Hi everyone! I hope everyone's having a wonderful Holiday Season! As I mentioned in my earlier author's notes, I've taken a short break from my main stories (I promise I will be back to updating those after the holidays) to participate in tumblr's upsteadofficial's 12 Days of Christmas fics! This one is the first of four fics I have been working on, a little something I wrote for the fourth day of Christmas, December 17, 2020! Hope y'all enjoy! Stay safe and kind!
Ugly Christmas Sweaters, Shots & Gingerbread Houses
Hailey jumped out of Jay's truck, holding the tray of gingerbread cookies they'd picked up on their way to Molly's. She shivered at the freezing late December air hitting her face and held the cookies closer to her body. Bracing herself for the short walk across the street where they parked the truck, she headed towards the warm light shining through the foggy bar windows with big strides; however, she stopped after a couple when she didn't hear the driver's door open and shut behind her, and she realized she was missing her partner's familiar presence following her. Changing her direction and walking back towards the truck, she stood by the drivers side and knocked on the window. "Come on! It's freezing out here!"
"Absolutely not!" Jay spoke from inside the truck, making no moves to get out.
"Jay, don't be a baby." She balanced the tray on her one arm and grabbed the door handle with the order, yanking it open as to not give her partner, and boyfriend of almost a year, the option to not get out.
"Nuh-uh. I am not going in there with this on." Jay whined, unzipping his jacket enough to reveal the festive fabric under, the sound of tiny bells chiming at his every movement, which earned a soft giggle from Hailey that she tried really hard to suppress.
"Jay, it's an ugly Christmas sweater party." She pointed out, a soft shiver laced in her voice. "Everyone will be wearing one."
"No one will be wearing this particular one tho." He shot back.
"Yes, no one will be wearing this absolutely dashing sweater that your amazing girlfriend, who is very very cold, hand picked for you." Hailey pointed out as she leaned against the door, putting emphasis on certain words for a mock dramatic effect, her breath more visible in the cold with each word. "So get your butt out of that truck so we can get inside where it's warm and there are free drinks."
"Hailey…" Jay all but pleaded with a pout.
"Jay…" Hailey pulled back from against the door and stared him down with an eyebrow propped up.
"Hailey…" He repeated, his voice more desperate even though he knew this was a battle he would not be winning
"Jay…" She repeated, not backing down. "Look, you can stay here and call my name all night long, or…" Her voice trailed as she offered him a seductive look. "You can follow me into Molly's where it's nice and warm and fun. Besides, you know what they say about ugly Christmas sweaters," She paused before she leaned in and whispered the last part. "The best part is getting drunk until they start looking pretty. And all the more fun taking them off later in the night." And with that final remark, she turned around and started her walk towards the bar again.
"God, I love this girl." Jay muttered under his breath before quickly jumping out of his truck and running behind her, the sound of bell chimes muffled by his coat making Hailey grin ear to ear.
"What was that? I think my ears are frozen."
"Oh nothing too interesting." He responded casually upon catching up to her. "Just how much I love you."
"Oh yeah? And how much is that?"
"So much that I'm even willing to wear this hideous thing in public." He answered, wrapping an arm around her waist and pulling her close to his body as they speed-walked to the entrance, music and people's chatter getting louder with each step. "But I have to say," He leaned forwards and whispered in her ear just as they climbed the stairs to the door. "I'm counting on the you taking it off later part."
"Hmm…" Hailey purred at feeling his hot breath against her frozen skin, feeling the blood rush to her already cold kissed, rosey cheeks. She knew oh too well that he was trying to get under her skin and tease her in the hopes that they would fast forward the party and wind up home, his idea of a punishment for the sweater she had picked out for him. Sure the way he had whispered the words, his warmth around her body, his tight grip around her waist were heating her from within but two could play at that game, and Hailey Upton was never the one to back down from a challenge. So letting him think he got the final word, she let a moment of silence linger while she reached for the door and paused before pushing it open. Instead of letting them into the heat of the bar, she turned around in his arms, the tray of cookies putting some distance between them, and whispered, "Play your cards right, Halstead, and maybe you will be spending the rest of the night calling my name after all." She raised on her tiptoes and pressed a quick peck on his lips as he processed her words, quite hot and bothered himself. "And maybe I will be calling yours, too." And with those final words, she pushed the door open, walking into the crowded bar full of their friends and colleagues, dragging him along. Oh this was going to be a long night.
