BY P&C PRODUCTIONS
CHAPTER 15

Twas the night before Christmas…and Hutch was invited over for dinner and a little eggnog. Since Starsky and Cassie were closer to him than family…it just seemed right to have him there on Christmas Eve. Of course Hutch had family…but the thought of flying out to spend Christmas with them wasn’t very appealing to him. He didn’t get along with his sister’s husband and he wasn’t in the mood for a family reunion so he made his usual Holiday excuses…and chose to stay in town with his friends.

Cassie had made a nice chicken dinner…while the Turkey thawed in the sink for the next day’s feast. Starsky had insisted on preparing the turkey himself this year to give her a break, but she wasn’t too keen on the whole idea. After all he wasn’t known for his expertise in the kitchen and she and Hutch had been discussing weather or not to keep a fire extinguisher handy
just in case.

Hutch had been sitting comfortably on the couch with his feet propped up on the coffee table as he sipped on his beer. Starsky sat in the chair closest to the Television a beer in one hand and stuffing handfuls of chips into his mouth with the other from a large bag he had resting in his lap. It was a close game between the Washington Red Skins and the Dallas Cowboys…and they both had a little money riding on it.

Cassie listened as the two of them argued back and forth and made their usual comments as each team scored and one or the other of them groaned and cheered. When Hutch’s team would get ahead Starsky would blame the officials for bad calls. When his team would get ahead Hutch had to listen to him boast and tease him. Hutch enjoyed watching the games, not because he particularly loved Football but because he liked to watch his partner’s childish reaction to the whole thing.  He would always bet against him just to rub it in when Starsky’s team would lose.

She kept herself busy in the kitchen laughing to herself with each new comment as they argued over penalty flags and bad calls. It was nice to see them so relaxed after working so hard all week. Hutch was especially enjoying himself tonight because he knew something that Starsky didn’t. The game wasn’t live…and the scores had been in the paper earlier that day. Hutch had made the bet with his partner knowing full well there was no way he could lose. Cassie had been sworn to secrecy and they were both having a little fun with him.

“Aw…C’mon…” Starsky bellyached as yet another penalty flag flew against Washington.

“They deserved that one Starsk…” Hutch replied calmly. “Just calm down will ya..”

“It’s a conspiracy…!” Starsky argued. “Don’t tell me those officials don’t get a little kick back for making all the right calls.”

“Oh…so now you’re telling me they’re all dishonest?” Hutch questioned him with a grin. “It couldn’t be that maybe you’re just a poor loser?”

“They know who’s gonna win before they even get started.” Starsky told him. “It’s all just a big show…put on to sucker us all in.”

“Well the way I see it…looks like you’re the only one who got suckered.” Hutch said with a chuckle.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Starsky asked him curiously.

“Oh nothing…besides it’s half time.” Hutch said with a smile. “They’re only down by 7 points…what are you so worried about?”

“Because you got something up your sleeve…I don’t know what it is…” Starsky told him as he studied his partner’s face closely. “But you look like the cat that just swallowed the canary.”

“Who me?” Hutch asked with an innocent smile.

“Hey…dinner’s ready.” Cassie called to them from the other side of the room. “I can’t keep it warm forever.”

They sat down at the table and began to carry on a less stressful conversation with her…after all it was Christmas Eve and They were both excited about Cassie’s present. It would be waiting for her when she woke up in the morning…everything had been arranged…and she was gonna love it!

Cassie too had a surprise waiting for Starsky…something she knew he would love…what he wanted more than anything. She had struck a deal with Merle over the necklace…and his car would be delivered in the morning. Merle had agreed to play Santa for her…partly due to her powers of persuation…and partly due to the extra lining in his pocket.

Dinner was over quickly and the game resumed. Hutch followed Starsky back into the living room as Cassie cleared the dinner dishes and cleaned up the kitchen. She listened as Starsky sulked and complained as Washington slowly lost ground to Dallas. Hutch sat with hardly a sound except a small laugh escaping from his throat every so often as Starsky bitched and moaned for
the next hour.

As the game came to an end Cassie sat on the edge on the couch with Hutch as they both watched Starsky sulking in his  chair…defeated and depressed.  Hutch knew he had to tell him…but he also knew he would be pretty pissed at him for knowing all this time and not saying anything. Still…he couldn’t make him pay up…it just wouldn’t be right to take his money. So he had no choice but to confess.

Cassie whispered something into Hutch’s ear and quickly walked into the kitchen to grab three glasses and fill them with eggnog as Hutch cleared his throat to make his confession.

Starsky just sat and starred at the television as the announcer repeated the final score and the post game discussions began…

Hutch looked over at Starsky and began to speak…

“Hey…Starsk…there’s something I have to tell you.” Hutch began…but before he could finish.

The program was interrupted with a comentary …

“This has been a rebroadcast of the Dallas Washington game that took place Friday…December 23rd…in Dallas Stadium…”

Starsky turned to look at Hutch who sat there with his mouth open as he waited for his partner’s reaction.

“You Knew!” Starsky told him with surprise. “That’s why you were so calm…You Knew it wasn’t live!”

“I tried to tell you Starsk…” Hutch said in a timid voice…not sure just how angry he was with him at the moment. “I was gonna tell you.”

“Oh sure you were….” Starsky said with sarcasm. “After you enjoyed watching me suffer…”

“Ok…so I enjoyed it…but I wasn’t gonna take you’re money…” Hutch told him with a hesitant grin.

“Ok…let’s just relax and have some egg nog…it’s Christmas and I don’t want any more arguing.” Cassie said as she handed them both a glass.

“Yeah…Deck the halls and all that stuff remember?” Hutch said as he raised his glass in the air.

Starsky took a look at his glass and then back at Hutch before making his final comment….

“You do that to me again and I’ll deck more than the halls…” He told him with a serious expression on his face….

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  Chapter 16
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