84. Fly Like An Angel, Heaven Sent To Me
Thanks for the reviews guys, I appreciate them. I hope that you like the chapter.
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Olivia sat at the table waiting to meet Erin for lunch. She had a splitting headache. She felt as if her head was going to explode into a thousand pieces. In fact, after the week she had, she kind of hoped it would. Put her out of her misery.
Noah was full blown terrible three's. She felt terrible. She loved being in Chicago and her new position so much, but the case they'd just dealt with was almost too much for her heart to take. All she could see when she closed her eyes was the body of Mouse. And for some reason all it made her think of was her precious Noah.
Olivia's breath hitched as she tried to stop the tears that had been threatening to fall all day. Every time she closed her eyes, she saw his face. His beautiful face. The tears she had been trying desperately to hold back leaked from her eyes as she laid her head on her arms.
She felt a gentle hand on her shoulder and looked up with hope in her eyes. Erin shook her head sadly as she looked down at her friend.
"Sorry Liv, it's only me."
Olivia quickly wiped her tears with her hands and smiled sheepishly at Erin.
"You don't happen to have any aspirin on you by chance?" Olivia asked as she wrung her hands together absentmindedly.
"No, sorry."
"That's all right, I'm just going to chop my head off and set it on the table over there until after work. Maybe it'll stop throbbing by then."
Erin was at a loss on what to say to Olivia. She did not want to get in the middle of anything if Hank and Olivia were fighting.
"How are you holding up, Liv?"
Olivia snapped. "Well, I'm not eating, I'm not sleeping, I can't seem to concentrate on anything. I'm fighting with Hank. Other than that, I'm just peachy."
Erin turned to her right and smiled at the girls at the next table in an effort to tell them silently not to pay attention to Olivia's outburst. She turned back to Olivia, who had again laid her head on the table. "Have you told Hank about any of this?"
Olivia's eyes began to tear up again and she shook her head, unable to get the words out over the lump in her throat. She didn't know why fighting with Hank was bothering her so much. She wasn't like this. She didn't get emotional over men.
Erin sighed and looked at Olivia. "Liv, I really don't know what to say to you here and I probably have no right to even say anything, But what happened to Mouse wasn't your fault. It might have been on your orders for them to go in there and set up the wire tap. But you didn't know that the guy was going to follow them back here. Hank knows that too. You can't keep feeling guilty about this, it's not your fault. And I'm sorry for the trouble that it's causing you and Hank. I can talk to him..."
Olivia's head snapped up and there was fire in her eyes.
"Erin, you know nothing about this."
Erin didn't even flinch. "You're right Olivia, I don't. And believe me, I know that. But I also know how Hank feels about you and I know more than anyone how stubborn he can be."
The fire went out of Olivia's eyes temporarily and she sighed in resignation. "I doubt Hank cares"
Erin shook her head as she looked at her friend. "What the hell are you talking about?"
Olivia sighed and shook her head. "Hank and I had an argument over me covering for you. But that was resolved pretty quickly. But this stuff with the case and what happened to Greg...led to me and Hank having an even bigger fight. And we both said some things we shouldn't have said. And now we're hardly talking"
"Over what?" Erin asked. "I thought that things were going better. It's not like you two are partners"
"I don't even know how it got so out of control. One minute Hank and I are happy. The next minute, it all spirals out of control and Hank and I are coming to blows again. And it's all because of me. Al, tried to help, but it only led to him and Hank arguing."
Erin nodded her head knowingly. "I saw the argument they had in the hallway last week. I think the whole district did."
Erin took a deep breath and continued. "I've never seen them go at each other that way."
Olivia turned her head abruptly and regarded Erin with fury.
"Thanks, Erin. That's just what I needed to hear."
Olivia stood up quickly. The room suddenly began moving all around her. She braced her hand on the table to stop the spinning.
"Are you okay, Olivia? You're as white as a ghost." Erin grabbed a hold of Olivia's arm to help steady her.
Olivia pulled her arm away roughly, still not quite steady.
