"Mommy!" young Nora Allen yelled from the top of her lungs up the stairs.

Caitlin quickly sprang to the top of the stairs. "Nora!" she hushedly hollered, putting a finger to her lips when she caught her daughter's attention. "Please be quieter, honey. I just put your brother down for a nap."

The little girl's shoulders shrunk down. "Sorry…" she whispered guiltily.

"It's okay, sweetie," Caitlin said as she craned her neck back into Nate's nursery. "He's like your daddy; sleeps like a log," she said as she started to descend the stairs.

Nora giggled at what her mother said.

"What is it that you wanted?"

The question only ignited more giggles from her daughter, which Caitlin wasn't sure was a good or bad thing. Nora was a good kid, and always with the best intentions, like her father, but that did not mean she never made a mess.

"Look what I did," Nora said, taking her mother's hand and dragging her to the living room.

With dread, Caitlin entered the living room, but thankfully everything still looked to be in place and nothing seemed broken or drawn on. As Caitlin continued to survey the room, her eyes finally fell on their dog Mendel, laying calmly by the fireplace, but with a headband with antlers on his head, nonetheless.

The older woman raised her hand to her mouth, laughing quietly to herself before turning to her daughter. "Nora, who is this reindeer in our living room?"

"Moooom," she drawled out over laughs. "It's Mendel! I put reindeer antlers on him!"

Caitlin looked back at the dog, faking surprise. "Oh dear, it is! Hi, Mendel!" she said, and the dog wagged his tail at her greeting. "Did you dress him up for the party?" Caitlin asked Nora as she gave the dog a good scratch behind the ears for his cooperation.

She nodded. "It's Nate's 1st birthday party, so it's a special occasion."

"Very true!" Caitlin agreed. "And we also have to get the tree decorations on the tree before everyone comes over. Are you going to help me and Daddy?"

Her eyes turned starry. "Yes, I love decorating the tree! When is Daddy getting home?" Nora excitedly asked.

Caitlin looked down at her wrist. "Should be any minute now."

In her excitement, she opened up the decorations box that had been situated in the corner of the room. However, she cocked her head as she picked up a smaller box that was situated within it.

"Mommy?" she let out curiously.

"Yes?" she asked from the other side of the room as she turned on some Christmas music.

"Why does this box say that only Daddy can open it?"

Caitlin turned to find her daughter holding a small box, which indeed said that only Barry could open it written on the top lid. She crouched down, getting on eye level with Nora. "Why don't you ask him when he gets home," she told her, knowing Barry should probably be the one to explain it.

Just then, Barry walked into the living room. "There's two of my favorite people!"

"Daddy!" she happily exclaimed as she jumped into her father's arms. "Did you get the bad guys?"

"As always!" he answered, hugging her tightly before situating her on his hip so he could hug and kiss his wife. "Nate napping?" he asked as he pulled away, repositioning his hold on his oldest as he did.

"Yup, so he should be good for when everyone gets here for his party in a few hours."

"Great," he said before turning back to his daughter in his arms. "What do you have there, Niz?" he asked, eyeing the box in her hand.

The little girl looked down at it, suddenly shy. "Mommy said I should ask you about it, since it says only you should open it."

Barry briefly looked at Caitlin, his eyes soft as he regarded her, before taking Nora over to the couch with him. As they settled onto the seat, the speedster took the little box from his daughter's hands and opened it. He sighed as he wistfully admired the ornament inside.

Holding up the golden, star ornament by it's hook, Barry told Nora its meaning. "This was the last ornament my Mommy gave me before she passed away."

"Grandma Nora?"

"Yeah, the same one you're name after," he told her. "She always said I was her 'shining star' and she happened to give this to me to remind me of it just when I was about your age. It's one of the last things I have from her, so I treasure it greatly, especially since Christmas used to be her favorite time of the year."

Nora had been quiet, listening to her Daddy talk intently. Even if she didn't quite understand the gravity of the situation, she knew enough to know that it was serious.

"But I think I'm going to give it to you now, Niz."

Her green eyes widened. "Really?"

"I trust that you'll take care of it for me, right?"

Her face turned into one with such determination. It was like a mini-version of when Caitlin set her mind on something, so it made his heart squeeze just a little more. "I'll protect it for you, Daddy," she told him with a definitive nod.

He pressed his lips to her forehead. "I know you will. Why don't you hang it up on the tree?"

Excitedly, Nora jumped off her father's lap and ran over to the tree, taking just a couple moments to assess the best position before hanging it delicately from one of the branches.

Barry stood up only for Caitlin to step right into his arms, hers wrapping comfortably around his torso. "You didn't have to do that, but that was really sweet," she whispered into his ear

The speedster hugged his wife back, burying his face into her hair, gathering strength from her love. "I know, but it felt right," he said, leaning back to look at his wife. "Plus, you've allowed me to pass on a little more of my mother into Nora, and even Nate, so I have all of her I'll ever need now."

Caitlin's eyes watered a little. "Ahhh," she quietly let out, fanning her face in an attempt to dry out her eyes as to not ruin her mascara with tears. "Dammit, you're too sweet."

He merely chuckled as he caressed her face. That is, until he noticed something a little peculiar over his wife's shoulder.

"Since when did we have a pet reindeer?" he asked, loudly enough for Nora to hear, and winking at Caitlin.

The little girl's laughter rang throughout the living room, making the parents grin at each other happily. "Daddy, no! That's Mendel!"

"What?!" Barry let out in disbelief, detaching himself from his wife to go over to their dog. "That's not Mendel; Mendel doesn't have antlers."

Nora's giggles intensified. "He has a headband on, silly!"


A/N: Idea from CleJake99 on Twitter! As always, let me know what you thought in a REVIEW! :)