Halstead Imagines

Christmas

"Now go downstairs and watch football or do whatever boys do on Christmas!" you ordered your older brothers before Hailey arrived.

"Why?" Will whined.

"Because football, man," Jay replied. "And Y/N clearly wants us to be surprised, so c'mon." You shot him a grateful look and the two boys went downstairs just before Hailey entered the house.

"He still has no idea I'm coming over?" Hailey asked as she followed you into the kitchen.

"Nope," you answered as you pulled out an old cookbook.

You took a deep breath and slowly opened it, to be met with your mom's handwriting. Hailey gave your shoulder a small squeeze, reminding you that she was there for you. "They'll love it," she told you.

"I hope so. Have you ever cooked a turkey before?" you asked. That was the only thing you were nervous about when you decided on doing this. The mashed potatoes, gravy, sweet potato casserole, vegetables, and rolls should be fine, but it was the bird you were most worried about.

"No," Hailey answered. "But between the two of us, I'm sure we can figure it out."

***

You lit the last wick of the candle, as you gave a silent thank you to the football gods for making the Bears game go into overtime so that your brothers didn't bug you and Hailey.

You were about to call them up for dinner when Hailey stopped you. "Wait, I brought wine," she said as she popped open the bottle.

"And I'll just be having water," you answered, as you were a few months shy of 21.

"Oh, shoot. Sorry, Y/N."

"That's okay," you shrugged. "Glasses are over there. You can just pour some for you and the boys."

Once the wine was poured, you ran downstairs. "Dinner!"

"Okay, we're coming," Will answered, standing up and Jay followed suit.

"Hails?" Jay asked when they were upstairs. "What are you doing here?"

"Y/N, did you do all this?" Will asked at the same time.

You laughed a little. "Hailey helped me. I figured she could spend Christmas with us since she didn't have any plans," you answered both questions.

They sat down and that's when it hit them. "Are these Mom's recipes?" Will asked.

"Yeah," you answered as tears started to spring into your eyes. "With everything that's happened this year, I just wanted to make Christmas special."

"She'd be so proud of you," Jay said as he squeezed your hand.

"Don't make the poor girl cry before she even eats!" Hailey exclaimed, breaking the mood and causing all four of you to laugh.

"She right, let's eat!"

***

You were just about to start bringing some dishes to the counter when Jay stopped you. "We've got one more present for you, Short Stack."

"Really? I thought we opened them all this morning?"

"Let's go to the living room, yeah?" Will suggested, which gave Jay time to grab the box.

"Do you guys wanna give me a hint?" you asked as you took the box from Jay.

"Nope. Just open it."

So, that's what you did. Inside you found a big book with a thick purple cover. In silver lettering was your full name. You took it out and set it on your lap. When your fingers brushed the laminated pages, you put your hands over your mouth as you recognized what it was and fresh tears began to roll your cheeks.