This is the last chapter of the story and has taken me longer to post than I had originally intended. I want to say a big thank you to everyone who read, reviewed, favorited and followed this fic! I've had an absolute blast writing it, as the plotline has been pretty ridiculous, so it has made for some very lighthearted writing while I continue to work on my darker story "Dead or Alive".

I wanted this fic to end on a very happy note, so please be forewarned that this chapter contains a lot of cheesy fluff, lol. :)

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Olivia never would have imagined it to be possible on this vacation from hell, but she actually feels somewhat content as she lays in bed that evening, the clock ticking steadily toward midnight and signifying that Christmas Eve is about to switch over to Christmas Day. This is the first holiday in many years that she hasn't spent alone, and there is a warmth swelling inside her chest instead of the usual knot of annoyance that has resided there since they had left the city.

The remainder of the day has been uncharacteristically peaceful after Carisi's justifiable meltdown in the backyard, and everyone had participated with the decorating process once they were in dry clothing and loaded down with mugs of hot chocolate and plates of shortbread cookies from the kitchen. The alcohol consumption had been kept to a bare minimum as they had transformed both the inside and the outside of the cabin into a dazzling display of Christmas lights and decorations, bright orange flames blazing in the fireplace while festive music had played on the radio.

Fin had graciously let Carisi have the master bedroom once again, and had tucked himself back into the bottom bunk across from Olivia's without complaint. Shockingly, Amanda has also been very quiet herself, the occasional rustle of sheets and groaning of springs the only indication that someone is in the bed above Olivia. It is mostly silent in the cabin now, the distant clicking of toenails downstairs indicating that Frannie has commenced with her usual nightly pacing, the dog having refused to set foot inside this room with them since the initial tour by Carisi.

Olivia is understanding of Frannie's extreme reluctance to join them as she gazes suspiciously at the giant clown sitting in the corner, the toy continuing to look disturbingly threatening even without copious amounts of booze swimming through her system. As if her younger blonde co-worker has been reading her thoughts, there is sudden movement in the bed above her before a waterfall of golden hair is spilling over the frame and Amanda's face appears upside down in Olivia's vision.

"Jesus!" Olivia hisses in surprises, rearing back on the mattress and glaring sternly at Amanda. "You scared the hell out of me. What are you doing?"

"I just wanted to see if you were still awake," Amanda whispers with a hesitant smile, Olivia batting her colleague's hair out of the way with an impatient hand.

"Well, considering my heart just tried to burst right out from the inside of my chest, yes, I'm awake," she grumbles tiredly, feeling that familiar irritation creeping in again. "What's going on, Amanda?"

"Nothing," the other woman replies softly, still hanging upside down like a bat in the darkness. "I was just wondering if you've heard anything in the past few minutes, like someone talking?"

"No, I haven't heard anyone talking besides you," Olivia says pointedly, arching an eyebrow at her detective. "Why do you ask?"

"I think the clown was talking to her," Fin pipes up in a hushed tone from his own bed.

"Oh, come on." Olivia sputters out an incredulous laugh as she swipes another frustrated hand at the cascade of blonde hair tumbling down in front of her. "Please tell me that's not the reason you are hovering over my bed like some kind of obnoxious nocturnal creature when it's almost midnight and we should all be asleep. You know Carisi is going to have us up at the crack of dawn to open presents. And you don't even have the excuse of being drunk this time, so it's all in your head. It's just a stuffed toy, Amanda. A creepy one at that, but it's just a doll."

"I'm pretty sure the clown whispered my name," Amanda confides in a low voice as if afraid the inanimate object will overhear her, Olivia rolling her eyes and sighing in response.

"Just be glad it's not moaning your name," Fin answers with a snicker. "I think that would be much more disconcerting."

"Oh my god, the last thing I want to do is imagine that horrifying thing in any kind of sexual scenario," Amanda sputters in disgust, Fin barking out a loud laugh in reply and Olivia immediately shushing them both.

