Tis The Season (1/1)
Title: Tis The Season
Author: somehowunbroken
Fandom: SGA/SG1
Characters: Evan/David, background John/Cam
Word Count: 1,354
Rating: G
Notes: Kids'verse, set after Of Purple Pumpkins and Princesses. David takes Robbie and Angel shopping for gifts.
David loved his kids very, very much. It’s what he kept telling himself as he walked through the department store, one tiny hand clasped firmly in each of his own, just barely succeeding in keeping the twins from bolting down each aisle as they walked.
It had been Evan’s idea, and David was also reminding himself that he loved his husband very, very much, because shopping for anything with two three-year-olds in tow was bad enough, but the idea of letting them choose their own gifts for Evan and himself was frightening at best.
Angel pulled him over to an endcap display of reindeer crafted out of what appeared to be gold garland and wire. “Ooh, Papa, this one,” she said, reaching her free hand to pull one of the reindeer form the shelf. “Daddy will love this. Can I get him this one?”
David tried to picture what Evan’s face would look like unwrapping the deer on Christmas morning. It might almost be worth it, honestly. Even so - “No, honey,” David said gently, disentangling Angel’s hand from where it was mangling the wire frame of the deer’s leg. It was a little bent, but would stand, David quickly decided as he put it back on the shelf. “Let’s find something else for Daddy, okay?”
Robbie was already pulling him towards the toy aisle. He stopped in front of a tub of Lego blocks, the picture on the side showing all the things that could theoretically be built from the plastic bricks. “Daddy wants this,” Robbie said resolutely, tugging at the lid of the tub. “He wants to build Legos and make a house and have the dragon in the yard.”
David had no idea what the dragon was all about, but he was pretty sure that Legos weren’t on Evan’s Christmas list. Besides, they’d already purchased a tin of Legos for Robbie, and the box was already wrapped and under their tree back in Atlantis. “Robbie, no. That’s what you want for Christmas. What does Daddy want for Christmas?”
It was nearly forty more minutes of David finding gentle ways to discourage his children from one gift or another before Angel picked up a photo frame, adorned with plastic Santas and reindeer. “This?” she asked, almost hopefully, and something in David’s mind clicked. He grinned broadly down at his daughter.
“Perfect,” he proclaimed, and Angel beamed as she hugged the frame to her chest. David turned to Robbie. “You pick one too, okay?”
Robbie’s hand immediately found a frame with tiny red and green garland looped around the frame, and his face broke into a delighted smile as David nodded at him. David snagged another frame from the pile, a more tasteful silver one with golden bells in one corner, and the three of them headed to the checkout.
The line wasn’t too long, and the three were in the corridor of the mall soon thereafter, heading for the center where Santa sat. The twins bounced on their feet as they stood in that line - much longer than the last one, much to everyone’s dismay - and waited, peeking ahead to where Santa and several unhappy-looking elves were stationed.
“We’re so close,” Angel informed him when they were still quite a bit away. “Santa is right there, Papa!”
“Papa,” Robbie said a few minutes later, “I see elves!”
“Where are the reindeers?”
“Is the one with the flashlight on his nose here?”
“Can you pick me up so I can see, Papa?”
“Papa, my turn, pick me up now!”
Forty-five minutes after getting in line, David stepped across the threshold of the Santa’s Workshop display, reining the twins into a sedate pace as they walked towards Santa. The man in the suit, who looked remarkably like David’s own childhood version of Santa, beamed over his glasses at the twins as they stood by his knees, awestruck.
“Up with you,” he said cheerily, his voice booming as he scooped up first Robbie, then Angel, settling them on his knees. “What can Santa get you for Christmas, young ones?”
Robbie and Angel started talking all at once, and only years of listening to McKay had prepared David for such an onslaught of information.
“-a playhouse-”
“-the Legos I showed Papa-”
“-game with the hippos-”
“-Nerf gun to shoot Uncle Ronon with-”
“-candy canes, ‘cause Torren never had none of them-”
“-princess game for Angel ‘cause she wants one-”
“-the Spiderman jammies for Robbie ‘cause he wants them-“
David stood back and smiled as the twins babbled at Santa, who beamed back at them and nodded along. David turned to the photographer. “Listen,” he said quietly. “I know I’m just supposed to get one picture, but is there some way to pay a little extra and have you take three?”
The photographer listened to David’s plan and smiled as he brandished the photo frames the kids had picked out. She nodded her assent as he finished, and David smiled as she handed him the pictures a few moments later, tucking them into the bag with the frames.
“What’s the rule?” David asked as he started the car a few minutes later. Robbie and Angel were chattering excitedly to each other about Santa, never mind that they’d both been there for the entire exchange.
