A/N: Sorry about the wait, my wonderful peeps!
Enjoy:)
Here ya go MsWitsEnd... :D
***Reposted after edit***
Epilogue: Catching Cupid and Other Adventures
***May 28, 2018, early morning***
Areth walked along the path toward the stables, clutching the hand of her bestest friend in the whole world.
"I don't think we should be doing this, Riley." Areth whispered in the cold morning air as she looked down at the little girl. "Noomi was very unhappy the last time a reindeer got out, because Auntie Katie got hurt."
"But dey need to be fwee!" The little girl whined.
Areth knew that she would help the little girl, so with a sigh, she stepped into the stables and the two of them started opening the doors to the stalls, leaving them opened a bit. Once they were done, Areth led the girl back to the Great Hall, where they both giggled at their act of rebellion.
Before long, one by one, Santa's reindeer started to venture out of their warm, comfy stable to play at the North Pole.
***Later that day***
The North Pole was abuzz with activity, as elves scurried about getting ready for Cook and Katie's wedding. JJ, Lara and Thalmus were busy with last minute preparations under Jenna's direction, who stood by with Gina and watched with an eagle eye, whilst Effy, Emily and Panda were keeping Katie occupied.
"Very beautiful, Lara." Jenna smiled as Lara came to stand next to her and Gina.
"Oh, it's going to be so lovely." Gina gushed as they looked around the Great Hall. "You've done an outstanding job, Jenna. Now I see why Katie was so insistent when Emily and Naomi got married."
Jenna smiled, feeling wonderful that it didn't hurt anymore when she thought about Emily's wedding. "That's my Katie. Always wanting the best."
"Well, it seems she's continuing that trend." Gina smiled as she watched the elves scurry about, carrying out JJ's orders. "Now, where did our husbands get off to?"
"Oh, Kieran took Rob and Jamie to Australia for a couple rounds of golf." Jenna told her. "How come JJ didn't go with the boys and Naomi?" Jenna asked Lara as she watched him work on the other side of the Great Hall.
Lara and Gina giggled at the question. "Well, Mrs Fitch...the last time JJ went out with them, he ended up falling asleep with his head in a toilet in a Parisian brothel and both eyebrows had been shaved off."
"Oh dear!" Jenna gasped, before giggling herself.
"Exactly!" Lara exclaimed. "It wasn't his finest moment, I can assure you."
"Alright!" Gina was looking through a copy of Jenna's list. "So, the Great Hall is done," she placed a check mark on the list, "and the food is taken care of," another mark, "so that just leaves...the music?" She looked up to confirm with Jenna and Lara.
"Yes...Naomi said she would have that taken care of...," Jenna trailed off, wondering if her daughter-in-law had mentioned what she had planned.
"Queen Maeve has sent a host of Trooping fairies from Scotland, as a gift to Cook." JJ said as he came to stand with them. "That's what she has planned for the music."
Jenna looked confused, which wasn't a new occurrence in the last two years, since she first met Naomi. "Queen Maeve? Trooping fairies?"
"Oh, sorry, Mrs Fitch." JJ blushed as he remembered that Jenna was mortal and whilst they knew of the folklore, they didn't always seem to believe. "Queen Maeve rules the Seelie Court, the good fairies."
"Oh." Jenna said, still shocked by some of the things she has learnt.
"Well, I say good fairies, but that's actually a misconception. See, fairies as a race of creatures are neither entirely good nor entirely evil," JJ started to say, "it's quite fascinating when you study them properly, because you have trickster fairies, malevolent fairies, benevolent fairies and neutral fairies and when-,"
"JJ!" Lara cut off his rant by placing a hand on his arm and squeezing gently. "You're getting locked on, sweetheart."
JJ blushed deeply, earning smiles from Gina and Jenna. "I'm sorry."
"No need to apologise, dear." Jenna said. "Maybe after all this, we can sit down and you can tell me all about them?" She suggested diplomatically, earning approving looks from both Gina and Lara.
"Yes, ma'am. If you'd like to, I would enjoy that immensely." JJ replied.
"So...Trooping fairies for the music?" Jenna stated and the other three nodded. "Great! That's everything done then."
Just then, Gina and Jenna heard a cry and they both turned around at the same time.
"Nana! Mimi!"
"Riley Kennedy Campbell-Fitch! Don't you dare run to your grandmothers!" Emily's voice could be heard from the door way as a tiny carbon copy of Emily, except for the hazel eyes, came barrelling toward the two women.
The little girl flung herself against Gina and Jenna's legs, crying.
"What's the matter, pet?" Jenna asked as she crouched down. The little girl instantly buried her head into Jenna's neck and sniffed a few times.
"Mum! Don't coddle her!" Emily stated in frustration, as she finally reached them, face flushed and hands on her back as her swollen belly protruded out in front of her. She was eight months pregnant and she was feeling it now as the baby inside her kicked up a storm and the contraction pains she'd been having since yesterday morning were getting stronger.
Gina chuckled as she saw Emily's red face and instantly knew that the newly turned two year old had given her a run for her money. "What has she done this time?"
"What has she done?" Emily asked with wide eyes. "When it comes to Naomi's daughter, it's the list of things she hasn't done that's shorter!" She exclaimed, placing emphasis on Naomi's name.
"Emily! Calm down." Jenna admonished her daughter, as Riley buried her face deeper against Jenna. "She's only two. You're scaring her and you'll only upset yourself."
"Only two? Mum, you know that that has nothing to do with how she acts!" Emily said, incredulously. "Especially when she acts just like her mother!"
Lara and JJ came over to find Gina laughing at Emily. "In all fairness, Emily...I believe Gina did warn you about how Naomi acted as a child." JJ pointed out.
