Work Text:
Wesley Crusher came home from school in tears. “Sweetheart, what’s wrong?”
“Santa Claus.” Beverly frowned. Santa Claus? The old Earth legend? She pulled her six-year-old towards her and hugged him. “What’s wrong with Santa Claus?”
“We were talkin’ about him at school an the other kids said that Santa Claus brings them what they want but I know he can’t bring me what I want an so I said he didn’t exist an then I fought with Grajik.”
“I see,” Beverly smoothed down his hair. “What do you want for Christmas that Santa Claus can’t bring you?” She feared his answer. Her husband had passed away less than a year ago, and this would be their first Christmas without him. Wesley had struggled around his birthday without his father and Beverly just wasn’t sure what this holiday would bring.
Truthfully, she didn’t want to celebrate it. She had only started celebrating it when she met Jack because it was an Earth tradition and it hadn’t been celebrated on Caldos. But they had always made a big deal over the holiday for Wesley when he was younger, and Beverly felt she couldn’t let him down. She had purchased a Christmas tree and the supplies to make cookies, and had a few presents ready to put under the tree the following night.
“I want Uncle Jean to be here!” His answer surprised Beverly. She had been expecting him to say his father, not her best friend. She gave Wesley a soft smile. “I know. But you know Uncle Jean and his ship are far away and he won’t be able to visit for another few months.” Wesley frowned.
“I know. But if Santa was real, then he would bring Uncle Jean to us!”
“Well, sweetheart....I don’t want to tell you he’s real or not, because I honestly don’t know. We didn’t celebrate Christmas when I was your age. But I think it’s more about the spirit of giving than a man who grants wishes.”
“Oh. Mommy, can we call Uncle Jean tonight?”
“Sure. We’ll try to call him after you have a bath, alright?” Wesley grinned. Beverly smiled too. It would be nice to speak with her best friend.
###
“Wesley! So good to see you!” The balding man on the screen grinned at the boy. Wesley grinned back “Hi Uncle Jean!”
“Does your mother know you called me?” Jean-Luc’s eyes twinkled with mirth. It wouldn’t have been the first time the clever boy had made a call to the Stargazer on his own. Wesley nodded. “Uh-huh. Mommy said she would talk to you after.”
“Sounds good to me. Tell me about your day.” Wesley told Jean-Luc about his day and his fight with his friend, making Jean-Luc frown. “I’m sorry, Wes. I wish I could do something to help you.”
“Come home an see us. Mommy misses you too. I know she does. She cries and says ‘I miss you, Uncle Jean’.” Jean-Luc smiled at the boy “I miss her too.”
Wesley let out a big yawn and Jean-Luc chuckled. “I think it’s time for little cadets to go to bed. Tell your mother I’ll wait here while she tucks you in.”
“Ok.”
Jean-Luc listened to the sounds of Wesley being tucked into bed and to Beverly reading him a story before he heard the door shut and saw Beverly approach her comm unit. “You didn’t have to wait. I would have called you back.” He grinned at her. “I didn’t mind. So, Wes had a bad day?”
Beverly frowned. “He did. Apparently, his friends were discussing Santa Claus and how he brought you what you wanted. Wesley said Santa wasn’t real because he couldn’t bring him what he wanted.”
“Jack?”
“No. You.”
“Me?”
“Yeah, you. He wants Santa to bring him Uncle Jean.” Jean-Luc smiled again. “Wesley left that part out of his story. But more important, what does his mommy want Santa to bring?” He wiggled his eyebrows at his best friend and she grinned back. “Wouldn’t you like to know.” His eyes darkened as he remembered his last visit around Beverly’s birthday. They had shared a heavy make out session on her birthday and Jean-Luc hadn’t wanted to push her into anything more at the time, but the kisses and her touch had been on his mind for two long months. “I would.” She winked.
“Wesley tells me you cry and say ‘I miss you Uncle Jean.’” He chuckled. “’Uncle Jean’?” Beverly blushed. “Definitely not. But....I do miss you, Jean-Luc.”
“I miss you too, Beverly. You know, I might be able to arrange for a position to open up in my Sickbay....”
“And what about Wesley? Jack said the policy on the Stargazer was no children.” Jean-Luc frowned. “It was...but I would have made the exception for Wesley...and I still would if you wanted to join me.”