"I'm fine, I just have to go."
Olivia turned and walked straight into someone. She looked up and it was her worst nightmare. How could this day get any worse?
"Hey! Watch it." Platt said as she carried her tray to an empty seat.
"You watch it!," Olivia yelled a little more loudly than she intended. The cafeteria got very quiet and all eyes turned to the two people regarding each other contemptuously.
At that moment, Hank walked into the cafeteria. He looked over at Olivia and his heart clenched. God, it hurt so much to just look at her. All he wanted to do was walk over to her and pull her into his arms. He wanted to tell her how much he loved her and that it was going to be okay. The only thing was he wasn't so sure it would be okay anymore.
At that moment Olivia looked over at him and their eyes locked. Neither one of them could look away no matter how hard they tried. Olivia's eyes filled with tears again and she tore her eyes away from his. She pushed Platt out of her way as she quickly left from the cafeteria. She didn't want him to see her cry. She wouldn't let him see her cry.
Hank watched Olivia run from the room. He wanted desperately to follow her, to comfort her. God, it killed him to see her hurting. But he couldn't. He was hurting just as badly. It took every ounce of strength he had to not follow her. Instead he chose to use that strength for something else. He strode over to Jay who had just sat down at the table Olivia vacated.
As Hank approached, he heard Ruzek ask Erin 'Is she OK?'
Hank grabbed Adam by the arm and pulled him out of his chair.
"Little reminder that it doesn't concern you. Keep your nose out of it.."
Adam pushed Hank away from him.
"Whoa, Sarge! Relax. I was just asking if she was ok. I'm not speaking out of turn, but it's a hell of a lot more than you're doing."
Hank continued to glare at him, his fists clenching at his sides. He looked back at the table and turned on his foot before walking out of the room.
Hank turned the corner and saw Olivia standing against the wall. She eyed him as he walked up to her and he felt his heart ache as he looked at her.
"Liv..." Hank said quietly.
"It's fine" Olivia said "Really"
Hank shook his head "No...no it isn't. I owe you an apology and I'm not really good at those. You know me, I don't apologize, I'm terrible at it. But I want you to know I'm sorry for how I acted. But it's only because I love you. And I hope that you know that"
Olivia nodded and her gaze met Hank's "We have to start leaving this stuff at home, Hank. If we don't. I don't know what's going to happen to us"
Hank nodded and walked the rest of the way to Olivia. "I understand. And I'm going to take your advice. You're right, we have to keep it separate. What happened wasn't your fault and I'm sorry for ever letting you think that it was"
Olivia reached over and laced her fingers through Hank's hand. "I'm sorry too"
"Who knew I'd marry someone so much smarter than me" Hank offered as he wrapped an arm around her.
"I knew..." Olivia teased as Hank pulled her to him and kissed her forehead.
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Jay sat bolt upright in bed; his chest heaving and he shook his head as she tried to regulate his breathing.
Another nightmare.
That was the third night in a row.
It was always the same. He and Mouse were somewhere in some place and it always ended the same. His best friend falling to the floor and him unable to stop it.
This time he and Mouse had been overseas and were doing one last walk around the the perimeter of their camp when they were heading back when they were ambushed leaving Jay left trying to help a dying Mouse. Yelling for help but nobody coming.
Jay reached up to his forehead and wiped away the thin sheen of sweat that had formed there.
Slender arms reached out for him and pulled him back down onto the bed.
"Hey," her voice was muffled against the skin of his neck as she settled against his side. "Another nightmare?"
Jay nodded his head as Erin buried her face against his chest. He rubbed her bare back soothingly with gentle fingers as he kissed the top of her head.
"Wanna tell me about this one?" She murmured against his chest. "These are getting better than the books we've been reading." He teased lightly as his fingers fluttered gently against her warm smooth skin.
"Just a dream about Mouse. It's not that big of a deal" Jay explained looking up at the ceiling.
"You're going to have to do something about these nightmares, Jay" Erin said, raising her chin up to rest on his chest as she looked at him.
