Chapter Text
A Wish Come True
By PattRose
Summary: A friend from the station needs help over the Christmas holidays and Jim and Blair decide to take it on.
Warnings: Mild language, angst, sappy, happy ending
Rating: Teen
Genre: Slash, Established Relationship.
Word Count: 5304
Authors Notes: Lisa is getting this for her birthday, but she also gave me the story idea. She's great with story ideas.
Happy Birthday, Lisa, Duncan's Twin
December 21st, 2014
Ten months ago, Detective Sophie Dawson had been happily married. She and Detective Ben Dawson had been married for 12 years and had three wonderful children. They were as happy as two people could be. Everything was going well until one fateful day, Ben forgot to wear his flack vest and was shot while on a call. He died instantly and left his wife Sophie with almost nothing. Unfortunately, they both had never really thought about what would happen if something happened to one or both of them and didn't plan too well in advance. Sophie was left with a huge mortgage payment that she couldn't afford, so it wasn't long before she had to sell the house and she and the children moved into an apartment. Now, it was December and Sophie didn't know what she was going to do about Christmas with the kids. Most of her paycheck went to rent and day care for the kids. Logan was nine now, but still not able to stay home alone and Brooke was only six and Danielle was three. Her parents were gone and Ben's parents had died when he was a teenager. Sophie was definitely alone.
Blair Sandburg was on a mission that day in the station, he wanted to see if Sophie Dawson wanted to have lunch with him and Jim. She worked in Robbery and worked almost the same hours as Jim and Blair did. He had seen Sophie that morning and could tell that she had been crying. Jim didn't know it yet, but they were going to become Secret Santa's for Sophie and her children. As far as Blair was concerned, no one worked any harder than Sophie to take care of her children, but Blair knew that things might be tight and the kids might not be getting a Christmas this year.
Blair walked into Robbery and found Sophie sitting at her desk looking as excited about her paperwork as Jim did daily. This made Blair smile. "Good morning, Sophie. I was wondering if you could have lunch today with me and Jim. We have something to discuss with you."
"Good morning to you, Blair. It's good to see you in Robbery for a change. Usually we only see each other in the hallways. Is there anything wrong? Should I worry about you and Jim talking to me?" she asked.
"No worries, Sophie. How does noon sound? We're going across the street to Pete's Diner and thought you might want to try out his meatloaf and peach pie," Blair said.
"Count me in. I love the meatloaf at Pete's Diner. I'll see you over there at noon. Thank you for the invite."
"See you in a couple of hours, Sophie," Blair called out over his shoulder as he left.
This might be tricky. I don't want her to feel like she owes us anything or that it's charity, so I need to discuss this with Jim first.
When Blair got to Major Crimes, Jim had the same look on his face that Sophie had on her face only moments ago. Blair almost burst out laughing.
He went up beside Jim and asked, "Do you think we could talk in private?"
Jim looked alarmed for a moment, until he realized that Blair looked happy. Jim was probably safe, for today anyhow. "Sure, Chief. Interrogation room two is open."
Jim followed Blair in, noticing how nice his ass looked in that pair of tight, worn out jeans. Jim hated when Blair wore them because Jim had a hard time focusing on what was happening, like work. Jim honestly thought Blair wore them just to distract him. Jim smiled at the thought and realized it might be true, and it was working.
Blair walked in and sat down at the table in the room. Jim shut the door after he walked in and sat across from Blair. "So, what's so important that you need to talk to me in here?"
Blair smiled at his best friend in the world. He was such a good man and Blair probably wouldn't even have to talk him into any of this.
"I saw Sophie Dawson today and she had been crying. December has got to be a hard month for her, right? I mean, she has to try and plan Christmas without Ben this year and I know she's struggling to make ends meet."
"How do you know this shit, Blair? I haven't heard a word about Sophie in ages."
"She has no family and Ben had no family either, so she's all alone and I wanted to know if you would like to be Secret Santa for the kids and Sophie. I asked her to lunch today and we're going to discuss it, but I thought I had better give you a heads up."
