Well, this part is really long, it should make up for me not posting all
that often!
Cassie
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
After 20 minutes of whining about having to be on duty Christmas eve, Harper finally agreed and headed to the bridge.
"Harper?" Rommie the avatar called out.
"Yeah?"
"I'll join you," she said with a smile.
"Thanks Rom-Doll," he said with a smile as he wrapped an arm around her shoulders.
"And you," Dylan said to Cassie as he picked her up, "it's time you were in bed."
"It's early!" she said in protest.
"Santa only comes to little girls who are asleep," he said. She looked over at Beka.
"He's right kiddo. When we get home, it's bath, story, cookies and milk out for Santa then bed."
"What kind of story?" she asked as Dylan passed her to Beka.
"A good one. You'll like it," Dylan said as he went to the mess hall.
"Where's he going?" she asked.
"To get things for Santa and maybe a treat for you before bed," Beka said with a smile as they entered their quarters. Beka put Cassie down and started the water as Cass went to Dylan's desk and pulled out her picture for the Rommies.
"Beka!"
"What!" she said as she came out in hurry.
"I forgot to finish it!" she said as her bottom lip started to tremble. "I didn't finish their Christmas present."
"Do you have a lot left to do?"
"Noooooo . . . . "
"Go finish it up. You'll have a bath after that," she said as she shut off the water. Cassie wiped her eyes and ran into her room and immediately started working on the picture. She came out twenty minutes later and showed it proudly to her. "Very nice! Put it on the table and we'll wrap it in the morning."
"Ok!" she said as she skipped into the bath room." Dylan came in just as Beka had started to braid her now wet hair.
"Hello? Are there any little girls still awake in here?"
"Ummmm . . . no?" Cassie said.
"Oh, okay, I guess I'll take the treat back then." Beka finished the braid and Cassie ran out.
"No, it's okay, I woke up!"
"Oh good," he said with a smile. He sat her down at the coffee table and she thanked him for the treats.
"She won't last much longer," Beka said. "She was half asleep when I took her out of the tub."
"She'll last long enough for the story," Dylan said as he pulled out a real copy of The Night Before Christmas. He went back over to her and they started to read. She was asleep by the time they got to the part about "the big clatter". He carried her to bed and tucked her in and came back out and sat down next to her. "So, what did you get me for Christmas?"
"I dunno, what did you get me?" she asked as she snuggled up to him. He smiled at her and held up a little box.
"Aren't you going to open it?"
"Now?"
"Yeah, when I was a kid, if I could stay up until the end of the story, I got to open one present. You stayed up til the end, so you get to open a present." She took the box from him and took the ribbon off. There was a ring inside.
"Dylan . . I . . ."
"It's not an engagement ring," he said quickly. He felt her relax. "Think of it as more of a promise or friendship ring. An engaged to be engaged ring."
She let him slip it on to her right ring finger and she smiled.
"Where do you come up with this stuff?" she asked.
"I don't know, you just bring it out in me." The two of them shared a laugh.
"So, what did you get me?" he asked again.
"Something good. At least I think it's good," she said.
"Are you going to give it to me?"
"Eventually," she said.
"What? I don't get it now?"
"It's not ready yet." She smiled to herself. She loved this game.
"Okay, when will it be ready?" he asked with a smile. He didn't really enjoy this game.
"In about 7 months," she said calmly, wondering if he'd catch on.
"7 months?" he said again, "Geeze, what is it, a baby?" he said, not really noticing what he had said.
"Well, yeah," she said. He grew quiet.
"You're kidding right?" She turned her head and the two of them looked at each other. "Right?" he asked again. She shook her head and waited as it sunk in. "Wow. Really?"
"Ya hun," she said as she looked out at the stars and he moved his hands down to her lower abdomen.
"Wow." was all he said again. "How long have you known?"
"Just before me and Harper left. He doesn't know and I thought I was going to die if I didn't tell some one." He chuckled.
"That was just about a week ago. How did you last so long?"
"Trance wanted to be sure before she let me go and tell every one."
"So, you can stand to have a baby with me, but not marry me?"
"Hey, I can take this kid and Cassie and leave at any time. I marry you and I'm stuck with you. I don't know if I want to keep you yet." she said with a smile.
"Gee, thanks." he said. She turned around and stratled his waist. She looked him in the eyes and sighed.
