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8:03 p.m.
The last few pages have fallen on deaf ears.
Alex is keenly aware of this fact but she’s also a completionist so will finish the picturebook, even if her daughter isn’t awake to hear it. ‘And they all live happily ever after. The end.’ She closes the book before, carefully, manoeuvring herself out of her kid’s bed. ‘Sleep tight baby,’ she whispers, placing a kiss on Jamie’s forehead. ‘I love you so much.’
She tiptoes out the room and down the stairs, into the living room where her wife is waiting with a bottle of rose. ‘She asleep?’
'Out like a light,’ Alex answers.
‘Fantastic.’ Maggie pours a glass for each of them.
Alex inspects the bottle. ‘This looks fancy.’
‘Present from the commissioner,’ Maggie grins. ‘My precinct officially has the best case closure rate in the city.’
‘Oh my god.’ Alex puts the bottle down and grabs her wife for a hug. ‘That’s amazing! I’m so proud of you.’
Ever humble, Maggie shrugs. ‘Just doing my job.’
‘Yes. You’re doing it amazingly .’ Only six months as Captain and her wife was already making a huge difference. ‘Now we have two reasons to celebrate - Christmas, and you cleaning up this city.’
Maggie chuckles. ‘ Celebrate ? You mean drink wine, eat cold pizza and wrap all the presents we should’ve wrapped weeks ago instead of leaving until the last minute?’ Aka what they did every year, despite always vowing to be more organized next time.
Alex grins. ‘Absolutely.’
They wouldn’t have it any other way.
9:24 p.m.
Alex’s fingers could do a lot of things.
A lot of wonderful things.
They could not, however, manage the intricacies of tape and wrapping paper.
‘Goddamn it.’ She sighs in defeat as she tries to shake the tangled, now unusable, tape off her finger. It’s not the first time it’s happened. Nor will it be the last. She’s wasted as much tape as she’s actually used in the past hour and, bless her heart, whilst her wrapping skills are passable, they are nowhere near perfect looking.
Maggie reaches over and rests a hand on her wife’s thigh. ‘Want me to finish these?’
Alex glances over at the stack of presents they still have left to do - as much as they tried not to spoil their daughter, admittedly they’d went a little overboard this year, though some of those gifts were books and crafts so at least had educational value. ‘No, no, it’s okay. That’s not really fair on you, is it?’
‘Babe,’ Maggie says gently. ‘Christmas is meant to be fun, and this doesn’t look like fun for you. And I don’t mind.’ With Alex’s wrapping speed considered, it’d probably take Maggie about an extra fifteen minutes to do all this solo.
A grateful smile tugs at Alex’s lips. ‘You sure?’
‘Absolutely.’ She smiles back.
Yet Alex still seems hesitant. ‘What will I do? I mean I kinda feel useless not helping.’
‘That’s not true.’ Maggie picks up her empty wine glass. ‘You can help by filling this up.’
Alex is on it.
10:16 p.m.
Presents sit under the tree.
Alex sits on the couch, DualShock controller in her hands as she plays the PlayStation , with a sleepy wife cuddled into her side, face adorably smushed up against her shoulder - Maggie’s always been the one in the relationship that dozes off early. There’s nowhere else in the world that she would rather be.
11:12 p.m.
So engrossed in her game, Alex doesn’t notice her wife stirring until she hears a sleepy voice.
‘What’s this?’
‘ The Last of Us ,' Alex replies. ‘You don’t recognise it?’ Her career and, now, motherhood typically left little time to indulge in video games yet, even with the limited time she had, she ends up doing a yearly playthrough of the series, she just loves it that much.
‘Can’t say I do.’ Maggie switches from Alex’s shoulder to Alex’s lap.
Alex hits the pause button. ‘Want me to put a movie back on?’
‘Nah,’ she smiles. ‘I’m good.’
‘You gonna drool on my pants now?’
‘I don’t drool,’ Maggie mumbles.
The trail of saliva on Alex’s red flannel pyjama top says otherwise.
12:01 a.m.
Cursing wakes Maggie up.
‘No, no, no, goddamn it. Shit .’ Alex is struggling to assemble a not-so-little...something - neither of them were quite sure what this particular toy was, they just knew it was Paw Patrol and, thus, Jamie would inevitably love it.
