A Very Merry UNIT Christmas
The Brigadier stamped his feet, blowing into the frigid palms of his hands as if to emphasize how cold it was outside, before looking down to glance lovingly at the tiny child whose small hand slipped quickly back into his. The little girl looked up at him with large trusting eyes and a big beaming smile creeping across her rose tinted face.
Brigadier Alistair Gordon Lethbridge Stewart thought that she was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen in his whole entire life – the little girl was always there to greet him when he arrived home in the evening, and always awake early enough to wave him goodbye when he left for work each morning – but he knew in his heart that all fathers were supposed to feel that way about their daughters. She reminded him every day of what he was really fighting for – unlike his wife who had soured towards him along with their marriage a long time ago.
He helped her off with her woolly bobble hat, scarf, and mittens – firmly attached to her bright pink raincoat by a length of elastic threaded through both arms – before handing the items of wet clothing over to a young lady who'd been hired to tend to the makeshift cloakroom for the evening. Divesting himself of his own damp fleece he then sat the little girl down on a nearby stool, and slipped her wellington boots off of her tiny feet – replacing them with a pair of glittery silver and white party slippers.
She kicked her feet joyously in mid-air – the shoes had been a present from the Brigadier for his daughter to commemorate the little girl's first ever UNIT Christmas party – and she admired how they shimmered in the light of the room.
Festive music drifted towards them from the mess hall, where the party was being held, and as he lifted her into his strong arms she threw her own affectionately around his neck.
"Come on Tiger," He smiled, "let's go and join the party."
A large table had been set up in the centre of the room, and places had already been laid in preparation for the traditional Christmas dinner which would be served later, but in the meantime there was dancing, and party games to play, and presents for the children which would be presented to them before dinner by Father Christmas and three real Reindeer.
A couple of boys ran past, one pretending to shoot at some invisible, imaginary enemy, the other a racing car – or was it an aeroplane? The Brigadier wondered as he watched the boys weave their way through the crowd and quickly disappear, swallowed up by the sea of people. He smiled.
"Please can I get down now daddy?" Little Katie asked, excited by the flurry of activity going on around her, and eager to get in on her share of any fun to be had. She began to squirm in her father's arms and the Brigadier placed her down gently, but didn't let go of her hand just yet.
"Guess who?" A pair of cold hands reached up to cover the Brigadier's eyes from behind, and a familiar chirrupy voice sang in his ear. The Brigadier very quickly stifled a knowing smile, and Katie giggled – he'd know that voice anywhere.
"Miss Grant." He responded without hesitation.
"Now how did you know that?" She asked, sounding a little disappointed as she withdrew her hands from the Brigadier's face and he turned to face her.
"Jo," He responded warmly and with a good humoured smile, "only you would have the nerve to play a practical joke on a superior officer and expect to get away without a reprimand."
He feigned displeasure but she could tell that he was only joking.
The Brigadier then turned his attentions back to his tiny daughter. She looked just like a fragile china doll he thought, and he wondered how two people both so consumed by the resentment and the bitterness they harboured for each other could have come together for long enough to have produced something so precious and beautiful as the tiny child now standing before him, her small hand still slotted into his like two pieces of a jigsaw puzzle, and whom it was now their lifelong responsibility to nurture and protect.
He observed the little girl's elegant pink party dress and her delicate little slippers and wondered whether he had ever really loved his wife as other husbands seemed to – he supposed that he must have done once – but he wasn't convinced that she had ever truly loved him.
He looked down at his daughter and smiled. "Katie," He addressed her, kneeling down to the little girl's level, "this is my friend Jo Grant."
Jo looked at him, surprised to hear the Brigadier refer to her as a friend.
"I bet if you were to ask her nicely she would take you to get a drink over at the drinks table." He explained.
"Can I have lemonade?" The little girl asked hopefully.
"Tiger," He laughed, "just for tonight you can have whatever you like."
He offered his daughter's tiny hand to Jo, who took it gently, and as the Brigadier kissed the top of the little girl's blonde head affectionately the young assistant marvelled at the tenderness of a man who was known and respected amongst the troops for his predilection to order, his loyalty to his country, his dedication to his duty, and above all for his unrivalled courage and bravery. For all of this however he had never been an unkind nor and unreasonable leader, and would never ask of the men under his command anything which he would not be prepared to do himself.
That alone made him a pretty good boss, and a pretty decent sort of a man too for that matter, in Jo's eyes.
"I need to find the Doctor," He explained to her, indicating his tiny daughter to the Time Lord's assistant subtly and Jo nodded, quite understanding his meaning – but there was a playful smile plastered upon her face as he said this, "and I'm not entirely sure what his feelings are on children."
"Oh well I wouldn't say that I'm completely adverse to them Brigadier, as long as they behave themselves." A familiar voice spoke up from behind him, and Jo chuckled. The Brigadier sighed, evidently embarrassed at having been caught out by UNIT's Scientific Advisor, and as he turned around to face his friend the Doctor bent down in front of Katie – pulling a brilliantly shiny new penny from behind the small girl's ear and handing it to her. Little Katie giggled – how could he not have realised that the Doctor was standing directly behind him? The Brigadier kicked himself.
"Come on then Katie." Jo smiled as she looked down at the little girl whose small hand gently curled around hers, and who was still marvelling at the smooth and shiny surface of the coin. As all three watched her she began to fiddle absentmindedly behind her ear – just in case there was any more money to be found back there that she didn't know about – and the Doctor chuckled. The Brigadier smiled.
"Let's go and see if we can find you some lemonade shall we?" Jo's voice sang like a tiny bird's above the raucous guffaw of the troops.
