Christmas With Dad
by Patt
“Your dad has called me three times in the last week to make sure that we’re going to make it to his house for Christmas dinner. Steven can’t make it and he’s counting on us to spend time with him. If I didn’t know any better, I would say he’s downright excited about us coming over. It’s very weird, don’t you think?” Blair asked Jim as they were driving to the station.
“Not that weird, he has to be good now, so he can get into heaven,” Jim joked.
“Oh man, that’s bad. I think he just really likes us. I mean he always liked you, but he’s used to it being ‘us’ now and I’m glad.”
Jim smiled at his partner. “Yes, he told me I chose my mate well.”
“He did? Why didn’t you tell me?” Blair asked.
“I knew you would make a big thing out of it and it’s nothing, really. My dad just happens to like ‘us’. I’m glad he finally came around and it’s going to be a nice family dinner. I’m looking forward to it, believe it or not.” Jim pulled into the parking garage at the station and pulled into their spot.
“You’re excited about Christmas? I wish I had a tape recorder.”
“Chief, don’t make me wish I didn’t tell you.”
“I’m sorry, Jim, I promise I won’t bring it up again. Let’s get upstairs and catch some bad guys.”
“There are bad guys in the station?” Jim teased.
“That sure would make our job easier wouldn’t it? They could come right to the door and say, I’m ready to turn myself in,” Blair joked happily.
Both men laughed as they got on the elevator and didn’t realize that their day was going to go downhill.
~~~~~~~~~~
Jim and Blair had been out of the bullpen all day, chasing bad guys and actually catching them. It was turning out to be an excellent day for both of them. Jim didn’t have to run after too many suspects and Blair didn’t have to rough anyone up. He always hated that part of cuffing someone. They both sat down at their desks and began to do the paperwork for both of their perps. Blair was working on the first one and Jim was working on the second one.
Simon opened up his office door and called out, “Ellison and Sandburg, my office.”
“I hate when he says that,” Blair complained.
“Oh like I love it.” Jim followed Blair into Simon’s office and they both just stood there waiting.
“Sit down, gentlemen, I have something to tell you,” Simon said as he stuck a stinking wet cigar in his mouth and began chewing on it.
Blair often wondered if anyone had the nerve to tell him how gross it was and how icky it made him look. Then again, he couldn’t see anyone ever saying ‘icky’ to Simon.
Both Jim and Blair sat down and waited for the bad news that they knew was coming.
“I’m really sorry about this, but you have a trip you have to make over the holidays for the Commissioner. Before you say anything, I fought for sending someone else, but he wanted the two of you to do it. So I don’t want to hear any complaints,” Simon barked.
“Simon, we have plans for Christmas. We can’t just leave my dad at home by himself for Christmas dinner, can we?” Jim asked.
“Take him with you. This is a pretty easy assignment. You can take him along with you. Make it a family road trip.”
Blair stood up and started to pace. “Where are we going and what are we doing?”
“There is no need to pace, Sandburg, it’s an easy 750 mile assignment,” Simon said.
“Then we’ll fly there before Christmas and be back in plenty of time. I don’t see a problem,” Jim stated.
Simon chomped on his cigar a few more times and said, “There is a witness that needs to go to Los Angeles but he can’t fly and we don’t really want to put the two of you on a bus with him, so that leaves driving. The department is going to let you pick out your vehicle to travel in and you’ll have a nice road trip. Ask your dad to go with you and you can celebrate Christmas on the road. There is nothing wrong with eating out on Christmas day or evening.”
“Who is this person you’re talking about?” Jim finally asked.
“Bernie Mitchell. Don’t make those faces at me. Both of you know what the Commissioner wants, the Commissioner gets. Mitchell’s not that bad. He wouldn’t hurt a fly. But California wants him right away. So that means you’re leaving tomorrow. You’ll drive five hours from here to Salem, Oregon and then stay the night and then the next day put in seven hours and you’ll be in Los Angeles. You can stay the night there, because you’ll have to do all of the paperwork and sign things before you leave. Bernie would be good company for your dad in the back seat while you two are in the front arguing about which way to go or not,” Simon hoped his little attempt at humor might help. He was wrong.
“First of all, I wouldn’t put Bernie in the back seat with my dad. So that would mean my dad would have to ride up front and Blair would have to ride in the back with Bernie. And wait a minute, who said I was inviting my dad?” Jim asked sounding as confused as he looked.
