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Lucy watched as Tim worked effortlessly in the kitchen, preparing his favorite breakfast – pancakes. She can’t help the smile on her face as she watches him move with precision, the same sharpness to his moves like she sees on patrol, but also hints of softness creeping into his steps. He was at ease, in his home, with his girlfriend and their dog, enjoying the domestic feeling in the air.
“Y’know, Christmas is coming up,” she chimed in from her seat at the kitchen island as she sipped on her coffee. Tim looked up at her with a soft smile, his bed head in full force,
“It’s two months away,” he said with a chuckle, turning his gaze back down as he focused on flipping his pancake,
“So, what do you usually do on Christmas?”
Tim stopped, looking up at her with a shrug, “Not much, really. I send presents over for Genny and the boys. I stop by with some food since she’s moved here.”
“Yeah, but any traditions that are just yours? When do you decorate the tree? What kind of supper do you like? Oh, do you have a Christmas playlist?” she bombarded him with questions, making him chuckle as he watched her eyes light up in excitement,
“I don’t really have any traditions,” he explained, plating another pancake and pushing the stack over to her, “Eat up honey.”
“What do you mean you have no traditions?” Lucy frowned,
“Eh, I just treat it like any other day,” he sighed, turning off the stove and sitting next to her at the kitchen island, stealing a pancake off her plate, “Why do you ask?” he added as he bit down on the pancake,
“Well I was wondering what you usually do for Christmas, but now that I’m hearing all this it makes me… sad,” she teased, elbowing him softly, making him chuckle,
“Yeah, well, what do you like to do for Christmas?”
“Oh, I love to go all out!” she chimed up, “I love to put up the Christmas tree on December 1st, oh, also Christmas music is a must during the month of December. Also, Christmas themed everything, from pillows to mugs and napkins, wrapping up the presents… and for the Christmas day itself, I like to open up presents and then have some fun and some good food with friends.”
“So, you’ve been thinking of spending Christmas with some friends?” he asked, Lucy frowning,
“What? No. I wanna spend Christmas with you,” she said softly, “I wanna get some Christmas spirit into you, grumpy.”
“Hey, I’m not grumpy,” he tried,
“Oh, that’s right. A grumpy during Christmas is the Grinch,” she dead-panned, making Tim send her a glare, but his smile betraying him,
“Yeah? Now I’m Grinch too?” he tried, leaning closer to her, his eyes flickering to her lips, “You sure that’s a smart thing to do?”
“What, call you Grinch?” she smirked, biting her lower lip, “You did just practically tell me that you destroy Christmas. The name seems fitting.”
“Oh, Christmas isn’t the only thing I can destroy…”
On December 1st, Lucy was grateful for having a day off. She sneaked out of bed, barely, given Tim’s death grip he set on her, and was grateful to find he hasn’t woken up while she had gotten ready quietly. She wrote him a note so he doesn’t go full panic mode if he wakes up before she comes back. She has only two things on her errand list – get a Christmas tree and get Christmas ornaments and decorations.
A couple of hours later, she walked into the house carrying a big box, almost tripping over Kojo who was obviously as excited as ever to see her. It took her a few times going back and forth, but soon enough all of the Christmas ornaments, decorations, and the Christmas tree were set up in piles in the living room. The fact that Kojo had been following her around and not barking after her meant that Tim was likely still asleep, their trusty companion knowing exactly when to keep his voice down. She changed quickly into a pair of Christmas themed pajamas, smirking as she walked into their bedroom to find Tim still asleep. She smiled softly, his relaxed pose as he slept igniting something in her, some sense of peace and calmness.
She crawled up in the bed quietly, but Tim sensed her shifting, and before she knew what was happening, his arms were reaching out and pulling her into his chest, her head tucked against his solid muscles, his warm skin engulfing her into a sense of safety, the kind of safety she only felt when in Tim’s arms.
“You’ve been gone,” he muttered, his eyes still closed as Lucy looked up to meet his gaze, getting a kiss to her forehead from Tim, “Don’t like it when you’re gone.”
“Awww, my soft teddy bear,” she smiled, pressing a kiss to his chest and wrapping her arm around him, “I had to run some errands but I’m back now.”
“Errands?” he asked, popping one eye open, “You didn’t tell me. I could’ve tagged along. Make it less boring.”