"I love you." she said calmly. This was the first time she had ever admited it out loud. His face lit up in a soft smile.
"I love you too." he said as he kissed her. "When do we tell every one?"
"Later, not now." she looked at him. "Maybe I'll just wait until I start to show, then they can guess for themselves."
"I don't think I can wait that long." he said as he pulled her close again.
"Impatient?"
"Excited, ready to burst! All I want to do is rub it inTyr's face that I got to Father before he did. Again." he said with an evil little grin.
"Childish are we?"
"Well, he's bigger than I am, stronger than I am, a bigger chick magnet then I am. I've got to have something I can top him with. Now if you'd just marry me . . ." he said hopefully.
"Not yet Dylan. I've just gotten used to Cass and you at the same time and now I have something else to get used to. I can't handle too much at one time." she said with a soft smile.
"Don't worry, I'm not going anywhere." he said as he carried her to bed.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"IT'S CHRISTMAS!! AND HE CAME! HE CAME JUST FOR ME!" Cassie yelled the next morning as she jumped out of bed and found a package with her name on it. Dylan jumped awake and wondered why Beka hadn?t as well, and he realized that she wasn't there. A slow smile spread across his face as he remembered the night before and he slowly crawled out of bed and was greated with Cassie who had wrapped herself around his legs. "He came! He really came and he brought me something!" she said excitedly.
"Oh, I'm pretty sure he brought you more than one thing." he said with a smile.
"Really?"
"Yep. But I think he left most of them under the tree in Hydroponics."
"Wow." she said as she let go of him and went back to her package. "Can I open this one now?"
"In a minute. Just let me find Beka."
"She's in the bathroom." she said as she walked over to where she had left Rommie's picture the night before. She found an elastic and a ribbon and rolled up the picture and made Dylan put the elastic on it for her. "Will you help me put the ribbon on?"
"Okay." he said as he tied it on.
"Thank you!" she said with a smile as she walked into her room. Dylan heard her talking to one of the Rommies and she was simply gushing about the fact that Santa had come and left her things and left everyone things and such.
"Beka?" he asked as he entered the bath room. She was just sitting on the floor against the wall.
"She's not here right now, but if you'd like to leave a message with the little elf in the other room, she'll get right back to you." Dylan tried not to laugh at her as he slid down the wall to sit beside her.
"So, are we waiting for the event, or recovering from it?" he asked.
"Waiting." she said. "It might not come and I might just feel horrible most of the day and as much as I hate throwing up, I wish it would just happen so I can get it over with." and as soon as she had finished saying that, it happened. She was impressed, Dylan stuck by her through it and held her when it was over.
"Better?" he asked quietly.
"Not really." she said as she leaned heavily against him.
"Here." he said as he got up and passed her her tooth brush, she took it gratefully and with in a few minutes, the two of them were back out with a very excited 5 year old.
"Look Beka, he came!" she said as she came running over. Dylan scooped her up before she could barrel into Beka. "Hey!" she said as she leaned over to Beka. Beka took her and Cassie launched into the fact that she had already talked to Rommie and told her all about the packages she had found with her
name on. "And I found a little black box with your name on it, but there was nothing in it."
"That's becuase I opened it after you were asleep."
"You're supposed to open it on Christmas!" she said with a pout.
"I did. It was very, very early Christmas morning when I opened it."
"Well, what was it?"
"It was this." she said as she showed Cassie the ring on her finger as she sat down on the couch.
"Wow!! Did Santa give it too you?"
"Almost. Dylan did."
"Wow! It's really pretty!" she said again. "Ummm . . . can I open mine now?" she asked.
"Yes, go for it." Dylan said as she let out a cheer and slid off of Beka.
The two of them watched as she ran over to the presents under the paper tree she, Harper and Trance had made everybody help make. They made every one trace they're hands, and they were glued down. Dylan didn't know how it had ended up in his quarters and not in a public area, but, hey, it was all
good. He wrapped his arms around Beka as she leaned back against him. "Feel better now?"
"A little. You help a lot and seeing her this excited is great." she wrapped her arms over his and laced her fingers through his. "I got you something else."
"What? Two of them?"
"Oh God, don't even joke about that! No, it's under the paper tree and there's another one under the real tree."
"Oh good. I got you others too."
"You didn't have to." she said.
