Author's note:

Hello friends! This is my first Seth fic and my first real person fic ever, so it might be a tad awkward. I participated in a Secret Santa exchange on Tumblr and my person requested a Seth drabble. I think she wanted romance, but I felt entirely out of my element and a little weird even thinking about writing a real person (who I don't know) romantically. I do often wonder about Seth's relationship with his family since he is a very private person, so my own imagination ran away with this fun little idea of him bonding with his niece. Seth seems (to me) like the kind of person who is uncomfortable in social situations, including being around children. As someone who is the same way, I often feel totally at-a-loss even with my younger relatives. Anyway, please enjoy, and Merry Christmas (or Happy Tuesday :D).

Thursday, December 20th, 2012:

The clean, tinkling sound of ice inside a glass echoed throughout the room as Seth MacFarlane set his drink down on the piano (on a coaster, because he wasn't a heathen, for Christ's sake) and settled onto the bench.

He was deep in the strains of the White Christmas songbook when the trill of his phone cut through the crescendo of music. Chester, lounging on the back of a chair across the room, flicked an ear back in irritation as the music stopped and the ringing continued. Seth dug the offending iPhone out of his pocket and patted his cat on the head as he began pacing the room.

It was Rachael, "your sister," she always liked to add, calling from Connecticut. She was currently visiting Ron with her husband and daughter and asked if Seth might follow suit.

"I don't even remember the last time you saw Belly," she said. Bella was his niece, a smiling, chubby three-year-old whose (outdated) photo hung on his refrigerator.

"I was at her birthday party last year," he replied, defensively. He was a busy guy, after all.

"Well, she's a year older now and would love to see her uncle…"

Seth sighed, taking a sip of his drink. Drinking was always a great way to figure things out. He honestly could not even remember the last time he took a vacation. Not a business trip, not a music tour, not a movie shoot—a real, goddamn vacation.

He took another long swallow of Jack, swished it around in his mouth as he thought about his workload at Fox: what needed to be done, what had to be done at the office, what he could possibly take with him…

"Alright," he said, running a hand over his face, "Tell Dad I'll be there soon."

Friday, December 21st, 2012:

Stepping out of a town-car after an hour ride from New Windsor, Seth felt a tingle of guilt (it might have also been the 40 degree difference in temperature) at being back in Kent— he hadn't visited since 2010 when his mother had passed away. It was a tense, quiet few days, and he had fled back to L.A. with his tail between his legs the second he could get away. Rachael had stayed longer to be with Dad, but she was different. More open. Seth preferred to express his grief (and his emotions in general) in private, away from judging faces and the watchful eye of gossip magazines. He couldn't believe the desperation of the paparazzi— that a hit movie and a few hosting gigs would mean men with snapping cameras would climb his fence for a shot of him at home, or hide in the bushes for a view inside his car.

He was thankful for the blatant lack of paparazzi in a place like Kent as he crossed the frost-dotted lawn and loped up the front steps of his father's new house. It was crudely decorated for Christmas, like something out of a Danny Smith cutaway gag, complete with crudely-painted-not-so-funny-plywood-cut-out-folk-art. It was just the sort of thing Ron MacFarlane would put together, and Seth shook his head at the thought of anything different as he rang the doorbell.

Rachael answered the door, all smiles and hugs and turtleneck sweaters, and Seth couldn't imagine ever seeing her more matronly. It was weird to think that his baby sister was the one with a growing family as he led the household of one growing (in girth, anyway) cat. There were hugs all around then, from Ron and Spencer, and then Bella finally emerged from behind her mother, one hand stuffed into her mouth, the other clutching Rachael's jeans. Seth set his bags down and crouched down to meet her eye level. He had zero experience with three-year-old girls and the prospect of spending the next several days with one was a tad daunting, even if she was his niece. He was surprised and a little pleased when she suddenly beamed at him and ran up to throw her little arms around his neck. He could handle hugs. Maybe this vacation wouldn't be so awful.

Saturday, December 22nd, 2012:

It was snowing this morning and the house needed a Christmas tree. Seth was immediately chosen to find a suitable one (not too big but not too scrawny, Rachael had yelled from upstairs, and make sure it's healthy!). Seth considered himself a tad out of practice driving in winter weather and was relieved when Spencer agreed to come along and drive. Pulling on a coat, he began making a mental note to stop at a liquor store for a bottle (or a case, depending on how the fancy struck him) of Jack when Bella came clambering down the stairs, hair in mid-braid, begging to come with them. Seth tucked away his liquor store plans for a day he wasn't spending with a small child.

