Hey, @janora00 here’s your present. I hope you like it!
Which half of your OTP starts Christmas morning by casually leaning in the kitchen doorway reading a book, acting like they don’t know there’s mistletoe right above their head. And which half walks past them while mumbling sleepily, “Your book is upside down.” (x)
(A.N.)Okay, I read this and I thought it was adorable and it would work really well for Bones and Jim. Also, Bones and Kirk are on Earth in this story and there’s some minor Benkaru.
“It’s a brilliant plan. An ingenious, brilliant plan.” Jim thought, smirking to himself, as he fastened the piece of mistletoe onto the kitchen arch with tape. Once it was secure, he stood back to admire his handy work.
“Oh man,” He hummed, a huge grin spreading across his face. “Bones is going to love this...”
Jim knew he had a good 10 minutes until Bones would wake up, grumpy, and demand his morning coffee. So, Jim turned on the coffee pot, not wanting to bring out Bones’s wrath on Christmas. After all, it was a holiday and Joanna was asleep in her room.
Jim had just barely finished making coffee when he heard Bones stumbling down the stairs towards the kitchen. He quickly fumbled for the book on the counter, that he had to appear as casual and innocent as possible. He leaned against the arch and cracked open the book just as Bones shuffled by him.
“Your book’s upside down...” He mumbled, grabbing the coffee cup on the counter and taking a long drink from it.
“Really?” Jim let out, looking down at his book. The words were indeed upside down.
“Yup,” Bones answered, patting Jim’s shoulder, “You’re going to have to try harder than that darlin’...” Without looking, he reached up and plucked the mistletoe from the ceiling and promptly threw it in the trash; before turning around to walk past Jim, again.
“Damn it!” Jim cursed, grabbing his own coffee and sulking his way into the living room with Bones. He was surprised when Bones slid closer to him and murmured, into his ear, “Merry Christmas, darlin’.”
He kissed him before returning his full attention to his “Doctor Sexy” coffee cup.
“How long do you think it will be until Jo wakes up?”
“Hmm,” Bones mumbled, “It probably won’t be long. She always gets up early on Christmas. Mind you, she’s older and I haven’t seen her in… five years.”
“Well, if she’s anything like you, she’ll be up at the crack of dawn.” Jim joked, punching Bones’s shoulder. Not enough to leave a mark, but enough to make the doctor rub at his sore bicep.
“Morning Dad!” Joanna beamed, coming down the stairs and walking forward to give her dad a huge hug.
Bones couldn’t help but smile at the sight of his, not so little, little girl. “Hey, sweetheart,” He cooed, “Did you sleep well?”
She nodded, “Yup. I got plenty of sleep and can we open presents now?”
“No breakfast?” Jim asked.
She shook her head, “No breakfast.”
“Now!” She announced, turning her attention towards the large stack of presents from her dad, Uncle Jim and even her mom.
Bones and Jim smiled as they sat next to her and the stash of presents.
“There’s more coming later,” Bones hummed.
“Yeah,” Jim confirmed, “Uncle Hikaru, Uncle Ben and Demora are bring some more over.”
“But I thought they were on Yorktown,” Joanna spoke, her brow furrowing.
“They are. They’re spending several days with their family on Yorktown.” Jim started.
“And once they’re finished having Christmas at their house,” Bones continued, “They will be coming here to celebrate.”
“What about Auntie Ny and Uncle Spock and Auntie Jaylah?” She asked, fiddling her hands in her lap.
“Auntie Jay will be coming here today,” Jim spoke, “Along with Uncle Scotty.”
“As for Uncle Spock and Auntie Ny,” Bones added, “They will be spending the holidays on New Vulcan. But I assure you, they are thinking about you and are sending you their best.”
“He’s still on the USS Endeavour, but he, along with Auntie Ny and Uncle Spock, already sent you some presents.” Jim explained, before pointing to a small pile of boxes, “Which are somewhere in that large stack over there.”
