Originally posted 12/13/04What can I say, it's Christmas fic.... The muses insisted. It's probably not as sappy as it could have been, but....it's Christmas fic!
Thanks to Loco and MadScientist for beta duties, and to Shipscat, Shipsister and Crash for feedback and encouragement.
Rating: G
Setting: 5 years or so post-PKW
Spoilers: Through PKW
Disclaimer: Not my characters, not my universe, no money involved, no disrespect intended!
I hope you enjoy this in the holiday spirit!
Christmas Present -- Times Four
Jack Crichton supposed he should have been proud of himself for not succumbing to the temptation to just sit around in his cozy bathrobe and slippers. After all, there was no one to get dressed for, and the weather, though sunny, was still nippy -- he could hear the furnace roar, struggling to keep up with one of those infrequent Florida cold snaps that had brought temperatures outside near freezing overnight. And it was a holiday, for goodness sake! He could take it easy! But here he was, all dressed up in khaki pants and a red plaid shirt with a buttoned down collar, sitting at the kitchen table at 8:00 a.m., sipping at a cup of black coffee and pretending to read the newspaper. He was clean-shaven, too!
He couldn't really give himself any brownie points for looking sharp, though. He knew it was just years of habit and self-discipline that wouldn't let him slack off, even if he was feeling just a little sorry for himself. Okay, a
lot sorry for himself. It was Christmas morning, and he was alone. Livvy was off at her new in-laws' house for Christmas this year, and Suse and her husband had gotten the chance to take a trip to Europe for the holidays, so they weren't here either. He wasn't about to play the "I'm an old man" card, so, here he was, no one to celebrate with. To be fair, several friends had invited him to have dinner with them, but he'd begged off. Christmas was his favorite holiday, but only because it brought the family together like nothing else seemed to be able to do.
He sighed and abandoned the newspaper he wasn't reading. He let his mind drift to Christmases past, when his wife was alive and his children were young. Ah, what glorious chaos those holidays had been! But Leslie, God bless her, had been gone fifteen years, and his son John was lost to him too, somewhere in outer space. It had been over five years since he'd last seen John and the collection of aliens he called friends, and he'd finally accepted that he wasn't likely to see his only son again.
Okay, Jack, he told himself, enough with the pity party! Get up and find something to do, even if it's just looking through old photos and remembering the good times! Christmas is supposed to be happy!
He was halfway to the den when he heard the doorbell ring. Could one of the girls have decided to surprise him by showing up after all? He tried not to get his hopes up, but he almost ran to the door.
But when he pulled the door open, no familiar faces greeted him. Instead, he saw a boy of perhaps four or five. His hair was brown, cut shorter than the current style, and he was wearing a dark shirt and pants. The child's small face was upturned, and clear blue eyes examined Jack seriously. Then he broke into a smile that looked like a supernova and said, "Hi, Grandpa! I'm D."
Jack blinked at the boy's outstretched hand.
Grandpa? The kid must be lost, he was sure he'd never seen him before. And yet -- there was something about the boy that tickled the back of his mind. It was the oddest sensation....
The boy repeated his greeting, singing, "Hel-lo-o!" He stuck his hand out again, emphatically, as if Jack were slow.
Telling himself he didn't want to be rude to a child, Jack stepped out on the porch leaving the door most of the way closed behind him, then shook hands gravely. "Pleased to meet you, D, but I think you must have the wrong house," he said gently. "My grandson is all grown up, just about." Though, actually, now that he thought about it, the kid looked a little bit like Bobby had at that age.
Undeterred, the boy shook his head. "Nope. My dad showed me the right door and he told me to push the button," he said, pointing at the doorbell. There was a hint of an accent to his speech that Jack couldn't quite place. "I pushed it, and you came," he added with satisfaction.
Curiouser and curiouser, Jack thought. He glanced towards the street to see if someone was looking for a missing child, but the long side wall of his garage limited his view. Before he could ask the mysterious D where his parents were, the boy pointed to the one Christmas decoration Jack had managed to get up this year. It was a huge green wreath, hanging from a nail on the front door. The artificial pine boughs were accented with shiny ornaments in many colors. "What's that?" D asked.
Chuckling, Jack said, "Haven't you ever seen a wreath before?"
"Nope. It's pretty," the child replied, reaching up to touch the red bow that dangled from the bottom.
He'd never seen a wreath? Where had this kid been since Halloween? The North Pole?
A blast of warm air from the furnace came through the crack in the doorway behind him as the circulation kicked in. The heat reminded Jack that it was still pretty chilly outside, and the child wasn't even wearing a jacket.
Where the hell are his parents? he wondered, protectively. "Aren't you cold?" he demanded, thinking he should bring him indoors where it was warmer.
D shook his head no.
And all at once, several things clicked into place, and Jack's heart began to race: It wasn't
Bobby the kid resembled. Just a few minutes ago, he'd been thinking back through the years, remembering a pair of blue eyes just like the ones he was looking at now. D's face was a bit more angular, but...oh, lord, he definitely looked like John! And the accent -- in a stronger form, it belonged to Officer Aeryn Sun, a Sebacean who liked temperatures cooler than the average human...and who definitely had feelings for his son. Jack took a deep breath. He didn't want to leap to conclusions, especially crazy ones, but it seemed inescapable: Either he was still asleep and dreaming all this, or somehow John had found his way back home, and this charming blue-eyed child who'd never seen a Christmas wreath really
was his grandson. John's child!
