A/N: I Don't own Skulduggery, Valkyrie, Tipstaff, Ghastly, Tanith, Tesseract, Springheeled Jack, Thrasher, Scapegrace, or Dusk. Cain, Macha and a few others are my OCs though. I noticed I have as of yet to do ye olde sappy Christmas special for the pair. Well this will be sweet, but with some fun added. This is a few months after the birth of Macha. Yeah, I know, I know. Cutesy, but not too cute, trust me.
I thought the world was ending. Light was glaring in my eyes, my bed was shaking, and Skulduggery was shaking my shoulders. There were high pitched squeals like my kids were being tortured. I struggled awake to protect them, and Skulduggery grinned at me. "Guess what today is! Go on, guess!" He said happily. I groaned. I knew exactly what day it was and feared pod people had taken my husband and left me with a cheerful clone. He certainly hadn't made this fuss last year.
"My day to sleep in?" I asked, hopefully. Surely this new-found enthusiasm was a quirk. He'd be back to being the holiday hating Scrooge I'd always known soon enough.
"It's December first! And the Sanctuary, thanks to you, and Tipstaff of all people is all decorated and having the annual tree sale for the first time in centuries. Come on then, breakfast and we'll take the kids and get a tree, and ornaments of course. We need ornaments." Skulduggery said cheerfully.
"Please, mom, please?" Cain and Macha begged in tandem. I laughed, I had to admit it was good seeing Skulduggery happy about the holidays for a change. Very scary, but good. I got up and showered, then met my family downstairs for breakfast.
Skulduggery had managed all sorts of pastries and coffee and Macha was talking at warp speed. Too much sugar. I sighed. She was a little less than two months old, so it made her the size and gave her the personality of a two year old, but happily one without the tantrums. She was just hyper half the time. She was a huge Monster High fan and Draculara and Skeletia were her favourite ghouls, so today she was wearing her pink and black plaid dress with a distinctive skull with red bow on the front.
Cain who was little over a year and a half was a strapping sixteen years old in growth and personality. Luckily he wore a different suit than his father every day so people could tell them apart. It was strange having children who aged so fast, but good. Both were so skilled with magic that we had rejoined the Sanctuary with light Elder duties and some stakeouts.
Nothing dangerous, but both kids clearly adored the idea of becoming the Sanctuary's finest detectives some day. Skulduggery to my surprise, insisted they would be. After all his children had to be the best detectives ever. The children donned the necklaces that created the convincing illusion of flesh and blood bodies on. I intensely disliked the necklaces, but it was that or have screaming mortals flee them. Or try to hurt them. We finished and I stopped the kids before we went to the Bentley. "Sorry guys, but what are the rules?"
"Stay together, always. And don't accept gifts unless you say it is OK first." Macha replied, having taken after her brother and having the IQ of an adult. Well an adult with a MENSA membership. I nodded.
"If someone tries to get us to go with them, or we get separated, fight back, unless it is someone we know and trust and they know our code word." Cain put in, putting a protective arm around his sister. I nodded, pleased.
Ideally the kids would never leave our side, but I knew they would roam. Considering they could both set people on fire and both had mastered the armour they inherited from Lord Vile I didn't worry too much. Both were fighters as well, but still I did watch them like a hawk because that is what good moms do.
Skulduggery escorted us outside, making sure both I and the kids were buckled, then we were off.
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I gasped as we pulled up to the Sanctuary. The place was completely transformed, the grounds were done up for the Yuletide season, and there was a huge lot of cut trees and booths of crafts, ornaments and other goods.
The kids stayed close enough, both overjoyed to be out of the necklaces and on holiday as we went for a tree first, and I left them and Skulduggery to it as I met Ghastly and Tanith with the twins in tow. They looked beat. The twins were approaching two and acted like it. I grinned, maybe skeletons were just better behaved.
Ghastly bundled me into a tight hug. "I didn't believe it when Tipstaff agreed to renew the old tradition. Have you seen the inside of our offices yet? The place looks like Hogwarts at Christmas."
