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Jean-Luc Picard adjusted the small child in his arms and glanced at his wife as he stepped onto the transporter pad. Beverly climbed up next to him and shouldered a large bag as she nodded to the transporter chief.
“Energize.”
The small family was set down just outside of a large half-timbre house. There was a light dusting of fresh snow on top of what already had fallen, and the vines that filled the fields behind the house were covered in frost. The front door to the house opened and the family was bathed in the warm air that seeped out of the front door.
“Come in, come in! Oh, do hand me Rene, would you?” Marie smiled at her brother-in-law and sister-in-law and cooed at her young nephew who bore the same name as her own deceased son. It had been years since her son, Rene, and husband, Jean-Luc’s brother Robert, had been killed in a fire. When Jean-Luc asked her if he and Beverly could name their son after Rene, Marie had been touched and immediately agreed. Since then, she positively doted on the small boy.
Rene was not quite two years old, but this would be his first Christmas on Earth, as the family hadn’t been able to get away the previous two years. Time passed differently when you were on a starship, and Christmas last year had been a very subdued affair. The year before they had been in the middle of a conflict and no one had felt like celebrating. But Jean-Luc was determined to give his son a joyeux Noël, even if it was his third Christmas and not his first. He passed his son over to Marie as he greeted Marie with a kiss on the cheek. “Come, Rene, let’s get you settled. I found some of my Rene’s old toys for you to play with.” Rene happily babbled back at his aunt. Jean-Luc took the bag off Beverly’s shoulder and wrapped an arm around her. “I hope this is the right thing to do. You don’t think it’s hard for Marie, do you?” Beverly shook her head. “Jean-Luc, her Rene has been dead for over ten years. I’m not saying she’s over his death, but she has managed to move on and from what you’ve been telling me she has really embraced being in charge of the vineyard.”
“She has a good business head on her shoulders. I’m surprised Robert never knew. Now, shall we head inside and out of the cold?” Beverly nodded and Jean-Luc led her into the house. To his and Beverly’s surprise, Beverly’s eldest was sitting on the sofa in the lounge. “Wesley!” Beverly dashed over to her first born and engulfed him in a hug. “I didn’t know you would be here!” Beverly eyed her husband as he walked over to give his step-son a hug. “Did you arrange this?” Jean-Luc shook his head. “It wasn’t me, my love. Although I would be lying if I didn’t say I wish I had thought of it.”
“Aunt Marie figured out how to send me a message and I thought I would surprise you...I wanted to be home for Rene’s first official Christmas.” Beverly grinned. It really would be a joyous Christmas to have both her sons with her.
###
Beverly was lounging in a bath full of bubbles with her back pressed into Jean-Luc’s chest. Between Marie and Wesley, she and Jean-Luc had hardly taken care of their son at all the past few days. Rene adored his big brother, “Wessie”, and Wesley loved being a big brother, despite the large age gap. Beverly wistfully wondered if her son would ever give her grandchildren, then pushed the thought out of her mind. She had Rene, she didn’t need grandchildren. Besides, that would make Jean-Luc a grandfather, and he was only just getting used to being a father! Jean-Luc tilted his glass of wine towards Beverly and she clinked her glass to his . “Mmm, this is very nice, don’t you think?”
“Yes, my love. We’ve both been so busy since Rene was born, it’s nice to get to spend some time together just the two of us.” Beverly turned in the warm water so she was facing her husband and straddled him. She moved her glass and his to the edge of the tub so she could wrap her arms around his neck. Jean-Luc’s hands came to rest on her hips as he held her close and deeply kissed her.
“Mmm. You know, Jean-Luc, I think I know exactly what I want to do tonight.”
“What’s that, my love?”
“Make love all night long.”
“I can’t think of anything else I would rather do.” He kissed her again.
###
Jean-Luc led Wesley through the forest in search of the perfect Christmas tree.
“Captain,” Jean-Luc grinned at his step-son. Old habits clearly died hard with the boy. “Couldn’t we just get one from the village? It’s freezing out here!”
“Ah, but every year, my family would come out and cut down our own tree. It’s tradition, Wes!” Wesley grumbled at his step-father but dutifully followed. He had never seen his former Captain so animated before, except for perhaps when little Rene had started to toddle around their quarters. His mother had managed to send him a holovid of his little brother and in the background he had heard and seen his step-father’s excitement. Jean-Luc stopped in front of a tree that was easily seven feet tall. “What do you think?”
“Uh...how are we going to cut it down?”
“We chop it.”
“Great.”
Jean-Luc made a few swings of the laser axe before passing it to Wesley. “We should have brought Rene with us. It’s tradition for all the Picard males to swing the axe a few times.” Wesley grinned. “You consider me a Picard?” Jean-Luc put down the axe and rested a hand on Wesley’s shoulder. “Son, from the time you first boarded my ship, I considered you my son.”
“I never knew. I always looked to you as if you were my father, but...”
“I know. I’m sorry, Wesley. If your mother and I had gotten our act together all those years ago, you might have had a different childhood.”
“That’s alright, Dad, I think we managed.” Jean-Luc gave Wesley’s shoulder a squeeze. “I always wanted you to call me Dad.”
“Well, I figure we don’t want to confuse Rene...” Jean-Luc grinned at his step-son. “Of course, for Rene.” Jean-Luc hefted the axe once more and resumed chopping.
To Wesley’s surprise, it didn’t take long at all for the tree to be felled. They loaded it onto the hoversledge and were soon on their way back to the house.
