December 24th Christmas Eve

Presents, Presents and even MORE Presents

It was Lady Penelope's birthday. She knew it, her family knew it, even the dog and the trees knew it. But it didn't stop her father from reminding her that, yes, it's her birthday, no, she can't have double the amount of presents.

He always reminded her of this.

However, he DID cut her a little slack by agreeing that she could open SOME of her presents, but not all of them.

Sadly, that posed a bit of a problem.

You see, each and every gift, was a boring, formal item. Something that you could put into the cupboard and forget about. Or send to a charity shop … take to a car boot fair … or simply recycle for other people. Soaps, bath cubes that had probably been recycled so many times that they'd fossilized. That sort of thing.

So, the minute she was made an honorary member of International Rescue, she made it her goal to send out really silly gifts to everyone there.

All except Grandma Tracy. She had the utmost of respect for the woman. So it was always a box of the finest luxury biscuits she could find. After all, the woman deserved to take a break from cooking now and then. She could put her feet up and have a biscuit with a cup of coffee.

But for the rest, she made sure it was something they'd enjoy.

Gordon, she knew as the prankster of the group. So she sent him a box full of fart cushions. Knowing full well that they'd be put to good use.

John, it was a mixture of small pranks. A 'survival kit' so to speak. Because he knew he'd be the consistent victim of Gordon's pranks whenever he was off duty.

Virgil and Scott, she gave them Nerf guns. See John as an explanation as to why. Plus, it was nice to see them letting off some steam.

Alan. It was the silly chauffeur's hat that Parker refused to wear. The kid could pretend to drive around as a chauffeur. Because you're only young once, and those driving lessons were memorable.

Kayo. The last time she was in London, she took an interest in a pair of hairy feet slippers, but felt a bit ashamed at wanting them. That was excuse enough for Penny.

Brains, however, his was the most inventive. She bought him a pogo stick. Yes, he was all for health and safety and all that nonsense. But she could just imagine him bouncing up and down, a look of glee on his face.

Naturally, she bought them other, more serious things. But these were here because they all needed to take a break from their highly stressful jobs and chill out occasionally.

And as for Parker?

The look on his face when a miniature, child-sized FAB 1 pulled up outside. That was was definitely one for the cameras.