Spock woke at four in the morning, which was on time for his run. He found himself debating whether to actually run or not; after all, it was Christmas Day. Last year David had awoken at six to open his presents. Jim had been cajoled out of bed around eight, but that was forgivable since he had spent the night before at Starfleet Command working on a crisis with the USS Randolph. Spock had skipped his run that morning so there was an adult available for David should he need one. He could always skip this year as well. One day out of three hundred and sixty five did not a failure make.

In the end (which the debate took a whopping one hundred twenty seconds) Spock got up quietly and dressed. He snuck out the front door and started down the farm road in front of the property. As he ran, he found himself thinking more and more about his mother. She had always made him open a small present on this day. It was usually educational in nature; his father would have never stood for anything less. But it was a special ritual between mother and son, and it was something he looked forward to every year.

His first year at Starfleet Academy was almost brutal. Not the work – that was a breeze. But the social interaction! He made more mistakes that semester than he had in his lifetime, and by the time Christmas rolled around he questioned if he should remain or if he should face his failure and return to Vulcan. That year a courier arrived at his dorm room December 24th, while all the other cadets were gone. The young man handed him a small package and left. The return address was Vulcan; it was his present from his mother. He opened it gratefully and found a Christmas tree ornament and a note that read "For your first tree on your own. Missing you like crazy. Love, Mom." After a small taste of home, Spock decided perhaps it wasn't so bad at the Academy after all. He didn't felt alone again.

He missed his mother a great deal after her death the winter he returned to Earth and suddenly found himself the stepfather to a five year old human child. His mate had been just as baffled by his own unexpected fatherhood, and was actually no help whatsoever. But together they had struggled through and made a Christmas fit for a very deserving five year old. It was that winter that Spock found himself falling in love all over again, this time with a tinier, louder, messier version of his bondmate.

Spock turned around and headed back to the farm. If his distance estimate was correct, he was actually going to run six miles today. Oh well. He thought about his present to Jim, and the actual gift he would be giving him overnight. The rings were still tucked away safely in Winona's room, and there they would stay until it was time.

When Spock got back to the house, he entered as quietly as he could and went up the stairs. In the darkness he saw movement and he halted, a hand going to his side for his phaser by habit. The movement froze.

"Father?"

Spock took a breath. "David, why are you awake at this hour?"

"Were you going to shoot me?" David came closer but remained outside of reach.

Spock closed his eyes. "It was an ingrained reaction. Had I been armed, the worst I would have done would be to stun you." When he opened his eyes again they had adjusted to the dim light and could make out the boy's form standing just in front and to the right of him. David must not have gone far from his bedroom door.

"Do I hear voices out here?" someone said and Jim stuck his head out of the other bedroom. "Well I expected you to be up, Spock, but what is the munchkin doing awake?" He remained hidden behind the door; he was more than likely not dressed.

"Dad, Father was going to shoot me."

Jim blinked sleepily into the darkness. "Went for your phaser, huh?" he directed at Spock. Then he sighed. "Kid, I know right now you may not get it, but I assure you it's nothing personal. If you've served you understand. Now are you up permanently or are you just up to pee?"

David hesitated. "I think I'm up permanently."

"Okay. Let me get dressed and let your step – excuse me, your father – take a shower and we'll go do something until the rest of the gang gets here." Jim waved at Spock. "Get in here, I'm freezing my cojones off."

Spock slid through the opening of the door and Jim hugged him, but let go abruptly. "God, you're cold!" Jim exclaimed. He went to his suitcase and got out his clothes and got dressed. Spock went and took a quick shower and dressed in the bathroom and the three met out in the hall again. By now the sun was rising and in the dim light Jim could see David still staring warily at his stepfather.

Downstairs Jim started the coffeemaker and replicated some hot chocolate for David. While he was hunting he found his mother had replenished her stock of teas and he put some water on to boil for Spock. The three sat quietly until the downstairs door opened and a very sleepy Winona walked out.

"Six thirty. My money was on Spock waking the whole house when he went to run. Was I close?" she asked in a perky tone.

"The kid startled him and they ended up solving the Federation's problems in the hallway while the rest of the world tried to sleep," Jim groused, but there was no heat in his words. He got up and poured a cup of coffee and checked Spock's water. It was almost ready so he remained standing.

"I may have misjudged how much of a civilian I have become," Spock intoned. "David saw me reach for where my phaser would have been and became frightened."

Winona nodded sagely. "The first time George and I spent a week off the ship, I got up to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night and he stunned me almost into next week," she recalled with humor.

"Pappa George shot you?" David exclaimed.

The kettle whistled and Jim poured the water into a mug and stuck a teabag in it, passing it off to his husband. "Seriously? Dad stunned you?" he asked his mom.

Winona laughed. "He apologized for forever," she laughed. "It wasn't that bad. I came out of it after ten minutes. The worst part was I peed on myself when he got me." She smiled. "You come by it naturally, sweetie," she told her son-in-law. "Everyone who's been trained has that reflex."

David frowned. "That's scary, guys. I don't want to shoot someone I love just because I was trained to. Maybe I shouldn't join Starfleet."

"It is your decision, as it always has been," Spock reminded him.

The comm station went off and Winona walked over to answer it. "Hello?"

"Merry Christmas, Grandmother!" The three boys were huddled around the station. "You're already up!" observed Mark.

"Your Uncle Spock woke up at four to run, so we had a head start on you," she informed them. "But we're up now if you want to come over and open presents!"

Sam stuck his head in camera range. "We'll be over in a bit, Mom. I've got to give Aure a moment to wake up or she'll murder me. See you in a while." He waved goodbye and cut the connection.

David drank the rest of his hot chocolate and rinsed out his cup as he had been taught. Then he stood behind his dad's chair and swung back and forth on it.

"D-a-a-a-d," he whined. "How much longer?"

Spock finished his tea and cleaned up before turning to the stairs. "I will return," he told them.

"Where's he going?" Jim mused. Then a thought struck him. "Crap," he grunted and got up quickly, taking the stairs two at a time.

Spock had just closed his suitcase when Jim burst in and the two stared at each other. Spock put the wrapped present back down and Jim approached him slowly. When they met they kissed, long and slow. Jim finally stepped back and made shooing motions with his hands.

"Beat it. Top secret mission."

Spock picked up his present and left the room. Jim grabbed Spock's padd and stuck a bow on it, finally activating the surprise it had contained the whole time.