“Wesley needs friends, though. And school? Who’s going to teach him or watch him when I’m on duty?”
“What if there were other children on board and a schoolroom with daycare?” Beverly snorted. “You’d have a gaggle of children on board your starship just to have Wesley and I on it?” Jean-Luc solemnly nodded. “I would.”
“I appreciate the offer, Jean-Luc....but I don’t know....are we ready for that?”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about, my dear.” He smirked. He knew exactly what they were talking about and it was a lot more than just her coming on board his ship. He knew she knew he was asking her to come live with him and to be in a relationship with him.
“I’ll think about it.”
“Good.” He smiled at her. “Are you ready for Christmas?” She sighed. “As I’ll ever be. I mean, the holiday used to be nice, but....” she trailed off. She hated bringing up Jack even though he had been Jean-Luc’s best friend now that she and Jean-Luc were in a sort of relationship. Though they hadn’t officially declared anything and hadn’t slept together, Beverly considered them together. Concern registered on Jean-Luc’s face. “I know. I’m sorry.”
“I’d say you’re not because then we wouldn’t be....but, then I think we probably would be and that’s the part that scares me the most.” Jean-Luc sat back in his chair and studied Beverly. All he wanted to do was hold the woman he loved in his arms and tell her it was okay to still mourn the loss of her husband. Beverly sighed. “Sorry.”
“Don’t be. Beverly, I....”
“I know,” Beverly said before he could finish his thought. He was going to tell her that he loved her, and she knew that he did, and she knew he knew she loved him too but she also wasn’t sure if she was ready to tell him out loud. “I should probably go. Wesley wants to decorate the Christmas tree tomorrow and I still have to find the boxes.”
“I moved them to the front of the crawl space when we were cleaning.” Beverly nodded. ‘Cleaning’ was code for ‘packed up all of Jack’s belongings’. She had asked Jean-Luc to put them in her small attic space for now, and she hadn’t been looking forward to having to see them to get to the decorations. “Thanks.”
“I’ll try to call you tomorrow?” Beverly smiled. “Christmas Eve. Doing anything for the ship?”
“Someone put a Christmas tree up in the lounge. But since not all of the crew is human, we aren’t making a big deal out of it. Those who wished to celebrate were permitted to request the day off. A few people are going on shore leave to visit family.”
“And you?” He shook his head. “Someone has to man the bridge.”
“Yeah. Well, goodnight, Jean-Luc.”
“Goodnight, Beverly.”
Jean-Luc started taping away on his computer when the call ended and he called his first officer on the comms. “Gilaad, I need you to do something for me....”
###
Wesley was making noise about needing to leave out milk and cookies for Santa, even though he was sure the man wasn’t real and Beverly had agreed to bake cookies that afternoon. “If you don’t think Santa is real, why do you want to leave him milk and cookies?” Wesley shrugged. “What if he is real and I get on his naughty list for not leaving him milk and cookies?”
Beverly had rolled her eyes. She was going to have to drink the milk and eat the cookie after Wesley went to bed. She already had a letter written from Santa explaining how he was unable to give people as a Christmas gift, but Santa was sure he would see his Uncle soon. It was going to be tied to a model of the Stargazer Jean-Luc had sent for him.
Beverly had put Wesley to bed with the promise that he wouldn’t come into her bedroom until at least seven the following morning and she fell onto her sofa with a glass of whisky in her hand. She held it up in the air and muttered ‘cheers’ as she slowly sipped it.
She watched the embers in the fireplace and tugged a blanket over her shoulders. Just one more drink and then I’ll get Wesley’s presents under the tree for him. Beverly fell asleep on her sofa and woke up when she felt strong arms lifting her. “Mmph?”
“Hi,” a deep, familiar voice spoke and pressed a kiss to her lips. “Jean-Luc? How did....when did....” She flung her arms around his neck and kissed him back.
“I arrived by shuttle a few hours ago. I made the arrangements immediately after getting off my call with you last night. Beverly....” He sat down on the sofa with her in his lap. He knew the words he wanted to use, and he hoped Beverly was ready to hear them. “Beverly, I love you.”
Tears glistened in her eyes as she kissed him again. “I love you, too.” She fumbled with the belt on his uniform tunic and he chuckled. “Slow down, love. Wouldn’t you rather we be in a bed?”
“I’d like that.” Beverly slowly rose and spied Wesley’s plate of milk and cookies. “The milk and cookies!”