I laughed. Ghastly had become well versed in everything the twins adored, and now they were major Harry Potter fans after seeing a show on TV. Nobody had the heart to tell them magic didn't need wands or fancy words. "No, we just got here. I'm still recovering from Skulduggery wanting to be here." I confessed and Ghastly smiled.
"You brought him back to the land of the living, Val. He's needed you and the kids for a long time now. He adores all of you so of course he'll enjoy the holidays again. You are going to come see your old man before Christmas, right?"
I nodded, then left to rejoin Skulduggery. "What about the large one for our main tree and two little ones for the kids to have in their rooms?" He asked, clearly excited at the prospect of multiple trees and I felt my heart melt.
"That sounds great, but are they going to last that long? Christmas still is almost a month away."
"Of course, Valkyrie. These are imbued trees after all. Well, I'll arrange to get these delivered, then we can take the kids to get some hot cider and doughnuts, or coco, or whatever they want, and coffee for us. And doughnuts, I'm starving." I nodded and watched him pay, wondering again over the change that had come over him.
He was still ruthless out in the field, but he was a doting father now, indulging the kids, but in a healthy way. He was also extending that rather protective and indulgent side as an Elder as well. I looked about with pride while I waited. Skulduggery had seen to it that everyone got a tree or anything else their religion used in celebration, money or not remembering his own childhood and the holidays when trees, he swore, were free for the taking where he grew up.
There was so much wealth in our coffers all employees were well paid, but those who were still struggling or the poor we helped could have a tree or anything else they needed such as food for a family dinner. Not that we only helped during the holidays, but it made me proud to see all we did.
He had instigated other changes too, showing a kindness and warmth I hadn't seen in the man in well over a decade and it made me proud to see our abundance helping our people. We also had countless nations represented so there were booths from India, China, Japan, Russia, every country on the Earth, it seemed had given us an employee. We had a well-earned reputation and less progressive Sanctuaries lost their best and brightest to us.
I saw a distinctive top hat moving through the crowd towards me, and Springheeled Jack appeared, grinning. "Pulled guard duty today, missus. Don't mind a bit. Reminds me of how London used to be at Christmas. I just wanted to thank you personal like for the new positions you created. Got to say it is much more fun than bein' a regular detective. Be off then." He tipped his hat and wandered off, keeping a sharp eye on things.
No fool was I. I knew he and the other criminals were killers, it was just what they were. So they went out when dangerous people needed eliminated, or killing was the only option and they liked it just fine.
Skulduggery and the children rejoined me and we got coffee for us, the kids got coco, and everyone had the fresh fried doughnuts a vendor had made. We wandered past booths, admiring the crafts. Macha was fascinated with the imported saris in one, and handmade dolls in another. Then true to form she also liked the toy cars and wooden guns that shot gumbands. But they were both good kids. They knew we were getting a tree and ornaments. If they had money saved up they could get one thing a piece.
Cain watched the money for both of them, and they ended up with a old book on detection for him and Macha settled on a statuette of her namesake from the pagan booth. I knew very well Cain had spent some of his savings on her, but he doted on his sister.
We also took the kids to see all the different displays. There were Nativitys, but also pagan, Muslim and Jewish displays. Every religion, or lack thereof, every culture had some representation, the Irish Sanctuary believed in inclusion not exclusion. Nobody could fight if they all got a say, well, they could, but we weren't going bland and joyless for anyone.
Religions that didn't have a holiday showed positive aspects and those without any religion whatsoever enjoyed the rather ironic blank area set aside with nothing in it. I still didn't understand that since it seemed joyless, but they did end up with secular decorations, though the Wiccans and Druids had bristled slightly when they claimed trees and Yule logs as secular.
Still it was good to see peace after so much war. We wandered inside to our office, our purchases stowed away in the boot of the Bentley and met Tipstaff. Or rather the new and improved Tipstaff. He'd fallen in loved and married, so he was serene now, friendly.
