ci5hq | The Pro's Advent Story Calendar - Day 6

"The Christmas Story" by DVS is a warm, feel-good Christmas story with the added bonus of being a first-time story for the lads. Cowley assigns his team to watch a suspect flat. In order to get a good observation point, Doyle convinces an OAP that he needs to move out of his flat for a few days so that repairs can be made. Bodie isn't so sure it was a good idea...

"Are you out of your mind?" Bodie hissed as they stood outside the door again, watching Mr Olson move slowly down the hallway to the stairs.
"Why? It's perfect. We get the use of his flat for the price of a few repairs."
"You're actually going to fix that window?" Bodie wanted to know.
"Bodie! It's Christmas. Besides, it gives an excuse to hang about the window, doesn't it?"
"Expenses are going to make very interesting reading this month," Bodie predicted.

But when Bodie brings in supplies for breakfast we get to see that big softie that Doyle knows is hiding inside his partner:

"What's this?" Doyle asked, rummaging through the bags Bodie had brought...
"Must be the pots of jam." Bodie had bought fresh bread and butter, and jam. His favourites, but he had known Doyle liked them, too.
"One of them has a bow on it," Doyle observed as he emptied the sack.
"That's for the old man. We get the strawberry and the grape."
"Bodie?"
Bodie sighed. "You needn't sound so surprised about it. You're not the only one with charitable impulses. Thought it would make up for kicking him out of his own home on Christmas Eve.
"I'll put it up here in the cupboard," Doyle said, quietly. Bodie wished he'd never thought of it; something in the tone of voice Doyle was using was embarrassing him.

So sit back by the fire, sip some wine and enjoy The Christmas Story by DVS

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

From:

msmoat.livejournal.com

Oh, yes, I love this one. I like her other main Christmas story as well--the one where they are in the flat that belongs to the gay couple--but this one is my favorite of hers. Thank you for the reminder!

heliophile-oxon.livejournal.com

I pretty much adore this story - re-read it quite often, any old time of the year! It's one of the first ones I made a kindle cover image for, I couldn't resist it :-)
(coincidentally, the extract you quoted contains one of those little impossibilities that pull me up - the grape - but other than that tiny tiny slip I love so much about this story! The way they are with each other, all the detail of the cold flat, everything)

merentha13.livejournal.com

I'm not sure I understand the "impossibility". You don't have grape jam? or did I miss something else? I can be a bit slow! *g*

And I like the cover! If I can figure out how to get it on my kindle, I'm going to add it. We used to make those "trees" every year when I was a kid.

Oh, yes, sorry I should have explained - I have no idea why this should be, but grape jam basically does not exist in the UK. I guess you might find some nowadays if you looked really really hard, but in the 70s and 80s I don't think anyone here knew that such an exotic thing might even be conceivable *g*
We have apricot jam by the bucketful, but no peach jam. None. We have blackcurrant, blackberry, plum, strawberry, raspberry and various other berries ... but I personally have never ever seen a jar of grape jam or indeed any kind of grape preserve in my life 0.0

Glad you like the cover :-))) I loved the idea of the two of them in that bare little flat ... coming up with this "tree" *g*