"It's not that big of a deal. It happens sometimes. I haven't had them for a few years, and they came back. That's all" Jay explained as he raised his hand up to wipe his eyes.
Erin's gaze fell from her husband's tired face to the window and a small smile formed on her face. "It's snowing"
Jay looked over at the window and kissed the top of Erin's head before moving out of bed.
"Jay?" Erin said as she sat up and watched as he moved to the bedroom door.
"I'm fine. I'm going to down and wrap a few more presents. It's December 23rd. Tomorrow is Christmas Eve, we've got a lot of gifts left to wrap" Jay explained.
"Do you want me to help?" Erin asked as she moved to get out of bed.
Jay shook his head and looked over his shoulder. "No. Just get some sleep"
Jay pulled the door closed behind him and walked down the hall to Everly's room and he watched as Kane raised his head up off his paws from his position at the side of Everly's crib.
"Come on, buddy" Jay quietly called as he looked at the German Shepherd.
Kane stood up and stretched before following Jay out into the hall and down the stairs.
Jay walked into the living room and sat on the couch, he looked at the Christmas Tree and the lights that twinkled against the dark.
Kane rooted against Jay's hand and Jay smiled sadly and patted his head and rubbed his ears.
"He was a good friend, Kane. Sucks to feel this way" Jay explained as he gently petted Kane's head.
Kane whined and climbed up on the couch and licked Jay's face.
Jay smiled and pushed Kane away from him. "You know you're not supposed to be up on the couch"
Kane licked Jay's face again and Jay rubbed his head as the dog laid down on the couch and across Jay's lap.
What Jay didn't see was the watchful eyes of his wife from the landing above.
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Will Halstead heard a knock on his door, quickly turning the oven on to low heat and throwing the towel over his shoulder he walked towards the door of his and Natalie's apartment. He grinned at the smiling faces that greeted him.
"I see Natalie must not be here to help you cook," Jay said grinning and curling his nose up at the smell of something that had been burning in the oven.
"I see Erin still hasn't found a way to get rid of you," Will winked at his sister-in-law, and moved to let them in. Erin clung onto Jay's arm, as if it was the most normal thing in the world. Each of them holding a car seat in their empty hand while Everly stood in front of them.
"Evie bug" Will greeted as he knelt down to her level. "What do you have?"
"Becka" Everly explained holding out her American Girl Doll out for her uncle to see.
"Kind of expensive for a toddler, Jay" Will joked looking up at his brother.
"Blame Hank and Olivia for that one" Jay said as he looked at Erin.
"Let it go, Jay" Erin said shaking her head.
Will smiled as he looked at his sister in law, she looked great in her short black dress, her hair falling lightly around her face. She looked elegant and beautiful as always, and most of all she looked happy. But then again, there hadn't been a day gone by that Will hadn't seen her happy.
"You could've just came without him, Erin. Brought the kids, left Jay at home" Will joked.
"I'm sorry, I tried. But he insisted I wouldn't be allowed into Dr. Halstead's home without him," Erin joked. Will looked up, mock surprised.
"She's more of a Halstead than you Jay! For some reason, it doesn't seem you got any of those great Halstead genes." They followed Will into the kitchen and Erin poked around the food, which was in various stages of cooking. "Natalie and Owen are coming back home from visiting her folks in the morning. I'm on call so I had to stay back here. But her dad did accept my request to propose. You know after he gave me the guilt trip of knocking her up before marriage and all that"
"You don't think she's going to stay with them since you're planning on proposing? Leave the city and never look back," Jay joked. Erin gave him a warning glance.
"Be nice Jay," she warned. "Remember Will is cooking for us!"
Jay rose an eyebrow.
"Why is it every time it's the three of us, you two are always ganging up on me!" Jay said defensively. Erin walked up to her husband and went close to his ear.
"Easy target," she said in a sexy breathy voice, which made Jay crazy.
