Oops, so that took a little longer than expected. Life has been so busy I haven't even had time to sit down at a computer to finish this. My apologies for the delay, but I hope you can summon just a bit more holiday spirit. Enjoy!

Christmas Eve Day

Booze? Check. Ingredients for breakfast tomorrow and cash for dinner tonight? Check. Fuzzy sleep pants with Cookie Monster on them? Check.

Jim sighed and settled back onto his couch, mindlessly flipping through TV programs. Nothing captured his attention today, not even the cooking channels.

Christmas had never been particularly full of fond memories for Jim. On the occasions his mother was home, the holiday could be tolerable, if subdued, but when she was away, it hardly felt like there was anything to celebrate. Jim had been happy enough to spend as much of the holidays as possible with neighbors or playing outside.

As an adult, he had finally discovered how the rest of the world celebrated. At culinary school, there were always holiday parties to attend and gift exchanges with friends. He was happy to bake and cook for his friends, first for practice as a student and later as a professional. Nyota always made sure he was surrounded by holiday décor, music, and general coziness. It was from her that he'd gotten his own Christmas spirit, which he, in turn, had passed on to Bones by making him buy a small Christmas tree. Mrs. McCoy had been a willing partner in crime, immediately sending her son a box of ornaments from his and Joanna's childhoods.

Jim smiled at that memory. The voicemail and text messages that Bones had sent him after he saw the cookbook that Jim left under that tree were still saved on his phone as a masterclass in the art of ranting.

The chef glanced around his living room again, sighing into the silent room. He had all the makings of a good holiday, but the apartment felt quiet. He felt empty.

A little while later, he was perusing the take-away menus scattered across his coffee table when his phone began blaring "Walking on Sunshine". That was the latest song to signal that it was Bones calling.

"Bones!" he answered, pouring all the enthusiasm he could into his voice.

"Hey, Jim," the older man drawled. "What are you up to?"

"Oh, you know. Chillin' on my couch. It's amazing," Jim said.

Leonard didn't sound convinced. "Right. So how about coming over?"

"Nah," Jim said, trying to sound nonchalant. "I don't want to intrude on your holiday." Ever since he had managed to bring Joanna to town to surprise Bones for his birthday, Bones' ex-wife had been more willing to let Joanna spend time with her father. Jim suspected it had to do with the girl's growing powers of persuasion now that the carrot of visiting her father had been dangled in front of her. Since Bones was on-call today, Eleanor McCoy had brought her granddaughter to him. This was the first time Bones had spent Christmas outside of Georgia with his little girl.

The doctor managed to hold back a sigh. Whoever had taught Jim that he was an imposition on others (and Leonard had strong suspicions about who those people might be) deserved a punch in the face. Instead, he said, "Just hold on a second."

Suddenly, Jim started to panic. Bones wouldn't…

He had. "Hi, Uncle Jim!" came the sweet voice of an 11-year-old girl.

No, Jim couldn't allow himself to give in so easily… "Hi, Joanna-banana! How are you?"

Jo ignored his question to ask her own. "Are you coming over for Christmas with us, Uncle Jim?"

Oh, no. His situation was becoming precarious.

And then…"Pleeeease, Uncle Jim?"

There was no defense in the world strong enough to guard against this. He was thoroughly defeated. Game over.

Jim sighed. "All right, Jo. I'll be there in a little while."

He had to hold the phone away from his ear at the cheer. Jo added a quick, "Dad says to bring an overnight bag. You can sleep here. You're in charge of watching for Santa."

Jim said his good-byes and hung up. He hadn't stood a chance against Bones' daughter. He acted like such an upstanding citizen, but Bones could play dirty when he needed to.

~oOoOoOoOo~

"You know, Bones, you play dirty," Jim said when Leonard opened his front door, still wearing his scrubs from a quick trip to the hospital to check on a patient.

Leonard was unrepentant. "Wonder where I picked that up from?"

Jim had just stepped inside when he was nearly bowled over by a hug from Joanna. Once he had finished greeting her, he allowed himself to be fussed over by Bones' mom.

"Whoa, is that your car, Uncle Jim?" Jo asked in amazement as she peeked out the window at the red Mustang parked out in the driveway.

"Sure is," Jim said with a grin.

Eleanor looked out over her granddaughter's head. "That's a beautiful car, Jim."

"See, Bones?" Jim said gleefully as he turned to where his friend stood rolling his eyes in exasperation. "Ladies love this car." He turned back toward his admiring fans. "Would you like a ride in it?"

Joanna jumped up and down and squealed in delight, while Eleanor hid her excitement better.

"Why don't you make yourself useful and go pick up some more sage for tomorrow's stuffing?" Leonard suggested. He couldn't let Jim off so easily.