“What about them?”
“Eat them or Wes won’t think there’s a Santa.” Jean-Luc shook his head but accepted a cookie and took a sip of the milk. He made a face. “Ugh. Haven’t drank milk in years. This is disgusting.” Beverly giggled and took a sip. “You’re not kidding. Whisky?”
“Please.” Beverly dumped the milk and returned to the sofa with two tumblers of whisky. She leaned against him on the sofa and he wrapped an arm around her. “You’re really here and it’s not a dream?”
“Nope,” he kissed the top of her head. “I promise I’m real and I won’t disappear in the morning. I have two weeks of leave...more if I use everything I have banked.” She smiled and snuggled against him. “Wesley will be surprised. Looks like Santa is real after all.”
Beverly was back in his lap. His tunic was open and she shoved it off his shoulders. She met his lips in a heated kiss. “I don’t want to wait. Jean-Luc...take me to bed.”
He grinned against her lips and stood with her in his arms again and carried her to the bottom of the steps. She giggled. “Put me down. I can walk.”
He placed her on the bottom step and she seductively wiggled her hips at him as she walked up the stairs. She turned around and held a finger to her lips. “Shhh, don’t wake Wes.” He grinned. “I guess we’ll just have to be quiet then.”
Beverly reached for his hand and pulled him into her bedroom, closing the door before her hands were on him again, tugging off the rest of his uniform. Her uniform followed and they fell onto the bed clad in their underwear. Beverly kissed Jean-Luc tenderly. “I’ve been dreaming about this.”
“Hope it lives up to your dreams,” he said before he kissed her back and slowly removed her bra and panties.
###
Wesley woke up and looked at the big clock his uncle had given him for his sixth birthday. It had big numbers on it and he saw that the little arm of the clock was almost pointing at the seven, but the big arm was on the eight. He knew he couldn’t go wake up his mother until the long arm was pointing at the twelve, so he jumped out of bed and headed downstairs to see if Santa was real.
He tiptoed down the stairs and glanced at the plate. It was empty, but there were two empty glasses on the table instead of the one. On the sofa was a bright crimson tunic with the insignia of a Captain and the badge from the Stargazer. Wesley picked up the jacket and hugged it close. Maybe this was a sigh from Santa?
Wesley put the long tunic on over his pyjamas and looked at the clock above the mantle. The numbers on it weren’t as big as the ones on his clock, but he could tell from the position of the long arm that it was now seven and he could go into his mother’s bedroom. He ran up the stairs and flung open her door. “Mommy! Santa is real! He brought me Uncle Jean’s coat! Mommy—“ Wesley stopped at the foot of the bed. Laying there, with his mother in his arms, was his Uncle. Wesley let out a squeal and launched himself onto the bed, with Beverly barely rolling out of the way before Wesley was wrapping his arms around the man’s neck. “Uncle Jean! Santa brought you!”
Jean-Luc kissed the top of Wesley’s head and glanced over at Beverly, suddenly relieved that she had suggested he put back on his boxers after they had made love. “He did indeed, Wes.”
“But how come Santa put you in Mommy’s bed?” Beverly flushed. “Err...Well, Wes....Uh....” Jean-Luc looked over at Beverly who was trying to contain her giggles. “Wesley...I love you and your mommy very much.”
“I love you too, Uncle Jean.” Jean-Luc smiled. “Glad to hear it, Wes. What do you say we get some breakfast?”
“Can we have special food cos it’s Christmas?”
“Sure. But can you do me a favour first?” Wesley nodded. “Santa left my bag with my clothing downstairs by the front door. Can you get it for me?”
“Uh-huh!” Wesley dashed out of the room and Jean-Luc drew Beverly back into his arms. “Happy Christmas, my love.”
“Happy Christmas, Jean-Luc.”
###
Over Breakfast, Wesley was ecstatic talking about how excited he was to discover Santa was real. Jean-Luc and Beverly just grinned and allowed him to believe in the strange bearded man, even if it was just for this year. Wesley had torn into his presents and was soon happily playing on the floor while Jean-Luc held Beverly in his arms loosely.
“I know what I want to ask Santa for next year!”
“You do? Wes, remember...he might not be able to grant a big item two years in a row. He has lots of children to make happy all over the quadrant.”
“I know, but do you think he could give me a little brother?”
###FIN###