It was Bella who spotted the tree, her tiny hand waving wildly towards it from Spencer's arms. Seth went over to inspect the tree in the corner of the tent, expecting a dud, but was pleased to see it was tall with evenly spaced and well-shaped branches.

He was still a little unsure about having a niece, but she sure could pick a good tree.

Sunday, December 23rd, 2012:

It was a few hours after sunset and Seth finally had a decent quantity of whiskey stowed away in the kitchen. Rachael had made a huge batch of hot chocolate while Spencer and Ron were working on a fire in the backyard. Seth waited until they had all picked out their mugs of hot chocolate and headed outside before stirring a sizable amount of Jack Daniels into his own mug. He took a sip, feeling the familiar sting of alcohol burn in his throat. It was best to get through social events drunk, he mused, or at least buzzed. In any case, he was fantastic at acting sober even if he wasn't.

Outside, he took a seat next to Bella, who was perched on the edge of her chair with her legs crisscrossed. He took a long drink from his mug and studied her face, ignoring the idle chitchat between his sister and father. The first thing he noticed looking at his niece was that she was cursed with the infamous MacFarlane ears, the tops stuck out and bent over at a strange angle. He didn't mind his own so much but he knew Rachael had grown up feeling insecure about it. He figured it was worse for a girl to have weird ears than a guy. He hoped Bella wouldn't notice them as much as her mother did.

He recognized a great deal of his own features in hers. It was a little disconcerting to look at someone and realize they shared your DNA, were built with some of the same instructions. He wondered what his own children would look like—if they would look as much like him as Bella did, or if they would take after a hypothetical mother.

This seemed like a bit much to be chewing over on such a lovely evening, and so he abruptly ceased the train of thought and returned to the warmth of his drink and the fire blazing in front of him.

Monday, December 24th, 2012:

Most families in Kent, on Christmas Eve, attended church. The MacFarlanes had different plans. It was in his childhood home that Seth had fostered his love of classic film musicals, and so it was only fitting that their Christmas Eve tradition was to have a movie marathon.

The group was on its third bag of popcorn and halfway into The Sound of Music. Seth was deeply absorbed even though he had seen the film more times than he could count, and barely noticed when Bella crawled into his lap.

It felt decidedly uncomfortable but it would have seemed improper to shy away from his own family, so he let her wiggle around. She finally settled, leaning against his shoulder. He surmised it was okay because he could still see Julie Andrews over her head.

Later, when the credits were rolling and everyone was getting ready for bed, Rachael sat beside him, next to his unoccupied shoulder. Bella was dozing in his lap, thumb in her mouth. He wondered if Rachael knew letting her suck her thumb would ruin her teeth. He figured it wasn't worth pointing out at the present.

"You act like she's going to attack you," Rachael said, quietly.

"I'm just… not very good with children," Seth replied, opting for the truth.

"It's not hard. She's a three-year-old, Seth, not a hot girl in a bar. You don't have to put on an act for her. Just treat her like you would me."

Their eyes met.

"Minus the swearing and bathroom humor," she added.

Seth smirked. He supposed he could at least try having a conversation with her. Could three-year-olds hold up a conversation? He guessed they could. Hadn't he seen Bella asking her mother about snow the day before? "What is snow?" she had asked, reaching her hand out to collect flakes. "Why is it cold?"

He thought back to his conversations with Neil as they were working on Cosmos. He had said that science education was most important for girls, because they needed to be taught about it earlier than boys did in order to develop a real love for the subject as adults. Try to interest them after thirteen and they were more likely to shy away from the sciences. The only girl under thirteen in Seth's life was currently Bella. Maybe the best thing he could do for her, as an uncle, was to help her foster an interest in science. Hopefully she would turn out smarter than he was.

Bella stirred in his lap then, rubbing her eyes with fists, and cracking open an eye at her mother.

"Did Santa come yet?" she asked, excitement creeping into her voice.

"Not yet," her mother answered, reaching over to brush Bella's hair out of her face. "He will soon, though, once you go to bed."

