-1Yay, I got this done on time!! Events have conspired to make things difficult this week but I did manage to finish this for those who are still about at the moment. There may not be enough Jack/Nick interaction for some but don't worry, there'll be more in later chapters.

Merry Christmas everyone!

Added: I forgot part of the story!! I was in such a rush to get this done before Christmas Day that I forgot the presents that were supposed to be delivered. So, near the end, is an extra bit with that part in it. Enjoy!

Part 55 - Christmas Day

Thursday, 25th December

"JackJackJackJackJack!" Daniel tapped his big brother on the shoulder and then scooted well back in case Jack decided to fling an arm out or something. "Wake up, Jack! It's not dark anymore and we have to see if Santa came!"

Stifling a groan, Jack half-opened his eyes to see Daniel bouncing eagerly up and down, Thoth in the crook of one arm. "Still looks pretty dark to me," he commented despite knowing that he was going to have to get up anyway.

"Uh-uh, it's not, I checked," Daniel rebuffed; he had peeked under the window curtain a minute ago to make sure he was allowed up. "Jack, can we go see what Santa has brung us? Pleeeeeeease?"

"Alright, alright," Jack gave in. "Do you want Grandma and Grandpa to be there too?"

"Yep! Can I go wake them up?" Daniel said as he continued to bounce. When Jack nodded, Daniel ran into the hallway but halted at the doorway of the other bedroom. He peeked inside to see if his grandparents were awake yet - they weren't. So he crept into the room and whispered loudly, "Grandma! Grandma, wake up, it's Christmas!"

Iris was already awake so she simply opened her eyes. "Good morning, Daniel. Are you excited?" she asked as she reached a hand behind her and tapped Tom's side to get him waking up.

"Yep!"

Daniel was grinning so hard, Iris figured his cheek muscles would be sore later. "Is Jack awake?"

"Yep! He said to come and see if you were waked up," Daniel shared. "Has Grandpa waked up yet?" He didn't wait for an answer, running around the bed to check for himself. When he saw two closed eyes, he peered closer. "Are you pretending, Grandpa?"

"Nope," Tom stated, knowing the kind of reaction he would get from the little boy.

Daniel giggled, thinking the game funny. "Yes, you are, Grandpa."

"No, I'm not."

Another giggle from Daniel as he reached out and pried one of his grandpa's eyelids open. "Yes, you are. I can see you." He let the eyelid drop closed. "You have to get up, Grandpa, 'cos Santa came and we have to go open presents."

"Are you sure it's Christmas?" Tom teased, trying to sound grumpy about being woken up.

"Yeah, sure, you betcha," Daniel sing-songed his older brother's favourite phrase. "Please, Grandpa, you have to get up 'cos I want you to see all the presents."

By this time, Jack was standing in the doorway after having put the video camera in the living room. "We're only opening Santa's presents now," he told Daniel. "We have to wait until Grandpa Nick gets here to open the rest."

That was fine with Daniel because then Christmas would last longer. "Jack, Grandpa won't get uuuup," he complained.

"Well, how about we go get your robe on so you keep nice and warm while Grandma and Grandpa get up? Then we'll go and see what Santa had brought us," Jack suggested, his spirits starting to lift after the abrupt awakening. He realised that he was actually looking forward to the day, something that hadn't occurred for years. Even the thought of Nick coming couldn't dampen his excitement about the presents.

"Okay!" Daniel ran out of the room and into his bedroom to find his robe resting on the bed. He tried to put it on quickly but got a little tangled. Fortunately, Jack wasn't far behind him and was able to fix things easily. Then Daniel took Jack's hand and tugged him out of the room.

As they entered the living room and Jack switched on the light, Daniel gasped with excitement. In addition to the presents under the tree, there was a pillow-case-sized velvet sack with his name on it. "Look, Jack! Look what Santa's left me!" Daniel exclaimed as he ran over to the sack. The drawstring at the top had been pulled tight so he couldn't peek inside. "Can I open it?" he begged.

