Kagaku Ninja-Tai Gatchaman Fan Fiction ❯ The Timepiece ❯ Christmas together ( Chapter 1 )

Chapter 1

2058 A.D., Christmas Day

Yuki Washio danced down the steps of her parents comfortable home in Streetsville, a prosperous middleclass suburb of Utoland.

"Merry Christmas, Mom! Merry Christmas, Dad!" The lovely twenty-one year old sang out, her green eyes sparkled and her long brown hair trailed behind her as she danced into the family kitchen. Yuki ran over to the countertop where Jun Washio was making coffee and gave her a kiss. She then took her coffee, walked back to the round glass-topped handcrafted breakfast table and sat herself right next to her Dad after giving him a morning kiss.

"Where's your little brother?" Ken asked.

"Still in bed, Dad… It's Christmas day, you know, and Joey was up all night last night, playing Inter-galaxial games with Uncle Jin" Yuki replied in between bites of her turkey sandwich made from leftovers from their Christmas Eve dinner.

Ken smiled, "Yeah, Jinpei never changes, does he?"

Jun laughed softly, "No, my love, he never changes."

"Well, Yuki, you'd better go wake Joey up if you want to see what you've got for Christmas this year, before we head to Mass." Ken winked at his daughter. He was still having trouble coming to terms with the fact that Daddy's little girl was already twenty-one. He shook his head with a laugh as Yuki shot upstairs like a racehorse out of her stall.

"Ken, remember they used to get up so early on Christmas morning, way before we were up and tore through the presents?" Jun remarked in fond remembrance.

"Yes, Juni, those were the days." Ken smiled back at her.

Moments later, sounds of an upstairs bedroom door flinging open could be heard, followed by the sound an alarm clock hitting the wall. The angry swearing of young Joey soon followed.

Swooshhh….

Ken looked up from his newspaper. He was just in time to duck the hairbrush that was thrown at Yuki by her younger brother. Yuki ran behind her father in an attempt to hide and poked her head out from beside him to poke out her tongue at her little brother.

"Joey! Stop throwing things and swearing!" Jun chided her younger son.

Yuki laughed and ducked as her six foot one inches tall baby brother chased her round and round the room. At length, Ken spoke, "Now kids, time for the presents."

"Hooray!"

The Washios filed into the cosy family room which housed the eight foot tall Christmas tree. Ken had helped Jun decorate it with utmost care a week ago. Jun had been so sad now that the kids were grown up and no longer fought over which ornament to hang where. It had wrenched Ken's heart watching her. So, he had packed up his portable computer and had gone over to help her. That was the first time in 20 years that just the two of them had decorated the entire Christmas tree on their own.

Christmas stockings filled with goodies hung by the fireplace. Loads of Christmas gifts piled up under the tree. Ken and Jun laughed as they watched the kids rip open present after present until the entire floor was covered with wrapping paper.

Joey squealed in delight as he fished out the key to his first hovercraft after unwrapping five boxes one nested within another. He couldn't help but jump up and down like a little boy and give everybody a huge smooch.

Yuki smiled as she picked up a box wrapped in white wrapping paper that was decked with small golden angels. She carefully unwrapped it and pulled out a small heart-shaped jewelry box made of fine white silk. Tiny little rose buds edged the silk covering, decked the entire box elegantly. The silk had yellowed with age, but the box was nonetheless a breathtaking piece.

Yuki's eyes widened with pleasure and surprise. She looked up at her dad in a questioning glance.

Ken nodded and smiled.

With almost trembling fingers, Yuki slowly opened the box and pulled out the contents. It was a small antique timepiece suspended on a gold chain. The gold looked aged but the little angels decking the back of the piece looked almost lifelike.

"Oh Dad, oh Mom, am I dreaming? Is this really for me?" Yuki exclaimed as she turned around to look at her parents, her eyes bright and twinkling as her fingers gently caressed the beautiful antique piece.

Ken and Jun snuggled together on a cushion behind their kids. Ken nodded and smiled again. Jun looked at the timepiece a bit alarmed, but soon checked herself and gave her daughter a smile as Yuki came over and hugged them both. Jun softly sighed as she watched the kids going back to rummage round the rest of the presents. Ken gave her a reassuring squeeze on the arm and hugged her tightly. Jun softly sighed again and rested her head on her husband's shoulder while continuing to watch their now adult kids tear through the presents as if they were merely four-year-olds.

It was almost an hour later that all the delights under the tree were unwrapped and the family headed out to Church.