Emily rolled her eyes. "Yes, I know that, Jay, but it didn't really prepare me for this!" She countered, as she stood there gesturing toward her daughter. "And this one is actually from her womb! I'm in so much trouble!" Emily stated in frustration as she rubbed her belly, thinking now that carrying Naomi's child wasn't the best idea she had ever had. 'C'mon, Naoms! You can't carry a baby for nine months, not if you still wanna deliver presents on Christmas!' Oh yeah, that was a brilliant plan!
Early on in their marriage, Naomi and Emily had discussed having children, so with careful planning and a few trips to a very well respected fertility clinic in London, they had Riley, who Naomi wanted to name after their mums. Kennedy for Jenna and Riley for Gina, using their maiden names and Emily loved the idea. Then a year ago, Emily wanted another baby, but Naomi felt a bit put out because she couldn't carry and still be Santa, so Emily came up with the idea to fertilise Naomi's eggs and then Emily would carry. It was the perfect plan until Riley, Emily's own flesh and blood, started to display the same character traits as Naomi, the evidence was this morning's act of rebellion. 'I hope this one takes after me.'
"But what did she do, Emily?" Jenna asked, determined to get to the bottom of this as she brought Emily back to the present problem at hand.
"She staged a protest!"
Gina's eyes widened at that, as her heart filled with pride. "She did what?" She asked in a whispered voice.
Emily could hear how proud Gina was and growled. "Don't be proud of that, Gina."
"I want my mummy!" Riley cried out.
"Riley, pet...what did you do to make Mama so mad?" Jenna tried to ask the little girl, but she shyly shook her head.
"Her and Areth let all the reindeer out of the stables!" Emily told them.
"They did what?" JJ's eyes bugged out and he quickly left the Great Hall, leaving the rest of them to watch him go.
"MUMMY!" Riley called out loud, knowing that Naomi would arrive within seconds.
"Riley? Emily?" Naomi appeared in the room, rushing over to her wife, and looking for Riley.
"Mummy!" Riley came out from where she had been cuddling into Jenna and ran to Naomi.
"Don't baby her, Naoms! She's in big trouble." Emily warned.
"She's crying, Ems." Naomi stated the obvious, bending down to hug her daughter. "What's the matter, love bug?"
"Mama is mad at me." Riley said through her tears, sniffling quietly.
"What did you do?"
"I fweed the aindeer betuz dey was obsessed!" Riley stated proudly, eyes shining with tears, as Naomi looked at her confused.
"It's that damn-,"
"Emily!" Naomi cried, as Gina and Jenna both said at the same time, "Language!"
"That documentary you made us watch the other night...about the puppy mills?" Emily lowered her voice and raised an eyebrow at Naomi. "I told you she shouldn't have watched it!"
"So let me get this right," Naomi turned back to her daughter, "you freed the reindeer because they were oppressed?"
Riley nodded her head vigorously. "Uh-huh! Dey was twapped by...by..." She scrunched up her face in thought, just like Emily did, and Naomi thought she would melt from cuteness overload.
"Trapped by the man?" Naomi supplied helpfully, forgetting for a moment that she was "the man".
"Uh-huh!" Riley smiled up at her mummy, whilst Emily glared at Naomi.
"I wonder where she got a thought like that?" Emily asked drily, crossing her arms in front of her chest in agitation.
Gina and Jenna couldn't hold in the laughter any longer and let it go.
"If I didn't know any better, I'd swear it had been Naomi that had carried that precious angel for nine months!" Gina exclaimed as Lara joined in with them.
Naomi smiled down at her daughter, but when she caught the look on Emily's face, it disappeared quickly. "Ems, babes...she's only two and she didn't really understand what she was doing."
"Don't you Ems babe me, Naomi Campbell-Fitch!" Emily replied. "She's been told numerous times not to be down at the stables! She could get hurt and then what? You know that Donner hates kids!"
It was true. All the reindeer in general were very kid friendly, but an incident involving a group of naughty children before the reindeer were retired, ensured Donner's immediate dislike of all children.
"You're absolutely right, Ems. I'm sorry, yeah?" Naomi told her, then turned to Riley. "Baby, you could've been hurt. The reindeer aren't oppressed, sweetie, that's their home. It's were they choose to live, we don't make them stay here."
"But dey are tuck in deir room, Mummy!" Riley started crying again. "Dey need to be fwee!"
"Honey, they are free. But if you let them out and no one's there to watch them, they'll escape the North Pole and get lost. And you wouldn't want them to get lost, would you?"
Just then JJ and Thalmus came running in, skidding to a stop in front of Naomi.
"Santa! We have a problem!" Thalmus said breathlessly.
"I know. The reindeer where let out." Naomi sighed, as she stood up, keeping ahold of Riley's hand. "Have we found them?"
JJ and Thalmus looked at each other, blushed and ducked their heads.
Naomi groaned. "They're gone?"
"Well...not exactly." Thalmus said, hesitantly.
"What does that mean?"
"We've got seven of them. All safe and sound, back in their stables." JJ told her.
Emily awkwardly scooped Riley up, who was more at ease with her mama now that she could see her mummy was getting mad, and did her best to comfort her daughter. "Who's still out?" Emily asked, hoping that it wasn't Donner, because she would terrorise any child she came across.
"It's...um...well...," JJ couldn't help the stutter as the stress of telling Npaomi his news was getting to him.
"Spit it out, man!" Naomi was on the verge of growling.
"It's Cupid!"
All the elves in the hall gasped loudly and Naomi groaned again. "Fuck me!"
"Naomi! Language!" Emily admonished her wife, as she held their daughter. "You'd better call Cook, and I'll go tell Katie to stay inside."
