AN: This chapter is for everyone who misses going on vacation, out dancing, having fun with friends without having to practice social distancing! If you have any wishes, suggestions etc. don't hesitate to let me in on your thoughts! Careful: There is a slight M-rating ahead.

Chapter Title "Diferentemente iguales" by Bebe

DISCLAIMER: I do not own any of the Chicago PD, Fire or Med characters, only my OCs!

"I'm so sorry, but I just can't seem to stop writing…", Rianne said, slipping from his lap and over to her own seat suddenly, pulling out her pen and journal.

"Can I see?" Jay asked after a while, as usual pretty curious what she was thinking and writing about.

"It's really just little dabbles, unconnected words that maybe could be new lyrics, I don't know yet…"

She handed him her note-book, covered with wine and coffee stains, a little worn because she had stuffed it in just any bag for the last two weeks to always have it by her side in case she needed to write something down. Somehow Rianne said she had been blessed with a creative overflow. It amazed Jay how she was able to induce images in his head, feelings even, with just the pure words she used and played with, putting everything she felt and thought about in syllables that were extremely powerful, inventive and quaint. To be let in on those hidden treasures of her mind honored him.
Next to some abstract flowery doodles there were new verses that got him choked up by just reading them:

"I'm still healing, not yet connected again with all those loose parts of me. I need to know that I can trust myself. Even though sometimes I still feel stuck and keep on reliving my pain."

"…and their kisses felt like heaven. With the sweetness and innocence of teenage-love, yet like some grown-up jigsaw puzzle finally solved…"

"They say only fools have hope. But I'd like to be one of those. Cause those that have hope can escape all the dark shadows. I like to wear my heart on my sleeve, never afraid of tomorrow. Even though only fools have hope, I wanna be full of light and try."

"That's just fucking beautiful!" He handed the little red book back to her and ran his fingers through her hair, loving the slight blush that spread over her sun-kissed cheeks.

"Seems you inspire me," Rianne winked at him and quickly pressed a kiss to the insides of his underarm, before taking up scribbling something down again, the gemstone on her right ring finger sparkling in the early morning light slowly sneaking its way through the clouds outside.

Jay swallowed hard, as usual when he felt himself touched by her love for him.
He doubted that he was an inspiration to her all the time, seeing how distracted and nervous he had been in the beginning. Jay thought back to the first meeting with her family and how he had been pretty overwhelmed by those first impressions:

Jay had woken up with a jolt, struggling for a while to remember where he was. The place beside him was empty and cold, his phone telling him that it was past nine on the 24th of December, the morning of Christmas Eve. He wondered about the last time he had taken that into account so acutely.

It was still strange to look at his phone and come up empty concerning news on the work-front. No missed calls, no one wanting him to come in or keeping him in the loop, nothing to distract his brain from wandering off into possibly dangerous territory, no mysteries to solve other than this new family matter.
There were just some Christmas greetings and 'happy travels' in his texts. Jay somehow felt left out and guilty at the same time when he sent Hailey a one-liner asking how their case had turned out and 'what about Vanessa?' He swore to himself this would be the last time he reached out to Chicago unless it concerned totally private-business.

Him and Rianne had called it an early night yesterday as tiredness from their journey had set in. They had both been drained by the heavy emotions that had accompanied them and Jay had felt a little headachy due to the extreme climate change. As Rianne claimed it would be okay to not wait for her father, they hadn't seen him and his wife return yesterday night. Despite his overall exhaustion it had been difficult for Jay to find rest, tossing and turning, too hot at first, then too cold due to the AC. His headache and shoulder cramps were keeping him up, the awkward feeling of lying in a bed in the house of a man he hadn't even met yet, somehow adding to his tension as well.
Rianne had been out like a light the moment her head had hit the pillow. Sometimes she slept so still and soundly that he found himself checking her pulse during the night, because it was such a miracle to him. Sometime in the early morning hours he must have drifted off into a deep slumber too.

After a quick shower he went to search for Rianne and possibly her dad, finally take this first hurdle.
The three dogs he had gotten to know yesterday were lying in front of his and Rianne's bedroom door and followed him through the house like some bodyguards. Strangely enough the three of them had stopped barking as soon as Jay entered the house yesterday and had hardly left his side since. He didn't mind, but he was astonished. When he had asked Rianne about it she had just smiled knowingly:

"Sagacious animals. They just know!"