“Anyways...” Bones drawled, changing the subject, “Let’s open some of these presents!”
Joanna screeched excitedly. “I wanna open this one!” She declared, holding up a large red box, half the size of her.
Bones and Jim laughed at the sight, but allowed the girl to open her present. She tore off the wrapping and pulled out the bubble wrap on the inside of the box.
“No way,” Joanna gasped, “This is incredible.”
“Do you like it?” Bones asked, sitting in front of her.
“I love it!” She beamed, pulling the tricoder out of the box and clutching it against her chest. “I love it so much, thanks dad!” She smiled, pulling her dad into a tight hug.
Bones laughed, “You’re welcome Jo. You deserve it.”
It didn’t take long for the three of them to tear through all of their gifts, leaving an assortment of wrapping paper around their apartment. Bones got a bottle of Scotch from Pavel, with the note, “So you don’t have to steal mine, again.” Bones couldn’t help but laugh at Pavel’s gift, because he and Jim sent Pavel a different bottle of Scotch to replace the one that he and Jim stole; with the label, “Sorry we drank all your Scotch.”
Joanna ended up getting a Bird of Happiness from Pavel. When she opened it, the family had no idea what it was, until Bones read the note inside of the small box.
“This is a bird of happiness and it is usually suspended inside a house and it protects the family.” Bones recited, looking up from the hand written note.
“That’s so cool!” Joanna awed, “I’m going to hang it in my room!”
She dashed up the stairs before Bones or Jim could utter a word.
Bones also got a pullover sweater, with the words, “I love space,” sewn into the fabric, from a giggling Jim. To his displeasure, Bones wore the sweater for the rest of the day.
But the best gift that Bones got was from Joanna. She managed to get an old photo of Bones holding her as a baby, from Jocelyn.
“Jo,” Bones breathed, “This is incredible. How did you get this?”
“I got it from mom,” She explained, “And Uncle Jim helped me make a frame and stain it. But I wrapped it by myself.”
Bones couldn’t hold it in anymore. He cried tears of and pulled his daughter in a large hug and peppered her with kisses.
“Dad! Dad, stop it!” She laughed, as her he tickled her sides.
“Never,” He murmured, kissing her cheeks.
“Uncle Jim,” She pleaded, “Help me!”
Jim chuckled quietly, before getting to his feet and separating the two of them. “Let her go, Bones,” He smiled, “Let her breath.”
Bones rolled his eyes, “Oh relax, Jo’s fine. Right, Jo?”
“Yes, I’m fine, dad,” She sighed, collapsing into the couch.
But before they could relax, their door chimed. Grumbling, Bones stood up and headed towards the door, muttering about society under his breath. He opened the door and standing there was Scotty and Jaylah, each holding several presents.
“Good morning Doctor,” Scotty spoke, cheerfully, stepping into the apartment with Jaylah in tow. “I got this for you,” He added, handing the man a bottle of bourbon, “I didn’t bother wrapping it, because you’d probably finish drinking it before the wrapping even came off.”
“Well that’s appropriate, considering I got you this,” Bones laughed, giving Scotty a bottle of scotch. “You can never have enough of it,” He mumbled.
Scotty chuckled, “You’ve got that right, Doctor.”
“Leonard Bones, Montgomery Scotty has told me I should wish you a Merry Christmas and that I should give you a gift,” Jaylah spoke, handing Bones a holodisk, “It has the beats and shouting that you and James T like.”
Bones laughed, “Wow, thank you Jaylah. I got something for you, too.”
“Yeah,” He answered, handing her a scribbled note.
She looked at it, confused. “I don’t understand Leonard Bones...” She muttered.
“It’s my medical override, you can use it to get into anywhere, at anytime,” Bones explained, “You deserve it. You saved all of our lives and I figured you could put it to good use.”
“Thank you, Leonard Bones! I will use this everyday and I will tell everyone about it!” She beamed, bouncing on her feet, before joining Joanna on the couch.