"I'll let her know, dear." Gina said, and then took off to find the older twin, but before she got far, she was stopped by Jenna, who had stayed silent the whole time, but looked around suddenly.
"Is Katie in danger?" She asked.
"Come with me dear, and I'll tell you all about it." Gina told her and they both left.
"JJ, Thalmus...get ahold of NORAD. Let them know we have a rogue reindeer and we need eyes in the sky." Naomi started walking toward the control room, followed by JJ, Thalmus, Emily and Riley. "If I know my reindeer, and I do, she's gonna search the world over for Cook. I want the rest of the elves out checking every out building, the Candy Cane slopes and the Christmas Mountains and let's not forget the Tinsel Tree Forest. If she's here at the Pole still, I want to know about it!"
JJ and Thalmus took off to carry out Naomi's requests, leaving her and Emily to check the monitors, as they both thought about the last time Cupid had gotten loose.
Reindeer Cupid had taken an instant liking to human Cupid from the moment he stepped foot in the stables. Whilst she would always be loyal to Santa Claus, that was an absolute given, she made Cook her human and she was fiercely protective of him.
It didn't help that Cook had found it funny and cute that they shared a name and whenever he was in the stables, he would bring her out, where the two of them would run around and play. When Naomi retired the reindeer, Cook made it a habit to check on them all, but he would always take special care with Cupid and brought her little treats. Even the other reindeer knew not to get too attached to Cook. Dasher learnt that the hard way, and she still had the scars to prove it. For fifty years, Cupid had Cook all to herself.
Until Katie Fitch came along.
Shortly after Cook and Katie had made their relationship official, he took her down to the stables, so that his two favourite girls could get acquainted. And at first, it went rather well, until Katie wrapped her arms around Cook and gave him a kiss, laughing at some joke he had told her as they were leaving the stables.
Reindeer Cupid went ballistic. Breaking down the door to her stall and rushing out and into Katie, knocking her down. Cook was shocked into inaction, until Katie cried out. But every time he tried to get close to her, Cupid would do whatever she could to keep him away from Katie.
He had called Naomi out to help him, but Cupid was beyond reasoning with, defending her territory and keeping Katie trapped. Emily cried out for Katie, and Naomi's words of warning to the animal had no effect at all, as her and Cook tried their best to calm Cupid down.
It looked like Katie was about to become a memory as Cupid reared up high, clawing the air, snorting and grunting, about to come down hard on the older twin, until Kieran had stepped in and froze the animal in place.
Cook and Naomi scrambled to get Katie out of the way, as a couple of elves wrapped a set of reins around Cupid and prepared to hold on tight.
Cook had to calm her down, whilst Emily had taken a shaken and slightly hurt Katie inside, but it was a terrible lesson they all learnt.
"This could be really bad, Naoms." Emily said, as they stepped into the room. She leant down, to put Riley in a chair next to Naomi.
"It'll be fine, babes. We just have to get Cook back here." Naomi told her, wrapping an arm around her shoulders and placing a kiss on Emily's temple. "I promise, yeah?"
Emily nodded and started looking at all the monitors.
"Cook!" Naomi called out, waiting a few seconds before calling out again. "Cook, I need you at the Pole right now! We have an emergency!"
A few seconds later, both Freddie, Cook and Thomas popped into the room, looking around frantically.
"Where's the fire, Blondie?" Cook asked as he spied Riley sitting solemnly next to Naomi. "There's my bit o' sunshine! Come give Uncle Cookie some Rye-rye kisses!" Cook said as he stretched out his arms waiting for her, but when she burst into fresh tears, Cook became concerned. "What's wrong? Why's Riley crying?"
"I did a bad fing, Untle Tookie."
He hated to see Riley cry, so he scooped her up from the chair and hugged her tight to him. "Whatever it is, sweetheart, it can't be that bad. Alright, love?"
Naomi smirked, as Emily rolled her eyes. "This is why she thought it was okay to do this, James Cook! Don't baby her!"
Freddie looked at the monitors and saw every elf running around as if they were being invaded. "Uh, guys? What's going on?"
"My daughter decided that the reindeer needed to be free and let them loose." Naomi said as calmly as she could.
"So ya need help gettin' 'em back in the stables, hey? See, Rye-rye? No big deal." Cook said as he smoothed down her dark hair, giving her a kiss on the forehead.
"Cupid's still loose and running about somewhere. JJ and Thalmus have looked, but we think she may have left the Pole." Naomi explained.
Cook's eyes grew wide, stopping his hand in mid stroke. "Bollocks!"
"Cook! Language!" Freddie, Thomas and Emily admonished all at once.
Cook's face turned red as he glanced down at his niece, then quickly he looked back to Naomi. "Where's Katie?"
Emily stepped forward and reached out for Riley. "Relax, Cook. Gina and Mum went to warn her to stay inside."
Everyone turned back to the monitors and kept an eye out for any movement. After about ten minutes of nothing, Freddie spoke up.
"Listen guys, I'm gonna head out and see if I can find her." He told them, earning nods from the three adults. "It'll be alright, Cook."
"Thanks, mate." He mumbled, wondering were the reindeer could be. "I suppose that's what I get for being her favourite."
Thomas chuckled. "I'll come with ya, Freds."
They all laughed, as Freddie and Thomas left, leaving them to wait. They all knew it could possibly be a long night.
The North American Aerospace Defense Command, or NORAD, located in Colorado, was on high alert as men and women shuffled around.
"Sir! I think we've got eyes on Santa's rogue reindeer."