Jo ran outside without her coat, while Eleanor paused long enough to grab warm clothing for the both of them. Jim dropped his overnight bag at Bones' feet and slapped him on the shoulder. "Don't worry, Bones. We'll be back before you know it."

"That's what I'm afraid of," Leonard grumbled loud enough for the chef to hear him as he left the house.

After closing the door behind Jim ("Damn infant!"), Leonard headed upstairs for a shower so Christmas wouldn't smell like disinfectant before beginning to prepare dinner.

~oOoOoOoOo~

Within minutes of returning from their errand (via a very circuitous route in order to get a better feel for the Mustang), everyone had gathered in the kitchen. As expected, the making of a McCoy holiday dinner consisted of lots of talking and arguing, valiant attempts by Bones to avoid swearing, and more laughter than Jim had ever seen in his own family.

"Here, slice this into chunks for the stuffing, would ya?" Leonard said as he placed a cutting board and loaf of bread in front of Jim. He didn't even wait for an answer before turning back to his other tasks.

Jim bit back a chuckle. Bones didn't even seem to notice that he had assigned a professional chef the most mundane task in the kitchen. To be honest, he loved it. People always either wanted him to cook for them or were self-conscious about cooking in front of him, afraid of doing something wrong. This was like being a celebrity who was able to go out for a cup of coffee unrecognized.

After an early evening meal of Southern food, the adults cleaned up the mess while Joanna danced around whining that she wanted to open presents. "Patience," Eleanor told her as she rinsed another plate. Jim thought she was moving a bit slow, but didn't want to say anything.

"She's doing it on purpose," Leonard told Jim quietly as Joanna chattered away at her grandmother. "My mama's own grandmother always insisted on cleaning up everything before they could open presents. Since she had to suffer, she makes the later generations suffer, too. When I was growing up, the more you nagged her, the slower she worked."

Jim tried not to laugh as he pictured a young Bones biting his tongue while itching to tear into a pile of Christmas gifts. He'd seen the childhood photos when they had visited Eleanor in Georgia, so it wasn't hard to picture.

Finally, after what seemed like an agonizingly long time, they all gathered around the full-size Christmas tree that Bones had bought once he found out Jo was coming to spend the holidays. There was a surprisingly large pile of gifts underneath.

"Joanna, dear, why don't you give Jim his gift for tonight," Eleanor instructed her granddaughter.

"We usually open one or two gifts tonight and leave most of them for tomorrow," Leonard explained.

Joanna handed Jim a rectangular box wrapped in red paper with white snowflakes. The others received similar boxes.

Jim saw it was from Eleanor. Seeing the others start opening their gifts, Jim also tore in.

"Seriously, how old are you?" Leonard grumbled as he watched Jim tear gleefully at the paper.

"Not my fault you're a grumpy grinch," Jim replied, not bothering to look over at where Leonard took his time, carefully tearing the tape along each seam.

"Jim, grinches are grumpy by definition," Leonard said.

"So are Boneses," Jim shot back. Even Spock wouldn't be able to argue with that logic.

Jim pulled open the box to reveal a flannel pajama set decorated with bacon and eggs. These were officially the best pajamas he'd ever owned.

Apparently, this was another McCoy family tradition, because Bones had received pajamas with dancing penguins on them, while Eleanor's had polar bears and Joanna's unicorns with flowing rainbow manes.

Jim swallowed a lump in his throat.

~oOoOoOoOo~

"Uncle Jim."

Jim mumbled something and rolled over.

"Uncle Jim," came the whisper again. This time, Jim jerked awake.

"Waaa' time's it?" he mumbled.

A wide-awake Joanna shrugged her shoulder. "Early. But there are more presents!"

Now Jim was awake.

He stumbled out of Bones' office, where he had bedded down for the night, behind Joanna, yawning and scrubbing a hand through his hair. Eleanor stood by the door to the living room, her hair down and a bemused expression on her face.

"'Morning," Jim said through another yawn.

"Good morning, sweetheart," Bones' mom said. She got a devilish look on her face. "You know, we still have one missing."

Jim and Joanna got identical mischievous looks on their faces and took off toward the stairs. Amused, Eleanor followed behind them at a more dignified pace.

Jim quietly opened the door to Bones' bedroom and peeked in. The man himself was sacked out with his back to them, breathing softly. Opening the door further, Jim beckoned Jo forward and they quietly approached the bed.

Silently, Jim counted down from three with his fingers. At zero, both he and Jo took a flying leap onto the bed. "Merry Christmas, Daddy!" "Bones, why are you sleeping? There are presents!"

Leonard jerked awake and sat up, but to his credit managed not to punch anyone in surprise. It took him a few moments to get his bearings before he sighed and seemed to resign himself to his fate. He scrubbed a hand over his face and grunted something that sounded vaguely like "Mornin'".