"I know." was his answer. They watched as Cassie spent a good 10 minutes with each present and showing it to both of them and was still amazed that there was another one to open. She brought over the gifts that "Santa" had left for Beka and Dylan and shared the excitement with them when they opened theirs. Soon, the group was on their way to the Hydroponics to open the rest of the gifts. Tyr didn't understand why he had to be there, but Cassidie's happiness was infectious and he was soon reletively eager to be there with the group. They spent the day together, the entire group, before finally going back to their seperate quarters and Tyr to the bridge with Rev. They had decided to call it quits when they found Cassie asleep in a pile of disguarded wrapping paper near the end of the party.
"Have fun?" she asked Dylan as he carried Cassie.
"Yes, I did and I think she did too." the small figure in his arms was clutching at a doll that Tyr had given her. It was Nietchszchean, with little bone blades and all, but she loved it the moment she saw it and it was definitely her new favorite toy. Dylan put her to bed and came back out to see Beka stretched out on the couch.
"Tired?" he asked.
"Kind of." she said as she sat up. Dylan led her to the bed room and slid down beside her on the bed and held out another little box to her.
"Dylan . . ."
"Just open it." he said. She did and found another ring.
"Dylan . . ."
"Wait. That was my grandmother's wedding ring. I never really planned on giving it to you like this. The first ring, well, that was planned for a while. If I thought you'd except, I'd ask now. Instead, I had another idea."
"And what is that?"
"You'll figure something out to do with it when you're ready."
"That's it?"
"Yep. Gotta KISS." he smiled at the look on her face.
"Do we now?"
"Yep."
"Okay." so she kissed him. He laughed a little harder. "What?"
"KISS, Keep It Simple Stupid." he said. "Not that I minded. . ." She just laughed at him. "So, how much longer will we get to have the morning bathroom dates?"
"I dunno. . . 6 weeks according to Trance. I hope to the Divine she's wrong." she said as she laid down. Dylan layed his head just above her stomach and started whispering. She smiled at him as he finally came back up. "What was that?"
"Just a simple request. We'll soon find out of it worked."
"You are so strange." she said as he wrapped his arms around her.
"Ah, but you wouldn't have me any other way would you?"
"Well, maybe if the money was good . . ." she laughed as he showed her what he thought of that and went about changing her mind.
Cassie
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
After 20 minutes of whining about having to be on duty Christmas eve, Harper finally agreed and headed to the bridge.
"Harper?" Rommie the avatar called out.
"Yeah?"
"I'll join you," she said with a smile.
"Thanks Rom-Doll," he said with a smile as he wrapped an arm around her shoulders.
"And you," Dylan said to Cassie as he picked her up, "it's time you were in bed."
"It's early!" she said in protest.
"Santa only comes to little girls who are asleep," he said. She looked over at Beka.
"He's right kiddo. When we get home, it's bath, story, cookies and milk out for Santa then bed."
"What kind of story?" she asked as Dylan passed her to Beka.
"A good one. You'll like it," Dylan said as he went to the mess hall.
"Where's he going?" she asked.
"To get things for Santa and maybe a treat for you before bed," Beka said with a smile as they entered their quarters. Beka put Cassie down and started the water as Cass went to Dylan's desk and pulled out her picture for the Rommies.
"Beka!"
"What!" she said as she came out in hurry.
"I forgot to finish it!" she said as her bottom lip started to tremble. "I didn't finish their Christmas present."
"Do you have a lot left to do?"
"Noooooo . . . . "
"Go finish it up. You'll have a bath after that," she said as she shut off the water. Cassie wiped her eyes and ran into her room and immediately started working on the picture. She came out twenty minutes later and showed it proudly to her. "Very nice! Put it on the table and we'll wrap it in the morning."
"Ok!" she said as she skipped into the bath room." Dylan came in just as Beka had started to braid her now wet hair.
"Hello? Are there any little girls still awake in here?"
"Ummmm . . . no?" Cassie said.
"Oh, okay, I guess I'll take the treat back then." Beka finished the braid and Cassie ran out.
"No, it's okay, I woke up!"
"Oh good," he said with a smile. He sat her down at the coffee table and she thanked him for the treats.
"She won't last much longer," Beka said. "She was half asleep when I took her out of the tub."
"She'll last long enough for the story," Dylan said as he pulled out a real copy of The Night Before Christmas. He went back over to her and they started to read. She was asleep by the time they got to the part about "the big clatter". He carried her to bed and tucked her in and came back out and sat down next to her. "So, what did you get me for Christmas?"