“Auntie Jay!” Joanna smiled, giving her a hug.
“Joanna-Jo, I am very excited to try this Christmas with you and Montgomery Scotty’s friends.” She added, handing Joanna one of the presents she was holding. It was a long, thin, rectangular box that weighed next to nothing.
Joanna gasped, “Is this for me?”
Jaylah nodded, “I think you will like it very much.”
Joanna teared through the wrapping quickly. She opened the box to find a smaller version of Jaylah’s weapon inside the box.
Joanna gasped. “I love this! This is amazing,” Joanna screeched, launching herself at Jaylah, “How does it work?”
“Simple,” Jaylah answered, helping Joanna point the weapon at the clear vase on the coffee table. “Just twist this, spin the back and squeeze this to make big explosion.”
“Jo…?” Bones spoke cautiously, “Maybe you should try that outside…”
But before Bones could finish speaking, Joanna shot the vase, sending a shower of glass shards throughout the living room.
“Wow! That’s awesome!” Jim cheered, taking the weapon from Joanna examining it.
“Jim!” Bones scolded before getting up to grab a broom to clean the glass with.
“What? It’s fun,” Jim shrugged, pointing Jo’s weapon at the lamp on the side table.
Bones sighed, “At least put it down before you set the house on fire...”
“Relax Bones,” Jim teased, setting the weapon on the ground, “I’m not going to set the house on fire.”
“Again...” Bones mumbled.
“What was that?” Jim asked.
“Again. You’re not going to set the house on fire, again,” Bones elaborated, “Because you already did it once.”
Jim was about to argue because it was only happened once, when the front door chimed. “I’ll get it,” Jim spoke, stretching his back before heading for the front door. He entered the code on the data screen and the door opened with a swoosh.
“Uncle Jim!” Demora squealed, launching herself at Jim and clutching onto his legs.
“Hey Demi!” He cheered, prying her off his legs and lifting her into his arms, “You’ve gotten bigger since I last saw you.”
“I grew 5 inches,” She smiled with her eyes closed and held up five fingers. Jim smiled as he set her down on the floor. She ran off into the living room, screeching, “Joanna!”
“I have no idea how the two of you handle her,” Jim chuckled, turning to Hikaru and Ben, who were still in the doorway.
They laughed. “She’s quite a handful,” Ben murmured.
“But we love her,” Hikaru added.
“And her energy is mesmerising,” Ben continued, stepping into the apartment.
“We wouldn’t change anything about her,” Hikaru finished, following Ben into the apartment.
“Well, I hope you brought gifts,” Jim joked, closing the door and following them into the living room.
“What do you think these are?” Hikaru chuckled, gesturing at the stack of presents in his and Ben’s arms with his head.
Jim shook his head, “I’m just joking.”
“Oh, just leave them alone,” Bones grumbled, dragging Jim away from the two men and sitting him on the floor, next to Joanna and Demora.
“Oh!” Demora exclaimed, jumping up from her spot and sitting in front of Jim, “I got you a present!”
“You got me a present?” Jim asked enthusiastically, as Demora handed him a piece of paper.
“It’s the bridge crew and Uncle Scotty and Auntie Jay and me and Joanna,” She explained, pointing at the red, blue and yellow, crayon people.
“It’s incredible, Demi! I love it!” He beamed, hugging the drawing to his chest.
“Dad! Can we open our presents now?” Joanna asked.
“Yes of course you can,” Bones smiled.
The girls smiled as they frantically searched through the presents, trying to find one with their name on it. Joanna quickly found one for herself and spent the rest of the time handing out presents to everyone else.
“Dem! This one’s for you!” Joanna let out, handing a red and green striped box to Demora.
Demora gasped, grabbing the present and holding it tightly in her hands.
Once everyone had a present, they all opened them.
