A Ta'Narian Christmas

"Will it work?" Keyno asked.

"Perfectly. The lights for the tree are white and there's enough room between the braches to hang things."

Keyno loaded up the tree and they returned. The inside of the house was beginning to take on a Christmas feel. Dale had found some of that fake snow in a can and sprayed the windows, after explaining what snow was to Raiden and Szin. Susan and Chad had scattered snowmen all through the house—some of which sang and danced.

More than once Lyn had to stop Raiden from attacking them. Santa and his reindeer decorations were set out and some lit up or moved whenever someone passed by, lights decorated many of the inside trees and large plants, red and green bows graced the containers, wreaths hung on doors, and Lyn had even brought her special Christmas plates.

"Oh my goodness, what a wonderful tree," Lyn said. "It's magnificent. You sure it won't die? It's much too lovely to die."

"It won't die," Dale said. "The container has a monitoring system and will give it everything it needs."

"Your mom could use one of those," Jerry said.

"Oh hush, you." Lyn swatted her husband.

Several hours later, with the help with so many people, Dale's house was decorated. Trimming the tree was interesting since Dayo and Raiden kept trying to climb up the braches and Szin kept throwing little balls that weren't breakable at them. Neo was chasing the balls and Lindsey was sticking bows on all the young she could get to.

Keyno was staring at a ball that had a fat man in a red suit. "Dale, this is the Santa Claus? The one that breaks into houses and leaves gifts?"

"Yeah, he comes down the chimney, drops off the gifts and we leave cookies and milk out for him."

"Why does he not come through the door? A male of this size couldn't possibly fit down the pipe that conducts smoke and combustion gases up from a fire or other heat source. Doesn't this structure extend above the roof, too?"

Lindsey was listening. Dale nudged Keyno and cut his eyes at his niece. "He's magical, Keyno. Look, I'll explain later, but trust me, the jolly fat man can do things that no mere mortal man can do."

"Can he bring what I asked for all the way here?" Lindsey asked. "Daddy? What if Santa can't find me here?"

Lindsey's bottom lip trembled.

Evan bent down and hugged his daughter. "We sent him a message, remember? He'll get here."

"But, but... what if..."

"The Santa will get here. He borrowed our fastest starship and my some of my best crew members are on board to make sure he arrives for you. I give you my bond that the jolly fat man will find you," Keyno said as he sat down next to Lindsey. He placed his fist over his heart.

Lindsey stared at Keyno for a moment. "Cross your heart?"

Behind Lindsey, Dale was making a cross on his chest, nodding his head up and down. Keyno copied the motion. "I give you my oath; I would battle the darkest forces to ensure the jolly fat man arrives for you."

Lindsey studied Keyno a moment more, then threw her little chubby arms around his neck. "Okay, Uncle Keyno."

Keyno buried his face in her sweet-smelling hair. A soft sob escaped from Dale but that was nothing compared to the tears that ran down several of the human's faces. Even Evan was affected, wiping tears on his sleeve.

"You're welcome, Niece Lindsey."

A sobbing laugh escaped Dale. "Aw jeez, love, you've been looking at Earth books again, haven't you? I really got to find those books. She is your niece, but just call her Lindsey."

Lyn had brought her camera and was taking pictures of all of it. Once they got the young to leave the tree alone, Keyno lifted Dale up so he could put the star on top of the tree. Dale hugged Keyno hard, then laid a kiss on him that had Keyno's tail skittering on the floor restlessly. Once Keyno caught his breath he lowered Dale to the ground.

"I'll start the final meal, love, you spend time with your parents," Keyno said.

"We'll help you," Gibor said as he and Doc stood up.

"Okay, and thanks," Dale said.

Lindsey had brought coloring books and was teaching the young how to color while the rest of the adults relaxed.

"Okay, now that they are gone, what about presents?" Lyn asked. "We had time to get you, Keyno and the young something."

"We did the same thing," Linda, Chad's mom said. "Actually, Lyn and I went shopping together. John, we got things for you, Doc and your young, also."

"Oh wow, you didn't have to do that," John said.

"Of course we did, you're part of Dale's family so, yes, we did take care of you. We also got something for Ti and Cielo. And speaking of them..."

"I talked to Cielo, Mom. They can't come; they're on Onfre right now, some tribal thing with their young Takeo. Cielo also said Christmas wasn't a big deal for him, but leave what you got and I'll make sure they get it."

"That's too bad; I do wish they were here. Will Malk and Kia be here?"

"I doubt it. Neither is human, remember," Dale said. "But if you got them something I'll make sure they get it, too."

