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Every year since Jesse had first joined the SJPD, Joe had allowed Christmas decorations to adorn the inside of the precinct. Tinsel had been looped around chairs, snow globes and angels sat on desks, and a tree lit up with fairy lights had always had its place in a corner near Rex’s seat. All had taken part in the tradition, with Joe providing the tree while Sarah, Charlie, and Jesse contributed to the decorations. Over the years the small collection had grown to two full boxes of assorted tinsel and trinkets.
When the email had come from Adele, stating no decorations would be allowed this year, the joy of the season had been sucked out of the precinct as quickly as Jesse had hit delete. Nothing was allowed. Not a sprig of mistletoe, not a single reindeer ornament, not even a candy cane. And just like that, it didn’t feel like Christmas. Without the festive precinct to step into every morning, Christmas just wasn’t the same.
“What if I could help you?” one of his oldest friends asked as they sat in a pub later that night, having just listened to Jesse lament the loss of Christmas.
Jesse glanced over the rim of his beer glass, interested, and suddenly hopeful. “How?”
His friend, wiccan and wise and currently wasted, said, “A drop of water from the river Lethe, some tinsel, and a short incantation.” They sipped their cider and shrugged. “A little bit of forgetfulness, specifically forgetting any Christmas decorations in the precinct, should do it.”
A spell? Jesse supposed it couldn’t hurt. “Okay, why not? It’s not my usual way of problem solving, but I’ll try anything to enjoy a little bit of Christmas at work as well as home.” Jesse finished his beer as he watched his friend scribble down some words on a napkin. “So, water from the river Lethe, huh? Don’t suppose you have any of that lying around.”
His friend gave him a wry smile. “That’s the easy part.”
December 21st, 3:59PM, Jesse sat quietly at his desk, a nervous energy radiating around him as Adele picked up the glass of water he had poured for her. He watched as she brought it to her lips.
He had asked her into the precinct, for a meeting, to discuss the email, because asking her again to change her mind and allow them to decorate couldn’t hurt if the spell failed. Even though he knew both Joe and Charlie had already tried. He had poured them both a glass of water and slipped just one drop from the vial of clear liquid his friend had given him into Adele’s glass. It wouldn’t harm her, he had been assured, it would only make her forget.
Adele sipped her water, Jesse held up a string of tinsel, and as Adele’s eyes focused on it, he said the three-line incantation scrawled on the bar napkin. He spoke it three times, put the tinsel back under his desk, and hoped he hadn’t just made himself look like a crazy person in front of his boss’s boss.
“What was that?” Adele asked, her brow furrowing.
Jesse shrugged. “Uh, tinsel?” He reached down and brought it out again, setting it on his desk.
Adele glanced down at the desk, and then blinked a few times. Her eyes were almost hazy, like she was looking through the tinsel. “Sorry, I’ve completely forgotten why I’ve come here today.” She made no comment on the tinsel.
“Uh…” Jesse faked forgetfulness. “You know, I can’t remember either. I guess it wasn’t important.”
“I…” She paused and looked concerned for a moment, before she shrugged. “I think it was to wish you all a merry Christmas.”
“That’s very kind,” Jesse replied, in disbelief that the spell seemed to have actually worked. She had no idea why she was here, didn’t remember the weird words he’d just spoken, and didn’t seem to even notice the tinsel. He took a chance, reached down, and brought a large snow globe out from where it had been hidden near his feet. He set it on the desk and flicked a button underneath. We wish you a merry Christmas began playing, the tinny tune like that from a music box. Adele didn’t even flinch. “You should get home before the storm arrives.”
Adele nodded. “Excellent advice. Stay warm,” she said, before she stood, and walked out.
Jesse sat a bit dumbfounded. It had worked. It had actually worked. “Oh my God, it worked!” he reminded himself and with that he stood and hurried to the elevator, punching the button for the basement. He bounced on the balls of his feet in the elevator, impatient for it to reach the floor he needed. When it did, he hurried out, sliding around a corner, using the handle of the storage room door to stop himself. He yanked the door open, grabbed the biggest of the two boxes, and when he found he could lift it, he walked carefully back to the elevator and placed it outside the closed doors. He went back and got the second box, this one a little heavier, and carefully made his way back. When the elevator doors opened, he stepped in and dragged both boxes in after him.