"Not yet," Jack replied absently as his gaze fell on a wrapped box-shaped present that he knew he hadn't put there. Who was it for? And from?

Thwarted, Daniel looked around to see if Santa had left anything else, and his eyes alighted on the present Jack had seen. He peered at the tag. "Jack, it's for you! Santa left you a present too! Maybe it's a plane 'cos I asked him if he could get you one, 'member?"

"I remember." Jack made a note to himself to ask Iris about the present later because Santa didn't exist… did he?

Daniel was very excited by the idea of Santa bringing something for Jack. "Do you want to open yours first? You can if you want to," he offered generously. "Ooh, Santa's eated all the cookies!"

Jack looked at the plate that Daniel had, the previous night, left several cookies on. Jack had eaten half of one when he had put out Daniel's presents but he knew he hadn't eaten them all. Another thing to ask his grandparents about. As Iris and Tom came into the room, Jack answered Daniel's question, "You can open yours first, kiddo."

With a big grin, Daniel went over and opened the sack. The first thing he saw was a plush reindeer with a red nose. "It's Rudolph!" Daniel exclaimed, delighted to have a toy of the famous reindeer. He hugged it tightly for a few seconds before remembering that he had more presents to look at. "Can you please hold this, Jack?"

"Sure." Jack sat the reindeer on his lap and kept filming, mentally adding a third thing to his list of questions to ask Iris; the reindeer hadn't been in the sack last night, he was positive about that.

Daniel peered into the sack for the next item. "Books!" He pulled out a stack of books that were tied together with a ribbon. "Mr. Happy," he read out the first title. "Grandma, what are these about?"

"They are about Mr. Men and Little Misses who get up to all sorts of strange things," Iris replied, enjoying watching Daniel in all his excitement. "And they always act as their name says."

"So Mr. Happy is always happy," Tom chimed in.

"Oooh." Daniel thought they would be lots of fun to read. There sure were a lot of them though and he didn't have time to look through them all now if he wanted to see the rest of his presents. So he put them aside for the moment and delved back into the sack.

Next up was a 100-piece jigsaw of Thomas the Tank Engine. Daniel's face lit up! A train puzzle! "Look, Jack!" He took it over to his brother.

"Very nice," Jack agreed.

Daniel examined the picture some more and then put the box next to the books. Then he pulled some more books from the sack - another two bundles - and it seemed like he had the complete set of Mr. Men books. He looked at them with pleasure; he was going to have lots of fun stuff to read.

The next thing was a strange-looking towel. Daniel held it up and looked at it, puzzled. "Grandma, how'm I s'posed to use this?"

"Come here," Iris beckoned. When Daniel came over to her, she helped him put the hooded towel on. "Like this. Now you look like a duck."

"Really?" Daniel tried to look at himself but when he looked upwards, he couldn't see past the beak. Still, he saw enough to know that his grandma was telling the truth. "Look at me, I'm a duck! Quack, quack! Quack, quack!"

He did that for a few minutes, pleased that he was making the others laugh, and then settled down next to the sack again. Next out were some pencils and a sketch pad. And then… "Trains!" Daniel pulled out several small boxes containing engines and carriages, and a larger box that held pieces of a railway track. His very own train set! "Look, Grandpa, trains!" He went over to show his grandpa the engines.

"Just like mine," Tom agreed with a twinkle in his eyes. "Now you'll be able to play with them all year long."

Daniel bounced with happiness. "Can we set them up now?" he asked eagerly.

Jack shook his head. "Better see if you've got anything else first."

Reluctantly, Daniel put the trains down and once again delved into the sack. He pulled out three movies and a box set of Thomas the Tank Engine DVDs. "Ooh," he breathed as he sat down and read the back of the cases. He thought that the train ones sounded good but he didn't know about the other ones: 'Home on the Range', 'The Emperor's New Groove' and 'Shrek'. The last one looked like it could be good though, even if it didn't have trains or mythological stuff in it.

