Author Notes:  Spell and Grammer Checks only.  And the nick picking by the hubby.  This is to answer the Offical Thanksgiving Challenge at Cascadetimes (Angie, I'm glaring at you!  :) )  Happy Holidays to all my sibs, you're the best

Rated:  PG - for mild Jim language!  Other than that pretty harmless!
 

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"I SO do not want to go shopping, Jim."  Blair complained as he walked across the loft
parking lot to the Ford.  "It's starting to snow, for Pete's sake, man!  Can't you just eat
regular stuffing?"

Four days before Thanksgiving was not the day to be doing shopping for last minute items.
Blair knew this but try convincing Jim.  Nooooo, he had to have the one type of stuffing
that everyone in Cascade had bought last week!

"What's so special about Stove Top's Chicken and Herbs?"  Blair demanded again.  This
was the fifth store they had stopped at in two days.  Jim prowled the stuffing section and
grilled the manager about possible stock in the storeroom while Blair stood by explaining
that his partner was off his medication.

Jim shook his head, already in a crappy mood.  "I just want it!  Is that alright?"

Blair mocked his righteous reason.  "Because I want it, he says!"

Jim halted letting Blair plow into his back.  "Get the damn pumpkin pie Sandburg and let's
get out of here." Slinging three boxes of Original Stove Top in the cart he continued down the isle.

Blair took off in the opposite direction with his own list in hand.  "You want Lee's or Mrs.
Smith's?"  He said quietly.  Knowing full well Jim was monitoring him.

Standing over the freezer case he looked at the selection of frozen pies.  "Umm, Lee's has
this huge pie with flaky crust and Mrs. - Hey, what are you doing?"

Jim came from behind him in stealth mode and nudged him aside.  "I don't care who makes
it, just pick two!"

Blair smirked, "What's wrong?  No Chicken and Herbs here either, big guy?"

Tossing the pie in the cart Jim wheeled around in the direction of the checkout.  Blair
followed behind him looking over the list he'd made last week.  They had everything they
needed for a traditional, no experimental Sandburg Foods, Thanksgiving.

"I need to go down the baby isle, Jim."

Jim halted again.  "Baby isle? Or should I ask?" His jaw clinched so tight Blair just knew a molar was going to pop out and lodge in his forehead at any minute.

Blair smiled ever so sweetly and somewhat sarcastically, "If you'd get over this stuffing
deal, man, you'd remember that we promised Lora we'd pick up Pampers for her two
youngest since her hubby is working late tonight."

He did remember.  He just didn't like the idea of being reminded!  He wanted Chicken
and Herbs Stuffing with his turkey and he was pretty close to getting ugly about it

"Get 'em and let's go."
 
 
 

Checking out of Publix was a trial by fire experience.  Especially for holiday shoppers
and grouchy stuffing seeking sentinels.  Crabby cashiers, the lady without her check cashing card, the bagger that was as fast as syrup running uphill. It took everything Blair had not to just hog tie
Jim and shove him under the bottom rack of the cart. If you complain one more time about that stupid stuffing, Jim!

Finally getting outside the snow had began to build slight drifts around light poles and building sides.  Jim could hear the tiny flakes hitting the cars and disintegrating.  Being peeved some of his senses went up a notch higher.  Which in Blair’s words:  Makes for a grouchy sentinel.

"Man, this sucks, Jim!"  Blair complained as he hopped in the truck with the three bags
they came out with.  "My ears are freezing!"  Settling the grocery bags between his feet he dug into his trusty backpack he produced the Fargo hat.

Jim took one look at that hat and looked ready to explode.  "I HATE that hat, Chief!  I
thought you lost it somewhere. I WAS hoping you lost it somewhere."

Blair laughed, "You were hoping! That’s so cruel, Jim."  Snuggling the furry hat down on his head he pulled the earflaps down.  "You know, with my hair so short man, my head is really freezing."

Jim started the truck mumbling something about killing the hat the first chance he got!  And
Jim really hated that hat!  A nice little fire set to it would certainly put him in a better mood.
Or tragically running over it with a street sweeper!