"Detectives! Macha, Cain, how are you?" He greeted us warmly. The kids glommed onto him. He adored children now since he was expecting his own. "How's my pretty girl today?" He asked and Macha giggled. He picked her up for a brief hug and she nuzzled her sweet skeletal face into his shoulder drawing a smile. "You're getting so big, Macha. All ready for Christmas?" He asked, getting a happy nod and purring sound. Tipstaff smiled then set her down gently. He shook hands with Cain and smiled warmly and both us adults and was off.
Poor Skulduggery still looked dazed. "I swear that man gets stranger every day. Now he likes people. Strange." The kids ignored him and were racing ahead of us when the ground erupted in front and behind them. Billy-Ray and Calamity arose, both corralling an errant child.
"Now, you all know better then to run in here, Cain." Billy-Ray scolded mildly.
"You all could get hurt, Macha." Calamity said, cuddling Macha into her and eliciting a happy chirrup. I smiled at our friends. They were more or less Sanctuary assassins, but they adored the children. Now that she was pregnant, Calamity got all the practice she could with them, seeing as how Tanith had made it clear she wasn't allowed anywhere near the twins.
The children looked properly contrite and walked back to us sedately. Billy-Ray shook his head. "Oh, you all are wanted in Ghastly's office. He got a little somethin' you all might want to do. A genuine stakeout. Well, be seein' you." With that the two dropped under the floor again.
We went to Ghastly's office and he looked surprised to see us. Tesseract was there, obviously getting briefed on a case. "Uh, did you want us for a case?" I asked, and Ghastly sighed.
"I don't even have to ask who sent you. No, what I said was "I'd love to be able to send you two out on this case", but it's too dangerous, considering." He looked pointedly at Macha, and she bristled.
Tesseract, wearing an even scarier mask than usual bent his hulking form down to meet her. The two were best friends now, and he hated seeing her upset. "Come now, my friend, there will be many cases for you in the future. They will send you soon."
Macha growled in frustration and looked at Ghastly. I smiled, knowing what was coming. I was proud for her taking after me. "What's so dangerous?" she demanded, folding her arms.
"Children are being kidnapped, Macha, by bad people. So I don't want you anywhere near this." Ghastly began, but Macha exploded in outrage.
"Bad people are hurting children and you won't let me help?" I tried to stifle my laughter and failed.
"Give up now, Ghastly. That's my advice. There's no reason we can't do a simple stakeout if Tesseract doesn't mind." I said.
"I'll go with you. We will take the Sanctuary van. My precious friend does not go alone." Tesseract said.
"Go where, poppet?" Jack asked, walking in. He was briefed and demanded to go with us.
"Look, my guard duty is over and I don't want Cain or Macha out there alone." Tesseract managed to look slightly insulted and Skulduggery and I exchanged amused glances. Things only got more complicated when a male voice with a Texan accent added its own two cents.
"You set a horrible example, Skulduggery. First takin' out Valkyrie at twelve and she was gettin' tossed around like a rag doll and now your own kids. We're goin' with you, we still get to stand watch on these kids, and I take an exceptional dislike to kidnappers." Billy-Ray ended with a growl.
Ghastly buried his face in his hands. "Look," He said, his voice muffled, "this is supposed to be a simple stakeout, for one, maybe two people, so as not to attract attention. Plus it is too dangerous for Macha, there are vampires involved."
"Macha, you are to stay here and that's an order." He commanded her and Macha just grinned. "Oh no, you didn't let her, not at her age?" He asked and she giggled.
"No, she just seems immune to instructions from anyone, willful child, no idea where she gets it." Skulduggery put in mildly. eyeing me and I snorted. She got it from him, obviously.
Ghastly sagged, clearly defeated. "Fine. You want to put her in harm's way and be bad parents, fine."
"We don't want to." I growled. "But we know her. She'll sneak off to help and what if mortals get a hold of her?" I asked, my temper rising. Ghastly paled.
"You're right. She is safer with all of you. OK then, you can all take one van, Tanith and I will take another, leaving the twins here." He took one last hopeful look at Macha and she growled in reply. Ghastly sighed.
The vans were in place, both parked in alleys. We were all staying together, since we only knew that vampires were involved. Were they the muscle or behind the kidnappings? Magical children, five and under were being snatched and never returned. No ransom was asked for, instead money was sent to the parents with a receipt for the child.