Jean-Luc and Wesley propped the tree up in a corner of the front porch before they came back inside. The house smelled like Christmas. It was warm and there was faint whiff of brandy and dried fruit coming from the kitchen where Marie was teaching Beverly how to make Christmas Pudding. Rene was napping in a small cot in the lounge, so Jean-Luc fetched two cups of tea from the replicator Marie had asked him to install years ago and the two men settled in on the sofa in front of the fire.
Beverly soon appeared, covered in flour and greeted her husband with a kiss “Did you find a tree?”
“The perfect tree.” Beverly nodded. “How’s it going in there?” Jean-Luc gestured to the kitchen.
“I think there’s a reason you do more cooking than me.” Jean-Luc laughed. “You could have gone out to find the tree and I would have gladly stayed in and baked.” Beverly wrinkled her nose. “No thanks. It’s cold out there.”
“It’s called Winter, my love.” Beverly pursed her lips. “Hmm. I don’t like it.”
“You will let me take Rene out in the snow, right?”
“I suppose. If we bundle him up...” she reached for Jean-Luc’s cup of tea and took a sip. Wesley raised his eyebrows. He didn’t get to see his...parents...display their love and familiarity with each other often. It was a side of Captain Jean-Luc Picard that he wished had come out sooner. His old Captain had been mellowed by marriage and by the birth of Rene. If his parents had gotten together sooner, he and Rene might have grown up together. Wesley shrugged to himself. While he did technically have all of time at his disposal, who knew what else would change if he tried to go back to get them together sooner...but he would be lying if he said the thought hadn’t crossed his mind more than once in the last few years. Especially after he went back and observed his mother and step-father shortly after his father’s death. It was clear that they had been in love even back then, but Wesley was afraid to meddle with things.
Marie bustled into the room with a plateful of cookies, a teapot, and cups for her and Beverly. “Aunt Marie, tell me you didn’t make cookies too?” Marie beamed at Wesley. “Of course not. I’ve become rather adept at programming the replicator.” Wesley grinned. “Mm, just like Mom.” Beverly swatted at Wesley. “Watch it, Mister.”
###
Rene was playing with the discarded wrapping paper and ribbons, the half dozen new toys lying forgotten at his feet. Jean-Luc grinned at his wife, who was curled up into his side on the sofa. “Should have skipped the presents and just wrapped empty boxes. Look at him!” Rene was gathering fistfuls of the brightly coloured paper and tossing them in the air and giggling. Wesley picked up one of the smaller boxes and perched it on Rene’s head like a hat and Rene squealed with laughter.
“Ah, it’s good to hear a child’s laughter in this house again, Jean-Luc.” Marie had tears in her eyes as she observed her two nephews at play. Jean-Luc wrapped his free arm around Marie, kissed the top of her head, and pulled her into the embrace he was already sharing with Beverly. “Thank you for inviting us, Marie.”
“Nonsense. This is your home. All of you.” Beverly reached across Marie and patted her hand. “Thank you, Marie. I’ve never had a place to call home, other than the Enterprise.”
“Surely you and Wesley’s father had a home?”
“Not really. I entered the academy when I was 18 and lived in Starfleet dorms, then I was on the Stargazer until I got married and I was stationed on a starbase until shortly after Jack died. Then we came to Earth and we moved into Starfleet issued housing until the Enterprise launched.”
“There was your Nana’s house on Caldos,” Jean-Luc helpfully offered. Beverly shuddered. “Please don’t remind me. I’m so glad I sold it.”
“Why? Surely your grandmother’s house was important?” Beverly groaned. “You tell her.” Jean-Luc launched into the story about Ronin and when he was done, both Marie and Welsey were staring straight ahead.
“Nana had a lover who was a ghost?! Mom, you never told me all of that.”
“To be fair, Wes, you were still at the academy. I didn’t want my twenty-two year old son to know his mother was seduced by a ghost!”
“But the Captain saved you.” Wesley beamed up at his step-father from his position on the floor. Even over 30, Wesley still had a bit of hero worship in him for his step-father.
“It wasn’t all me, Wes. Geordi and Data helped. And that man...Quinn, was it? He knew what had been going on with Felisa from the beginning.”
“Yeah, but Mom saw you and it broke Ronin’s spell on her.” Beverly blushed and quietly said, “It had been shortly after KesPrytt...” Jean-Luc grinned. “Now that, was a memorable two days.”
“Was that when you were telepathically linked?” Beverly nodded. “I bet that was embarrassing.”
“Oh, Wes, you have no idea.” Beverly launched into the story, this time embarrassing Jean-Luc when she made vague references to the erotic dream she accidentally shared.
“And you still didn’t get together?” Marie shook her head at the couple. “I knew you two were made for each other ever since Jean-Luc used to mention you and Wesley in his letters home. He always spoke of you with pride, Wesley, as if you were his own son. I’m very sorry your husband had to die, Beverly, but I’m very happy you and Jean-Luc have finally found each other.”
Beverly gazed down at her younger son, who was now teasing one of the vineyard’s many cats with a piece of ribbon with Wesley’s help. She tilted her head up and pressed a light kiss to Jean-Luc’s cheek. “So am I, Marie. So am I.”
Later that evening, the couple cuddled on the rug in front of the fire, wrapped in a blanket. Marie had insisted on once again putting her young nephew to bed before retiring herself, and Wesley had gone to bed hours ago. The couple had made love in front of the fire, something Jean-Luc had admitted he had wanted to do with her for years. The firelight danced and gleamed off of Beverly’s red hair and set it ablaze like a crown on top of his queen’s head. He leaned over and kissed her slowly.
“Joyeux Noël, mon Coeur.”
“Joyeux Noël,” Beverly echoed before snuggling down into her husband’s arms.