"What do you think, kiddo?" Jay poked his head out of their bedroom, fully clad in the snow day pajamas that Erin purchased. He took a step toward the little girl and did a quick spin.
"Ah!" Kate giggled, clapping her hands wildly, "You look real hand-some Daddy!"
"Why thank you," Jay took an exaggerated bow, causing Erin to roll her eyes. "Oh please babe, you know you love it." He shook his rear at his fiancé as Kate erupted with laughter. He continued to taunt her until she broke into a big grin.
"You got me, you got me," she laughed, smoothing her hands over the pajama pocket over his heart, "Can't resist a man in snow pajamas."
"You gotta put yours on too, Mommy!" Kate exclaimed, wrapping her arms around Erin's legs and looking up at her mother excitedly, "Den we all be matchin'!"
"Yeah, Mommy," Jay grinned, "You don't want to leave Kate and I hanging, do you?"
"Alright, alright," Erin threw her hands up, "Give me a minute, okay?"
Jay boosted Kate into his arms, "How about if you and I go raid the pantry to find some hot chocolate? And marshmallows too?"
"'kay!" Kate squealed, wrapping her arms around Jay's neck, "You gotta hurry Mommy, odder-wise Daddy's gonna drink all your hot choc-lit!"
"You better not, Halstead," Erin called over her shoulder, "Kate, keep your daddy in line, okay?"
"I make sure!" Kate replied, touching Jay's chin gently, "I'm watchin' you."
"Are you?" Jay wiggled his eyebrows and set the little girl on the kitchen counter, "Well, I'm sure Mommy won't mind if we take a few bites of ice cream before we make the hot chocolate then?"
Kate widened her eyes incredulously, "Even though we didn't have dinner yet?"
"A few bites won't hurt," Jay snagged a spoon from the drawer and dug into Erin's mint chocolate chip carton, putting the whole thing in his mouth, "You wanna bite Squirt?"
"That's Mommy's," Kate told him seriously, then broke out into a smile, "Yeah!"
Jay dug the spoon back in and handed it to Kate, which she happily accepted. After she swallowed, she shivered, "'s too cold for ice cream."
He chuckled and set the carton back in the fridge, "You're right. How about we get started on the hot chocolate then, huh? Do you remember where we put it last time?"
"By the coffee," Kate gestured to the cupboard that housed the dark roast, "I think Mommy bought the one with the marsh-mellows inside."
"She did," Jay confirmed, pulling the box down, "Are you ready for the best hot chocolate you ever tasted?"
Kate nodded eagerly, "Don't go sneakin' Mommy's though."
"That's my girl," Erin returned to the kitchen, wearing her matching snow pajamas as well, "Thanks for keeping an eye on your daddy baby." She leaned down to whisper in Kate's ear, "When we're at work, sometimes he sneaks my coffee when I'm not looking."
The little girl turned to her father with her mouth open. "I do not!" Jay refuted, pouring the hot chocolate mix into a measuring cup and adding milk, "You drink it black. It tastes like tar."
"What's tar?" Kate asked, "Does that mean it's bad?"
"Daddy's just being silly," Erin wrinkled her nose at her fiancé, "Coffee tastes good. But only for grown-ups. It's a bit bitter and has caffeine in it that makes you stay awake, so it's not for kids."
"Sergeant Platt said that's how come I don't have it," Kate nodded, "But she don't say it tasted like tar."
"It's an expression, kiddo," Jay tried, forever impressed with his child's intellect, "Tar is what the put on the roads for cars."