"We're taking Sophie to lunch today? When did you do this? Hell, I didn't even notice you were gone except when you went down to records."
Blair smiled again and said, "I can multitask well."
"Sure, that's fine about Secret Santa for the kids. She'll have to tell us what they need and so on. I'm at a loss when it comes to kids," Jim admitted.
Blair got up from the table and said, "Thanks, man. I knew you wouldn't be opposed to coming on board, but I didn't want to blindside you at lunch, either."
The two men walked out of the interrogation room and into the bullpen. Megan Connor walked up and asked, "Would you blokes like to go to lunch with me?"
"We made plans to have lunch with Sophie Dawson today. Raincheck, okay?" Blair asked.
"I hope she's doing all right. I don't see her too often, but I think she's having a very hard time. I heard that she had to sell her house," Megan whispered.
Jim was mortified that anyone was discussing this at the station. That should be Sophie's business and Sophie's alone. Jim hated gossip.
Blair must have read Jim's body language because he said, "Well, wherever she lives it's where she wants to be and it's no one else's business."
Megan looked a little embarrassed that she had told them what she had and walked away.
They sat down at the desk and Blair asked, "Did you know that Sophie sold the house?"
"It's no one's business but Sophie's, Chief. So, it shouldn't make a difference. When are we going to lunch and where?"
"Pete's Diner and she'll meet us there at noon. We haven't seen her kids in ages. We should stop by one of these nights and say hello."
Jim smiled at his love. He was such a good man. Always worrying about his co-workers. And Jim knew that he would be doing more to make Blair happy then to make Sophie happy.
"Sure, Chief. We'll ask Sophie if we can take her and the kids somewhere this weekend."
Blair smiled with appreciation of his friend and lover. "I guess we'd better get to work so we can take off for lunch at noon."
"Good idea, Chief."
Both men started working on the paperwork they needed to get done and before long it was almost noon.
*
At noon, Jim and Blair walked into Pete's Diner and saw Sophie already in a booth waiting for them. They both smiled and walked over and sat down. Sophie smiled back at them and said, "It's good to see you guys. It's been a while."
Jim was the first one to speak. "And we're sorry for that, Sophie. There is no excuse for not seeing you and the kids more often. We've been so wrapped up in work that we forget that people have lives outside of work. I'm sorry I haven't been a very good friend."
Sophie had tears in her eye and said, "Jim, I can't expect everyone to stop their lives for me and the kids. Lunch is great, but I know that the kids would love to see you some weekend. We all have Sundays off, maybe you could come over for dinner. Would you guys like that?"
"That would be great, Sophie. We love spending time with your darlings, so it'll be good to see them again. What time should we come and what can we bring?" Blair asked.
"What about 1:00 and if you could bring the potato salad, that would be great. We'll have hamburgers, if that's okay with both of you."
The waitress came up to the table and asked, "Is anyone ready to order?"
Jim grinned and said, "We're all having the meat loaf special, Barb."
"Ice teas all around?" Barb asked.
They all said yes and Barb went over to put in her order.
"In answer to your question, Sophie, hamburgers are Jim's favorite meal. So, that's perfect."
"Now, what did you want to talk to me about?" Sophie asked.
"Before you argue or answer, I want you to hear us out, okay? Jim and I would like to be Secret Santa for the kids this year for Christmas. We want to get them each two toys, some clothing, shoes and a coat. So, we need sizes and a list of things the kids want from Santa. And you can't be putting something small. It has to be something they really, really want." Blair sat back and waited for Sophie to argue, but instead she started crying.
"Sophie, please don't cry. We never meant to make you cry," Jim said patting her hand from across the table.
"I'm crying because I'm happy, guys. I was just thinking last night that I couldn't give the kids a proper Christmas and now you say this. I'm just so moved by all of it. I will make you out a list of their sizes and what they would like. I really wish you'd let me tell them it's you, though."
Barb brought their food and set things down. She asked if they needed anything more and all three said, they were good.
Blair thought about what Sophie had said for a moment and said, "No that would ruin it, Sophie. Let's keep it simple and easy for them to understand. They'll love the idea that Santa came."