"Okay, Fin, you are not helping the situation," she chides firmly, swinging her legs over the side of the bed so her body is sitting in an upright position and scrubbing her hands over her face as her head almost collides with Amanda's. "And you're going to wake up Carisi. It took ages for him to settle down tonight, so please keep your voices down."

The Italian detective had been as excited as a little boy before they had all gone to bed, making sure to put out a large glass of cold milk and a heaping plate of shortbread cookies for Santa, placing them on the mantel of the fireplace so Frannie wouldn't be able to reach them while they slept. Olivia has entertained the thought of sneaking back downstairs and consuming the snack, just to play along with her subordinate's Christmas craziness and as another way of apologizing for their bad behavior during the duration of this holiday.

She is distracted from her plan by the sound of Amanda climbing down the ladder and a small but noisy pair of feet hitting the floor beside her. "Oh no, not again," Olivia groans in disbelief as her co-worker takes a seat on the mattress next to her. "There's an annoying pattern developing here, as you seem to be incapable of sleeping in your own bed, Amanda."

"Sorry, Liv, I just don't feel very comfortable in my own bed right now," the younger woman replies as she arranges herself amid the blankets, Olivia stifling a grunt when a foot comes into hard contact with the outside of her thigh.

"Well, what a coincidence, since I'm not feeling very comfortable myself at the moment," she responds wryly, shifting over with some reluctance to make more room for Amanda.

"I have half a mind to come over there and join you guys," Fin confesses in a somewhat shamed tone. "That thing is staring a hole right through me, like it's looking directly into my soul again. I'm pretty sure it's thinking malicious thoughts."

"Well, considering two of us can barely fit into this single bed, I highly doubt three of us will be able to." Olivia winces when a sharp elbow digs between her ribs and another foot smacks against her leg. "Fin, maybe you should have taken Carisi up on his offer to give you the master bedroom tonight, if you feel so unsafe being in here."

"I felt bad for the way we've been treating him over the past couple of days, so I figured it would be best to let him have it again," Fin explains with a hint of guilt apparent in his voice. "And besides, you're our protection from the clown, Liv."

"Fabulous," Olivia sighs sarcastically, catching Amanda's nod of agreement out of the corner of her eye. "You know, I feel the need to point out that at least when Carisi acts like a kid it's because he's so full of the Christmas spirit that he can't seem to help himself, but when the two of you act that way it's because of a child's toy. It's really kind of sad, don't you think? Two tough detectives such as yourselves reduced to quivering balls of fear in your beds, or in Amanda's case, my bed, because you're afraid that thing is going to come alive and murder you in your sleep. Pretty pathetic, if you ask me."

"Liv, you can make fun of us and rant all you want, but I know you're just as scared as we are," Amanda scoffs quietly, Olivia jumping when she feels a finger poking her in the ribs. "I can feel you shaking. The whole bed frame is rocking back and forth."

"Alright, fine," Olivia breathes out in surrender, hearing Amanda's triumphant snicker beside her. "That doll is the most terrifying thing I have ever had the misfortune of coming across in my entire life. Who in their right mind would bring that home as a present for their kids and then proceed to decorate the whole room in the same fashion?"

"Liv, you need to remember that this is Carisi's family we're talking about here," Fin says patiently, Olivia blinking rapidly in the darkness to get a better look at the older man as he leans closer to them on his bed. "His parents were obviously insane and the apple likely doesn't fall very far from the tree, considering what we've witnessed since leaving the city. Imagine having a childhood full of Christmases at this cabin and a bedroom packed with clowns. Maybe we should start cutting the poor guy some slack. It couldn't have been easy for him. Maybe it was so horrifying, he had no choice but to adapt to his circumstances as a survival tactic. And then he actually started enjoying spending time here."

"Okay, I think we're blowing things a little out of proportion now," Olivia mutters with a shake of her head, snapping her mouth closed when the bedroom door suddenly flings open and their current topic of discussion is standing there in all his Christmas glory, the usual Santa hat perched on his head and elf pajamas and snowman slippers completing the look.

"You were saying...?" she hears Fin mumble under his breath.