"So it's just going to be us, huh?" Chad said.

"Looks like," John said.

"What are we going to do about gifts?" Chad asked.

"We can reduplicate whatever we want," Dale said. "That's not a problem. What about Christmas dinner?"

"I say we have turkey and dressing and the usual stuff, but add things that Keyno and the rest like. Like Susan said, a mixture of Earth traditions and whatever fits for you," Lyn said.

"A Ta'Narian Christmas..." Dale said, a wistfulness to his voice.

"Exactly, sweetie."

Later, the final meal—what Dale's parents called dinner—was served. It was a simple meal but had something for everyone. Tomorrow was Christmas Eve and there wasn't much time left. Chad, Dale and John were in the kitchen with Lyn, Linda and Susan. Everyone else was looking at the grill and admiring the upgrades Keyno had made to it.

Soon the little ones were yawning and everyone decided to call it a night. Chad and his family left along with Doc and John. Plans were made to meet back at Dale's house tomorrow. Keyno had one of those portable homes which he set up for their guests.

What looked like nothing more than a plain white cube about the size of a big Christmas present from the treetop was actually a six room house, complete with two nice sized bedrooms, two bathrooms, a small kitchen, and relaxation quarters. Dale took everyone down to the base of the tree while Keyno set up the house.

"Oh my gawd, can I have one of these for camping?" Evan asked, awed. "I've heard of a portable crib, but this... this is the bomb."

"Dale had the same reaction the first time he saw it," Keyno laughed. "He stared for a full five minutes, mouth hanging open."

"Did you live in this at first?" Evan asked.

"No, my home was finished, had been for years," Keyno said. "It was when I took Dale on the honeymoon."

Lyn leaned over and kissed Dale on the cheek. "You'll have to tell us about that some time."

"The G-rated version," Susan supplied helpfully.

Dale blushed as he suddenly remembered what Keyno threatened to stick in his mouth if he didn't shut it after watching the portable house they used set up. Then he really went up in flames when he remembered the flowers they had found by the lake on Aploi and how that had ended.

"Whoa, check out the red cheeks and ears. Must have been some honeymoon," Susan giggled.

"Oh my god, shut up," Dale said as Keyno winked at him, the infernal alien. Dale cut his eyes at his mate as an idea formed in his mind.

"I'll return the elevator down here once we go up. This way you can join us when you're ready in the morning. I'll extend the force field around the portable house for protection, too," Keyno said.

Everyone said goodnight. Dale and Keyno checked on the twins and went to bed. Tomorrow was going to be a busy day. Once Keyno was asleep Dale got up and started reduplicating the gifts for everyone he loved. An hour later he slipped back into bed.

* * * *

The next morning, the monitor chirped with the sounds of the twins waking. After easing out of Keyno's arms, Dale dressed and went to get the young before Raiden found something new to get into. As he prepared the twins something to eat he looked out the window towards the waterfall.

A light mist hovered over the water sparkling in the early morning light... so peaceful. The emotions that had assaulted him over the last twenty-four hours had left him wrung out but happy. Seeing his mom and dad, then Susan, on that walkway was a memory that was forever burned in his mind.

And Keyno had arranged the whole thing, knowing what he needed and doing whatever it took to give it to him. The damn pointy-eared alien had given him the perfect gift... family at Christmas time. Dale was determined they would always celebrate this time of the year, in their own way, and he had Keyno to thank for that.

Keyno stood inside the door and watched Dale. The light streamed through the window, falling on his mate, framing him perfectly. The sunny brilliance danced in his shoulder length hair. Keyno's heart fluttered in his chest just as it had done the first time he saw Dale long ago by a lake standing in the light.

Little did he know then the changes this small human male would bring into his life. But those changes were nothing compared to the two bundles of joy right now arguing over who would get the last piece of egasuas.

"Hey, my chosen," Keyno said as he stepped behind Dale, wrapping him in his arms.

Dale sighed and snuggled into the strong arms that held him. "Love, what are you doing up? I purposely snuck out of bed so you could sleep."

"I know when you aren't there. Just like I knew last night when you left."

Dale shook his head and leaned back, tilting his head so his neck was exposed. "Can't get nothing past you."

Keyno scent-marked Dale, rubbing his cheek against Dale's exposed throat. This was the picture Dale's parents saw when they stepped from the elevator.

"They really love each other," Lyn said to Jerry as she watched the huge Ta'Narian warrior gently hug Dale. "You can see it in Keyno's eyes, the way he touches Dale."

