ho ho ho!

[pere_noel]

Christmas morning wasn't usually like this. In fact, Christmas morning Nick was usually fast asleep after a long (very long, incomprehensibly long) night's work. But the island was a very different place, and called for a very different approach. So Nick woke up with the dawn, dressed in a pair of dark trousers and a warm red sweater he'd found in

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[1000_cranes]

Charlie hadn't done much for Christmas since her momma had died. Every year, she'd bought her daddy a present and wrapped it carefully, cooked dinner for the two of them, and then fallen asleep in front of the T.V set.

The tree was real pretty, though.

"Hello there, honey," she said to the old boy on the couch as she walked into the rec room. "I just came to look at this real pretty tree."

[pere_noel]

"Hello there," said Nick cheerfully. "It's a wonderful tree, isn't it? I even found the time to add a few little trinkets to it myself." From where he was sitting he could see a couple of the wooden icicles, and a locomotive engine dangling from a lower branch.

[1000_cranes]

"At home, we used to have a tiny little thing," she said, sitting down on the couch, still giving the tree rapt attention. "Not anythin' near as beautiful as that one."

She sighed contendedly.

[pere_noel]

"Well, this one has to service a lot of people," said Nick pragmatically, "so I suppose it needed to be quite large. It's quite charming, all in all. We'll have to be sure to save all of the decorations for next year."

[1000_cranes]

She nodded.

"Oh, yes. It'd be a crime to waste them. They're so pretty." She smiled at him. "Are you all comfortable there, sugar? Anythin' I can get you?"

[pere_noel]

"Oh yes, quite comfortable, thank you," said Nick. "I'm not so old I can't get up and help myself to anything I need, should the urge strike me. What about you? Is there anything I can give you on this lovely Christmas morning?"

[1000_cranes]

Charlie shook her head, though she smiled brightly too.

"Oh, no, sugar," she said, reaching out to touch his arm. "Don't you worry about me. I don't expect anythin' much. Never have, really."

[pere_noel]

"Oh, surely there must be something," he said. "Christmas isn't about expecting things, it's about giving things, and believe me when I say I've got plenty to give." He patted the overful bag at his feet with a somewhat delighted smile.

[1000_cranes]

Charlie looked from Nick's face to the bag and back again.

"Oh, anything pretty. But you have to let me give you something."

[pere_noel]

"Something pretty, you say?" said Nick, looking her up and down for a moment. "Give me a second and I'll see what I can find in here for you." He had an inkling of an idea, but he was going to have to reach right to the bottom for it. "What did you say your name was, dear?"

[1000_cranes]

"Oh, lord, how rude of me." Charlie pressed a hand against her chest. "Charlie. Charlene Andrews. Pleased t'meet ya."

[pere_noel]

"It's a pleasure to meet you too, Charlie," he said, pulling from the sack a pair of wooden barettes with images of birds in flight carved into them. "My name's Nick, and are these the sort of pretty you were looking for?"

[1000_cranes]

Charlie's mouth made a little "o" of surprise before a bright, brilliant smile spread across her face.

"Oh, they're beautiful." She smiled. "Did you make those? They're so pretty."

[pere_noel]

"I did indeed," said Nick, "and I think they would look lovely in your hair, like they were made specially for it."