Jim asked, "Could you get the list to us as soon as possible? We need to start shopping and planning. Also give us one idea for each of them from us. We'd like to bring a gift when we come over for dinner."
"You two are just so nice. I should have known that somehow Ben would have been watching over us and seen to it that someone helped me through this tough time. I'm sure glad it's you guys. Ben loved both of you and he really loved poker night at your loft."
"Do you have a sitter? We could include you on poker night, Sophie. We have a blast and I think it would boost your spirits. Not to mention, everyone has been a little worried about you and the holidays. How about coming next weekend for poker night?" Blair inquired.
"Okay, I will. It would be good for me to get out. I have a teenager that lives next to us that might be able to watch the kids. I think they would like to be with someone else, also. I've been a little blue this month. We haven't even put the tree up or anything," Sophie said.
Jim thought for a moment and came up with a brilliant plan. "What about when we come for dinner, we put up the tree? The kids can help and I think they need that too, Sophie."
"You've talked me into it, boys. Okay, Sunday you're coming for dinner at my apartment and the following Sunday I'm coming for poker night, am I right?"
Blair was practically bouncing as he ate his meal. "I can't wait for Sunday. I'm looking so forward to seeing Logan, Brooke and Danielle. I bet they've grown a lot since we saw them last. We're really sorry for not paying more attention to them, Sophie."
She had tears in her eyes again. "It's been a hard ten months, but I didn't expect everyone to give up their lives because mine changed. You came twice more than anyone else did this ten months. So, I think you're doing fine."
Jim took a drink of his tea and cleared his throat. He was very choked up over this entire meeting. "Sophie, we're going to set up once a month visits with the kids as long as they want to. We'll see what they say."
"That would be great Jim. You and Blair are the best friends a girl could have. Thank you for always thinking of us. Believe me, sometimes we need that. And I already know the kids would love going somewhere with you once a month. They really like you guys a lot."
Blair said, "Okay, let's finish lunch and get back to work before we all get fired. Sophie, if you get the list made by tonight could you bring it to us?"
"I will do that as soon as I get upstairs to Robbery. Thank you again, so, so much."
They finished eating lunch and just chatted about work and before long they walked back to the station.
*
At 4:00, Sophie came walking into Major Crimes, smiling like crazy. Everyone said hello to her and asked how she was doing. She talked with Megan Connor for a while before she took the list to Jim and Blair. Once she was done, she handed the list to Blair and said, "This is more than enough. Don't spoil them too much."
"I don't have to listen to you. You're not my mom," Blair answered.
They both laughed and Sophie left for the day. Megan walked over and saw the list and said, "What's going on?"
Without even thinking, Blair said, "We're going to be Secret Santa for Sophie's kids this year. Isn't that going to be great?"
"Oh, could I get in on this, Sandy? I would love to buy each of them a present. As long as it's a surprise. They'd be from Santa, right?"
"Ask Jim, he's in charge?"
"Jimbo, do you mind if I get in on this? If there are three of us, we could get Logan a bike for Christmas. She told me he wants one so badly, but she just didn't have enough money to get one."
"Sure, you can go in with us, but don't tell anyone else. I don't want everyone to know," Jim pointed out.
"Got it, Jimbo. I'll get something nice for each of the girls, too. I will give you a check for my portion of the bike, okay?"
Jim wished she'd stop calling him Jimbo. He sighed and said, "That'll be fine. We're getting him something else to go under the tree, too. Otherwise, he would only get the bike."
"Okay, we all buy each of them something and then we'll get the bikes for Logan and Brooke. She's six now, she's old enough for a bike, too." Megan was very excited about it.
"Remember, Megan, no one else can know. I shouldn't have opened my big mouth as it is."
"Oh, Sandy. The more the merrier. This is going to be great. Jimbo, I'll drop by with a check this weekend."
"Not on Sunday afternoon because we're going to Sophie's for dinner," Jim added.
"I'll stop by on Sunday night, later. Will that work?" Megan asked.
"Sunday night would be great," Jim replied.
