012. Christmas

.

.

.

"Mama, mama!" Ark excitedly pointed at the dwindling line, "We're almost there to Santa!"

Crystal grinned. "We can finally tell him what we want for Christmas!"

Tikal squeezed their hands gently. "Of course! Make sure you ask him politely though."

They beamed up at her. "Okay!"

The small family were currently waiting in line to meet Santa Claus at a Christmas grotto. Tikal thought of surprising the two when picking them up from school. It was a joy to see their faces light up when she told them and their excitement only made her happier.

Christmas was such a festive celebration to Tikal and still quite new to her. When she came out of the Master Emerald, it was near the time when people started to put decorations up in their houses and lighting the trees. She found it so fascinating that she had to ask Knuckles what it was all about.

"Well, my definition of Christmas is about gifting people with happiness and having a fun time with your family and friends!"

It was just the definition that made Tikal happy the most. Seeing people excited and bubbly was all she wanted in her life and as years progressed, it just became even better.

When it was their turn to meet Santa, the giant red-coated man stood up from his chair with an apologetic look.

"Sorry kids, I'll be right back!" he said, disappearing into the back.

"Awww!" they sulked.

"We waited an hour, mama!" Crystal whined.

Tikal shook her head with a soft laugh. "It won't be long until he comes back."

Ark pouted. "But that could take foreverrrr!"

She forgot how impatient her children could be.

"Everyone needs to take a break," the orange echidna said, kneeling down to button up their loose coats, "Even Santa."

"So he can deliver everyone's presents on time, right?" Crystal asked.

Tikal giggled and nodded. "Right."

She stood up and her gaze immediately fell towards Santa... who looked quite different from before. He was more skinnier, like he had just lost a lot of weight. Her kids didn't bad an eyelash at the sudden change as they ran up to the man sitting on the big chair.

"Santa!" they cheered as they both scurried up onto his lap.

His deep voice clearly gave it away. "Hello."

She was taken aback and so Tikal closely inspected him, seeing if her suspicions were true. It was until he flickered his red eyes over to her, was when she realised who they belonged to.

Shadow.

She tried her utmost best not to be surprised and give everything away. Her husband... was dressed in a Santa costume. Something that didn't even dream of happening. How bizzare. Yet, here he was and it suited him so well that she couldn't help but bite her lip to prevent the laughter threatening to escape.

What really shocked her was that he was finally home. The last phone call she had with him was a while ago, where he had to do a non-stop three week mission. Tikal was honestly worried through that whole period, but made sure that wasn't shown to the children and instead comforted them whenever their father was mentioned.

"Everyone's dreams come true when it's Christmas!"

And that was true indeed, seeing that her wish was right in front of her.

'Oh, dear,' Tikal thought in her head as she stifled a few chuckles behind her hand, 'This should be interesting...'

"What would you two like for Christmas this year?" Shadow asked the children, breaking the eye contact from her.

"Wellll," Crystal began putting her finger underneath her chin, "For Christmas this year, I want a teddy bear so my other toys have someone new to play with when we have a tea party!"

Shadow secretly cracked a smile. "I'll make sure to put that on my list then," he felt warmth against his chest when Crystal thanked him with beaming eyes before he looked over to Ark, "What about you?"

"I've been wanting this race track forever now!" Ark said with excitement, "It's super cool with really neat cars and motorbikes!" He began to make engine noises causing his sister to laugh.

The black hedgehog couldn't help but laugh along. "All right. Hopefully you've been good this year."

"Of course we have!" Ark nodded, "Mama taught us everything about Christmas and what it means!"

"Be kind and respectful!" Crystal added in, "And you'll have a wonderful Christmas!"

Tikal smiled at the scene before stepping closer to them. "Is there anything else you want to ask Santa?"

The children fell silent after that.

The orange echidna took a moment to stare at the both of them, taking in their solemn expressions. It seemed to have took a toll on Shadow as he seemed to notice the mood.

Tikal's look softened. "Tell him," she ushered them.

"W-Well," Ark stammered and looked up at Shadow, "It's just..."

Crystal noticed that her brother couldn't bring out the words properly. "We want Papa to come home for Christmas..."

Ark nodded. "That's all we really want."

"Really," his sister added on.

Seeing their sad faces made the black hedgehog's heart drop considerably. In his mind, he contemplated whether to strip off the costume and reveal that it was him. But the place was packed as it is and it would've been involuntary to do so. Shadow slowly glanced over to his wife and Tikal only pressed her lips with a light shrug.

"I'll send a message to your father so he could come home," Shadow said when looking back at his children.

Their eyes suddenly lit up. "Really Santa?!"

"Really."

"Do you promise?" Ark asked.

"I promise."

"Do you pinky swear promise?" Crystal questioned next, holding up her pinky and telling her brother to do the same also.

Shadow held up both of his pinkies to the two as they swirled their own pinky around it. "I pinky swear promise."

The siblings grinned as they went up to hug the man. "Thank you Santa!"

He smiled at the action before they jumped off of his lap.

"Crystal, let's go and see Mister Elf over there!" Ark pointed at the elf handing out a few presents to the other children.

"Okay!" Crystal looked back at Santa with a giggle before grabbing her brother's hand to go meet the elf.