As soon as they'd walked in, Jay and Hailey had been greeted by familiar faces welcoming them, everyone in ridiculous holiday attire, some in elaborately decorated sweaters, some in those full holiday themed suits, some in costumes. It was the annual Molly's ugly Christmas sweater party, exclusive for friends and family of Chicago's finest first responders. From drinking games to an ugly sweater contest, the tradition had started a couple years back when Stella had pitched the idea to Hermann after the hell of a fall that was 2019 and then the year 2020 that followed. First the infection, then the virus, and everything else that had followed, once things had finally settled down, all the tragedy of those months had given them reason to celebrate every small thing, the holiday season, and the ugly Christmas sweater party, being a favorite.
Looking around the crowded room, their eyes searched for their unit and close friends who'd already had a two hour head start to the party since Jay and Hailey had received a last minute call from one of Hailey's CIs and needed to do a quick pit stop on their way over. Ruze had texted them that intelligence and 51 had put together a table in the back corner. Making small talk with acquaintances on their way over, they walked further towards the back of the room after dropping off the cookies with Hermann at the bar. They heard their friends before they caught sight of them, the closer they got, the more distinct their voices got, too. "Aweeee, look who the elves dragged, you guys!" Kim, who seemed to have already been a couple drinks in, shouted from between Kevin and Adam, the first one to spot the couple approaching them and all eyes turned towards them.
"Yo, Upstead! Get your asses here for the next round of shots." Kevin called for them while everyone around their set up of tables shuffled to make room and the couple rolled their eyes at the nickname as they reached their friends.
"What are we having?" Hailey asked as the couple quickly took off their jackets, Jay more hesitant than Hailey, to reveal the matching red and white striped sweaters with tiny bells on both sleeves, a large Christmas tree that read "I 3 X-MAS" in the front, and HoHoHo on the trim around the waist. The sweaters were exact replicas of the one Jim Carrey had worn in How the Grinch Stole Christmas. The movie was a rare happy holiday memory from the blonde detective's childhood, and she had secretly always wanted to own the iconic sweater.
"Aweeee, look!" Stella called from her place on Kelly's lap before he could answer Hailey's original question. "They even have matching sweaters. We should have gotten matching sweaters."
"Hailey, do the thing!" Kim shouted, waving her hands over her own sweater, which was decorated with shiny garland and tiny Christmas ornaments, signaling for Hailey to really show off their sweaters.
"Check this out!" Hailey proudly beamed, pressing on the heart in the middle of the sweater to light up the tiny lights all over the Christmas tree, then cuddling into Jay's side so she could do the same to his top.
"Woah! Upstead might be taking home the win this year!" Adam cheered, and while Jay was not a fan of his current attire, he was a big fan of how much it was making his Hailey smile.
"Didn't someone say drinks?" Jay asked, trying to change the topic as he guided Hailey to take a seat.
"The correct term would be shots, Chuckles!" Sergeant Platt, who seemed to be more intoxicated than Kim, chose that moment to return with a large tray of red and white layered shots.
"Serge? What are these?" Kevin asked, holding up a shot glass.
"Santa Panties!" Trudy announced receiving a round of laughter from the entire squad as they passed the shot glasses around.
"What exactly are in these?" Will smelled his "Santa Panties," confused by the sweet yet strong smell of the layers.
"Who cares! Less talking, more drinking, Ginger Halstead." Trudy dismissed the older Halstead and motioned for everyone to raise their glasses with her. If this were anyone else, Will would have responded with a smart comeback, but even he knew not to argue with Trudy Platt, and he happily complied, raising his glass with the rest of his friends. "Everyone's got a shot?" She looked around. "Alright, good. Well then, happy holidays and bottoms up!" Taking the sergeant's lead, everyone clinked their glasses against eachother's and followed suit and gulped down the sweet mixture of rumchata, kahlua, and sweet grenadine.
"Wow!" Jay placed his empty glass next to Hailey's as they both scrunched their noses at the unfamiliar sweetness of the drink. "That was-" He was about to voice how horribly sweet the mixture tasted but before he could say the words, Hailey nudged him, reminding him of the fact that the drinks had been Trudy's choice.
