Hey, it's Christmas in September! ^_^ No, really, there's a cute backstory to this fic; namely, a couple of Christmases ago, I found myself wondering what Christmas would be like for the Digidestined, after all they've been through. This story actually ties into a series of mine that was never completed, called "Digimon X", and was meant to provide a little backstory for some of the characters. I don't know if I'll ever finish the series, but at least you'll have a look at two of the 'newbies' later introduced! ^_^ Enjoy!
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A Very Digi Christmas...Again.
A 'Digimon X' fanfiction by Bandit
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"Dad! Dad!!"
Groaning, Ken Ichijouji buried his face deeper in his pillow. The young voice persisted, coming closer.
"Dad, wake up! It's Christmas!"
"Oof!"
Ken let out a grunt of surprise as the weight of a five-year-old boy dropped suddenly onto his legs. Lifting his face from the refuge of the pillow, he looked blearily at the weight as it began to bounce up and down on his legs, jiggling the bed.
"Uuhhh...?"
"Come ON, Dad! We've gotta go open presents! I think Santa got me a Craggo the Huntsman figure!"
"What time is it?" Ken slurred, propping himself up on his elbow to check the time on the digital clock that sat on his wife's dressing table. The clock read 4:12 am. With a moan, he let his face fall back into the pillow. "Jordan, please tell me that clock is wrong."
"Da-ad," Jordan complained, tugging on the blankets. "Pleeeeeease?"
"Yolei, your son is out of bed three hours earlier than I expressly told him he was to stay in it..." Ken muttered.
"Oh, no you don't," Yolei said calmly, without opening her eyes. "Before dawn, he's *your* son."
"Daddy, Jordan woke me up," came a small voice from the doorway. Sitting up with some difficulty because of Jordan, who was still solidly planted on his legs, Ken saw his three-year-old daughter standing in the doorway, rubbing sleep out of her bright blue eyes with one small fist, a much-loved toy rabbit dangling from the other hand.
"Why do all the problems come to Daddy?" Ken lamented.
"Because Mommy is the disciplinarian," Yolei said, still not opening her eyes. "Therefore, Son and Daughter know that she won't give an inch, but that they can get whatever they want from Daddy, because he's a sucker for big, sad puppy eyes. That's why."
"You're not helping me here..."
"I want to open presents!" Jordan reiterated, beginning to bounce again. "Can we pleeeeeeeeeeeease open presents? Pleeeeeee-"
"All right, all right," Ken gave in, running a hand resignedly through his tousled dark hair. "Look, go wait in the living room, and I'll get the coffee perking, okay?"
"I hate coffee," Jordan said, making a face.
"I know that, but Daddy needs it desperately right now," Ken said with much-tried patience. "Please go wait in the living room while I try to rejoin the world of the living."
Jordan blinked, confused, but nodded. "Okay..." With that, he slid off the bed (and his father's legs) and padded off in his red and blue pyjamas for the living room.
With a sigh, Ken leaned over his still-inert wife. "Miya-chan, please wake up," he said, pleading in his voice. Yolei opened one purple eye, regarding his sleepy face with great amusement.
"You really are a chump for them, you know that?"
"I can't help it," he said apologetically, shrugging. "He's got your eyes."
"Sweet-talker," Yolei teased, opening both eyes and starting to get up. Ken stopped her.
"Hold on. It's my fault that the kids aren't both back in bed...so you shouldn't have to deal with them yet." He smiled at her. "Stay here, and I'll bring you some coffee."
"Ohh, that word sounds good right about now," Yolei said blissfully. Ken laughed.
"Same here... I'd better get going before Jordan sets the tree on fire."
"I think he'll be okay for a few more seconds," Yolei purred, and sat up to give him a kiss...
"Mommy? Daddy?"
Startled, they pulled apart, turning to look at their younger offspring, who was standing at the foot of their bed.
Yolei cleared her throat a bit embarrassedly, pushing her hair back behind her ears. "Amy, sweetie, don't you want to go look at presents?" she said gently.
"Uh-uh," she said, shaking her head so that her soft purple hair fell in her eyes. "I wanna stay here with you. Jordan pinches."
"I'll have to talk to Jordan about that," Yolei said, with a dark look on her face. Ken felt momentarily sorry for Jordan.
"Can I stay with you?" Amy said, her eyes huge and limpid. Yolei smiled.
"Sure, honey. C'mere." She held out her arms, and Amy eagerly clambered up the bedskirts and snuggled into her mother's embrace.
Ken raised an eyebrow at his wife, as if to say, 'Now who's the sucker?' Yolei just laughed and shook her head.
