@epichlexi-drabbles It was another Christmas Eve and, as usual, Helen was unable to fall asleep. She sat with some tea and a photo album open on her lap. Photos, she had come to find, were more true than memory, and held more significance than many other things. She passed photos from bygone eras, looking for a few in particular. She smiled as her fingers lightly moved over the aged pictures, dredging up memories with a happy smile. The first Christmases with Ashley, Henry, and Tess. The pride in helping Biggie with cookies, the anticipation and excitement shining in their eyes. A few pages later, another picture caught her eye and she smiled. That year, their little family had grown with the addition of twins. She smiled gently to the nostalgia that hit her. ~Christmas eve~ She was reading "The Night Before Christmas" as she did every year. Ashley in her lap, blonde head bouncing as she asked a stream of questions. Henry and Adien sitting on Biggie's lap. Adien glued to the fantastic tale, Henry fidgety and bored, trying to take the ridiculous though festive Santa hat from Biggie's head. She glanced to Nikola, sitting relaxed in an arm chair with a glass of wine, two sleepy girls on his lap. Tess mumbled the words from the story, while Anni laid a contemplative head against his shoulder. The story finished and it was time to send the children to bed. Henry wanted to stay up, seeing if Santa would leave the game he wanted. Adien was wanting more cookies, while the girls wanted cocoa and to have a sleepover with each other. "Alright, that is enough. Henry, you cannot stay to see if Santa comes, you have to wait until the morning. Adien, you have had more than enough cookies for the night. No cocoa girls but find a room and stay there, now good night." She smiled to their individual reactions, and after hugs, they all shuffled to various rooms for the night. ~Present day~ She smiled, thinking of that night. The girls had fallen asleep in Ashley's room. Adien and Henry had managed to sneak some cookies, but they had gone to sleep quite easily. She flipped a few more pages, marking each one as they grew and shifted before her eyes. Ashley's smile, Henry growing into a young man, Adien and Anni growing so much more confident as time wore on. Tess, ever like her father, yet still so unique. ~Another Christmas Eve~ She hadn't read to them in years, but still, as they did in the past all the children gathered around the tree, even if it was to just hang out and talk. There was an obvious change though with the teenagers. Henry toyed absently with some component he'd grabbed, Adien flipped through a book, but kept glancing to Tess. Anni and Ashley were laughing with each other as they talked about some random event. Tess giggled along with them, the three in their own little world. Helen stood in the door way, watching them, still somewhat amazed by the growth and change she saw in them. Gone were the little ones, who believed in the magical. They had grown so much, changed into the ones who now knew better, but still tried to keep the spirit alive. Cookies were still loved, cocoa and every year, they still tried to take Biggie's hat. ~Present day~ She smiled sadly, realizing that was honestly the year things began to change. The next year, Henry took over the tech realm for them. The girls had all begged to be given work, hoping to one day go on a mission with Helen. Adien remained quiet, looking at his education more than anything. More pictures, more times where they seemed so different, yet still the same. Her fingers lingered on one, and she had to keep the wave of sadness from engulfing her. ~another Christmas Eve~ She hadn't wanted the tree, or lights. She only gave in at the insistence of the children. For the first time in years, instead of doing their own thing, the four huddled together by the tree. Henry kept an arm around Anni, who sat curled with Tess. Adien on the other side, his arms around her. Their first holiday without Ashley. The girls had been lost, Henry worked hard to show that he was working on moving past his sister's death. Adien had been the one to suggest the tree, and on Christmas Eve, they all decorated it. They had taken it upon themselves to bring the holiday alive, though each of them were mourning the loss in their own way. ~present day~ Helen sniffled, remembering how adamant they had all been. All of them were adults at that point, but they all needed that bit of childhood innocence. Not long after that, Anni went to the London Sanctuary to work and go to school. Then there was SCIU, and the destruction of the old Sanctuary. Henry and Nikola were gone, taken and for several years, they each felt there was no reason to celebrate. In time it would come back, first with Henry and Erika. Then Adien returned, followed by Tess. Anni was the final hold out, but finally returned home, changed, but there. She moved her hand to the newest picture, yet to be put in the book. She smiled to it, the joy on everyone's faces again. Tess and Adien, their first child on the way, Henry with Anni. Alastair reaching for Biggie's hat, Nathan in his mother's arms and Freya sitting on Ashley's lap. Ashley, her daughter miraculously returned to her. Her little family, once so fractured and missing, home and reunited once more. Perhaps, perhaps this was the beginning of a new, long lasting tradition.
