It had happened, just like they said it would, they had defeated Rittenhouse before Christmas. It had come down to the wire, but the month before their opportunity come and they came out victorious. This year the team would get to celebrate the holiday above ground, and all of them were beyond thankful.
The family of three had taken their new found freedom to road trip across the country. After being cooped up for her entire life they wanted their daughter to see and experience more of the country. Their route took them along the south and up the east coast to see different locations of where their missions had taken them. They had flown back from New York to L.A. to visit their last, and probably most important, point of interest.
They had driven back up to San Francisco and arrived home on December 23rd, there was no way they were going to miss spending their first Christmas above ground without their time team family. The family had spent the past two nights with their best friends in their apartment. It was a tight squeeze, but they were used to it.
Christmas morning started at the crack of dawn with their daughter screaming that Santa had come. The parents had to force her to lie back down and let her aunt and uncle sleep until at least the sun came up. She anxiously laid between her parents watching the window until they gave her the go ahead to barge into the bedroom.
The five year old bounced around the living room in her Christmas nightgown singing whatever Christmas carol came to mind as the adults sleepily prepared coffee and hot chocolate.
"I'm pretty sure we could power the lifeboat with the amount of energy she has." Their friend commented as he watched the flurry of activity in front of them.
"It is pretty impressive." She laughed before taking a big sip of coffee hoping it would wake her up enough to survive her daughter's energy level.
Once everyone was settled with their drinks presents were handed out. The child loved passing them out to the adults just as much as she loved opening her own.
Finally there were only two big boxes left, both with her name on them.
"Come here Lydia." She said and pulled her daughter into her lap.
The five year olds eyes shone with excitement over the two box boxes and it took a lot of coaxing to get her to focus solely on her mother.
"Now what's in those boxes are very important. They were something Amy and I had when we were your age." She explained.
"It was Amy's!" She gasped.
Of course her daughter knew all about her aunt, though not the circumstances of what happened to her. She loved looking at the picture around her mother's neck and hearing stories about her. The older she got the more she looked like her too, something the five year old was very proud of.
"Well it's not the exact one Amy owned, but somehow I must have had it too because Daddy and I found them up in the attic of my old house. Now I need you to promise me you'll take good care of what's in those boxes. They are very special to Mommy and I think you are able to take care of them."
Her daughter's eyes grew wider with excitement, "I promise Mommy I'll take the best care of them."
"Good, now go see what's inside."
She let the child get off her lap and watched with delight as she tore open the wrapping paper.
"It's American Girl Dolls! Molly and Samantha!" She cried after opening the box. She pulled out the two dolls, both in perfect condition of course. "Thank you Mommy I love them both so much!"
With both dolls tucked under her arms she ran and tackled her mother throwing both arms around her to give her a bear hug.
"I'm so glad you do." She laughed hugging her daughter back.
The five year old settled herself back onto her mother's lap never letting go of the dolls. "Which one was yours?"
"I had Molly and Amy had Samantha. Why don't you go open that other box and see what's inside?"
She handed the dolls to her mother and jumped off her lap to see what was in the other box.
"It's their outfits and stuff and books!" The cried after opening the second box. "Oh my goodness Mommy all of these were yours?"
She let out a laugh, "they sure were, I used to save up all my allowance to buy them."
"There's even a matching dress for me!" She pulled out a green velvet dress.
"That would be Molly's Christmas dress."
"I'm going to put it on now. Daddy put on Molly's!"
She threw the smaller version of the dress at her father and was about to strip off her night gown in front of everyone if her mother hadn't told her to go to the bathroom to change. The father looked over at his fiancé confused on what to do.
"You heard her Daddy put the dress on." Their guy friend laughed.
"How do I even do that?" He asked, "I don't even know which one is Molly."
"Give it to me." His fiancé laughed taking the dress from his hands.
"The one with the braids and glasses is Molly and the one the bow is Samantha." Their other friend explained. Both men turned to look at her in surprise. "What? Every girl knows about American Girl dolls. And you better learn quick Wyatt because this is about to be your world."
"Who did you have?" The other female asked not at all surprised.
"Kaya. She's probably still at my mother's house actually. Maybe I'll gift her to Lydia for her birthday next year."
"I think her head would explode if you did that."
The little girl in question ran back into the living room shouting, "how do I look?"
"Beautiful." All the adults cheered.
After a special Christmas breakfast of cinnamon rolls they spent the rest of the morning watching the five year old play with her gifts. Now that she was preoccupied they all took full advantage of it and rested up trying to catch up on the sleep they had missed out on the morning.