‘I thought I wrapped all the presents?’
Alex is using her forehead to stop a piece of yellow plastic from crashing to the ground, whilst her hands hold the main body of the toy steady, but manages to look over. ‘I forgot about this one. Thought I’d assemble it now so she could play with it in the morning. It’s more difficult than I thought,’ Alex explains. ‘A little help, please?’
Maggie scoots off the couch and steadies the falling piece of masonry. Her eyes look over at the box, reading Paw Patrol Lookout Tower . It offers zero clues as to what this particular part did, though it looked like it was for decoration.
‘When did toys become so complex?’ Alex sighs. ‘I got a Barbie when I was five, and the only complicated part of that was trying not to get the little seat belt in her car tangled up.’
‘You had Barbies ?’
‘Yeah, what’s so surprising about that?’
Maggie frowns.
Alex cracks. ‘Yeah, you’re right. But I made sure my Barbie lived an exciting life, you know? She wasn’t some diva or wasted her life pining after some guy. She was an adventurer, she went out on exploration missions, she was badass. Mom used to get pissed when she’d have to clean her up after she went digging in the backyard.’
Now that Maggie can imagine. ‘What happened to her?’
‘I don’t know,’ Alex shrugs. ‘I accidentally left her behind at the beach and, when we went back for her, she was gone.’
Naturally, Maggie can’t help but imagine that happening to Jamie and, naturally, her heart hurts. ‘That’s...that’s kinda sad.’
‘It was,’ Alex nods. ‘But looking back now, not so much. Like another kid could’ve taken her, and that kid might not have been as fortunate as my family was. I was lucky. I was spoiled . I didn’t need as many toys as I had. Losing one Barbie was no big deal.’
Maggie can’t help but lean over and give her wife a kiss.
‘What was that for?’
Maggie smiles. ‘I hope Jamie grows up to be just like you.’
They finish the assembly together, leave out some treats for ‘Santa’ before, finally, calling it a night.
1:17 a.m.
There’s a burst of red shooting through the night sky.
It’s not Santa, nor is it Rudolph.
It’s Supergirl’s cape flapping in the wind as she flies over the city, making one last sweep before calling it a night. Much like the song, all is calm and all is bright - even rogue aliens and criminals liked to take some time off to relax and indulge in the festivities.
Before heading back to her apartment, she makes a quick pitstop.
After all, there’s cookies and milk waiting for her.
All in exchange for a little thank you note she’d written before taking off for the night - of course, that note is signed off as Santa rather than Supergirl ...
2:30 a.m.
A trash can clatters to the ground.
Gertrude springs awake.
Must protect the hoomans .
She runs to the nearest window to see what’s going on, and spots a black and white cat nonchalantly sitting by the neighbours’ disturbed trash. She hates, - no, despises - that cat, but as much as she wants to bark and tell it to scatter she can’t.
Hoomans are sleeping. Can’t wake them.
She waits by the window, hoping the dastardly feline will look over so she can shoot it a Mean Look but, alas, it does not, and just sits there, licking itself. Gertrude knows it’s not worth her time and backs away.
Her mommies are asleep, mama Maggie snoring ever so slightly, so she pads on out of the room to go check on the little one.
Jamie is also fast asleep. Her little buddy, a stuffed little otter, however, must’ve fallen from her grasp and is laying on the floor.
Must help .
So she does help, ever so gently picking up the otter and placing it on the bed. She nudges it closer to her little sister with her nose.
There you go little one.
3:55 a.m.
Alex wakes up.
That extra glass of wine right before bed had been too much, she needs to pee.
Begrudgingly, she untangles herself from the warmth of the blankets and her even warmer wife and hotfoots it over to the ensuite. It takes her no more than a minute to tinkle, to flush and to wash her hands but a minute is long enough for Maggie, in her slumber, to steal the covers.
Every. Goddamn. Time.
Fortunately though, because it happens so often, she’s used to it. She knows Maggie is a heavy sleeper and, so, knows that she’s not gonna wake her by tugging the covers back, and wriggling her way back into those arms.
She’s always loved being the little spoon, loved the intimacy of having her beloved holding her.
She feels safe.
She feels loved.
She feels so lucky.
4:28 a.m.
Alex turns in her sleep, burying her head in her wife’s chest, mumbling contently.