"Uh-hum!" Will said laughing. "As much as I love seeing you two so happy, I really don't need to see physical proof of your happiness. Especially when there's three of them right in front of me. One that is currently getting in my fridge"
Erin and Jay's gaze followed where Will was gesturing and saw Everly reaching into the fridge and gabbing a container of pudding.
"Everly no!" Erin said as she walked over to where her daughter was and knelt down.
"Open" Everly said holding the chocolate treat up to her mother. "Pease"
Erin shook her head and put the container back in the fridge. "No ma'am. Those aren't ours. They belong to Uncle Will. We're getting ready to eat. You don't need any pudding"
"Pease" Everly said agian.
"Nope. Not going to work on me" Erin said as she shut the fridge door.
Everly reached for the handle on the door again and smacked it as she failed to get it open.
"How about we go and tell Uncle Will what we want Santa to bring us?" Erin offered as a distraction.
"Sa-na?" Everly said.
"Yeah" Erin stood up and reached for Everly's hand. "He's coming tomorrow night"
Everly smiled and took Erin's hand "Sa-na com'n"
Erin watched as Everly let go of her hand and took off into the living room following after Jay and Will.
She looked at the floor to where the twins were in their car seats and she smiled down at them.
"Say Christmas is going to be extra special this year, huh? That's cause you two are here and our family is complete" Erin said as she took ahold of one of Caleb and Arden's hands. "Mommy's so happy that you two are here"
Caleb and Arden both smiled as they looked at Erin and she shook her head and smiled back at them.
Jay came up to Erin from behind and wrapped his arms around her waist. He kissed her exposed neck softly and she shivered, his lips still sending tingling feelings through her veins.
"What you thinking about?" he asked her softly. She turned in his arms.
"Just how lucky I am to have you guys in my life."
"You guys? Which other guy is there in your life?" Jay raised an eyebrow in question and pulled back slightly, but still held onto her.
"I mean you, our kids, Will, this whole family. It's so perfect." Erin said.
"It's far from perfect Erin, my family's not exactly functional!" Jay said confused.
"Well, no family is perfect Jay, it's just the way things have been over the last few months...It's just nice to have a happy day or at least try to" Erin sighed.
"I think all this Christmas spirit stuff has gone to your head." Jay joked, and Erin hit him lightly.
"Jay!"
"Okay, okay, I know what you mean. I really appreciate him too...just don't tell Will I said that." Erin grinned.
"Tell me what?" Will said appearing in the hallway.
"Oh nothing." Jay laughed. "Now where's that food Will I'm hungry!"
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"I thought I'd never get you alone." Will grinned.
"Will," Erin said sweetly, "You do know that I'm married to your brother right?"
Will laughed and shook his head. "First of all Erin, I am well aware that you're married to my brother, a fact I am so happy about, because God knows he needs someone to keep him in line. Second I hope to be engaged myself in the next few days. But that's not why I wanted to talk to you"
Erin looked at Will and ran a hand through her hair. "What do you want to talk about?"
Will looked in the living room at his brother who was sitting on the floor holding Everly on his lap as they entertained the twins.
"How's Jay doing? You know...with everything?" Will asked.
Erin shrugged her shoulders. "He seems like he's doing OK. He's just been having these nightmares"
Will looked at Erin and sighed. "He's having those again?"
Erin nodded and ran a hand through her hair. "They started right after Mouse died. He has had them a few times since then"
Will nodded and took a beer from the fridge "He had them a lot when he first came home from overseas. Eventually they led to Jay being in a really bad place for a really long time. He became short tempered, restless, and really, really dark. I don't take much pride in not being there for him when I should've. I had other things on my mind. But Mouse got him through it. And then Mouse got into some pretty bad stuff and when Jay joined the force, Mouse became his CI. But you know all of that. Jay really helped him out. Mouse told me that if it hadn't been for Jay, he doesn't know what he'd have done. I think Jay needs our help, and he just doesn't want to admit it. I don't want to see him hurting again. Not like that."
Erin watched her husband with their children and she sighed. She knew Will was right. She just hoped she could be the rock he needed.