"It's Christmas, Ken. Go get the coffee, if you can't be positive."
"I think I've been dismissed," Ken chuckled, getting out of bed. "See you in a minute, then."
"Begone," Yolei said imperiously, her eyes sparkling fun as she waved him away. Ken pretended to look cowed.
"I thought a man's house was his castle..."
"In your dreams, Ichijouji," Yolei said with a grin, at the same time that Amy giggled and spoke up.
"It's not a castle, Daddy, it's an aparted!"
"Apartment," Yolei corrected.
"That's what I said. It's an apartedment," Amy said seriously, her blue eyes earnest. Ken smothered a laugh and slipped from the room.
As the door closed behind him, Amy burrowed under the covers, nestling herself comfortably in her mother's arms, and put her thumb in her mouth. Yolei looked down at the round little face with a warm smile as she settled back onto her pillow. The shape of Amy's face and the silky-soft lavender hair framing it were the spit and image of Yolei at that age, but the long, dark eyelashes that rested on Amy's cheeks and the piercingly blue eyes now hidden behind closed lids were unmistakably from her father.
She looked so much like them, as did her brother, with his shock of dark blue hair and impish face, and yet they were both individual in their own right, little people with their own thoughts and dreams and opinions... Yolei sighed in contentment and just a little bit of wonder at the idea, closing her eyes as well. Her family was a little crazy at times, but that was to be expected. And they definitely didn't take the prize for oddness out of all of the former Digidestined's families. Look at Joe's bicultural household, or the havoc of raising three-year-old twins that TK and Kari were going through.
Well, a little nuttiness certainly kept things interesting, Yolei reflected, and allowed herself to doze off, the little bundle of life that was her daughter warm against her heart as they nodded into sleep.
A few minutes later, the door opened a bit and Ken peered inside. In much better spirits now that he'd had his coffee, he quietly opened the door and stole into the room, moving carefully to keep the mug of coffee in his hand from spilling. Setting it down on the dressing table next to the digital clock, he paused to look at his wife and daughter.
Amy was curled up against her mother, her knees drawn up to her chest, sucking her thumb as she slept lightly; Yolei rested her head on her arm, the other arm draped around the shoulders of their child. A strand of hair that had fallen across her face fluttered as she breathed.
Ken reached down to brush it away; at his touch her eyes opened, and she smiled up at him, her vivid purple eyes bright with her own special magic. Ken's breath caught in his throat; after years of marriage, she still took his breath away. The very air seemed to crackle for a moment between them.
Then Amy stirred, and the magic, although it didn't dim, changed to something calmer, more subtle. Ken grinned.
"I *am* a lucky guy," he said cheerfully, as Amy opened her eyes. "My castle has two Sleeping Beauties in it."
"Daddy," Amy giggled, sitting up. "I'm not Sleeping Beauty..."
"Oh, but I think you are," Ken said seriously. "Only a princess could be so sweet. And you are definitely the sweetest girl in the whole wide world." Amy giggled again, sliding out of bed and hugging his leg. Yolei laughed.
"So what does that make me, O King?" she teased. Ken didn't miss a beat.
"The sweetest *big* girl in the world," he answered instantly. Yolei beamed.
"I *am* a big girl, Daddy," Amy insisted, her voice muffled by his pants leg.
"You sure are," he agreed, nodding. "Maybe even too big for a piggy-back to the living room."
"No, I'm not!" Amy cried, letting go of his leg and holding her arms out. "I'm not that big!"
Ken looked carefully at her. "Hm...maybe you're right." He caught her up and swung her onto his back as she shrieked with laughter. "What do you know! You *were* right!" he said, faking surprise. "Where to, Princess?"
"The living room!" Amy cheered. "I wanna see the tree!"
"Okay, Mr. Ed, wait for me," Yolei laughed, swinging her legs over the edge of the bed and putting on her slippers. Standing, she pushed her long hair out of her eyes, and they headed off to the living room.
"Mom! Mom, look at this one!" Jordan yelled, accosting her as soon as she came through the door. "I think it's Craggo the Huntsman!" He waved a brightly-wrapped box in the air, his face bright with glee. Yolei sat down on the couch as Ken helped Amy 'dismount'.
"You never know," she said with a small twinkle in her eye, looking carefully at the box. "Looks more like a package of socks to me. Or maybe underwear...who's it from?"
"Aw, Mom," Jordan complained, scowling. "You're no fun."
"It's from Mom and Dad," Ken said into her ear, having caught a glimpse of the tag. Yolei nodded, smiling knowingly; Ken's parents spoiled their grandkids rotten...in that acceptable grandparent way. Amy was busy searching the heap of packages under the tree for ones with her name on them.
