AN's in part one of the marathon.

Merry Christmas to all our friends who are celebrating!

Only Just Starting

Part 2 of the holiday marathon

"Mama. Maamaa." Angie's voice called over the monitor and Catherine rolled to look at Steve.

"Merry Christmas, Cousin Angie!" Joan's voice was vibrating with excitement.

"Izzmet!" the little voice repeated, broadening the smile that was already lighting Catherine's face. "Mama. Maaaamaaaa."

"I have to go wake up my mommy and daddy so we can go downstairs and see if Santa came!" The excitement in Joan's voice was unmistakable. Even at this early hour she was fully awake and ready for an exciting day.

Catherine glanced at the clock on her bedside table. 7:00 A.M. Honestly she was surprised the girls had slept that late. She attributed it almost completely to how much fun they'd had playing the day before including a rousing game of Princess Monopoly. "Up and at 'em, Commander." She patted Steve's chest. "Go time." Leaning over to kiss him before shifting out of bed and bending to kiss Cammie's head, she quickly used the bathroom as as Steve pulled a t-shirt on with a smile.

"Go time." He grinned and checked his watch. "Three whole hours." He ruffled Cammie's fur. "I've dropped on missions with way less sleep. C'mon, let's get you outside."

"Wake up! Wake up! We have to see if Santa came!" Joan burst into the guest room and jumped on the bed with Mary and Aaron. "Let's go."

"Merry Christmas," Aaron said with a soft smile. He and Mary had been awake for about half an hour but stayed in bed waiting for the girls to wake up on their own.

"Merry Christmas!" Mary wrapped her daughter in a tight hug.

"C'mon! Angie's awake too. Aunt Catherine is getting her dressed," Joan announced.

"You didn't wake her up, did you?" Mary asked. Part of her had thought it might be better for Joan to sleep in their room but Joan looked so hopeful when she asked if she could sleep on the air mattress in the nursery that Mary couldn't say no.

"No." Joan's pony tail swung as she shook her head adamantly. "We woke up at the same time."

"Good girl." Mary stretched and threw back the covers. "What do you want to wear this morning?"

Joan chuckled. "You know, mommy."

"You're right." Mary ruffled her hair. "I do."

When Steve got back from taking Cammie out Aaron was already seated on the living room couch with a tray in front of him holding four cups of coffee. Steve took one and said, "Thanks," before being distracted by a commotion on the stairs.

"Santa came!" Joan squealed at a pitch even higher than usual. "He found me! Right, Daddy?"

"Right, pumpkin." Aaron beamed. "There are definitely some gifts under there with your name on them."

"YAY! Let's go, Mommy!"

As Steve watched Joan descend the steps his breath caught in his throat. His mind was transported back to a Christmas morning twenty-five years earlier when he watched an equally excited little girl bound down the stairs saying, "Look, Steve! Santa came!"

For so many years he had blocked out the happy memories that did exist from his childhood because they were too painful to think about. They reminded him of feelings he thought he'd never feel again. Happiness. Family. Togetherness. But when Catherine came to the island and into his life on a daily basis she brought all of those things back. She made it safe for him to look back on his childhood. Of course there was still pain. There was no getting around that. But with each passing year he found it easier to remember the fun times. Especially with his father and with Mary and he treasured those memories.

He beamed as Catherine appeared on the landing at the top of the stairs carrying their daughter.

"Say, 'Merry Christmas,' Angie," Catherine said with a smile that had lit his path for more than half his life and was now reflected on the face of their daughter. Steve paused for just a second and wondered how life could ever get any better than this. He smiled knowing that every time he'd thought that in the past Catherine had found a way to take things to new heights. He couldn't wait to see what happened next. He was snapped out of his reverie by Angie's happy squeals.

"Ree izmet!" she announced as they reached the bottom of the stairs and Steve kissed first her cheek then Catherine's.

"My daughter the candy cane." He took her from Catherine and bounced her in his arms, referring to her red and white striped leggings and bright red top, courtesy, of course, of Elizabeth. "Wanna go see what Santa brought?"

