A/N: I am definitively taking requests. In fact, please send me some. My ideas are definitively not bottomless. I have some comments to respond to, so I will do that right now (if you haven't commented on the last two chapters 1) shame on you and 2) this doesn't really apply to you so you can skip to the actual chapter):
Anonymous reviewer: I'm sorry if you were disappointed by my killing off Deryn, BUT like I said in the author's note, I was inspired by the song from Les Miz A Little Fall of Rain, if you haven't heard it, it's the one where the street-wise (and awesome) tomboy girl, dies in her love's arms. I do plan on killing off Alek in some way, shape, or form, I just thought that it'd be easier to start with Deryn.
Jett-Wolfe98: Do you mean is this whole, entire story a drabble series? If so, then yes, it is. If you mean, is chapter 8 going to evolve into a drabble story arc, then no, probably not. I shall decide that later.
SenoritaBovril: Thank you, I deeply appreciate your comment. I was hoping you readers would find the idea as funny as I did.
Artemis Sharp watched his little family through the frosted window. He stood patiently outside for his wife's signal, only then could he come into the house. The Saint Nicholas suit that he was wearing made him want to itch in very uncomfortable places, but it wouldn't be Christmas if he didn't play the part.
Inside, he saw Maggie sitting on the couch with Deryn curled up beside her, reading a book. His little girl was staring at the pictures, making the connection between the words and the actions illustrated. She was a smart one, Deryn was. A smidge too smart for her tender age of four, and too tall too. His little bird was nearly Jaspert's height already!
Artemis would never admit it to anyone, but Deryn was his favorite child. Not to say that he didn't love Jaspert. Jaspert was his son, the first-born and the one that was going to carry the family name, after all. But Deryn was everything he had hoped in a child; smart, curious, fearless of everything, and best of all, she loved the skies as much as he did.
Maggie then yawned theatrically, stretching her arms high above her head, and wiggled her finger very subtly. That was his cue. He went to the back door and opened it slowly, careful not to make it creak. And the silently took off his boots and slipped on his house slippers. Maggie would kill him if she had to sew another pair of his socks.
"Ho! Ho! Ho!" he exclaimed merrily, keeping his voice low, like the Saint Nicholas' they often saw on the streets. "Merry Christmas!" He walked through the kitchen doorway and into the living room, lugging the large sack of boxes that was part of his attire.
Deryn leapt off the sofa to her feet. "Saint Nick! Saint Nick!" She yelped with joy, clapping her little hands together.
"Well, what do we have here? Little Deryn and Jaspert!" Artemis said, maintaining his persona as he picked up the four year old and sat down on the sofa with her. He carefully perched her on his knee, using his hands to keep her balance. She didn't need it though; she was perfectly comfortable on his knee. Jaspert crept up closer to Artemis, slightly cautious at his appearance in the house, but he remained on the floor. "So, children. What can old Saint Nicholas get for you?"
Jaspert's eyes lit up at Artemis' question. "I want some new marbles!" he exclaimed. Artemis reached for the sack at his feet with one hand, keeping the other one on Deryn. He removed a single jar of marbles with a tied red ribbon. Jaspert squealed with joy as he grasped the jar with both eager hands. "Thank you, Saint Nick!" He yelled and quickly got up to run to his room, most likely to start playing with the marbles.
Artemis turned his gaze to his little girl, whose large blue eyes were looking keenly at him, as if she saw something in him that he himself did not see. He wondered for a moment if she could see through the costume and the beard, but decided that she was much too young to notice such a thing. "And what would you like, dear?" he asked her.
Deryn squinted her eyes for a moment, but then said: "I want the stars." She said simply. Artemis knew exactly what she meant, but he did not have the means to give it to her.
"I will get them for you, little bird." He promised her, and she nodded.
Maggie cleared her throat and the both of them looked at her. "I think it's high time for you to go to bed young lady." She said to Deryn, and then yelled out, "you too, Jaspert! Off to bed!"
"What about Ma? What does she get?" Deryn asked him, tugging on his coat.
"Why, I nearly forgot!" He said, putting on the broad grin back onto his face. "Ma Sharp! There is something here for you, too!" He reached again into the sack and took out a rectangular box. Maggie gave him a disapproving look. They had an agreement to only get gifts for the kids, but Artemis always ignored it. Every year, he surprised her with something. It was worth it, for the look on his wife's face when she opened the box. He had gotten her a necklace. It was a simple black and white cameo pendant with a chain, and Maggie had been eyeing it for weeks.
Artemis could see that she was biting back tears, but he put Deryn down on the ground, getting up from the sofa, and embraced his wife.
"You shouldn't have." She whispered in his ear.
"You deserved it, darling." He whispered back, breaking free of his embrace. He turned around retrieved the sack from the floor. "Ho! Ho! Ho!" He said merrily, leaving his job as husband and bringing back his act. "I'm sorry, ladies, but now I have to go, go, go!"
Deryn hugged his legs and looked up at him. "Bye Saint Nick." She said into his trousers, before letting him go back out.
He went back outside and quickly shed his costume. Artemis came back in to greet his children, who recounted Saint Nick's visit and showed him their presents, and like a good father, he acted as if he were truly sad to have missed the saint. He kissed his children goodnight, and went to bed with his wife.
Two days later, Deryn, Maggie, and Jaspert came home from a visit to their grandmother's house. It was late, and the day had already fallen. Artemis, who did not get along well with his mother-in-law, had stayed home that day.
Jaspert was so tired, that he ran straight to his room without a second glance at either of his parents. Maggie and Deryn went into their respective bedrooms to change into their nightgowns.
As soon as Deryn lit the lamp in her room, she gasped. Her room had been transformed entirely. The walls of her once boring, pink room were no longer bare and uniform, but had the entire night sky painted on them. Constellations that her father had told her about were depicted perfectly, and, most surprisingly, her name was written among them. She ran to them, running her small fingers along the perfect details of the painted stars. Deryn jumped for joy as she saw that the sky that she loved so much was hers. After putting on her nightgown, the little girl lay in her bed and counted the dots on her ceiling, muttering to herself the names of the constellations and the stories behind them. She would have stayed counting if her mother had not forced her to get under her covers and right to sleeping.
Artemis came in to say goodnight to his little girl, like he did every night. She hugged his neck tightly and said to him, "Thank you for the stars, Da." He was startled for a moment, but only a moment. He let her go, and looked back into her knowing young eyes.
"Anything for you, my little bird." He turned around and went to the lamp, extinguishing it completely. The stars painted in the entire room, glowed from their fluorescence. His little girl would sleep among the stars. "Good night, Deryn." He whispered before closing the door.
A/N: So? What did you guys think? Now, I know that this dads-dressing-up-as-Santa thing might be a little bit strange, but my mother and her parents were all Brazilian and this was what we did when I was a kid. My dad, to please my mother, would dress up as Santa and come in to give us kids presents. Later on, my cousins took turns, every Christmas, dressing up as Santa. If you hadn't noticed my comment about the slippers, that was also a play on my childhood. I found out my dad was Santa when I was three because I saw his slippers, and asked him why he had them if he was Santa. It was nice to write about some of my childhood memories. So thank you for reading this so far. A lot of my writing comes from personal experience, and I'm really glad that you all enjoy it :) Merry Christmas everyone! - Marnie