5:37 a.m.
It’s Maggie’s turn to wake up.
She’s awake but barely, alert enough to smile at the beautiful woman that’s in her arms but sleepy enough she’s back in the land of slumber within seconds.
6:04 a.m.
The return to that land is short lived.
Like a mini Barry Allen, Jamie sprints along the corridor, pushes open the door to the big bedroom and launches herself at her moms.
She lands, mostly, on Alex. ‘ Oof! ’
‘Christmas! Christmas! Christmas!’
The little one was right, it was indeed Christmas morning. It was also, however, early as hell. ‘Mommy needs to sleep a little longer, honey,’ manages a slightly winded Alex.. ‘So does Mama.’
Jamie doesn’t understand, too young to understand the necessity of sleep. ‘But, but it’s Christmas!’
‘And it will be Christmas all day,’ Maggie says. ‘Remember what you learned at school? About how there’s lots of hours in a day?’
Jamie nods.
‘That means there’s lots of hours to celebrate Christmas so,’ she gently pulls her child to her. ‘Let’s snuggle for a little bit and then we can go downstairs and see what Santa has left, yeah?’
It’s done a little begrudgingly at first but Jamie quickly settles between the two of them under the covers.
7:33 a.m.
Now Christmas begins.
Jamie runs out of the room.
‘Careful, honey,’ Alex warns, not wanting the day to be soured by an accidental trip.
The little girl pays no mind anyway, bolting down the stairs and into the living room, where she lets out an excited squeal.
‘I think she’s happy,’ Maggie smiles.
They join her downstairs and find her already playing with the Paw Patrol ...whatever it was.
‘It’s the one from the TV!’
Maggie turns to Alex for clarification as it’d been Alex that’d bought it.
‘It’s in a commercial,’ Alex duly explains. ‘Santa must’ve seen it in a shop window when he was buying his sister donuts one morning.’ She drops her voice to add, ‘Santa also couldn’t believe how expensive it was.’
‘Santa’s really sweet,’ Maggie beams.
‘Santa also got funny looks bringing it into work.’
Maggie snorts. ‘Oh please. Everyone already knows Santa is a softie.’
‘Santa is--.’
‘Mommy!’
Alex turns to her daughter. ‘Yeah baby?’
‘It’s not working!’
‘Santa forgot the batteries, didn’t he?’
Alex slowly nods. ‘Yep. Yep, he did.’
8:01 a.m.
After Alex spends a good ten minutes trying to find some AAAs and then struggling with a screwdriver to fit those AAAs, they finally manage, after another ten or so minutes, to convince Jamie to open her other presents.
It’s not Jamie’s fault, she just loves Paw Patrol .
Which is good because there’s a lot more Paw Patrol goodies awaiting her.
‘Chase!’ Never had Alex or Maggie seen a kid so excited to receive clothes for Christmas before...just like they had never rolled their eyes harder when they’d found that pair of pyjamas in the ‘boys’ section.
Whilst Jamie continues to tear into the rest of her presents, Alex goes over to the stack of presents by the coffee table. ‘Gerty,’ she calls softly, squeezing one gift that squeaks. ‘These are for you, baby.’
The German Shepherd, who’d been sniffing around her little sister’s presents, comes running over. Alex helps her to get to the various toys and treats inside, whilst also making sure her furbaby doesn’t eat any of the gold and silver wrapping paper.
Alex is a little confused by one gift. ‘Babe,’ she calls over her wife. ‘Did you mean to give this to Gerty?’ Its a stuffed toy of Marshall - that’s right, she knows all the names of the Paw Patrol characters which, given she watches it daily, isn’t really much of a surprise.
Maggie nods. ‘Gerty loves it too. Marshall is her favourite.’
That gets Jamie’s attention. ‘Marshall!’
Or so Alex thinks. Then she realizes that both of her kids have got matching stuffed toys, and both unwrapped them at the same time.
Obviously .
9:17 a.m.
As the children, Jamie and Gertrude, very happily play with their new toys, the grown-ups can finally open their own presents.
It’s a lot more formal than how they used to exchange gifts. Now they sit on the couch in their festive PJs, cups of coffee on the table and breakfast (some toast) in their bellies whilst, before, they used to swap them in bed, naked bar the occasional bit of wrapping paper that had stuck to their back when they’d expressed their gratitude, and love, for each other without words.
