Deck the Halls, or Some Such Thing
Title: Deck the Halls, or Some Such Thing
Author: dolce_amore93
Rating: PG
Characters: Reid, Katie, Casey; mentions of Luke
Summary: Reid is in charge of decorating his and Katie's home.
Author's Notes: This is a little story I've had in my mind for a week or two and it just felt right to write it now. Being me, I'll probably write more Christmas stories after Christmas, lol, but oh well. Since I'm in the midst of the not so joyful Three Flights Up ending (Last Night on Earth - which is coming tomorrow, btw), I figured writing a little holiday cheer would be fun. Comments = love. Happy Holidays, guys!
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Katie came darting out of her room, her bed-head extreme and her eyes wide. “I have so much to do today,” she muttered, not really to Reid, but in Reid’s direction.
He looked up from his phone and rested into the kitchen chair a little more. “Like what?”
“There are only four more days until Christmas! I have to go get wrapping paper, buy cards, wrap the presents, sign the cards… wreath!” she shrieked. “I need to go buy a little wreath to put on Brad’s grave. I need to go and double check that Henry didn’t lose the necklace I helped him pick out for Barbara. I need to decorate! Oh God. What if family stops by on Christmas Day?”
“Then I’ll be nowhere in sight,” Reid replied.
Katie frowned before slumping down in the chair next to him and groaning. “Ugh. There aren’t enough hours in the day. Between working and the baby I feel like I haven’t gotten very much done for Christmas.”
“Isn’t Christmas about enjoying your family and all that jazz?” Reid asked.
“Yeah, but it’s also about having your house decorated and your presents wrapped, Reid.”
Reid doubted this, but he found it futile to argue. “Why don’t you just focus on one objective, complete it, and then move on to the next?” he suggested calmly. “Sanity is good, after all.”
She jumped up from the table and clapped her hands. “Okay. You’re right. I’m going to get Jacob ready and we’ll go shop for a wreath for the gravestone and wrapping paper.”
“And cards,” Reid reminded.
Katie nodded. “And cards. You working today?”
“Nope.”
“Spending time with Luke?”
“That would be great if he wasn’t in meetings all day for the Foundation.”
Katie raised an eyebrow. “In that case…” she started.
“I don’t like how that sounds,” Reid replied cautiously.
“Would you be the best roomie ever and decorate?”
“Decorate?” Reid sputtered as though she had asked him to go build her a house.
“Yeah. You know - hang the lights, the stockings… simple stuff. We already have the Christmas tree done, so obviously you don’t have to mess with that, but… would you?”
“Would I what?”
“Decorate!” Katie huffed.
Reid sighed, but gave a relenting expression. “Fine. But only if you do my laundry for a month.”
“A week,” Katie countered.
“Two weeks,” Reid replied.
“I can always raise your rent,” Katie threatened. Reid found himself speechless for a moment. He did not just let the perky little blonde outdo him. Yes, he did, actually. “A week,” Katie replied firmly.
“Fine. Where is all the crap?”
“It’s all stored in Jacob’s closet at the moment, Mr. Grinch.”
“Very funny,” Reid scowled.
Within moments Katie managed to pull herself together to look as great as usual and had Jacob bundled up to face the cold. Katie gave Reid a grin before walking out the door to match his not so amused look. “Thank you, Doc!” she called as she walked out the door.
Reid grumbled as he walked into Jacob’s room with its baby blue walls and teddy bear adorned shelves. He opened the closet door and let out a sigh. Scattered on the floor were a tangled mess of Christmas lights and other assorted Christmas junk overflowing in a cardboard box.
Deciding that hanging lights outside was the most undesirable task of the day, he chose to get that out of the way first. He put on his worn, brown, fur collared jacket that Katie and Luke both begged him to get rid of multiple times (with Katie even attempting to throw it out one day to no avail) because it was “eww”, apparently. Eww it may have been, but it was a jacket and it kept Reid warm when he was cold. As long as things did what they were meant to do, it made no difference to Reid what the hell it looked like. Except for Luke. Luke being hot was a nice bonus on top of being a good boyfriend.
Untangling the lights with his nimble fingers, he brought the perfectly straight lights out on to the front lawn with a feeling of satisfaction. He rolled his eyes to see none other than Casey Hughes pulling up in his bomb of a car that leaked so much gas it was surely responsible for killing half of Oakdale’s wildlife population.
