The Diego Diaries: Christmas Surprise Eve (dd6 228)
-0-Early that morning, Christmas Surprise Eve on-world
He crept through the apartment checking everyone at both ends of the building. The night before had been the usual hoo-haw of kids, adults and passers-by. Now, it was his job to begin things or they would never get done. How that had landed upon him was beyond him but given that it had, he made his way forward. Walking back to the kitchen, Ratchet pulled two foil-wrapped 'prime ribs' that had been 'marinating' overnight from the refrigerator. He had decided before hitting the berth that he would make things easier for a change and get the prep done ahead of time. With Ironhide kibitzing over his shoulder, he managed to get it done anyway. Given that Ironhide by virtue of his schooling and caste was a better cook than he was, it still didn't do a bit of good in the division of labor department.
"I clean up. I eat. I wash the … things … the dish clothes. You cook. Of course, you can ask my old ada to make extra if you wa-" An elbow to the gut cut that line of slag down to size.
Ratchet grinned as he slid them into the double oven, set the cooking temperature down low, then glanced around. He was done. He would provide that, the apartment and a bale of buns for the dinner. Everyone else would bring the rest. He looked around mentally making a picture of how to move things around for more chairs and a table from Alie and 'Jack's house. There was plenty of space on the floor and the hallway always was available.
He walked to the berth room, admired Ironhide's fine aft, then crashed into place again. He was off line the moment he landed.
-0-Across the hallway
Alor worked in the kitchen making the lattice-top crusts of the dishes he would bring. One of them was a pie, Earth-style and the rest were traditional Cybertronian foods that always made the table during a holiday. Blackjack was snoozing and so was Scout. All was well in their abode.
-0-Across the hallway
Docker finished the sauce that would be poured over the dish that Ratchet had always been given during events. They were slum dishes that had been co-opted and gentrified by the higher ups, though there were some who said that those couldn't match that of the authentic cuisine. Chan who was a great cook lately, having taken up a few cookbooks to experiment with things like lasagna, barbecue and other delicacies of human cuisine was working on a large crust covered dish called chicken pot pie. It looked and smelled delicious. The two chatted softly together as they worked, two cats watching for the odd 'accidentally' dropped bit of this and that while Ratchet and Corr slept soundly. It was very pleasant in the kitchen with the lights of the decorations and tree softly glowing.
-0-Across the colony
"Raptor. Taste this."
Raptor rose from his chair to walk to the counter. He took a bite of something that Turbine was mixing. "That's great. Just the right amount of sweetness."
"Thank you, oh golden paletted one. I want this to be right. It's the first time anyone is going to bring it and some of them are great cooks," Turbine said as he continued to stir the mixture.
"So are you," Raptor said as he sat again. Picking up the datapad with the morning papers from Earth, Mars and Cybertron, he grinned. "What's Lucien bringing besides a massive sense of grievance?"
"I don't know. I didn't ask Laslo but he's happy to come. The kids are, too. Poor Lucien. Maybe he needs to go to Cybertron with you and carry a backpack as well."
Raptor grinned. "That's not a half bad idea, though Ratchet has him doing desk work at the Department of State. Serves him right."
"Some don't mind flying a desk, Raptor. They prefer it to sitting in the mud and getting slagged," Turbine said as he put a lid on the bowl he was working on. Walking to the fridge, he put it inside, then pulled out another bowl with something else. "I know. It's hard to imagine," he said, glancing at his big old mech.
"Slaggers don't know what's good for them," Raptor said with a grin.
-0-Somewhere else
"What do you think we should bring? Ratchet said we don't have to bring anything," Roto said as he sat at the table eating breakfast with Terradive. This was a half orn of school education before vacation. The next one after today, Christmas Surprise Day, would be a shortie with the kids coming for a party and their present from Santa Prime.
"I don't know. How about a bottle of something good? I could go get it but they might frown on me keeping a bottle of high grade in my classroom," Terri said with a chuckle. "You get it on your break and have them deliver it to the apartment."
"What about those sub adults down the hallway? What if they see the bottle sitting by our door?" Roto asked.
"Good point. Bury it in the bottom of a box of tomatoes or something, then bring it back to school. Lock it up and no one will know," Terri said.
"No wonder the Decepticons lost, Terri. No offense but … you get my drift, right?" Roto said with a snicker.
Terradive grinned at him. "Slagger."
Roto would get the box of groceries and in the bottom wrapped up was a nice bottle of high grade. No one would notice it was there.
-0-Trine be true
"I don't like the idea of you being gone all that time," Sideswipe said.
"You know I do communications on Enceladus once every nine decaorns," Bluestreak said as he put his side dish into the fridge. "That's the way it goes."