"I know, I just never dreamed I'd have a son-in-law that was part cat," Jerry said as Lyn slapped him on the arm. "Hey! I'm not complaining. He's a good man... ah, male."

Lyn grinned as they joined Dale and Keyno. Susan and Evan were right behind them and Lindsey joined the twins for a late breakfast. Once everyone was fed, Dale dressed the twins and they gathered in the main living area.

"So, want to open gifts tonight or tomorrow?" Lyn said, sitting down. "Dale, what do you want to do?"

"I say we open them today and have Christmas dinner tomorrow. Plus Santa will be here in the morning." Dale ruffled Lindsey's hair. Lindsey had bought her Lego's and the three were busy building.

"Is the Santa coming to see us, too?" Raiden asked, looking up from what he was building.

"Hmm," Dale said. "See, he keeps a list of who's been naughty and who's been nice. Where do you think you'd end up on that list?"

"He's nice," Lindsey said.

Dale lifted Raiden up and rubbed noses with him. "Yeah, I think Santa would agree. Raiden just likes to explore, and drag his twin along for the ride."

"Sounds familiar," Lyn said. "So, today?"

Dale looked at the tree they had all decorated. There were mounds of brightly wrapped gifts under it now. "Yeah, I guess, but it's almost too pretty to mess up by opening gifts."

"I can remember a time in the not so distant past when how pretty the gifts looked didn't matter to you and your sister," Lyn said. "All the two of you wanted was to open them, the sooner the better."

"Susan would sneak under the tree at night and shake her gifts," Dale said.

"Tattle-tail," Susan said. "You wanted to open one end and pull the gifts out of the wrapping paper."

"Yeah, but the tape bandit over there had so much tape on them I couldn't," Dale laughed.

"Of course, why do you think I use so much to begin with," Lyn winked at Dale.

"Mom!" Dale's mouth dropped open. "That's just wrong."

"You kids always thought your mom and I were clueless," Jerry said. "But I gotta tell you this little lady is devious. You two just never figured it out."

"I'm beginning to think we were the clueless ones," Susan said.

"Remember that as yours grow up," Lyn smirked. "You gotta stay on your toes with little ones."

Raiden had edged closer to the tree, his eyes on a fuzzy bow on top of one of the gifts. It would be perfect on top of the building he had made with the Lego's. He scanned the room, and seeing that the adults were deep in conversation, reached out to bat at the bow.

"Raiden, Santa sees all and knows all. And he wouldn't be happy if you tore that bow off there," Dale said without turning around, then winked at his mom.

Raiden's eyes widened and he backed off, scratching his head, wondering how his dad knew what he was doing. Dale didn't bother to point out he could see his young in the floor to ceiling windows. The elevator roared up the side of the tree house and Chad and John stepped out with their families. Dayo came in at a full run and Raiden rushed after him.

"Now that everyone's here, you guys ready to start?

Dale barely finished speaking when the elevator was heard coming up the tree.

"Keyno? Who could that possibly...?"

"Hola!"

"Oh my god, oh my god... no way." Dale jumped off the floor as Cielo and Ti walked in. Takeo immediately made a beeline towards Szin. Cielo hugged Dale, then Keyno as the rest of the group made their way over. Keyno hugged Ti then introduced him to the newcomers.

"We're not too late, are we?" Ti asked.

Ti was an Onfre starship captain and a very good friend. His skin was the silvery white of snow glistening in the moonlight and his eyes were shaped like diamonds. An opalescent membrane called a spectacle shimmered over his red vertical pupils, just like the ball python Chad kept as a pet. He had rear-facing fangs and his tongue was forked. He was just as big and muscular as Keyno.

Cielo, who still went by his gang handle Colt on certain occasions, looked like a Mayan god come to life with his rippling muscles under all that bronze skin and his long, jet black hair. His eyes were black, honest to god black, and he was covered with tattoos. He just screamed "Badass."

He'd been the subject of two books, a movie, and an HBO special. He was a living legend among the Hispanic gangs. He had been added to the last harvest, but shouldn't have been. The American government had used the last harvest to get rid of a surplus of death row prisoners and Colt had been one of many they'd off-loaded on the Ta'Narians.

To say he was a killer was like saying Jeffrey Dahmer had an eating disorder. But he and Dale were as close as brothers. Cielo had admitted his true name to Dale first, their bond was that deep.

"I thought you guys had some tribal thing on Onfre for Takeo," Dale said as everyone sat back down.