Heart pounding, he crouched down in front of the boy and took his hands. "What's your whole name, son?"
"D'Argo Sun Crichton," was the proud response.
Holy crap! It was real! Despite the strength of his suspicions, Jack was absolutely stunned. Not that this was a bad thing, but he'd been so certain that he'd never see John again.... His eyes darted to the street, looking for his son. But he still couldn't see anyone, and the child in front of him was waiting for a response, so he tried to pull his thoughts together. He bit his lip and managed a smile. "Well, I guess I am your grandpa at that," he breathed.
Wow! When he got a smile in return, he added, "So everyone calls you D, huh?"
"Except my mom."
Remembering the dignified Aeryn Sun, he took a shot in the dark. "Let me guess. Your mother calls you D'Argo."
D'Argo nodded, and confided, "Except when she's mad. Then she calls me my
whole name. And sometimes my dad forgets and calls me 'Little D.' But I'm not little any more."
"Well," Jack said, feeling moisture gather in his eyes, "Moms are like that, D, and so are dads. I still call your dad 'Johnny' sometimes, like I did when he was just a little boy, and he's even bigger than you are."
D snickered at that, and Jack finally pulled his new-found grandson into a hug. As little arms wrapped around his neck, Jack looked over the boy's shoulder towards the street and hollered, "John! Get yourself over here, boy!"
The words were hardly out of his mouth when John appeared from where the garage had hidden him from sight. There was another, younger, child in his arms, and yes, there was Aeryn, right behind him, beaming.
Before Jack knew it, everyone but Aeryn was wrapped up in one huge hug. When he looked up, she was standing just beside them, grinning broadly. She reached to extract the little one from the huddle, and as she did so, he noticed that she was wearing Leslie's wedding rings.
She saw his eyes light on the rings, and shrugged and said, "He's stuck with me forever, I'm afraid." She didn't look like she was one little bit sorry, which pleased him no end.
"I think it's
you who's stuck with
him," Jack teased, and John gave him the evil eye. He laughed, and then decided it was time to get everyone indoors.
Once inside where it was warmer, John introduced his daughter, Hope, who wasn't yet two. The little girl was quiet, looking around the room with two fingers jammed in her mouth. She was a pretty little thing, with raven dark hair like her mother, and Jack just shook his head in amazement at the way his lonely day had been turned upside down.
"I did good, didn't I, Dad?" D'Argo piped up.
John looked back and forth from his son to his father, eyes shining, and gave D a sharp nod. "Yep. You did real good, D."
Jack couldn't resist grousing. "That was a dirty trick to play on your old man," he told John, failing miserably at being stern.
"Ah, you know you loved it! It was the perfect surprise!"
Jack shook his head in awe, and said, "Son, this is the best Christmas present I've ever had, bar none!"
John took a breath and looked around the room, taking in the lack of decorations, and the lack of family. "So I guess we must be a little early, huh? Is it even December yet?"
"No, no," Jack said sheepishly. "You timed it perfectly! Today
is Christmas. But everyone kinda had plans this year, and I just decided to be lazy for once."
John and his wife exchanged a look, then Aeryn cleared her throat and announced, "If this is going to be my children's first Christmas, it should be celebrated properly."
"Damn straight," John agreed. "We're at least getting your tree up, Dad, and no arguments from you!" He was down the hall heading for the garage, D scurrying behind him, before he turned back and asked if the holiday decorations were still in the same place.
Bemused, Jack confirmed that they were.
"Here, hold onto Hope for me," Aeryn said, handing the little one to him.
Jack and the baby looked at each other in surprise while Aeryn hurried off to help John and their son with the tree and decorations.
"Well, little girl," he said to the child, "I guess it's up to you and me to pick the right place for the tree, huh?" He gently danced around the room with his granddaughter -- his
granddaughter! -- and tried to figure out where to put the tree that wouldn't involve a major overhaul of the room. No way was he letting John and Aeryn spend their time here rearranging furniture!
The doorbell rang for the second time that morning. Hope's head came up suddenly and she looked around with interest.
"That, my girl," he told her, "is the doorbell. It means someone wants me to go open the door. Let's go see who it is!" He waltzed over and pulled the door open wide, a huge grin on his face.
When he saw who it was, his smile got even wider. "Livvy! What are you doing here? Well, come in, come in! Dan, don't just stand there!" He blinked back tears that threatened to overwhelm him, and added, "Don't take this wrong, but, aren't you two supposed to be with your folks?"
Olivia and her husband looked understandably bewildered, especially considering the racket that John and his family were making bringing boxes in from the garage.
Livvy was dutiful enough to answer his question despite what had to be questions of her own. "I -- We didn't want to leave you alone on Christmas, Dad. We decided that Dan's parents had us for Christmas Eve, so it was only fair to spend Christmas day with you." Jack started to tell her how very much he appreciated that, but she didn't give him time to finish. "What is going on here?" she demanded, hearing the laughter and excitement from the other room. "And who is this child?" she asked, peering at the curly haired cherub he was holding.
What an amazing turn his day had taken! He'd gone from zero to 60 in two seconds flat, and he felt vaguely like Ebenezer Scrooge, all caught up in the holiday spirit.
"Baby," Jack chuckled, bouncing his granddaughter on his hip, "you'll never guess who else made it home for Christmas!"
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