"It's fragged, Blue," Sunstreaker said as he held Uraya. They were eating breakfast and she wanted to be held. "I'd prefer you came home every night. It's bad enough that Sideswipe is tasked to Diego and I have to drag out to Charon. But having you away at all is fragged."
"Prowl doesn't play favorites," Blue said. "You knew that going in."
"He's still a slagger," Sideswipe said. "When do we go to the dinner at Ada's?"
"1200 hours," Bluestreak said as he sat down to finish his breakfast. "Be here before and help me get things to the party."
"You wound me," Sideswipe said with a grin. "You seem to think we don't carry our weight."
"You don't. Just be here on time. 1130 hours or I'm going to mess you up," Blue said.
"I think he means it," Sideswipe said to Sunstreaker.
Sunstreaker smirked at both of them. "I hope so."
-0-Up in the clouds
Prowl sat at the table working on tasks that had to be done so he could relax enough to have fun. He had to organize a party the next orn after they all played Santa Prime, finish work at the office in between all the fun, open presents sometime between now and tomorrow night, visit a number of human habitats including the Resort, be a dazzling host, and wrangle a lot of kids.
He couldn't wait.
-0-In the Bosom of Love, Inc.
"What's for breakfast?" Ironhide asked as he peered into the stoves.
"The usual," Ratchet said as he pulled out toast from the heat wrack. He put it in a basket, then handed it to Ironhide. "Be useful, old mech."
"I AM IRONHIDE! I'M USEFUL!" Ironhide said with a grin.
"You need butter with that," Ratchet said.
"Okay," he said agreeably. Fogging out of the back room came three big kids and two smaller ones, Sunspot, and Co-D who spent the night. A cat and a dog bounded out, tussled, then turned to Ratchet for their breakfast.
"Don't look at me, fuzz balls. I'm busy," Ratchet said.
"I got them, Ada," Fireball said as he hurried to get them fed. Spot and Cousin were delighted that he did.
Infants hip-hopped out, bounding with good humor and a jones for getting into the presents. They were glommed, then sat on their chairs. By then, plates of food were handed out, toast was slapped on their plates and everyone sat down to eat.
"Where's Halo?" Ratchet asked as he sat to eat.
"She's still recharging," Ironhide said.
"Ada? Atar? Can you bring her to my school?" Hero asked with hopeful optics.
Ironhide being a schlub around his kids nodded. "Can do. Eat up, Little Missy."
Hero smiled at him, then began to eat. It was the usual morning. Praxus and Orion were racing to see who could eat the most toast, Fireball was discussing a physics assignment with his brothers, Hero was smiling as she tried to fit a long piece of bacon into her mouth with her small hands, Prowler was humming to himself as he ate his breakfast, and Spot was looking for scraps.
"When does Santa Prime come, Ada?" Praxus asked. All of the children paused to look at Ratchet.
"Tomorrow," Ratchet said. "He's coming to your school to give you a present. I hope you earned it. I would hate to wonder what to do with all the coal if you didn't."
Huge laughter and reassurances of 'I bees good, Ada' went around the table before the door opened and some of the usual squad of ammas and appas came inside. Scout who was walking pretty well ran in, then stopped beside Orion. He smiled. "Orion, you come play?" he asked.
Orion who was eating bacon looked down, then smiled brilliantly. "TOUT!" he said, then leaned down to hug him. He lost his balance, then fell onto his helm before tipping over to lay spreadeagled on the floor." It got quiet immediately, then everyone rose as one.
Blackjack picked him up. "You alright, infant?" he asked worriedly.
Orion blinked, then looked down. "I falled down."
"You did, your hard headed little slagger. Here," his grandpa said as he sat the baby back on his chair. "Eat and then play." He picked up his son. "Scout, you wait for him to get done." He walked to the counter, then handed his son a piece of bacon.
"That infant will be the death of me," Ratchet said with a smile. "What's on your agenda and when can we raid your dining room for furniture?"
"We have some slag to do in Las Vegas and Cybertron, but we're going to be back about 1000 hours on the TMC," Alor said as he kissed Hero. Then he walked down the hallway.
"We're expecting slaggers to show up from noon onward," Ironhide said. "We're going to be open for business before that."
"We can help," Blackjack said. "The others have the same schedule. We're just ensuring that the good holiday stuff has gotten out to where its supposed to go."
Alor walked back in carrying Halo. She was laying on his arm in blankets, a smile on her tiny face. "I'm taking this one with me, Ironhide. Just so you know."
"Thief," he said with a grin. "Going to take her to Sin City? Don't let her near a roulette wheel. She's got enough vices already."
"This perfect little imp?" Alor asked.