"I dunno, what did you get me?" she asked as she snuggled up to him. He smiled at her and held up a little box.
"Aren't you going to open it?"
"Now?"
"Yeah, when I was a kid, if I could stay up until the end of the story, I got to open one present. You stayed up til the end, so you get to open a present." She took the box from him and took the ribbon off. There was a ring inside.
"Dylan . . I . . ."
"It's not an engagement ring," he said quickly. He felt her relax. "Think of it as more of a promise or friendship ring. An engaged to be engaged ring."
She let him slip it on to her right ring finger and she smiled.
"Where do you come up with this stuff?" she asked.
"I don't know, you just bring it out in me." The two of them shared a laugh.
"So, what did you get me?" he asked again.
"Something good. At least I think it's good," she said.
"Are you going to give it to me?"
"Eventually," she said.
"What? I don't get it now?"
"It's not ready yet." She smiled to herself. She loved this game.
"Okay, when will it be ready?" he asked with a smile. He didn't really enjoy this game.
"In about 7 months," she said calmly, wondering if he'd catch on.
"7 months?" he said again, "Geeze, what is it, a baby?" he said, not really noticing what he had said.
"Well, yeah," she said. He grew quiet.
"You're kidding right?" She turned her head and the two of them looked at each other. "Right?" he asked again. She shook her head and waited as it sunk in. "Wow. Really?"
"Ya hun," she said as she looked out at the stars and he moved his hands down to her lower abdomen.
"Wow." was all he said again. "How long have you known?"
"Just before me and Harper left. He doesn't know and I thought I was going to die if I didn't tell some one." He chuckled.
"That was just about a week ago. How did you last so long?"
"Trance wanted to be sure before she let me go and tell every one."
"So, you can stand to have a baby with me, but not marry me?"
"Hey, I can take this kid and Cassie and leave at any time. I marry you and I'm stuck with you. I don't know if I want to keep you yet." she said with a smile.
"Gee, thanks." he said. She turned around and stratled his waist. She looked him in the eyes and sighed.
"I love you." she said calmly. This was the first time she had ever admited it out loud. His face lit up in a soft smile.
"I love you too." he said as he kissed her. "When do we tell every one?"
"Later, not now." she looked at him. "Maybe I'll just wait until I start to show, then they can guess for themselves."
"I don't think I can wait that long." he said as he pulled her close again.
"Impatient?"
"Excited, ready to burst! All I want to do is rub it inTyr's face that I got to Father before he did. Again." he said with an evil little grin.
"Childish are we?"
"Well, he's bigger than I am, stronger than I am, a bigger chick magnet then I am. I've got to have something I can top him with. Now if you'd just marry me . . ." he said hopefully.
"Not yet Dylan. I've just gotten used to Cass and you at the same time and now I have something else to get used to. I can't handle too much at one time." she said with a soft smile.
"Don't worry, I'm not going anywhere." he said as he carried her to bed.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"IT'S CHRISTMAS!! AND HE CAME! HE CAME JUST FOR ME!" Cassie yelled the next morning as she jumped out of bed and found a package with her name on it. Dylan jumped awake and wondered why Beka hadn?t as well, and he realized that she wasn't there. A slow smile spread across his face as he remembered the night before and he slowly crawled out of bed and was greated with Cassie who had wrapped herself around his legs. "He came! He really came and he brought me something!" she said excitedly.
"Oh, I'm pretty sure he brought you more than one thing." he said with a smile.
"Really?"
"Yep. But I think he left most of them under the tree in Hydroponics."
"Wow." she said as she let go of him and went back to her package. "Can I open this one now?"
"In a minute. Just let me find Beka."
"She's in the bathroom." she said as she walked over to where she had left Rommie's picture the night before. She found an elastic and a ribbon and rolled up the picture and made Dylan put the elastic on it for her. "Will you help me put the ribbon on?"
"Okay." he said as he tied it on.
"Thank you!" she said with a smile as she walked into her room. Dylan heard her talking to one of the Rommies and she was simply gushing about the fact that Santa had come and left her things and left everyone things and such.
"Beka?" he asked as he entered the bath room. She was just sitting on the floor against the wall.
"She's not here right now, but if you'd like to leave a message with the little elf in the other room, she'll get right back to you." Dylan tried not to laugh at her as he slid down the wall to sit beside her.