Admiral Harold Shoup, of the United States Navy and the third Shoup to be stationed at NORAD, rushed over to the young officer and stared hard at the monitor. "Yup, that's her." His eyes narrowed as they clocked Cupid's range of speed. "She seems to be on a mission. Alright!" He bellowed out to the rest of the men and women on the floor. "Look alive, people! Keep track of that reindeer. Jenkins, get Santa on the phone! Let her know we found her flyaway. Malone! Blood! You two get with Creevy and Hardbeck. I want you four in the air in less than twenty! Let's get on the phone to RAF Valley Search and Rescue. I've got a feeling we're gonna need their help with this."
Shoup watched the two girls leave the control room and thought how far they had come in the last twenty years here at NORAD, especially since he had taken command a few years ago. He was especially proud of the Track Santa sector, something that had been started by his grandfather.
The Track Santa program began as an annual event on December 24, 1955, because of a phone number misprint in an advertisement. Colonel Harry Shoup, (the current Admiral Shoup's grandfather), who was a Crew Commander on duty at the Continental Air Defense Command or CONAD, received a call from a young girl asking for Santa's location. He had found it charming that the little girl asked and he searched the radar, finding an unidentified object flying over Europe, and took a chance, as he noted the location and gave the girl what she asked for, and then told his staff to give all children who called in later a "current location" for Santa Claus. Shoup saw a public relations opportunity for CONAD, and informed the press that CONAD was tracking Santa Claus's sleigh. In his release to the press, Shoup also let it be known that "CONAD, Army, Navy and Marine Air Forces will continue to track and guard Santa and his sleigh on his trip to and from the U.S. against possible attack from those who do not believe in Christmas."
After that night, word got to the North Pole about what Shoup had done and Santa had paid the man a visit. The previous St. Nick loved the fact that kids could call and find out where he was anywhere in the world, so it started a long working relationship.
Admiral Shoup took over command of NORAD years after Naomi took over as Santa and he had to admit, it was an outstanding working relationship they had. But then again, that may have had something to do with the fact that Naomi would come to his childhood home during her off seasons and had basically watched him grow up.
He chuckled at the memories he had of Naomi, but was quickly brought back to the present by Jenkins.
"Sir, I've got Santa on the line. She'd like to speak with you."
Shoup headed into his office and shut the door, then picked up the phone on his desk. "Hello, Naomi." He greeted her fondly.
"Hey, Harry. Sorry about this." Naomi said from the other end of the line. "It seems my daughter decided they were being kept locked up for no good reason."
"Not a problem, Nai, you know that."
"Your man says you've spotted her?" Naomi asked getting to the point.
"Yes. I've got birds launching in the air now and we should have actual line of sight in about a couple hours." Shoup told her. "Looks like she's almost over England now, and I've got a call into RAF Valley and they'll assist my pilots."
"Well, that sounds about right," Naomi said with a chuckle, "we were in Bristol and she wants to be wherever Cook is. Listen, Kieran is going to freeze time, so as soon as your birds get close, let me know and that should help with getting her turned around."
Harry laughed along with her. "You've got it, Nai and don't worry, we'll get her home, safe and sound."
"Thank you so much, Harry." Naomi told with a grateful sigh.
"As always, you're most welcome, Nai." Harry responded, but remember something before he ended the call. "Before I forget, Sara has been on me to invite you and Emily to dinner sometime."
"Brilliant! I'll get with Emily and let you know, it might not be for a little while yet, what, with the wedding and all." Naomi told him.
"Of course. Just let me know and we'll arrange it." Harry said.
"Will do, mate. Oh listen, I've gotta go." Naomi said quickly.
Harry once again chuckled as he hung up the phone, and then went back out to the control room to keep an eye on Naomi's runaway reindeer.
"No!"
"Katiekins, please?" Cook scrubbed his hands over his face, pleading with her.
"I'm not doing it, Cook! I can't spend the rest of my life afraid of an animal! I refuse!" She told him as she threw her hands on her hips and stared him down.
"Baby, I'm not asking you to," he pleaded with her, "I'm just asking you to stay inside until we get her back in her stable."
Katie shook her head. "No, James! You can't ask me to hide."
Naomi and Emily, who had to put Riley down for a nap after she cried herself to sleep, and Effy, who was with Katie all morning, watched silently as Cook tried to persuade his future wife to stay put.
"She'll have to learn to face it at some point, Cook." Emily decided to back up her sister.
"I'm not risking her getting hurt!" Cook said firmly. "Look, I just want to make sure you're safe, yeah?"
Katie melted a little bit, seeing the real concern on Cook's face. "Babes, I love that you're afraid for me, but Emily's right. We're getting married and we're gonna be living here for a good amount of the year-,'
"We don't have to! We could live in Bristol, closer to yer parents? Or how about Paris? You love it there!" He knew he was rambling, but he couldn't help it. In truth, they hadn't talked about where they would live after the wedding, and he never thought he'd ever live away from Naomi and Freddie, but he was more than willing to make the move.
"I'm not living so far away from my sister, James. I've done that the last couple years, and you know how much I hate it!" Katie replied, as she stepped closer to him and ran her hands up and down his arms before wrapping her arms around him. "No, James, this is something that I'm going to have to deal with, yeah? I've learnt to share you with Cupid, so now it's time that she learns to share you too."
Cook sighed. He should've known better than to try and argue with Katie. "Alright, alright...," He hugged her tight then pulled away, giving her a kiss, "but if she hurts you, babes...,"
"If she hurts me, that's on me, yeah?" Katie looked around getting nods from Emily, Naomi and Effy.
"Well, we won't have long to wait. Harry has called to let us know that the RAF and his pilots have already rounded her up and they're leading her back to the Pole."
"Thank Kieran for stopping time, yeah?" Emily quipped, and Katie laughed.
"Yeah...that certainly comes in handy at times." Katie replied.