"Hey, I heard you guys talking in here. Are we having a slumber party?" Carisi asks with far too much enthusiasm for this late hour.

"I wouldn't exactly call it a party," Olivia says dryly, her aching muscles screaming in agony when Amanda moves again on the mattress and accidentally elbows her in the back.

"Seems like a sleepover to me, especially since you and Amanda are sharing a bed, Liv," Carisi observes happily, strutting into the room like the party is just beginning. "Fin, shove over, man. I'll climb in next to you. I wouldn't want you to feel left out."

"Ah, fuck."

The next several seconds are a mixture of mumbled curse words and creaking bed springs and muffled grunts as Carisi gets settled in, Olivia stifling a laugh when she sees how crowded the tiny bunk bed is and suddenly thankful that the smallest member of their group is the person who is sharing with her.

"So what're we talking about in here?" Carisi questions eagerly after Fin finally stops swearing, the younger man seemingly ecstatic to be included in their group activity. "What's the latest gossip?"

"Your mother's unfortunate choice of bedroom decoration," Amanda says bluntly, gesturing into the gloom from behind the relatively safe barrier of Olivia's body.

"Are you guys still scared of Mister Chuckles?" Carisi laughs in astonishment, Fin's giant sigh of relief echoing around the room as he gets out of bed and places his Santa hat jauntily atop the clown's head. "Here, does that make it any better?"

"I think you've just made it worse," Fin complains in frustration, Olivia and Amanda murmuring their agreement. "It looks like some kind of Christmas circus nightmare now."

"Okay, well, I have a question, then," Carisi chuckles with slight condescension as he plucks the hat off the doll and puts it back on his own head. "If you've all been so scared of the clown this entire time, why didn't you just remove it at night? Go put it downstairs so you don't have to look at it?"

"None of us wanted to touch it," Fin replies truthfully, more noises of assent punctuating the air in response.

"And I didn't want to give my dog a heart attack in the middle of the night," Amanda adds from her huddled spot on Olivia's mattress. "Frannie gets restless and likes to roam around while we sleep. Imagine her unexpectedly running into that monstrous thing at two o'clock morning? I couldn't do that to her."

"I can always take it into my bedroom with me," Carisi offers in a thoughtful tone, one hand balanced on his hip while the other scratches his chin.

"Look, man, none of us want to hear the details of what you do with that thing in private, alright?" Fin answers with a smirk and a shudder, Carisi retaliating by yanking the Santa hat off his head and whipping it forcefully at the older man and Fin flinging a pillow at him in return.

"Ugh, imagine thinking we were actually going to get some sleep tonight?" Olivia gripes to Amanda as she tries in vain to find a comfortable spot on the minuscule bed and inadvertently gives the other woman a hard shove.

"Wishful thinking, Liv," Amanda snickers as she falls backward against the wall with a pained squeak. "It's difficult to sleep with all of the antics going on in here, isn't it?"

"Yes, including the ones in this bed," Olivia remarks sardonically, arching an eyebrow at her colleague and gratified when Amanda looks at least somewhat remorseful before leaning toward her in a furtive manner.

"Liv, can I tell you a secret?"

"Oh god, what is it?" Olivia answers with no small amount of trepidation. "Although I'm honestly afraid to ask at this point."

"It's nothing bad," Amanda assures her with a smile, reaching over to squeeze Olivia's arm. "I can't believe I'm actually going to say this, but I'm having fun here with all of you guys. No matter how crazy this trip has been, it's still better than being alone for the holidays. And I can't wait for Santa to come," she whispers after a brief pause, Olivia pulling back to fix her with a skeptical expression.

"What? I thought you hated Christmas," she laughs in surprise, both eyebrows raised now as she stares at her co-worker. "Who are you and what have you done with Amanda Rollins? Where is my obnoxious employee who treats a Christmas vacation in the countryside like it's a trip to the electric chair?"

"Maybe I'm changing my mind," Amanda shrugs with a blush spreading over her pale cheeks that is visible in the darkness.

