Chapter 3: A Date With Santa
It was that time of year again for the land of Gamindustri; the time of snow and presents but most importantly...
"... Nepmas is here!" The scene was a shopping mall with its interiors filled with eager shoppers ready to line-up their carts with presents for their loved ones, and the one who shouted this declaration was none other than Neptune. It was cold around this time, so Neptune had a purple and dark blue jacket with black pants, and Noire had a vibrant red coat with black pants.
She and Noire, along with their daughter, Euri, were out and about in order to stock up on holiday presents. "Neptune, you should really do your in-door voice instead of sounding like a crazed lunatic, " said Noire who was pushing the stroller with a bundled up Euri inside.
"But Noire... It's the holiday joy! The Nepmas ghost compels me with Nepmas so close."
"Well, you keep that up and mall security is going to be crashing down on you, " said Noire.
"Don't be such a blacky heart, my love. Remember that this is Euri's first Nepmas."
"Nepmas is here!"
Noire turned her head randomly in a direction as she saw a group of kids shouting the same thing as her wife had said.
Neptune giggled at the sight and Noire sighed in defeat. "You know, since we're married and our nations are one now, why don't we rename it?" Asked Noire.
Neptune did a soft hand flick to show that she wasn't a fan of that idea. "Noire, we've talked about this. East Nepstation is called Holimark and over here in the west, it's called Nepmas, " said Neptune with a goofy tongue sticking out.
"But wouldn't it be cool if it was changed to Noiremas? Or do you think my name is too dumb for that?" Noire could see the little gears in Neptune's head spinning and not even her HDD mindset could help her formulate a better response.
"Now Noire... Umm... Let's not be too hasty on that subject. The shell shock of the people having to adapt to that new name might be too much for the average citizen, so let's just keep the name as it is, " said Neptune with a cheeky wink.
Noire sighed at her wife's weak excuse even though the people were okay with the nation's name change among other things. "You can be such a terrible liar, Neptune. Let's just begin our Holimark shopping, " declared Noire as a means to spite her wife at the end that earned her a puffed-up cheek from Neptune.
Neptune knowing that she deserved that, let her have her way and the both of them pulled out their secret list. They were extra careful to keep a good distance from the other seeing what the other had on paper.
"Okay, I'll take cute little Euri with me and we'll meet up here in a few hours, " said Neptune. She inched her way to her daughter with wiggling fingers at the cute baby clothes she could get for Nepmas.
"Hey, hold on! W-we both know how you can get when it comes to fighting over items that run out quickly. In that department, Nepgear herself even called you a shop warrior who doesn't rest until the best deal is secured, " said Noire.
"Your point, honey, " said Neptune sweetly.
"My point is that that laser-focused mindset is going to cause you to neglect Euri. What if you lose her in a crowd or she gets hurt?"
"Eh?! That will never happen! Plus, Nowa, aren't you the queen of the deal? You do try and be the business master in all forms of haggling or do you want to call those negotiations like the business girl that you are?"
"I... I... Okay, I just want Euri to come with me that's all. She makes me feel relaxed knowing that I have my eye on her and it's not like I don't trust you, Neptune. Really... I just want to be with her, " said Noire who was madly blushing.
"Same, honey. I want to be with her, too. Let's let her decide. Whoever gets her attention will take her with them." Neptune stood on one side facing Euri's stroller, and Noire was ultimately on the other.
Euri, who had been enjoying the moving pace of the stroller looked up at her two parents with half-closed eyes. She looked between both of them who were trying their hardest to incite a reaction from her.
Neptune made funny faces and did jokes with her jacket like tucking her arms so that her sleeves were flapping in the wind.
Noire stood there for a moment until her brain kicked in. She reached into the diaper bag from behind the stroller and pulled out a pre-made baby bottle.
Euri having enough knowledge from associating a bottle for food provoked her to stretch her arms out at Noire.
"Hey, no fair. It's getting close to lunchtime already... and you used that as your trump card!"
Noire was ashamed of her actions but held firm and true to them. She took a firm grip on the bottle and powered through her blushing face. "You did call me a business girl. I'm only using the tools that I have available to secure the outcome that I want."