"I think Katie's right on this one, Cook." Effy spoke up for the first time. "Cupid needs to accept the fact that your not her's anymore. Plus, I think she'll respect Katie a lot more if Katie stands up to her."
"I'm not so sure about that, Effs...," Cook trailed off as a thought hit him hard, "Hey! Can't you snap your fingers and make her less possessive?" He asked her, feeling hope fill him until he saw her shake her head.
"Sorry, Cook. Cupid's attitude is out of my control." Effy told him, frowning. "I wish I could though, but I can't."
"I don't get! You can help with Katie's problem, but not this?" Cook was so disheartened that he forget that he wasn't supposed to say anything until after the wedding and he could tell he was in trouble by the looks on Effy's and Katie's faces.
"My problem?" Katie looked back and forth between Effy and Cook. "What the fuck does that mean?"
"Well done, Cook." Effy stated with a disgusted look on her face. "What part of surprise did you not understand?"
Cook looked at both Katie and Effy, wearing a sheepish look. "Sorry, Effs. It just slipped out, yeah?"
Effy sighed loudly, as Naomi and Emily giggled. "Katie, it's a surprise. You'll find out after the wedding, so can we focus on right now, please?"
Katie looked at Effy and Cook suspiciously, before nodding her head. "Okay, for now I'll drop it, but I'm not hiding from Cupid and we'll come back to "my problem"!"
Cook hung his head in defeat, knowing that once Katie's made up her mind there was no changing it. "Fine, yeah? Just know that I'm right there wiv ya, okay?" He said, giving her a kiss.
Just then, Freddie and JJ popped into the room. "Hey, Nai...the elves have Cupid on the radar." Freddie told her.
Naomi jumped into action, and the rest of them followed her out to the control room. "How far out are they?"
"Roughly about three hundred kilometres and moving fast. My guess is that Cupid knows Cook is back at the Pole, so she's coming in hot." JJ rambled.
"Alright everyone!" Naomi called out to the room. Elves stopped what they were doing to wait Naomi's orders. "We've got less than an hour to get ready for Cupid's arrival, I want every elf and Legendary Figures out by the stables, because I'm gonna make sure Harry's birds know to lead her there. Once she touches down, nobody but myself, Cook, Kieran and Katie are to be within thirty metres of us, is that understood?"
There was a collective gasp throughout the elves when Naomi said Katie's name and Thalmus rushed forward. "Do you think that's wise, Santa? We all remember the last time Cupid and Katie were in the same vacinity."
"It's not my decision, Thalmus." Naomi told him. "Katie's made that call."
Thalmus didn't argue with her as Naomi came to a stop in front of the bank of monitors, searching for a sign of her reindeer. After forty five minutes and multiple calls to Lts Malone and Blood, JJ pointed to a blip on one of the screens.
"Right there!" He shouted out, grabbing Naomi's attention. "They're almost here!"
"This is it, people! Let's move!" She was already on her way out the door, with Freddie and JJ close behind her, followed by Cook and Katie.
Jenna paced back and forth in the Great Hall, whilst Rob, Gina and Emily stood with Lara and Effy. Riley was being distracted by Areth, even though both girls were in big trouble.
"Love, stop worrying." Rob told as he wrapped his arms around her.
"Yeah, Mum. Naomi and Cook won't let anything happen to Katie." Emily smiled, but then grimaced in pain, as another contraction hit.
"I can't help it, can I? That's one of my children out there!" Jenna stated sharply, keeping her eye glued to the window, missing the distressed look on Emily's face.
Lara watched as the younger twin breathed deeply, face contorted in pain and stepped closer to her. "Emily?"
The red head looked up at the concerned tone in Lara's voice. "Yes?"
"How far apart are they?" Lara asked quietly, needing to know, but she didn't want to alarm everyone else. "And don't bullshit me, Emsy. I can tell by your face." She stated before Emily could protest.
Emily's face fell. "They were about ten minutes apart, but now they're closer and getting worse." She stated, feeling like a bad sister. "I don't wanna have the baby right now!" She pouted.
Lara laughed out loud, drawing the attention of Emily's parents and Gina. "I don't think the baby really cares what you want, Emily. We've got to get you sorted."
"But it's my sister's wedding tomorrow, Lara! How fair is it that I overshadow her big day by having this baby a month e...early?" Emily was caught in the grip of another contraction, and this one doubled her over as the pain made her almost scream out.
"Emsy, love?" Jenna rushed over, followed by Gina. "What's wrong?"
Gina gave her daughter-in-law a look and knew. "We're having a baby!" She shouted with a smile.
"I don't think this one is gonna wait." Emily said through gritted teeth. "Katie's gonna be mad, isn't she?"
"Lets not worry about that right now, love. Besides, Katie's got bigger things to worry about at the moment, don't you think?" Rob said from his place behind his wife and Gina. "How about you come over and sit down? We'll wait and see how it goes."
Gina and Jenna moved Emily over to one of the chairs that had been set up for the wedding, whilst Lara got to work with some of the elves to make for sure they'd have everything they would need if Emily did go into labour.
It was organised chaos down by the stables and the airstrip, as elves and Lengendary Figures prepared for the landing of two Navy fighter jets and one possibly angry reindeer. Gina, Emily and Effy made sure that the Fitches stayed far away from the action, but were still able to see what was happening.
Soon they all heard the loud thunderous drone of planes overhead and they all looked up to see three dark specks against the sun, and Naomi knew that Cupid was coming in too fast.
"JJ!" Naomi called out. "She needs to slow down or she's going to hurt herself on the landing. Get me Vixen. She'll be able to help rein Cupid in."
He didn't even hesitate, as he flew to the stables, telling Vixen what she had to do before bringing her before Naomi.