Setting them aside with the other things, Daniel peered into the sack to see if there was anything else left. There was: a brightly wrapped parcel with a tag on it. Daniel took it out and read the tag. Then he looked at Jack, torn between excitement and sadness.

"Who's it from, kiddo?" Jack queried, although he already knew. He'd had to ask Iris to wrap it because he had found that he couldn't.

"Mommy and Daddy," Daniel replied quietly, looking at the angels on the tree. "Thank you," he said to them, knowing they were watching and listening. They must have given it to Santa to give to him.

Jack handed the video camera over to Tom and then beckoned Daniel over to sit on his lap. Once the little boy was settled, Jack said, "Do you want some help?"

Daniel thought about it and then nodded. He let Jack help him take the sticky tape off and then Daniel unwrapped the parcel. His mood changed instantly. Small fingers eagerly undid the leather straps and he opened the soft case to see an array of child-sized archaeological tools. "Jack, look at what Mommy and Daddy gaved me! Now I can be just like them!"

"That's great," Jack stated, trying to sound enthusiastic. It would have been if Claire and Melburn were still around to give them to Daniel themselves. "We'll have to build a sandpit outside so you can go digging."

"Ex'vating," Daniel corrected him as he examined every single tool. His own kit! Now he could be a proper archaeologist!

When he was finished examining, Daniel leaned back against Jack's chest and stared up at his brother. "Maybe Mommy gave Santa something to give to you too," he commented. "You have to open your present now. Oh! I have to thank Mommy and Daddy!"

Jack watched as Daniel went over to the tree and kissed the angels he thought represented his parents. Jack missed being that young and innocent, and he had to swallow the lump in his throat. Glancing over at his grandparents, he saw they were just as affected by Daniel's actions.

Daniel brought the other present over to Jack and sat in his lap again. "Your turn," he ordered. He wanted to see what his brother got but he also wanted to start playing with his new things.

Curious as to what was inside, Jack unwrapped the present. When the paper was removed, he stared in surprise. It was a model of plan that looked exactly like the one he rented.

"A plane!" Daniel was thrilled for his brother. "Santa said he would see what he could do when I asked him if you could have a plane and he gaved you one!" Santa was such a nice man! Daniel was glad they had put several cookies out for him instead of only one as Jack had suggested.

Jack looked over at his grandparents, whom he was sure had bought him the gift, but all he saw were genuinely surprised expressions on their face. If they hadn't got it for him… who had?

"Can we set up my trains now?" Daniel asked, wanting to start playing with his presents. He had so many things - books and puzzles and trains and drawing stuff - that he thought he would need all day just to try them all out!

"Sure." And maybe then he would be able to get Iris by herself and see where the extra gifts had come from.

*******************

Twenty minutes later, Daniel and Tom had the train set organised and were busily playing. When Iris went to check on the turkey, Jack followed her out to the kitchen. "Grandma, when did you put those extra presents out? I didn't even hear you."

"I didn't. And neither did Tom," Iris replied truthfully. "We thought you must have put that reindeer in the sack after we'd gone to bed."

Jack shook his head. "It wasn't me. And besides, why I would I put something out there for me?"

"Well then," Iris mused thoughtfully, "perhaps there really is a Santa Claus." It would certainly explain how the two extra presents got there.

"Grandma," Jack admonised. Angels, aliens and now Santa Claus? When did his life get so full of fantasy figures? Oh yeah - when Daniel arrived.

"Jack, just go and enjoy the day. It doesn't matter where the gifts come from," Iris said, shooing her grandson out of the kitchen; she had work to do.

He wasn't entirely convinced that Iris was telling him the truth but Jack resigned himself to not finding out. So he went into the living room and joined in the fun there.