Sometimes she was creepily vague, like she knew all the things he didn't and could make sense of everything, when he was still left wondering.

Rianne herself was so multi-layered and versatile that sometimes Jay tended to forget that one big part of her came from Argentina, a country he knew next to nothing about. He didn't know why, but he had imagined the home of Rianne's dad to be some kind of historic colonial-style mansion or a ranch-like estate in the 'pampa' with horses and gauchos hanging around.
Also he had expected the dogs to be top breed creatures, but in reality they were three middle-aged, middle-height mongrels: Iago, Dali and Bandido. Really cute, but neither expensive nor a special race. Looking at Dali waddling down the steep concrete stairs in front of him he knew exactly what Rianne had meant when she had told him her father had the ugliest dog. His legs were far too short for his long torso, his tail somewhat stumpy, his fur was an indecisive grey brown, also a little shaggy, and one eye was always half closed. It made him think of Límon and that he could tell now where Rianne's love for strays originated from.

House-wise Jay had been welcomed by over 3,000 square feet of minimalist modern living space in an almost futuristic concrete shell, build around a slim rectangular pool where one could easily swim 25 meter lanes. Lots of glass panels and dark grey extra-large slate tiles made for a clear and clean style Jay wouldn't have expected. Carefully chosen furniture, no knick-knack, top-notch technical gadgets and just lots of space seemed to be the mantra here.
Rianne and him had the upper floor overlooking the pool and the private garden, obscured from view of nosy neighbors by high palm trees and bushes, completely to themselves. There was a second, way smaller house on the property, that her uncle's family would occupy when they joined them today.
Now Jay was standing in the state-of-the art kitchen downstairs with a different maid than yesterday, wondering where the hell everyone else was:

"Buenos dias!"

"Buenos dias!"

"Un café?"

"¡Con mucho gusto!" He kind of liked finding his groove with the foreign language.

But before he could wreck his brain for the Spanish words to inquire about his girlfriends whereabouts, he heard loud voices and laughter in the garden and a really big splash of someone jumping into the water afterwards, then another one.
Jay turned and walked out onto the patio, canopied by concrete beams, to watch how Rianne and someone else were racing each other to get from one side of the pool to the other. He sipped his strong coffee and felt anticipation and curiosity rising.
As soon as they had spotted him the two of them stopped their battle and the light bickering and climbed out. Jay held his breath, preparing to take in every second of this first encounter.

Alvaro Bautista Torres Delgado was a man that was hard to pin down. Jay would find him contradictory quite many times over the holidays. Again he didn't find his bias and imagination confirmed, just like it had been with Rianne's mother.
Firstly he was one hell of a tall man, making Jay wonder how Rianne had turned out so tiny in comparison. The pictures Jay had seen of him hadn't really done him justice.
Also for his sixty-five years he was certainly good in shape as Jay could see first hand, now that he was faced with a semi-naked wet frame, fresh out of the pool. At least he was decently dressed for this encounter.
Whereas the hair on the other man's chest was certainly a lot to take in, there was almost no hair on his head as it had been shaven to a good three millimeters. Amber colored, alert eyes were mustering Jay interestedly. Those eyes were quite powerful: They had something sly about them and their light brown tone was contrasted by the olive skin of Alvaro's face, making them stand out.

"Jay, this is my dad!" Rianne explained once they had almost caught up to him, dripping water onto the concrete tiles.

"Good Morning!" A deep voice boomed over the distance left and a broad smile was plastered on the man's face, which Jay didn't know if it could be trusted, yet.

"Buenos dias, I'm Jay! Nice to meet you!"

"Welcome, welcome! So nice to finally meet you hijo!"

Son? Really?
Jay found his extended hand not only taken, but himself being pulled in for a hug and a kiss to his right cheek - again. He didn't know when he'd get used to this overall physical proximity on first encounters. Seemingly Rianne's father didn't care at all that he got Jay's grey shirt all wet. Somehow he had expected more reservedness from an ex-diplomat. Alvaro only grabbed a towel after he had let Jay go, who cleared his throat a little to get rid of his confusion and found himself in a second wet embrace, when Rianne threw herself at him:

"Morning babe!"

