own tradition of spending the Christmas holiday with the one rookie that had a child. It started after Jerry died, when Chris and Dov swung by to drop off some extra gifts for Leo. Traci invited them to stay, Andie was still on her undercover sting, the boys had no other plans, and she herself was still dealing with her own loss as well, she figured they would be a good distraction for Leo.
Although she later regretted it when Chris broke one of her favorite figurines and Dov somehow managed to set her tree on fire.
But in the few years since that first one, rules had been established (no Chris, you cannot touch anything that is breakable) lines had been drawn (Dov, I don't care if you've already tested it, you will not light that in my house!) and the rookies had all come to look forward to their little mismatched family gathering.
Gail has been to each and every one. Not only did it serve to assuage the little bit of guilt she knows she'll always carry, but it also gave her a place to decompress after the big "Peck Family Christmas Extravaganza" that her parents threw every year. Rubbing shoulders with the big brass was never her favorite thing (that was more Steve's element) so she usually just stood around the fringes nursing her one allowable drink until it was time to make her escape.
This year marked the first time that both Peck siblings would be attending. Steve had overheard (okay he was eavesdropping) the rookies discussing what to get Leo this year, and since he himself was still trying to convince Traci to even let him meet her son, he figured this would be a good way to get an introduction.
"Do you think we should stop and get more to drink? I know the rest of your Frat Pack is there, so is Swarek and Oliver, they might need more….." Steve trailed off as Gail opened her coat to nonchalantly pull out not one or two, but THREE bottles of the expensive champagne that their parents had bought for their fancy shindig. "Never mind."
The drive to Traci's was spent in silence, each sibling lost in their own thoughts. Gail had been prepared to direct Steve on where to park (Traci's neighbors could be a bit anal) but as he expertly maneuvered into the correct spot, she realized he must have been here a few times before.
Ignoring Gail's raised eyebrow, Steve flushed and grabbed the gift for Leo. Mindful of Traci's warnings not to go overboard, and aware of the pre-teens burgeoning interest in robotics, the whole gang had pitched in to buy Leo a remote controlled drone, Chris and Dov had also bought attachments and other odds and ends to go along with it. Snickering to herself, she watched her big brother trying not to fidget as he rang the doorbell.
"We could probably just go in, Trace is expecting us." Gail reached for the door, only to be stopped by Steve grabbing her hand. "Just wait a sec, I wanna do this right. I only get one chance to do this right."
Gail is opening her mouth to retort when the door opens and out launches a torpedo of hyperactive boy, who Gail knows by now, has probably eaten his weight in sugar.
"You made it! Mom says I can't open the gift from Uncle Chris and Uncle Dov until you got here. Come on!" He's tugging Gail in the house when he see Steve, "Who are you?" Steve freezes and while it's the most hilarious thing Gail has ever seen, she decides to take pity on him. "That's just my loser brother, he had nowhere else to go, so your mom invited him to be nice." Tilting his head in a way that is eerily reminiscent of his mother, he regards Steve for a moment before shrugging and simply saying "okay".
That seems to break the paralysis that Steve is under and he thrusts the gift towards Leo, who takes it and runs back inside yelling to his mother that, "Aunt Gail and her brother are here, and look, they got me a gift!" By the time the siblings have put their coats away and make their way into the living room, Leo has already torn open the package and is nearly delirious with joy.
"Don't worry, I got it all on camera if you want to watch it later." A cheerful voice says to Gail's right. She turns to see Chloe, dressed in festive reds and greens with antlers perched on her head. Gail squints in her direction, "Do the other elves know you're missing yet?" Chloe just laughs and makes her way back to where Leo, Chis, Dov, and now Steve are attempting to put the drone together with Swarek and Oliver calling out instructions.
"I know it's gonna drive me crazy sometime in the future, but he looks so happy now." Traci sighed before turning to greet her friend. "How was the party at your parents place?" Gail rolled her eyes and simply said "No comment. Only one good thing came out of it." She showed Traci the bottles she'd confiscated from her parents place. Traci grinned, "Alright, now we're talking!" She took one of the bottles and led the way into the kitchen. Gail whistled when she saw just how much food there was.
Traci laughed, "I know, I know. I didn't mean for there to be this much, but people kept bringing stuff, and it would have been rude to say no. Although fair warning, the cake with the green frosting was made by Celery. Even Dov won't go near it."
"It's not that bad." Gail whipped around to see her girlfriend lounging on the counter. Her girlfriend that was supposed to be spending Christmas with her family at some fancy ski lodge in the states. Gail eyed Holly from head to toe. She had only been gone two days, but that was two days too long. Traci excused herself to let the reunited couple have some time alone.
"How…what?" Gail sputtered. Holly smiled and shrugged, "It wasn't as fun as it usually was, and apparently I was moping. So I got a pass, but we are on the hook for a major holiday with them sometime in the future." Gail grinned and pulled Holly close, "Done. Can't be any worse than dealing with Peck central here."
The couple spent the next few minutes becoming reacquainted with each other until they were rudely interrupted by a flash. "Oh look, they're standing under the mistletoe!" Gail eyed Chloe with murder in her eyes, while Oliver chuckled into his one allowed alcoholic beverage and herded Chloe away. "Come on darlin', it's safer over here." Oliver handed the ever cheerful (and probably tipsy) girl off to Andie who had come to raid the snack table with a hushed "Code red." Andie's eyes grew wide and she hurriedly ushered Chloe away, explaining why they never interrupt Gail and Holly time.
"Well, that bit of goodwill is worth at least a cookie or two." Oliver declared, before looking around and leaning in to whisper, "If Celery asks, her cake is awesome and we all enjoyed it." Gail just blinked at Oliver before turning back to Holly. "I still have an extra bottle of champagne stashed away." The sentence was barely out of her mouth before Holly grinned in agreement and left to get their coats while Gail collected an assortment of snacks to tide them both over.
Traci met them by the door, a knowing smile on her face as she hugged them both. Gail rolled her eyes, "Shut up." Her face split in a grin that would do the Grinch proud. "Tell Daddy Peck that I'll call him later." "GAIL!"
Laughing out loud at Traci's outraged face, she grabbed Holly's hand and followed her girlfriend out into the night. They had two days apart to make up for.