“Hm, I think you can still help with some of them,” she smirked, making him pop his other eye open. His hand reached up to tuck a strand of hair behind her ear as he looked at her sleepily, a gooey smile appearing on his face,
“Yeah? You didn’t finish all of them?”
“No, errands are done, but there’s some stuff that need to be done around the house and you can definitely help me with that.”
Tim hummed, squeezing her close to his chest for a moment as he leaned down to press a soft kiss to her lips before his eyebrow raised, “Those are new jamies,” he pointed out with a chuckle, “You decided to treat yourself?”
“Mhm,” she hummed, “Don’t worry. I thought of you too,” she added, rolling back slightly and grabbing the matching set she found for him, handing him the package. He groaned as he took them, laughing,
“You aren’t gonna make me wear these, are you?” he said, looking at the pattern, noticing the similarity, “Oh, wait! These are matching?”
“Yeah,” she smirked, “And you are so going to wear them,” she pointed out, sitting up and tugging at the shirt he was in, “Come on Bradford, out with this.”
“You just want to get me naked, don’t you?” he smirked, sitting up himself, allowing her to tug the shirt off of him,
“Get your mind out of the gutter, we have work around the house to do,” she said, watching as Tim put on the Christmas jammies, her face breaking out in a wide, childish smile, “Awwww, look at you! All comfy and cozy!”
“These are soft, I’ll give you that,” he pointed out, a slight blush creeping up on his cheeks before he sat back down in bed, “Thanks for these, sweetheart.”
“You’ve very welcome,” she smiled, pecking his lips before grabbing his hand as she went to stand up, “Come on now! We gotta get to work!”
“Work?” he grumbled, “Luce, baby, we’ve got a few days off. Can’t we just… I dunno, do nothing today?”
“We will do nothing,” she pointed out, her eyes sparkling, making Tim completely confused. He’s about to ask her what the hell does she mean, but when he walks into the living room, he understands it himself.
“Really?” he said, looking down at her, “A Christmas tree?”
“Yeah!” she said excitedly, skipping to where the boxes of ornaments laid, “And look, I’ve got some cute ornaments too! And we could make a clay ornament of Kojo’s paw, and I got some crafts so we could make Christmas cards, and I got so many fun lights and decor!”
“Didn’t we say I’m the Grinch?” he asked, but the excitement in his eyes betrayed him as he walked over, noticing two Christmas themed mugs filled with coffee on the table. He reached for the one sitting on his coaster and took a sip as Lucy began to talk,
“Well, the Grinch can always get his spirits uplifted, and I’m sure we can un-Grinch you,” she teased, looping her arms around his own one, making him look at her with a face,
“Un-Grinch me? That’s not even a word,” he said, taking another sip of coffee,
“Yeah, well now it is. And look, you’ve already made great progress! We’re in matching Christmas jammies, you’re drinking coffee from a Christmas themed mug and now you’ll get to help me assemble the Christmas tree!”
“Assemble the tree-wait,” he stopped, taking a mental note of how many boxes there are, “Wait, Luce, baby did you carry this all by yourself?” he asked, looking down at her with a frown,
“Well I’m no superman, it took me a few times of going back and forth, and some hopes and prayers that Kojo doesn’t decide to pretzel my legs, but yeah.”
“Honey, I-why didn’t you wake me up?” he frowned, “I could’ve helped you. You shouldn’t be doing all that heavy lifting.”
“Tim, I’m a cop,” Lucy giggled, “I do heavy lifting on the regular.”
“Yeah, but you’re not in uniform right now and you’re the love of my life,” he said, setting the mug down on the coffee table before wrapping his arms around her waist and pulling her in close, “I don’t want you working overtime for no good reason. Even if it’s just a few boxes.”
“Soooo, what I’m hearing is a ‘yes’ on the Christmas decorating? Since you wouldn’t say no to the love of your life and all?” she teased, making him chuckle,
“Yeah, I wouldn’t say no to her. She’s pretty amazing. No point in denying her of being happy.”
“And no point in you being the Grinch anymore, so let’s go,” she smirked, her arms wrapping around his neck for a moment, making him lean down and kiss him softly before she pulled back, tugging him over to the pile. Tim let out a mock sigh,
“Alright, Sergeant,” Lucy teased, handing Tim the base of the tree from the box, “Assemble this bad boy. I’ll be your supervisor.”
