It was Christmas Eve and all was quiet throughout Tokyo. Most children had already gone to bed after setting out their plates of cookies and glasses of milk, before hurrying off to bed while their parents set out presents while they slept. The only sign of life outside was the Christmas lights that decked out the surrounding houses of the town.
One young couple was busy trying to prepare for Christmas morning as they tried to quickly finish up what needed to be done in case their young daughter decided to sneak downstairs and take a peak at her presents.
Taiki, the younger one of the two, sat on the sofa eating cookies while her wife Haruka, tried to finish putting the presents from "Santa" under the tree. "Why does she insist on baking so many cookies?" the brunette moaned, as she took a sip from the glass of milk that sat beside the large plate of cookies.
Yes their daughter had insisted on baking practically every type of cookie you could think of, chocolate chip, oatmeal, shortbread, gingerbread, ginger snaps, snicker doodles, peanut butter cookies and more, and of course she wanted to put some of each kind out for Santa.
The older woman laughed at her as she grabbed a couple cookies to munch on. "It's not like you try and stop her." she replied, winking at her wife before turning back to the tree, shoving a snicker doodle in her mouth.
"I love baking, ok? And she just so happened to pick up that trait from me. I never want to eat another sweet again after this but I know when we go to see my mom for supper tomorrow, she's going to have baked a whole bunch of pies again and Megumi is going to want to try every last one!"
Haruka laughed at her as she picked up a small present wrapped in silver paper off the couch. "And you know she always wants us to try them all with her." she said, half chuckling as she grabbed her pen off the table.
"What are you doing?"
The older woman screamed as she frantically tried to hide the present behind her back, only to drop it, causing it to knock a silver ball off the tree and sending it flying to the floor, shards of broken glass flying everywhere.
There standing in front of them was Megumi, their 5 year old daughter who was standing there with wide eyes, holding her blanket in one hand while she watched them. "What are you doing?" she asked again.
"Why are you still up Megumi?" Haruka asked, as she tried to block the little girl's view of the Christmas tree.
"I couldn't sleep. What was that loud noise?"
The blonde's cheeks flushed as Taiki quickly jumped in for her. "Oh, it must have been that plate I left on the edge of the kitchen counter! I knew it was going to fall but I didn't do anything about it. Silly me." she lied, hoping her daughter wouldn't notice the shards of glass surrounding the edge of the Christmas tree.
The little girl stared up at her parents with a skeptical glare which unnerved both of them. All of a sudden a small smile started to grow on her face and both women knew she had a plan. "Can I play with you guys?" she asked hopefully, looking up at them with her big pleading violet eyes.
Taiki sighed as she stood up from the couch, walking over to her little girl. "Megumi, you know you should be in bed or else Santa won't come tonight."
Haruka took this as her opportunity to hide the present she dropped, so she quickly bent down and shoved the present under the tree as the little girl's lip quivered. "B-but mommy..."
The brunette planted a soft kiss on her forehead and gently stroked her hair. "You can open presents in the morning." she said, with a small smile.
Megumi's face lit up and Taiki couldn't help but melt when she saw her smile. The little girl was a carbon copy of her, down to her violet eyes and her smile. The only thing she got from Haruka was her long blonde hair which always fell in natural loose curls, although neither woman had no idea where the curly hair came from.
The little girl ran back upstairs and only once they heard her door shut, did they feel safe to continue putting presents under the tree.
"That was a close call." Haruka muttered, as she grabbed a gingerbread man off the plate, taking a bite out of it's head.
The younger woman sighed as she rubbed her forehead. "Hai, she almost caught us. Guess I better go get a broom and sweep up this mess." she muttered, before walking off to the kitchen.
Around 10 minutes later the glass was swept up and Haruka had finally finished placing all the presents under the tree, now all that was left was to finish up the remaining cookies on the plate. There was only a small handful left, consisting mostly of chocolate chip cookies and ginger snaps.
The young couple was seated on the couch, Taiki snuggled up in her wife's arms while they both munched on cookies, quietly chatting away with one another, making sure they wouldn't wake Megumi up. The brunette shut her eyes as she nuzzled in closer, causing Haruka to let out a content sigh as she rested her head on her wifes, closing her eyes in bliss.
"Why are you eating all of Santa's cookies?" a shrill voice screamed, causing them both to jump up from their seats on the couch. Haruka blocked the view of the plate of cookies while Taiki walked over to the young girl who was watching them with teary eyes.
"Megumi we were just taste testing for Santa, there's still plenty of cookies left over for him." she said softly as she placed a hand on her daughter's shoulder.
"Are you sure?"
The young woman nodded and gave her a small smile. "I'm sure. What did you come down here for?"
"I wanted a glass of water..."
"Come on then." Taiki replied, as she grabbed Megumi by the hand, leading her to the kitchen while her wife tried to hide the nearly empty plate of cookies. The brunette grabbed a small cup from the cupboard and quickly filled it with water before handing it to her daughter. "Here you go."
The little girl eagerly took the cup, excitedly gulping down the cold liquid. "Arigatou mommy!"
"You're welcome sweetie."
"Can you and mom tuck me in?" she asked shyly, as she placed her empty cup down on the counter.
"Of course we can do that." she replied sweetly, as she scooped the girl up in her arms. "Haruka!" she yelled.
The blonde showed up in the kitchen doorway, with the one remaining cookie (a ginger snap for those of you wondering) in her mouth. "Nani?" she asked, although her voice was muffled by the cookie.
Taiki mentally face palmed and was thankful Megumi was facing the other way so that she wouldn't see that her mom was eating another one of Santa's cookies. "Megumi wants us to tuck her in."
Her wife quickly swallowed the cookie and gave her a thumbs up. "I can do that! Let's go!" she called, before running up the stairs.
The younger woman groaned as she followed behind, the weight of her daughter in her arms slowing her down. She made her way up to the little girl's bedroom, where Haruka was already waiting, and laid her down in her bed.
Haruka pulled the blankets up over her and gave her a soft kiss on the forehead. "Good night Megumi." she whispered, as she took a step back for Taiki to move in.
Taiki planted a gentle kiss on her forehead and gently brushed her bangs off to one side. "We love you."
The little girl was already half asleep, a content smile on her face. "I love you too..." she muttered sleepily.
Her parents made their way towards her door and were greeted with the sound of soft snoring coming from her bed. They shut her door gently behind them and made their way to their own room where they each plopped down tiredly in their own bed.
The older woman wrapped her strong arms gently around her wife's waist and pulled her in close, kissing her gently on the top of her head. "Ashiteru Taiki." she mumbled.
The brunette responded by nuzzling her head into her wife's chest before reaching up to kiss her on the cheek. "I love you too." she responded, as she buried her head back in the other's chest.
They began to drift off to sleep, in content silence, wrapped in one another's arms when a loud knocking on their door woke them up. They both sat up tiredly in bed, yawning up a storm as the knocking grew louder. They exchanged a quick look between each other and even though no words had been spoken, they both knew it was Haruka's turn to deal with their daughter.
Haruka made her way out of bed and walked over to the door, flinging it open to reveal Megumi standing there with her blanket.
"Can I sleep with you?" she asked softly, as she stared at her mom with those big pleading eyes.
The older blonde was too tired to protest and gently picked her daughter up in her arms. She carried her over to their bed and laid her down in the middle before crawling in next to her.
Megumi let out a tiny giggle before snuggling into Taiki's arms. "Good night mom. Good night mommy." she whispered.
Finally the three of them fell asleep, drifting off into dreamland, peace falling over them with the knowledge that Christmas morning was only a couple of hours away.
