It was a chilly evening under the sea. Captain Barnacles and Deborah were in the GUP-A on their way to spend Christmas morning with Bianca, Orson, and Ursa. Deborah nuzzled into her coat; it was very chilly in the Arctic.
When they arrived, Orson and Ursa came running out to see their cousin. They were very excited to have a "big kid" (if nineteen can be considered a kid) around for the holidays.
"Nice to see you," said Bianca to Deborah after hugging her brother.
"Thank you for having me," said Deborah.
They all went inside. "So, how's your family?" Bianca asked Deborah.
"Well," said Deborah, "I haven't seen them in some time, but last time we talked, they were all doing fine."
Once Deborah had gone off to play with her little cousins, Captain Barnacles leaned in to talk to Bianca. "She's not from a very good home. I didn't want her to be hurt on Christmas."
Bianca nodded in understanding.
The next morning, Orson and Ursa were nudging Deborah awake at the crack to open presents. She sat up and, after waiting for the adults and having some breakfast, they all gathered around.
After the exchange of candy, mittens, and nice socks, Deborah gave her captain a box with a fuzzy blue scarf inside. "It's the exact same colour as your uniform," said Deborah. "I knew you would love it."
"That's very thoughtful of you," said Captain Barnacles. He then gave her a box, which had the first issue of the manga adaptation of Intergalactic Imogen inside. Deborah bounced. "I heard this was coming out! Thank you!"
Captain Barnacles put an arm around Deborah. "Merry Christmas, Deb."
Deborah grinned. "Merry Christmas, papa."