"She's coming to my school, Amma. Can you come, too?" Hero asked hopefully.
"I'll come to your school before I go to Earth," Alor said. "We can both come with you in the cab."
"THAT WILL BE SO FUN, AMMA!" Hero said.
"That will," Sunspot said with a smile of his own. "I LOVE CHRISTMAS SURPRISE! Did you know, Amma and Appa, that we're going to the stables and give presents to our horses, too?"
"I do," Blackjack said. "We're coming, too."
"That's going to be fun, Appa," Fireball said as the others nodded. "I can't wait until tomorrow. We get to have a party and then a present when Santa Prime comes."
"That was started by Sunstreaker. He wanted everyone to have parties for big events," Ratchet said. "Your old brother is a softie at spark."
"He's the greatest," Quasar said. "What do you think will happen when Kaon plays Nova Cronum this weekend, Ada?"
"I don't know. Nova Cronum is a lot like Kaon. It's going to be a train wreck," Ratchet said.
"Sort of like us if we don't get going now," Alor said as he slipped Halo into her Seeker bag.
"HURRY UP, INFANTS! I HAVE SPOKEN!" Ironhide said with a grin as a crowd of laughing kids quickly finished their food, then rose to get ready to go. He glanced at Alor. "Need a hand?"
"If you want to come watch this, fine," Alor said, "but I'm going to slap your aft if you think you're getting her back."
"Slagger. My own ada," Ironhide said as he rose to clear the table.
The hoo-haw was loud and hectic but soon they were lined up at the door ready to leave. Alor looked at them as he slid Halo into his hold. "SHALL WE GO! WE HAVE DINNER HERE AT NOON!" Huge squees and hopping greeted that.
They walked out to head for the elevator and the ride on buses and cabs to school. Ratchet turned to Ironhide. "You better get Prowler to school and get back here, slagger. I'm going to need you to tote that barge."
"Frag that," Ironhide said as he picked up his son. "I AM IRONHIDE! I DON'T TOTE AND FETCH!"
"Wanna bet?" Ratchet asked with a grin.
"Nope," Ironhide said with a snicker. "Be right back."
"Better be. I, RATCHET, WILL PUT MY PED UP YOUR AFT IF YOU DON'T!"
"SONNY!"
Ratchet glanced back to see his ada frown in his direction as he walked with the others toward the elevator. "Hi, Ada. Come here and let me hug you."
"Oh, no, you don't," Ravel said as he hustled to slip past his son.
He wouldn't make it.
-0-A short time later
She stood in her classroom with all six of her classmates around her. Lying in her amma's servos, Halo was on full display. Her blankets and Seeker bag were nowhere to be seen. Hero was quivering with delight as she looked at her teacher. They had asked her to tell about her new sister. The six advanced children in her Pioneer class were fascinated. "This is my sister, Halo. She's brand new. I HAVE A LOT OF SISTERS BUT THIS ONE IS THE ONE WHO LIVES WITH ME! I GET TO HELP TAKE CARE OF HER! ISN'T SHE CUTE!?"
Everyone agreed that she was amazingly cute.
Hero looked at her, then put her cheek against Halo's. Standing back up, she smiled. "She's so nice. She's pretty and doesn't do much. She smiles all the time. When I talk to her I think she knows what I say. I can't wait until she can play. I help my ada and atar take care of her. I asked my amma if she could come today. SHE SAID YES! I WANTED YOU TO SEE HER AND AMMA! THEY'RE BOTH SO NICE!"
Alor grinned. There would be nothing in the world that could top this moment. As he knelt in the classroom for his granddaughter to show and tell the baby, all was incredibly well in his world.
-0-In a jail in the Courthouse
Traachon sat on a bench betraying little. He had wearied going to work at a job that didn't give him any sense of satisfaction. He was bored with it. He had stepped away and he didn't care about the consequences. He also missed the idea entirely that what he felt was what billions had felt over the course of The System. Being low castes stymied in dead end jobs that offered no satisfaction, that bored you senseless was something he couldn't put together with his own feelings. He just wasn't wired that way.
The morning dragged onward toward arraignment. He would have his counselor, a chance to plead, then he would end up in jail again. He, Traachon, was going to fight the arrest even if he lost. For him, it was preferable to being a drone in a dead end job. It made him feel something again.
Irony was not his long suit.
-0-TBC 12-24-17 edited 12-25-17
I will write notes tomorrow. Right now, I'm sitting here after eating too much and having fun at my sister's house. :D:D:D
Merry Christmas to those who celebrate it and Happy Holidays to one and all. You are my delight and writing for you is my pleasure. Take care out there in the big world and know you are loved. :D:D:D:D