“Supervisor?” he arched an eyebrow, holding the base as he looked at her, “Isn’t supervisor supposed to help?”
“Oh, but I am helping,” she said with mock seriousness, settling onto the floor besides the stand of the tree, Kojo trotting over to ask for some love, “Oh hi, bubba! You wanna bark orders at your dad?” the dog barked in response, making Tim roll his eyes as he crouched down and began assembling the tree.
“Alright, boss,” Tim said after the last section of the tree snapped into place and fluffed it properly. He stepped back, crossing his arms as he looked down at Lucy who was rubbing Kojo’s belly, “Now what?”
“Now,” Lucy said, grabbing a string of lights from the pile and holding it up for him, “We make it sparkle,” she smirked and Tim rolled his eyes as he took the lights from her hand, “And don’t just throw them on there sloppily! They need to be evenly distributed and carefully placed.”
“You majored in psychology, not Christmas light distribution,” he grumbled, making her chuckle as she watched him put on the lights with precision, telling him when he’d miss a spot. Once the lights were up, they moved on to ornaments. Tim chuckled as Lucy unboxed a set of glittery ornaments, immediately grabbing one and holding it up for Tim to see. He raised an eyebrow, “Glitter? Really?”
“These are classic, thank you very much,” she said, swatting at his arm,
“They’re gonna get everywhere!” he exclaimed, but there was no real annoyance in his tone. She handed it to him and he rolled his eyes in fake-annoyance but took the ornament and placed it on the tree,
“There we go. Was that so hard?” she said with a smug smile, “And look, you didn’t get any glitter on yourself either.”
“For now,” he muttered, grabbing an ornament from the box and blowing at it lightly, resulting in glitter to fly onto Lucy’s pajamas,
“Tim!” she gasped, laughing, “You’re impossible.”
“Eh, I’m gonna be vacuuming this place either way,” he smirked, leaning down to steal a kiss to her lips, “Might as well make it as glittery as they come.”
Once the ornaments were hung, Tim reached for the big star, assuming it was supposed to go on top of the tree, holding it out for Lucy to take, “I think the star should do the honors of placing the star on top.”
“Flattery, Bradford?” she teased, making him roll his eyes as she took the star from his hand. He turned around, crouching slightly, “Come on, princess. Hop on.”
Lucy didn’t hesitate, climbing onto his back. His hands gripped her thighs securely as she steadied herself with her arm loosely wrapped around his shoulders, “Alright, hold still,” she teased, giggling as he stood straight, lifting her higher,
“Just don’t drop the star,” he teased right back, “I don’t wanna put you on top of the tree. That’d sting.”
“Tim!” she exclaimed, swatting his head softly as she laughed. She leaned forward slightly, carefully positioning the star on the top, “There,” she said softly, leaning back slightly to admire her work, “Perfect.”
Tim tilted his head higher up to look at it with a smile, then twisting it so he could look at her, “No, you’re perfect,” he said with a big smile, “The tree does run a close second though.”
“I have a flattery man as a ladder,” she teased, Tim crouching down to let her get off, “I think I win.”
“Hm, I still think I win,” he pointed out, turning to face her and wrapping his arms around her waist,
“And why is that?” she smiled, placing her hands on his chest,
“Because you shine brighter than any Christmas tree in the goddamn universe,” he said softly, leaning in to press a kiss to her lips.
By the time they were finished, the entire house was transformed into a cozy Christmas wonderland. There were garlands, lights all over the place, cute touches and ornaments everywhere, and the tree stood proudly in the living room, glowing with warmth.
Lucy plopped down on the couch with a sigh, Tim following her quietly with two Christmas themed mugs filled with hot cocoa as he sat down next to her, letting the mugs rest on the coffee table in front of them. Lucy curled up into his side immediately, her head resting on his shoulder. He smiled, grabbing the remote, flipping through the channels as he draped his arm over her shoulders and brought her closer, pressing soft kisses to the top of her head, “Hi sweetheart.”
“Mmm, hi,” she smiled, looking up at him, noticing his soft expression, yet thoughtful. She could tell something was on his mind, “What’s going on in that pretty head of yours?”
