Christmas Day has arrived!
Presents, family dinner, marathons of Christmas movies, fighting over the charging cords, batteries, everything to set the mood for this wonderful day of the year!
Almost thirty and Christmas always brought a smile to Lila.
Of course, the aloof giant's excited, almost forty and he woke up Lila the moment the clock hit ten and she wasn't up, yet, and more so their scheduled trip to Mars right after their visit with the Watsons.
Their visits with Theodore's family were short and brief, Hamon wasn't around, Hammond's busied with Christmas celebrations with his students, Odette leaving with Ben to visit his family.
The visits brief, they're now on to visit Lila's family, where they stayed for dinner.
Now, talk about a dinner!
A mix of British and American delights, enough to fill the stomachs of every person in a garrison, and the dessert!
Oh!
Whatever that woman put in her desserts, it was worth every bite, despite having three helpings of Christmas dinner, but of course, Daphne wouldn't let anyone not in the family have the recipe, it belonged to her mother.
Though, she strongly hinted she'd be willing to give it, as a present, not a Christmas present, mind you, but a present, nevertheless.
Billy and Ethan got into an argument with Theodore over hydroelectrics, which of course resulted in a minor food fight.
Minor.
Not much to throw except the picked-clean bones from the turkey.
Mr. Watson had a laugh, saying it reminded him of incidents from his youth where he gotten into passionate arguments, but of course Daphne wasn't laughing, and had all three clean out of punishment with Lila and her sitting in the den with mulled wine as they reminisce to themselves.
Once everything's cleaned and put up, things kept moving, with the time at the Watsons concluding, and it's hinted that the brothers and Daphne already picked up on what the trio kept from them.
"I know my husband," Daphne pointed at Mr. Watson, "whenever he does something, he has that look in his face!"
She's been married to him long enough to know the telltale signs that he's keeping something from her and she knows Lila.
The apple doesn't fall from the tree.
And.
She was an art teacher, she seen it all.
Even the craftiest liars couldn't hide slightest muscle twinge from their faces!
Not to mention there's also the fact that her husband had a nasty bruise that he wouldn't explain to her how he obtained and hiding behind his new job wasn't doing much to dissuade her from figuring things out.
It was then, Billy and Ethan admitted they figured something was up with Theodore, describing how they'd ask around their corners, and someone that Billy knows had an unusually old photo of his late grandfather from the 1900s during a grand opening for his restaurant.
Among the people with him in the photo, someone that looked strongly like Theodore, and while similarities among people in the world aren't uncommon, the sharp contrast of the clothes stuck out with the clothes worn by the other people in the photo… and a woman beside the look-alike that looked too much like Lila, her sense of style, and all.
And Billy knew the person well-enough they'd never go through the effort to photoshop the two into an old photograph, so he had no reason to suspect otherwise.
Found out with little effort, Theodore's amazed, but thankful that Daphne and the brothers accepted him as is, though Daphne wasn't happy about Lila getting into trouble, until Mr. Watson reminded her that it runs in the family.
Ask how he knows that.
Despite being shorter than Lila, Daphne didn't hesitate to make it clear to Theodore that she'll hold him responsible if anything happens to Lila, which Theodore promised her that due to the nature of it all, he couldn't outright promise that Lila won't get hurt, but he can promise that he'll put his life on the line for hers if it came to it.
Daphne made him promise or he'll hope he dies before she gets to him.
Same goes to Billy and Ethan, they made it abundantly clear that while they found the idea improbable, they're holding Theodore to his word, and while they may not look it, they've been taking classes whenever they get shore leave on different martial art styles.
"You are never going to be as cool as Jean-Claude Van Damme, dude," Lila tried telling her brothers, but they insisted that with time and training, they'll be up there with him, or as Lila pointed out, on the ground looking up at him.
Once everything settled, their presents in hand, Theodore and Lila finally left the Watson residence, returning to the TARDIS, where it took them to Mars, where David swears by his two hearts, that there's drinks on it that are quote, "out of this world."
