Merry Christmas, everyone!
Hope you all have a lovely holidays even in these interesting times.
I have posted an edited version of the first half of this chapter for the Holidayfest 2020.
Hope you enjoy!
Christmas Baking with the Greens
20th December 13:00
Kara put the last finishing touches onto the ham before sliding it into the oven.
After the difficult Christmas with both of Kara and Danny radio silent following the Mayport attack they were looking forward to a peaceful holiday as a family.
The food she was preparing though wasn't for them though.
Between the Red Flu, the Red Rust and the war with Gran Columbia the population of children and teenagers without family and in orphanages was heart-wrenchingly big.
A fate that if things had gone any differently could've befallen Frankie.
This festive time of year was especially hard on the teenagers, who have recollection of holidays with their families.
The orphanage near base always had a Christmas party for the kids and everyone would chip in.
While Kara did the roasting, Frankie had decided that he was going to make a gingerbread house with 'millions of candy' for the kids.
Kara had baked all the components for him while the boys helped peeled vegetables. So now they were ready to start the construction project on the kitchen island.
Just then her phone rang. It was the ringtone she designated for the base.
She groaned.
'Eh! Can't I have just one day off...?!'
She took the ridiculously cute gingerbread man over gloves off. A present from Frankie after he went Christmas shopping alone with Danny.
"This is Commander Green."
"Sorry to disturb you, ma'am. We're missing your signature on the paperwork for New Year's."
Although the base wouldn't ground to a halt over Christmas, the admin work would. So she had to go.
Danny had eavesdropped on the call so he piped in as soon as she hung up, "You go ahead. Frankie and I have it covered here." Holding up his palm for a high-five.
Her glare was met with a faux-innocent grin as if to say 'I can't help it if I have bat hearing'.
"OK. Keep an eye on the ham. Put some foil on top if it starts burning. Hopefully I will be back before it needs to come out. Take the veg out in about 45 mics and put the pigs in blankets in."
"Yes, Ma'am!" The boys said in unison, then Frankie squealed "piggies" before collapsing into fits of giggles.
She chuckled as she made a quick exit.
"Right, Halsey. In the living room." Danny directing the dog out to avoid any accidents.
"We have the glue. Where do we start?"
The younger Green did his best no-nonsense voice with a shake of his head. "It's not glue, Daddy. Glue will stick our insides together." Then both broke down into fits of giggles again.
When they finally came up for air, Danny started guiding Frankie with his hands. "Let's start with the base. Gotta stick that down tight or it's slip away..."
Danny was very steady with a piping bag so he put the 'glue' on while Frankie very gingerly stuck the walls of the house together.
It all went well, no wobbling until the very last piece. As Frankie started to stick the second roof on, the biscuit crumbled in his hand.
Two distinct voices groaned simultaneously, "NOOOOOOOOO..."
Frankie's eye's started sniffling, tears threatening to spill. "I broke the house! What are we gonna do???"
All Danny could do in that moment was go over and give him a hug. His mind was blank for a moment, with no idea how to fix it.
He looked around with Frankie sniffling on his shoulder, using his SEAL thinking and improvisation cap.
He was 'supervising' when Kara did the baking. The ingredients are still on the counter, including the recipe. Kara having rushed out the house before she had a chance to put it away.
He sprang into action, pulling out a new mixing bowl. "No problem, bud. Find a new tray and cut out a piece of parchment." His strong, confident tone instantly drying the boy's tears. They started pouring the ingredients into the bowl.
Apart from the plumes of flour making them cough and splutter, they got the batter surprisingly smooth.
As they were getting ready to pull open the oven door, the front door squeaked open and clicked shut again. "I'm home!" Echoed from the hallway towards the kitchen.
Their heads snapped up (again syncronised), realising they had forgotten all about the piggies. While Danny quickly pulled out the veg and now-burnt ham out Frankie ran to the fridge, pulling out the tray of piggies and started back to head back towards the oven as Kara stepped in.
Frankie turned mid-stride towards the kitchen door to greet her and slipped. The tray flung out of his hands and then something flew through the air, gobbling a few piggies on the way before landing gracefully and munching on a few more.
"Halsey, stop!"
"No!"
"No, Halsey!"
It was too late. Halsey had trailed Kara in and zoomed in when the sausages went flying.
All three started picking up the the remaining piggies and throwing them in the bin.
"I thought these should've been in the oven... and that ham looks... crispy..."
The boys' gaze went to the floor, both looking guilty. Frankie pulled at his dad's shirt sleeve as if to say 'get us out of this mess, quick!'.
"Sorry, we had a miscalculation."
Kara quirked her eyebrow, remaining silent.
Frankie quickly added to dig them out of the hole Danny started. "One side of the roof crumbled so daddy had to make a new one." He pointed to the tray of mixture.
"Mmm. That's not bad. You made this?" She critiqued.
"Daddy did it. I assisted." Obvious pride in his voice.
"That's great, but what about the rest? The kids will be disappointed without the piggies..." Kara said as she slipped the mixture tray into the oven and adjusted the temperature.
Her husband grabbed up his phone. "I have an idea..." then speaking into his phone, "Hey, Peter... we need your help..." He spoke rapidly to Kara's step-father.
"Mama, can we save the ham?"
She looked at the hock of ham. It was only charred on the top.
Frankie looked on intently while she got the carving knife and fork out and careful cut off the top.
The rest was still ok.
"I've done a deal with Peter. He'll delivery the piggies to the orphanage. Phew!" Danny breathed a huge sigh of relief.
"Right, boys. Back to your house. I'll get you your roof when it's ready. Halsey, living room now!" And mama Kara took over the kitchen once more and saved the day.
20th December 15:25
At the Sunrise Orphanage
As the Green family arrived, they could see a few of their friends already there, nibbles and snacks littered the tables on the edges of the room. Tinsel and fairy lights a backdrop to a Christmas tree drooping from the weight of the sheer number of baubles and ... other 'decorations'.
And next to it sat Santa in a big chair with a young boy on his lap.
Peter had also delivered the piggies as promised.
Frankie quickly (but carefully) put the gingerbread house on a table and ran to join the queue.
"Is that... Wolf???" Kara said incredulously.
Danny squinted for focus, "I believe you are right..."
"I got tired of his... what's the expression... moping. So I put him into that ridiculous suit and wheeled him in here." Azima sauntered up behind them and finished the story.
"How's he taking it?" Kara ventured.
"Can't tell with the fake beard. I'll give him hell if he makes the kids cry though and he knows it."
The Greens couldn't help but cackle at their burly friend's misfortune.
They spent some time minglinf with friends like Mike and Gator, helped serve the kids and entertained the teenagers with outrageous stories.
Miller walked up in his prosthetics. "Wolfman seem to have settled into being Santa. He only scared 3 of them away." Then pointed to the ham. "I didn't know they came so even."
Danny looked sheepish while Kara explained. "Some hot-shot SEAL was too busy breaking gingerbread roofs and 'feeding' the dog and burnt the ham."
"Is that why the house looks like it's vomiting candy and icing?" Jeter added.
Everyone burst into laughter as Danny tried to shift the blame. "Frankie wanted to make sure there was enough candy for everyone.
Just then the Christmas carols started, drawing all their attention.
Danny drew Kara in, arms around her waist as she leaned back into the embrace.
"This is a good thing here."
"Yeah, it is."