"Look, Cousin Angie! Santa came!" Joan clapped her hands excitedly.

"Yay!" Angie threw her arms up. She wasn't sure quite yet what her cousin's happy tone was all about but she absolutely adored Joan and if Joan was happy then she was too.

Mary and Aaron took a seat on the floor in front of the tree and motioned for an excited Joan, who was burning off energy dancing around the living room, to join them.

"Hey, your outfit matches Angie's," Steve said as Joan snuggled down between her parents.

Joan grinned. "I know. Aunt Elizabeth bought it for me when she bought Angie's. Mommy said she shouldn't have but Aunt Elizabeth said it's fun to match at Christmas."

"Aunt Elizabeth was just looking for an excuse to buy more cute outfits," Mary chuckled drawing a snort of agreement from Catherine.

"Oooooohhhh," Angie whispered, her eyes bright at the sight of all the presents that materialized since her bedtime. It was as if she'd been so caught up in the excitement of the moment she hadn't noticed all the brightly colored packages until just that instant. Steve could feel her whole body react. She was practically vibrating with excitement. Her eyes sparkled as they looked from one box to the next, taking everything in. She wrapped her arms around Steve's neck and hugged him tightly. He kissed her cheek and whispered "Merry Christmas."

"Oooooohhh Mama, see!" she said with wonder in her voice.

Catherine was filming as Steve kneeled and Cammie took her spot next to her little human. "I see, sweetie. Santa brought you presents because you're Mommy and Daddy's good girl, just like Joan." She set her phone on the end table which she'd placed closer to the tree and made sure it was still recording. She knew her parents would want to watch later but she also knew these were moments she and Steve would want to preserve forever.

Angie, snapped out of state of wonder and ready to get down to business grabbed the bright red box with dancing reindeer wrapping.

"Good thing that one's for her," Catherine said as Mary picked up a Santa present and handed it to a ready and waiting Joan.

"Thank you," Joan said eliciting an 'aww' from Catherine.

"Ready, Cousin Angie?" Joan bubbled. "Go."

"Ahh ba eh!" Angie scrabbled at the paper then pushed it at Steve when her efforts were not successful quickly enough. "Dada, do!"

"Okay, Daddy's got it," Steve grinned wryly at Catherine and tore the paper enough that Angie could finish.

"How long did that one take to wrap?" Mary teased, while in seconds, the toddler was pulling at a Bee Says Spin and Learn toy that played animal sounds.

"Yay!" she announced as Catherine removed the packaging and demonstrated how each animal sound would play when the spinner landed on the corresponding image.

"Your mommy rigged one of those, according to Grandpa," Steve grinned as Angie patted the toy before pointing the spinner at the image of a dog.

"Caa-mee! Woof!" she announced gleefully and held it up to show her furry best friend.

Joan had paused, gift halfway open in her lap, to watch Angie open her gift.

"You can go ahead," Mary told her. "You don't have to wait."

"I know." Joan grinned. "I just like watching Angie open presents too."

"Oni. Woof!" Angie jumped up from Steve's lap and went to show Joan her new toy.

"That looks like fun. Let's see what I got," Joan said.

Angie returned to Steve's lap but kept her eyes trained on her cousin.

"My fav'rite!" Joan squealed happily as she held up a game called Disney Frozen Surprise Slides. "It's what I asked Santa for! Look, it's for two to six so we can all play if Aunt Cath helps Baby Angie." She passed the box to Steve with a huge smile. "An' when we go home and Aunt 'Lyssa and Uncle Paul come over we can play with Avery!"

Steve grinned at Aaron as he read the ad points on the box, "Encourages strategy, promotes turn-taking and playing together. Good points." He nodded. "I think a little family competition may be in order."

Mary snorted and shook her head. "You're on, big brother. Me and Catherine against you and Aaron and I'll even let you have my daughter the Frozen expert on your team."

"Hey…" Aaron laughed. "What am I, chopped liver?"

"You…" Mary leaned over to kiss his cheek. "Are an amazing dad who knows more Disney stuff than most kids, but…" She ran a hand over Joan's hair. "Our daughter could probably give Walt a run for his money."