“Dude!” he exclaimed cheerily as he hopped out his car, slamming the door with a screech.
“Yeah, hi,” Reid replied. He set a few strands of lights on the ground and began decorating a bush beside the front door with precision. He lined every other level of branches with white lights, creating perfect circles around the plant. Casey observed and laughed at Reid’s concentration.
“That’s not how you do it! Be spontaneous!” he exclaimed. Casey picked up a strand of lights from the ground and started on the bush on the opposite side of the door. Reid stood back and watched as Casey sloppily through the lights and let them fall as they may. It took everything Reid had to contain his compulsion to put the lights in an orderly fashion to match his bush/light masterpiece.
“Looks good, right?”
Reid forced a smile. Once Hughes #384 left, he’d fix it. “Why are you here?”
Casey held up a small bag. “I wanted to drop off Jacob’s gift.”
“Christmas isn’t for four more days,” Reid replied.
Casey chuckled. “I didn’t peg you as a guy who counted down the days to Christmas.”
“I don’t. My roommate and boyfriend do,” Reid replied with a mix between a cringe and a slight smile.
“Ah, I see. Can I go stick this somewhere inside?” he asked.
“Kinda busy,” Reid replied distractedly as he began on the small tree beside the bush.
“Right,” Casey replied awkwardly. “Well, uh… just tell Aunt Katie that I’m surprising Ali with a trip to Cancun for the holiday, so we won’t be around. That’s why I’m dropping off the gift for the little guy.”
“Alison Stewart?” Reid asked. “She’s working the day after Christmas.”
“Right, well… she doesn’t know we’re going on vacation.”
“So you’re going to give her the gift of a vacation and Memorial the gift of being short staffed?”
Casey huffed. “Don’t make me feel bad. If Luke surprised you with a vacation without notice, you’d so go. Don’t even lie, man. He has you wrapped.”
Reid went to speak, but figured that arguing the matter didn’t make much sense. It was kind of true, whether he wanted to admit it out loud or not. He kept his back turned to Casey as he continued placing lights upon the miniature tree. “Right. Well, have a nice vacation. I’ll tell Katie,” he replied.
Casey snickered at the big, bad Dr. Oliver’s lack of denial that Luke had him wrapped. “Later, Reidster. I’ll just set the bag on the front step,” he said.
“Yup,” Reid replied. As soon as Casey and his car were out of sight, he finished up the tree and dashed over to the bush to fix it.
After finishing up the lights outside, Reid came in from the cold and looked for more to do inside. He remembered Katie mentioning stockings, which he for the life of him could not find in the large box of Christmas crap, so he improvised a bit. After hanging other various decorations the house, setting them on the counter, coffee table, and on Katie’s nightstand, the place looked a whole lot more like Christmas. Or something.
Katie walked in not moments later and smiled. “Reid! The outside lights look amazing. It looks like they were professionally done!”
“Lucky for you, you get me for free,” Reid replied.
“Lucky me,” Katie teased as she set Jacob in his playpen. She looked around the room and nodded with approval. “This looks great, Reid! The candles are out, my Santa mug is on the table, my adorable reindeer coasters are on the coffee table - I’m impressed. You did a great job.”
“And this surprises you?” Reid replied with a smirk. Inside he was marveling similarly. Christmas had never been apart of his childhood, or his adult life for that matter. He could perform five surgeries in a day without issue, but had wondered a bit if he had it in him to be... festive.
“You’re so modest it hurts,” Katie said, rolling her eyes. The mantel caught her eye and she gaped. “Uh, Reid?”
“Yeah?”
“What are my leggings doing nailed to the mantel?”
“I… couldn’t find the stockings.”
“So you decided to ruin my clothes?”
“Well… I figured they were a different kind of stocking. I thought leggings went out in the 80s, but whatever.”
Katie giggled. “I guess it’s the thought that counts,” Katie said. “Thank you, Reid. You took a lot off of my plate with this.”
“I’m always happy to take things from other people’s plates.”
“I know,” Katie laughed. She peered around curiously. “Where’s the mistletoe?”
“My room,” Reid said, his eyes narrowing.
“We’re supposed to share that, you know.”
“Okay. When I’m at work, you can make out with as many guys as you want. If you have sex, though, change the sheets," Reid replied with a cringe.
“Why can’t it be somewhere… more accessible, maybe?” Katie suggested.
Reid looked at her as though it was the most obvious thing in the world. “I don’t want to run the risk of having to kiss someone other than Luke.”