Neptune giggled and shook her head. "Using food to woo a Nep. And that's why I married you."
"Idiot! As if that's the only reason we got married!" Shouted Noire who had been pushed over the edge.
After further embarrassing herself from the outburst in the middle of a crowded mall, Noire stood in front of a shopping store mirror with a red shirt she was holding in front of her. "This shirt looks great for our Nepmas dinner, " said Noire to Euri who looked on with confused eyes. "Yes, I think I know just the outfit with this shirt. Oh, I bet momma Neptune is going to like this when we go to aunt Uni and Nepgear's place again this year."
Euri still looked confused as she shifted in her stroller to adjust to one of the only understandings that she knew; comfort.
Noire's gaze softened as she gave her daughter a better look. Her daughter had on a blue jacket, pink gloves, black bottoms, with pink wool socks. She checked her surroundings and inched closer to the stroller. "What do you think I should give momma Neptune?" She said with an added baby-like tone to her words to catch Euri's attention.
Euri laughed and took up the bottle that she had put down next to her earlier on. "You're stuck too, huh? Hmm... I wonder..." She looked around the clothing store she was in to see if maybe she could get some items that could interest her little sister or sister-in-law. After doing a double check on the things she had gathered, she made her way to the cash register. It was at this moment that her mental fortitude against being embarrassed was going to be challenged.
At the line, there were an odd number of ladies, ranging from different ages physically close to her, and other older ones. They all gasped when they spotted their CPU lady with her newborn child.
"Oh my goddess, is that Lady Noire partaking in common civilian Nepmas shopping?" Said a breathy elegant voice from the line.
"She is... and... and... she's also with Lady Euri, too, " said a small girl that looked to be with the elegant lady- perhaps a guardian or mother.
Two girls that appeared to be teens and had on school uniforms stood in shock at the lucky opportunity to see their goddess out and about with her daughter. "Black Heart herself is here with her daughter!" Said one of the schoolgirls just as excitedly as she rapidly pulled out her phone to ready herself for a picture.
"Not before I ask her for her autograph, " said the other school girl who darted her hand to her school bag to pull out a notebook.
The last one was a woman that looked self-important who was adorned with a professional camera, a sash across her chest that held personal mementos of her accomplishments in patch form, and a brown press hat.
Noire instantly became fearful of the barrage of crazed ladies that were coming her way.
The first ones to reach her were the two girls that grew giddy with excitement once they laid eyes on Euri. "She's so beautiful, my lady! Like a little pink bunny!" Said one of the girls.
"Pink bunny is right, especially with those adorable red eyes of hers," said the other one.
Noire's face continued to turn red from having her daughter's eyes, and to that extent, her own eyes as being referred to bunny eyes. Noire flinched to her left as the elegant lady moved into her personal space with the little girl in her arms. They both melted of adorableness at the sight of Euri.
Euri, personally, started to feel a new sense she never experienced which was fear. The intrinsic senses that were still new to her told her to be on her guard at all these new faces that were blocking the only face she associated with as safe.
"She is a rather exquisite beaut, my lady. There is no doubt that she will be a fine CPU of the highest of caliber."
"T-thank you..." said Noire with a sweatdrop. She would have no doubt been prideful of the praise if they had allowed her the space to adjust to the swarming.
Lady Noire... can your daughter transform yet?" Asked the innocent question of the little girl that looked to be about five.
Noire smiled at the question. "No... not that Neptune and I are aware of. She's still growing and all in due time."
"Lady Noire! I'm with Gamindustri Informer," said the lady with the brown hat and professional camera as she held out a card with her name and rank.
"Oh, you're one of those," sighed Noire when she remembered a reporter from the same company that reported on them in some dance event when she and Neptune were still dating.
"And a Merry Nepmas to you too." She brazenly said completely ignoring what Noire meant. "It appears that fate is allowing me to redeem myself after losing my star baby face to my rivals," she said behind a smile that held true frustrations.
"Your rivals? Aren't you a newspaper reporter?"
"Yes, and my current assignment is to photograph twelve different babies for Gamindustri Informer's upcoming yearly calendar. I had the cute baby winner of the little miss pudding pageant but her mom decided to jump ship and go to Calendarsmiles after they gave her a better deal. As if there is a better deal than just being in Gamindustri Informer's yearly calendar," she finished with prideful tears in her eyes.