"No, it's not," Jordan exclaimed, having overheard. "It's from Gramps and Gramma!"
"Well, they're my Mom and Dad, aren't they?" Ken said with a shrug. Jordan frowned, as though he'd never thought of it that way before.
"I guess..." he said, his eyebrows knit in consideration. "Can we open presents now?" he exclaimed, changing the subject abruptly back to more urgent matters.
"What do you think?" Ken said, glancing at Yolei. Jordan and Amy both looked at their mother with big, pleading eyes.
"I think if we don't give the word soon, we're going to have the Ichijouji Rebellion on our hands," Yolei laughed. "Go for it, you two."
"All right!" Jordan yelled, and tore the paper from his package. A brightly colored plastic box came into view, holding a muscular figurine in a leopard skin, with a bow like a small tree trunk next to him and several plastic arrows. "AWESOME! It's the talking one!" the boy jubilated, ripping the back of the box open and seizing the figure. Pressing a button in its back, he grinned as the toy let out a mighty caveman cry...sort of.
"It *yodels*?" Yolei said incredulously. Ken started to laugh, and Jordan looked insulted.
"That's his *battle* cry, Mom," he insisted, as though everybody should know that. His good spirits came back quickly. "Look at this!" He hit the button again.
"Cower before Craggo," Craggo droned. Ken and Yolei looked at each other, their eyebrows raised. Another push of the button got a "Craggo triumphs!", and then a "Behold the power of Good!" Finally, the toy cried, "Flee, my quarry! You cannot hide!" and then went back to its 'battle cry'. Yolei was having trouble holding it together; the lines sounded something like a moose bellowing into a ceiling fan...if the moose could speak English, that is.
"Isn't he cool?" Jordan said happily, putting down the figure and rummaging through the package for its weaponry.
"He's unbelievable," Yolei said, quite honestly. "I've got to mention something to your parents about giving Saturday morning cartoon merchandise as gifts," she muttered to Ken. He smiled.
"Jordan's been talking about that toy for months," he reminded her. "At least we'll get a rest."
"Ah, but you forget that we'll be listening to that yodel cry until the batteries die," Yolei said sagely. Ken groaned.
"Maybe I should have a word with them, after all..."
"Maybe you should hide the batteries."
"'Ever mighty, and sel...seld...'" Jordan read, squinting at the back of the box. "Sel... Um, 'something defeated'. Dad, what does S-E-L-D-O-M mean?"
"Oh, 'seldom'?" Ken said, with a smile. "Not very often. Like, I 'seldom set myself on fire'."
Yolei burst out laughing.
"Huh?" Jordan said, blinking at his mother. "You guys are weird sometimes..."
"Mommy, Mommy, look at this one!" Amy cried, trying to push over a box nearly as tall as she was, and just as wide as it was tall. Jordan dropped his miniature bow and arrows and hurried over.
"Amy, that's mine!" he said angrily.
"Is not, it had my name on it!" she shot back, standing between the gift and her brother protectively.
"Aw, you can't even read," Jordan scoffed, reaching for the gift. Amy wailed.
"MOMMEEEEEEEEEEEE! Jordan's taking my present!"
With a sigh, Yolei looked at the tag. "Jordan, it's your sister's present. Let her have it. Why don't you go look for more with your name on them?"
Jordan scowled, twisting his toe in the carpet, but did as she said. Yolei sat back on the couch, closing her eyes.
"What a holiday," she murmured. "Learning to give, share, and fight over presents...great values, don't you think?"
Ken shrugged, sliding an arm around her shoulders. "They're kids, Miya," he said lightly. "Come on, what were you doing at their age?"
"Jockeying for first chance at the presents with my brother and sisters," Yolei said with a touch of amusement in her voice. "'Course, I always came out last...but that went with being the youngest. It was fun anyway, as long as I didn't get stepped on. You?"
Ken sighed. "At Amy's age? Same as you, only no sisters."
Wincing, Yolei met his eyes apologetically. "I'm sorry..."
"It's fine," Ken said, kissing her lightly on the cheek. "I don't mind. They're happy memories, anyway. It's nice to think about him, once in a while."
"So, at Jordan's age..."
"At Jordan's age, I had my first Christmas as an only child," Ken said, looking sadly off into space. "My parents spent too much time crying about how much they missed Sam to do much in the way of the holiday spirit, but my grandparents had me over at their house for Christmas Day. I got a stuffed monkey..." He grinned, shaking his head. "Mr. Tops. Poor guy's probably still up in a closet at my parents' house."
