Christmas Day
A Star Blazers short by “Yuki”
With much appreciation to Fred Kopetz , he
encouraged me to go for it. His vision with detailing and added script has made
this so much more fun than expected. You
and Gail ROCK! Thanks for everything and I am so blessed to have a partner in
writing.
Yuki
I. Christmas…
December 25, 2211
The Wildstar Residence…
“Daddy,
Daddy, Santa came, he really came!” Little Alex Wildstar jumped on top of his
father as he shook his mother awake. “Mom, mom get up Santa was here, I saw him
he was here!” he screamed at the top of his lungs. “Mom, wake up!”
“Alex, leave
your mother alone” Derek said while grabbing his son and starting to tickle
him.
“But Santa
was here and brought me my toys,” Alex said, grinning from ear to ear.
“Okay, go
brush your teeth and mommy and I will meet you in the living room,” Derek told
him
“Okay Dad,”
he said as he jumped off the bed and ran to the bathroom to brush his teeth.
Derek
watched him leave and then turned to his wife. He began to kiss the back of her
neck and then held her stomach that grew bigger each day, clad in the pink
pajamas she had worn to bed. He felt her stir as he continued to kiss her neck.
She turned slowly to her husband and smiled, “Derek, I swear he gets up earlier
and earlier every Christmas.”
“I know, but
can you blame him?” Derek smiled at her.
“I suppose
not,” Nova said as she tried to sit up. “I feel like a whale with this
stomach!”
“Need some
help?” Derek laughed at her
“Please…”
Nova smiled as she put out her hands for him to help her.
“Come on,
Prego” He helped her up out of bed then wrapped her in his arms. “Good morning
Mrs. Wildstar. I hope Santa was good to you last night…”
“Hmm, as a
matter of fact he was great,” Nova replied, giving him a peck on the cheek.
“Oh really,
Santa better watch out next year, I don’t like the fact of him taking advantage
of my pregnant wife.”
“I love you
Derek, very much,” she said looking deep into his eyes. “We’d better get
ready…Alex will be back in a minute”
“I tell you,
for a four year old he is a handful,” Derek said laughing as he heard his son
singing ‘Santa came down the chimney’.
“I’m gonna
hit the shower, I need to wake up,” Nova said as she took off her PJ’s. “I
think Yvey and Denise are coming early to help with dinner.”
“And your mother?” Derek looked at her with concern. After their last run in he didn’t want
her near the house or his son.
“Not to
worry, my father is taking her to the islands for Christmas,” she smiled over
her shoulder “I don’t think he wants a repeat of the last time.”
“Him and me
both,” Derek said under his breath
“Derek she
is my mother, I’m sorry I couldn’t pick who I was born to,” Nova said giggling
as she stepped into the shower.
Derek walked
in behind her and began to take off his nightclothes.
“What are
you doing?” Nova said.
“Well I
kinda feel dirty after taking advantage of a pregnant woman under the tree last
night,” Derek put his arm around her growing waist and waltz her into the
shower.
“Derek you
are just too much,” she said wrapping her arms around his neck and pulling him
closer to her.
“Mmm, you’re
so beautiful” he said as he looked at her now-bare stomach and ran his hands
over it.
“DADDY, what
are you doing to mommy?” Alex yelled out.
“Damnit!”
Derek jumped not realizing that he was there. “Alex, how many times have mommy
and daddy told you…never to come in their bathroom?”
“I’m sorry
but I want to open my presents,” Alex pouted.
“Oh alright,
give mom a minute to wake up, and then we can go open your presents,” Derek
said.
“Well if she
wasn’t wrestling with Santa last night she would be up,” He said as he crossed
his arms.
“What did
you say young man?” Derek looked at him stunned while Nova covered herself and
blushed from head to toe.
“Oh
nothing,” he said looking down. “Mom, can you just hurry?”
“I’ll be
right out, I promise,” Nova said trying not to laugh.
Alex stomped
his foot and walk out of their bathroom with a huff.