“Why would I have to ride in the back with Bernie? Why wouldn’t you have to ride in the back with Bernie?” Blair asked.
“See Simon, this isn’t working out already and we haven’t even decided on it or not,” Jim growled.
“There is no decision to be made, gentlemen. You leave tomorrow morning. I would suggest you call your dad as soon as possible and make the plans work. Blair, you could ride in the back going there, and then drive coming back. Wouldn’t that work?” Simon stood back and waited for the next argument. He didn’t have to wait long.
“Bernie Mitchell? He’s such a jerk. He’ll drive my dad nuts, not to mention me and Blair.”
“Are you saying you don’t think that you and Sandburg can handle the witness? Is that what you’re saying, Ellison?”
“No, sir. You know I can handle him just fine, I just don’t want to,” Jim said.
“Simon, probably all of the cool SUV’s have been loaned out already at the rental car agency. What do you suggest we do then? We’re not driving up in a small car and we’re not giving in on that,” Blair stated angrily.
“I would suggest you call right now. With any luck, you can get a nice comfortable conversion van and the ride won’t be that bad. Pretend Bernie Mitchell is a family member. We all have family like him, right?” Simon thought he was being funny again. Again, no one laughed.
Blair walked towards the door and said, “I’ll call for the van or SUV. Jim, you get to call your dad and tell him the good news.”
They both walked out of Simon’s office cussing and griping about one thing or another. Simon was amazed at how well it went. He expected more argument, especially out of Ellison. He wouldn’t have anything to tell Joel Taggart that night when they went out for a beer. Joel loved to hear funny stories about Sandburg and Ellison. Well, he was going to have to be disappointed for a change.
~~~~~~~~~~
Blair found a place that had a beautiful conversion van that would seat 8 people and thought that sounded pretty good. He could sit in the back with William and play cards while Jim drove them. Jim wasn’t going to be happy about it, but that was the breaks. Blair paid for the van with his credit card and walked over to see how Jim was doing.
Jim was on the phone and didn’t look at all happy. When he got off, Blair said, “Is your dad disappointed?”
“Hell no. He thinks it sounds like a fun trip. He can’t believe we asked him to go with us. He said we’ll have a great time and it doesn’t matter where we spend Christmas, it’s who we spend it with. I reminded him that tomorrow we would be with Bernie Mitchell, but he refused to let it dampen his spirits. He’s all excited. He was packing while we were talking.”
Blair threw back his head and laughed. He needed that laugh and then Jim smiled when he saw how good the laugh made his partner feel. He needed to calm down and remember that this wasn’t Blair’s fault at all. It was Simon’s and he would pay him back somehow.
“Chief, we’re going to get Simon back for this, right?”
“You know it, Jim. When he least suspects it.”
Both men finished up their paperwork and left for the day. They needed to pack too. The paperwork was given to them already for Los Angeles and they were due to pick up Bernie at 7:00 a.m. in the morning.
The drive home was nice. Jim held Blair’s hand almost the entire way home. He didn’t say anything, just hung on for dear life. Blair loved those moments where Jim let him feel like he was really someone special.
They parked downstairs and walked up to start packing. Jim thought it would be a long job, but Blair was actually pretty determined to get finished so they could have dinner and still have time for each other that night.
When all was said and done, they got into bed at 10:00 and kissed for some time and then went to sleep. Both of them were tired and knew that they had a long few days ahead of them.
~~~~~~~~~~
Blair went into the station to pick up Bernie Mitchell that morning. Burt Miller was on duty and said, “Sorry, Sandburg.”
“Couldn’t be helped, Burt. Someone had to do it. It’s our job,” Blair answered.
Burt smiled at Blair and handed over all of the paperwork from the files and then brought out Bernie. Bernie was happy about getting out of the cell and was smiling.
“Get that look off your face before we get outside, Bernie. Ellison isn’t in a good mood today.” Blair thought the least he could do was warn the idiot.
“Merry Christmas to you too, Sandburg,” Bernie spat out.
Blair just ignored the man. They would be rid of him in two days. They could all handle two days.
~~~~~~~~~~
When Jim stopped at his dad’s he walked up to the front door and knocked. William smiled when he opened the door. “I’m ready, Jimmy. Here is my bag and I brought some homemade goodies from Sally.”
Jim smiled and realized he meant to do it. He loved Sally’s baking. “I’m glad to hear it, dad. I’m sorry again for having to do this. I hope Bernie won’t drive you nuts.”