"Maybe you could go get him sometime," Yolei suggested. "Amy would love another stuffed animal."
"Hm..." Ken murmured, thinking on it. "Maybe I will. It seems like a crime to just leave something like that in a closet with no one to love it. I never really thought about it since I outgrew him."
"Everyone deserves someone to love them," Yolei said, contentedly resting her head on his shoulder. Smiling, Ken leaned over to kiss the top of her head. She lifted her head to look him in the eyes and kissed back.
"Oh, *yuck*!"
They moved apart, laughing, as Jordan watched in disgust.
"Gross, gross, gross," he muttered, plumping down onto the carpet and grabbing another present. "Whyd'ya wanna kiss her, Dad? Yuck-o..."
Ken chuckled. "You'll figure it out eventually, Jordan. It's kind of a big-person thing."
"When I grow up, there's no way I'm kissing any gross-out *girls*," Jordan said positively, looking up. "Girls are evil. They cry too much. And this girl in my class, Angela Blakely, bites people! I'd rather eat worms than kiss her. When I'm a grown-up I'm gonna buy a horse and ride around beating up bad guys like Craggo! AAAAIIIIIIEEEEEEYAAAAHHH!" he bellowed, leaping to his feet and brandishing the present box at Amy. "Flee, my Corey! You cannot hide!"
"Mommeeeeeee!" Amy wailed, running over to hold onto Yolei's legs.
"Craggo triumphs!" Jordan yelled, quite...triumphantly. "Cower before Craggo!"
"Jordan, stop terrorizing your sister," Yolei said firmly. She paused to think. "Does this Craggo guy have a sidekick?"
"Yeah," Jordan said, nodding. "He's got a big dinosaur named Yarggh, and a prehistory-ic horse called Windswift, and a sister called Cragga. Why?" he said, looking suspicious.
"Well, next time you decide to be Craggo, Amy can be Cragga," Yolei said.
"Aw, Mom, she's no fun!" Jordan complained.
"Fun or not, you have to include your sister, or no more Craggo," his mother insisted.
"Never mind," Jordan said, sitting down and opening another package. "Hey, roller skates!"
"Nice save," Ken said appreciatively in Yolei's ear as their children resumed their present opening.
"I try," she said back, smiling. "Hey, are any of those for me?"
In answer, Ken got up and grabbed a small box wrapped in purple paper printed with snowmen.
"The kids will have their own presents," he said, sitting back down, "but this one is from me."
Taking it, Yolei unwrapped it carefully. Inside was a small white cardboard box.
"Oh, a box," she grinned. "Just what I always wanted."
"Open it," Ken said, grinning back. Yolei obliged...
"Oh, Ken, it's beautiful..." she whispered, carefully taking out a fragile silver snowflake the size of her thumbnail, strung on a thin silver chain. She held it up to the light; it sparkled.
"I'm glad you like it," Ken said cheerfully. Yolei gazed at it for a long moment, and then handed it to him.
"Put it on, okay?" she said, lifting her hair away from her neck. Ken blinked.
"Now?"
"Sure," she agreed. "It'll go so wonderfully with my nightgown." She winked, and Ken laughed and obliged.
"Very elegant," he said as he drew back, admiring the necklace...and the wearer. Yolei snorted.
"In a green flannel nightie?"
"Hey, 'tis the season," Ken quipped. "Maybe you should wear the outfit to the Taggarts' tonight."
"Oh, bug off," Yolei said, rolling her eyes and settling back onto his shoulder with a yawn. The Taggarts were friends of theirs in D.C.; they had a little boy Jordan's age and an eight-year-old girl that Amy worshipped. The two families had made plans for Christmas dinner. "I've got, let's see, fourteen hours to decide on an outfit anyway," she added, glancing at the clock. Ken winced.
"Good point...want to go take a nap? I'll watch the kids."
"Only if you take one this afternoon," Yolei said instantly, standing up. Ken grinned.
*Knew she'd jump on it...*
"Unless I want to pass out in the mashed potatoes, I'd better. G'night, then?"
"It's 'good morning', dear," Yolei said, and bent to kiss him on the forehead. "Wake me up for breakfast, okay? I'll be starving by then..."
Ken nodded. "Right," he said, watching her leave the room, the necklace still sparkling around her neck. He'd found it in a shop, and it had reminded him of that first Christmas party and all of those adventures they'd had when they were kids. He'd bought it on impulse, and was relieved that she loved it.
*Our lives aren't so wild now...* he ruminated. *But I guess it's like TK said. We're still having adventures...just not the wild-monster kind.*
"Daddy!!! Jordan's opening my present!"