“No telling Daddy,” they chorused before returning to their analysis of the Santa situation. David had no doubt that they’d let it slip before Christmas arrived, but it never hurt to try.
-0-
Angel was twirling around their quarters in Atlantis, wearing her Halloween costume - she’d asked, and David hadn’t had the heart to deny her anything on Christmas - and holding the lid to the Hungry Hungry Hippos game she’d opened, while Robbie, dressed in his new Spiderman pajamas, gleefully shot his Nerf gun at anything that didn’t duck out of the way quickly enough. Their friends would be arriving soon - they’d told John and Cam to bring Lizzie, now four and a half months, around noon. Others would be stopping in all afternoon as well, but they still had a few minutes before the hordes descended, so David reached beneath the tree and drew out three rectangular packages, all wrapped in different paper. Robbie and Angel went immediately to his side.
“This one’s from me,” Robbie said, picking up the green-wrapped box.
“This one’s mine,” Angel added, grabbing the red with candy canes on.
Evan opened Robbie’s first, and his face lit up at the photo of Robbie and Santa beaming at the camera, surrounded by shiny garland. He did the same for Angel’s and gathered the twins in for a hug. Angel squirmed away, giggling, as she reached for the last box on David’s lap.
“And this one, Daddy!” she said gleefully, giving him the one wrapped in white paper. In the photo, Santa held one twin on each knee, and they all beamed out at the camera.
“You can put them all in your office,” Robbie explained, grabbing his frame back. “I picked out the frame because it’s shiny and I thought you would like the shiny one.”
“And mine has Santa and the reindeers on it,” Angel added. “So you can remember about Christmas even when it’s hot outside.”
Evan chuckled and hugged the kids again. “I guess Papa picked out this frame, huh?”
Angel and Robbie both nodded. “It’s boring,” they said in unison, and Evan laughed again.
“It’s fine,” Evan told them. “Go get your present for Papa.”
David started to laugh as he opened the box from the twins. Inside was nestled a handcrafted wooden photo frame, polished to a shine, with a picture of the twins smiling out at him. They were dressed in their Halloween costumes, Angel as a princess and Robbie as John, and their hands were joined.
“Merry Christmas,” Evan said, leaning over.
“Merry Christmas,” David agreed, meeting him halfway and pecking him on the lips. The twins climbed up and sat between them, pulling them down and screaming with laughter, and David had a few minutes to think about how perfect Christmas was with his family before the outside world came in.
Author: somehowunbroken
Fandom: SGA/SG1
Characters: Evan/David, background John/Cam
Word Count: 1,354
Rating: G
Notes: Kids'verse, set after Of Purple Pumpkins and Princesses. David takes Robbie and Angel shopping for gifts.
David loved his kids very, very much. It’s what he kept telling himself as he walked through the department store, one tiny hand clasped firmly in each of his own, just barely succeeding in keeping the twins from bolting down each aisle as they walked.
It had been Evan’s idea, and David was also reminding himself that he loved his husband very, very much, because shopping for anything with two three-year-olds in tow was bad enough, but the idea of letting them choose their own gifts for Evan and himself was frightening at best.
Angel pulled him over to an endcap display of reindeer crafted out of what appeared to be gold garland and wire. “Ooh, Papa, this one,” she said, reaching her free hand to pull one of the reindeer form the shelf. “Daddy will love this. Can I get him this one?”
David tried to picture what Evan’s face would look like unwrapping the deer on Christmas morning. It might almost be worth it, honestly. Even so - “No, honey,” David said gently, disentangling Angel’s hand from where it was mangling the wire frame of the deer’s leg. It was a little bent, but would stand, David quickly decided as he put it back on the shelf. “Let’s find something else for Daddy, okay?”
Robbie was already pulling him towards the toy aisle. He stopped in front of a tub of Lego blocks, the picture on the side showing all the things that could theoretically be built from the plastic bricks. “Daddy wants this,” Robbie said resolutely, tugging at the lid of the tub. “He wants to build Legos and make a house and have the dragon in the yard.”
David had no idea what the dragon was all about, but he was pretty sure that Legos weren’t on Evan’s Christmas list. Besides, they’d already purchased a tin of Legos for Robbie, and the box was already wrapped and under their tree back in Atlantis. “Robbie, no. That’s what you want for Christmas. What does Daddy want for Christmas?”
It was nearly forty more minutes of David finding gentle ways to discourage his children from one gift or another before Angel picked up a photo frame, adorned with plastic Santas and reindeer. “This?” she asked, almost hopefully, and something in David’s mind clicked. He grinned broadly down at his daughter.
“Perfect,” he proclaimed, and Angel beamed as she hugged the frame to her chest. David turned to Robbie. “You pick one too, okay?”