Jim put William’s suitcase in the back of the van and opened the front door for William to sit down.
“Jimmy, I’ll sit in the back with Blair. We can play cards, can’t we? There are little tables and everything. This is going to be great. You just drive and don’t worry about a thing, all right?”
“Okay dad, just don’t get close to Bernie. He’s rude and obnoxious.” Jim decided he needed to warn his dad.
“Oh I’m used to rude and obnoxious, I’ve been that way for years. He’s got nothing on me,” William said with a laugh as he climbed in the back of the Van.
Jim started to drive off and heard his dad say, “Blair did you bring cards?”
“You know I did, William. I figured it would give us something to do while Jim drives. Oh Jim, I made you four cassettes for the player. They are sitting on the front passenger seat. You’re going to like them.”
Jim smiled immediately. He loved when Blair did special things for him and this was special. Jim looked at the first cassette and saw it was Santana. He popped it in the player and didn’t care if he could hear them in the back seat or not. He was a happy camper as he pulled out into traffic on the interstate.
~~~~~~~~~~
“Bernie would you like to play cards with Blair and myself?”
“No, old man, I would rather die.”
“He’s a grouch, he probably feels bad about whatever he did and can’t wait to atone for it,” William teased.
“Oh yeah, William, I’m sure that’s it. Let’s get this game started.” Blair knew that they couldn’t tell William that he was a witness to something, so instead Blair took the cards out of his backpack and started to deal them up. 5000 Rummy was one of his favorite games. William had taught it to them. He just wished that Jim was back there playing with them. He missed having Jim by his side. But Jim was doing what made him the happiest. He was singing like crazy along with Santana.
“Blair, I think that was a great idea. Jimmy seems to be quite happy with the music.”
“Well, I had to give him something to keep him occupied so he wouldn’t kill Bernie.”
The men laughed and began to play the game. Bernie tried to look bored but found himself trying to figure out why they were doing the things they were doing with the cards. It looked like an interesting game and wished he had agreed to play it. Instead he had to listen to the crazy cop up front sing Black Magic Woman off key and listen to the gurus of happiness playing cards.
~~~~~~~~~~
Two hours later, Jim said, “Anyone need to stop?”
“I’m good,” William answered.
“Me too,” Blair said.
“I could piss,” Bernie mentioned very casually.
“Okay, so no one needs to stop. Good.” Jim continued on by the rest stop and Bernie said, “I have to piss and if you don’t want me doing it in this fancy van, you better stop soon.”
Jim pulled over along side the road and got out. He opened up the back door and pulled Bernie out. “You have to pee so bad, then pee.”
Thankfully Bernie’s cuffs were in front and he could unzip his pants by himself. Jim wouldn’t have been happy doing that. When he was done, he zipped up and took off running across the field. Jim shook his head and said, “I don’t believe this. What an idiot.”
“Get him, Jim.” Blair was rooting from the doorway, laughing his head off.
Jim tackled him and took him back to the van. “What are you in need of special help or something? Only an idiot would take off while I’m standing there.”
“I told them I was nuts. They wouldn’t believe me. Maybe you could vouch for me,” Bernie suggested.
“Forget about it. I wouldn’t do anything to help you. Get in the van, you moron.”
Jim got him cuffed to the side of the seat and then closed the back door. As he was walking around the side of the van to get in, a police car came by. They pulled in front of Jim and got out. Jim stayed out of the van and wondered what the cop wanted.
The cop walked back to the van and said, “Do you have a good reason for stopping here, sir?”
“I’m a police officer, carrying a witness for a case in Los Angeles and he had to stop for a break. If you know what I mean,” Jim explained.
“Let me see your ID and we’ll decide if I give you a ticket for stopping here without a reason or not.” The cop took Jim’s ID and went back to his car. Jim turned to the van and made a face at Blair and his dad. The cop came walking back up and said, “Okay, I guess you’re alright to go. Just stop at the rest stops from now on. Have a safe trip to California.”
Jim walked back to the van, wanting to say something in the worst way, but didn’t think it would do him any good, so he just shut his mouth. He got in and said, “Mitchell, you only think I was pissed, now I’m really pissed off.”
Blair and William started to laugh as Jim started the van up and pulled back onto the interstate.
~~~~~~~~~
When they arrived in Salem, Oregon, they found a nice motel to stay in and Jim went and got the rooms. He handed a key to Blair and said, “That’s for you and my dad and I’ll take Bernie.”