"We moved it to tomorrow, this was more important," Cielo said, throwing his arm around Dale's shoulders. "I wouldn't miss your first family gatherin', bro."

"We wanted to be here, with all of you," Ti said.

"Christ, I'm glad you're both here. Now it's complete," Dale said.

They crowded around and Dale seated himself near the tree to hand out gifts. There were many gasps of delights and a few questions as things were opened. Chad's parents gave both Doc and John matching doctor coats. John busted out laughing when he saw Linda had sewed 'Dr. Doc' on Doc's coat.

From John, Chad got one of those signs you could stick on a car window that read "New flyer, give way" and had Gibor smiling.

"See? Everyone knows." Gibor ducked as Chad threw a pillow at him.

Dale's parents gave Cielo a blue baby blanket that had their young's name, Takeo, stitched on it. It was one of the few times Dale had seen Cielo come close to shedding tears. Even Ti was choked up over the gift.

"Thank ya," Cielo said softly. "This...Yah, this means so much."

Dale grinned as the gangbanger, who was covered in prison tat's and had killed more people than anyone cared to count, gently hugged his mom.

"You're welcome, hon," Lyn said as Cielo buried his face in her neck.

Lyn and Jerry gave Cielo an outside door mat with both his and Ti's names on it and Chad's parents gave them a blue blanket with Neo's name on it which had John gulping hard.

"We, Lyn and I, hope those blankets were okay. Since neither of you had parents here..."

John threw his arms around Chad's mom. "Believe me, my own grandparents wouldn't have thought of this, thank you."

John wiped his face while Doc hugged Chad's mom. To lighten things up, John draped his coat over Neo. Lindsey added a special touch by sticking pieces of torn wrapping paper all over the coat. Raiden had balled discarded wrapping paper into projectiles and had hidden so he could ambush Szin when his twin wasn't looking. When Dayo started pelting Raiden with balled up paper, Raiden came out hiding and took off after Dayo.

Snarls, hisses, giggles, laughter and an occasional loud yodel filled the room.

"Here, this is for you from me," Dale said as he hand Cielo a present.

Cielo opened it and burst out laughing. He quickly stripped out of his vest and put the shirt Dale had given him on. Standing, he walked over to Chad. On the front of the shirt was an arrow pointing off to the side and the words "I'm with stupid."

"Hey!" Chad punched Cielo lightly on the arm. "You're supposed to stand next to Dale, not me."

"He knows who to stand next to," Dale snickered as Cielo walked around the room, stopping next to people. He made a point to stand next to Keyno several times. Dale had never seen Cielo act so... playful.

Cielo came and sat down next to Dale. He leaned towards Dale, whispering, "If this gets me in trouble with Ti I'm gonna have him send Keyno the vision, bro. And I'm gonna make sure Ti's very hard on me so you'll squirm when Keyno shares the vision withcha."

"Aw man, you two keep your sadistic play to yourselves."

"Now where's the fun in that?"

"Well, not tonight. I got plans for my mate tonight." Dale handed Cielo another gift. "This is the real gift. Ti, this is yours."

Both gifts were soft brown rehtael pants and vests. "Keyno came up with the idea for those."

Ti's red eyes gleamed. "Thank you both."

Since Dale and Chad's parents couldn't take things back to Earth that had alien technology, the gifts had to be things found on Earth. As the torn wrapping paper covered the floor Dayo, Neo and Raiden hid under the mounds of paper and batted at whoever happened to be walking by. Szin took special delight in chasing Raiden's tail and sticking tape on it. Lindsey kept pulling back the paper, uncovering the young just as they got ready to spring out at someone.

Dale waited to give his parents and his sister their gifts last.

"Mom, this is from me and Keyno," Dale said.

Lyn opened the gift and sat staring at it. "My... oh my... god, Dale."

"I know that dad got you the diamond tennis bracelet last year, so I thought that this gold cross necklace would go nicely with it."

"You... sweetie, you paid too much for something like this," Lyn gasped. The cross was covered in diamonds. "Dale... these are diamonds."

Keyno shook his head. "Actually, they are of no value here. What you call a diamond is an allotrope of carbon, where the carbon atoms are arranged in a variation of—"

"Yo pussycat, not a science lesson, please." Cielo rolled his eyes.

"Wait, you mean diamonds are worthless here? Wow," Evan said, "that'll blow the old mind."

"Oh lord, Dale..." Susan squealed as she opened her gift. She hugged Keyno hard. "Earrings? Diamond earrings?"

"I hope that was okay with you, Evan," Dale said then turned to Susan. "I made them half carats so they would go in your top holes."