Seeing her radiant smile directed at him he loved her for her ability to let go and don't hold grudges for too long. At least he felt like she wasn't still mad at him for almost chickening out of all this and certainly she didn't let him feel that he had still to make good on his promise to be there with her at some point. Of course things still were a little bit strained between them and they kept watching each other carefully, but Jay suspected that it was mostly on his part.

Right now she pressed a happy kiss to his lips, knowing he needed all the assurance he could get that she was on his side, no matter how her father would react to him:

"Sorry I didn't wake you up, but I thought you could use the rest! And then I ran into my dad and we went for a run before it got too hot…"

"I thought you didn't like working out together?" Every time he had asked her to come along to his gym she had graciously declined.

"I don't like working out with you, because you're always so damn competitive and I can't keep up!"

"Ah! I like that!" Alvaro chimed in:

"So, what's your best time and distance when running and how much weight are you able to push? You play soccer?"

Jay wondered how her father kept talking in a distinct and somehow funny sounding British-Spanish accent, but then again Rianne had told him that he had studied in England for a while, and that they had lived in Scotland.

"Ay, papá!" Obviously Rianne knew what was about to follow.

She let go of Jay to push against her father's chest a little and got herself a towel too.
Jay didn't mind giving out information on the sports part. His physical fitness was something he could rely on and was kind of proud of. He wasn't really able to estimate if his answer impressed her father or not though. His counterpart just nodded and hummed, questioning him further:

"Do you golf?"

Rianne was shaking her head at him madly behind her father's back now, probably to say 'Don't answer that or it will be your funeral!'. Jay smiled, crossing his arms over his chest:

"Actually I never tried that before!"

"Oh, wonderful, then it's a date! I'll take you and the other guys out to the range sometime during your stay!"

Rianne rolled her eyes and made a dismissive hand-gesture towards her father and a strangling one towards Jay, that had him grin even wider. Her father caught on to that:

"Is she making fun of me behind my back?"

"I'm afraid so, Sir!"

"Don't call me Sir. It's Alvaro y basta! Come on let's sit. Dolores must have breakfast ready!"

Still just in his wet running shorts Rianne's dad made his way back into the villa to sit down at the dinner table, already brimming over with different breakfast offerings, fresh fruit and more coffee, not bothering to get changed first. Jay wondered how Rianne's mother had fit into this picture in the past.

It certainly helped that due to his experiences Jay wasn't one to get intimidated easily, otherwise this would have been a different matter. There would be a couple of occasions more where Jay would have to try very hard to keep an open mind in the face of all this money and luxury and not get too worried that this was a lifestyle he could never ever achieve and he didn't even wanted to. He knew that Rianne was pretty much content with way less than what she had grown up with and that other things were more important to her. But in a way he could understand how being confronted with this must have felt like for Andrea. Especially as her husband seemed to have been less lucky on the job front, not able to bring a well respected employment to the table at least.

Nevertheless it was an easygoing conversation throughout breakfast, mostly about covering all the basic things there were to know about Jay, although he found that Rianne's father was better informed than her mother had been. He did catch on though to an underlying annoyance on Rianne's part whenever her father posed a question she had obviously already given him the answers to. Pretty soon Jay noticed what this was all about:

Alvaro got distracted easily. Whereas he was sure that Rianne's mother still could recount every word of the dinner conversation they had had back in Chicago, Jay wasn't so sure if the same thing went for Rianne's dad. His eyes flitted from Jay to his surroundings, to the slightest of noises. Not in a nervous way, but it seemed it was hard for him to keep his focus on one single thing for longer than five minutes. Jay saw how this must feel like indifference and some sort of neglect to Rianne.

Making sure Jay was okay alone with her father for a while and squeezing his shoulder encouragingly in passing, she excused herself to get changed out of her sports bra and shorts. It turned out the two men weren't really alone for long though:

When a dark-haired beauty with endless legs, elegantly wrapped in some silk morning gown and a long mane fresh out of a shampoo commercial, came and joined them, Alvaro's attention was finally completely redirected.

"Ah, mi reina, mi amor," he greeted the approximately forty-year old woman, gesturing towards Jay:

"Esta es Yay, el novio de Rianne!"