“I don’t think we all need a separate room,” William said.
“Yeah, dad we do. Now, let’s take a few things in and get settled in for the night. I don’t know about anyone else, but I’m going to order something and have it delivered.”
“Sounds good to us, too, Jimmy.”
They had an adjoining room, so it wasn’t as bad as it could have been. At least Jim got to see his partner awhile before bedtime. They got to eat dinner together and had some time for just talking.
~~~~~~~~~~
Jim shut the door to their room when it was bedtime and said, “I don’t want to hear any noise all night long. So, if you need something in the bathroom, you had better do it now. I’m not putting up with any crap, do you understand?”
“Yeah, I understand, Ellison, do I look stupid?” Bernie never should have opened that door.
“As a matter of fact, you do look stupid. Weren’t you the one that took off running today with me standing right beside you?”
“Hey, I thought you might not run after me, you’re old.”
“I’m not old. Shut up right now. Do you have to go in the bathroom or not?” Jim shouted.
“Of course I have to go. What do you think, I can hold it all evening and through the night too? And you call me stupid?” Bernie headed into the bathroom and Jim wanted to abuse him in the worst way. But he knew Blair would frown on that, so he held his temper and got ready for bed himself. He was tired and couldn’t wait to get to sleep. He wished he was sleeping with Blair.
Bernie walked out of the bathroom and said, “Do you know how hard it is to do things with handcuffs on?”
“Do I look like I care?” Jim answered as he undid the cuffs and cuffed Bernie to the headboard.
“Man, you’re going to cuff me all night long?”
“Yes, I am. Now, shut up and go to sleep,” Jim snarled before he went into the bathroom. The bathroom was a mess and Jim was disgusted having to use it after Bernie. Instead he knocked on the adjoining door and said, “Blair, can you watch Bernie while I use your bathroom?”
Blair smiled over at William and William started to laugh. “He never did like sharing bathrooms.”
“He’s a pig, dad. You should see the mess he made in the little time he was in there.”
“Jim, go get ready for bed, I’ll stay with him,” Blair walked into the room and Jim walked into Blair’s room.
“Oh nice boxers, Sandburg. Did Ellison buy those special for you?” Bernie loved to be obnoxious.
“As a matter of fact, he did. Why don’t you bring it up with him? He’ll enjoy the special time he has with you while you’re alone together.”
“He better not doing anything freaky, that’s all I’ve got to say,” Bernie said.
Blair started to laugh when Jim came into the room and Bernie moved away from him.
“What’s going on?” Jim asked Blair.
“He was admiring my underwear. Wanted to know if you bought them for me,” Blair explained as he walked back over to his room. Before he shut the door he said, “Night, Jim.”
Jim could hear William and Blair both laughing and that pissed him off even more.
“I’m telling the lawyer that you were looking at a cop in his underwear, they might rethink the insanity clause,” Jim said casually.
“Would you really do that for me?” Bernie asked hopefully.
“No, now get to sleep. We’re leaving early in the morning.” Jim got into bed and tossed and turned until he finally got tired enough to fall asleep. He was on alert the entire time though, so he didn’t sleep that well.
~~~~~~~~~~
The next day they got an early start so they could make the seven hours before rush hour traffic in LA.
Once again, William and Blair played cards and Jim sang with his cassettes that Blair made him. Today it was Rod Stewart. Jim was singing ‘Do You Think I’m Sexy?’ and made both William and Blair smile. Blair wanted to shout out, yes, I think you’re sexy, but didn’t want to embarrass Jim.
Bernie asked, “Does he have to sing? It would be different if he sang well, but he’s tone deaf, does he know that?”
Jim turned the music off and asked, “Chief, am I tone deaf?”
“Not at all, just ignore him. He has no sense of decency. He’s just picking on you for tackling him yesterday.”
“Are you sure, because I don’t want you and my dad to have to suffer with me singing?”
William laughed and said, “First of all, Jimmy, he’s nuts. Secondly, this is our holiday. You can do whatever you want to do.”
“You know what, dad? You’re right. I’m going to sing like there is no tomorrow. Mick Jagger is next. Thank you, Blair.”
“You’re welcome, Jim. Now relax. Do you need me to drive for awhile?”
“Blair, I’ve only been driving for about an hour. I think I can handle it.” Jim popped the cassette back in and started singing ‘Do You Think I’m Sexy’ again.
Bernie groaned and Blair said, “Either shut up, or I start dancing for you.”