Once at the floor for the bullpen, he dragged both boxes out and tugged them to the centre of the room. He paused then and heard his friend’s voice in his head, ‘Just remember whatever energy you put out is returned three-fold, be it positive or negative it will come back to you.’ Jesse surmised he might forget something big, bigger than Christmas decorations. Or he might forget Christmas itself. Or maybe it wasn’t that literal. Maybe for making someone forget their no decorations rule he would have bad luck for a while. What he was doing wasn’t negative though, not really. It would make no difference to Adele’s Christmas (he hoped, oh God he hoped it only affected the precinct decorations), and everyone else would have a more positive one. So maybe ultimately the energy was positive. Either way, his friend’s final words replayed in his mind: ‘Only true love’s kiss will balance the energy out.’ Yeah, that was the hard part of it all. No wonder his friend thought getting Lethe’s water was a cinch. It really had been.
Well, the spell was cast now. He may as well decorate and hope he remembered it all after December 25th.
Jesse worked quickly, stringing the tinsel around chair legs and computers. He hung baubles everywhere something could be hung and placed an ornament on every desk. When the boxes were empty and the bullpen was twinkling with the glow from fairly lights bouncing off tinsel, he stood back and admired his work.
Was it weird no one had interrupted his decorating? It did seem awfully quiet here tonight. No, he decided, it wasn’t weird. Everyone was at home already, their section of the precinct quiet now for the night.
Satisfied, Jesse packed the boxes away, and left for the night.
The next few days passed in a blur. Maybe it was the energy returning to him, making Dec 22nd and 23rd seem like they hadn’t existed at all. He could live with that.
On December 24th, Jesse stood in front the tree someone had brought in (Joe, he assumed), a beer in his hand and a smile on his face. Because of him they had been able to have this precinct Christmas party on Christmas Eve. Because of him, even Adele was present, even if she didn’t seem fully present. Her eyes would focus on a decoration, and then seem to look through it. Whatever she thought the party was for, he hoped she was having a good time.
“I think I’m going to forget all this in a couple of days’ time,” he murmured to himself. His smile faltered and for the first time he became truly aware of the decisions he had made this week. How had he let himself go through with it? He should never have hexed Adele. He didn’t even believe in spells.
“You okay Jesse?” Charlie asked, coming to stand beside him.
Jesse blinked a few times and forced a smile. “Yeah, just uh… just thinking.”
“Why do you think you’ll forget this?”
“You heard that?”
Charlie nodded. “I did.”
“It’s nothing.”
“You sure?”
“Well… it’s nothing my true love’s kiss can’t fix,” Jesse said, chagrin in his tone.
“Sounds serious,” Charlie replied, between sips of his own beer.
“Little bit, yeah.”
Charlie put his drink down on the table. Well,” he began, glancing up. “I can’t offer you true love’s kiss, but…” He pointed to the sprig of mistletoe above him and then swooped in, pressing his lips to Jesse’s in a hard, lingering kiss.
Jesse barely kept his balance, his head swimming, his stomach fluttering with thousands of tiny butterflies. Charlie was kissing him, and damn this was the best Christmas ever. Jesse managed to regain the ability to think and returned the kiss with fervour. And something else happened as they kissed: a weird sensation of freedom, and of balance, came over Jesse. He felt like a weight had been lifted off him. But if that was the energy balancing out, if the three-fold rule was no longer haunting them, then that could only mean one thing—
Jesse awoke with a start. He woke up, pushing himself upright until he was sitting on the edge of his bed, barely awake. “What the…?” He blinked to clear the cobwebs of sleep. Not the dream though. He didn’t want to lose that. Magic spells? A hexed Adele? Okay, those two things hadn’t been so great. But Charlie, his true love, kissing him? That part of the dream he wanted to hold onto forever.
It was Christmas morning. Jesse hurried out of bed and made a beeline for the shower, his mind still a little hazy as the memory of the dream kiss replayed in his head.
He had a Christmas party at Charlie’s to attend today. And maybe, if there just happened to be some mistletoe, he might see if dreams really do come true…
END.