“Did you
hear what your son said?” Derek looked at his wife while she started to shower.
“He…uh…he’s…”
“Derek, he
is very observant, we just have to be more careful,” Nova said as she showered.
“After all, he is your son and very curious about things.”
“Yeah I
know, let’s hurry up before he comes back in here and asks us still more
questions!”
Derek jumped in with her and they
both washed quickly. Derek help Nova dress in a pink maternity dress with
matching strappy sandals and matching purse for the party later on, and they
both made their way to the living room after Derek put on his white Star Force
uniform and blue peacoat. Alex sat on the couch in his play clothes staring at
his presents with a pout on his face until he saw his mother. Then, he jumped
up and down until his father picked him up and put him up on his shoulders.
“Yeahhh! Can I open
them now, please?” he pleaded.
“Yes, baby go ahead,” Nova said as Derek helped her sit down.
“Mommy, when
is Mark coming?” Alex said as he opened a small present that sat on top of all
the others.
“In about
two more months, sweetheart; he has to grow a little bigger inside Mommy’s
tummy before he can come out,” Nova said. “So what did Santa bring you?”
“This looks
funny? Why would Santa give me this ugly thing?” Alex held a ring up.
“Uh, Alex I
think that’s for your mother…” Derek grabbed the ring from him and tried to
crack a smile.
“Oh, but
mommy wanted toys like me!” Alex said.
“Yeah, this
is a toy for mommy,” Derek said looking into his wife’s eyes.
“Oh Derek,
it’s beautiful!” Nova looked at him and then down as he placed the ring on her
finger. “But how did you know that’s the one I wanted?”
“I have a
friend at the jewelers, do you like it?”
She looked
at the ring on her finger, a complete four-carat diamond with Alex’s and Mark’s
purple Amytheyst birthstones (since they were expecting he would come In
February 2212, which would turn out to be right) on each side. “Oh Derek I just
love it,” Nova cried as she threw her arms around him and gave him a big kiss.
“Nova, will
you be so kind and marry me again?” Derek sat on one leg and look up at her.
“Are you
serious?” Nova looked at him confused. “We are
married, right? Unless you did something at the lawyer’s office you didn’t tell
me about?”
“Yeah I am,
marry me again! But this time, I’d like something small just you and me, Alex
here and a couple of friends. Nothing like before.”
“Yes Derek
I’d be more than happy to marry you again, oh Derek I love you so much!” She
threw her arms around him.
“Now, that
you two are done being mushy, can we
open my presents?” Alex stood in front of them and stomped his foot at them as
he crossed his arms.
“Alright
guy, let’s see here I do think this one here is for you” Derek handed him a
present as big as he was. Alex’s eyes widened at the size of the box and he
began to tear through the paper. His
eyes widened more at what was in the box, he began to jump up and down
squealing with delight.
“It Daddy’s
Super Star, it’s daddy’s Super Star, Mommy, Santa brought me Daddy’s Super
Star!” he screamed as he tried to open the box.
Derek and
Nova laughed at their son’s excitement, it was a small riding replica of
Derek’s Super Star plane so he could ride around outside of the house. They
watched as Alex opened his gifts, again like the Christmas past, he got another
little Star Force uniform with coat and cover. He grabbed the last box and
shook it ready to open it, when Nova saw it. “Alex that’s not yours, that one
there is for your father!”
“Oh,” he
handed it over to his father “Here, daddy, Santa left this one for you…
Derek looked
at the box and then at his wife, slowly he unwrapped
it and opened the box. Derek stared at it and then looked up at his wife “how
did you get this?”
“It wasn’t
easy, but I thought you’d like it,” Nova smiled at him.
He pulled
out the portrait and held it up “Who is that, daddy?” Alex said.
“That is
your late Uncle Alexander” Derek stared at it with a tear in his eye.
“He has my
name and that looks like you,” Alex pointed at Derek’s face that was next to
him. “And who are these two people in the corner?”
“That is
your grandfather, my father, Michael and this lovely lady here is your
grandmother, my mother, Mia.” Derek explained to his son. “They are gone, too.