Don't think they'd have any room for anything else, but they weren't just visiting Mars for drinks, it's frigid right now, and Theodore figured somewhere warmer for their Christmas suited them, he claimed it'd help digest their meal, of course Lila pointed out that they could've done that in front of a fireplace, but the aloof giant convinced her that it was better this way.
"As much as he talked about it, I expect my mind to be thoroughly blown away," Theodore admitted he wanted to know what the hubbub was about Mars, considering David raved about the drinks he had on the planet, describing how the bartender always came up with new ones.
Of course, having eaten and drank his weight in food, already, Theodore can't consume a drink, right this minute, but the water sports and other amenities offered at the resort's a good way of working off the dinner, complete with a drink from the bartender to see what David's raving about.
Stepping out of the TARDIS, immediately the pair's shrouded in a red hue, coming from the red sandy dunes in the distance, the microscopic glass in the red sands reflecting the sun above, giving the area a red hue.
Following the smell, the pair walked over the cobbled stone path, arms interlocked as they followed the signs, the scent of burning coal guided them to an open area where there's a blue skinned alien tending to a large scale grill, filled to brim with different types of meats, while a purple skinned alien tended the roasted pig as he turned it over an open fire, the drippings collected at the pan placed over the exposed coals, allowing the boiling drippings to steam upward back into the caramelizing pig.
Overhead, there's music playing, suppose David spent an uncomfortable amount of time here, as this was apparently a curated playlist made by him, cue Theodore rolling his eyes at this, and Lila pointing out, "We got a table with our names on it at the Diner!"
After spending countless times at the Diner, it's gotten to the point that they have their own designated table, complete with a plaque on the wall beside the seats denoting their names.
No room to talk, there.
"I didn't drunkenly dance to 'Hungry Eyes'," Theodore counters as he walked with Lila around the groups of aliens of different walks, with drinks in their hands, flowers around their necks, as they enjoyed the resort.
Finding their way around the resort, the pair proceeded to then begin their Christmas fun, working off their dinner, by the way of water sports, volleyball, and then some.
It'd appear that some baron who bought a sizable amount of land on Mars thought having a resort was a good use of his money and by many's admission, he made a good choice, since everyone came to Mars for the resort to have a fun time.
Eventually, after winning the umpteenth volleyball game with a group of elderly aliens seeking harmless fun, the pair worked up an appetite and thirst, so they made their way to the bar area, where they met the bartender that kept his lips sealed on his secret ingredients and formula.
B'eemix.
A red-skinned, four eyed alien, with four arms, allowing him to easily grab everything he needed around his bar, he's got a sharp tongue to boot, and enough stories to last several centuries.
He poured the pair drinks, took their orders, and told some of those stories whenever he had a chance, having to tend a full-bar.
"Damn! I could drink six gallons worth of this!" Lila complimented the drink she ordered from B'eemix.
It was called "Starry Nights" and it featured liquors that Lila couldn't pronounce to save her life, but damn it's heaven on her tongue!
Theodore's drinking "Star Ocean" and once more, it featured liquors neither could pronounce to save their lives, but the way he swirled the glass, it looked like he was drinking a mini ocean filled with stars, and it tasted just like some old juice boxes he and his siblings drank at school, the alcohol giving it the pop rock feel on his tongue.
Now, Theodore understands why David came here more than once!
In between bites of their food and drinking their respected drinks, the pair talked to each other, whatever came to mind, the fact that they weren't dealing with death defying things today's a good day for them.
"You sure you wanna eat that much?" Lila asked Theodore if he wanted to eat the large plate of Something, with everything a person wanted for a meal from the bar, and Theodore assured her that he's got room for dessert, complete with a toothy grin as he gave her a wink.
Giggling, Lila remarked, "Good thing we have Tums!"
Continuing their time at the bar, Theodore felt the need to excuse himself to the bathroom, leaving Lila alone, in his absence, she took swigs of his drink, picked from his plate, in between hers, too.
As she's eating, she felt a presence beside her, when she turned her head, she saw…
"Miss… Watson… I… presume…" she heard him say.
TO BE CONTINUED…
"Through the Looking Glass"