*******************

At nine o'clock, Nick arrived by taxi. Jack let him in and the old man was immediately accosted by Daniel, who was still in a state of excitement. "Grandpa, come see what Santa gaved me! I got trains and books and a reindeer and a jigsaw and movies!" He tugged on Nick's hand and led him into the living room.

Nick greeted Tom and Iris, then settled down in one of the chairs. "How about you show me what you got?" he said to Daniel. He had woken that morning feeling lonely but after only a minute in the house, he felt better.

Enthusiastically, Daniel paraded all his presents for his other grandfather, leaving the trains until last. He preened happily whenever Nick praised the presents, and then climbed onto the old man's lap with the Mr. Happy story. "Can you please read this, Grandpa?"

"Certainly." The last feeling of loneliness disappeared as he started reading; this was what he had missed out on for all those years without family around him. Now that he had Jack and Daniel, he would do his best to be a good grandfather to them.

******************

Time passed quickly through the morning as Daniel kept all the adults entertained, especially when a Christmas CD was turned on and he sang along to it. He occasionally threw longing glances at the presents under the tree but as he had been told they would be opened after lunch, he didn't ask to open them.

Jack found that he could actually make civilised conversation with Nick when the older man asked him about his job. And as the morning wore on, he could almost forget that only a few weeks ago, he had hated his grandfather. Today, it was too much effort to hate him and so Jack found himself another step closer to actually liking Nick again.

Lunch was a noisy affair, filled with laughter and joy. Crackers were pulled and novelty items groaned over, although Daniel loved the little trinkets, having never seen them before. Then it was back into the living room to open more presents as Daniel couldn't wait any longer.

Daniel appointed himself as Santa's helper and handed out the gifts. The only problem with that was that most of them were for himself and he stopped every time he had to open one. Soon he had a large pile of clothing - from his grandparents - and Lego - from his new cousins - and a Mayan pot - from Nick - next to him while everyone else hardly had anything. Jack had some clothes as well from Iris and Tom, and he was surprised to receive a jewelled dagger from his other grandfather.

"Nick?" Jack asked, unable to guess as to the value of such an item. It didn't look brand new so Jack guessed it was likely an artifact of some sort.

"It's a Mayan dagger," Nick explained. "Don't worry, I won't get into trouble for giving to you. There were plenty more of them at the site so they won't miss one. I just thought you might like it."

"I-I do, thank you," Jack stammered, stunned that Nick actually appeared to have given it some thought. It might not the stuff of dreams where Nick would give him something that was priceless but that didn't matter. His grandfather had actually considered what he would like and arranged to bring it here for him. That was… nice.

Daniel admired the knife for a few moments, careful to keep his fingers away from the blade, and then decided to keep going with the presents. He was down to the last few presents, mainly the ones he and Jack had bought for their grandparents. He handed Jack's out first, acting with great ceremony and then sat down to open his.

"Oh, they're lovely," Iris enthused about the gloves. They were lovely and warm, and in her colour.

When Nick and Tom echoed the sentiments - although not precisely the words - about their gifts, Jack felt pleased that he had been able to find something each of them liked. Shopping really wasn't his thing but it seemed that he could do a decent job when he put his mind to it.

"Jack?" Daniel tapped his big brother's knee. He had opened his present and wanted to know more. "What's a-stron-o-my?"

"Remember the stars?" Jack queried. When Daniel nodded, he continued, "Well, astronomy is the study of the stars. Sometimes the stars make shapes in the sky and over the years, people have given those shapes names based on characters from mythology."

"Ooh!" The mythology part sounded really good. "Thank you!" He gave Jack a big hug and promptly sat down to look at the new book.

"Uh, Daniel? What about the rest of the presents?" Jack prompted, hiding his amused smile.

"Oops!" Daniel handed out the next lot of presents. "These are from me," he announced. "I buyed them with my own money." He watched expectantly as everyone opened their gifts, waiting to see if they liked them.