Megan walked away looking happier than she had in ages. Blair wondered if this wasn't good for all of them, not just Sophie and the kids. Blair knew that Megan was probably missing her family like crazy over the holidays.
Jim called Sophie and asked, "Do the oldest kids want a bike for Christmas or something else?"
"Oh, Jim. That's too much."
"Sophie, we have three going in on it now and we want to get each of them a bike. Could you tell me Logan's favorite color? And for Brooke's too." Jim waited with pen in hand, ready to write.
"Brooke's favorite color is pink. Logan's is lime green, believe it or not. Whatever you decide on will be perfect for them."
"Talk to you later, Sophie. See you on Sunday afternoon."
"Jim, I put my address on the paper that I gave to you guys, did you see it?"
Jim glanced at the paper and smiled. "Yes, Sophie, I got it. Thank you. See you on Sunday."
Jim put his note with the paper from Sophie and said, "We have shopping to do."
"Yes, we do, Jim. We only need to have one present for each wrapped for Sunday. We'll take those over and put them under the tree when we're done. I'm so excited, man."
Jim listened to Blair's heartbeat and it was beating quite fast. Jim knew that Blair was crazy about these kids and Jim was going to be sure that they did things with the three kids from now on.
*
"Jim, check this neon green bike out over here." Blair was sitting on it and checking it out.
"Chief, that's a lot more than we were planning on spending." Jim watched Blair's face fall and Blair moved away from that one. "What the hell, Blair, we only live once. Let's get that one. It's super nice. We'll take this one that's all put together and everything."
Blair hugged Jim and said, "Thanks, man."
They found the pink one they wanted for Brooke and were done for that night. They needed to take these home and put them in the loft so they didn't get stolen. He and Blair took them upstairs and put them in the office until Christmas Eve. That way when everyone came over for poker night, they wouldn't ask about the bikes. No one would see them.
*
In the next four days, Jim and Blair shopped their little hearts out. They got each of the kids a toy, some sets of clothes, socks, pajamas, shoes and a winter coat. All of their things were in their favorite colors. Then Jim and Blair bought one extra present for each of the kids to take on Sunday for the meal. Both men were looking forward to the big day. Blair especially loved decorating trees. Jim could really have cared less, but it was for the kid's. So, he was getting into it.
*
Sunday afternoon Jim and Blair showed up at Sophie's apartment and found a very modest, but spotless environment for the family. Danielle went right to Jim and said, "Mama said you're going to put up a tree for us. When?"
"Yes, Danielle, we'll start putting it up soon. We're going to put that tree up and then we have three special packages to put underneath the tree," Jim answered.
"Wow, look mom, we got presents," Logan called out happily.
"Presents aren't the only thing in the world to be happy about. I'd rather have you be happier to see Jim and Blair then the presents," Sophie said sternly.
Brooke smiled and said, "I'm happy to see them both here carrying presents. Is that good, Mom?"
Jim and Blair couldn't help but laugh. So did Sophie. Then Brooke knew she wasn't in big trouble. Sophie brought all of the Christmas items from her closet out and they put the tree together in no time at all. Jim wasn't wild about the artificial tree, but knew that he had to work with what Sophie had. If that's what she wanted, then that's what Jim and Blair would put up. The three adults got the tree completely put together and standing up nicely and then Jim put the lights on next. Jim put a lot of them on because Logan said he wanted to be able to see them blinking from his room at night. Then it was time for the kids to decorate with bulbs and homemade ornaments. Before long they were all done and Logan put the three presents under the tree, right where they could be seen by all.
"Thank you so much for the gifts, Jim and Blair," Logan said, happily.
Brooke smiled and added, "Yes, thank you for everything. It looks so nice and Christmasy in here now. I love Christmas. Mom, do you love Christmas?"
With tears in her eyes, she lied and said, "I love Christmas. It's a wonderful time of year. Now, let's get ready for the barbecue. Brooke, why don't you show Blair how well you can read already. And Jim, would you help me in the kitchen?"
