Spirit of Giving
Summary: T'is the season for the spirit of giving. When Olivia gets an unexpected gift, it brings her more than just peace.
When you hear the sound of jingling bells, it can only mean Walter Bishop was nearby. What he does can be fascinating sometimes. Which was why Astrid stopped in the middle of her work to watch him decorate the cow. Gene didn't seem to mind one bit. She mooed. Now every movement she made caused the bells to jingle.
Walter joined Astrid in the main lab area to begin his next holiday project.
"Did you get everything from the market?"
"Yes, Walter." Astrid studied the recipe again. "How much brandy do you want me to put in it?"
"A quarter cup should do." He absentmindedly rubbed his eyebrow. "I want to avoid any incidents when we light the pudding."
With just two days before Christmas, Walter was his cheeriest self. Nothing could bring him down. Well, almost nothing.
He started to sing. "Deck the halls with boughs of holly..."
While he was humming the rest of the song, in walks Peter plopping down two duffel bags.
"Hey Walter. I got bad news."
Seeing the bags, the first thought that ran through Walter's mind was Peter leaving again. He wasn't very good at hiding the shock on his face.
Peter could not help notice, so quickly explained himself. "Apparently, the experiment you left running at home, when you left this morning exploded." Even Astrid could hear Walter sigh with relief. "Looks like it will be a few days before the air clears."
A sudden realization dawned on Walter's face. "What about Christmas dinner?"
Peter shook his head. "You should have thought about that before making a stink bomb." He watched Walter lumber back to his workbench. He hadn't seen Walter that dejected since he found out the truth about himself.
Just then, Olivia made her entrance, a little more cheerful than her usual self. She even rewarded Peter with a smile, as he was making his way over to help Astrid with the pudding.
"Hey."
"Hey."
The good detective that she was, noticed immediately the sullen mood hanging over the senior Bishop. Olivia instinctively put a hand on his shoulder. When did she become so warm with him, thought Peter.
"Why so glum, Walter?"
Peter listened to their conversation discreetly.
"Peter was never around for the holidays before. I thought this year would be special. Now we don't even have a place to trim a tree."
This made Peter a little jealous, seeing how Walter was more open and frank with Olivia than he ever was with him.
The next day, Peter arrived at the lab with a surprise for Walter, a six foot Nova Scotia pine. "Hey Walter. I got somethin'..." He stopped mid-sentence when he saw that they were already trimming a tree in the middle of the floor.
"Walter, stop eating the decorations." Astrid swatted away the stray hand.
"Oh Peter! Look. Olivia brought a tree," his father said elatedly. Beside him, Olivia was hanging the baubles, while Astrid was stringing the popcorn and and cranberries for the garland. Olivia never looked happier.
"What are we going to do with this?" Olivia volunteered a solution.
"We can put that one in the office."
"And I'll make more popcorn." Walter chimed in. "T'is the season to be jolly..."
Olivia went along with Peter to find a place for the tree in the only room in the lab that offered any privacy. While they were alone, Olivia handed him a gift.
"For me?" Peter accepted his present with modesty. "Thank you. I haven't got you anything."
"That's OK. I got something even better." She showed him a photograph.
"What's this?"
She pointed to the happy couple in the picture. "That's her mom and dad. I found it in my album the other day."
Peter studied it thoughtfully.
"Read the back."
There in handwriting was a note. "To replace the ones you lost."
"It's made me wistful for the time I had over there."
"Is that why you've seem happier lately?" She nodded.
When they finally join the others, Walter was just putting a record on. A familiar tune starts playing. It wasn't long before everyone started to sing.
"Oh, come, all ye faithful, joyful and triumphant. Oh, come ye, oh, come ye to Bethlehem. Come and behold him. Born the king of angels. Oh, come let us adore him..."
There you have it, folks. You can't have Christmas fluff without Walter. Thanks to wjobsessed for the suggestion to write a P/O yuletide fic. I would not have came up with one otherwise. You are not gonna get anymore than a one-shot out of me. I had to watch "Mickey's Once Upon A Christmas" for inspiration. It was a Disney video I worked on years ago. I even put in a few elements from the movie.
What do you think?