Iris gave him a big smile. "Oh, Daniel, I love this." She wound it around her neck so that he could see how much she liked it.

Daniel beamed at the praise and then turned to his grandfathers. "Do you like them?"

"Of course," Tom replied, copying his wife and putting his beanie on. "How does it look?"

"Stunning," Jack said dryly as Daniel giggled. "Nick, you'd better put yours on too."

Daniel giggled again when his other grandfather put the beanie on. "You look super-dooper!" he said, spreading his arms out wide and grinning. "Jack, your turn!" He situated himself right next to his brother, eager to see the reaction.

"O-kay." Jack slowly opened the present and when he saw the train engine, he gave a surprised huff of laughter. Then he looked at Daniel's eager expression and grinned. "Wow, Daniel, it's fantastic."

"I wanted to buy you a plane but they cost lots and then I saw this and I thought you'd like it," Daniel explained, over the moon that Jack liked it. "And now that Santa's gived me lots of trains too, it matches! Let's play!"

With a chuckle, Jack resigned himself to an afternoon of playing.

******************

Daniel ended up having a short nap during the afternoon, having worn himself out with excitement. Then, when he woke up, everyone watched 'Shrek'. Some more time for play happened before dinner, as well as photos, with Daniel opening some of his Lego.

The highlight of the day - at least for Jack, was around four-thirty when there was a delivery for him and Daniel. The little boy was thrilled with his new bicycle (which had training wheels) and wanted to ride it straight away. Unfortunately, it was snowing lightly at the time so he had to be content with just sitting on it and pretending to ride it.

Jack looked at the long wrapped present that was for him with curiosity. "What is it?" he asked Iris.

She simply smiled at him and said, "You'll have to open it to find out, won't you?"

Having no comeback to that, Jack opened the present. "A telescope?" he said in amazement. "Grandma, you shouldn't have." It must have cost a fortune.

"Of course we should have," Tom replied. "What's the good of having money if we can't spend it on family every once in a while." He had totally agreed with Iris on splurging out on the telescope, not wanting Jack to feel left out since Daniel would have the most attention this year.

"And we know how much you love astronomy," Iris added, "So instead of getting you lots of small gifts, we decided to get you the telescope." She leaned over to where he was sitting and kissed his cheek. "I take it you like it."

"Definitely." Never in his dreams had he thought of getting such a wonderful gift. He, like Daniel, wouldn't be able to try it out tonight though if the weather didn't clear. "Thank you very, very much." He kissed his grandmother's cheek, beyond pleased.

Nick was a little subdued when he saw Jack's enthusiasm at the gift but he reminded himself that was only to be expected. And besides, Jack had liked the dagger. Maybe next year, he should some more research into what his grandson liked though.

******************

After dinner, Nick stayed until seven, enjoying the family atmosphere. He was also pleased that he and Jack had put aside their differences for the day.

Daniel gave his grandpa a huge hug and thanked him profusely for the Mayan pot which he thought was wonderful.

"You're most welcome," Nick replied, ruffling the little boy's hair. "And thank you for a lovely day."

"It was the best!" Daniel agreed.

Jack came to stand behind his brother and extended a hand towards Nick. "It was good," he stated sincerely. "Thank you."

Nick shook the hand, aware of the big step Jack was taking with that gesture. "No, thank you. I'm glad I was here for it. And if you can give me that photo of you and Daniel together…"

"Sure." Jack was pleased that Nick wanted to display the photo in the new frame. "See you soon."

"Bye, Grandpa!" Daniel waved enthusiastically. He watched his grandfather walk out to the cab and then looked up at Jack. "What do we do now?"

******************

After doing a drawing of everyone celebrating Christmas, it was Daniel's bedtime. His grandma read him one of the Mr. Men stories and then Jack read him one of the Native American myths. And finally Christmas was over when Daniel drifted off to sleep, a big smile on his face.