Lizzie’s head was nuzzled in the crook of Jarred’s neck as the carried the little girl back from the Christmas party in the hangar bay. The family had stayed too long but everyone was having fun…until they weren’t. Lizzie played hard with all the kids running about and eating far too much junk food as her parents socialized with various members of the crew. The Alindor’s had attended parties before but never with the hype and exuberance of Christmas being the following morning. Dante had spared no expense nor missed a detail in the event. There was a Santa, a live animal area, a craft table, and an entire Candyland village for the kids to entertain themselves providing an impromptu physical babysitter for his crew. Kalani and Jarred had taken full advantage of the adult section of the party dancing, drinking, and acting as if they were still on a honeymoon between bouts of doing the family thing. All in all it had been a great night exhausting all of them.

Entering the turbo, Kalani rubbed Lizzie’s back gently watching the little girl snooze away with her mouth slightly letting out a small snore every now and then. “I can’t believe she partied as hard as she did for a long as she did,” Kalani laughed. “We could have our hands full when she is sixteen.”

Hearing Kalani talk, Ralph stood up and used one paw to scratch at Jarred’s leg. As much as he loved Lizzie, he and Jarred were buds. Before his hairless, bipedal sister came, Jarred always carried him about. Dad my legs are tired too. Can you carry me and make her walk? His eyes looked up at Jarred almost pleadingly.

“Come here buddy,” Kalani scooped him up in her arms kissing his head. “Daddy is carrying Lizzie but I know you have tired feet too huh.” Ralph let out a contented sigh as he curled up in her arms closing his eyes. Since the first day Ralph had met his mom in the Raffi forest, she had always been there for him whenever he needed her. He was thrilled to have Jarred as a Daddy but still happy that Kalani knew how much he needed her still as a mommy. If anyone were to look into the turbo now however they would see a family that resemebled the Doolittles instead of the Alindors with a fox in Kalani’s arms, a child in Jarred’s arms and a bat hanging off a loop of his belt. Maxine let out a small yawn as she stretched her wings before snuggling back up against his thigh. It was hard to sleep with the swaying of Jarred’s gait but she was way too tired to fly and didn’t want to fall off his shoulder or Kalani’s on the way home.

The soft ding of the turbo reaching their floor caused Lizzie to lift up her head blinking. “Santa,” she asked letting out a long yawn.

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In the Alindor quarters
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Kalani set Ralph down in his bed and kicked off her heels next to the couch. She was so ready to call it a night but now that she was a mom, it was not going to be that simple. There was Christmas staging of the room before she or Jarred could crawl into bed and grab a few precious hours of sleep before the big morning. “Want me to put her to bed or get to work,” Kalani mouthed hooking a thumb at the large tree set up in the corner.

“Daddy, I knee…to tawk…to Anta.” Lizzie spoke through yawns as her hands tightened around Jarred’s neck. Laying her head back down on Jarred’s shoulder she blinked long and hard around the room. “I forgot to tell him somefing at the…pah…ty.” Another long and slow yawn spilled from her lips as Lizzie fought to stay awake.”

“Can I sleep under the tree and catch him then?” Lizzie didn’t fuss or struggle as she spoke. It was taking everything she had to stay away but this was important and she needed an answer before Christmas. “It’s really ‘portant,” she tightened her arms around Jarred’s neck in almost a hug like fashion.

Jarred laid Lizzie down and pulled the covers up snuggly around her. She looked up at him with innocent eyes filled with concern.

“Daddy, what are we gonna do if mommy comes back and see’s the presents for mommy?” The question was convoluted but to a five-year-old it made perfect sense. Last week, she and Jarred had went shopping when they stopped at the starbase. Jarred had helped Lizzie pick out several items but also gave her free reign on two of the presents for Kalani. They weren’t anything he would have chosen but knew Kalani would love them instantly. The pure joy Lizzie had, and the struggle to keep the items a secret until Christmas, made Jarred even that much more excited for the twenty-fifth, however, the question posed by his daughter needed an answer.

Lizzie