So of course we all wanted to be there. I knew Tesseract had lost a sister to kidnappers, never to see her again, but he held himself in check, seated protectively next to Macha, boxing her and Cain in.
Billy-Ray tried to ease the tension. "Now you all look here, we'll get these people, and get the kids back, don't you worry none." Calamity said nothing to that, only clutched her own stomach protectively. I was about to assure her it was all right when I spotted movement on the rooftops. Night was settling in, and the children had been set free on the roof of the warehouse. But they weren't staying there.
It made sense now why they had been paid for. They would never have human families again. I watched in dull horror as they ripped skins and clothes off and ran along rooftops, hissing, play fighting, learning from the older vampires.
There had to be at least seven or eight children and two adult vampires to each one. I spotted the ringleader. Dusk. He seemed to sense my gaze and looked at me directly, a faint smile on his face. Skulduggery saw what I saw and radioed over to Ghastly as quietly as possible. He turned to me. "Why children? Why?"
"Most adults will hesitate to kill children, that's why." Jack growled.
"That, and look." I added. We watched as mated pairs came forward, selecting children. This made no sense. Vampires were supposed to be remorseless killers, going only on animal instinct, but they were showing thought, meeting with the children, playing with them. I sighed. I felt terrible for everyone all around. The kids were clearly lost, and some had bonded with the new parents already. "Now what? I don't want to kill a child, no one here does, and you know they'll attack." I said.
"We pull back." Skulduggery said firmly and Ghastly confirmed on the radio. We were pulling backwards when a female vampire landed in front of us. She looked as horrible as any vampire. Bald, big fangs and razor-sharp nails, but this one for some reason was a distinct shade of blue which made her look rather pretty. She wasn't acting wild either. She motioned for me to get out, so I did, telling the others to stay put. I didn't want a battle if we could avoid it.
"Why are you leaving without attacking?" She asked, her voice as close to civil as a vampire could manage.
"The children are lost to us. You- Vampires can't have children, can they?" I asked gently.
"No, and what works for other infertile couples does not work for us. We are not unreasoning beasts, Detective Cain. No more children will be taken, we swear, but please, leave us in peace. The people we took them from, they were the real monsters. They beat these children. We who want children more than anything, we would never hurt a child." She had tears in her eyes and I nodded.
"All right, we leave you in peace, but we ask the same. The Sanctuary hasn't forgotten vampires were our allies when we fought the cave spirit, even if you were just protecting a food source." I teased gently and she grinned a horrible grin. Peace it would be, for now at any rate.
"Why are we letting them go?" Macha complained on our way back. "They took kids."
I sighed. "Not every person who has kids deserves them, Macha. The parents did bad things to these children, the vampires rescued them, adopted them. The money they sent was an adoption fee. They want children, just like your dad and I did, OK?"
She nodded. "We wouldn't have survived a fight, would we?" She asked, showing fear for the first time.
"No honey, not against that many vampires. They move too fast for even Darquesse or Vile to get them all at once. But they agreed to peace. Beside Dusk no longer has the scar I gave him, he looked almost serene. Well as serene as he can get."
Tesseract laughed. "He loves holding a grudge, he was just being sentimental over children. Trust me, he has a worse temper than my cat and pettier too. I see no point in grudges or revenge." For that I was thankful. Lord Vile, had after all, killed the man. But he'd never tried for revenge, and he was in his own way a good man. A ruthless killer, but then so was almost everyone in the van.
Tesseract doted on Macha, so he picked up where I had left off. "There are many types of people on this Earth, little one. Not just humans, they all deserve to be happy. And well paid for assassinations." He teased. It was strange seeing a man who looked like Jason from "Jason X" dote on a child, but he did. She wasn't a sister or daughter to him, but a friend, like Skulduggery was to me. I smiled to myself wondering if one day they would be partners.
Macha for her part cuddled into the hulking man and fell asleep, purring.