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The doorbell rang for the third time in ten minutes and Erin peeked her head into the living room.
"Jay, will you get that? My hands are full."
Jay looked up from his place on the floor in front of the Christmas tree. He and Everly were rifling through the presents.
Just to be a pain in the ass, Jay had challenged Everly, saying that he had more presents than Everly, knowing full well that Everly had more under the tree. In fact, Erin and Jay had bought her most of them.
Jay stood as Everly looked up at him.
"Dad-dee open?." Everly said as she held up a present for him.
Jay grinned. "Later. It's not time yet."
Everly scowled as she looked at the wrapped box in her hands.
Kim shook her head as Erin walked into the living room carrying a tray full of cups.
"He is no older than Everly, I swear," Kim stated as she snuggled closer to Adam.
"Who? Jay?" Erin asked as she held out the tray so everyone could take a glass of eggnog. "Tell us something we don't know, Kim."
Everyone laughed as Erin turned to Everly. "Everly Katherine, stop rifling through those presents. What are you doing?"
"Mommy open," Everly pouted as Erin started placing the presents back under the tree.
"Not yet" Erin mumbled as Jay came back in the room with Hank and Olivia behind him.
"Have you finished counting those presents, Everly?" he asked as he moved to sit on the floor again. Erin grabbed him by the arm before he could sit down.
"Oh, no you don't. You stop torturing my daughter and come help your wife in the kitchen."
Hank greeted everyone hello as Jay was dragged, mumbling into the kitchen.
"I'm glad to see Jay is getting back to himself," Kim said as Jack played happily with his bunny on his mother's lap.
Roman watched the scene unfolding before him. He was the only outsider in the group, of course he knew everyone, but for some reason he still felt like an outsider. Everyone seemed so close and he felt himself suddenly feeling very alone in the crowded room.
Erin walked in carrying a tray of Christmas cookies and placed it on the table. She took one and handed it to Jack who cooed happily at his new acquisition. Kim laughed and bent down to place a soft kiss on his head and Roman felt his heart drop out of his chest.
She was a wonderful mother. He continued to watch as Erin handed Everly a cookie and gave him a quick kiss as well and then she walked back into the kitchen before his gaze drifted back to Kim.
She looked beautiful this evening. Of course she always looked beautiful. She was wearing a black skirt and red sweater that hugged her body in all the right places. When she had first come out of her room, Everly had run up to her and given her a Christmas tree pin that he asked her to wear, and she had obliged. It was resting softly above her right breast and Roman had to close his eyes for a moment to rid his mind of the images that were seeping in.
"So, Roman, Kim tells us that you were in AA last summer . How did you like it?" Adam asked, thus drawing Roman out of the dark recesses of his mind to which he had wandered for a moment.
He smiled at Adam; amazed that he was that forward about it. "It was incredible. Something I really needed. I really lost my way last year. It was the lowest point in my life and I'm sure we all know that I did some pretty terrible things. Things I have to live with for the rest of my life. But I'm trying hard to become a better person. I'm just thankful for Kim and her forgiveness and that you all could follow suit."
"Good to know" Adam said dryly as Kim elbowed him in the side.
"How much longer are you going?" Hank asked as he sipped on his eggnog. "Whoa!" He coughed. "How much alcohol did they put in this?"
Jay walked into the room carrying more cups of eggnog. "It's an old family recipe, Hank, and if you knew my father, you can never have too much alcohol in any drink."
The doorbell rang again and Jay put his tray down and moved to the door.
Roman looked guiltily as he placed his undrank eggnong back on the tray in front of him.
Natalie walked into the room in front of a very weighted down with presents as Will followed behind her carrying Owen on his shoulders. Everyone greeted her hello as Jay placed the presents under the tree.
He watched Everly looking at the presents and shook his head at her. "No ma'am"
"Pease?" Everly said as she pouted and looked up at him.
Jay laughed out loud and lifted his daugther into his arms.
"You gotsa wisten to Erwin" Noah explained as he walked over to Jay.