They died during the first war with Desslok.”
“She’s
pretty,” said Alex as he looked at Derek’s mother. “She looks sort of like
Mommy, but with dark hair.”
“Yes she
was; she was as beautiful as your mother,” Derek said trying to hold back his
tears. He put the portrait down and pulled Nova up. “I don’t how you did it but
thank you,” he said while giving her a long hard kiss.
“I found
that picture in a drawer and made a copy. Then, I took it to an artist who made
it for me,” Nova said, telling of the day she was going thru one of her
cleaning phases and stumbled on the picture that Derek had hidden deep in his
drawer. “I’m glad that you like it”
“Thank you,
Nova I don’t know what more to say” He stared at it longer.
“I thought
we can hang it here over the mantel, we can move our picture in the den,” she
said happy that he like it.
“No baby, we
can put it in the den, I spend more time in there anyway.”
“I don’t
mind Derek, I think he did an excellent job and it will look great there”
“Thank you
babe, you’re the best,” Derek said as he kissed his dear wife again.
“Well, I
think we need to pick up this mess and get ready for everyone.”
“Yeah! Is
Uncle Stephen and Titi Yvey coming with little Derek?”
“Yes they
are,” Nova smiled at her son. “Also Uncle Tony and Aunt Denise”
“Yeah!, Is Derek coming with Titi Yvey, too?”
“Of course
honey, he is their son,” Nova said.
“Okay Alex…
let’s help mommy pick up this mess; then you can play with your toys.”
Later That Day…….
Derek opened
the door to see Sandor and Yvey standing there with their son, Derek. Sandor
had on a dark grey pair of pants and a black blazer with a red tie and white
shirt, while Yvey wore a green dress with the gladiator sandals she seemed to
favor. Little Derek wore a suit with short pants and knee socks over his shoes;
he sort of matched little Alex, who wore a striped shirt, shorts, and little
boy’s dress shoes.
“Hey guys,
come on. Derek …..” Derek was ready to say, but his namesake ran into the house
to find his friend Alex.
“Sorry about
that Derek, he’s been aching to see Alex all day” Sandor laughed.
“Fast little
thing isn’t he?” Derek smiled “Hello Yvey, Nova is in the kitchen. Do you need
help with anything?”
“Hi Papi,
thanks. Stephen has the arroz con pollo
and if you want the pasteles are in
the car and the penill.” Yvey said as
she walked into the house with some more food in her hand.
She made her
way into the kitchen where she saw Nova sitting on a chair taking a breather.
“Nova, que tu hace?” Yvey snapped at her.
“Just
sitting here, I needed to rest. Alex can be such a handful at times”
“Tell me
about it when he and Derek are together it’s like a hurricane hit the area. I
just don’t know where they get their energy, I wish I
can just bottle it up!”
“I know, and
being pregnant doesn’t help,” Nova laughed at the thought.
“How do you
feel Nova? It looks
like you’ve got bigger.”
“I feel bigger,” she began to say when
Derek and Sandor walked in with Denise holding more food. Denise wore a brown
suede skirt, black boots, and a white sweater; she looked very cute beside
Pesci, who wore dark blue pants, boots, and a sweater vest with a white
turtleneck under it.
“Where do
you want all this?” Denise asked
Nova and
Yvey began to make room for the food while Sandor and Derek put down
everything. Once they put the food down Derek and Sandor walked back into the
living room where Pesci sat with Delvechio.
“Nova, my
mother sends her apologies for not being able to help,
they all had their plans to go back to
“Oh that’s
alright, to tell you the truth I was hoping that I’d be about to go with them
to
“Me too,”
Denise said. “Is your mother going to come, Nova?”
“No thank
God!” Nova rolled her eyes. “I don’t know, but it seems like she is losing her
grip on reality. When she snapped at Alex the way she did I thought Derek was
going to kill her. So my father thought it best to just avoid
the holidays altogether.”