Jay stood and had his cheek kissed by poised lips as expected. Somewhere along the way he would get the hang of it. Inés bestowed a radiant smile out of squinting grey eyes on him:

"Encantada!"

Turning around to her husband again she said something that Jay suspected complimented his looks and made Alvaro pull her into his side, saying:

"Sadly he is already taken amor!"

Inés giggled girlishly and took the seat next to him.

So… this was Rianne's step-mum… Jay knew Rianne didn't particularly like her. She had said she didn't care about Inés, but for Rianne to not care about a person there had to be something off with that relationship. His girl normally cared a whole lot about the people in her orbit, even if she expressed it by fighting and arguing with them.

It wasn't necessarily that this woman was the one who had finally caused her parents divorce as her father had already had an affair with her while he was still married to Rianne's mum. Jay suspected it was more because Inés was some sort of Argentinian It-girl and only a few years older than Rianne. So she thought that connection to be rather cliché and ridiculous, as well as more a midlife-crisis indicator than a serious thing, especially as she had declared her father was kind of a man-child at times. Since her parents had split up and gotten divorced almost seven years ago this relationship had actually lasted longer than Rianne or anyone for that matter would have thought and her father had surprised even more when he had married Inés two years ago.

Over the next days Jay would find that Rianne mostly ignored her step-mum. She wasn't openly brattish or mean to her, but seen as the other woman desperately tried to get Rianne's attention and approval all of the time, it was kind of a mean streak in his girlfriend to deny her exactly that. She gave her next to no emotions.

While he was studying the newest addition to the scene and tried to come up with something to start up a conversation, the dogs were suddenly barking and jumping around excitedly. There was some commotion to be heard at the front gate and then all hell broke loose.

When Rianne came down into the living area again her hand flew to her mouth while taking in the scene:

Somehow her aunt and uncle from LA must have arrived in the meantime, along with her cousins and their men and Inés had somehow managed to get up from her beauty-sleep too. So Jay was standing in the middle of her father's salon, surrounded by loud and chatty family members of hers without back-up.
Strange thing was that he didn't look as uneasy as she might have thought he would.

Rather he was a center of peace in the middle of the chaos she watched unfold around him. Luggage tripping hazards, barking dogs, men patting each others backs, drinks being handed out, everybody talking louder and louder to be heard over the general hubbub. She guessed her father and her uncle, who was the spitting image of his sibling but five years younger and a little more laid-back and not quite so lean, were just short of getting into their usual political discussions. Jay just stood tall and looked like he had always been here and at the same time it was so unexpectedly new, it took some blinking on Rianne's part. He immediately turned around and looked at her the moment he must have felt her presence in the room.

Mouthing "Sorry" in his direction it didn't take long for the others to notice her and redirect their attention to engulf her in hellos, hugs and kisses and inquiries.

Jay would say to her later that he was actually wondering how that loud family fitted into the description she had once given him of her growing up in a quiet household.
What he didn't get was that it had never been like this. Not even during the holiday season. This coming together had only started when she had somehow outgrown her desperate longing for something like this, when her parents had been divorced already and she had found a replacement for that family issue instead.

At least through Jay's eyes though her family surely must resemble the way she had seen the diVareses when she had first gotten to know them: Loud, many, all at once, speaking a different language, welcoming, affectionate. Rianne had never really noticed. Why did it take her to turn 33 years to see this? See that this side of her family truly existed only after she had lost her dream one? Only when she had made her peace with having to establish the desired place of genuine understanding an love on her own? Only after she had met a man that was in contrast to her an overall very quiet and calm person and so very different from what she had always thought she wanted?
A man that was actually the first to spend Christmas with her here. Andrea had never done this as he had always been adamant to spent the holidays with his own family and more than once she had stayed with him at his parents house, loving the excuse.

In a wave of loud chattering Rianne was washed against Jay now, finding herself surrounded by the younger folks and his soothing green eyes on hers.

"So which one of you would be the cousin that challenged her to drunk call me from LA?" Jay pointed at her two cousins, then at Rianne before he wrapped an arm around her shoulders. She buried her face into his chest, a little embarrassed. He would never let her live this down it seemed.

"That would be me!" Louisa called out excitedly, raising her hand up like a schoolgirl, high ponytail of raven-black hair looking accordingly for sure.