"I'm not sure about this, Nai." Cook said nervously as Naomi soothed the reindeer before her.
"I know mate, I'm not either, but do you really wanna piss off your fiancée this close to the wedding?" She asked him and they both looked over to where Katie stood, giving them a look that they were both familiar with.
Cook visibly wilted under that look. "No...you're right, I don't want to piss her off."
"I didn't think so. Alright Vix," Naomi turned her attention to Vixen and rubbed the reindeer's muzzle, "I'm counting on you to do this for me, okay?" The reindeer snorted and grunted, lifting her head up and down as if she was nodding. "That's my girl, now get up there and slow Cupid down so she don't hurt herself, yeah?"
They all watched as Vixen took off and lifted into the sky, heading to where Cupid was, then the two fighter jets veered off and circled around so they could land. Once the pilots had come to a stop and shut their engines down, the four Navy aviators jumped from the planes and headed toward Naomi.
"Santa? I'm Lt. Liv Malone, United State Navy, ma'am." One of the pilots, an attractive young woman, stated as she stood at attention, along with another woman and two men. "Admiral Shoup sent us to bring your reindeer back, and let me just say, she did not want to come back."
Naomi laughed. "She never does if he's not here." She explained, nodding at Cook, who stood with Katie while they watched as Vixen circled around Cupid, bringing the runaway closer toward the ground whilst slowing her down. "I'm gonna ask you all to run for cover in the Great Hall. My wife's in there and she'll make sure you're all taken care of. Just ask for Emily."
Malone nodded and turned to go inside.
"The Admiral said you'd also be able to fuel us back up?" The other girl asked. "Sorry, ma'am. Lt. Grace Blood and this is Lt. Rick Hardbeck and Lt. Alo McCreevy." She introduced them all to Naomi, who smiled, knowing that the young pilot was overjoyed to meet her.
"It's a pleasure to meet you all, and yes, I'll have JJ make sure you're all set." Naomi told her, then watched as the four young pilots ran into the Great Hall. Once she was sure every one was secured, she looked up and saw that Cupid and Vixen were at the far edge of the airstrip. "That's it, Vix...a little bit slower...," she mumbled to herself as she saw that Cupid was still coming in too fast, seeing Cook by the stables, "...Cupid...slow down...," she whispered still, not wanting to spook the two reindeer, "she's still coming in way too fast...she's headed straight for...Katie!" She called out to her sister-in-law, as the older twin started walking out onto the airstrip.
"Katie! Get back here now!" Cook called out to her, afraid that Cupid was going to dive bomb his fiancée. "Babe, please?"
"No. Like I said, she's going to have to learn!" Katie said as she planted herself on the runway. "Kieran, you'll freeze time if you have to, right?" She called out to Father Time, but didn't turn around, keeping her eyes on Cupid.
"Aye, lass. But try not to get killed, yeah?" He replied, in his gruff Irish accent. "I don't think yer parents would take too kindly to that!"
"Whatever!" Katie responded distractedly, as she watched the two animals getting closer and closer at an alarming rate of speed. "Shouldn't they be coming down slower than this?" She asked nervously after a couple of minutes.
Naomi and Cook came to stand next to her as they watched Vixen circle around Cupid, getting slower each time she made a pass, but Cupid would speed back up no matter how many times Vixen flew in front of her. When they got within shouting distance, Naomi started to call out to Vixen.
"You've got to slow her down more, Vix!" Naomi shouted as Cook tried to distract Cupid, but it was no use. Cupid was aiming right for Katie and every time Vixen veered into her line of sight, Cupid would ram the other reindeer, knocking her off course.
"She's coming, Katie!" Naomi warned her, but the older twin didn't budge. "Kieran, be ready!" She told her step-father as Cupid started to drop from the sky at the far end of the runway.
Katie ignored the pleas of Cook and Naomi as she took off running, because she saw Cupid twisting and weaving to get away from Vixen and head toward Katie and she knew something bad was gonna happen.
"She's gonna crash!" Katie cried out as Cupid touched down, but the speed at which she was flying meant the reindeer couldn't find purchase with her hooves and her front legs buckled under her and sent her tumbling as her back legs flew out from underneath of her and Kieran had no time to stop it. "Fuck me!" Katie shouted as Cupid rolled several times, coming to a stop in a heap, as Katie reached her.
The sounds that Cupid was making was enough to make Katie forget all about the danger she was previously in and she dropped to her knees in front of the reindeer. Cupid wasn't too happy with that and tried her best to lash out at the older twin, but every time she moved, she would emit another moan and bleated in pain.
"Oh, would you just stop it, you stupid cow!" Katie snapped at the animal. "See what you've done to yourself? You're worse than a spoilt rotten child, behaving this way, don't you think?" Cupid went silent, as if she actually were a scolded child, and she glared at the older twin with contempt. "That's better. Now, let's take a look at the damage you've caused yourself."
Naomi, Cook and Kieran all came running over about the time that Katie started to gently feel Cupid's legs for any breaks.
"What are you doing, Katie?" Naomi asked frantically, afraid that Cupid would attack her. Cook felt the same way, but he chose to stay quiet.
"I'm looking for any breakage. The way she fell, there's bound to be something broken." Katie explained. "I dated a vet for a couple of years whilst I was at Uni. He would take me out on calls with him, stupid fucker thought he was being romantic," Katie laughed as she remembered the only other long-term relationship she'd ever had, "anyway, I paid attention to what he was doing." She continued feeling Cupid's legs, and noted every time the reindeer would tense up, flinch or screech in pain.
Cook had sat down next to Katie and watched in awe. "How bad is it, babe?" He asked gently, reaching out to pet Cupid.