Much later the trees had been put up and decorated, lights included, of course, and sleepy offspring were in bed, as were we. I was cuddled into Skulduggery. "You know, I might be mistaken but I think I saw the start of a partnership today."
He chuckled slightly and kissed me. "I thought the same thing. He'd be good for her, but let's not go plotting. The man is a loner, after all."
"So were you."
"Yes, but I liked the challenge of an annoying partner." He teased, earning a punch in the arm.
"Ow! And just when I was going to thank you for not pointing out that I've let Christmas into my home."
"Mmm. I thought it was unusual for you, but nice. I've got to admit a tree without tacky ornaments that doesn't sing or dance, well, I like it. You would have been horrified to see some of the things my parents bought. Lord. But they liked schmaltzy, tacky stuff."
"True, I distinctly remember a horrid wreath they had one year, hideous. Speaking of them, how are you?" He titled my face towards them.
"OK, actually. I know they're safe and we have a huge family. Us, the kids, Ghastly, Tanith, poor Uncle Gordon who is due a visit, the people at the Sanctuary. I still miss them, but you've all helped me heal. I never thought I'd say this, but you're a good influence."
"Be still my non-beating heart. Did you just compliment me?" Skulduggery asked in mock wonder. He grinned to show he meant no insult and treated me to a long, lingering kiss. We were still lovers, thanks to soundproofing and magical locks we had no surprise raids to worry about. Skulduggery seemed to be thinking the same thing and growled in pleasure when I stroked his skull. He took me in his arms again, and we didn't part for hours.
Early the next morning I was up, thinking I heard something in the house. One of the kids was up, I was sure of it. I went down to their rooms realizing it was both of them. I heard their voices from Macha's room. "But if mom finds out she'll be mad, maybe like the bad parents." I heard her say and my heart melted I didn't wait for a response, I couldn't. I knocked then opened the door scooping her into my arms.
She was shaking and it broke my heart. "Sweetheart, what is it? I love you, you know that. I won't get mad what is it?" But she just shook her head and grabbed her plush skull pillow and burrowed into me tighter.
I looked at Cain and he sighed. He wasn't a tattletale, ever, but he knew his sister needed him to help. "Macha picked out her Taken name, and it worked. That's why granddad couldn't make her listen in his office. Sorry, Macha, but mom does have to know. Still love me, right?"
Macha growled in response and I laughed. "Honey, I'm not mad, OK? Your brother wasn't much older that you when he Took his name. What did you pick sweetie?" I asked, praying it wasn't Vile or Darquesse.
"Well, Cain helped. I wanted a name like Skelita Calaveras since it is so pretty and she is pretty too but he told me in a few decades I'd regret it, so I chose a prettier name, all on my own." She ducked her head shyly.
"I'm glad you listened sweetheart. Four centuries from now, even forty years from now few people will remember Skelita, though you of course will and that's a wonderful thing. What did you pick?" I asked and sensed her summoning up the courage to tell me.
"Valkyrie Pleasant. I wanted to be named after you mom, dad too." She looked up at me now hollow eye sockets filled with the need to be accepted and loved and I held her tightly to me.
"That's a wonderful Taken Name, Valkyrie, and your name from now on. Why don't you two get up and help me with breakfast and we'll tell your dad when he gets up, OK? I know he'll be proud of you too, Val." Both kids grinned and were only too happy to help. We had the radio going and were enjoying the lit tree by the time a sleepy Skulduggery emerged and he was even more proud of Valkyrie than I thought he'd be.
I smiled and watched my family. It was odd living in peacetime, but lovely. We had peace with the other Sanctuaries, peace with the vampires. We were getting to be as normal as possible with our children and I treasured that.
I knew they would be truly grown, caught up to their outsides in a few short years and no doubt off on their own adventures but until then we had moments like this. I thought of the Skelita doll already wrapped in Monster High paper and hidden away for Valkyrie and wondered what Skulduggery had picked for Cain.
Christmas would for the first time in ever be a true holiday for us and I found myself looking forward to it. We had a family now, extended family and friends as well, and the occasional stakeout and bad guy to catch. I smiled to myself and joined my family, thankful for the gift of peace.