Author: dolce_amore93
Rating: PG
Characters: Reid, Katie, Casey; mentions of Luke
Summary: Reid is in charge of decorating his and Katie's home.
Author's Notes: This is a little story I've had in my mind for a week or two and it just felt right to write it now. Being me, I'll probably write more Christmas stories after Christmas, lol, but oh well. Since I'm in the midst of the not so joyful Three Flights Up ending (Last Night on Earth - which is coming tomorrow, btw), I figured writing a little holiday cheer would be fun. Comments = love. Happy Holidays, guys!
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Katie came darting out of her room, her bed-head extreme and her eyes wide. “I have so much to do today,” she muttered, not really to Reid, but in Reid’s direction.
He looked up from his phone and rested into the kitchen chair a little more. “Like what?”
“There are only four more days until Christmas! I have to go get wrapping paper, buy cards, wrap the presents, sign the cards… wreath!” she shrieked. “I need to go buy a little wreath to put on Brad’s grave. I need to go and double check that Henry didn’t lose the necklace I helped him pick out for Barbara. I need to decorate! Oh God. What if family stops by on Christmas Day?”
“Then I’ll be nowhere in sight,” Reid replied.
Katie frowned before slumping down in the chair next to him and groaning. “Ugh. There aren’t enough hours in the day. Between working and the baby I feel like I haven’t gotten very much done for Christmas.”
“Isn’t Christmas about enjoying your family and all that jazz?” Reid asked.
“Yeah, but it’s also about having your house decorated and your presents wrapped, Reid.”
Reid doubted this, but he found it futile to argue. “Why don’t you just focus on one objective, complete it, and then move on to the next?” he suggested calmly. “Sanity is good, after all.”
She jumped up from the table and clapped her hands. “Okay. You’re right. I’m going to get Jacob ready and we’ll go shop for a wreath for the gravestone and wrapping paper.”
“And cards,” Reid reminded.
Katie nodded. “And cards. You working today?”
“Nope.”
“Spending time with Luke?”
“That would be great if he wasn’t in meetings all day for the Foundation.”
Katie raised an eyebrow. “In that case…” she started.
“I don’t like how that sounds,” Reid replied cautiously.
“Would you be the best roomie ever and decorate?”
“Decorate?” Reid sputtered as though she had asked him to go build her a house.
“Yeah. You know - hang the lights, the stockings… simple stuff. We already have the Christmas tree done, so obviously you don’t have to mess with that, but… would you?”
“Would I what?”
“Decorate!” Katie huffed.
Reid sighed, but gave a relenting expression. “Fine. But only if you do my laundry for a month.”
“A week,” Katie countered.
“Two weeks,” Reid replied.
“I can always raise your rent,” Katie threatened. Reid found himself speechless for a moment. He did not just let the perky little blonde outdo him. Yes, he did, actually. “A week,” Katie replied firmly.
“Fine. Where is all the crap?”
“It’s all stored in Jacob’s closet at the moment, Mr. Grinch.”
“Very funny,” Reid scowled.
Within moments Katie managed to pull herself together to look as great as usual and had Jacob bundled up to face the cold. Katie gave Reid a grin before walking out the door to match his not so amused look. “Thank you, Doc!” she called as she walked out the door.
Reid grumbled as he walked into Jacob’s room with its baby blue walls and teddy bear adorned shelves. He opened the closet door and let out a sigh. Scattered on the floor were a tangled mess of Christmas lights and other assorted Christmas junk overflowing in a cardboard box.
Deciding that hanging lights outside was the most undesirable task of the day, he chose to get that out of the way first. He put on his worn, brown, fur collared jacket that Katie and Luke both begged him to get rid of multiple times (with Katie even attempting to throw it out one day to no avail) because it was “eww”, apparently. Eww it may have been, but it was a jacket and it kept Reid warm when he was cold. As long as things did what they were meant to do, it made no difference to Reid what the hell it looked like. Except for Luke. Luke being hot was a nice bonus on top of being a good boyfriend.
Untangling the lights with his nimble fingers, he brought the perfectly straight lights out on to the front lawn with a feeling of satisfaction. He rolled his eyes to see none other than Casey Hughes pulling up in his bomb of a car that leaked so much gas it was surely responsible for killing half of Oakdale’s wildlife population.
“Dude!” he exclaimed cheerily as he hopped out his car, slamming the door with a screech.
