A/N: This was a request from Sparky She-Demon and she owns the character of Sabrina Byrne (from her story "Never the Same"). I don't own any of the characters.

Opening Up

It had become a tradition to have the entire family at Hank's for Christmas. Hank, Olive and Daniel had gone to New York to spend Thanksgiving with Olivia, Noah and Erin. Sabrina had been unable to go because she had to work. She had hoped that from now on, she would be able to go, since by this time next year, Olivia and Hank would be married and Hank would be moving to New York.

Olivia, Noah and Erin were all coming in from New York and Olive and Daniel were coming in from Phoenix. Everyone was coming in the weekend before Christmas and were staying until after the first of the year, since both boys were off from school. Olivia had managed to take the time off and Erin and Olive were both able to as well. Olivia, Noah and Erin were coming in on Saturday and Olive and Daniel were coming in on Sunday. The flight from New York was in about noon, so Hank had told them he would pick them up. He drove to the airport and got there just as they were coming outside. Noah saw Hank and ran over to him.

"Hank!"

"Hey, kiddo!"

Noah gave Hank a big hug and then he got into the SUV.

"What's goin' on there, Pops? Did the box arrive?"

"Yep. I got the box from you, from Olive and from Olivia and put it all under the tree."

"Ok. Good."

Erin got in just as Olivia came outside and was on her phone as usual. Hank rolled his eyes as she gave him her suitcase and got into the SUV.

"Hello to you too."

Hank put the luggage in the back and got in. He drove home. Olivia managed to stay on the phone the entire trip home. They arrived at the house and then everyone except Olivia took their stuff in. As soon as they got inside, Hank got a call about a case.

"I need to go."

"Ok."

"Bye, Hank. Stay safe."

"I will."

Just as Hank was about to leave, Olivia hung up.

"Honey, I'm sorry."

"That's ok. Walk me out."

Olivia walked outside with Hank.

"What's going on?"

"I need you to talk to Sabrina?"

"Now what?"

"I keep trying to get her to open up about her true feelings for Connor but she won't."

"Sounds familiar."

"I'm gonna ignore that. I made my feelings known. You're the one that was seeing someone else. Not me. Talk to her and try to get her to admit how she feels. Gotta go. Bye."

Hank got into his SUV and contacted the rest of the squad. Then he headed to the scene. Just after he left, Sabrina arrived.

"Hey, Olivia."

"Hey."

"Did Uncle Hank just leave?"

"He did. He had a case. Come on in."

"Thanks."

Olivia and Sabrina went into the house."

"Hey, Cuz."

"Hey."

"Hey, Noah."

"Hi Sabrina. Mom, can I watch a movie?"

"Sure. Why don't you go upstairs to yours and Daniel's room to watch it?"

"Ok."

Noah went upstairs to watch the movie.

"How's your job?"

"It keeps me busy. This is the first Christmas I'm home and I'm grateful for that. I missed Uncle Hank so much. A part of me wishes he was going to be around this area."

"I know it wasn't an easy decision for him to make. We both discussed it and he felt that it was more important for him to be in New York because of my recent promotion to Captain. If I hadn't been promoted, I would have considered moving here. I know he also wants to be closer to Erin. He hates the distance between him and his grandson but Olive promised that she will bring Daniel to visit us as often as she can and you are welcome to visit us whenever you want to as well. Our home is your home and you know that."

"Thank you. I really appreciate that. I'm really glad that Uncle Hank was able to find love again after Aunt Camille died. I was worried about him there for a while."

"You and me both."

"Until I met your uncle, I never had much luck in relationships. My last relationship, I probably never should have gotten into in the first place and the one before that ended because I wanted a family and he didn't. We broke up not long before Noah came into my life. I'm still friends with my last two exes but neither one was my happily ever after. Before I even started seeing Ed, I was still trying to figure out my true feelings for Hank."

"He's not very open sometimes, is he?"

"No, he's not."

"I'm a lot like that. I've been trying to figure out my own love life for years now. It's just that I know the guy I really want would never love me back?"

"Does he know how you feel?"

"No. His family has money and I would never fit in with them."

"How do you know unless you tell him how you really feel?"

"A part of it is because we have been friends for so long and I don't want to ruin the friendship."

"That's kind of how I felt about your uncle. I tried to deny that I had feelings for him since he came into my life just over 5 years ago and I tried to remain professional. After one case, he showed up at my apartment and we talked for what seemed like hours. I could be myself with him and I told him so much about myself from growing up with my alcoholic mother to my ordeal when I was being held by a suspect for 4 days. He told me about Camille and then about how excited he was about the birth of his first grandchild. He said he had hoped that would help repair his relationship with his son. We had worked together again and after the case was over, he showed up at my hotel and pretty much told me that he had feelings for me. By then, I was seeing Ed and I was confused. I would have loved to have had Hank spend the night with me and that would just make everything so much easier. I told him that I didn't think we could ever be anything more than friends and that there was someone else. He claimed he was ok with that but deep down, I knew he wasn't and honestly, I wasn't either. When Erin called me to tell me about Justin, I tried reaching out to Hank but he wouldn't talk to me. I knew he was pissed and honestly, I didn't really blame him. I had explained to Ed what had happened when Hank told me he had feelings for me and what I responded. I told him that I did have very strong feelings for Hank but Ed still took Noah and me to Paris. Even then, I kind of knew that it wasn't going to last. I regretted how I had left things with Hank. When Ed and I broke up, I basically told him that I needed to focus on Noah. He told me he wanted me to be happy and not to give up on Hank if that was what I really wanted. I took some time off when the weather got a little warmer and brought Noah here. Olive had been here with Daniel as well, so she and Erin took Noah leaving us to talk. We talked, we yelled and we ended up having some pretty amazing sex. I may have called him stubborn and pig-headed a few times during the conversation."