"I would say it's the alcohol talking, but considering you actually took my advice and slowed down with the drinking, maybe you've actually had a change of heart," Olivia muses thoughtfully, giving Amanda a nudge with her arm. "I think Carisi's starting to rub off on you."

"Hey, that's what I like to hear!" Carisi suddenly chimes in as he takes short break from his pillow fight with Fin and peers into the shadows of Olivia's bed. "Nice to finally see you in the Christmas spirit, Amanda! It had to happen sometime."

"So what do you think Santa's going to bring me, now that I'm in the spirit?" the younger woman asks playfully.

"A lump of coal," Olivia answers without hesitation, everyone breaking into knowing laughter. "It's the least of what you deserve, Amanda."

"I can split it with Fin," the blonde detective jokes, tossing a pillow towards her partner. "A lump of coal for the two grinches of the group."

"Well, why don't we go see what Santa has brought for us?" Carisi suggests casually, inclining his head in the direction of the bedroom door. "It's past midnight now, so it's officially Christmas Day."

"Oh, Carisi, I'm just being silly," Amanda laughs as she tucks herself deeper beneath the covers. "I'm not actually expecting anything."

"Well, maybe you should," Carisi says mysteriously, waggling his eyebrows up and down.

"What did you do?" Amanda asks suspiciously, throwing the blankets off her body and sitting up straight.

"I didn't do anything." Carisi shrugs innocently with his palms raised high. "But maybe someone else did."

Olivia looks around at each of her colleagues and a simultaneous wave of excitement seems to crash over them as they all leap up from their beds and thunder down the stairs, practically falling over one another in their haste to reach the living room. Olivia is enveloped with a childlike curiosity and awe as she catches sight of what awaits them on the main level, gasping at the large amount of gifts that are stuffed under the tree; so many of them that the presents are spilling out across the floor in a rainbow of color.

She is absolutely stunned at the array of brightly wrapped packages sitting beneath the softly glowing lights of the tree, especially since there had only been a few messily wrapped items there when they had gone to bed, Frannie having made herself at home among the giant pile of boxes and bags. For a moment no one speaks, a hushed silence having fallen over the entire cabin as everyone gawks in disbelief at the incredible sight.

"Looks like Santa's already been here," Carisi announces with a grin, his eyes twinkling as he waves a hand toward the gifts.

"Oh my god, Carisi, you really didn't have to go to this much trouble," Olivia breathes in amazement, Fin and Amanda appearing as shocked as she herself must look.

"I didn't, it was Santa," he insists with a widening smile, the joy in his eyes lighting up his entire face.

"Okay, it was Santa," Olivia agrees with her own smile tugging at her lips, her hands held up in a gesture of surrender. "Well, I hope Santa knows just how much we appreciate this and how undeserving we all are."

"Yeah, he knows. And I wouldn't be surprised if all of you were initially on the naughty list," Carisi answers lightly, bending down to give Frannie a pat on the head and gently urge her out of the way. "Although it's perfectly understandable when you're not used to celebrating the holidays, especially with my particular brand of celebration."

"You mean the crazy brand?" Fin supplies in jest, elbowing the younger man softly in the side.

"Well, yes, I suppose you could call it that," Carisi admits sheepishly, elbowing him back. "I just happen to love Christmas, okay?"

"You're not telling us anything we don't already know," Amanda chuckles affectionately, bumping Carisi with her shoulder.

"Is this the part where we're supposed to thank you for showing us the true meaning of Christmas? Because I think I'm finally feeling it now," Fin chuckles in appreciation as he eyes the pile of gifts. "But all joking aside, thank you so much for everything, man. You've really done a lot for us this holiday season."

"Yes, you have," Olivia agrees gratefully, finally tearing her gaze away from the presents and looking inquisitively at Carisi. "But seriously, how did you get all of this stuff here? There's no way it was in the car. I helped packed the trunk, and there was barely enough space for all of our luggage and booze."

"It was Santa."

Olivia rolls her eyes and huffs out a good-natured sigh at Carisi's expected response, taking a step closer to him and laying a hand on his shoulder. "Okay, but if it wasn't Santa who actually brought all of these presents here, how would they have been transported to the cabin?"