"Eh? It looks like she was looking out for her daughter's best interest. I can't blame her if she went to Calendarsmiles, they do excel for what they are known for in making a wide variety of calendars," said Noire.
"Their academy boys collection is my favorite that I get every year," said one of the schoolgirls.
"Gamindustri's top elegant sceneries is where the true beauty is at," said the elegant lady.
"The cute doggies of Gamindustri is the best one, " said the little girl.
The Gamindustri Informer reporter gritted her teeth and covered her eyes to refuse this notion. "My lady, how could you not root for the underdog in this situation? The task of making our calendar that's baby-themed for this coming year falls on my hands. Now I ask of you, let me have the honor of having your baby on the calendar."
Noire gasped without knowing what to say. She quickly got a positive reaction from all the people that had surrounded her. "Y-you want my baby to be in the calendar?"
"Yes, but don't take it so lightly. My lady, your daughter- as she should be- will have the highest of honor of being my star for December. She will be the poster girl of both Nepmas and the New Year!"
The women's words were perfectly crafted like honey. Honey that produced a prideful gleam from Noire. "A... star, you say?"
"Yes, I have to take the photos now so that I can e-mail them to my partner that will edit them to represent their respective months."
Noire truly was thinking hard about this and it didn't help that the peer pressure of the people around her was saying yes.
"Okay... I'll do it, but you better get my daughter's good side or else I'll be very upset."
"Oh thank you, my lady. To think my misfortune would turn once I called it quits and did my Nepmas shopping, " she said with a relieved smile.
About an hour later, Noire had finished up her list of presents. She had to juggle some of her bags by putting them In a pouch underneath the stroller seat and holding the rest with one hand. "Sigh, I should have told Uni to tag along, and make her carry some of these things," she said to herself.
Euri was sound asleep after she had downed her bottle.
"Hey!"
Noire looked forward and saw her wife enjoying some food near a table. There were a good amount of bags near her feet that were intentionally black to keep whatever they had a secret.
"You didn't wait for me?" Asked Noire with a pout when Neptune texted her to head to the food court.
"Sorry, the noodles were getting cold and my stomach was rumbling something fierce."
Noire placed Euri toward Neptune and went to one of the food fronts to buy noodles like her wife.
"So, did anything eventful happened?" Said Neptune after Noire had sat down and started to eat.
Noire almost choked on her noodles and gave Neptune a small innocent smile in response. "As a matter of fact, I had a lot of people wanting to see Euri. They were like a crazed group of music fans when they see their favorite artist."
"Wowie, I hope they didn't invade your personal space too much. I had to fend some off with a stick when I took Euri out for a stroll to the park when you had that giant deadline."
"Ugh, I should be flattered that they love our little girl so much, but I wish they could be a little civilized. Even now, I can see people trying to glance at Euri as they pass."
"Yeah, it's been about two months since she's been born and we have been sheltering her from the public eye, so it's natural for them to get their eye full when they get the chance," said Neptune.
"I suppose. Say... I'm glad that you brought up the fact that she's been sheltered. Don't get mad, but I entered her in Gamindustri Informer's yearly calendar," said Noire.
Neptune looked at Noire with wonder and hardly any anger. "Oh, how did you managed that?"
"It's a long story but this girl came toward me and asked me if Euri could fill her empty spot for the baby of December. Sigh, when I think about it now, she wooed me with the glamour of Euri being the main star that would end with December."
Noire carefully looked at her wife who had a giant happy face. "Oh. Nowa!" The loud yell caused Euri to stir with a flinch. "That has to be one of the sweetest gifts you could give me and the nation. For them to see their little goddess in diapers leading the new year as little December is too great. Just imagine the shares and joy they will get from this."
"That's true, yes... this was a good move for the people to have a better image of Euri and to get shares along with it," laughed Noire. In honesty, her business mind didn't really see that outcome, and her mommy mind pretty much only cared about bragging rights that her little girl was the star of something.