Katie finished checking Cupid's legs, and found a few cuts and gashes. She glanced up at Naomi and Cook. "Well, I'm not an expert, but it doesn't look like she's broken anything, fractured maybe...but not completely broken. Which is good, but she needs to be kept still for awhile." She explained as she reached out and ran her hand along Cupid's side, still looking for damage. "Naomi, do you have a sling?" She asked, then looked up and saw her sister-in-law look confused. "Do you know what I'm talking about?"
"No. What is it?"
Katie rolled her eyes and tutted. "Seriously Naomi! For someone so educated, you are dense sometimes, ya know that?" Naomi was too worried about Cupid to be insulted, as Katie went about explaining what she needed.
JJ and Thalmus were called out to help rig something up, and Cook, Freddie and Thomas tried to move the reindeer, but the sounds that Cupid made was enough to have the three guys step away as fast the could.
"Be careful!" Katie snapped at them as she scooted back over to the animal, soothing her gently. "Shush...it's alright, girl. They're only trying to help."
They all waited until a sling was brought and Katie directed them on how to attach it. Once they had it underneath the reindeer, Katie reminded them all to be gentle as they lifted the frightened Cupid from the ground and they got her into the stables, where Katie immediately got to work making sure she was comfortable.
Katie was about go into a lengthy explanation about what it would take to make sure the reindeer was alright, when one of the pilots that brought Cupid back came rushing in.
"Santa!" Lt Malone shouted out as she ran up to Naomi. "I'm sorry, ma'am, but there's an emergency that requires your immediate attention."
Naomi couldn't think about anything else besides Cupid at that moment. "It's gonna have to wait, Liv." She responded curtly, gesturing to Katie to continue explaining what was needed.
As Katie was about to go on, Liv spoke over her. "It's your wife, ma'am!" That got Naomi's attention as she turned pale.
"Emily? What about Emily?" Katie asked urgently, noticing the panicked look on Naomi's face.
"She's going into labour!"
"Emily, love...," Jenna was trying to sooth her youngest daughter, as another painful contraction hit her, "you've got to push when she tells you to."
"I don't wanna push!" Emily practically growled out through clenched teeth as she bore the pain. "Naomi's not here yet!"
Grace Blood looked up at the redhead from her position. "Ma'am, I've sent Liv to go get Naomi, she'll be here soon. But in the mean time, every time you don't push, you put the baby in jeopardy." She explained.
When Grace, Liv and the guys stepped into the Great Hall, it was chaos. They asked for Emily and one of the elves pointed them toward a spot on the back of the room and when they got there, the found Emily on the verge of delivering. Grace jumped into action, as she had a background in medicine, going to school before eventually joining the Navy. When she noticed that Emily was refusing to have the baby because Naomi wasn't there, Grace sent Liv to go get her. Emily had been in labour for quite sometime already, and when she asked about it, her mother had told her what had been going on.
Emily had told Grace that she wasn't due until next month and that she didn't want to ruin her sister's wedding, but that was unavoidable now, the young woman noticed.
"Push, Emily!" Grace told her, but yet again, Emily refused.
"Not yet!" Emily cried out through deep breaths, as sweat dropped from her face. "Not until Naomi is-,"
"I'm here!" Naomi shouted as she came running into the room, red faced and sweating, concern for Emily written on her face. "I'm here, babes."
Emily reached out her hand for Naomi's and started crying harder as her wife paced their fingers together. "Naoms...something's wrong...this isn't like with Riley...," Emily sobbed.
Naomi looked to Grace as Emily's fear became her fear that something was wrong with their baby. "Is the baby alright?"
"Ma'am, she's probably been having contractions for the past two days, getting worse around last night but she refused to say anything." Grace explained, calmly. "The baby's in distress and I need her to push."
Naomi listened to the young pilot, and then looked back at Emily, bringing her hand up to brush back the hair that was plastered to her forehead. "Ems, baby...why didn't you say anything?"
Emily's sobs got louder and her face contorted in pain as another contraction hit.
"Alright, Emily...this is it. I need a big push now!" Grace said as Naomi kept a tight grip on Emily's hand.
"You can do it, Ems! Push!" Naomi told her.
Emily knew that it was now or never, not wanting to put the baby in an more harm, so she pushed as hard as she could.
"Yes! I can see the baby's head...we're going to need another big push on the next contraction, okay?" Grace told her, smiling. "We're almost there, Emily, you're doing great!"
Naomi knew when the next contraction hit because the force that Emily was using to squeeze her hand was almost unbearable. "It's alright, love...just breath and push, yeah?"
"I am breathing!" Emily growled at her making Jenna and Gina, who remained in the room, giggle.
"Alright, babes...just calm down-,"
"Naomi, if you tell me to relax one more time, it's gonna be a very long cold summer break for you!" Emily warned her wife, causing Naomi to swallow thickly and shut her mouth.
"It's seems as if we've got a stubborn one here." Grace called from her spot. "This little one is digging he's heals in to stay put."
Emily rolled her eyes at this information. "Bloody hell! Seriously? Can't I just have one child with my temperment?" Naomi started to snigger until a glare from Emily stopped her.
Grace was about to say something when a voice could be heard loudly outside the door.
"I could care less what you were told, that's my sister in there and if you think for one minute, you're gonna stop me from going in there, you've got another thing coming!"
Naomi barely had a minute to brace herself as Katie stormed past Lt Malone and into the room.
"I got here as soon as I could!" Katie said breathlessly, haveing run as fast as she could once she got Cupid settled. "Why is there no baby yet?"
Emily rolled her eyes again. "The baby has Naomi's personality!"
"Hey!" Naomi cried indignantly, as everyone in the room chuckled. "I resent that remark!"