"Well, maybe a subordinate drove up here last weekend with a car full of stuff, and got everything wrapped and hidden in the closet of the master bedroom so it would be a nice surprise on Christmas morning," Carisi says breezily with an offhanded wave. "You know, if Santa didn't actually do it."

"Should we open them?" Amanda wonders as she shoots a thankful grin at her fellow detective, looking remarkably like an excited little girl when she bends down to jiggle one of the boxes.

Olivia smiles at Carisi with that feeling of warmth and camaraderie rising within her chest again, walking around to the back of the Christmas tree and reaching into the corner to fish around for what she is searching for. "I think it would only be right if the first person to open a gift was our wonderful holiday host," she says quietly, pulling out a present that she had surreptitiously tucked behind the tree before going to bed earlier, and handing the package to Carisi. "This is to show our appreciation for everything you've done for us and also to extend an apology for the way we've been behaving."

Carisi takes the heavy object from her with a combination of interest and surprise, everyone laughing softly when he can't seem to contain his delight and is suddenly ripping into the gift in a frenzy of paper and ribbons and bows, Frannie jumping up from the floor with an encouraging bark. When the present has been unwrapped, he just stands there in silence for a moment, gazing down at the object he is holding with a radiant expression on his face and looking for all the world like he is about to burst into tears.

"Aww, dude, you're not going to cry, are you?" Fin teases as he gently ruffles the taller man's hair.

"It's beautiful," Carisi says in a choked tone, hugging the item to his chest. "I love it. Thank you."

"Well, you mention quite often that we're a family and we agree with you, so we thought you should have some family photos," Olivia explains tenderly, gesturing toward the gift that she and Amanda and Fin had scrambled to put together after their last-minute travel arrangements to the cabin; hiding it safely inside her suitcase for the trip.

They had filled a large photo album with the word family emblazoned in fancy silver script across the front, a multitude of pictures that have been taken of them over the years lining each page; posed and candid, professional uniforms and casual clothing, group shots and individual ones. There are police ceremonies and birthday parties and goofy images of more carefree times with just the four of them hanging out together at someone's apartment in those rare, peaceful moments outside of work. The pictures are the definition of a chosen family; a group of people who are not related by blood but have become much more than just co-workers and are there for one another throughout every aspect of life, from the absolute worst to the very best. There are a few blank pages at the very end of the collection, so Carisi can fill the remainder of the album with photos of this eventful trip; forever documenting the first time they have gone on vacation together and all of the ensuing shenanigans.

"See guys, this is exactly what I wanted," Carisi replies in a hushed tone, wrapping his free arm around Olivia and pulling her against his side. "Christmas with my family."

Olivia gives the younger man a soft smile and hugs him heartily in return, reaching out to pull Amanda and Fin into their embrace so they are standing there in a jumble of warm bodies and wrapping paper, with Frannie jumping gleefully amidst their legs. "Well, I'm glad you got what you wanted. No one deserves it more than you."

In the very early hours of Christmas morning as they all huddle together on the dangerously-sagging couch beneath the same blanket, opening gifts and laughing in front of the blazing fire and beautifully decorated tree, it occurs to Olivia that however unconventional this holiday has been, it sure beats any other Christmas she's ever had. She feels very lucky to be considered a part of the family and is thankful to Carisi for giving them an adventure this Christmas; something they can look back on with humor and fondness despite all the mishaps and arguments, and a much-needed break from the horror and despair they deal with on a daily basis at the precinct, this trip no doubt providing amusing stories to tell for years to come.

Olivia acknowledges that it's not actually about the presents or the decorations or the location, but the fact that they are all together under the same roof on a day that most of them would have otherwise spent by themselves; Carisi lovingly providing the perfect antidote to Christmas loneliness.

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"And then for years to come we'll always know one thing

That's the love that Christmas can bring

Oh, why? 'Cause that's Christmas to me"

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*Song lyrics from Pentonix's "That's Christmas to Me"