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Thursday, December 24th, 2009
captain_archer	6:27p	Christmas Gift Well, it was bound to happen. After two years where we thought we might not make it home for Christmas, this will be the first year when we actually spend Christmas far from our New England home. We won't even be spending it on Enterprise, although Liam and Maddy did decorate our quarters there with tinsel and stars. I'm glad Malcolm insisted that we bring along the small box containing our most personal of decorations, the little stars we've added to our Christmas tree each year for Liam and Maddy. And Chef surprised us with a little tabletop tree; I've no idea where he found that but I need to be sure to do something special for him someday soon. Our mission this time has taken us far from Earth for a series of diplomatic summits on a variety of planets scattered among the stars. We're lucky that our meetings here will keep us planetside for a few days, a good chance to let Liam and Maddy run around outside a bit We're staying in a semi-rural resort community, so although it's not our own home, at least we have a place to spend Christmas as a family. One of the most wonderful things about this stopover is that we've had a long overdue opportunity to see an old friend. Degra is here representing the Xindi, and his wife and children accompanied him. Malcolm and I were delighted to see Piral and Jaina again -- the first time since they visited Earth for our wedding. And we got to meet Nara and their youngest child, a beautiful little girl named Docha. Something about the name sounded vaguely familiar to me, but it was actually Hoshi who guessed at its origin. Degra smiled as he acknowledged that indeed it was a name he has based on the Irish word dóchas, meaning 'hope'. "The music and literature files that you shared with me made an impression, Jonathan, especially the Irish pipe music that reminded me so much of my own reed instrument. We found the Gaelic language to be beautiful as well, and chose that word as our daughter's name for many reasons. It's a tribute to our friendship of course, but we also cherish what it represents to my family and our people." Docha and Liam are close in age, and our son easily made friends with her. Piral and Jaina have grown up so much, and plainly dote on their young sister... and by extension her new friend Liam. Our little Maddy is at a shy stage, but she handled meeting all these new people with her usual charm. (Yes, of course I'm slightly prejudiced, Malcolm, but she really is our little angel.) It's late now; the official reception is over and the meetings are in recess for the holiday tomorrow. We said goodnight to Hoshi and Travis, who had offered to look after the kids during the evening reception, though I think Malcolm would have as soon skipped it in favor of a evening spent playing with Liam and Maddy. I smile as I notice that the four of them apparently spent the evening making decorations for our living room here. The stars are made of paper and glitter, and god knows where they got the tinsel and lights, but it looks very much like Christmas. All that's missing is the fireplace, and Porthos. He stayed with Chef on Enterprise this time; the local regulations regarding animal visitors were a bit too stringent for our taste, especially for a short visit. After admiring all of their creations, we finally get Liam and Maddy tucked into bed with promises that Santa will indeed find there here, and it's finally just the two of us. I pull Malcolm into my arms, as I've longed to do for hours now. He lifts his eyes to meet mine and kisses me softly, then with increasing urgency. "I thought those toasts would never end, love," he murmured as he pulled me toward the comfortable sofa and settled himself onto my lap. "Me too, Malcolm. I know it's part of the job, but in my mind Christmas Eve will always be a time for us, for our family to be together. So I'm glad that's done, and this time is ours." After a kiss that is very much a promise of more, Malcolm slips off my lap and goes to retrieve a small package from his travel bag. He hands it to me and whispers that I should open it now, then settles back down close to me. "What's this, love?" "Open it, Jon." I slip the simple red ribbon off the box and lift the lid. Nestled inside is a new star for our collection. It's a beautiful silver star, very simple in design, and unlike any of our other ornaments, it has an engraved inscription. I lift it and tilt it toward the light to read the words... Jon & Malcolmalways I pull him back into my arms and kiss him. "Thank you so much, Malcolm It's beautiful." He pulls back just enough to meet my eyes, lifting a hand to cup my face, and his words are very soft. "We are a family, Jon, but you are also my husband and my love... and this is our star. And wherever you are, no matter what stars we can see outside our window, that is home to me." "Always, Malcolm.. always. Merry Christmas, love." ________________________________________________ Current Mood: content Current Music: The Winter's End - Liam O'Flynn (Comment on this)