Brianna yawned and woke up. It was the 25th of December, and for the first time since she was a little girl, there was a real Christmas to celebrate. Grabbing a slightly modified bathrobe (to allow her wings to move) she ran out of her room to give away the last few gifts. To get to the main floor faster, Brianna bipassed the stairs, and opted to dive down the opening created by the stairs.
Which did not go well for Grissom, as the tip of her left wing hit him smartly in the face. "Gaw..." he began, before he recognized who it was. "Ah, Bri, loved the new wireless mouse."
Brianna grinned and waved. Her wings and back were scraping the ceiling as she continued her Christmas flight around the HQ. Drake was fixing breakfast. The wind from Brianna's wings knocked the jar of jam. "Watch it, Bri! Oh! Drax says thanks for the meat!"
Drake watched Brianna skim through the kitchen. You better put a label on those sirloins before Blackwulf gets to them, said Drax to Drake.
Leslie and Phil were in another room, opening gifts. Phil gave a thumbs-up, holding a collector's edition of Alice and Wonderland. Leslie, looking amused, was opening her copy of A Christmas Story. The gift was accepted humorlously.
Then there was Adem. He was in an adjoining room, alone. Brianna landed on a table beside him. "I've got you a gift," she said. She handed him a small wrapped box.
Adem's looked puzzled. "But I didn't get you anything. As I understand from traditional Christmas behavior--"
Brianna shrugged. "It doesn't matter. This is your first Christmas on this planet, and it's my first Christmas as a free girl." Adem opened the small box. "Back home, my father use to light a candle on Christmas eve. It welcomed the Holy Family into our house." The Irish angel smiled. "So...welcome to our family."
Adem looked at his new gift and smiled. "Some family, isn't it?"
"Well," said Brianna. "With Drax and Grissom and Grimm in it, it's not a normal family...but I've learned that family isn't whose DNA you share or who grew up in the same house."
Brianna smiled and walked towards another room. Her wings were tired. Adem looked at his new gift. The candle was made of ivory and gold wax, and stood about five inches. He smiled.
{Wait a moment,} said Jym. {Where's MY gift?}.
***
Brianna had dropped Tayden's gift off the night before. So she wasn't surprised when he approached her. "Thanks for the chocolates. Not too many people know I'm a sucker for mints and white chocolate-covered pretzels."
"I'm fond of mints myself." Brianna turned away for a moment. "Tayden..."
"Sorry about yesterday evening. I treated you like a child -- you're a member of Vanguard, that makes you an adult."
Brianna was surprised by the apology. "Well yes...and no...and...I don't know, Tayden. I feel like I'm in some sort of funny limbo. Part of me knows I'm an adult and I should do adult things -- like fighting for Vanguard. And it's important to me. I'm eighteen, and a grown woman. But part of me..."
Tayden finished her sentence. "...Never got a chance to grow up."
Brianna looked at the ex-angle strangely. "Leslie was right..." She raised her voice. "I mean, I got to thinking. You use to be an angel -- I'm sure you're a creative thinker. A huge part of my life was taken away from me. I never got to have sleepovers or wake up on Christmas morning or be part of a school play. I know they must seem meaningless to you."
Tayden handed Brianna her gift. Puzzled, she opened the old box underneath the wrappings. "I can't believe it."
It was her old doll. It was faded, and old, but it was same familar toy of her youth.
Tayden gave her a kiss on the check. "Maybe the trick is to balance youthful innocence with older knowledge. Happy Christmas, Brianna."
