HAPPY HOLIDAYS EVERYBODY!
L.L.A.P
~Laces
"So… why are we doing this?" Athena inquired as she wrapped vibrant colorful lights around a big Blue Spruce tree.
"It's a tradition to decorate the Christmas tree." Dick informed happily.
"But why?" Athena questioned with puzzlement. "I don't understand the point in making a tree colorful."
"I don't really know." Dick frowned for a moment, then shrugged, his smile returning. "But it's fun."
"I guess so." Athena smiled. She continued to string up lights while Dick started to hang up the ornaments.
"So, are you and Ramon gonna hang out on Christmas Eve or Christmas? You said you had fun with him and his family during thanksgiving." Dick questioned, but Athena shook her head.
"Ramon's going to Puerto Rico to celebrate with his family. He's going to stay there for a while because he doesn't just celebrate Christmas, but he also celebrates Three Kings Day, and that lasts until January 6th." Athena informed.
"Three Kings Day?"
"Yes. He's excited. He says that he loves going to Puerto Rico and eating and exchanging presents." Athena grinned slightly. "He says that one day he wants to take me to Puerto Rico so I can see all of his family and the sites."
Dick smiled as he listened to Athena. He liked Ramon, and he enjoyed how the two had some fun together. He enjoyed seeing Athena happy, and when she was with Ramon, Athena was definitely happy.
"Why doesn't Bruce help decorate the tree?" Athena inquired, changing the subject, and Dick sighed.
"He's just busy."
Before Athena could say anything, Alfred walked into the room with two mugs of hot chocolate with peppermint sticks.
"Hot coco?" he offered the two, and Dick happily accepted his mug. Athena took hers as well, and sipped it, smiling.
"This is great."
"Of course it's great. It's the drink of Christmas! Well… besides eggnog that is." Dick grinned. Athena raised an eyebrow and looked at Dick curiously.
"Christmas has a drink?"
"Well… I guess."
"Why is Hot Chocolate and eggnog the drink of Christmas?" Athena inquired.
"I… I don't know." Dick frowned. "Hey Alfred…" however, the man was gone before he could ask his question.
"Christmas is so strange." Athena said, more to herself than to Dick. She then looked up at the man. "Why do people celebrate it?"
"Well, it's a Christian holiday. It celebrates the birth of Jesus."
"So… Christmas is like a Birthday?"
"Yes. And we give gifts because the wise men gave gifts to Jesus." Athena nodded at the information.
"Ramon prays to Jesus. I don't really know who he is though." Athena frowned. "Is that bad?"
"No, that's not bad." Dick grinned. "Jesus is the son of God."
"God?"
"Yeah. Well, he's the son of God in the Christian religion. But you don't have to be Christian to celebrate Christmas."
"Why is that?"
"… I don't know." Dick tried to think of a way to explain it. "Well, it's the season of giving. You can give presents wishing people a Merry Christmas and it doesn't matter if your Christian or not. It's about spreading Christmas cheer, and Christmas Spirit."
"Christmas cheer? Spirit?"
"It's…" Dick sighed. "It's hard to explain."
~*~*~*~*~*~Several Days Later~*~*~*~*~*~
Athena smiled as she curled the ribbon on the presents with the scissors. It made a short scrreeeet sound, and then a bouncy curl of red ribbon formed.
"I appreciate you helping me wrap presents." Alfred informed and Athena beamed happily at the man.
"I like wrapping presents. Thank you for teaching me how to." Athena smiled as she curled some more ribbon. She then looked at Alfred curiously.
"Why do we wrap presents on Christmas?"
"So it can be a surprise." Alfred answered. Athena then looked at the colors of the ribbons and wrapping paper.
"Why are the colors red and green used so much?" Alfred kept wrapping presents as he answered,
"I am honestly not sure." Athena nodded, making a mental note to look it up later.
"Does Bruce ever wrap presents?"
"Not usually." Alfred replied.
"How come?"
"He's often too busy." Before Athena could say anything else, Alfred stated, "Now, can you please leave the room? Your help was much appreciated, but I need to wrap your presents."
