DISCLAIMER: Law & Order: Special Victims Unit and its characters are the property of NBC and Dick Wolf.
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Since I wrote a New Year's Eve short last year, this year we're having a snow day instead. It seemed rather appropriate right now. Please note that I was born and raised in the sunny south, so I have no idea if this is accurate for a New York City snow day – however, given recent news reports, it's seems that it might be. :-) I hope everyone has a safe and wonderful New Year's Eve and that 2011 will find you healthy, happy, and with the ones you love. Happy New Year!
ARCHIVING: Only with the permission of the author.
FEEDBACK: To sunsetwriter[at]mindspring.com
SERIES: Part of the Holiday Shorts series.
Holiday Short – Snow Day
By sunsetwriter
New Yorkers awakened this morning to ten inches of new snow and it was still coming down. A citywide alert had notified citizens that, due to treacherous travel and road conditions, those that could, were urged to stay home. Schools were closed and the city government even directed all non-essential employees not to report for duty until the snow let up and travel conditions could be assessed. For most in the city, it was a snow day!
When Olivia first received the call from her captain notifying her that, today, she was considered non-essential, she was a little insulted. Then he explained that since they had no urgent cases under investigation, he saw no reason to have them risk life and limb just to come in and sit at a desk all day. The regular call schedule remained in place, so even if they did catch a case, Munch and Fin would be notified first, giving Olivia a day to enjoy being snowed in like most of her fellow New Yorkers.
Alex had received a similar call alerting her that court had been cancelled for the day and probably the next day too, and her presence was not expected in her office nor the courthouse due to the wintry weather conditions. Anything that couldn't be handled from home via telephone, PDA, laptop, or fax would just have to wait until the snow began to melt. Even with modern technology, not much justice was being dispensed on this day since there was hardly any staff available to retrieve the email or pick up the fax that may have been sent. For today at least, the New York legal system had essentially ground to a halt.
Alex smiled as Olivia padded into the kitchen and headed straight for the coffee pot. She took a quick detour to drop a kiss on the top of Alex's head as she plopped her cell phone on the table next to Alex's open laptop.
"I've been declared non-essential," Olivia said as she poured a cup of coffee and brought the decanter over to top off Alex's half-full cup.
"Well, obviously no one asked for my opinion on that," Alex said with a smile.
Olivia gave her a crooked grin and leaned down for a quick kiss before returning the coffee pot to its place. She picked up her freshly poured cup and joined Alex at the table.
The ADA clicked a few more keys and then lowered the lid of the computer. Looking up at Olivia taking her first sip, she smiled. "And now, I'm officially done with work for the day. Court is cancelled and I just emailed Judge Preston's clerk the information she requested by ten o'clock this morning, so I'm free for the day too."
Olivia looked surprised. "You're kidding me. We actually have a snow day? Together?" Her eyes twinkled like a child.
Alex smiled in return. "Whatever shall we do?" she asked playfully.
Thoughts of their many options on a day like today flew through Olivia's brain like frames from an old filmstrip. Before she verbalized any of her ideas, Alex spoke again.
"We could make snow angels."
Olivia shook her head. "I already have you. That's the only snow angel I need."
Alex stared at her for a moment as one slender eyebrow arched and she stifled a snort of a laugh.
Olivia laughed too. "That was really lame, wasn't it?"
"It was. I thought maybe that was the newest way of calling me an Ice Queen," Alex said with amusement.
"Ha! I'll have to remember that one," Olivia said cheekily.
Alex gave Olivia a mock slug to the shoulder as she proposed a new idea. "I could challenge you to a snowball fight."
Olivia sat up straighter as her eyes gleamed. "Oooh… What do I get when I win?"
Alex feigned a look of fear. "OK, it really scares me how excited you seem by that." She hesitated for a moment. "And how sure of yourself you are. How do you know I won't win?"
The detective looked appalled. "Oh come on, how many snowball fights have you ever won?"
Alex hesitated again. "That's irrelevant," the attorney replied.
"I'll bet I could beat the pants off of you one-handed," Olivia boasted.