As much as they loved those days, they wouldn’t trade these ones for anything in the world.
‘Oh this is gorgeous,’ Maggie says as she opens the little blue box, finding a heart shaped pendant, diamonds set in white gold on a white gold chain. ‘Really gorgeous.’
‘There’s more to it than that.’ Alex takes the box from her, opening up the pendant to reveal that it is, in fact, actually a locket, a picture of the two of them on one side and a picture of Jamie on the other. ‘I thought it’d be nice for when you go to London in February. You know, in case you miss us.’
‘I will always miss you,’ Maggie smiles, even though the thought of a week long work trip to another continent was little to smile about. ‘But this will help. Thank you.’
They kiss, then it’s Maggie’s turn to hand over a gift.
Alex’s jaw drops. ‘I...what? How?’
Maggie shrugs. ‘I know someone.’
‘This has been sold out for months,’ Alex stares at the tickets - two concert tickets to one Miss Taylor Swift at Madison Square Garden in three weeks time, as well as two return tickets to the Big Apple - tickets she’d only dreamed of buying but many factors, though mostly work, had made it impossible to buy that far in advance. ‘Did you ask Taylor herself?’
‘Well people did say when Kara got bangs she looked like Taylor but, no, I didn’t. My source will remain anon--.’
Alex shuts her up with a kiss. ‘You are the best.’ And another kiss.
Much to Jamie’s displeasure. ‘Ewwwwwwwwww. Gross.’
10:30 a.m.
The calm before the storm.
A good storm though - any storm that was forecast to bring in waves of their loved ones was one they’d always look forward to.
Alex checks the refrigerator is well stocked with soda and booze.
Maggie sets out little plastic trays, ready to fill with snacks.
Jamie is sprawled out on the floor, playing with her new toys, with Gertrude by her side and The Muppets Christmas Carol on the TV screen in front of her.
It’s gonna be a good day.
11:00 a.m.
At eleven o’clock, sharp, their first guests arrive.
As always, Eliza looks that little bit traumatized. ‘How your sister got a license, I will never know.’
Alex laughs.
Kara quickly defends herself. ‘The roads are icy.’
‘Yes, dear. Which is exactly why you should be taking more care whilst behind the wheel.’
‘If you want, I’ll write her up a ticket for dangerous driving,’ Maggie remarks as she emerges from the kitchen, going over to hug her mother-in-law. ‘It’s not like she needs her license anyway.’
The younger Danvers pouts. ‘I can drive.’
‘Mhm,’ Alex nods. ‘Just not very well.’
‘Rude,’ Kara mutters.
‘True,’ Maggie quips.
‘Children, children,’ Eliza claps her hands together, stepping in to play peacemaker for the teasing that she ultimately started. ‘Kara is a bad driver. We all know that. Let’s not dwell on it any longer, hm? Now where is my beautiful granddaughter?’
12:50 p.m.
Winn is the first of the Superfriends to arrive.
He’s almost floored by the power in which Jamie runs at him.
‘Uncy Winn!’
‘Hey kiddo!’ The two have always had a special bond, mostly due to the fact that he’s a giant kid himself. Plus, ever since she was born, he had kindly given up much of his free time to babysit as and when needed. ‘What did Santa bring--.’ He doesn’t get to finish as Jamie tugs furiously at his arm.
Maggie chuckles. ‘I think that means she’s gonna show you.’
1:15 p.m.
Maggie is preparing dinner, with her mother-in-law’s help.
Alex is, for understandable and obvious reasons, not helping, instead putting out nibbles and snacks ahead of the rest of the gang’s arrival. Part of Alex’s job also includes fending off an ever hungry Kryptonian. ‘Stop it,’ she slaps away Kara’s hand.
‘I’m hardly going to ruin my appetite,’ Kara pouts.
‘No but you’re gonna eat it all before anyone else gets the chance to.’
‘I--.’ Kara’s brow furrows.
Alex’s does too.
‘You’re also hearing that, right?’
She is. And it sounds like Winn. Screaming.
It is indeed Winn, Maggie confirms.. ‘Oh god. Looks like he got our daughter a NERF gun.’