"I've got the coffee going downstairs," Eleanor supplied helpfully, trying not to laugh as Jo and Jim continued to bounce on the bed while her son struggled to regain consciousness.

Leonard yawned again, still not moving but not fighting to get the covers back.

"Bones, that is the most amazing case of bedhead I've ever seen," Jim stated.

Bones mumbled something unintelligible, but Jim was pretty sure it wasn't fit for small ears. He and Jo kept bouncing on the bed until Bones finally relented and went searching for a sweatshirt.

"Presents, Bones!" Jim said again once Leonard had settled on the couch and been handed a cup of coffee by his mother.

"Seriously, Jim, how old are you?" the doctor grumbled.

"Okay, Grinchy, this one's for you," Jim said, handing over a package from under the tree.

Jim hadn't really expected much in the way of gifts for Christmas. Of course, he'd bought some for all of the McCoys and had already left them with Bones with the intention of spending Christmas alone, so he was surprised to see the pile next to him once he and Jo had finished doling out the loot.

Bones sat back on the couch in his penguin pajama pants and Ol' Miss sweatshirt, hair still sticking up in all directions and a cup of coffee clutched in his hand. He was ignoring his own pile of gifts in favor of watching Jo tear into hers with a soft smile on his face. After knowing the doctor for as long as he had, Jim realized he was one of the few people to see Bones this relaxed and happy.

Something loosened in his chest as he realized that Bones and Eleanor's continued persistence that Jim was family wasn't just lip-service. With that, Jim began tearing into his own gifts, causing almost as much carnage as Joanna.

Eleanor had knit for Jim a blue sweater that matched his eyes, as well as bought him another shirt and some socks. Joanna had given him an apron reading "Hot Stuff Coming Through" (he was pretty sure she didn't fully understand the slogan) and drawn a pretty decent picture of Jim cooking on the set of his TV show, although for some reason she had drawn him wearing a yellow shirt. That would go up on the wall of his office at the restaurant. Bones, knowing Jim's secret passion for reading, had gotten him a gift certificate to a local bookstore and a couple pounds of Jim's favorite coffee beans, which he hadn't had time to stock up on lately. There was also a set of measuring cups that could be assembled into R2-D2. Those were definitely finding a home on Jim's kitchen counter.

Eventually Bones tore his eyes away from his daughter to open his own presents. He had also gotten a sweater, shirt, and socks from his mother, as well as underwear. "Really, Mama?" he drawled, eyebrow raised, as he opened that last gift.

"It's useful," Eleanor pointed out without regret. At that moment, Jim was incredibly glad she'd left that out of his pile of gifts.

Eleanor had loved the cook-book and high-end iron skillet that Jim had given her ("I can buy this stuff wholesale," he had shrugged when she had lifted her eyebrows upon seeing the brand name on the bottom), and Joanna loved the junior-sized cook set that Jim had put together for her, plus a copy of his cookbook signed especially for her. "Now I can help Grandma and Daddy cook Christmas dinner!" she declared.

Eventually the floor was cleared of wrapping paper so everyone could walk to the kitchen. Even though no one asked, Jim immediately started whipping together a brunch, something that had become a special meal for him and Bones. He put Joanna to work on a few simple tasks but insisted that Bones and Eleanor take a break for a change. They sat at the breakfast bar sipping more coffee while Jim worked with quick, efficient movements.

"It is amazing to watch you work, dear," Eleanor told him as he deftly chopped some vegetables for the eggs in seconds.

Jim smiled self-consciously but kept his eyes on his work. "It's what I'm good at and I like doing it."

"Well, I, for one, don't mind eating the results," Bones said, breaking the moment when he saw Jim getting uncomfortable with the praise.

The rest of the day mainly consisted mainly of eating, drinking warm winter drinks, and preparing said foods. Before they knew it, darkness had fallen again.

"Might as well stay here one more night unless you really want to get home," Bones told him.

On the one hand, the idea of being back in his own space was nice. However, the thought of his apartment empty while it was still a holiday made Jim sad for some reason. This was the best holiday ever, and he didn't want it to end.

"Sure, I'll stay over," he said.

"I just need to check my e-mail before you go to bed," Bones told him.

"Yeah, of course. Be my guest," Jim told him, settling back into the couch to watch Jo and Eleanor play a new board game Jo had received.

A moment later, the silence was broken by a loud, "JIM!"

Both Jim and Joanna burst into laughter. Jim could just imagine how hard Bones was trying not to swear at him right now. The night before, before he went to bed, Jim and Joanna had stuck their faces up close to the webcam in Bones' computer and set the resulting photo as Bones' desktop.

"Merry Christmas, Bones!" Jim called from the living room into the office. "We love you, too!"

FIN.