Work Text:
“Higgy! Hey, come check this out!”
Juliet returned the dish towel to its rightful place on the oven door then pressed the start button on the dishwasher. Thomas had made them a lovely spinach lasagna for dinner, and now that the kitchen was clean she was ready for a night on the couch with her husband and a Christmas movie.
She found him sprawled out on said couch looking at something on his phone. He righted himself as Juliet perched next to him. His right arm wrapped around her and pulled her to him as if their hips were magnetized.
“Look what Bernardo sent me.”
He held his phone where she could see it and swiped through several snapshots of the ranch in the mountains of Virginia covered in a couple inches of freshly fallen snow. There was even one of some of the horses in their winter coats. Juliet oohed and ahhed and spent several minutes admiring the scenery.
“Do they regularly get snow this early in December?” Juliet asked. Thomas nodded.
“Once in a while they’ll even get snow in October. He said a few places got so much they had to cancel school a couple days this week.”
Juliet sighed and leaned heavier into him.
“I’ve always wondered what a snow day would be like.”
Thomas jumped as if startled.
“Wait a sec, you’ve never had a snow day? Doesn’t it snow in London?”
“It does. But when you attend boarding school there’s really no need to cancel classes when everything’s located in the same few buildings.”
“Well that’s not fun.”
“That’s boarding school.” Juliet let out a humorless laugh. “Now, I believe it’s your turn to pick tonight’s movie?”
They settled into the corner of the couch as Thomas turned on Home Alone, but even as Kevin McCallister battled the Wet Bandits Thomas’ mind was elsewhere. When finally the entire McCallister family was reunited he had already cooked up a foolproof plan.
That following Wednesday Juliet was awoken before her alarm went off by some little annoyance in her ear.
“Higgy,” Thomas whispered. He squeezed her waist and pressed a kiss to her cheek. “Hey, Higgy.”
“Thomas. What’s wrong?” She tried to sit up, but Thomas held firm.
“It’s okay.” He rubbed her side then slipped his hand beneath her shirt to rest against her stomach. He kissed her cheek again. “Nothing’s wrong.”
Juliet blinked, her eyes adjusting to the still dark room and the fact she’d seemingly been awoken for no good reason. Or at least she thought that until she noticed Thomas’ grinning face.
“Why do I get the feeling you’re up to something?”
“Because you’re so smart. But I promise it’s a good something.” Somehow his mouth stretched into an even wider grin. “We have a snow day, Higgy!”
“Thomas, did you fall out of bed and bump your head during the night? We’re on Oahu, not at your uncle’s ranch.”
He laughed and pushed himself up to sit against the headboard.
“C’mere. Gotta show you something.”
Juliet sighed, resigned to the fact this was what she had signed up for on that hospital balcony, and also once again when they’d married that past spring. Once she was settled Thomas held up his phone and pressed play on a video. It took her sleep-addled brain a moment to realize it was a replay of Oahu’s morning news show from the previous week.
“Keep your eye on the bottom of the video.” Thomas instructed.
Juliet focused on the blue bar at the bottom of the phone and laughed out loud when she saw it read, SCHOOL CLOSINGS. Thomas practically vibrated with excitement as different schools from around the island popped up saying they either had a delayed opening or were closed entirely in alphabetical order. Soon enough the Ks then Ls passed and they were onto the Ms.
“Wait for iiittt,” Thomas paused.
MAGNUM AND HIGGINS INVESTIGATIONS - CLOSED
Thomas burst into a joyous cheer loud enough to startle the lads awake across the room. They padded over to the bed, huffing and snorting.
“I know, lads. That was a lot of noise so early in the morning.” Juliet patted the comforter and they jumped up to make themselves comfortable. “It’s a good thing he’s so cute.”
She kissed his jaw and nodded to his phone.
“How on earth did you manage to pull that off?”
“Cade helped me make the video. I texted him last week and he had it for me the next day. I then just had to wait for a day when we didn't have any meetings scheduled.”
“I should have known. So what does one do on a snow day?”
“Well, normally if you know the night before that school’s closed the following day you sleep in. But since we’re already awake I have something else in mind.” He detached himself from her arms before climbing out of bed and opening one of the drawers of his dresser. Juliet watched in amusement as he pulled two new sets of Christmas pajamas out. The pants were soft red flannel covered in tiny Christmas trees and lights while the white t-shirts bore images of Santa Claus and his reindeer relaxing under some palm trees on the beach.
Every time Juliet thought there was no conceivable way she could possibly love Thomas any more than she already did, he went and did something so sweet and thoughtful, but so simple she turned into a pile of goo.
“Christmas jammies and breakfast to start the day. Afterwards we'll make a pillow and blanket nest and watch some Christmas movies.”
One pile of goo - coming right up.
Once changed into their new attire, the couple padded downstairs to the kitchen for sustenance for their snow day. While Juliet started the coffee brewing, Thomas opened a cabinet and retrieved something he’d stashed for this very morning.
“No pancakes?” Juliet asked when she saw her husband grabbing two cereal bowls.
“Nope! A snow day calls for some sugary cereal with a cartoon mascot.” He held the brightly colored box up that Juliet was sure contained enough sugar and artificial flavoring to send anyone bouncing off the walls for hours. But there was no way she was saying no when he’d gone through all this trouble for her. Instead she just grabbed the milk from the fridge and two spoons from the utensil drawer.
“So what was little Thomas Magnum’s favorite snow day activity? Pelting passing cars with frozen snowballs?”
Thomas laughed around a mouthful of cereal.
