Celebration
A/N: MERRY CHRISTMAS! I hope you all have the most perfect day!
Title: Celebration
Summary: You spend your first Christmas on the Enterprise with Jim and Bones.
Words: 898
Bones waved a hand to get Jim’s attention when he saw him walk into med-bay, signalling that he’d only be a moment longer. Jim nodded, stepped back, and then – very characteristically – started up a conversation with a passing nurse, who the doctor could tell with a roll of his eyes was certainly not interested.
He finished bandaging his patient, gave a warm smile and a “Merry Christmas”, and then immediately moved to save the poor nurse from her captain.
“Can’t believe we had to work on Christmas,” Jim complained as the two of them walked down the corridor.
“I’m the Chief Medical Officer and you’re the Captain of the Enterprise,” Bones told him, shaking his head. “We’re in space now. I highly doubt the ship could function without us working on Christmas.”
Jim shot his best friend a look. “That’s a bit vain, Bones, don’t you think?”
He yelped at the slap around the back of the head, childishly attempting to slam the door to his room in his face when he made to open it.
“You’re such a kid, you know?” Bones said, shaking his head and shutting the door behind him. He pointed at you where you were stood on a chair, setting up the last of the Christmas decorations. “You don’t think you’ve done too much to the place?” he asked, shrugging off his jacket.
“You guys have been working all day,” you told him, reaching a leg out to kick Jim when he attempted to push you off. “The hell did you expect me to do?”
“I’m not taking them down later,” Jim insisted. He opened a cabinet and pulled out a bottle of whiskey, tied with a red ribbon. Winona had given it to him before he and you had left for the Enterprise, giving her son strict instructions to open it only when you turned twenty-one. Admittedly, you still had a couple more years, but this was your first Christmas without her, worlds away from her, and he had a feeling you’d be needing a good drink of it soon.
“Later?” You turned to glance over your shoulder, eyebrow raised as your fingers paused in their hanging of the red tinsel. “You don’t take down Christmas decorations until the end of December, Jim.”
Bones huffed, pouring a glass of something on the table. He had no clue what it was, but he’d had a long day. “That’s what the wife used to say,” he said. “Threatened to murder me when I took the damn blindin’ reindeer lights down.”
“I’d do the same,” you remarked casually before stepping down, crossing your arms over your chest and turning to admire your work. A smile spread across your lips and you clapped your hands, immediately moving to switch on the lights. “Beautiful!”
Jim blinked against the lights that immediately lit up his room, almost stumbling back in his surprise. There were lights everywhere. And he meant everywhere. Draped over shelves, adorning walls, hanging from the ceiling… there was a giant tree in a corner, its branches housing baubles and tinsel and more lights, glittered pinecones and flaming candles that he hoped to God wouldn’t result in him having to deal with a fire later...
He sat on the chair next to Bones and waved a hand in front of him, barely holding back a snort when he saw his best friend’s eyes squeezed tightly shut. “How can you still see?” he asked you as you sat in the chair opposite, still grinning.
“Practice,” you told him proudly. You noticed the bottle in his hand and jerked your head towards it. “What’s that?”
Jim glanced down at it and placed it on the table. “Mom gave it to me before we left. Told me not to let you have a drink until you turned twenty-one, but I don’t think she’d mind if you had a sip now.”
At the mention of your mother, your smile faded and the excitement in your eyes diminished a little. Bones, who’d just about begun to regain his white spot-free vision, frowned lightly, sparing a glance at the Captain before turning back to you. He leaned towards you, resting his forearms on the table. “You okay, darlin’?” he asked gently.
You heaved a sigh and nodded, leaning your head in your hand. “Yeah. Just… I miss Mom. A lot.”
“It’s okay to miss her a lot,” Jim assured you, that brotherly protectiveness glowing on his face. “It’s your first Christmas without her. Which is why this drink is needed!”
The excitement returned a small amount and you let him pour you a glass, taking it from him and bringing it to your lips. You tilted your head, noticing the knowing look on Bones’s face a little too late, and let the liquid slide down your throat.
It burned.
All at once, you slammed the glass back down on the table and started coughing abruptly, only half-realising Jim had come around to aggressively pat you on the back above his and Bones’s amused laughter.
“How was that for your first glass of whiskey, hey?” Bones asked, clinking his own glass to yours before downing it.
“Disgusting,” you managed to croak out, rubbing at your throat. “I’m never drinking again.”
The boys would remind you of that statement after your hangover the next morning.
Either way, it was certainly a Christmas to remember.
Star Trek Masterpost
December Writing Challenge Masterpost