"He is stubborn and pig-headed. My mother was too. The only offspring the Voight genes didn't dominate in was my brother. He was more even-tempered like my dad. Daniel is just like his father."

"No kidding. Olive said he has the Voight glare down perfectly."

"You're pretty stubborn and pig-headed yourself."

"I pretty much was even before I found out Hank was my dad."

"I never told Uncle Hank this but Aunt Camille kind of suspected that you were his and so did Justin. She said as long as whatever he did happened before they were married, she couldn't be too upset about it. She loved you like a daughter and thought you deserved to have a better mother. She never wanted Uncle Hank to spend the rest of his life alone and wanted the 3 of us to help him make sure that didn't happen."

"Justin knew how he felt about Olivia."

"A part of me wishes I had known Justin but another part of me feels that he wouldn't have accepted anyone else in his dad's life."

"He and I talked a lot. He wanted Dad to be happy, which was something we rarely saw after Camille died. He said if Dad wasn't going to make a move, he was going to talk some sense into both of you. He had always wanted to go to New York. Dad swore he was never going to get involved with anyone ever again after Camille died because it was just too painful."

"I remember that too."

"Did you and Connor ever get serious?"

"My first time was with him but his dad told me that I wasn't good enough for him, so I needed to find someone else. He threatened me and started calling me a whore. He said my entire family was trash. I just accepted it and never thought anything of it. I thought about him a lot over the years and that was one of the reasons I was hesitant to come back to Chicago, even after Uncle Hank said Connor was a Cardio-Thoracic surgeon at Med. Uncle Hank doesn't know that his dad threatened me though. Connor would never want me anyway."

"You don't know that. You sound just like Hank. He said the same thing about Olivia and now he's the happiest he has been in a long time. I'm glad he's retiring and moving to New York."

The doorbell rang, so Olivia went to answer it. It was Jay, Will, Olive and Daniel.

"Hey."

"Hey. I thought you two weren't coming in until tomorrow."

"We changed it."

"Hi Gramma!"

"Hi Sweetie. Hank will be Happy you're here. Hey, Jay. Hey, Will."

"Hey."

They all came in and Olive put their stuff down.

"Auntie!"

"Hey, you!"

"Hey, Sabrina."

"Hey, Olive. Hey there, kiddo."

"Hi Sabrina. NOAH!"

"UP HERE."

Daniel took his coat off and threw it on the floor before taking his boots off and heading upstairs. Olive rolled her eyes, took her coat off and hung both coats up. Will and Jay took their coats off and hung them up as well.

"Hey, guys."

"Hey, Erin. Hey, Sabrina."

"Hey."

"How are you feeling, Jay?"

"Better. I'm grateful to be alive."

"I'm glad for that too. You're all I have left."

"Where's Hank?"

"He had a call."

"That'll do it."

"When do you go back to work?"

"It'll be a while and I probably won't be going to scenes for a while either. Before I go back, I need to clear it with Voight first."

"Do you two have plans for Christmas?"

"I have to work both Christmas Eve and Christmas Day."

"What about you, Jay?"

"I'll probably stay home and order Chinese or something."

"You should come here and spend it with us."

"With Voight? Yeah, right. I'm probably the last person he wants to spend the Holiday with."

Everyone sat down and talked for a while. Several hours later, Hank came home and everyone was still there.

"Hello."

"Hey."

Hank took his jacket and boots off before he went to kiss Olivia.

"Olive, you're here."

"We are. Your grandson is upstairs with Noah and they both fell asleep."

"Good. Hey, Halstead."

"Hey."

"How'd the case go?"

"It was a sexual assault case and the victim got her revenge on the perp by stabbing him multiple times, so he's dead and she's going to jail."

"Welcome to my world."

"I invited Jay to Christmas dinner."

"That's fine. Sabrina, is there anyone you'd like to invite to Christmas dinner?"

"I don't know."

"Why do you do this to yourself?"

"I'm still intimidated by his father."

"I wouldn't put too much weight on anything Cornelius Rhodes has to say. He is so full of himself."

"You don't know the whole story. Connor and I were still in high school when we first slept together but his dad called me a whore when he found out. He told me that I wasn't good enough for Connor and never would be. He said my entire family was trash. He threatened me and told me to stay away from Connor. I'm sorry I never told you but I knew how you'd be and I don't expect you to fight my battles for me all the time."

Sabrina broke down and then Hank wrapped his arms around her.

"I do wish you had told me but I understand why you didn't."