William burst out laughing and Bernie did shut up indeed.
~~~~~~~~~~
Breakfast and lunch went without a hitch. Everything was going smoothly. Finally Bernie asked if he could learn the game and the three of them were having a lot of fun. Jim liked hearing the laughter and the fondness in his father’s tone. This wasn’t turning out as badly as it could have been.
Then Jim put in the next cassette and started singing ‘Sympathy with the Devil’ and Bernie groaned again.
William started singing along and then Blair did and before long Bernie even sang. “Please allow me to introduce myself, I’m a man of wealth and taste. I’ve been around for a long, long year. Stole many a man’s soul and faith.”
If someone would have been listening outside the van, they would have wondered what was going on. The four men were actually having a good time.
Jim looked in the rearview mirror and smiled at the sight before him. Everyone was happy. It was Christmas Eve and they didn’t care that they weren’t home. It was almost time to turn Bernie over and Jim never even asked him what he was a witness to. He decided that it wouldn’t be his business and just continued to sing along with everyone else.
Jim looked down at the fourth cassette that Blair made and saw it was Christmas carols. Jim wasn’t big on Christmas carols, but if ever there was a time to sing them, today was the day. He popped out Mick Jagger and popped in the Christmas one.
The first song was Willie Nelson. This made Jim smile. They all sang each and every song on the cassette together. Before they knew it they were in Los Angeles. Jim couldn’t believe how quickly it had gone by. He was glad he was with his two favorite people in the world.
They found the police station and Jim pulled up outside of it and parked, got out and got Bernie ready to go. He took his few belongings and took him inside the station house.
Jim was gone for about an hour when he came back he was smiling. “Paperwork is all finished, so we can find a motel and spend the night and start off tomorrow morning.”
“Is Bernie alright?” Blair asked.
“He was fine when I left him. It’s not like he was some felon or something, he was a witness to a crime. He just had to remain safe until he could get to court. Don’t worry so much, Chief.”
“Will someone please sit up front with me so I don’t feel so lonely?”
William laughed and said, “You mean me?”
“I meant, Blair.”
“He knows you mean me. I’ll sit up front until we find a hotel or motel. Which do you prefer, William?”
“Motel is fine. I don’t have to have fancy to be happy. I’m happy with you boys in the van.” William smiled and let them know he meant it.
“We’re glad you’re here too, dad. This has been a good year, hasn’t it? We worked out our differences, you accepted me and Blair being together and now we’re having our first road trip. Thank you for coming.”
“No, thank you, Jimmy and Blair. You’ve made an old man terribly happy this year. I was shocked when I was invited.”
“Oh, like we were going to leave you, home, William.” Blair teased.
“Well, you could have and I appreciate you taking me with you. I think we should stay here for a day or two and do some sight seeing. We’ll get two separate rooms so that you’ll have some time to yourselves. Does anyone think that is a good idea?” William asked.
“I think it’s an excellent idea, William. Thank you for suggesting it. Then we’ll have a sing along road trip for the way home. It’s going to be great.
Jim pulled into a really nice looking motel and got out and got two rooms and came back to the van. “I got the suites, because they have hot tubs in the room. So dad, we’re going to be absent from the room after 8:00 tonight. I hope you don’t mind. I want to unwind in the hot tub in the worst way.”
“Oh Jimmy, that’s sounds perfect. We’ll go have a nice dinner or order in whatever sounds good to you guys and then you’ll have the entire night to yourselves.”
“But William, this is Christmas night. I brought presents to open,” Blair said quietly.
“Dad, did you bring presents too?”
“Yes, Jimmy, I did.”
“Then we’re having Christmas tonight after dinner and then we’ll play cards. Blair and I can hot tub in the morning if we want to. How does that sound to both of you?” Jim suggested.
“I love the sounds of having a real Christmas tonight. It’s going to be fun,” Blair confessed happily.
The rest of the day they unpacked, put presents in the room and got ready for dinner. At 6:00, they went to the restaurant on the premises and they had a very nice meal. They all chose turkey and dressing for dinner and talked, laughed and ate until they were full. At 8:00, Blair said, “I don’t know about anyone else, but I’d like to open a present or two.”
William smiled. “I could open one.”
“All right, all right, I like presents too. I just seem like a Scrooge, I’m really not.”
They walked back to the room and William met at Jim and Blair’s room, carrying a ton of presents. Jim opened the door and laughed. “Dad, we’re not kids anymore, we don’t need a ton of presents.”