"I'll be over there in a minute," Tikal called out to them. She turned to face Shadow who had just got up from the chair and started to walk into the back. Tikal slowly caught up with him as he stripped off the beard and moustache.

"That was really sweet what you did," she commented with amusement when he took off the red jacket.

"Yeah," Shadow said when he turned to her, "Even though I looked ridiculous."

"Oh hush," Tikal teased, "They didn't even know it was you."

He only rolled his eyes, a scoff following after. "But you did."

"Those red eyes don't fool anybody, Shadow," she giggled.

"I guess not," he stepped closer to her, his lips softly against hers, "I'll be home tomorrow night."

Tikal lifted her hand up and caressed his cheek. "I'll be looking forward to it," she whispered before pecking his lips.

...

The door bell rang.

Keeping the children occupied with their presents, Tikal quickly walked over to the door and opened it. Shadow quietly came in and shut the door, greeting her with a kiss.

"I know it's the winter season, but it was far too cold out there," Shadow stated as he slipped his shoes off.

"Don't worry, the house is opposite from that," Tikal laughed as she walked into the living room.

"Crystal, Ark," Tikal quietly called out to them. The two stopped playing with their toys and looked up at their mother.

She smiled. "Someone's here to see you."

Crystal and Ark's eyes widened when they saw the black hedgehog come into frame. Shadow stood there with a small smile, lifting up his hand to wave at them.

The two siblings were surprised. In fact they were so surprised that they discarded their toys onto the floor and with the speed they possessed, dashed up to their father.

"PAPA!"

Shadow quickly knelt down so he could catch them and pick the two up in a loving embrace.

"Papa I can't believe you're home!" the female hedgehog stated between tears, "Y-You're really home!"

"Of course he'd come home!" the little male echidna stammered when he lifted his head up from Shadow's shoulder, "S-Santa promised us!"

Crystal nodded, wiping off the tears from her eyes as she sobbed. "W-We missed you so much!"

Poor Ark kept on hiccuping when he cried. "Never leave us again!"

Shadow placed a kiss on each of their foreheads. "I won't," they looked at him with glistening eyes and he smiled, "I promise."

After one last hug, he put them down and let himself be dragged into the play area. He glanced up at Tikal, who wiped off some of tears out of sheer happiness. She caught his stare and smiled, insisting he'd go play with the children as she needed to get the food prepared.

"Look Papa! We got so much for Christmas this year!" his daughter beamed when she showed her the unwrapped presents and the teddy bear.

"You got the teddy bear you wanted," Shadow sat down and fiddled with the toy before gazing over to the race track, "And you got the race track you wanted, Ark."

"Mhm! We asked Santa and Mama was right, he does make our wishes come true," his son exclaimed, the echidna leaning himself onto him.

Shadow ruffled his head as yesterday's events filled his mind. "He does, doesn't he?"

"Honestly Papa," Crystal suddenly said sternly, "If the Commander makes you go away again then he'll have to get through me!"

"And me!" Ark joined in, copying his sister's pose.

His wife could be heard giggling from the kitchen.

"Really now?" he asked, amused with their confidence.

"Yes!"

Chaos Energy could be seen flowing out of them and it wasn't a surprise to Shadow. In fact, he was proud that they were even able to control it. Training was still needed, of course.

"Maybe I could use you two to get out of my early morning shifts then," he suggested, which earned eager nods from the siblings.

It actually made him burst out laughing. "With faces like that, it'll probably work."

...

Tikal saw Shadow come downstairs and turned off the T.V.

"Are they asleep?" she asked, watching him sit next to her on the couch.

"Fast asleep," he replied with an exhausted sigh, "They're more hyperactive than I remember."

"They haven't seen you in almost two months, Shadow," Tikal stated, cuddling up to him.

"I know," Shadow laid his chin on top of her head, "Just seeing them happy to see me was enough for Christmas."

Bewildered, Tikal pulled away. "You thought they wouldn't be happy?"

"I'll be honest, when they said they wanted me for Christmas... I was surprised," he exhaled, "After leaving for so long..."

Tikal shook her head. "I can't believe you would think that..."

"Can you blame me? I lied to them, saying that I'd be gone for a week," he frowned averting his look to her, "I just... I'm really glad they didn't think that way."

"Shadow," she spoke in her gentle voice, "They're your children, your own blood. They'd never get angry at you."

Shadow felt better hearing that. "Yeah," he intertwined their hands together, "I just love them is all."

She smiled back at him before tilting her head. "Did you mean it?"

He stared at her. "Mean what?"

"That you won't leave us again," Tikal remembered, her hand burying underneath his quills, "You did promise them..."

The black hedgehog paused for a moment before lifting her hand up, his lips brushing against her knuckles. "Promises are forever... right?"

She laughed lightly, his gesture fluttering her heart. "Yes..."

He steadily leaned into her lips as they gracefully connected. It was a long kiss, a hungry one at that. Being away from each other for so long caused some temptations to kick in. Tikal felt his hand slithering under her dress, rubbing her thigh.

She pulled away before they went any further. "Our room would be better, don't you think?"

Humming closely against her lips, Shadow placed one hand under her legs and the other on her back before lifting her up. "Merry Christmas."

Blushing, Tikal couldn't help but pull him down and capture his lips again. "Merry Christmas," she murmured, "And welcome home..."