Alex smirked. "Well, we should just stay inside if that's your goal."
Olivia started to voice a retort and then stopped, open-mouthed as the meaning of Alex's words sunk in. She laughed. "I could be persuaded to play some indoor games instead. What'd you have in mind?" Her voice took on a flirtatious tone.
"Well, let's see…" Alex pretended to ponder. "I have Monopoly, Scrabble, Parcheesi, Chess, Pictionary – but we need more than two for that one."
Olivia's expression went blank. "Not exactly the games I was thinking of," she said flatly.
Alex smiled. "Oh? So what were you thinking of?"
"Strip poker comes to mind."
Alex scoffed. "Now you're just trying to get me naked."
"I see nothing wrong with that," Olivia said matter-of-factly.
"Except that it's seventeen degrees outside and there's nearly a foot of snow on the ground."
Olivia chuckled. "Well, Alex, I wasn't planning on making you run naked through the snow." She tilted her head. "Although that would be a sight to see," she added with a grin.
Alex rolled her eyes. "Maybe we should revisit the snowball fight." Then another thought hit her. "Or, we could go to the park and build a snowman. I haven't done that since I was a kid."
"How about a snow woman?" Olivia grinned and held her hands up in front of her and made a squeezing motion with her fingers. "With two perfect snow globes."
Alex laughed, shaking her head. "I think the snow has infiltrated your brain and turned you into a teenage boy. A horny, teenage boy."
"It's a snow day! Do you know how long it's been since I had a snow day?"
"Well, what did you do on that one?"
Olivia thought for a moment and started to chuckle. "Oh my God, I haven't thought of that in years." She smiled as the memories came back. "I was twelve. We had a massive snowball fight – boys against girls. This one kid, Buddy Smithson, was a real bully. He went on to play college baseball, so he had a pretty good arm. He kept smacking Alicia Ramirez in the head with a snowball every time she'd poke her head above the snow bunker we'd made."
Alex looked surprised. "You actually made a snow bunker?"
Olivia grinned. "I take my snowball fights very seriously."
"Obviously."
Olivia smirked. "Anyway, at one point, Buddy hit Alicia in the face and it took everything she had not to cry. It was one thing to have a good snowball fight, but it was something else entirely when someone got hurt because of it. Even then, Buddy kept pelting Alicia with snowballs and he just wouldn't let up. Finally, I told her to grin and bear it one more time while I snuck around the other side of the bunker. On my go, she stood up, Buddy let one fly, and I beaned him right in the face with a snowball the size of a grapefruit." Olivia laughed and added smugly, "I had a pretty good arm for a girl."
Alex smiled. "What happened then?"
"He coughed and sputtered and yammered on and on about snow in his eyes and going blind – the big baby. He could dish it out, but he couldn't take it. He decided then that he'd had enough of the snowball fight, so he ran home with his tail between his legs."
"What did you and Alicia do to celebrate your victory?"
Olivia smiled. "She called me her hero, kissed me on the lips, and then ran off to play with the other girls."
Alex grinned. "What did you do?"
Olivia shrugged with a wry smile. "I went home in a daze trying to figure out what had just happened."
Alex nodded. "So that explains it then."
"Explains what?" Olivia asked.
"The reason you're so good at helping damsels in distress – you started early." Then Alex smiled. "And… why snow days now seem to make you horny."
"What??" Olivia gaped.
"Unrequited love."
Olivia chuckled. "I'd hardly call it love, but I guess it did make me wonder about a few things." she replied with a smirk.
"And are you still wondering?"
Olivia shook her head. "Nope. You see I finally met this really wonderful snow angel who made me see things more clearly than ever before."
"Oh really?"
"Yep. And now I get to share my snow days with her."
"Well, that's ironic."
"What is?"
"You're her hero too. But she's not going to run away and play with the other girls."
Olivia smiled. "What about the kiss?"
Alex leaned over and kissed Olivia and then stood up and reached for her hand. "How'd you like to join me in my bunker?"
Olivia smiled as she grasped Alex's hand and stood to follow her. "I love snow days!"
The End