Alex hurries over to the window and sees Jamie chasing Winn around the garden. They both have NERF guns. Gertrude is running around after them. ‘Damn it, they’re gonna get covered in mud.’ As much as she didn’t want to be a killjoy, she didn’t want her furniture to get ruined. ‘Be right back.’
God, she was such A Mom.
She goes outside. ‘Guys, it’s--.’
She finds herself in the firing line as Winn stops, takes aim.
A little plastic dart hits her stomach.
Oh he didn’t just do that .
He grins and fires again, the dart hitting her boob. ‘Oh you little fu--.’ She remembers little ears are in the vicinity and corrects herself just in time. ‘--dge popsicle. You’re gonna pay for that.’
Ever the darling daughter, Jamie runs over and offers her weapon. ‘You can borrow mine, mommy.’
Alex gratefully accepts.
Winn stops grinning and starts running.
2:05 p.m.
Everyone is here now, and it’s very much a full house.
Kara, Eliza, Winn, J’onn, James, Brainy and Nia.
And, of course, her wife, Alex, and her daughter, Jamie.
A little over ten years ago, Maggie would never have imagined this would be her future because, a little over ten years ago, Maggie voluntarily worked the Christmas shift to allow a colleague the chance to spend the day with their family, because she didn’t have a family.
Now she did, and now she was laughing and exchanging dumb gifts with them all.
‘I saw this at the mall and, immediately, thought of you two,’ Kara hands over a squishy present.
Maggie looks at Alex, who gives her the go ahead to open the joint gift. Inside are two pairs of matching socks, with two otters and one joint speech bubble that reads ‘ I love my significant otter .’
3:32 p.m.
Christmas has always been hard, bittersweet.
Alex appreciates the time off, the time with her loved ones, the time spent doing nothing. All of that is relatively rare and, now more than ever, she is thankful for it and doesn’t take a second for granted. Yet as much as she loves her little family and her chosen family, sometimes it hits her that there’s something missing.
And, today, it does hit.
It hits her as she watches her little girl sitting on J’onn’s lap, as he helps her to read one of the many books she’d been given today. J’onn is SpaceGrandpa.
J’onn is not Grandpa.
Grandpa is not here.
Grandpa will never be here, they know that now for certain and watching Jamie and J’onn, despite how beautiful and adorable their relationship is, suddenly gets to Alex, suddenly makes a lump appear in her throat, suddenly--.
Maggie gently taps her thigh. ‘Hey babe, can you come help me in the kitchen?’
Alex blinks. ‘Yeah. Sure.’
Of course Maggie had noticed.
Maggie always notices, just like she always listens. That’s what had always made her such a good friend, and an even more incredible partner. They go through to the kitchen together. ‘Come here.’
Alex walks into those waiting arms, arms that hold her tight. It seems silly, she’s never been happier in life and she’s lived with this reality, Christmas without her father, for over two decades of her life. Yet still. Still, she misses him. Still, she feels that little bit sad.
She is, however, grateful, infinitely so, she has her wife to help her through these lulls. ‘I love you,’ Alex whispers.
‘I love you too.’ Maggie holds her for as long as needed, until Alex is the one to pull away.
‘I don’t think anyone is gonna believe you though.’
Maggie frowns. ‘How not?’
‘Me helping with the dinner? That’s kinda unrealistic.’
‘It might be but I actually do need your help.’ She hands Alex a knife. ‘I’ll do the potatoes. You can do the veggies.’
4:29 p.m.
Dinner is served.
Alex stands up before everyone tucks in. ‘I know this isn’t Thanksgiving but I just thought that, again, it would be nice if we could all take a second to say what we’re thankful for. If you want, of course, it’s totally optional.’ She turns to her wife. ‘Would you like to start?’
So Maggie does. ‘My wife, and all of you guys.’
And everyone else joins in.
‘My earth family.’
‘My daughters and the wonderful people they surround themselves with.’
‘The donut shop that just opened around the corner from CatCo.’
‘My beautiful fiancee, Nia.’
‘Guess I’m gonna have to say my handsome fiance, Brainy, huh?’
‘Being in a position to stand up for others.’
‘ Paw Patrol! ’
‘Maggie.’
Alex shoots Winn a Look. ‘Really? You’re gonna say my wife before I do?’
He shrugs. ‘Your fault for making the mistake of not going first.’