Jim got up to help Sophie and Blair snuggled with Brooke and Danielle, while Brooke read a first grade reader to him. She was reading it with ease. Logan looked on with pride written all over his face. He asked, "Don't you think she is an excellent reader? Mom and I taught her to read. She's way ahead of her class in school."
"Brooke, you're a terrific reader. I'm so proud of you. Do you like math, too?" Blair asked.
"Oh yes, I love everything about first grade, Blair."
Blair smiled and looked into the kitchen and saw the pride on Sophie's face, also. She was doing a very good job with the kids.
"Blair, next month there is a science fair and I wondered if you would like to help me with that project. I don't know what I'm going to create yet, but I'll need help. And mom said I should ask if you have time," Logan said.
"Oh, Logan, I would be thrilled to help you with the project. You just let me know when and what we're doing. I'll be here."
Before long, Jim and Sophie had all of the food cooked in the kitchen. They were having hamburgers and Jim could hardly wait. Blair didn't let him have hamburgers real often. So, this was a real treat.
They ate dinner and cleaned up and then Jim and Blair had to get home. Jim reminded Blair that Megan was coming over and they knew they had to leave. Danielle got all teary eyed when they left and this about broke Jim's and Blair's heart. They really had to spend more time with these kids. They could even take them one at a time to give them a real treat.
*
On the drive home, Jim asked, "Are they the cutest fucking kids you've ever spent a day with?"
"I can't believe you just dropped the F bomb. I'm glad you didn't do it in front of the kids. I'd hate to have to give you a spanking in front of them," Blair teased.
"I'm serious, they are the sweetest kids I've ever been around. I really, really like them."
"Jim, in all honesty they are the only kids we know. Other than Daryl, but he's past that cute stage. I like them too. We'll spend more time with them from now on. In fact, we can take them some weekend and let Sophie have time to herself."
"You're a good man, Blair."
"So are you, Jim. Now, let's get home and collect money from Megan."
*
The following Sunday, Jim and Blair hosted the poker game and Sophie was able to come. Megan and Sophie hit it off big time and laughed and talked all night long.
"Hey Jimbo, do you think you could watch Sophie's darlings next Sunday so she can go out with me?"
"I might have considered it if you hadn't have called me Jimbo."
"It's a term of endearment, Jim," Sophie said, laughing.
"Yes, Blair and I will watch the kids next Sunday. We'll come to your place, Sophie, so you don't have to drag sleeping kids around town," Jim suggested.
"Thank you, Jim and Blair," Sophie said.
The night went beautifully. Blair took so much money from Simon that Simon said he was going to fire him the next day. They all had a good laugh about that. Even Simon. Everyone left but Sophie. She said she wanted to talk to the guys.
"So, what's up, Sophie?" Blair asked.
Sophie was helping clean up as she talked. "Tuesday is Christmas Eve and I wondered if I can call you when the kids all get to sleep. Then you can bring everything over and we'll be set. Would that work? I feel like I'm taking advantage of you boys."
"We planned on waiting for your call Sophie. It's going to be great. You're not taking advantage at all. Quite the opposite. We were a little down for Christmas this year and now we're feeling much better about the holiday. As you can tell, we're happy about being Santa. Don't worry about a thing. Just give us a call when the time is right and we'll be there," Blair said.
Sophie hugged both men and said, "Thank you for everything you have done. The kids are so pleased to have you back in their lives. We'll see you Tuesday night."
Jim walked Sophie down to her car and saw that she got safely inside and drove out of the parking lot before he even went back in the building. Jim was feeling very protective of Sophie these days. If anything happened to her, the kids would have no one. Jim shook his head to get rid of that evil thought.
*
On Christmas Eve, Jim and Blair had everything ready to go over to Sophie's house. She called once and said that Logan was being a pain in the butt. He wanted to see if Santa ate his cookies that they all baked. When she finally called at 9:30, she said, "Okay, they are officially sleeping. The fun begins."
