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Twas the night before Christmas Harper's First Christmas

Posted Dec. 30, 2020, 5:27 a.m. by Commander Mason Black (Executive Officer) (David Shotton)

Posted by Lieutenant Commander Paris Carisi (Armorer/Physicist) in Twas the night before Christmas Harper’s First Christmas
https://www.star-fleet.com/core/stf5/odin/posts/112545/ Original start of the post
https://www.star-fleet.com/core/stf5/odin/posts/112672/ Arrival on Barlon V

Paris stood looking in the mirror at the little girl’s hair she was brushing. Everything Paris had ever wanted was in this shuttle. Harper was all decked out in a white nightgown patterned with Christmas symbols like candy canes, snowflakes, polar bears, and elves. Paris had found it on route to pick up their daughter. Their daughter Paris felt a rush of warmth thinking about those words but also trepidation. Mason had gone full-on Commander dealing with the officials of Barlon V and the orphanage. A smile curled on the edges of her lips as she also thought about how she was going to repay Mason tonight for dealing with the situation. Mason was always a devastatingly handsome man but tonight he had turned Paris on far more than he would ever know.

“Mommy,” Harper’s small voice filled the cabin, “will we have Christmas in the morning, or do we have to wait another year since we are not home yet? I am okay if we have to wait for another year. I am just happy to be going home with you and daddy.”

Paris felt her stomach drop as Harper talked. She and Mason had been concentrating so hard on just getting Harper they did not focus on all the things that made Christmas Christmas. Looking around the room, the only thing that really screamed Christmas was the Pajamas Harper wore. Their quarters back on the Odin were decked out from wall to wall but they weren’t on the Odin. They were in a shuttle in the middle of nowhere.

“Of course we are having Christmas in the morning. It is Christmas,” Paris said firmly. From somewhere deep inside a voice took over. In years to come Paris would recognize it as the maternal monster voice but this was the first time it came out. The voice took over and immediately began promising things no one could deliver. The rational part of Paris tried to stop it but this emotional side was not going to be silenced.

“Really,” Harper spun around hugging Paris. Paris held her daughter tightly until Harper pushed away. Jumping down off the bed where her mother had been brushing her hair, Harper flew into the main cabin of the run about.

Hearing the door slide open behind him and the rapid patter of feet, Mason spun in the chair to face whatever creature had emerged from the sleeping quarters where Paris and Harper had disappeared earlier. His late night coffee and the pile of official paperwork for Harpers adoption that he needed to complete, and back date, in his hands.

“Daddy…daddy....daddy,” she squealed happily jumping into his lap as Mason juggled a cup of coffee and a PaDD. “Mommy said that when I woke up tomorrow we were going to have Christmas. Can you tell Santa to put the tree over there and can we have a fireplace over there to hang the stockings. Mommy said all I have to do is believe and I believe Daddy I do even though,” she looked around the room, “this looks like the inside of a shuttle instead of a Christmas wonderland.”

Mason paused, but not because of anything the little girl was saying or the precarious tilt of his coffee cup. No, this was purely because of her opening salvo. Daddy.... daddy..... While Harper had quickly become comfortable with the term after the tragic events that had brought the new family together, it still made Mason catch his breath whenever the words escaped Harpers mouth. In a good way of course, he had quickly grown to love the little girl, and equally when she called Paris mommy his breath caught in the same way. It made Mason wish that he and Paris could have a baby together one day, but for all the same he felt no less love for the little girl who had claimed them as her mommy and daddy.

The smile that broke on Mason’s face was wide, genuine and full of love for the little girl whose excitement was nothing short of adorably cute. Of course, Harper was far too young to realize that the smile was for her, while the look in Mason’s eyes as they lifted to Paris held a question that Paris would instantly recognize. What the hell did you promise her!?

“Of course we are honey,” Mason said and wrapped his arms around Harper, the PaDD with the official paperwork discarded and forgotten, and the coffee carefully placed out of the way of sudden arm and leg movements. “You know what, I believe too, and we are going to have the best Christmas ever.” Mason’s eyes suddenly lifted to Paris again. What was happening? Why was he promising something that he knew he wasn’t going to be able to deliver? He had no idea what was happening, and he opened his mouth to make sure the little girl knew that they just weren’t going to be able to make Christmas quite as Christmassy as they were promising. It was best to let her down easily now. “We are going to make sure Santa knows exactly where you want the tree, and we definitely will have a fireplace. It might look like the inside of a shuttle now, but I want you to really, really believe. Magic happens when you believe, trust me.” What the hell was that?! Ran through Masons mind, those weren’t the words in my head, where the heck did they come from!? Mason had, however, said the words. Trust Me. Those were his special words, words he only ever said when he really meant something, when he would move planets and open the heavens to make sure his word was kept. He had said those words to Harper when they had rescued Harper from the colony, and now he had said them again.

Paris stood in the door of the bedroom biting her lip as she heard Harper talk. Why had she promised to much? There was a small replicator on the ship but it wasn’t industrial. Heck Paris wasn’t sure it could make more than drinks or simple foods. Taking a deep breath, Paris began to rationalize how she and Mason were going to accomplish this. Closing her eyes Paris saw in her mind her name being moved from the nice list to the naughty one with each passing word used by Harper.

Parisi Carisi

Kissing her on the head gently, Mason wrapped his arms around her again and gave her a cuddle. “You know that I already have the best present ever for Christmas right love? I have you, and I have Mommy. You are the best present I have ever had, but you need to go to bed if you want Santa to be able to bring the tree.”

Standing up, Mason held Harper in his arms. The cabin was cramped compared to their quarters, but the Runabout still had room enough for what Mason wanted to do, the wheels of a plan turning in his mind behind the smile and he had no doubt, that the same was happening with Paris.

“I love your jammies,” he laughed, and winked at Paris, “Mommy has some just like them, she looks as adorable as you do in them,” walking to Paris carrying Harper, he smiled softly. “It’s this little girls time for bed I think, want to help me tuck her in?” The question wasn’t needed and he knew that Paris was going to come anyway, but the words disguised the other words fighting to escape. What the hell did you promise her? What did I promise her? Where in this galaxy are we going to get a tree!?” Mason was going to need his tools, but he was no engineer. Both he and Paris had a security background..... the thought of doing some quick piracy did* go through his mind for just a moment.

Mason Black


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