"Now why would I listen to her?" he goaded as he knelt down and tickled the boy's sides.
Noah broke into a fit of giggles that everyone joined into as they watched the two of them.
When Noah stopped laughing, he looked at Jay as he grabbed his face. "You have to listen cause she's a mommy. And she tell my mommy on you."
Jay laughed out loud again as Erin walked into the room and nearly dropped her tray of more eggnog in her attempt to greet Will and Natalie.
"Erwin, tell Jay to be nice to me. Mommy already told him but he be bad," Noah called to her as he wriggled in Jay's arms.
Jay gave Erin his most innocent face and Erin just shook her head as she walked over to them.
Jay held out his arm and Erin moved close to him as she reached up and brushed an unruly lock of hair off of Everly's forehead.
"How is Jay teasing you?" Erin asked as she lifted Noah up in her arms as Jay wrapped his arm around her shoulder while he bounced Everly in his other arm.
"He just bein bad." Noah explained as Erin turned to glare at Jay.
He shrugged his shoulders innocently.
"Noah, of course Jay is being bad. You've been a much nicer boy this year than he has."
Erin grinned and raised an eyebrow at Jay who rolled his eyes at her.
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"What did you get, baby?" Jay asked as he looked at Everly standing by her Barbie Dream House he'd worked hard at putting together.
"Hou-see" Everly said as she looked at it and then back at her daddy.
"Do you like it?" Jay smiled as he adjusted Arden on his arm and watched his oldest daughter.
"Me do" Everly said "Tank oooo"
"Can you bring daddy his present?" Erin asked as she burped Caleb and watched her daughter picking at the wrapping paper. "It's under the tree"
Everly walked over to the tree and picked up a small red bag.
"Dis?" Everly asked.
"Yeah, that's it. Can you hand it to daddy?" Erin asked as Everly walked over to them.
"Thank you bug" Jay smiled and took the bag from Everly.
Erin stood up and laid Caleb in his bassinet before she took Arden from Jay and laid her down in hers and took her seat next to Jay.
"Is this from you?" Jay asked as he looked at his wife.
Erin nodded "Sort of, I had some help in getting it to you"
Jay gave his wife a look and reached into the bag and pulled out the small box. He flipped it open and looked down at the item in the box.
"Erin..." Jay's voice trailed off as he pulled the small metal pendant out of the box.
A single dog tag imprinted with his best friend's name and information.
"How did you get this?" Jay asked as he looked at Erin.
"Mouse's mom called me. She said you gave Mouse your Special Forces pin, after she couldn't find his. And that it was buried with him. She wanted you to have his other Dog Tag as a way of thanking you for what you did. Said it meant more to her and their family. She said she was thankful that Mouse had such a good friend in you"
"Erin...this...I..." Jay's voice trailed off as it started to break.
Jay looked at Erin and cleared his throat as he suddenly was aware of how quiet the room had gotten and how everyone was staring at him.
He quickly stood up and walked out of the room and grabbed his coat before walking out of the house.
Erin felt everyone's gaze move to her. Nobody sure of what to say or do. She watched as Will stood up and she shook her head and stood, too.
"I've got it" Erin said as she gave Will a nod and he sat back down.
Erin grabbed her coat and slid it on as she walked out of the house and onto the porch. She followed Jay's footprints around the house and down to the lake where he was standing. Hands in his dress pant pockets, his head hanging down.
The snow was cold against Erin's feet as she felt it seeping through her suade dress boots. She tightened her coat around her as she made her way to Jay as she walked through the snow.
"Baby" Erin said as she moved next to him.
"I'm sorry" Jay said keeping his eyes forward as he watched the snow falling down onto the small man made lake.
"You don't have anything to be sorry for. I'm the one that's sorry. It was such a personal gift. I had no right to give it to you in front of everyone like that" Erin slipped her arm through Jay's and she frowned as he stiffened.
"I miss my friend" Jay said simply as a tear slid down his cheek.
"I know you do, Jay. And it's OK to miss him" Erin assured.
