Hi everyone! Another holiday fic for upsteadofficial's 12 Days of Upstead Fics!
This one is for Christmas Eve, the eleventh day of Christmas, December 24, 2020! And with that I will be going back to writing my main fics! Hope y'all enjoy!
Dancin' Around the Christmas Tree & Making Traditions
At the first sunlight of the day shining through the blinds, his internal clock set to wake up to the earliest lights of the day, Jay slowly opened his eyes to find blond hair sprawled on his chest and his girlfriend's snuggled closely against his side. After the week they'd had and how late they drove up last night, she must have been so tired that she hadn't moved an inch from the position they had fallen asleep in, her head on his chest, her arm across his waist and her legs tangled around his. Very careful as to not wake Hailey up, he instinctively reached for his phone on the nightstand to check the time and see if there was anything from his brother, even though he knew Will probably was sleeping in preparation for his drive up to Wisconsin after having the midnight shift last night.
Upon his touch, his phone screen lit up with the large digital clock that read 6:02am with December 24, 2021, with a couple text messages from the intelligence group chat, which was bound to be entertaining considering they had a late night at Molly's; however, as much as he wanted to catch up with them and find out what stupid thing Adam did, he'd much rather try to go back to sleep and spend the next few hours, however long they wanted to stay in bed, holding his girl close.
Putting a kiss on Hailey's soft hair, he put his phone back on the nightstand, and settled back into the soft mattress, his eyes not leaving Hailey's face. He loved waking up to her curled up next to him, getting a little time in the morning every day to count his blessings and appreciate the most important woman in his life, especially now that he got to do it every day since they'd moved in together a few months ago. Usually his moment would be followed by Hailey's alarm, which he would turn off so he could wake her up properly, with a sweet kiss and tickles to follow if she's being too stubborn, then a quick shower and breakfast before they have to go off to work. On this rare occasion, however, with nowhere else to be but in each others' arms for the whole weekend, his body actually let him drift back to sleep as he counted his blessings and his girlfriend's snoozy breaths.
The next time Jay woke up was to Hailey shifting against his chest, cuddling closer, her warm lips tickling him with each word as she spoke from his side. "Hmmm… time to wake up already?" She asked, sleep thick in her voice.
"It doesn't have to be if we don't want it to be." Jay answered, tightening his arms around her and pulling her closer to his chest. "We can even stay in bed the whole day."
"We have to cook though." Hailey muttered her eyes still closed. "Will's gonna be here tonight."
"He'll be happy with instant mac and cheese."
"Not for Christmas Eve dinner." She opened her eyes at the realization that it was Christmas Eve. "It's Christmas Eve!" She perked up with a smile, her shiny blue eyes meeting Jay's greens. "Jay, it's Christmas Eve!"
"It is Christmas Eve." He smiled at how giddy she got.
"It's our first Christmas Eve." She beamed as she put emphasis on the word our. Sure they'd spent the holidays together before, but this was their first one as more than just partners and best friends, and while neither detective particularly celebrated a traditional Christmas, this was a new page in their relationship, and an opportunity to make new traditions, and just for that they were extremely excited.
"Mhm…" Jay shot her a mischievous smile as he took her by surprise and flipped them over so she was laying on her back under him. "Merry Christmas Eve, Hailey Anne." He whispered before leaning down to give her a slow, and tender kiss on the lips.
"So is that what we're doing?" Hailey cheekily asked between kisses. "Using our full names for holiday wishes?" She managed once Jay's hungry lips moved from her lips to her chin and made a trail down to her neck.
"Why not?" He mumbled against her skin and giggled, his hot breath tickling her skin as it ran back up her neck. "Making new traditions, right?" He asked, once he reached her lips again and deeply looked into her eyes.
"Well then," Hailey gave him another kiss. "Merry Christmas Eve, James Matthew." At hearing his full name, Jay mockingly scrunched his nose and shook his head.
"My full name doesn't sound half as good as yours."
"I think it does." She reached up to press another kiss on his lips. "Though I guess I'm biased when it comes to everything Jay Halstead."
"Oh really?" Jay shot back with a playful tone and grinned before dipping down for another kiss. "So then you'll agree with me when I suggest we stay in bed as long as we can, and keep making new traditions?"
"Look at you coming up with the best ideas this morning?"
"What can I say? The holiday season brings out the best in me." Jay offered her a wink as they burst into laughter and their lips found each others' again.
"Really adamant on making new traditions I see."
"Just a man of my words." He responded between kisses as his hands moved down to the hem of his sweatshirt that Hailey was wearing and gently started pulling it up.
"Then, we better get to making those new traditions." She agreed, pulling him down for a passionate kiss as she wrapped her arms around his broad shoulders, and let him deepen the kiss and take control. Staying in bed as long as they could sure made a great new tradition to look forward to.