"Yes, Chuckles?"
"That was great, Serge."
"Well, I'll go get another round then." Trudy announced, standing up to head over to the bar. "Oh, and you are a horrible liar, Halstead." She called back without even turning back to look at the table and a thunderous roar of laughter followed.
"I deserved that." Jay accepted his mistake and joined into the laughter.
"You deserved that." Hailey agreed, turning around in her place on his lap to give him a consolation kiss, tasting the sweetness of the drink still on one another's lips. Exchanging a knowing look once they pulled apart, neither a big fan of fruity and sweet drinks, Jay pulled her tighter against him and whispered.
"I'm gonna keep my mouth shut after the next one and get us some real drinks."
"My hero!" Hailey mockingly batted her eyelashes and snuggled against him as they shared a quick laugh.
When Trudy came back with another tray of Santa Panties shots, to Jay and Hailey's relief, she was also accompanied by Hank who was carrying another tray of what looked like straight up whiskey shots, and while they were grateful for the whiskey, if their night was gonna be anything like the past fifteen minutes, they were in for a lot of fun.
A few hours later, after many many more shots, Jay and Hailey were left alone at their table, the rest of their friends out mingling with others or having fun on the dance floor. Well, in Adam's case, having fun on the bartop as Kevin screamed for him to get down. With the booth seat all to themselves, and the fuzziness of the alcohol rushing through their bodies, Jay rested his back against the corner and pulled Hailey against his chest, who in return wrapped her arms around his neck and pressed herself closer against his body. "See, it wasn't so bad after all was it?" Hailey whispered with a sigh, her eyes closed from the heaviness of the buzz and from how content they were. "We even won Best Ugly Christmas Sweater!"
"Such a high honor. I think we've peaked." He agreed, trying really hard to keep a serious tone.
"Jay, I'm serious!" Hailey pulled away enough to look up to his face as she lightly slapped him on the chest.
"What? I am, too." He wanted to keep up the act but one look into her blue eyes and he forgot even his own name let alone try to give her a hard time. He lasted maybe a second before they both burst into laughter. "I'm kidding, I had a lot of fun."
"Oh my god, did the Grinch's small heart grow three sizes today?" Jay nodded at hearing the familiar line that his mother used to read him every Christmas.
"And then the true meaning of Christmas came though, and the Grinch found the strength of ten Grinches plus two." Jay was surprised he remembered the exact quote from Dr. Seuss's book considering the amount of liquor he had consumed, but for the wide grin on Hailey's lips, he'd recite the entire book. Not able to resist her lips any longer, he leaned forward as their laughter grew.
"You are such a dork!" Hailey giggled right before he captured her lips in a passionate kiss, his hands moving from around her waist down lower to her ass which earned him a subtle moan from Hailey who was tightly holding onto his neck. They knew they had to pull back, but they couldn't seem to be getting enough of one another.
To their misfortune, however, their moment was interrupted by Will loudy clearing his throat, standing by the table but turned around so that the two detectives were out of his sight. "Ahem, ahem…"
"Yes, Will?" Jay asked when they pulled apart, annoyance obvious in his voice.
"You are being summoned at the bar."
"Why?" Hailey asked, whining, not ready to get off of Jay's warm embrace and back on her feet.
"I don't know but Platt's orders." Will informed them. "Believe me, I wouldn't have been here if I wasn't terrified of the woman."
"Alright, you can tell them we're coming." Jay tried getting rid of his brother, hoping to get a little longer with Hailey.
"Alright but don't take forever. I don't think I'm ready to die just yet."
"Dude, we said we're coming!" Jay almost growled, frustrated that their moment was broken and that moving was a wobbly struggle as Hailey kept laughing at the brothers' interaction.
"Uh-huh, sure." Will mumbled, walking away. "And keep it PG, will you?"
"Ugh! I'd rather stay here." Jay huffed, pouting like a toddler.
"I know but we can't continue this," Hailey reached up to press a kiss against his lips. "If Platt kills us."
"Is that a promise?" Jay asked, his voice low.
"Mhm…" Hailey nodded, unclasping her hands from around his neck and slowly running them down his chest. His breath hitched in his throat when her hands wandered over his middle and over his abdomen.