"It's mine!!!"
*Of course, raising these two comes close,* Ken thought with a laugh, and got up to sort out presents.
It was really quite the Christmas...
*OWARI*
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A Very Digi Christmas...Again.
A 'Digimon X' fanfiction by Bandit
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"Dad! Dad!!"
Groaning, Ken Ichijouji buried his face deeper in his pillow. The young voice persisted, coming closer.
"Dad, wake up! It's Christmas!"
"Oof!"
Ken let out a grunt of surprise as the weight of a five-year-old boy dropped suddenly onto his legs. Lifting his face from the refuge of the pillow, he looked blearily at the weight as it began to bounce up and down on his legs, jiggling the bed.
"Uuhhh...?"
"Come ON, Dad! We've gotta go open presents! I think Santa got me a Craggo the Huntsman figure!"
"What time is it?" Ken slurred, propping himself up on his elbow to check the time on the digital clock that sat on his wife's dressing table. The clock read 4:12 am. With a moan, he let his face fall back into the pillow. "Jordan, please tell me that clock is wrong."
"Da-ad," Jordan complained, tugging on the blankets. "Pleeeeeease?"
"Yolei, your son is out of bed three hours earlier than I expressly told him he was to stay in it..." Ken muttered.
"Oh, no you don't," Yolei said calmly, without opening her eyes. "Before dawn, he's *your* son."
"Daddy, Jordan woke me up," came a small voice from the doorway. Sitting up with some difficulty because of Jordan, who was still solidly planted on his legs, Ken saw his three-year-old daughter standing in the doorway, rubbing sleep out of her bright blue eyes with one small fist, a much-loved toy rabbit dangling from the other hand.
"Why do all the problems come to Daddy?" Ken lamented.
"Because Mommy is the disciplinarian," Yolei said, still not opening her eyes. "Therefore, Son and Daughter know that she won't give an inch, but that they can get whatever they want from Daddy, because he's a sucker for big, sad puppy eyes. That's why."
"You're not helping me here..."
"I want to open presents!" Jordan reiterated, beginning to bounce again. "Can we pleeeeeeeeeeeease open presents? Pleeeeeee-"
"All right, all right," Ken gave in, running a hand resignedly through his tousled dark hair. "Look, go wait in the living room, and I'll get the coffee perking, okay?"
"I hate coffee," Jordan said, making a face.
"I know that, but Daddy needs it desperately right now," Ken said with much-tried patience. "Please go wait in the living room while I try to rejoin the world of the living."
Jordan blinked, confused, but nodded. "Okay..." With that, he slid off the bed (and his father's legs) and padded off in his red and blue pyjamas for the living room.
With a sigh, Ken leaned over his still-inert wife. "Miya-chan, please wake up," he said, pleading in his voice. Yolei opened one purple eye, regarding his sleepy face with great amusement.
"You really are a chump for them, you know that?"
"I can't help it," he said apologetically, shrugging. "He's got your eyes."
"Sweet-talker," Yolei teased, opening both eyes and starting to get up. Ken stopped her.
"Hold on. It's my fault that the kids aren't both back in bed...so you shouldn't have to deal with them yet." He smiled at her. "Stay here, and I'll bring you some coffee."
"Ohh, that word sounds good right about now," Yolei said blissfully. Ken laughed.
"Same here... I'd better get going before Jordan sets the tree on fire."
"I think he'll be okay for a few more seconds," Yolei purred, and sat up to give him a kiss...
"Mommy? Daddy?"
Startled, they pulled apart, turning to look at their younger offspring, who was standing at the foot of their bed.
Yolei cleared her throat a bit embarrassedly, pushing her hair back behind her ears. "Amy, sweetie, don't you want to go look at presents?" she said gently.
"Uh-uh," she said, shaking her head so that her soft purple hair fell in her eyes. "I wanna stay here with you. Jordan pinches."
"I'll have to talk to Jordan about that," Yolei said, with a dark look on her face. Ken felt momentarily sorry for Jordan.
"Can I stay with you?" Amy said, her eyes huge and limpid. Yolei smiled.
"Sure, honey. C'mere." She held out her arms, and Amy eagerly clambered up the bedskirts and snuggled into her mother's embrace.
Ken raised an eyebrow at his wife, as if to say, 'Now who's the sucker?' Yolei just laughed and shook her head.
"It's Christmas, Ken. Go get the coffee, if you can't be positive."
"I think I've been dismissed," Ken chuckled, getting out of bed. "See you in a minute, then."