Jim and Blair hurried, because they didn't want the kids to wake up and find them there. They unloaded all of the presents and got everything set up in the living room. Sophie couldn't believe how many gifts the kids were getting. She almost cried twice. Blair kept hugging her, because he knew this was an emotional time for her. Sophie had no idea that Jim and Blair were also her Secret Santa. They had picked up quite a few presents just for Sophie. They each ate a cookie left for Santa and drank the milk. As Jim and Blair were leaving Sophie handed a manila envelope over to Blair and said, "I'd like you guys to open this tomorrow morning. No peeking, okay?"
Jim kissed Sophie on the cheek and said, "We'll open it tomorrow when we get up. You have a good time with the kids and let us know how it went."
Jim listened to make sure she locked up after they left and Blair said, "Geeze, Jim, I think she knows how to lock up. Stop checking on her."
Jim smiled at being made for using his senses for something like that.
As they drove home they were the happiest they had been in years. They both knew it was going to be a wonderful day for Sophie, Logan, Brooke and Danielle. Jim and Blair agreed that they might go by just to see them on Christmas Day, so they could see how happy they were.
*
Christmas Morning
Jim woke up to a smiling Blair lying next to him and said, "Merry Christmas, Chief."
"Are we going to open presents now?" Blair asked, bouncing on his side of the bed.
"Sure. Let's not forget the one from Sophie. We promised we would open it today."
"Come on, Jim. I already made coffee. Let's go downstairs and open our gifts."
They only had two gifts each, but both were something the boys had wanted to do. Blair gave Jim a necklace with a dog tag that had their names on it and forever on the back. And Jim got Blair a bracelet that looked like one of those bracelets for medic alert but his said, Jim and Blair and on the back forever just like Blair's had said. They laughed when they each opened their gifts at how similar they were.
Then Blair handed Jim the manila envelope and saw Jim reading what was inside. Then he saw Jim get tears in his eyes and Blair was alarmed.
"Babe, what's going on?"
"Guess what this is?" Jim asked.
"It looks like a legal document, what is it?" Blair wondered.
"It is a legal document, Sophie wants us to be the guardians of her children if anything should happen to her. She wanted us to think about it and then take it to her lawyer and have it signed there if we agree to it. She said that we would make perfect parents for her children if she wasn't there anymore. My God, talk about a perfect Christmas present. She is giving us a gift of her children if anything would happen to her. I love Sophie so much, but now I really love her even more."
Blair went into Jim's arms and said, "We'll go to her attorney's office next week and sign. I want the kids in our lives too. We need to spend a lot of time with them, so that they will think of us as family. And by the way, I love Sophie, too."
They stayed in each other's arms for quite some time and the phone rang. Jim pulled away to answer it and figured it was work.
"Jim, it's Logan, you'll never guess what Santa brought me."
"What did Santa bring you, Logan?"
"Only the coolest neon green bike you have ever seen. Wait until you see it. Mom wants to know if you and Blair would like to come to dinner today. She said that she really wanted to share the day with you. Besides, Brooke needs to learn how to ride her bike and one of you could teach her. Couldn't you?"
Jim had the biggest smile on his face and it was contagious. Blair was smiling just listening to Jim.
"Ask your mom what time we need to come, okay?" Jim asked.
Logan said, "Here's Brooke while I go and ask mom. Talk to her, Jim."
"Jim, you won't believe what I got from Santa. Logan thinks his bike is cooler than my new bike, but mine is cooler. It's bright pink and it's beautiful. Logan is telling mom that you might teach me how to ride. I would love that, Jim. Oh, Merry Christmas. Can I talk to Blair?"
Jim was about bursting with happiness as he handed the phone to Blair.
"Hello?"
"Blair, you're never going to believe what Santa brought me for Christmas…"
Jim walked over the balcony doors and looked out at the snow on the ground and the sun shining and thought life couldn't be much more perfect than this. Before long Blair slid his arms around Jim's waist and whispered, "I was quite moved, too, Jim."
"What time are we going?"
"At two o'clock. So, we have some time to kill. Want to give me another present upstairs?"
Jim pulled Blair into his arms and whispered, "That's a perfect idea. Let's go upstairs and be even happier."
The end