"Well it's truuuuueeee!" Emily's whole body tensed as another contraction hit.
"This is it, Emily! Push!" Grace told her as she saw the baby's head. "Keep pushing, we're almost there!"
"I hope so, because I don't know how much longer I can take this!" Emily said in between deep breaths as the contraction subsided. She looked up at Naomi and started crying.
"Don't cry, Ems...," Naomi comforted her, giving her a chaste kiss, "you can do this, babe! You're the bravest person I know, you can do anything!"
"Yeah?" Emily asked, her voice sounding small and unsure.
Naomi smiled and nodded. "Yeah."
"Alright, ladies...," Grace looked up at Santa and Mrs Claus, feeling a real sense of pride and giddiness at being apart of this, "one more good push and we've got a baby."
Naomi smiled down at Emily again, giving her one more kiss just as another contraction ripped through her.
Ten minutes later, Grace smiled up at an exhausted Emily and a nervous Naomi. "It's a girl!" She stated, as the sweet cries of the newest member of the Campbell-Fitch clan could be heard all throughout the Great Hall.
An hour later, Naomi and Emily sat with Katie and Cook, who was holding baby Grace Katherine, whilst out in the Great Hall, a party was raging.
"I'm sorry about this, Katie." Emily said sadly, as she watched Cook stare intently at the baby.
"Sorry for what?" Katie tore her eyes away from her fiancé and her new niece to stare incredulously at her sister.
"I tried to wait, because this was supposed to be your wedding day...," Emily replied guiltily, "and after you did everything possible to give me a fabulous wedding, I go and ruin it."
Naomi and Cook snapped their eyes to Emily, intent on telling her she did no such thing, when Katie beat them to it.
"Don't be a stupid cow!" Katie told her with a smirk. "You did nothing of the sort!"
"But-,"
Katie shook her head, holding up a hand to cut Emily off. "Two amazing things came out of today, Emsy," she explained, "first Cupid trying like hell to maim me forever and hurting herself, because now I'm pretty sure she loves me more than Cook for helping her," she grinned when she thought about checking up on Cupid after baby Grace had arrived, how she cuddled Katie the whole time she was down at the stables, "and second is this beautiful bundle of joy!" She finished and then swooped the sleeping girl into her arms and nuzzled the pink cheek with her nose.
"Yeah!" Cook concurred, smiling at Emily. "Don't you worry, little Red. Once yer able to stand in a day or two, we'll have our wedding. That's a promise!" He laughed quietly making Emily feel more comfortable. "Sides that, it wouldn't be fair if this gorgeous girl didn't have her very own special day, now would it?"
"Cook, she's the daughter of Santa Claus," Effy stated from where she was leaning against the door, her mysterious smirk in place, "every day is going to be special for her." They all nodded in agreement as Effy's words rang true. She sauntered into the room and sat next to Katie. "Can I hold her?"
Naomi smiled as Katie gently placed her baby in Effy's arms and felt her heart lurch as Effy smiled a real smile down at her. "I'm so happy right now, that if I could, I'd start delivering presents tonight!" Naomi said with her crooked smile lighting up her face.
"Aww, babes...," Emily smiled up at her wife and felt her heart melt all over again, "you are such a soppy git!"
Naomi felt no shame at that statement, as she leant down and gave her wife a kiss. "As long as I'm your soppy git, then I'm fine with that." She said as she pulled away. "So what tears you away from the party, Efs? It's not like you to turn down a piss up." Naomi asked Effy who was still smiling down at the baby.
"Usually, no. But there's something I need to give to Katie." Effy told her as she stood up and walked over to Emily, handing her the baby.
"Me?" Katie asked, confusion written on her face.
"I can see that you've forgotten in all the excitement of the day, and whilst you didn't get married today, I feel it's only right to give your present now." Effy explained cryptically, as Cook smiled widely. "Please stand up, Katie."
It was said so seriously, that Katie didn't even think to refuse. Effy stepped in front of her and looked her in the eye.
"I spoke with Kieran and he and I agree," Effy said quietly, as she placed her hand on Katie's lower stomach, causing the older twin to flinch, "that you deserve to give Riley and Grace some cousins."
Katie felt a surge of electricity flow through her, but it wasn't unpleasant and Effy smiled.
"What?" Katie whispered in awe. "How did you...," she broke off, feeling tears threaten to fall.
"Cook told me after Riley was born that you couldn't have kids," Effy explained, "and while I could see that you were okay with that, there was always a wistful look in your eyes whenever Riley was around, so...,"
"Thank you, Effy." Katie smiled and gave her a hug, as Naomi and Emily watched from the bed. "Thank you, babes." Katie sat down in Cook's and brushed her lips over his.
He quickly wiped at his eyes, not ashamed at being caught crying. He just wanted to clearly see Katie's eyes as they shined with happiness. "I didn't do anything, babe. It was all Effy." Katie wrapped her arms around him and buried her face in his neck, so Cook took the opportunity to smile up at Effy and mouthed a thank you.
Later that night, after Emily had been moved into their room, she lay there feeding Gracie as Naomi and Riley snuggled up beside her, both asleep, and she realised how great her life was.
With Naomi by her side, she could do anything. And with a little bit of love, anything was possible.
A/N: alright, guys...this is the end of The Naomily Clause...as much as it saddens me to finish this story...
Thank you to all the readers, all those who've reviewed, alerted and faved this story! You guys seriously rock, you know that, right?
Anyhoo, I'm off to work on the last chapter of TBWITB and to let you all know, that I have not abandoned nor will I ever abandon my other stories...
Remember to leave me a little note, tell me how you liked that update, tell me about your day or if you just wanna prod me into writing faster...anything at all...I'm really a great listener... ;D