"I already like you!" Jay laughed and offered a fist-bump, which Louisa gladly engaged in: "Did I do you a favor?"

"It certainly helped things along…"

Rianne prodded his ribs a little, but Jay laughed and only held her tighter against him.

"Yeah, sometimes she just needs a little push!" Esme bumped shoulders with her cousin:

"You certainly need to fill us in on everything that has happened between you since then, we're all so excited!"

Jay and her exchanged a knowing glance and an intimate smile: To put all that in-between into words could probably take a while.
It seemed that Esme didn't really want to get that report right now and was rather interested in different topics. She turned to Jay, pulling him away from Rianne and out into the garden by linking arms with him, leaving her to stare after her boyfriend helplessly:

"So Jay, tell me about that job of yours, isn't that pretty scary?"

Rianne's warning under the #lastminuteinstructionstothispartofthefamily had been: "prepare to be kissed a lot, like a lot a lot!" and it proved to be very true.

As soon as the rest of Rianne's family had arrived Jay knew he had been a fool to be afraid of too much peace and quiet: Every time everyone gathered it was a riot of languages, because of Esme's American spouse Mark and Louisa's British boyfriend Chris, whom she had met while studying abroad last year. He was really glad for the male, also not really Spanish speaking, company so he didn't feel so out of sorts on his own.
Jay suspected it would get even worse of a chaotic, fast talking bunch, when the youngest sister of Rianne's father would arrive tomorrow with her Brazilian husband, two teenage sons and a ten-year-old daughter.

That Christmas-eve turned out to be one of those nights that in hindsight one wasn't sure really happened, that felt too unreal to be true. Like a rush, a speed slide-show of pictures, faces, snippets. Blurry, bright, crumpled and yet beautiful. A night that one kept in his heart because it was so unique.

After having had a late dinner (or rather on-time dinner in Southern American fashion) at a fancy restaurant in the upscale neighborhood of Puerto Madero with everyone, they just about made it up onto the roof terrace of that restaurant with even more wine and champagne at midnight. They had passed up on the traditional gift giving until tomorrow to not bring all the stuff with them into the city. Rianne kept making sure he was fine with the itinerary of the evening and he tried to make her understand that this was of course a very different way of celebrating than he was used to, but that he really had no expectations whatsoever. She didn't need to worry as this was already a very memorable Christmas, because of the fact he got to spend it with her and there could have been worse surrounding circumstances than being in a city like Buenos Aires. No doubt there was a chaotic feel to the air all around. Little dresses and linen shirts revealing a lot more skin rather than thick Christmas sweaters, cocktails overruling eggnog and mulled wine, the beginning of summer rather than the middle of winter.
Rianne's father sure was in his element as a lavish host and entertainer, telling stories and handing out celebratory Cubans while church bells were ringing out and fireworks going off all over the city like it was New Year's already.

It seemed tradition to not just go back to the house, open presents or wait for Christmas morning to arrive to be able to do so. Very soon Jay found himself roaming the busy streets of Buenos Aires way after midnight with the younger section of the family, consisting of Esme & Louisa with their men, him and Rianne.

Three beautiful couples, mid-twenties to mid-thirties, enjoying the nightlife, that was how it must have looked for anyone paying attention to them. He hadn't known what it would feel like if no one really knew him, recognized him, in a foreign city, only her. How besides all the exhausting getting to know one another and taking all the info in, it was extremely liberating that he got to see himself through so many different eyes, could decide from anew what he wanted let them see.

Jay didn't really know what he had been expecting. Somehow all the plans for this holiday, all the information Rianne had been giving him about everybody and everything were just starting to sink in now. Slowly, like the fog in his brain was clearing up bit by bit, all the while he was continuing to shed his professional mannerism layer by layer. The thing he had known about his girlfriend for a long time and that she tried to make him see every opportunity she got: He didn't need to be professional or a professional around her! She always liked the raw and true version of him most.