Tim hesitated for a moment before smiling softly as he looked at her, “Just… thinking. About today. It’s… I didn’t exactly have this Christmas joy in my house growing up. We never decorated, never had a tree. Mom tried, she really did, but my father wouldn’t bat an eye, used ornaments to throw them at us, would ruin every single bit of effort my mom put in decorations. Christmas for me was, like my birthday, just another day. We’d get presents from mom but overall, it was just another day.”
Lucy’s heart ached at his words, and she reached out, cupping his face softly, “Tim…”
He leaned into her touch, his eyes closing as he seeked her warmth, “I guess I didn’t realize how much I missed out on until tonight,” he admitted, his voice barely aboe a whisper, “This… all of this? It’s fun. It’s… good. I like it. So thank you,” he opened his eyes, his smile deepening, “Thank you for putting up with the Grinch. He won’t be making a comeback.”
“You’re very welcome, honey,” she said softly, Tim’s hand finding hers, his fingers gently wrapping around her wrist as he pressed a kiss to her palm,
“I love you, Luce.”
“I love you too.”
Tim smiled softly at Lucy’s response, his heart swelling at the simplicity of the moment and the sincerity of her words. For a moment, the warmth of her love and the glow of the Christmas tree around them made everything else fade away. He pulled her closer, resting his chin on the top of her head as her arms curled tighter around his waist. Lucy glanced up at him, catching the way his eyes lingered on the tree, “What’s going on in that pretty head of yours now?” she asked, her tone carrying that teasing edge to it, but curiosity as well. Tim exhaled slowly, chuckling as he looked down at her, amazed how she can feel his emotions without him ever needing to even voice them out,
“I’m just thinking… I think I’d like to make this into a tradition. A Christmas. Every year. With you.”
Lucy’s eyes widening slightly and her lips curved into a radiant smile, “Tim Bradford, are you officially admitting to liking Christmas now?”
“I’m admitting to liking you,” he shot back with a smirk,
“That we already knew, mister sap,” she teased, elbowing his side gently,
“Okay, well, if Christmas comes with you, then yeah, I guess I like it.”
Lucy laughed, leaning in to press a kiss to his lips, “You’re not just liking it, you’re loving it. You’re drinking cocoa from a Christmas mug, in matching Christmas jammies, in front of a glowing Christmas tree.”
Tim groaned dramatically, but the light in his eyes gave him away, “Alright, fine, you un-Grinched me. Happy?”
“Oh, very happy!” she exclaimed triumphantly, her laughter filling the room.
As if on cue, Kojo leapt up onto the couch, his tail wagging as he nudged his way in between them. Lucy giggled, scratching behind his ears, “And Kojo is clearly proud of his dad’s progress as well,” she added, looking at Tim playfully. Tim chuckled, rubbing Kojo’s head softly,
“He’s just here to try and snatch leftover cookies, let’s be honest.”
Lucy shook her head, resting it against his shoulder for a moment. They sat in comfortable silence for a moment, the glow of the tree casting soft light across the room. The basketball game played in the background, but neither of them paid too much attention,
“You know, we should definitely make a paw print of Kojo’s as an ornament. Start doing more little things. Make it a tradition.”
“You’re really all in on this, huh?”
“Of course I am,” she said, looking up to meet his loving gaze, “I want to build a tradition that’s just ours. Something we get to make whatever we want it to be.”
“I like the sound of that,” he said with a smile, leaning to press a kiss to her forehead, “But no ugly sweaters.”
Lucy gasped, her hand flying dramatically to her chest, “Ugly sweaters are a must! We have to get matching ones!”
“Absolutely not,” Tim deadpanned, though his lips twitched in a smile, “Lopez and Harper would never let me hear the end of it. No, scratch that, the entirety of Mid-Wilshire won’t let me hear the end of it. I’m not even gonna mention Genny! She’s gonna make copies of me wearing the goddamn thing. Hard pass.”
“I’ll break you down eventually,” she smirked, snuggling closer to him, “One Christmas at a time.”
Tim laughed, leaning down to press a kiss to the top of her head, “You’re impossible.”
“And you love it,” she shot back, grinning up at him,
“Yeah. I really do.”
They stayed like that, wrapped in each other and the quiet peace of the moment. The tree glimmered softly in the corner, a symbol of the new life they were building together – something bright, hopeful, colorful, and most importantly, full of love.
And for the first time in decades, Christmas didn’t feel like just another day for Tim.
It felt like home.