Katie nodded – her big blue eyes wide with enthusiasm.
"Don't worry, I'll look after her." She smiled at the Brigadier reassuringly as she led the little girl – who skipped along merrily beside the young woman – away in the direction of the drinks table, and the Brigadier watched them go.
He wasn't worried, anything but. He knew that his daughter was in safe hands with Jo Grant. He would never say so much in front of her – that would never do – but he was really rather fond of the young woman. She'd grown so much under the Time Lord's counsel, but she still had so much more to learn. There was something innately childlike about her, quite unlike her predecessor Liz Shaw. Liz had been feisty and independent, keenly intellectual, and despite the fact that they had remained firm friends and in regular contact with each other he still missed her very much – but he couldn't help but feel somewhat protective of Jo. He knew that the Doctor felt the same way too.
The Doctor clapped him on the shoulder cheerily as 'White Christmas' began to play in the background – tearing the Brigadier from his contemplation. It certainly would be by Christmas day he thought to himself if the current blizzard outside was anything to go by.
"Well then my good fellow," The Doctor turned to him cordially as both men watched Jo and the little girl disappear amongst the swelling crowd of people, before turning again to face each other, "how about you and I get a drink of our own?" He asked.
The Brigadier smiled, and nodded as he was led away – a brandy would be just the thing, he thought, to dispel the chill from his slightly aching bones.
Sergeant Benton and Captain Yates had set up a drinking game and he noticed that a few of the men were making rather merry in the corner of the room. They looked to him uncertainly as he passed, their faces betraying their somewhat guilty expressions – like naughty school children who'd been caught doing something that they knew they shouldn't, and who were wondering whether they were going to get into trouble for it – but for one night only there were no rules. The Brigadier smiled at them and they appeared to relax slightly with this small gesture from their commanding officer, raising their glasses to him in silent salute as he walked on by.
"Here you go Brigadier, get that down you." The Doctor smiled as he caught up with him at the adult drinks table, not even aware that he had fallen out of step with the Time Lord until he'd turned around to see him gone. The silver haired man handed him a brandy, and as the Brigadier took his first sip of the golden liquid he savoured the drink in his hands. The liquor warmed the back of his throat as it slipped down easily like hot caramel and the Brigadier closed his eyes and smiled.
"That hits the spot." He sighed contentedly.
"Merry Christmas Alistair." The Doctor grinned. Surprised at hearing the Time Lord use his first name for a change the Brigadier looked up sharply to see the wizened faced, silver haired man looking back at him with a twinkle in his eye and a crooked smile curling the corners of his thin lips.
"And to you Doctor." He smiled, raising his glass as the Time Lord raised his own of whiskey in a silent toast.
DWDWDWDWDW
The Brigadier sat sandwiched between the Doctor and his tiny daughter as he ladled sprouts onto the little girl's plate. Jo was sitting on the opposite side of little Katie – it appeared his daughter had taken quite a shine to the young woman throughout the course of the evening, and the organisers had had to re-juggle the place names slightly just so that she could sit next to the Doctor's assistant. The turkey had been carved into large juicy slices and was being passed around the table on a huge serving dish along with the gravy boat. As the Brigadier waited for it to reach their end of the table he looked down at his small daughter sitting beside him as she cradled the rag doll in her arms – her present from father Christmas – admiring her beautiful head of long rustic hair, and green gingham dress, and he smiled.
"I think I'll call her Jo." The little girl muttered joyously to herself, realigning the crumpled skirt of the dolls dress and running her fingers through her woven hair before turning her big blue eyes upwards to look at her father. "How do you think Santa Claus knew that I wanted a new dolly daddy?" She asked.
"Because Santa Claus knows everything." He laughed, and stroked her silken blonde locks tenderly before she reached up and wrapped her arms gently around his neck before planting an affectionate kiss upon his warm cheek. As she did so he wrapped his own arms protectively around her, and held her in a tight embrace. "So then Tiger, have you had a nice evening?" He asked her.
The turkey and gravy boat finally reached them and Jo placed a couple of slices on her own plate before spooning some of the meat into Katie's own smaller dish. The Brigadier looked to her and nodded his thanks, and Jo smiled.
"Yes thank you daddy." The little girl responded. "I wish I could come to work with you every day. Jo is really nice, and the Doctor makes me laugh." She giggled. "It's so much better than school."
"Well maybe one day you will work for UNIT Katie." The Brigadier smiled, but both Jo and the Doctor couldn't help but notice that there was a faraway look in his eyes as he said this, and they both suspected that deep down a military life was not the life he would chose for his daughter if given half the chance. She was still far too young to understand the dangers that her father faced on an almost daily basis, nor the sacrifices he'd already made in the defence of his country, and neither of them could blame him for wanting a safer, much more stable, life for his daughter.
"But in the meantime please don't be in a hurry to grow up too quickly." He sighed, holding her out before him and regarding her with all the love and affection that a doting father should. She frowned as she observed the distant look in the Brigadier's eyes and he chuckled as she flicked him playfully on the nose. He tickled her playfully, and as he did so she let out a loud and throaty giggle of the most infectious kind.
"Come on Tiger, you're dinner will get cold." He laughed.
"Happy Christmas daddy." Katie chirruped as the Brigadier helped her sit back down in her chair and she began to tuck heartily into the traditional Christmas dinner which in her young and impressionable opinion appeared to have appeared magically in front of her. He watched her as she ate, doing her best not to spill gravy down her beautiful new party dress.
"Happy Christmas sweetheart." He smiled.