“Okay, maybe once or twice my friends and I may have thrown a couple of snowballs at the snowplows or even the front of the house of our school principal. But mostly we’d bundle up in our snowpants and coats and head over to Mason’s Hill with the other kids from school. It was the longest, steepest hill in town and we’d all take turns dragging our sleds to the top and flying down over and over again. I can’t tell you how many times we did that from morning to dark. My legs always felt like jello the next day from trekking up that thing.” He slurped another spoonful down. “You didn’t have snow days, but did you ever get to play in the snow?”
“I spent time in boarding school, Thomas, not a colony on the moon. Of course I did.” Her mouth turned up into the little smile that made Thomas’ heart both clench and sing; the one she always got when she was thinking about her childhood. “There was a park close to my home that me and several of the other kids in the area used to sleigh down during wintertime. It scared me at first, because there were so many trees near the bottom and a boy had once broken his leg skidding into one. But one year at Christmas my grandmother was visiting and we took a walk. I told her all about my fear and she listened so intently while other kids went gallivanting about. When I finished she took my hands in hers and said, Juliet, it’s okay to be scared, but if you allow that fear to dictate your life you’re going to miss out on so much. I went down that hill later that afternoon and countless times after.”
Thomas just sat there wishing for the millionth time that he could have met his wife’s grandmother.
While Juliet washed up their bowls and coffee mugs, Thomas went in search of every blanket and pillow he could find in the guest house. The lads returned from their morning patrol, tilting their heads in confusion as their mistress moved the coffee table from the spot it had always resided in.
“I know, my darlings. Your daddy is a lot, but we love him because of and despite it.”
On cue, Thomas came bounding down the stairs clutching a horde of blankets and pillows. Juliet wasn’t even sure how he could see around the mountain in his arms.
“Mama likes that I’m a lot, boys. Don’t let her fool yas!” He dropped what he’d collected onto the couch and took off jogging back up the stairs. Juliet rolled her eyes and began assembling their little nest. When Thomas returned a couple minutes later he found his wife and dogs making themselves comfortable amid the comfy mound. He tossed three more pillows their way then burrowed in next to Juliet. She handed him the remote and curled into his arms.
“You pick the first movie.”
Thomas was more than happy to oblige.
By the time the clock ticked over to the afternoon the couple had watched two Christmas movies and the Christmas episode of an 80s detective show Thomas had grown up watching. The lads were snoring at their feet and Juliet was on her way to joining them when Thomas gently roused her.
“How about I make us lunch? Grilled cheese and tomato soup?”
The mention of her husband’s cooking perked Juliet right up. She nodded against him then stretched like a cat in his arms.
“That sounds delicious. If we get back into our little nest afterwards I am going to fall asleep, though.”
Thomas chuckled, smoothing a hand over her curls.
“Well after lunch we need to get changed into real clothes. There’s one more thing to do on this snow day.”
“I wanted to take you sledding, but since I couldn’t figure out how to get a hill of artificial snow to Robin’s Nest on such short notice, I thought this might be a nice alternative.”
Thomas pulled the Ferrari into a parking lot outside of a large domed structure. Juliet was sure whatever this was hadn’t been in this spot a few weeks ago. Then her eyes landed on the sign near the entrance.
“This is an ice skating rink?”
“Pretty cool, huh? I guess whatever the dome is made out of helps keep everything insulated inside enough that they can keep the ice frozen.”
“I haven’t been skating in ages, probably since I was little.”
“I know. We won’t talk about the last time you were supposed to go skating…” Thomas shot her a side-eye that lacked any real heat. Juliet laughed and leaned over to kiss his cheek.
“I’d like to go now, please, with my husband, on our snow day.”
“I think I can make that happen.” He grinned as they climbed from the car.
Inside the dome they found a quintessential winter wonderland. Christmas trees and evergreen boughs decorated the area along with little white twinkle lights and giant red bows. Classic Christmas songs as well as some new ones played over speakers throughout the arena. There was even a little hot chocolate and warm cookie stand for when they finished with their time on the ice. Juliet was thankful Thomas had thought to bring along two sweatshirts since it was significantly cooler inside especially when they got closer to the rink.
Once their skates were acquired the couple quickly changed into them before carefully making their way out onto the ice. It had indeed been years since either of them skated, but after a few minutes they were comfortable and content enough to cruise along the outer rim holding hands.
“Did you get to skate a lot growing up?” Juliet asked when they took a break along the wall.
“Not really. Went a couple times with some friends and my mom. I was big into roller blading for a time as a kid, though. We used to play street hockey a little in middle school.”
They started up again lazily making circles around the rink when Thomas spotted a teenager trying to show off for his girlfriend. Just as he was going to speed away and attempt something similar, Juliet gripped his hand tighter.
“Absolutely not. We will not be making a trip to Kings today. Plus, you don’t need to do fancy tricks to impress me. Your heart alone does that.” She kissed his cheek and marveled at the way his chest puffed out.
The rest of their time on the ice was spent pleasantly enough, then after returning their skates the couple shared two hot chocolates and some fresh chocolate chip cookies on one of the benches.
“This has been the loveliest day, Thomas.” She leaned her head against him as his arm wrapped around her shoulders. “Thank you. This was just what I needed.”
He kissed her head and pulled her impossibly closer.
“What do you think about getting back into our jammies and climbing back into our little blanket nest when we get home for some more Christmas movies? Maybe a nap beneath the Christmas tree before dinner?”
“And perhaps a little something more when it gets dark later beneath the Christmas tree?” Her mouth turned up in the grin that Thomas adored.
Thomas angled his head to kiss her hard and quick. His eyes were already lit up in anticipation.
“Now that sounds like the perfect ending to our perfect snow day, Higgy.”