Jay closed his eyes for a few moments before he opened them again.
"You know when I first met Mouse we were roommates at basic training and when we got deployed, he had this thing where he would always have two pillow cases on his pillow. He said that it always made his pillow feel cooler. We used to always sneak into the barracks and take the extra pillow case off. He'd get mad as hell. But God, it was so funny at the time. He was always so much smaller than the rest of us and I guess I always felt the need to protect him. Some job I did, huh?"
"Jay, there wasn't anything you could have done. You did all that you could do. And I think that Mouse knew that. He knew you were with him in those last moments and I'm sure that it brought him some form of comfort to know that you were there" Erin moved closer to Jay and held tight to him.
"He could've been so much more, Er. Now he'll never have the chance" Jay cleared his throat and shook his head.
"It's ok to miss your friend, baby. We all do" Erin reached her hand up and ran it across Jay's hairline as another tear slid down her husband's cheek.
"I miss him, Er. So damn much" Jay confessed his voice finally breaking as he felt Erin move in front of him.
Erin wrapped her arms around Jay as she felt him tighten his grip around her as he finally let it out.
Crying for a loss that he didn't realize ran so deep.
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Kim placed the tray of empty cups on the counter and leaned against it tiredly. She glanced at the clock. It was only nine o'clock but it felt like midnight. She opened the refrigerator and noticed that all the eggnog was gone. She giggled as she listened to the laughter coming from the living room.
She turned and started rinsing some of the cups when she felt, rather than heard someone come up behind her.
"Need any help?" The soft voice came from behind her.
Kim turned to find a smiling Sean behind her. She smiled back, noticing the glazed look in his eyes. He had certainly drunk his share of the eggnog this evening that was for sure, if his eyes and stance were any indication.
"No thanks Sean. I've got it covered."
He leaned against the counter and watched as Kim continued to rinse the cups and place them in the dishwasher.
"So, this has been a fun night Kim. I really appreciate the fact that we can put things behind us and move on. I know what a terrible thing I did and I still want you to know how sorry that I am" He commented as his eyes traveled over her baby bump.
He had always thought that Kim was beautiful, but she was even more so when she was pregnant. She just glowed with how happy she was.
"I'm glad you're having a good time. I have to admit I was a little worried. You seemed so quiet at the beginning of the night."
"Yeah, I just thought it would be best that I would be. Coming into Erin and Jay's home...I wasn't sure if I'd be that welcome. And you know me, I'm shy" Roman explained.
Kim laughed as she closed the dishwasher and dried her hands on the dishtowel hanging under the sink.
"You shy? Shy is definitely not a word I'd use to describe you Sean."
He moved closer to her as he tilted his head. "I really am a shy guy at heart Kim. Aren't women supposed to like shy men? Aren't they supposed to find that quality endearing?"
Kim stepped back and her lower back hit the counter.
"Different women find different qualities endearing Sean. But I still don't believe you're shy. You're one of the most outgoing people I know." Kim explained as she ran a hand over her baby bump.
"That's where you're wrong Kim. If I was as outgoing as you say I am, I would have kissed you by now." Roman said.
"Excuse me?" Kim choked as she looked at him with surprise covering her face.
Sean stepped closer and pointed above her head. Kim looked up to the mistletoe hanging off the handle of the cupboard above her head. She relaxed slightly as she laughed.
"Adam tied that to the cupboard earlier to be fresh."
Sean didn't laugh, he only continued to look at her.
"Well, it is tradition you know. You don't want to break tradition do you?" Roman asked.
Kim looked at him for a minute before she smiled as she felt him lean in and kiss her cheek.
"Merry Christmas Sean." She said softly as his lips left her cheek and she leaned back against the counter.
Sean opened his eyes and his breath caught in his throat.
"Merry Christmas Kim," he whispered as her hands, almost of their own volition, raised and cupped his face in her palms. He stepped forward and pressed her against the counter as his lips gently brushed against hers.
At that moment, Adam walked around the corner and stopped dead in his tracks at the sight before him.
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