And he certainly liked the way she moved! Jay had thought he'd seen her dance before, but it had been a whole different dancing than when she danced with her folks and to music she obviously felt deep inside her bones. That she had been willing to opt out on going clubbing for his sake, being worried that this wasn't his scene, meant a lot. He knew and saw how much she was actually enjoying this. Jay really didn't need much else. This was all an overflow of life to him as it was, so he was content to sit or stand at the sidelines watching her and her cousins jump around at the club they had chosen, swaying their hips and throwing their arms in the air as if there was no tomorrow. He was mature and confident enough to stay were he was comfortable on his own, not needing the company of anyone and being extremely thankful that Rianne didn't make him participate. She just knew him and knew he needed to ease into things, instead of trying to keep up with her pace.

Sometimes Jay thought they couldn't be any different. He and she, apples and oranges, cold and hot blood, reserved and a little withdrawn vs. outgoing and free-spirited, low-key vs. extravagant at times.
But then again, looking more closely, there were many different burning passions and emotions simmering under his surface, as well as a little cold and standoffish side to her, actually more similarities between them than first met the eye. And they were able to balance out each other's respective chaos. They both were so many puzzle pieces of the places they had been, people they had loved and still did, stitched together by so many different influences. A collective of their dreams, conversations they'd had and wanted to have, their brightest lights and darkest memories. It truly was his greatest Christmas gift to have found her this year.

There was just a slight hick-up when Rianne pulled him out of that club suddenly, into a dark corner next to a night café. Her hands and lips were all over him and he reveled in that rush of her need. Jay would be lying to himself if watching her dance, her smell, the slight gleam of sweat on her skin, her eagerness and yearning to touch him, the overall feel of this summer night, weren't turning him on to no end and making him momentarily forget where they were. But when she reached for his belt, still kissing him madly, his instant reaction was to abruptly stop her hands and fingers. He just wasn't there yet. Not here, not now! This environment and making out in public like this triggered some bad memories. Even ones of his time with Camila and what had gone down after that. Somehow he had always thought he'd forgotten about that time in his life by now, but it seemed he hadn't. Not one bit.
Taking in the sudden irritation and hurt in her eyes he felt bad, but he just couldn't let loose completely:

"I… I really want to and I surely want you, but not here, not like this!"

Rianne just breathed heavily and stared at him for a minute. Jay tried to catch his breath too and lighten the mood by motioning towards her little festive short jumpsuit:

"Besides, would be kind of difficult to do this with what you're wearing!"

"Who said something about us doing it against this wall? Maybe I just wanted to go down on you!"

She kissed him hard one more time before returning to the club to join the others, leaving him to wonder if she and him really were as okay as he wanted them to be. Somehow she had seemed on edge all of a sudden, even before she had towed him out here.

She had fallen asleep on their ride back and had been vaguely aware of Jay scooping her up in his arms to carry her out of their cab into the house, taking off her shoes and sweaty clothes before tenderly propping her up on the pillows.

Stumbling out of the club after 5 in the morning, Rianne had felt that rush she loved: Sweaty, danced-out, exhilarated bodies coming down from an alcohol and endorphin induced high. Dawn had been creeping into the city, the whole atmosphere of still warm air on her skin and in her nose, feet hurting and the sounds of the city slowly dying down, making her feel so much alive. And she had needed to feel that badly after tonight's dinner, especially because of her father. Just when she had thought things could be different… First of: the way they had been seated at the restaurant had made her feel like she had to be at the kid's table all over again, him only tending to his wife and his brother Joaquin, paying equally little attention to his brother's wife Carla. Stupid machoism!

She loved to sit with her cousins, they were fun and all, Mark, Chris and Jay were getting along well too, but Rianne couldn't help but feel sidelined again by Alvaro. In contrast to her mother his actions tended to make her bitter and sad. And then he had had the audacity to slip her an envelope just after midnight, before they had been off to go out dancing: For her and Jay, their Christmas gift from him.
He could have waited to give that to them on Christmas morning, but he claimed that he and Inés planned to spend the day with her side of the family and wouldn't be there for the gift exchanging. Another bummer. She had really hoped these last minute announcements of his absence wouldn't smart as much the older she got.

Pocketing the envelope Rianne had just looked at its content when she'd gone to the bathrooms at the club. That embarrassingly high amount of money on the cheque inside had hit another nerve, hence her need to maul her boyfriend in an alleyway afterwards and get the brush-off. Hell she had so badly needed an outlet and a distraction from that immeasurable load of anger and pent-up old frustration she had been faced with.

