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“You can't be seriously considering wearing that to the stationʼs Christmas party,” Carlos cries out when TK steps out of the walk-in closet in his room.
Carlos has been waiting for TK to get ready for about twenty minutes now. They had agreed that he would come pick TK up and they would show up at the party together since Carlos had a shift that ended barely an hour before the party was supposed to start — his apartment was too far away from the station and the precinct to make it in time, so when TK told him he could get ready in his house, Carlos had accepted. It’s their new normal now — the Strand household feels as much as home to Carlos as the apartment does to TK these days, with how much time they spend in each other’s house. TK takes any chance he has to spend the night at Carlosʼ whenever their shifts allow him to, and Carlos is used to hanging out in the Strandʼs living room after any of Owenʼs chemo sessions.
But it's testing Carlosʼ patience now to sit through TKʼs antics while not being able to decide on which sweater to wear, while Carlos has been ready in his nicest jeans and a comfy pearl white sweater with a round neck and soft edges — the way his mom taught him to dress when heʼs trying to impress his significant other’s found family.
And TK walks out of his closet — Carlos would need to unpack the symbolism behind that image — wearing what can only be described as an atrocious article of clothing. Carlos doesn’t even know if it is actually a sweater — it's got the shape, but the embroidered reindeer with a red pompom as the nose and the sequins as antlers don't go well with the bright green in the background and the small details in red peppered across the fabric. The colors bring out the translucent green in TKʼs eyes —Carlos will concede that — but it is still hard to look at without being blindsided.
“It was this one or the Reindeer Sign blue one,” TK explains, shrugging. He’s bending to get his shoes from underneath the bed, and that may distract Carlos briefly but not enough that he doesn’t pick up on the comment.
“Wait, there’s more where this sweater came from?” Carlos blinks incredulously. “How many ugly sweaters do you own, TK?”
TK pauses in his quest to slip into his sneakers to look up at his boyfriend bewildered. “The normal amount, you know,” he finally speaks. When Carlos simply stares at him, TK sighs. “Don't you have any ugly Christmas sweaters? Isn’t that like, tradition here?”
“Uh, no?”
TK snickers. “Back in New York, we had this holiday party where everyone showed up wearing the ugliest sweater in town, and we even had a contest. I won every single time.”
“I—don’t think that should make you proud,” Carlos pipes in hesitantly.
“Spoilsport,” TK jabs at him. “We may not have that contest here, but I am wearing my ugliest sweater anyway.”
Carlos nods, understanding the truth behind TKʼs explanation. He knows how many things his boyfriend has had to leave behind upon uprooting his whole life — any resemblance of normalcy had been thrown out the window after Alex and everything that happened. TK had to start anew, in a different city in a different state with a different and new crew. Sharing traditions with such a diverse group of people while still getting to know them might be too much for one single man — Carlos would think this is TKʼs way of doing things heʼs familiar with.
It still isn’t an excuse for such an attack to good taste.
“I refuse to be seen with you in public while you're wearing that,” Carlos insists.
“One, I will be wearing a coat until we reach the station,” TK punctuates his words by grabbing his jacket and slipping his arms into it. “And two, we will be with family, Carlos. They already know me.” TK laughs a little. “It will be you standing out. You're wearing a plain white sweater.”
Carlos shakes his head but follows his boyfriend outside and into the car. He drives them to the station while mulling over the fact that he is, in fact, wearing a simple sweater to a Christmas party. However, he doesn’t have any more time to dwell on the fact on whether or not heʼs dressed aptly for the occasion — they're already finding a parking slot near the station.
When they enter, Carlos marvels at the way the play has transformed for the holidays. There are fairy lights dangling off every corner of the station and a big tree with decorations next to the stairs that lead to the Captainsʼ offices. Carlos looks up longingly; he already misses Michelle so much on a daily basis, seeing her office decorated by someone else is something heʼs been trying to avoid. It’s not that he doesn’t like Captain Torres — it's just that she isn’t his best friend.
TK rushes inside to greet his father, who's been commanding a shift with half their team until a few minutes before, leaving Carlos to fend for himself. He ends up approaching a large table set up by the far side of the aisle, where Marjan is keeping guard. She’s wearing an orange scarf with a few white dots and a black blouse over dark trousers. It’s probably the first time Carlos sees her without wearing sweatpants.
“Hey,” she greets him, handing out a plastic cup. Carlos drinks from it; it tastes like cinnamon, without a single drop of alcohol. She grabs one for herself. “You look a bit lost.”
“Maybe I am,” Carlos admits. “Apparently I am not dressed for this party,” he announces, gesturing down to his sweater and jeans.
“Neither am I,” Marjan laughs. “Mateo has been nagging at me to wear one of those horrendous sweaters with even more horrible designs on them, but I have played the Muslim card. What’s your excuse?”
Carlos chuckles. “I only brought this to TKʼs house.”
Marjan smiles softly as she scans the room, not replying to him yet. Carlos mimics her, taking in the rest of the crew as they trail inside. There’s Judd walking in hand in hand with Grace, both wearing antlers; Paul is chatting with Tim and Nancy, their matching sweaters in green, red and white not holding a candle to the one TK is wearing.
“Your boyʼs there,” Carlos points at Mateo, who has just exited the lockers room. Marjan shakes her head at him.
Carlos has to suppress barking out a laugh when he sees that Mateoʼs sweater is lit. “Does it have a tree with fairy lights on it? Lights that are on?”
“What can I say? TK mentioned the ugly sweater contest and you know Mateo, heʼs very, very, very competitive, even if he doesn’t let it show,” Marjan explains.
“You mean to tell me that there’s actually a contest?”
“Yup,” Marjan says, sipping from her cup. “TK said it was important to him and his father, so.”
Carlos nods. “Maybe next year I could try and join.”
“I don’t think TK minds, you know?” Marjan nudges at him. “Heʼs happy having us here. Especially you. He hasnʼt shut up about how you were coming to the party with him for a week.”
Carlos feels himself blushing, but he doesn’t say anything. He stares at TK, who has now walked out of his fatherʼs office along with Owen. His boyfriend winks at him with a wide smile, and makes a full show of climbing down the stairs while parading his sweater. Carlos huffs out a laugh and shakes his head, but he doesn’t move when TK reaches him and slots himself into Carlosʼ arms.
“Ready for the best holiday party of your life?” TK questions. Carlos squints his eyes in a mock frown before planting a kiss on TKʼs nose.
“Ready.”