After the meal, they were about to leave when Neptune decided to check out the Nepmas decorations that were centered in the middle of the mall. The surrounding area was a sight to behold as a giant sign in bold letters that spelled out, Santa's Workshop, was displayed at the very front.
Green Nepmas tress decorated with the finest of ornaments and brightest of lights covered the sides of the entranceway that ended at the back where a large throne-like chair had been placed, and behind it, a constructed sturdy house.
Neptune ran to the line that had formed at the entrance and she gazed at all the lights that hanged around every corner of the surrounding area. She crouched down to feel the soft cotton that simulated snow." Noire, we must see Santa. I can't believe we almost forgot."
"Santa? I see. For Euri, right? Or is this something that you want for yourself?"
"Nah, for Euri silly. Though, if Nepgear were here, this would also be for her, too," giggled Neptune.
Noire blushed with the confusion that Nepgear would still believe in Santa. If that was the case, she hoped that Nepgear would know better than to sit on Santa's lap. It would be unsightly for a girl of her age to still do something like that, and she wouldn't know how Uni would take it. "You're going to have to talk to her about the truth of Santa eventually," said Noire with a sigh.
"Maybe but not today."
A few minutes went by until thirty minutes had passed them. They were well into the large line and their journey was already committed to seeing it through.
Noire felt overwhelmed by the tight space that everyone was being funneled through and with the bags and stroller, it made it a nightmare.
The cherry on top was that Euri had awoken and started to cry to sound out her displeasure.
"N-Neptune! I think she just pooped," said Noire in a whisper.
"Say what? Darn, we are only three people away until it's our turn."
"Never mind that. We can't even turn back now unless we go forward and take the exit to our right, " said Noire.
"Looks like we need to perform an emergency change," said a steadfast Neptune.
"Now? Here?"
"There's no other way. She's going to get her bottom all rashy and she's going to smell up the joint. Noire... get the diaper bag," said Neptune.
They turned the stroller around so that the people in the back of them couldn't see what was going on. Noire had no choice but to get in front of Neptune to block the three people that were in front of them since she was the tallest.
"Are you almost done? And please try to not get the stroller dirty, " said Noire with uneasiness to the whole event.
"It's done," Neptune held up a rolled-up diaper with a triumphant gleam in her eyes like a gold miner digging up the first batch of gold of the day.
Neptune put the diaper in a zip-lock bag and shoved it in the diaper bag.
"Make sure that thing isn't touching the small soft chewable cookies or the juice box for that matter," urged Noire.
"Check and check, Nowa. See... we got this in the bag," smiled Neptune. She took out a small bottle of disinfectant to apply to her hands knowing that Noire might give her a dirty look if she didn't.
Noire's brow twitched from that awful pun her wife made. Noire fixed her daughter up in the stroller and gave her a small soft chewable cookie that was small enough to be eaten in one whole bite without the use of teeth, and soft enough that it would go down without any problems.
"Those little cookies are so awesome, Noire. To think that our little Euri can eat solids at only two months."
"Well, babies can start eating as soon as four months, and when the cookies I made a week back were too soft, it got me thinking. I talked to Dr. Cardian about it and we ended up finding a great recipe for soft baby cookies. Normally, she would not advise it for Euri's age yet but... well... do you remember what she said about Euri's growth?"
"Hmm... I do, she said that her growth was very strange indeed. Like, she felt like she was internally slightly older than what she actually looks like. Freaky indeed."
"Yeah, she did the check-up twice and she assured us that it sounded more strange than it actually was. Lots of babies mature fast but for Euri... it's different."
"Nowa?"
"Jeez, I'm worrying too much. I can sense that Euri is very smart and she's just silently observing the world while she retains it all. Croire is also keeping her mouth shut when I call her. All she says is that Euri is normal and she's just doing what CPU babies do."
Noire felt at the time that her daughter, Europa could sense her worries and she gave her parent a huge giggling smile accompanied by saliva. This made Noire smile brightly.
"Next in line! Ho ho ho!" The shouts of the Mall Santa brought both Noire and Neptune out of their deep thoughts.
"Did that sound like someone we know?" Asked Noire. Her question was answered when they spotted Compa who was dressed in an elf costume with pointy ears.