Thankfully Jay had not bolted completely after stopping their make-out session in front of the club, but had followed her back to the dance-floor, participating in one of the things she loved most in the world: Dancing it all out to Club- and Reggaeton sounds that made her heart beat faster. Maybe he had seen that it was necessary to mark his territory. As the night advanced lonely wolves were prowling around on the dance-floor ready to go in for the kill and he couldn't let that happen. Jay always made sure she was protected and accounted for. He made sure she was safe, especially in a crowd, always taking in the scene around them, where possible danger in whatever form could arise from. Rianne knew he hadn't been able to fully relax all night, no matter how many shots the boys had downed, but he'd made an effort for her. Especially when watching the fireworks before she'd felt how tense his body next to hers had been, how he had held on to her, squeezed her hand a little too tight every once in a while. Jay would never be able to change being a police officer and a soldier, a veteran. Somehow this registered with her now more than ever before.

Rianne slipped her fingers under his shirt and was reminded how lucky she was to be touching his soft and warm skin when he lay down next to her now. He'd taken off his white linen shirt and grey chinos he'd looked so dashing in tonight, joining her in a fresh shirt and his boxer-briefs. Seeing she was awake again he grabbed something out of his nightstand and presented a black velvet little box to her:

"Merry Christmas babe!"

A little nervous smile was playing around his lips. Rianne's heart beat a whole lot faster all of a sudden and she sat up straight on instinct. What the hell was this?

"Don't panic, it's not an engagement ring!" he joked, when he saw insecurity arise in her pupils, maybe a little deflated because of her getting worked up at the prospect of him maybe proposing.

"I thought we agreed on not getting each other anything and keep the money for our new home?"

"Yeah, I know, but then I thought: this is our first Christmas, so… what the hell! Just open it!"

Composing herself to keep her hands from shaking because this box looked like it contained meaningful jewelry and actually had the slogan of her favorite shop on it, Rianne did as she was told. Inside there really was a ring, or rather two. One delicate small golden one, elegantly curved, the other also golden, but holding an emerald stone in its middle. She carefully took them out of the box and stared at them, not knowing what to say.

"Stella told me where that shop you liked was and I thought they would go perfectly with your necklace, so… well..." Obviously Jay couldn't really take her silence and felt the need to explain.

Rianne was always wearing some kind of ring or rings. But all the others she had bought herself or inherited. Until now there had been only one ring that she had been given by a man. So this was special.

"Can you put them on? I think my hands are shaking too much right now."

"Left or right?"

"Right?"

When he'd slipped them both onto her right ring finger she moved her hand around a bit, taking in the new look from every angle.

"D'you like them?" It seemed like Jay still couldn't tell wether he'd made the right call or not.

"I love them! I really do, thank you…" Snaking her right hand behind his head she pressed her lips to his softly, hopefully conveying everything she couldn't say right now because she was a little too emotional.

Jay's mouth softly yielded under the pressure of her lips and tongue.

"How'd you guess my ring size?" They fit her so perfectly like they were made for her.

"You forget that I am a detective. I have my ways…"

"Thank God I got you something too then," she winked and kissed him on that sly grin again, wanting to get up and bring his gifts over as well, but Jay held her back.

"I'm not finished!" he announced, voice suddenly several notes lower, seductive and determined while taking off his shirt.

A hot shiver ran over her back when he pressed her down into the mattress by gently cupping her shoulder, closing his mouth over hers again, his tongue toying with hers.
Jay brought her hands up behind her head, holding them in place while he let his other wander along the length of her body very slowly, very deliberately. He knew this was destined to drive her nuts when she was pinned down like that.

As Rianne felt her senses heightened due to tonight's impressions and an overall longing for every single one of his touches, every inch of him, she soon thought she was going up in flames. There was this need to have all of him all at once but Jay was taking his sweet time with her, licking and nibbling along her neck and jawline while whispering:

"You know it's not that I didn't want you in that alleyway or in that pool yesterday, right? I felt like we deserved a little something more to start off our first holiday!"

Obviously he had felt more like they deserved over two hours of agonizingly slow, breath-hitching, making her and him fall apart and get lost in each other, love-making. A very merry Christmas indeed!

I didn't want to overdo it with the character descriptions as this is already a lot of family to take in, so I will drop a few things about all of them time and time again throughout the next chapters.