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Twas the night before Christmas Harper's First Christmas

Posted June 19, 2021, 12:06 a.m. by Commander Mason Black (Executive Officer) (David Shotton)

Posted by Commander Mason Black (Executive Officer) in Twas the night before Christmas Harper’s First Christmas

Posted by Commander Mason Black (Executive Officer) in Twas the night before Christmas Harper’s First Christmas

Posted by Commander Mason Black (Executive Officer) in Twas the night before Christmas Harper’s First Christmas
Posted by… suppressed (12) by the Post Ghost! 👻
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 runabout.

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!?

“Mommy said you were getting the stuff to decorate the room,” Harper looked around a bit concerned. Nothing in the space seemed like the image she had in her mind. Maybe it was because he didn’t see the pictures she had shown Paris. “Hang on,” she said wiggling down from his lap and running back to her room.

“Where is she off to in such a rush?” He asked Paris. “How did we suddenly end up getting a Christmas tree?”

“She drew a picture,” Paris bit her lip and could not make eye contact with Mason. She had seen the picture and knew what was in it. Mason was always able to pull things out of thin air but this might be even more than he could produce.

“Oh no,” Mason whispered it, like a harbinger of doom on them all.

“So here is it,” Harper walked into the room waving the paper over her head excitedly. Curling into his lap, Harper held out a simple drawing that needed a lot of explanation. “See here I am and there you are and mommy,” she pointed to three stick figures on the image. “We are by the tree and there is the fireplace. All the boxes are my presents,” she smiled up at Mason.”

“Wow, that is a lot of presents,” Mason grinned at Harper. “You must have been an amazingly good girl this year.” Ruffling the hair on Harpers head he looked up at Paris, motioning her over to them.

“What’s this,” Paris pointed to a brown blob. She had enough knowledge of kids that one did not guess at colored blobs but instead probed to have the child explain or tell you about a creation. Thinking about her past and how many times Denver said tell me about this pretty girl, Paris could not help but smile. Denver was going to be over the moon with Harper. Paris also could not help but also find satisfaction that she had the first grandkid instead of London or Rome.

“Reindeer. What else could it be,” Harper laughed.

That wouldn’t have been my guess ran through Masons mind as the toilet humor part of him took over, but he kept the thought to himself.

An evil part of Paris looked at Mason. “Nothing at all baby,” she kissed the little girl, “but daddy took a class called art history in college. That means he is so much smarter than mommy.” Paris would pay later that night but she was having too much fun with her new found family. “Daddy what do you think this is,” she asked pointing to a large green smear of some sort.

Blinking, he looked at Paris with what could only be interpreted as Oh, I am so going to get you later, you just wait.

Harper laughed and looked up at Mason eagerly waiting for him to explain the magic of her drawing.

“Well, there are the three of us, the christmas tree and the reindeer and all your presents,” Mason said slowly, like he was examining every little detail minutely. Truth was, that was exactly what he was doing as he stalled for time trying to work out what the green blob was.

“It’s a green christmas wreath,” he said confidently, glancing at Paris again with a you owe me big time look. “See, here is where it hangs on the wall,” he pointed to an abstract part of the ‘wreath’. “I love it, best picture I have seen. It’s even better than what Mommy can draw,” he told Harper with with a laugh and gave her a hug, trying to distract her in case the answer he gave was, in fact, wrong.

“So are we gonna decorate now,” Harper looked up at Mason with larger brown eyes. Already the look in her eyes held the admiration a child for their father. The look said the man looking down at her could do anything. Nothing was impossible.

“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 so 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.

“Not as adorable as we are going to look in the picture,” Paris could barely contain her happiness as she walked behind him. Drumming her hands on his back, Paris had to expel some of the nervous excitement.

“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

As they entered the small room there was one thing lying out Mason would not be able to miss. It was a male version of the ‘who believes in Christmas…this guy’ with a large reindeer hooking his thumbs, or hoof in this case, at his chest. The pajamas were laid out at the end of the bed waiting for him. Crawling up to the top of the bed, Harper stuck her legs under the covers as she watched Mason. “Mommy got you and I matching ones so that we can all get a picture of us under the tree. Are you going to put it on?”

Harper Black

“Oh, wow,” Mason said as he picked up the pajama top. His tone was excited enough for a little girl to hear, but an adult would pick up the enthusiasm immediately. Another glance at Paris conveyed another expression. Really? Do I have to? “Of course I am, then we can be pajama buddies!” Picking up the bottom part, Mason turned and took a step toward the bathroom. “Gimme a moment and I’ll be right out.”

............................................ The Next Morning.................................................

Mason woke early, lifting his head and making sure that Paris and Harper, who had crawled her way in between them in the middle of the night, were still fast asleep. He had been up late and had hardly slept, Harper coming in and climbing in with them only moments after he had laid down and closed his eyes after spending the night working on Harpers ‘design’ for Christmas. He felt he had done pretty well, but had to clamp his mouth shut to avoid releasing a chuckle as he thought of the surprise that Christmas day was going to bring for both Paris and Harper together.

He had worked extra hard to keep this one quiet and avoid letting slip anything of it to Paris over the last few weeks, but it had been planned and Operation Rudolph was about to be put into action.

Sliding out of bed, he winced as the doors to their room slid open and shut behind him then walked to the Runabouts small lounge located just behind the ships small ‘Bridge’. There was no fireplace, there was no way to make one although he was going to get an earful from the Odin’s ground grew as a large and crudely painted fireplace was depicted in paint on the wall of the lounge. There was missing furniture as Mason had needed to recycle it, in pieces, through the replicator to have enough resources to make what he needed for Christmas, and the panel of the replicator was missing a screw where he had opened it for reprogramming to make it produce what he needed, rather than the basic refreshments that Runabout replicators were made for.

There was a tree, that touched the ceiling. It felt real, and looked real, but the parts were imitation and he had glued the replicated parts together with replicated super glue. Paris had helped him decorate the tree with replicated tinsel and a number of things Paris knew the names of, and he didn’t. They were colourful and christmassy, and that was what mattered to him.

And of course, there were presents. Lots of presents. The runabouts third bedroom was now empty as it had been entirely dismantled to feed the replicator with enough atoms to reproduce toys, clothes and sweets for Harpers first Christmas with them. Crossing his arms, he surveyed the room and smiled, then held up the drawing harper had made. Realising after a moment it was up the wrong way, he turned it over and re-checked everything. Happy, he stuck it with sticky tack to the ‘fireplace’, made two coffees and a hot chocolate with what remained in the replicator, and bit his lip.

=/\= Computer, start playing Mason’s Best Evar Christmas Song Playlist, and make it slightly louder in the quarters. =/\= He grinned as the tones of Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer began to play, knowing it was about to wake both Paris and Harper up. He hadn’t managed to find a reindeer in space, but he smirked. That wasn’t going to matter much very shortly.

Cmdr Black, XO

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