What started as a dare/challenge by Stardust's Revenge aka newsiegirlscout on Tumblr quickly turned into a full drabble with multiple elements, her dare/challenge and my desire to write another Christmas fic and a fic based off one of the promo posters.
Mr. Peabody had just a few more repairs to do on the WABAC when Sherman ran into the WABAC room. Peabody heard him come in and scooted out from under the machine.
"Hello, Sherman." Peabody called to his son as he stepped onto the red platform. He chuckled as he noticed the little Santa hat on Sherman's head. His son certainly loved getting into the Christmas spirit.
"Is the WABAC fixed yet, Mr. Peabody?" Sherman asked as he walked toward his father, his shoes squeaking on the glossy surface.
"Well, I still have to calibrate the timeline wave inducer, replace the wormhole defractalizer, and clean the deceleration valves, but after I have completed those tasks, it will be fixed."
Sherman pulled the stuffed animal he had been dragging along with him up to his chest in both arms and blinked at Peabody quizzically.
"No, it's not fixed yet, Sherman." Peabody said simply.
The stuffed animal almost went flying off the platform as Sherman threw both arms up in frustration.
"Bu' you said it would be done!" he whined.
"These are all very simple tasks, Sherman, the WABAC will be fixed well before the day is over."
Sherman hadn't been listening and fallen on the floor on his back and continued whining. Peabody finished talking just in time to hear him say: "I'll have an exponential crisis before then!"
How and why did his son have any idea of what an existential crisis was? He was only a child! Though for some reason, the misused word caused Peabody to start laughing, but that only made Sherman glare at him.
"I'm sorry Sherman," he chuckled. "But we will have a crisis of exponential proportions if we use the WABAC without making these repairs."
He quickly spoke again, hoping to appease his son before an atomic bomb went off.
"We haven't decorated the penthouse yet; do you want to come help me get the decorations out of the attic?" He asked, leaning over Sherman and smiling down at him, paws on his knees.
Sherman's smile matched his father's. "Yeah!" He jumped up happily and ran back to the red door, bouncing around in excitement. The beagle quickly followed him, leading the way back up the elevator and to the very end of the hallway that led to their rooms.
Given the fancy penthouse he lived in, Peabody's attic wasn't exactly a typical attic, it was more like half of a third floor. There was a door at the end of the hallway that opened to some stairs that led up to a room with a much lower ceiling than the rest of the house, only there were no windows.
Peabody turned the light on and suddenly the room was illuminated. The majority of the room's contents were boxes, and the target of their search was the Christmas decoration boxes that lay in the corner of the room, marked in very large, yet very neat pawriting: 'Christmas decorations' Peabody headed straight for them, but forgot that Sherman barely ever came up here, and that little boys, especially him, were very curious.
"What's this?" he heard Sherman ask. Peabody turned around and quietly gasped. Sherman had picked up one of the presents Peabody had gotten him from an open box.
Peabody rushed over and quickly put the toy back in the box and shut it. "It's nothing Sherman, this is my donation box for the Salvation Army, you know how I donate to various charities during the holidays." He chuckled halfheartedly.
"Come help me with these." He quickly walked back over to the Christmas decoration boxes and picked one up. Thankfully Sherman accepted his explanation and grabbed another box.
Soon, all the boxes were in the living room and they began the best part: unpacking them and decorating.
In no time the tree was up, the wreaths placed on all the walls, and a cranberry garland placed along the fireplace mantle with their stockings hung below it.
Sherman opened another box and gasped. "Mr. Peabody! Your Santa costume!" he exclaimed, pulling out another Santa hat, a white beard, and red cloak.
"Put it on!" he said, shoving the clothing articles into Peabody's paws. He sighed. "Sherman, this is your costume."
"Yeah, but it's Christmas, and you gotta be Santa cause he's very ironic." Sherman said absently as he began digging in another box.
Again, Peabody laughed at the misused word. "I think you mean iconic, Sherman. Though you are still correct, I am very ironic."
He slipped the costume on but had to wiggle around and tighten it, it had been meant for Sherman, and so it was very loose hanging on him.
"Uh, Mr. Peabody can you help me?"
Peabody looked up and for the third time that day laughed at the antics of his son.
Sherman had pulled a clear light strand out of the box, but it was now somehow wrapped all around him, from his bushy auburn hair all the way down to his converse shoes. Sherman had also already plugged them in, so they were lighting him up like a Christmas tree.
"Sherman, how on earth did this happen?" Peabody asked, running over to him, still snickering.
"I dunno! They were tangled up, so I was tryin' to untangle them…" he trailed off as Peabody started helping him out of the tangle of lights.
"Well, maybe let me put away the Christmas lights this year and we won't have this problem next year." Peabody said sarcastically.
The lights were soon moved from Sherman to the actual tree where they belonged, and the star and ornaments were placed on it. Peabody stood back and admired their handiwork. Perfect. The penthouse was already feeling very festive, ready for any Christmas parties he would throw.
Sherman yawned as he stood next to his father.
"Bedtime, Sherman." Peabody began shooing him with a paw toward his room.
"Aw, but Mr. Peabody I wanna stay up to see Santa."
"Christmas isn't for a few weeks, Sherman." Peabody reminded him.