"Begone," Yolei said imperiously, her eyes sparkling fun as she waved him away. Ken pretended to look cowed.
"I thought a man's house was his castle..."
"In your dreams, Ichijouji," Yolei said with a grin, at the same time that Amy giggled and spoke up.
"It's not a castle, Daddy, it's an aparted!"
"Apartment," Yolei corrected.
"That's what I said. It's an apartedment," Amy said seriously, her blue eyes earnest. Ken smothered a laugh and slipped from the room.
As the door closed behind him, Amy burrowed under the covers, nestling herself comfortably in her mother's arms, and put her thumb in her mouth. Yolei looked down at the round little face with a warm smile as she settled back onto her pillow. The shape of Amy's face and the silky-soft lavender hair framing it were the spit and image of Yolei at that age, but the long, dark eyelashes that rested on Amy's cheeks and the piercingly blue eyes now hidden behind closed lids were unmistakably from her father.
She looked so much like them, as did her brother, with his shock of dark blue hair and impish face, and yet they were both individual in their own right, little people with their own thoughts and dreams and opinions... Yolei sighed in contentment and just a little bit of wonder at the idea, closing her eyes as well. Her family was a little crazy at times, but that was to be expected. And they definitely didn't take the prize for oddness out of all of the former Digidestined's families. Look at Joe's bicultural household, or the havoc of raising three-year-old twins that TK and Kari were going through.
Well, a little nuttiness certainly kept things interesting, Yolei reflected, and allowed herself to doze off, the little bundle of life that was her daughter warm against her heart as they nodded into sleep.
A few minutes later, the door opened a bit and Ken peered inside. In much better spirits now that he'd had his coffee, he quietly opened the door and stole into the room, moving carefully to keep the mug of coffee in his hand from spilling. Setting it down on the dressing table next to the digital clock, he paused to look at his wife and daughter.
Amy was curled up against her mother, her knees drawn up to her chest, sucking her thumb as she slept lightly; Yolei rested her head on her arm, the other arm draped around the shoulders of their child. A strand of hair that had fallen across her face fluttered as she breathed.
Ken reached down to brush it away; at his touch her eyes opened, and she smiled up at him, her vivid purple eyes bright with her own special magic. Ken's breath caught in his throat; after years of marriage, she still took his breath away. The very air seemed to crackle for a moment between them.
Then Amy stirred, and the magic, although it didn't dim, changed to something calmer, more subtle. Ken grinned.
"I *am* a lucky guy," he said cheerfully, as Amy opened her eyes. "My castle has two Sleeping Beauties in it."
"Daddy," Amy giggled, sitting up. "I'm not Sleeping Beauty..."
"Oh, but I think you are," Ken said seriously. "Only a princess could be so sweet. And you are definitely the sweetest girl in the whole wide world." Amy giggled again, sliding out of bed and hugging his leg. Yolei laughed.
"So what does that make me, O King?" she teased. Ken didn't miss a beat.
"The sweetest *big* girl in the world," he answered instantly. Yolei beamed.
"I *am* a big girl, Daddy," Amy insisted, her voice muffled by his pants leg.
"You sure are," he agreed, nodding. "Maybe even too big for a piggy-back to the living room."
"No, I'm not!" Amy cried, letting go of his leg and holding her arms out. "I'm not that big!"
Ken looked carefully at her. "Hm...maybe you're right." He caught her up and swung her onto his back as she shrieked with laughter. "What do you know! You *were* right!" he said, faking surprise. "Where to, Princess?"
"The living room!" Amy cheered. "I wanna see the tree!"
"Okay, Mr. Ed, wait for me," Yolei laughed, swinging her legs over the edge of the bed and putting on her slippers. Standing, she pushed her long hair out of her eyes, and they headed off to the living room.
"Mom! Mom, look at this one!" Jordan yelled, accosting her as soon as she came through the door. "I think it's Craggo the Huntsman!" He waved a brightly-wrapped box in the air, his face bright with glee. Yolei sat down on the couch as Ken helped Amy 'dismount'.
"You never know," she said with a small twinkle in her eye, looking carefully at the box. "Looks more like a package of socks to me. Or maybe underwear...who's it from?"
"Aw, Mom," Jordan complained, scowling. "You're no fun."
"It's from Mom and Dad," Ken said into her ear, having caught a glimpse of the tag. Yolei nodded, smiling knowingly; Ken's parents spoiled their grandkids rotten...in that acceptable grandparent way. Amy was busy searching the heap of packages under the tree for ones with her name on them.
"No, it's not," Jordan exclaimed, having overheard. "It's from Gramps and Gramma!"