Robbie’s hand immediately found a frame with tiny red and green garland looped around the frame, and his face broke into a delighted smile as David nodded at him. David snagged another frame from the pile, a more tasteful silver one with golden bells in one corner, and the three of them headed to the checkout.
The line wasn’t too long, and the three were in the corridor of the mall soon thereafter, heading for the center where Santa sat. The twins bounced on their feet as they stood in that line - much longer than the last one, much to everyone’s dismay - and waited, peeking ahead to where Santa and several unhappy-looking elves were stationed.
“We’re so close,” Angel informed him when they were still quite a bit away. “Santa is right there, Papa!”
“Papa,” Robbie said a few minutes later, “I see elves!”
“Where are the reindeers?”
“Is the one with the flashlight on his nose here?”
“Can you pick me up so I can see, Papa?”
“Papa, my turn, pick me up now!”
Forty-five minutes after getting in line, David stepped across the threshold of the Santa’s Workshop display, reining the twins into a sedate pace as they walked towards Santa. The man in the suit, who looked remarkably like David’s own childhood version of Santa, beamed over his glasses at the twins as they stood by his knees, awestruck.
“Up with you,” he said cheerily, his voice booming as he scooped up first Robbie, then Angel, settling them on his knees. “What can Santa get you for Christmas, young ones?”
Robbie and Angel started talking all at once, and only years of listening to McKay had prepared David for such an onslaught of information.
“-a playhouse-”
“-the Legos I showed Papa-”
“-game with the hippos-”
“-Nerf gun to shoot Uncle Ronon with-”
“-candy canes, ‘cause Torren never had none of them-”
“-princess game for Angel ‘cause she wants one-”
“-the Spiderman jammies for Robbie ‘cause he wants them-“
David stood back and smiled as the twins babbled at Santa, who beamed back at them and nodded along. David turned to the photographer. “Listen,” he said quietly. “I know I’m just supposed to get one picture, but is there some way to pay a little extra and have you take three?”
The photographer listened to David’s plan and smiled as he brandished the photo frames the kids had picked out. She nodded her assent as he finished, and David smiled as she handed him the pictures a few moments later, tucking them into the bag with the frames.
“What’s the rule?” David asked as he started the car a few minutes later. Robbie and Angel were chattering excitedly to each other about Santa, never mind that they’d both been there for the entire exchange.
“No telling Daddy,” they chorused before returning to their analysis of the Santa situation. David had no doubt that they’d let it slip before Christmas arrived, but it never hurt to try.
-0-
Angel was twirling around their quarters in Atlantis, wearing her Halloween costume - she’d asked, and David hadn’t had the heart to deny her anything on Christmas - and holding the lid to the Hungry Hungry Hippos game she’d opened, while Robbie, dressed in his new Spiderman pajamas, gleefully shot his Nerf gun at anything that didn’t duck out of the way quickly enough. Their friends would be arriving soon - they’d told John and Cam to bring Lizzie, now four and a half months, around noon. Others would be stopping in all afternoon as well, but they still had a few minutes before the hordes descended, so David reached beneath the tree and drew out three rectangular packages, all wrapped in different paper. Robbie and Angel went immediately to his side.
“This one’s from me,” Robbie said, picking up the green-wrapped box.
“This one’s mine,” Angel added, grabbing the red with candy canes on.
Evan opened Robbie’s first, and his face lit up at the photo of Robbie and Santa beaming at the camera, surrounded by shiny garland. He did the same for Angel’s and gathered the twins in for a hug. Angel squirmed away, giggling, as she reached for the last box on David’s lap.
“And this one, Daddy!” she said gleefully, giving him the one wrapped in white paper. In the photo, Santa held one twin on each knee, and they all beamed out at the camera.
“You can put them all in your office,” Robbie explained, grabbing his frame back. “I picked out the frame because it’s shiny and I thought you would like the shiny one.”
“And mine has Santa and the reindeers on it,” Angel added. “So you can remember about Christmas even when it’s hot outside.”
Evan chuckled and hugged the kids again. “I guess Papa picked out this frame, huh?”
Angel and Robbie both nodded. “It’s boring,” they said in unison, and Evan laughed again.
“It’s fine,” Evan told them. “Go get your present for Papa.”
David started to laugh as he opened the box from the twins. Inside was nestled a handcrafted wooden photo frame, polished to a shine, with a picture of the twins smiling out at him. They were dressed in their Halloween costumes, Angel as a princess and Robbie as John, and their hands were joined.
“Merry Christmas,” Evan said, leaning over.
“Merry Christmas,” David agreed, meeting him halfway and pecking him on the lips. The twins climbed up and sat between them, pulling them down and screaming with laughter, and David had a few minutes to think about how perfect Christmas was with his family before the outside world came in.