"Echo 7, Dispatch."  The radio came to life just as they pulled out of Publix.

"Dispatch, Echo 7, go ahead."  Jim held the mic in one hand while he navigated the
roads carefully.  They were just slick enough to cause an accident.

"Car thief in orange convertible headed west on Loggings Road.  Units in area request
back up.  Use cautions all units.  Convertible had six live ducks in the rear seat."

"10-4 Dispatch, Echo 7 out." Hanging up the mic he looked over at Blair who was already
getting in the pursuit mode.

"Ducks?"  Blair repeated.  "Ducks.  In the middle of winter."

Jim gunned the engine the chase was on.  Turning left on Vine Street Jim fell in behind
the orange car.  With the top down it was hard to miss the ducks in the backseat.  Racing
to catch up to the car Blair began to laugh.

The poor kidnapped ducks were a flurry of white feathers and noise. Each jolt of the car sent

Them quacking to the other side of the car!

"What kind of idiot steals a car full of ducks?"  The Ford fishtailed on a slick patch of road
and bounced him into the passenger door.  "Ow!  Jim take it easy!"

Focused on the car Jim could hardly filter out the quacking ducks as they protested being
manhandled by the speeding car.  They were flapping and squawking and squealing so
bad Jim was wincing at the sound.

"Tune the ducks out!"  Blair gripped the dashboard, stealing glances at Jim and then back
to the car.

Wiping the Ford into a hard left turn the grocery bag with the pies slid across the floorboard
and lodged under Jim's foot.  "Damn it, Chief, get the pies, get the pies!"

Seeing the danger Blair dove for the pies before they wrecked or the pies were wrecked!
 

"Hang on Chief, I've got him!"  Jim corned the car in a K-Mart parking lot.  The suspect
had driven himself into a do-it-yourself-car wash and the car would not fit out the back
of the stall.  Skidding to a halt Jim overcompensated for the slick pavement and the Ford
slid and bumped into the side of the building.

"Christ!"  Blair cursed when the jarring commotion ceased.  Being wedged on the floorboard had protected him from the usual loose canon effect.

"Jim?"  Climbing back onto the seat he found Jim had hit the driver door window pretty
hard.  "You alright?  Jim." Jim as sitting slack in the seat. His head resting heavily against the window.

He was dazed without a doubt.

"Get that SOB!"  With Jim's side of the truck pinned against the building he couldn't move.
Not to mention the hard whack his head took on impact. "And the damn ducks!"

Later that evening…..

Blair slipped into the loft as quietly as he could, dropping his keys in the basket without some much as a clank. A few lights were on and the fireplace was stoked and sending out welcoming warmth to Blair’s frozen body. He could just make out Jim’s outline on the couch.

"Chief."

"Yea, Jim, it’s me. How’s your head?" Shrugging out of his jacket and Fargo hat he hung them on the hook behind the door.

Jim sat up somewhat and looked at him. His face pinched in pain and his eyes hooded. "Like a convertible full of ducks rang through it."

Blair crossed the living room and sat down on the coffee table, a brown shopping bag in hand. "I’ve got something that just might make you feel better, big guy."

Jim had slid down and was horizontal on the couch again. "Something for this headache?"

Blair laughed softly, "No man, even better." The bag made a rustling noise causing Jim a brief spasm of pain behind his eyes. "Look."

Opening his eyes Jim’s fell on three boxes Blair held loving in his arms. "Chicken and Herbs!" Forgetting his headache he sat up fully and took the boxes from Blair. His sense of smells already drawing in the scent of seasonings and spices that fulfilled his picture of Thanksgiving.

"Where?" He began and Blair silenced him.

"Lora gave it to us." He said quietly. His heart full with satisfaction and happiness. "Seems her hubby likes Original so we swapped. She says ‘thank you’ for getting the Pampers."

"I’ve been a real ass, Chief." Jim apologized.

"Hey, I’m used to it!" Blair ducked as a couch pillow came flying towards his head.

THE END
November 1999                    
 

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