“Yeah, hi,” Reid replied. He set a few strands of lights on the ground and began decorating a bush beside the front door with precision. He lined every other level of branches with white lights, creating perfect circles around the plant. Casey observed and laughed at Reid’s concentration.
“That’s not how you do it! Be spontaneous!” he exclaimed. Casey picked up a strand of lights from the ground and started on the bush on the opposite side of the door. Reid stood back and watched as Casey sloppily through the lights and let them fall as they may. It took everything Reid had to contain his compulsion to put the lights in an orderly fashion to match his bush/light masterpiece.
“Looks good, right?”
Reid forced a smile. Once Hughes #384 left, he’d fix it. “Why are you here?”
Casey held up a small bag. “I wanted to drop off Jacob’s gift.”
“Christmas isn’t for four more days,” Reid replied.
Casey chuckled. “I didn’t peg you as a guy who counted down the days to Christmas.”
“I don’t. My roommate and boyfriend do,” Reid replied with a mix between a cringe and a slight smile.
“Ah, I see. Can I go stick this somewhere inside?” he asked.
“Kinda busy,” Reid replied distractedly as he began on the small tree beside the bush.
“Right,” Casey replied awkwardly. “Well, uh… just tell Aunt Katie that I’m surprising Ali with a trip to Cancun for the holiday, so we won’t be around. That’s why I’m dropping off the gift for the little guy.”
“Alison Stewart?” Reid asked. “She’s working the day after Christmas.”
“Right, well… she doesn’t know we’re going on vacation.”
“So you’re going to give her the gift of a vacation and Memorial the gift of being short staffed?”
Casey huffed. “Don’t make me feel bad. If Luke surprised you with a vacation without notice, you’d so go. Don’t even lie, man. He has you wrapped.”
Reid went to speak, but figured that arguing the matter didn’t make much sense. It was kind of true, whether he wanted to admit it out loud or not. He kept his back turned to Casey as he continued placing lights upon the miniature tree. “Right. Well, have a nice vacation. I’ll tell Katie,” he replied.
Casey snickered at the big, bad Dr. Oliver’s lack of denial that Luke had him wrapped. “Later, Reidster. I’ll just set the bag on the front step,” he said.
“Yup,” Reid replied. As soon as Casey and his car were out of sight, he finished up the tree and dashed over to the bush to fix it.
After finishing up the lights outside, Reid came in from the cold and looked for more to do inside. He remembered Katie mentioning stockings, which he for the life of him could not find in the large box of Christmas crap, so he improvised a bit. After hanging other various decorations the house, setting them on the counter, coffee table, and on Katie’s nightstand, the place looked a whole lot more like Christmas. Or something.
Katie walked in not moments later and smiled. “Reid! The outside lights look amazing. It looks like they were professionally done!”
“Lucky for you, you get me for free,” Reid replied.
“Lucky me,” Katie teased as she set Jacob in his playpen. She looked around the room and nodded with approval. “This looks great, Reid! The candles are out, my Santa mug is on the table, my adorable reindeer coasters are on the coffee table - I’m impressed. You did a great job.”
“And this surprises you?” Reid replied with a smirk. Inside he was marveling similarly. Christmas had never been apart of his childhood, or his adult life for that matter. He could perform five surgeries in a day without issue, but had wondered a bit if he had it in him to be... festive.
“You’re so modest it hurts,” Katie said, rolling her eyes. The mantel caught her eye and she gaped. “Uh, Reid?”
“Yeah?”
“What are my leggings doing nailed to the mantel?”
“I… couldn’t find the stockings.”
“So you decided to ruin my clothes?”
“Well… I figured they were a different kind of stocking. I thought leggings went out in the 80s, but whatever.”
Katie giggled. “I guess it’s the thought that counts,” Katie said. “Thank you, Reid. You took a lot off of my plate with this.”
“I’m always happy to take things from other people’s plates.”
“I know,” Katie laughed. She peered around curiously. “Where’s the mistletoe?”
“My room,” Reid said, his eyes narrowing.
“We’re supposed to share that, you know.”
“Okay. When I’m at work, you can make out with as many guys as you want. If you have sex, though, change the sheets," Reid replied with a cringe.
“Why can’t it be somewhere… more accessible, maybe?” Katie suggested.
Reid looked at her as though it was the most obvious thing in the world. “I don’t want to run the risk of having to kiss someone other than Luke.”