Demora got a mini toy medkit from Bones, Joanna got a Vulcan lyre from Spock and several books on Alien Languages and Anatomy from Nyota. Meanwhile, Bones exchanged some humourous gifts with Hikaru and Ben.
“Here, Bones,” Hikaru smiled, “I think you’ll appreciate this.”
Bones smiled as he unwrapped the box. “Uh… Hikaru?”
“Would you mind explaining this?” Bones asked, pulling a fencing foil out of the long box.
“It’s for all those times you just need to let loose. Or chase people out of your medbay,” Hikaru chuckled, “Or scold Jim for doing something wrong.”
Bones laughed, examining the foil, “Okay, that’s incredible. Thank you.”
“Okay, I’m next!” Ben interjected, clapping his hands together. He turned around and gave Bones several heavy presents, stacked together.
“Wow… you went all out for this one...” Bones smiled, taking the stack of gifts from Ben. “Are these… medical textbooks?” He asked once he removed the wrapping from each of the books.
“Yeah, they are,” Ben laughed, “Fresh from the dark ages, I hope you’ll like them.”
Bones face palmed, but couldn’t hold back his laughter. “You… you’re… you’re incredible,” He snickered, pulling Ben into a hug.
“I know,” Ben joked, “Now, do you have something for you eldest friend?”
Bones nodded and smiled as he handed Ben a flat, blue wrapped box. “I think you’ll like this one...” He spoke, watching as Ben unwrapped the present.
“A medkit?” Ben asked, examining the box.
“It’s a parenting first aid kit. For all the times you need to patch her up,” Bones explained, “It’s got everything you’d ever need to heal Demora… or Hikaru.”
“Hikaru?” Ben asked, confused.
Bones rolled his eyes. “You two are both children, this,” Bones spoke, pointing at the kit, “Will be beneficial for all three of you.”
Ben blushed slightly before pulling Bones into a tight hug, “Thank you,” He mumbled, “I hope I never have to use this, but I’m sure it will come in handy if I do need it.”
“Alright, Hikaru,” Bones spoke when Ben released him, “You’re next!”
Hikaru shuffled closer and Bones handed him his gift. Hikaru opened it with a level of care that only him and Ben ever had. It made sense why they were together; they were the same person, almost identical, except for a few minor things.
Looking at himself and Jim, they were nothing like Hikaru and Ben. Hikaru and Ben were the college sweethearts, the ones that were together ever since they met.
But Bones would never trade what he had with Jim. They’d been best friends since they met. Their path was slower, a slow burn until their relationship became something more than friends. He never knew that he could love Jim in this way and welcome him into his family. His family may not be from the same roots as the Sulu family, but that didn’t make them any less of a family.
“Huh?” Bones let out, stunned and confused.
“Wow, you were really out of it, weren’t you?” Hikaru mumbled, his voice full of concern.
“Sorry,” Bones muttered, rubbing at his neck, “Just lost in thought.”
“Yeah, no kidding,” Ben joked, straight faced.
“Anyways,” Hikaru drawled, changing the subject, “Thank you for the aloe vera. I love it.”
“Oh right,” Bones thought, “We’re unwrapping Christmas presents...”
“I thought you’d like it,” He spoke out loud, “It’s to ‘heal all those wounds that new medicine just can’t fix.’”
Hikaru felt like he was about to cry. “It’s beautiful, thank you,” Hikaru murmured, giving Bones a soft hug.
He smiled, “You’re welcome.”
And when Hikaru cried into Bones’s shoulder, Bones cried too. They hugged tightly before Bones let go of Hikaru and Ben pulled his husband into a soft, loving embrace.
Bones returned to Jim with his heart soaring.
“What’s wrong?” Jim whispered, glancing from Bones to the crying Sulu’s and back to Bones. “Nothing,” He whispered back, “Hikaru just has the softest heart and he needs some comfort from Ben. He’ll be fine.”
Jim smiled as he wrapped his arm around Bones.
“I love you,” He murmured.