"I'm the esspert!" Joan nodded. "I'll help our team win, Uncle Steve. Can we play?"

"Absolutely," Steve agreed with a smile for his niece. He'd have agreed to pretty much anything to keep that beautiful, happy look in the wide blue eyes he loved so much. "But we'll play later after everyone's gone home or maybe tomorrow…" He winked. "After Aunt Cath has a chance to study up on Frozen."

"Maybe Grace can play too," Joan said hopefully.

"I'm sure she'd love to," Catherine said sincerely.

Joan beamed at the thought of a fun family afternoon. "And don't feel sad if our team beats you, 'kay, cause then you can maybe win the next time," she told Mary and Catherine who shared an 'awww' look. "That's what Miz Tiana says at school."

"Miss Tiana's pretty smart, because that's exactly right. As long as you try your best, you should always feel good about yourself." Catherine pulled out another gift and passed it to the smiling little girl who giggled when she added, "And don't count us out, yet, Commander. I'm thinkin' our daughter's a secret weapon."

Half an hour later, Angie had opened a train set, new blocks, a toddler play and learn computer and an age appropriate replica of the USS Enterprise along with assorted learning toys, a new xylophone, enough books to require another shelf in her room and several plush animals. Joan had opened a Barbie veterinary clinic, books from the Magic Treehouse series, three new outfits and a stars and moon projection light for the ceiling of her newly decorated room.

Throughout the entire process each of the girls had celebrated the gifts the other received almost as much as their own. The adults in the room were thrilled to see the close bond growing and developing between the girls.

"We're gonna play with Angie's new animal sounds toy first then we're gonna play with my Barbies. We can both be veterinarians like Aunt Lyssa," Joan reported. "Then later we're gonna play Frozen slides."

"You're a very good cousin," Steve said and Joan beamed at the compliment.

"First thing we need to do is call Grandma Sue and Grandpa Ramon and tell them Merry Christmas," Mary said. "Then breakfast. Then playtime."

"That sounds like a plan." Catherine turned off the camera.

Ten minutes later while Cammie was happily enjoying a huge marrow bone from Santa, and Joan was chattering away on a very, very late night in LA call to her grandparents, Steve and Catherine shared a look and burst out laughing as their toddler delightly played with the boxes that had contained her gifts.

Catherine leaned over to kiss the headful of soft curls and murmured, "Six minutes after opening presents before you went for the boxes. Uncle Danno pegged that pretty well."

Steve laughed as Angie banged two box tops together. "Yeah, that's a good noise, huh? How about a little breakfast before everyone else gets here?" He lifted her and she snatched a green foil wrapped box on the fly.

"Coo-kie?"

"No cookies yet, but how about some yummy pancakes?" Catherine asked as they reached the kitchen and Steve settled her in her chair.

"No, Mama. Cookie." Her head disappeared inside the green box and her giggles were muffled until she removed it to say, "EEEE Boo!"

"Peek a boo to you," Steve removed the box and put a cut up pancake Catherine had warmed in the microwave on her tray. "Take a bite. Eat your breakfast so you and Joanie can play."

A tiny frown accompanied her look, but she popped the pancake into her mouth. "Dada, coooookie?"

Steve sighed and Catherine hid a smile. "Okay, it's Christmas so if you eat your pancake and some fruit, you can have one cookie." He took her tiny hand in his and shook it, smiling when Angie did.

Leaning into his side to place a kiss on his cheek, Catherine surveyed the scene in their kitchen. Cammie was chewing the bone she'd carried in to be with the family, her daughter was playing with a box after she and Steve sat up till 4 a.m. wrapping toys, and her kickass husband just negotiated a cookie with their 17 month old. Unable to control the laughter that bubbled up out of pure joy she bent to kiss her toddler's slightly sticky cheek. "Merry Christmas, Angie."

Steve's smile reached his eyes Mary, Aaron and Joan entered the kitchen. "We're only starting the day and it's already the best one yet."

"And it's just starting," Catherine said happily. "I can't wait to see what the rest of the day holds."

Tune in tomorrow as the Christmas fun continues.