“I’m sure
that Derek is relieved about that,” Yvey said
“Yeah, I’m
not sure that she is welcome here for a while, it’s going to take time for
Derek to calm down about that behavior of hers.”
“Anyway,”
Denise interrupted. “Everything smells so good, what do we need to get started
on?”
“Let’s get
started with the Penill that has to get in the oven to be ready for dinner.”
“Yvey how did you get all this done?” Nova asked.
“Oh, you
see, Stephen helped me with most of it.”
Nova and
Denise looked at each other and both said “REALLY?”
“Yup my man
has to learn how to cook Puerto Rican food. A lot of men want their women to
cook like their mothers, so why not they cook the food we like?”
“Yvey, but
he hasn’t burned the house down, right?” Nova said.
“Nope.”
“Wow you’re
good! I can’t leave Derek in the kitchen with boiling water let alone a full
course dinner,” Nova laughed “Do you know how many times the fire department
has come here? It’s been so many times that we know their wives and kids names and
we go to all their family functions when we are in town.”
Denise and
Yvey laughed so loud that the men heard them in the other room.
“What do you
think they’re laughing at?” Pesci asked.
“Us,” Derek
said.
“Do you
think that we’re in trouble?” Sandor asked.
“No, but our
beautiful women in there are making fun of us at our expense.”
“Do you
think we should look in on them?” Sandor asked.
“No, but if
you want to go ahead and see what happens, if they go silent when you walk in
there, it is certain that they are making fun of us,” Derek told him.
Sandor got
up and headed into the kitchen, he walked in and
smiled at them. “Hi ladies; is everything all right in here? do
you need anything?”
They all
stood there silent, Yvey smiled at her husband and said, “No papi, we’re all
good in here.”
Sandor
looked at each of their faces and realized that Wildstar was right and grinned,
“Well, while I’m here I might as well get some beer for us,” He went over to
the fridge and got four beers and then left the kitchen. As soon as he left the
room he heard a roar of laughter coming from behind him.
Derek, Pesci
and Delvechio started to laugh too even harder than the women, “I told you,”
Derek said between laughs. “They were talking about us, and laughing at us. I
heard Nova mention ‘fire department’…and she was probably going into all of the
stories of what happened when I tried to cook dinner for her. The last time, I
started a fire in the broiler that we had to use kitty litter to put out!”
“I should
have put money on this one,” Pesci said laughing
Sandor
turned around and walked back into the kitchen, as soon as he walked in the
room again went silent. “Mmm…ladies?” he walked over to the cabinet and
pretended to look for something. “Ah, Nova, where’s the bottle opener?”
Nova got up
trying to hold a straight face and open a drawer, pulling out the bottle opener
and handing it to Sandor. He took it and left the room again, once in the other
room he could hear them laughing harder than before, “Yup, You’re right,
they’re laughing at us,” he said. “Theory proved.”
This made
Derek and the others laugh even harder than the women.
Sandor sat
down and composed himself when he looked up at the mantel, “Wildstar,
Is that new?”
Derek looked
up with a heavy heart at the new present that Nova had given, knowing he would
always treasure it. “Nova had it done for me,” he said. “My parents and my
brother…”
Pesci looked
at it and asked “I can see you, but who are the others, Derek?”
“That’s Alex
in the middle,” Sandor pointed to him.
“And that’s
my mother and father,” Derek said with glazed eyes. “My mother was the
dark-haired woman who sort of looks like Nova; my father is the fellow with the
heavy moustache.”
“That’s
pretty cool, it’s a really nice present,” Delvechio said.
“Yeah it is,
Nova’s the best with presents,” Derek said as he looked away and composed
himself.
“I heard a
lot of good things about your brother Alex, Derek,” said Delvechio. “He was a
great leader.”
“Yeah he was;
he was the best of all officers,” Derek said proudly. “He was a leader up until
his last breath, when he died to save Commanding Admiral Singleton when the
Black Nebulans invaded Earth almost ten years ago, now. It’s hard to believe it
was that long since I last saw Alex alive,” said Derek in a low, sad voice as
he thought of Alex, Sasha, and the sad day when he had tried to save Nova but
she had fallen from his hand at the terminal. He had never thought he would see
her alive again, but now, they were married, with one beautiful child and
another on the way.