Oh, she was so taking her daughter’s NERF gun to work. Actually, no. She was going to buy her own, bigger NERF gun, modify it accordingly, and then take it to work. The little shit wouldn’t know what hit him - seriously, he wasn’t going to be able to count the amount of plastic darts that’d be fired at him.
5:57 p.m.
After dinner it was time for games.
Games nights were also rare these days. Alex and Maggie had Jamie; Kara’s journalism career had blossomed; James had moved out of NC; J’onn was keeping busy with his ever-growing PI firm; and the rest of the gang already lived hectic lives as it was. They managed only a couple a year, and Christmas was one of those nights.
Though things were different these days, with two games running at once - one that Jamie could play, and one for the adults.
Jamie, Winn, Kara, Eliza and Nia were playing Snakes and Ladders (with a bunch of other games were lined up); whilst the others played Monopoly.
As always, Alex was losing.
As always, Alex wasn’t happy about that, refusing to see it as anything other than a combination of misfortune, poor financial management and carelessness. ‘Wait! That’s my property. You owe me a hundred bucks.’
James has already moved his token on. ‘Too late. Should’ve realized that when I landed on it.’
‘Uh, no,’ Alex stands firm. ‘You landed on my property, so you have to pay up.’
James also isn’t budging. ‘Yes. If you had asked me to before I rolled my next shot. It’s the landlord’s responsibility to get payment, not me.’
Alex looks over at Maggie. ‘He can’t do that, right?’
‘Technically he just did.’
It only fuels Alex’s anger. ‘Pay up, Olsen.’
‘No.’
So Alex turns to the wise one at the table, the one that had been appointed banker. ‘J’onn,’ she whines. ‘Tell him he has to pay up.’
‘Sorry, Alex. James is right. It’s your responsibility to stay on top of things - and it's not his fault when you get, how to say it...well, distracted .’
Alex’s cheeks burn. The game of footsie her wife had instigated under the table, a game that she had only been too happy to participate in, had, clearly, not gone unnoticed.
6:07 p.m.
With only seven bucks left to her name, Alex throws in the towel.
‘Maybe if you’d asked for that money, you’d still be in the game,’ James smirks.
Alex’s fingers itch, desperate to pick up a tiny plastic house and throw it at his smug face. She manages to fight the urge and, instead, stands up. ‘Hey babe, let’s play something else.’
Maggie frowns. ‘I’m playing this.’
‘You’re in last place now,’ Alex points out.
‘Only because you quit.’
James snorts.
Once again, Alex resists flicking a plastic piece of property. ‘I was thinking we could play a game together. Just the two of us.’
Maggie arches a brow. ‘Like?’
‘How does Twister sound?’
Maggie doesn't even hesitate, pushing her paper notes to one side. ‘Great game guys but I’m also out.’
7:00 p.m.
All is calm, and the Christmas lights remain bright as a day of laughing, eating and being merry catches up on them.
Alex and Maggie are cuddled up on the couch, the former a little sore from that earlier game of Twister after taking a (giggly) tumble, caused by the close proximity of her wife’s very nice derrière; Kara’s sat on the floor with Jamie, both eating popcorn as they watch Elf ; and the rest are scattered across the living room, in various stages of a food coma - Eliza is, in fact, asleep, snoring much to her granddaughter’s amusement.
It’s been a good day.
Maggie’s heart feels as full as her stomach does - fit to burst.
8:51 p.m.
It’s only Kara and Eliza left.
They’re staying over tonight, Kara sleeping on the couch and Eliza in the spare room. The others have left to go home (James has an early flight in the morning) or to take their celebrations to the alien bar, and celebrate with their extra-terrestrial friends there. That’s what they used to do too but, with a kid, it just wasn’t possible.
Speaking of Jamie, she had, finally, succumbed to sleep, passed out on the couch, looking very much like her mama.
Alex scoops her up. ‘Alright nugget,’ she whispers. ‘Let’s get you to bed.’
Carefully, Alex takes her precious cargo upstairs, puts her in bed and tucks her in with a gentle kiss.
‘Merry Christmas, sweetheart.’
She returns downstairs, finding the rest of the Danvers clan waiting with a bottle of wine. Eliza pours them all a glass and instigates the toast. ‘To a wonderful Christmas.’
They all drink to that.