Will saw Connor standing outside the house trying to decide whether or not to ring the bell.

"Sabrina, Connor is outside."

Sabrina went her to get her coat and then she went outside.

"Hey."

"Hey. Can we talk?"

"I think we need to."

"Can we go for a walk?"

"Yeah, sure."

Sabrina put her hat and gloves on and they started walking as they talked.

"I've sensed that you've been pretty tense around me ever since you came back to Chicago. What's up with that?"

"Ever since we were together that first time in high school, I've wanted to be with you but your dad told me that I wasn't good enough for you and never would be. He called me a whore and said my whole family was trash. I was afraid to come back because of that. When I met with the Board before they hired me, he was giving me looks like you wouldn't believe. He cornered me and told me to stay away from you. If I didn't, there would be consequences. I've been a mess ever since."

"Nothing I ever did was good enough for him anyway. You should have told me. I was starting to think it was something I did."

"When I came back though, you didn't necessarily seem too happy to have me here. You were also with Ava."

"That was complicated from the beginning. I found out she slept with Cornelius just so he would help finance the hybrid OR but she claimed she did it for me. She sure has a funny way of showing it. You have no idea how many times over the years that I wanted to go to Arizona just to be closer to you."

"I almost didn't take the job here."

"I'm glad you did."

"I'm glad I did too. I just want you to know that I have feelings for you. I was afraid to admit to it because I didn't want to ruin whatever relationship we had."

"I have feelings for you too and pretty much always have. I really don't care what Cornelius says."

"Are you and Ava truly over?"

"As far as I'm concerned, we are. If she can't accept that, then that's her problem. She and Cornelius deserve each other."

Connor put his arms around Sabrina and kissed her. He took her hand as they continued walking. They ended up being gone for a while. It had started snowing. Hank and Olivia had started dinner and every time someone, usually Erin, went into the kitchen, they were kissing. Sabrina and Connor arrived back at the house and Sabrina let herself in. Before they went inside, Connor kissed her again. Hank and Olivia had come out of the kitchen and Hank cleared his throat when he saw them. They both smiled walked in and shut the door. Hank kissed his niece's cheek and patted Connor on the shoulder before they took their coats off and joined everyone in the living room.

"Connor, can you join us for dinner?"

"I'd like that. Thank you."

"I invited him for Christmas dinner."

"I'm fine with that. Are you two going to give being in a real relationship a shot?"

"I think we are but we are going to take things slowly."

"Good. I'm glad to hear that."

"I think it has always been Sabrina though. I don't really care what Cornelius says and it's really none of his business what I do anyway. It's my life."

"I hope the two of you have better luck than Nat and I did."

"You know you still love Nat though."

"See. I'm glad I'm not the only one that keeps reminding him of that. You love her and you love Owen too."

"How's your love life, little brother?"

"Don't start."

"Then don't start with me about mine. Ok. You're right. I do love them both but she needs to figure things out. I didn't ask to be put into Witness Protection and she got mad when I told her about the gun I bought to protect myself."

"As a cop, I can see where she's coming from but I also see where you're coming from. She just wants Owen to be safe and kids tend to get into things they shouldn't. A kid Owen's age isn't going to know the difference between a toy and a real gun. I see that all the time."

"I get it, Jay but I should be able to protect myself."

"Ok, we get it, Will."

Jay rolled his eyes and Will smacked him in the head. Hank and Olivia went to put the finishing touches on dinner and then once the boys came downstairs, everyone ate. After dinner, everyone that was leaving, left. After the boys were ready for bed and tucked in, everyone else got ready for bed. Erin went down to sofa and Olive had the other bedroom. Hank and Olivia made love before they went to sleep.

The next day, everyone got up and had breakfast. They had decided to go to the Museum of Science and Industry to see Christmas Around the World. They had lunch and saw some of the other exhibits at the Museum as well. Monday and Christmas Eve were both pretty quiet. They spent both days at the house watching movies. Sabrina had to work on Christmas Eve. Christmas Day, everyone got up and checked their stockings as they had breakfast. All Noah and Daniel wanted to do was open presents. They had stuff to open but they both had more stuff waiting for them under their own trees at home. Erin went to pick Jay up to bring him over to the house. Connor picked Sabrina up and they headed over to the house as well. Olive fixed dinner and everyone enjoyed each other's company. Olivia had texted everyone in New York to wish them all a Merry Christmas.

One of the gifts Hank had gotten for Olivia and Noah was a carriage ride around the city, so they could see the lights. One night, the 3 of them went left for that, while Erin went to meet some of her former co-workers at Molly's and Olive and Daniel watched a movie together. They all went to visit the 21st and 51 and they went to Holiday Magic at Brookfield Zoo one night as well. They all tried to spend as much time as they could together before Olivia, Noah and Erin headed back to New York and Olive and Daniel headed back to Arizona.

This Christmas had been bittersweet for Hank, since this was going to be his last one in Chicago. Next year, he and Olivia would be spending their first Christmas as a married couple in their new home, which they had yet to find but they both knew they would find something that would be perfect for them and their entire family.

Reviews and suggestions are appreciated.