When they arrived in Chicago, the Miller house was in it's usual state of chaos. Winston and Schmidt carried the luggage through the front door into the room to the left, while Bonnie pulled Nick and Jess into the family room.
"Oh Nicky, I can't believe you finally made it home for Christmas!" Bonnie gave his cheek a pat and pulled him in for a hug. Jess, who had been holding his right hand, took a step back as Jamie came barreling between them, throwing his arms around both Nick and their mom.
"OH MAN. I'm gettting maaaaaarried."
Nick rolled his eyes and pulled away. "Right man. Congrats." He glanced to his right and rolled his eyes again at Jess, as Jamie dove at Nick for another hug.
"My best maaaaaaan."
"Got it, Jamie. Yep, best man."
Bonnie smiled at her boys and then motioned to Jess for a hug. Jess stepped forward apprehensively as Bonnie wrapped her arms around her hard and squeezed her tight. "Oh my dear, I can't believe Nicky brought you too!" She held onto Jess for a few seconds. Nick looked at Jess hugging his mom, with relief and pride.
"So, where's Winnie and fat Schmidt?" Bonnie shifted back and forth to see around Nick, Jamie, and Jess and ran past them to hug Winston and Schmidt.
"Heeeeey, Mrs. Miller." Winston hugged Bonnie.
She patted his cheek and then hugged Schmidt. "So glad everyone could make it for the wedding." Bonnie quickly turned on her heels and breezed past everyone ushering them all into the living room. "Come on in everyone, sit down!"
Nick gave a quick wave to Deanna who was facing them on the chair at the opposite end of the room. "Hey, Deanna." His Aunt Ruthie was sitting in front of them on the couch, with her back to everyone. Nick leaned over and gave her a quick kiss on the cheek. "Merry Christmas, Aunt Ruthie".
She turned her head toward Nick, a little confused. "Damn lit up Menorah across the street."
Nick and Jess both looked at each other and whipped their heads around toward Schmidt who rolled his eyes and mouthed "Christians!"
Bonnie was behind Jess and gently nudged her toward the couch, "Sit. Sit everyone."
Nick lunged to his right and grabbed Jess' hand before Bonnie could push her any further. "Hey, Ma?" He pulled Jess towards him and smiled at his mom. "We're all really tired, could we just unpack a little first?" Jess gave Nick a relieved glance and he squeezed her hand.
Bonnie frowned a little, then shrugged her shoulders. "Right. Yeah, I'm sure you're all tired." She motioned to Winston further back in the hall by the stairs. "Winnie, you and Schmidt can take your things to Jamie's old room." She turned to her right and looked at Nick, smiling. "Nick, you and Jess just put your things in your old room, okay?"
Nick exchanged glances with Jess and they both nodded their heads.
Bonnie stepped forward and grabbed their shoulders, turning them around. "So, you two go get settled, and come down in a little bit for dinner. Yes?"
"Sure, Ma."
Nick grabbed the luggage by the front door and motioned with his head for Jess to follow him up the stairs. When they got into the room, Nick quickly closed the door behind him, the room suddenly becoming very quiet. They finally removed their coats, and both collapsed onto the bed. Nick was laying on his back and Jess shifted onto her side to face him as they both erupted into giggles.
"Well, that was pretty painless on the Miller scale of craziness." He turned his head to look at Jess, who had propped her head on her hand to look at him. She laid her left hand on his chest.
"You have a really great family, Nick."
Nick flipped to his side, mirroring her position and squeezed her hand. "Thanks again for coming, Jess. It means a lot to me."
She leaned in to give him a kiss. "No problem, my best maaaaaaaaan." She lowered her voice to mimic Jamie.
The started to laugh even harder and Nick grabbed her, pulling her on top of him. Their laughter gradually stopped and Jess looked down at his face. She pulled her arms up above his head and started to gently massage his hair. "I love you, Miller." She bent down to kiss him.
Their quickly deepened until their was a knock at the door. "Nicholas."
Nick gave an exasperated sigh. "What is it SCHMIDT?!"
"Will you kindly keep your sexcapades to a minimum here? Chicago builders have no idea how important quality drywall is."
They listened as Schmidt stomped back down the hall and slammed the door.
Jess slid to the side and laid next to Nick as she started laughing again.
"God, he is SO PISSED about the plus one thing, isn't he?"
"He can be as pissed off as he wants," Nick raised his voice to a yell. "AS LONG AS HE INVESTS IN SOME EARPLUGS, BECAUSE MY GIRLFRIEND AND I ARE HAVING FUN ON THIS TRIP!"
Jess gave him a playful smack on his shoulder as Schmidt's muffled voice responded on the other side of the wall. "THIN WALLS, PEOPLE. THIN WALLS."