Later that afternoon the group cleaned up the mess from that morning and headed out to their actual Christmas party. The rest of their team was meeting them at their bosses house. Once again no one was more excited than the five year old. She had missed everyone dearly on their trip and was over the moon about the thought of seeing them today.
The family of three drove in their own car, something that still excited the little girl, to the party. Of course the dolls came too, securely buckled into their own seatbelts and wearing their Christmas dresses.
She practically flew out of the car and into the house where everyone was already waiting. Immediately she was in her grandmother's arms chatting her ear off about her presents. The parents came behind her beaming with happiness over their daughter.
It wasn't much of a party, more of a celebration really, for both freedom and Christmas. The adults tried to talk, but the five year old demanded all of their attention. No one had any idea how she still had as much energy as she did that morning. Her parents were waiting for the eventual crash, but it never came.
After desert everyone started to head out, which almost broke the child. They knew how much she loved being outside the bunker, but being surrounded by her family was the only thing she knew and it was still hard for her to grasp that they didn't all live together.
"Hey love bug, we still have one more present." Her father said before the tears could come.
"You do?" She asked in surprise.
"Yup! Now go say goodbye to everyone and put your shoes and jacket on."
She nodded her head eagerly and followed her father's directions. When she was ready and all the hugs and kisses were given she happily left the house with her parents.
"Is the present back at Aunt Jiya's and Uncle Rufus's?" She asked.
"Nope, we're going on a little walk to see this present." Her mother smiled and grasped her small hand.
"Is it a pony?" She asked next taking her father's hand as well.
Her father looked surprised, "since when did you want a pony?"
"All girls want ponies Daddy." She sighed over dramatically.
He looked up at his fiancé who nodded her head in agreement.
"Sorry, it's not a pony."
She continued to walk in silence, a serious look upon her face as she tried to think of what this mysterious gift could be.
"Are you ready bug?" The father asked as the family slowed down.
"Yes!"
"Close your eyes then."
She eagerly closed her eyes and allowed her parents to lead her for the last few steps.
"Now open." Her mother instructed.
The family stood on the front lawn of a whites house complete with Christmas lights and a red bow on the door. The child looked up at her parents confused.
"This is our home Lydia." Her mother explained.
"Our home?"
"Yes, right before we left Daddy and I found this house and bought it. And while we were away everyone helped get a few rooms ready for us."
"This is our house? We have a house?"
Both parents nodded their head yes. Neither of them were prepared for the shrieks of excitement that came out of the little girl.
"Thank you thank you thank you!" She continued to shout.
They crouched down to her level so that she could give both of them a hug.
"Can we go inside?" She asked next.
"Of course I got the key right here." He answered pulling it out of his coat pocket.
"Then let's go!"
She started to make a run for it, but he had a firm grip on her arm.
"I believe it is a custom for the man to carry his girl across the threshold." She giggled with excitement as he picked her up. "You too Mommy."
"No you don't have too…"
But it was too late, he had already grabbed and picked her up causing more shrieks of laughter. Easily he walked across the lawn and managed to get the door unlocked where he finally set down the two most important people in his life.
"What do you think Lydie?" The mother asked.
"I love it!" She cried as she twirled in the middle of entry way.
"We still have a lot of work to do in here, but I think there is a room upstairs that is all ready for you."
Her eyes lit up at that and she bolted up the stairs. The parents followed quickly behind wanting to see her reaction.
"I have my own room!" She screamed again easily finding the one that was her's.
She turned on the light to illuminate the bedroom and stood in the doorway in complete shock and awe.
"Look I have my own big girl bed! And look there's my new sewing machine and look an actual vanity!" She ran around overly excited about every little detail and pointing them out to her parents.
"And our room is right across the hallway from yours." Her father explained.
She bolted from that room to check out the other room and quickly came back after.
"You have a big bed too! And it's one big bed, not two little ones pushed together. Like in the hotel rooms."
"Yeah, we're pretty excited about that too." He laughed.
"Do we get to stay here tonight?"
The mother nodded her head yes, "Dede put some food in the fridge for us and all our clothes that we didn't take with us are here too."
"Best Christmas ever!" She shouted loudly and spun around her bedroom so hard that she fell that she the floor in a heap of giggles.
The parents joined her on the floor and picked her up for another hug. They shared a look over her head in agreement with her, though they were able to contain their excitement a little better than a five year old.
"Welcome home Lydia." She whispered into her daughter's hair.
She felt the tears start to pool in her eyes. It had taken a long time, but they had finally made it. She, her soon to be husband, and daughter finally had a place above ground to call their own and she couldn't wait to see what their new adventures would bring.