"Well, they're my Mom and Dad, aren't they?" Ken said with a shrug. Jordan frowned, as though he'd never thought of it that way before.
"I guess..." he said, his eyebrows knit in consideration. "Can we open presents now?" he exclaimed, changing the subject abruptly back to more urgent matters.
"What do you think?" Ken said, glancing at Yolei. Jordan and Amy both looked at their mother with big, pleading eyes.
"I think if we don't give the word soon, we're going to have the Ichijouji Rebellion on our hands," Yolei laughed. "Go for it, you two."
"All right!" Jordan yelled, and tore the paper from his package. A brightly colored plastic box came into view, holding a muscular figurine in a leopard skin, with a bow like a small tree trunk next to him and several plastic arrows. "AWESOME! It's the talking one!" the boy jubilated, ripping the back of the box open and seizing the figure. Pressing a button in its back, he grinned as the toy let out a mighty caveman cry...sort of.
"It *yodels*?" Yolei said incredulously. Ken started to laugh, and Jordan looked insulted.
"That's his *battle* cry, Mom," he insisted, as though everybody should know that. His good spirits came back quickly. "Look at this!" He hit the button again.
"Cower before Craggo," Craggo droned. Ken and Yolei looked at each other, their eyebrows raised. Another push of the button got a "Craggo triumphs!", and then a "Behold the power of Good!" Finally, the toy cried, "Flee, my quarry! You cannot hide!" and then went back to its 'battle cry'. Yolei was having trouble holding it together; the lines sounded something like a moose bellowing into a ceiling fan...if the moose could speak English, that is.
"Isn't he cool?" Jordan said happily, putting down the figure and rummaging through the package for its weaponry.
"He's unbelievable," Yolei said, quite honestly. "I've got to mention something to your parents about giving Saturday morning cartoon merchandise as gifts," she muttered to Ken. He smiled.
"Jordan's been talking about that toy for months," he reminded her. "At least we'll get a rest."
"Ah, but you forget that we'll be listening to that yodel cry until the batteries die," Yolei said sagely. Ken groaned.
"Maybe I should have a word with them, after all..."
"Maybe you should hide the batteries."
"'Ever mighty, and sel...seld...'" Jordan read, squinting at the back of the box. "Sel... Um, 'something defeated'. Dad, what does S-E-L-D-O-M mean?"
"Oh, 'seldom'?" Ken said, with a smile. "Not very often. Like, I 'seldom set myself on fire'."
Yolei burst out laughing.
"Huh?" Jordan said, blinking at his mother. "You guys are weird sometimes..."
"Mommy, Mommy, look at this one!" Amy cried, trying to push over a box nearly as tall as she was, and just as wide as it was tall. Jordan dropped his miniature bow and arrows and hurried over.
"Amy, that's mine!" he said angrily.
"Is not, it had my name on it!" she shot back, standing between the gift and her brother protectively.
"Aw, you can't even read," Jordan scoffed, reaching for the gift. Amy wailed.
"MOMMEEEEEEEEEEEE! Jordan's taking my present!"
With a sigh, Yolei looked at the tag. "Jordan, it's your sister's present. Let her have it. Why don't you go look for more with your name on them?"
Jordan scowled, twisting his toe in the carpet, but did as she said. Yolei sat back on the couch, closing her eyes.
"What a holiday," she murmured. "Learning to give, share, and fight over presents...great values, don't you think?"
Ken shrugged, sliding an arm around her shoulders. "They're kids, Miya," he said lightly. "Come on, what were you doing at their age?"
"Jockeying for first chance at the presents with my brother and sisters," Yolei said with a touch of amusement in her voice. "'Course, I always came out last...but that went with being the youngest. It was fun anyway, as long as I didn't get stepped on. You?"
Ken sighed. "At Amy's age? Same as you, only no sisters."
Wincing, Yolei met his eyes apologetically. "I'm sorry..."
"It's fine," Ken said, kissing her lightly on the cheek. "I don't mind. They're happy memories, anyway. It's nice to think about him, once in a while."
"So, at Jordan's age..."
"At Jordan's age, I had my first Christmas as an only child," Ken said, looking sadly off into space. "My parents spent too much time crying about how much they missed Sam to do much in the way of the holiday spirit, but my grandparents had me over at their house for Christmas Day. I got a stuffed monkey..." He grinned, shaking his head. "Mr. Tops. Poor guy's probably still up in a closet at my parents' house."
"Maybe you could go get him sometime," Yolei suggested. "Amy would love another stuffed animal."
"Hm..." Ken murmured, thinking on it. "Maybe I will. It seems like a crime to just leave something like that in a closet with no one to love it. I never really thought about it since I outgrew him."