Athena smiled and nodded, skipping out of the room.
~*~*~*~*~*~Christmas Eve~*~*~*~*~*~
Athena, Cassie, Mal, Dick, Karen, and Conner ran around in the snow.
"Snow man building contest! Boys vs. Girls!" Cassie proclaimed. The two teams were feverishly trying to create a snow man.
The girls realized they had a disadvantage when they noticed Mal working faster than humanly possible.
The boy's snowman was finished quickly.
"What can I say? I'm a snowman building champ." Mal grinned proudly, but was rewarded by a snowball in the face thrown by Cassie.
The six broke out into a snow ball fight, and Athena giggled and she pegged Conner in the face with one.
She loved playing in the snow. She enjoyed sledding, making snow angels, snow ball fights, making snow men, ice skating, and everything else the snow entailed. However, she didn't enjoy how cold she was afterwards.
They headed back inside and were greeted by several members of the league.
Athena smiled at the sight of all of her parents. Well, all of her parents, except for Bruce.
"He said he was busy." Wonder Woman informed, and quickly hugged Athena.
The group exchanged presents and talked and laughed together. Athena smiled when she saw Karen and Mal kissing under the mistletoe. She didn't understand why people had to kiss when standing underneath a plant that grew poisonous berries, but Athena still thought it was sweet.
Athena felt a small warm fuzzy feeling growing in her chest. She could smell the peppermint from the candy canes, and the pine from the Christmas tree. She could hear the laughter from her friends and family and the Christmas carols playing in the background. She could taste the chocolate remaining in her mouth from eating the homemade cookies Clark brought over that Ma Kent made. She felt warm despite the lingering cold on her fingertips and nose from being outside.
What is this feeling? Athena wondered. Is this the Christmas Cheer and Spirit Dick was talking about?
Athena wasn't sure, but she was happy to have the feeling. However, she frowned slightly when she remembered Bruce wasn't there.
Conner noticed the sad look that graced her face, and lifted Athena up on his shoulders, making the girl smile again.
"I say, another round of hot chocolate." Conner smiled, and everyone laughed and cheered.
"Do people do this every Christmas Eve?" Athena inquired as Conner carried her into the kitchen to make some hot chocolate.
"Usually this is done on Christmas, but because the league has lots of family, we decided to get together Christmas Eve and save Christmas for family at home." Conner explained.
"So is Christmas usually spent like this? With family and friends?" Athena inquired.
"Yes. It's a time to spend with people you care about." He smiled. Athena smiled back and hugged Conner tightly, kissing him on the cheek.
"Merry Christmas, Conner." Athena grinned.
"Merry Christmas, Athena."
~*~*~*~*~*~Later that Night~*~*~*~*~*~
Bruce entered the Batcave and frowned when he noticed a small body curled up in his chair. It was Athena.
He lifted Athena up, out of the chair, and cradled her in his arms.
"She was waiting for you to get back." Alfred informed as he walked into the cave with a tray of tea.
"Why? She should be in bed." Bruce inquired as he wrapped his cape around the girl. The cave was cold and she had on thin pajamas.
"Because it's Christmas Eve, sir." Alfred informed. "And both Master Richard and Conner explained to her that Christmas is spent with family."
"I was going to spend some time with her tomorrow." Bruce informed as he headed upstairs, still with Athena in his arms.
"Yes, but most of her family visited today. I suppose she missed you when she was around everyone else."
Bruce looked down at Athena and felt her curl up more in his grasp.
"She's freezing." Bruce frowned, not wanting to talk about how he was too busy to attend the get together.
"Then perhaps you should put her to bed." Alfred informed.
Bruce nodded and carried the girl to her room and gently placed her in her bed.
"I missed you." Athena said sleepily. Her eyes were opened a crack, and she was staring up at Bruce.
"I missed you too." Bruce nodded.
"Merry Christmas, father." She mumbled, drifting off to sleep. Bruce kissed her forehead, and made sure the covers snugged comfortably around her.
"Merry Christmas, Athena."