Compa widened her eyes as soon as she spotted Neptune and Noire.
"Iffy, it's Nep-Nep and Noire." She directed her attention to the mall Santa that had waved the little boy and his family goodbye that had been in front of Neptune and Noire.
"W-What? Nep is here?!" IF flinched that caused her fake white beard to dangle from her face. Luckily, she was able to fix it before she caused an explosion of crying children to ensue. "Phew, that was close. I hate to ruin these kids' illusion of Santa."
"Wow, is that Iffy? This is a huge and wonderful surprise," smiled Neptune.
"Hey, keep it down. I'm Santa right now and you should address me as such."
"Oh, my bad. So... Santa, what made you decide to put on your fancier Santa digs?" Said Neptune with a wink.
Santa (IF) sighed tiredly, however she did understand what her friend was saying. "Hmm... well, West Nepstation's guild has this thing where they give back to the people for all their hard work and networking they do to provide the guild agency with leads to monster sightings. I don't really pay much attention to it, but a guild buddy of mine whose tall, big, and has a white beard was originally going to do this gig. To make a long story short, an eggplant rider threw its eggplant lance at my buddy when we decided to take a break from tracking a cluster of delinquent cats. I only wish he didn't get hit in the knee when that happened, " she said as she made sure that what she said went over the kids' heads if they did happen to overhear.
"Ouch, those eggplant riders are the worst, I tell you what," declared Neptune.
"Well, Santa was a great partner and both of them got back here fast to go to the hospital. Along the way, they made a promise that if he died, then she would take up the mantle of Santa."
"But he didn't die and I still got stuck with this gig. Anyway, ho ho! What can I do for you two today?" Santa (IF) seamlessly changed demeanors to her Santa persona. Her eyes lit up when she spotted the small head of pink hair that rested in the CPU parents' stroller. "Is that who I think it is?" Both she and Compa expressed an overjoyed reaction.
Noire picked up Euri carefully and rested her daughter on Santa's (IF's) lap. "You two haven't had the time to spend with her, so here's a reintroduction. This is Europa-"
"Also known as Euri!" Said Neptune.
"Yes, Euri... we saw you on the day you were born. Forgive us if we haven't come around more often," said a sincere Santa (IF) to a wide-eyed Euri.
Euri didn't understand these unfamiliar faces and brought on the waterworks in an attempt to return to her warm chair piloted by her parents.
"She can be rather shy- she gets that from her daddy," remarked Neptune who held up a rattle to help calm Euri down.
Noire clearly looked furious, yet made no objections since she didn't want to make a scene.
Santa (IF) laughed heartily with the power to simulate the embodiment of Santa Clause. "There's no reason for tears little Euri." She grabbed a candy cane from Compa and inserted it to the crying girl's mouth.
Euri instantly calmed down and focused on the sweet candy that she had in her mouth.
"Wow, sweet move, Santa," said Neptune with stars in her eyes hoping that she might get one too.
"Normally, this is the part where I tell you what you want for Nepmas, but... I believe I know exactly what you want. You want to spend your very first Nepmas with the people that love you. I can very much do that for you," said Santa (IF) with a pearly white smile that made Euri smile.
For Euri, this action from this red-suited person made her feel the same feeling she got when she was around her parents.
That day, Euri intrinsically harbored a warm spot for the red and white-beard person.
I don't know If I was able to express it with IF's words but she basically said that she and Compa would be joining everyone for Nepmas. I had this cute idea of a mall Santa scene for Euri and I think I was able to capture it well. Plus, I wanted to mix it up and make it feel different compared to the first chapter of NVOP that felt like the same idea of them being in a mall and going to Uni and Nepgear's place- which they're, but I didn't want to make it a focus.
Sorry for the rambling. I hope everyone has a happy holiday and for you all to stay safe. Side note, since I took a while to crank out the last chapter for NVOP, this chapter takes place in December to align it to the current time year. Euri pretty much was born around September and thus is around two months old. It's something that helps me plan for future chapters and it might matter for a little bit depending on if I see a reason to keep it close to real-world time.
I had hoped to have my stories from the other fandoms out already, but I had to delay them with the holiday season taking up most of my spare time.