"So, are we waiting for the event, or recovering from it?" he asked.
"Waiting." she said. "It might not come and I might just feel horrible most of the day and as much as I hate throwing up, I wish it would just happen so I can get it over with." and as soon as she had finished saying that, it happened. She was impressed, Dylan stuck by her through it and held her when it was over.
"Better?" he asked quietly.
"Not really." she said as she leaned heavily against him.
"Here." he said as he got up and passed her her tooth brush, she took it gratefully and with in a few minutes, the two of them were back out with a very excited 5 year old.
"Look Beka, he came!" she said as she came running over. Dylan scooped her up before she could barrel into Beka. "Hey!" she said as she leaned over to Beka. Beka took her and Cassie launched into the fact that she had already talked to Rommie and told her all about the packages she had found with her
name on. "And I found a little black box with your name on it, but there was nothing in it."
"That's becuase I opened it after you were asleep."
"You're supposed to open it on Christmas!" she said with a pout.
"I did. It was very, very early Christmas morning when I opened it."
"Well, what was it?"
"It was this." she said as she showed Cassie the ring on her finger as she sat down on the couch.
"Wow!! Did Santa give it too you?"
"Almost. Dylan did."
"Wow! It's really pretty!" she said again. "Ummm . . . can I open mine now?" she asked.
"Yes, go for it." Dylan said as she let out a cheer and slid off of Beka.
The two of them watched as she ran over to the presents under the paper tree she, Harper and Trance had made everybody help make. They made every one trace they're hands, and they were glued down. Dylan didn't know how it had ended up in his quarters and not in a public area, but, hey, it was all
good. He wrapped his arms around Beka as she leaned back against him. "Feel better now?"
"A little. You help a lot and seeing her this excited is great." she wrapped her arms over his and laced her fingers through his. "I got you something else."
"What? Two of them?"
"Oh God, don't even joke about that! No, it's under the paper tree and there's another one under the real tree."
"Oh good. I got you others too."
"You didn't have to." she said.
"I know." was his answer. They watched as Cassie spent a good 10 minutes with each present and showing it to both of them and was still amazed that there was another one to open. She brought over the gifts that "Santa" had left for Beka and Dylan and shared the excitement with them when they opened theirs. Soon, the group was on their way to the Hydroponics to open the rest of the gifts. Tyr didn't understand why he had to be there, but Cassidie's happiness was infectious and he was soon reletively eager to be there with the group. They spent the day together, the entire group, before finally going back to their seperate quarters and Tyr to the bridge with Rev. They had decided to call it quits when they found Cassie asleep in a pile of disguarded wrapping paper near the end of the party.
"Have fun?" she asked Dylan as he carried Cassie.
"Yes, I did and I think she did too." the small figure in his arms was clutching at a doll that Tyr had given her. It was Nietchszchean, with little bone blades and all, but she loved it the moment she saw it and it was definitely her new favorite toy. Dylan put her to bed and came back out to see Beka stretched out on the couch.
"Tired?" he asked.
"Kind of." she said as she sat up. Dylan led her to the bed room and slid down beside her on the bed and held out another little box to her.
"Dylan . . ."
"Just open it." he said. She did and found another ring.
"Dylan . . ."
"Wait. That was my grandmother's wedding ring. I never really planned on giving it to you like this. The first ring, well, that was planned for a while. If I thought you'd except, I'd ask now. Instead, I had another idea."
"And what is that?"
"You'll figure something out to do with it when you're ready."
"That's it?"
"Yep. Gotta KISS." he smiled at the look on her face.
"Do we now?"
"Yep."
"Okay." so she kissed him. He laughed a little harder. "What?"
"KISS, Keep It Simple Stupid." he said. "Not that I minded. . ." She just laughed at him. "So, how much longer will we get to have the morning bathroom dates?"
"I dunno. . . 6 weeks according to Trance. I hope to the Divine she's wrong." she said as she laid down. Dylan layed his head just above her stomach and started whispering. She smiled at him as he finally came back up. "What was that?"
"Just a simple request. We'll soon find out of it worked."
"You are so strange." she said as he wrapped his arms around her.
"Ah, but you wouldn't have me any other way would you?"
"Well, maybe if the money was good . . ." she laughed as he showed her what he thought of that and went about changing her mind.