"Everyone deserves someone to love them," Yolei said, contentedly resting her head on his shoulder. Smiling, Ken leaned over to kiss the top of her head. She lifted her head to look him in the eyes and kissed back.
"Oh, *yuck*!"
They moved apart, laughing, as Jordan watched in disgust.
"Gross, gross, gross," he muttered, plumping down onto the carpet and grabbing another present. "Whyd'ya wanna kiss her, Dad? Yuck-o..."
Ken chuckled. "You'll figure it out eventually, Jordan. It's kind of a big-person thing."
"When I grow up, there's no way I'm kissing any gross-out *girls*," Jordan said positively, looking up. "Girls are evil. They cry too much. And this girl in my class, Angela Blakely, bites people! I'd rather eat worms than kiss her. When I'm a grown-up I'm gonna buy a horse and ride around beating up bad guys like Craggo! AAAAIIIIIIEEEEEEYAAAAHHH!" he bellowed, leaping to his feet and brandishing the present box at Amy. "Flee, my Corey! You cannot hide!"
"Mommeeeeeee!" Amy wailed, running over to hold onto Yolei's legs.
"Craggo triumphs!" Jordan yelled, quite...triumphantly. "Cower before Craggo!"
"Jordan, stop terrorizing your sister," Yolei said firmly. She paused to think. "Does this Craggo guy have a sidekick?"
"Yeah," Jordan said, nodding. "He's got a big dinosaur named Yarggh, and a prehistory-ic horse called Windswift, and a sister called Cragga. Why?" he said, looking suspicious.
"Well, next time you decide to be Craggo, Amy can be Cragga," Yolei said.
"Aw, Mom, she's no fun!" Jordan complained.
"Fun or not, you have to include your sister, or no more Craggo," his mother insisted.
"Never mind," Jordan said, sitting down and opening another package. "Hey, roller skates!"
"Nice save," Ken said appreciatively in Yolei's ear as their children resumed their present opening.
"I try," she said back, smiling. "Hey, are any of those for me?"
In answer, Ken got up and grabbed a small box wrapped in purple paper printed with snowmen.
"The kids will have their own presents," he said, sitting back down, "but this one is from me."
Taking it, Yolei unwrapped it carefully. Inside was a small white cardboard box.
"Oh, a box," she grinned. "Just what I always wanted."
"Open it," Ken said, grinning back. Yolei obliged...
"Oh, Ken, it's beautiful..." she whispered, carefully taking out a fragile silver snowflake the size of her thumbnail, strung on a thin silver chain. She held it up to the light; it sparkled.
"I'm glad you like it," Ken said cheerfully. Yolei gazed at it for a long moment, and then handed it to him.
"Put it on, okay?" she said, lifting her hair away from her neck. Ken blinked.
"Now?"
"Sure," she agreed. "It'll go so wonderfully with my nightgown." She winked, and Ken laughed and obliged.
"Very elegant," he said as he drew back, admiring the necklace...and the wearer. Yolei snorted.
"In a green flannel nightie?"
"Hey, 'tis the season," Ken quipped. "Maybe you should wear the outfit to the Taggarts' tonight."
"Oh, bug off," Yolei said, rolling her eyes and settling back onto his shoulder with a yawn. The Taggarts were friends of theirs in D.C.; they had a little boy Jordan's age and an eight-year-old girl that Amy worshipped. The two families had made plans for Christmas dinner. "I've got, let's see, fourteen hours to decide on an outfit anyway," she added, glancing at the clock. Ken winced.
"Good point...want to go take a nap? I'll watch the kids."
"Only if you take one this afternoon," Yolei said instantly, standing up. Ken grinned.
*Knew she'd jump on it...*
"Unless I want to pass out in the mashed potatoes, I'd better. G'night, then?"
"It's 'good morning', dear," Yolei said, and bent to kiss him on the forehead. "Wake me up for breakfast, okay? I'll be starving by then..."
Ken nodded. "Right," he said, watching her leave the room, the necklace still sparkling around her neck. He'd found it in a shop, and it had reminded him of that first Christmas party and all of those adventures they'd had when they were kids. He'd bought it on impulse, and was relieved that she loved it.
*Our lives aren't so wild now...* he ruminated. *But I guess it's like TK said. We're still having adventures...just not the wild-monster kind.*
"Daddy!!! Jordan's opening my present!"
"It's mine!!!"
*Of course, raising these two comes close,* Ken thought with a laugh, and got up to sort out presents.
It was really quite the Christmas...
*OWARI*