"Hailey…" He was at a loss for words, not knowing where this was going until Hailey pulled away from him enough to sit up.
"Told you, you'd be calling my name tonight." She whispered and flashed him a teasing grin. This woman was gonna be the death of him. "Anyway, let's go find out why we are being summoned." She encouraged him as she slid along the booth, finding her balance enough to get up. "Come on." She offered Jay a had and pulled him to his feet as well. Taking two final drinks from their glasses of water, Jay wrapped his arm around Hailey.
"Oh before I forget," He leaned down so his lips were by her ear. "Once we are out of here, I'll make sure you are calling my name, too." And with a hot kiss to her neck, he guided her across the bar while her cheeks burned with want.
Once at the bar, Jay and Hailey were surprised and confused to find three unopened boxes of those build your own gingerbread house kits they sold at stores. "Serge, you called for us?"
"Goldilocks, Chuckles, move to your station."
"Station?" Hailey looked around, trying to figure out what Trudy was talking about. She knew she was drunk, but surely she hadn't misheard her sergeant.
"God, Upton. Do none of you watch any cooking competitions?" Trudy babbled, her words slurring. "In front of that box. We are having a partners' gingerbread house contest. Hank and I, Ruzek and Atwater, Burgess and Walker, and -"
"Upstead!" Kim chimed in and everyone laughed at the now widely used nickname.
"Yes, Chuckles and Goldilocks." Trudy agreed, her voice bringing their group's attention back on herself. "We get thirty minutes, six shots, one for every five minutes, and one kit. Mouch, Maggie, Sharon and Wallace will be the judges."
"And what will the winner get?" The youngest and newest member of their unit asked.
"A thousand dollars." Walker's eyes shined at the mention of a prize money.
"Seriously?" He looked around at the rest of his team, wondering why he was the only one who was so excited but his excitement died when everyone started snickering and Trudy just gave him a mocking look.
"Of course not! You get a handshake and a pat on the back, Walker. How did you survive the academy? Geez." Another thunderous round of laughter followed the sergeant's comment. Drunk Platt was a joy to have around. "Alright, does anyone need me to run through the rules again or can we start?" Trudy asked, her eyes traveling between the partner duos. "Walker?"
"I'm all good, Serge."
"Good. Judges, it's on you."
"Alright. Partners of the 21st, time to find out who has the strongest partnership." Shannon started in her serious, professional tone.
"Or if Upstead will last." Adam blurted out, earning himself death glares from both Jay and Hailey. "Hey, it's the ultimate compatibility test! Don't blame the facts!"
"And, with that, go." Wallace gave them the start as Maggie started the timer on her phone and each partner duo took their first shot before opening their kits. Well, three out of four partners did while Adam and Kevin ripped theirs into pieces.
Before they knew it, the first five minutes had flown by with most of the duos taking in the pieces of the kit and quickly observing the instructions pamphlet before starting to build their bases, one of the partner duos having to deal with the consequences of attacking their box and trying to figure out if they could somehow glue together the pieces they'd broken. When the five minute mark was called for the next shot, Hailey and Jay had already had the four sides of their house propped up and waiting for it to harden enough to add the pieces for the roof. Unlike the detective duo, Kim and Jalen had decided to start with securing the roof first while Hank seemed to have let Trudy take over and do her thing as he enjoyed a glass of whiskey.
Kevin and Adam on the other hand… Well, after being burnt by their initial enthusiasm, they had decided to take their sweet time actually reading the instructions' pamphlet which consisted of more diagrams than words, still enough to confuse Adam, who could barely stand up on his own. "Damn it! Serge, where did you even get these from? Ikea?" Adam shouted in frustration, picking up the instructions pamphlet again and turning it in his hands to make sense of it after taking his shot. "Is this even English? Kev, is this English?"
"Ruze, it clearly says German on the side! Flip over for the English side!"
"Oh! Thanks, man!" Adam took a deep breath of relief while Kevin took matters into his own hands and started stacking the cookies in front of him.