“Want me to take them all back?” William asked.
“Not even,” Jim answered hugging his dad after he set the presents down on the bed.
Blair brought all of the presents out that they had for each other and for William and they put the Christmas cassette in the player in the room and all sang as they opened each others presents.
Blair looked at the two men from time to time and saw that they were happy and content. Blair was thrilled. He loved seeing his lover happy. He also loved his father-in-law, so this was working out great.
At midnight, William took his leave. He was exhausted and had had a wonderful day and night. It was now time to catch up on some sleep. Jim walked him down to his room which was only three doors away, but Jim felt better doing it, so William let him. William hugged his son when they got inside his room and said, “I love you, Jimmy.”
“I love you, too, dad.”
Jim walked back to he and Blair’s room happier then he had been in ages. When he walked in he saw a sight for sore eyes. Blair sleeping on the bed, curled into a ball. Jim loved when Blair slept like that.
Jim stripped off his clothes and climbed into bed and pulled the covers over both of them. He didn’t remember putting his head on the pillow. That’s how tired he was.
~~~~~~~~~~
The next morning, Blair and Jim did have a nice hot tub experience before they got interrupted by the maid. Jim thought Blair had put the sign on the door and Blair thought Jim had. So the maid got a little bit more of an eyeful then she was expecting. When she left, they laughed and laughed and laughed.
They got out of the tub, got dressed and ready to go down to meet William for breakfast.
William was waiting when they arrived and said, “It’s about time you young ones got up.”
“You know what dad? I’m in the mood for home. How would you feel about leaving today and going home? I could drive straight through and we’d be there in about 12 hours. We could do it. What do you think of that idea?” Jim asked.
“I would like to get home too. I’m a homebody, that’s for sure. I didn’t like sleeping in a strange bed last night. I guess you guys didn’t either.”
Blair smiled. “I’ll do whatever you two want to do. I’m just along for the ride. I had a wonderful holiday and can’t wait for our New Years Eve Party.”
“We’ll take turns driving, Jimmy. Then we can rest in the back of the van the entire way home. I’ll drive the first four hours, okay?” William asked.
“Okay, but I’ll drive the first four, because I don’t want you to have to deal with California traffic on the interstate. You can drive the second shift and Blair can drive the third.”
“Sounds good, Jimmy.”
Blair said, “Let’s get to our rooms, pack and get out of here.”
And that’s exactly what they did.
~~~~~~~~~~
When Jim had finished his four hours, he climbed onto the sofa in the back and Blair said, “It makes into a wide bed, do you want me to lay it down for you?”
“Only if you’ll lay here with me.”
Blair laid the bed down and both of the men got comfy on it. Jim pulled the blanket up over them and was almost asleep instantly. He loved being in Blair’s arms. Blair always held him so tight and made him feel like his life was fantastic. That’s because it was fantastic. His dad was in the front seat driving with the two boys on the sofa in the back seat and didn’t mind at all.
Blair woke up about three hours later and let go of Jim long enough to pull away from him. Then he got up and went to the front seat. He pushed his hair down, knowing it was probably a sight and William smiled when he saw him.
“I would have let you both sleep for a longer bit. The traffic has been great, so there’s only about three hours left of our trip,” William said.
“Pull over so I can drive. Really, I’d like to. Then we can say we all did it together,” Blair replied.
William pulled over and got out and slid in the passenger side. Blair was now driving. Jim was still sound asleep. They could hear his little snores now and then making them laugh.
Blair put in the Santana cassette and he and William sang all the way home to Cascade. Jim didn’t wake up once.
~~~~~~~~~~
New Years Day
Jim and Blair left William’s house on New Years day and Jim said, “Chief, I have to thank you for accepting my family and spending all the time we do, with them.”
Blair turned and looked at Jim to see if he was kidding. “I love your dad, Jim. I don’t like when he calls you Jimmy, but I do love him. Never worry about me spending time with the family.”
“I hate when he calls me Jimmy, too.”
“So tell him, that both of us hate it and we wished he’d start to call you Jim.”
“Okay, the next time we get together I’ll tell him.”
“Have I mentioned how much I loved our road trip?” Blair asked.
“Yes, you have. I need to take you on more road trips if that was your idea of a good one. I’d prefer one with just you and me. Know what I mean?”
“Okay, next time, it’s you and me, Jim. Just the two of us. Happy New Year.”
“Happy New Year, Chief.”
The end