A few hours later, Jay and Hailey found themselves cuddled on the couch in front of the fireplace, the final scenes to How the Grinch Stole Christmas playing on the TV hung above it, as they sipped on their spiked hot chocolates. The sun had already started going down and the averagely sized sitting area was lit by the soft lights on the Christmas tree Jay and Hailey had set up in the corner with Will a couple weeks ago when they'd driven up to finish the last of their most recent renovations. The fixer-upper lake house the Halstead brothers had purchased a couple years back was still a work in progress, and while they had come a long ways, had re-done the entire exterior, two bedrooms, the sitting area and most of the kitchen, they still had rooms to renovate and a lot of landscaping to do with the land. Yet, even though it was still incomplete, the lake house was the Halsteads', and by association Hailey's, home away from home, and its imperfections made their trips even more memorable, like that one time their painting session turned into a full on paint fight and both Jay and Hailey ended up scrubbing paint off of their bodies for a week.
After they'd been pulled out of their bed by the grumbling of their bellies, a steamy shower and a delicious breakfast later, they'd decided to continue their relaxing Christmas Eve by making the new tradition of watching all of their favorite holiday classics in their coziest, almost matching plaid pajamas. They'd gone through the Elf, the two original Home Alones (they both agreed that Home Alone without Macaulay Culkin was like rain without water), and they were almost done with How the Grinch Stole Christmas.
" Where are you, Christmas? I think I've found you This time I'll make you stay All will be singing Bells will be ringing Now and forever Christmas Day "
Hailey yawned and stretched in Jay's embrace as the final credits to the classic filled the room. "I think the Grinch takes the win." She reached forward to set her empty mug on the coffee table.
"Absolutely not." Jay objected defensively, setting his own empty mug next to her. "Home Alone, either of them, would take down the Grinch and Elf, EASY."
"Elf, I get it." Hailey agreed to that much. "But you can't deny the win to the perfection that is Jim Carrey's the Grinch."
"Are you kidding me? Kevin's like a 90's idol. So cool and badass, getting to do whatever he wants to do when his parents leave him alone and fighting those bandits." Jay's voice became that of an excited tween as he talked about his favorite Christmas movie character. "What does the Grinch do? Imitate Santa to steal Christmas. So unrealistic."
"And an eight year old being forgotten by his parents on Christmas Eve and having to face criminals with amateur traps is?" Hailey challenged his boyfriend's logic.
"I'm telling you: Kevin McAllister is a damn hero." At her boyfriend's declaration, Hailey could picture a young Will and Jay watching Home Alone, trying to recreate some of the booby-trap scenes, creating mayhem around the house. She was definitely gonna have to ask about it when Will could finally join them that night.
"Well, the Grinch has a really cute dog and just for that he deserves the win."
"I can't say no to dogs, but sorry to break it to you, I'm still gonna have to give the win to my man, Kevin." Jay declared while Hailey couldn't help but giggle at his passion on the topic.
"So agree to disagree?" She finally asked, knowing they both could make their cases the whole night but they were way too stubborn to accept defeat.
"Agree to disagree." Jay agreed. "And I think we should kiss on it."
"Gladly." Hailey replied and he dipped his head down to seal their argument with a sweet kiss, another Christmas Eve tradition in the books. "So, what are we watching next?" She asked, reaching for the remote to set up whatever movie he was about to suggest.
"Actually, I have a better idea." Jay flashed her a smile before standing up and disappearing into the kitchen as Hailey watched confused, but before she could even question what was happening, Jay reappeared holding his portable speaker and set it on the coffee table. "Every Christmas Eve, Will, mom and I would have Christmas movie marathons while we waited for dad to come home from work." He started talking, searching for something on his phone. "And one year, there was this big snow storm that wiped out all the electric lines, so Will and I were really upset that we wouldn't get to do our movie marathon. Ah here it is!" He tapped on a few things on his phone. "And mom, being the most amazing human she was, found a battery operated cassette player and some Christmas albums, and we had a full Home Alone style dance party surrounded by candle lights." He pressed play on his queued songs and the joyous melody of Rockin' Around The Christmas Tree filled the room as he held his hand out for Hailey to take. "So, would you do me the honors, Hailey Anne?"
"I'd be honored." She took his hand and jumped up to her feet.
She let him take the lead as they danced around the coffee table, giggling, laughing, stealing kisses every now and again. Before they knew it, Rockin' Around The Christmas Tree became Jingle Bell Rock, and that became Santa Claus Is Comin' To Town, and that became another equally festive song as they danced away. They jumped around in excitement and joy at the fast paced songs and held one another close for slower ones. Many songs later, as they swayed to Michael Buble's Cold December Night, they felt warm from the buzz of the mugs of hot chocolate and whiskey they'd consumed, from all the dancing they did, and from the love they had for one another, and all they wanted to do was keep dancing in each others' arms.
So for all the future Christmas Eves to come, just like they did their first Christmas Eve, Hailey and Jay continued the tradition of their impromptu dance party, holding each other close, making the happiest of Christmas memories…
Merry Christmas, everyone! To answer some people's inquiries, I will be updating Fighting For Family this week as well! Stay safe and kind until then!