The rest of their minutes were spent equally chaotically as their buzz increased with every five minutes, all partners, except for the sergeants, getting louder and clumsier and gigglier after each shot. The final minutes fast approaching, Kim and Jaylen's house was looking pretty good even though the decorations were all lopsided and Jaylen was about to pass out on the floor. Kevin and Adam had given up a long while ago, sometime around the 15 minute mark when Adam had accidentally whacked the house, the bits of gingerbread they had managed to glue together crumbling apart into tiny pieces, leaving behind a sticky, crumbly mess. To make the most of their mistakes, however, they had decided on simply eating the stale gingerbread, hoping the edible cardboard would somehow sober them up while the rest of their colleagues vigorously worked on theirs. Platt's was slowly turning into a mini gingerbread replica of the 21st, totally out of control and chaotic since she had stolen some of Kevin and Adam's still intact pieces, Hank watching the whole debacle from his place leaning against the bar.
"Wait, Jay, the roof! The roof's sliding!" Hailey screamed at the realization that they had put way too many gumdrops on the roof for the structure to support its weight, quickly putting her hands under the two sides of the roofs and sliding them back towards each other.
"Oh no! What do we do?" Jay responded, panicked. "Hailey what do we do?" Not like responding to life or death kinda situations were what they collectively did for a living.
"Ummm, I don't know! We don't have any more icing left to glue them!"
"What if we squish the gumdrops and used them as glue? They are sticky, right?"
"I don't know!" Hailey shot back, trying to hold the roofs together and looking around for a solution while Jay started eating some of the problematic gum drops and smoothing the icing where the two pieces of the roof connected, making a sweet sugary mess as he did. "Are you seriously eating these?"
"What? They are good!" He popped another one in his mouth, his fingers covered in icing and sugar from meddling with the decorations.
"They are disgusting." She scrunched her nose. "But share!"
"You got it, partner!" He picked one of the pink gumdrops, sliding to the side of the roof and fed it to her as his icing covered hand brushed against her nose to leave a streak of white.. Even in his drunk haze, he knew she hated the orange and the red, and that her favorites were pink and green.
"Did you get icing in my nose?" She asked, not being able to do anything about it to not let their gingerbread house fall apart.
"You look cute tho!" Jay pointed out while he laughed, ever the optimistic.
"I'm not cute. I'm strong and fierce," was Hailey's immediate, very very fuzzy response, which got laughs from all around the room. "Who do you think is holding this house together?"
"You are cute, strong AND fierce." Normally, Jay would have come up with a snarky response, but the way she made him so warm and fuzzy, and not just because of the alcohol, he could feel his emotional side surfacing. "And you definitely hold our house, and me, together." The two shared a liquor fueled emotional moment, thankful that most of their audience was focused on some stupid thing Adam was doing at the time that they could share silent I love you's in private.
"Alright you have a minute, people!" Maggie called, bringing everyone's attention back to their houses, everyone struggling with their last minute adjustments.
"Ok, you push that side, I push this, and we hope for the best?" Hailey asked, finalizing their game plan, and Jay nodded.
They stood there for the next minute, leaning onto one another shoulder to shoulder, in matching ugly Christmas sweaters, icing all over their hands and faces, trying to hold together their roof in the hopes that when they let go to take their last shot, their house wouldn't come crashing down. If someone had told either of them a year ago that they'd be where they are now, this drunk, doing something so silly in equally silly sweaters, and so blissfully in love, they probably would have immediately changed the topic and hoped that the other didn't realize the soft blush creeping on their cheeks. But they couldn't deny the facts. In every situation, whether doing something so silly as building a gingerbread house while more intoxicated than either of them should be, or out there on the field, or at home going about their routines, they just worked, and sometimes, moments like these made them wonder how different their lives would have been had they grown out of their stupid a little earlier in their relationship, made them wonder about all the many more memories they could have created together, not just as friends, but as they stood there together, possibly with a disaster of a gingerbread house in front of them, they knew they were right where they were supposed to be.
So when the minute was over, and they let go of their roof to take that final shot with the rest of their friends and family, the one they probably, definitely, shouldn't even be attempting, they were just happy. Happy to have each other. Happy to have a future together. Happy that their roof was standing strong.
And who knew, maybe ugly Christmas sweaters and drunk gingerbread house building would become a permanent holiday tradition for the Intelligence unit, after all?
Happy holiday season!