At this Bella sprang into action and hopped out of Seth's lap, ready to run off to sleep. Rachael caught her by the shoulders before she could leave.

"You forgot to say goodnight to Uncle Seth, missy."

Bella looked genuinely sorry at this and immediately climbed back up on the couch to hug her uncle, who returned the favor. She kissed him on the cheek before scooting down to the floor, and with a quick good night was off like a shot. He could hear her little feet pattering up the staircase.

Seth, still reliving the warmth of her lips on his face, felt a frisson of something like familial love shoot through him. He wondered vaguely if this was the love parents felt for their children. If it was anything like this he could see why they were so crazy about shoving portraits of their kids in his face.

Even after he switched off the light in the guest room and burrowed under the covers, the feeling stayed with him.

Tuesday, December 25th, 2012:

He had awoken Christmas morning to a wild squealing drifting up from the living room. For a few moments he thought a rabid animal had broken into the house, but then remembered he was currently living with a little kid. And it was Christmas.

Even as a lonely, cynical almost-40-year-old, Seth could still reach back and actively remember the excitement of Christmas morning for a child. He could easily recall several years of lying awake on Christmas Eve, desperately trying to sleep, but plagued with fantasies of toys awaiting him under the tree. He assumed Bella wouldn't yet understand Christmas well enough to become that excited, but he was apparently wrong.

The morning was filled with the sounds of ripping paper and more of that wild squealing. Bella was especially pleased with Seth's gift, a pink Radio Flyer tricycle with pink and white streamers and a chrome bell. Seth originally had planned on wrapping the box, but a few days prior decided to assemble it himself and cover it with a gift bag. He was pleased with his choice now as he watched his niece pedal it across the room, shrieking with glee. He caught himself looking on with a huge smile on his face, and thought, however disgustingly cliché it was, that a child's laughter really was contagious.

That night, as he sat outside on a lawn chair across the yard from the fire, Bella came riding up to him, struggling to pedal through the snow on the ground, her thick coat hindering her movement. He chuckled and reached out to pull her trike the rest of the way so it sat next to him. She beamed up at him and happily asked why he wasn't sitting by the fire.

"I'm looking at the stars," he answered.

Bella pulled a face at that, scrunching her nose up. Seth wondered if anyone had ever told her about the stars, or if she had even noticed them at all. Maybe she was blind as a bat like he had been as a child. He figured she must not have been, as she began a barrage of questions:

"Why are there so many? What are they?"

He sighed. He wasn't sure exactly what to tell her. Was he supposed to talk to her like an adult? Would it spur even more questions? He settled on a simple response.

"There are so many because space is really big. It's bigger than you can imagine," he supplied. Bella looked nonplussed, like she didn't believe him.

He tried the other question. "Stars are like big fires. They're just like the one over there, but bigger and hotter. That's why they look like little lights to us."

This he was sure would produce more questions. She looked back at the fire her parents were sitting around, and back up at the vast sky, glittering with little dots of burning gas.

"Why are they so small?" she asked.

"They're not small," he answered. "They just look like that because they're far away. See your mom over there?" He pointed to Rachael, glowing across the lawn in the firelight. "She looks smaller, right? It's because she's further away. It's the same thing."

He wasn't sure whether she would understand this or not. Damn. Kids were difficult. Maybe he should read a book on talking to toddlers.

To his surprise, he was met with silence. She was busy staring upwards, her head thrown back so far he wondered if she'd hurt her neck. Perhaps it wouldn't be so hard to get her interested in science.

"You know, Bella," he said, tentatively, "If you get something called a telescope, you can see the stars closer. Then they look bigger."

She looked over at him at this, eyes wide with the thought.

"I can bring one the next time I see you. Then we can look together," he told her.

She nodded sagely, like she understood every word (hell, maybe she did—this kid stuff was a nightmare!) and dismounted from her tricycle so she could burrow into his lap.

Seth settled his arms across her tiny torso, feeling her hair tickle his neck. He wondered when he would see her next. Maybe at her next birthday? He scoffed at the thought—too long. Rachael lived a half-hour away from him. He didn't know why he kept such a distance. His niece's chubby hand closed over his own and he decided he would go see her more often.

He sighed and leaned back in his chair, combing the stars with Bella's comforting weight on his own. This uncle thing wasn't so bad.

FIN