“What time
are the others coming?” Sandor asked changing the subject knowing that it was a
sore spot for Derek.
“Well, Homer
and Wendy are going to be having dinner with Admiral Singleton, and Eager went
to
“I wonder if
he is ever gonna settle down?” Pesci said.
“Dash? Ha! I don’t think so…after his last
marriage, he told me he is never getting married again,” Derek said.
“What
happened with him?” Pesci asked.
“It’s best
not to bring it up around him,” Derek said. “He can get really nasty about it
and start to drink again. Let’s just say that finding four in a room and he
wasn’t one of them is something you don’t want to come home to at the end of a
6 month tour.”
“Ohhh,
yeah…that would be something that would keep me away from ever getting married
again,” Pesci said.
Yvey walked
in with some chips and snacks a moment later. “So, what where
you four laughing at?” Delvechio asked.
“Laughing
at, what do you mean?” she asked smiling.
Derek looked
at him and shook his head, “Uh, never mind.”
Yvey smiled
at her husband and walked back into the kitchen where the others continued to
cook and talk about their kids and their lives.
Nova laughed
at the two women as they talked about little Derek and the way he could get
himself into trouble. “Oh, stop it! He is not a bad kid!” Yvey said
“No? What about the time he had my dog Egon running for the hills when
he came over. Egon is a German Shepherd, trained to kill,” Denise said
as Nova laughed at the day he and Alex tied the dog to the tree standing up as
they played Cowboys and Indians. They
pretended to burn the dog for being the bad man. “And who knows how far they
would have taken it if we didn’t walk in on them when we found Egon whimpering?
“Well at
least they’re not as bad as Devina’s and Desslok’s kids when they were
younger,” Yvey said remembering the two Gamilon Princes and the little
Princess.
“True, they
were little devils when they got together. But look at them now, Damir is such
a gentleman and Dillon is a charmer like his father.” Denise said.
“And
“So Denise,
when are you and Pesci gonna start a family? I mean, you both made Captain, and
you are some of the top pilots in all of the EDF. Don’t you think it’s time to
start one?” Yvey pressured her.
Denise stood
there with a slight grin and then said “Well, I wasn’t going to say anything
until we were all sitting down for dinner, but I’m pregnant now!”
Nova and
Yvey screamed and jumped up to give her a hug. Derek and the others came running
in when they heard the scream.
“Is
everything all right?” Sandor asked.
Pesci saw
the three women hugging and knew then what was going on “Uh guys, it’s nothing.
Just that we found out yesterday that we are having a baby.”
Derek and
Sandor looked at him and then began to pat him on the back “Congratulations,
it’s about time!”
“I didn’t
even know you two were trying. I was getting the sense that you didn’t like
kids,” Nova told Denise.
“I like
kids, I just don’t like rotten kids;
I like good kids,” She laughed at them. “We’ve been trying for awhile. We just
didn’t want to say anything until it happened”
“We are so
happy for you two,” Nova said.
“Thanks,”
Denise said as Pesci walked over and gave her a hug.
“Looks like
Mark is going to have a friend about his age,” Derek said.
“How far
along are you, Denise?” Nova asked.
“Three
months along, as of now,” said Denise.
“That’s
great you don’t even look it,” Yvey said.
“So I guess
I won’t be up there with you for a while, Yvey, huh?”
“I guess,
I’ll miss you by my wing chica, but
this is just great for you two. If there anything you need, just let me know,”
Yvey said.
“That goes
for me too,” Nova told her.
The day
continued with laughter and stories, when little Derek and Alex came running
into the kitchen and, they hid behind Denise.
“Okay you
two, what did you do?” Denise looked at them with suspicion.
“Nothing,
Auntie Denise,” Alex said in his best voice, not quite able to hold back a
devilish little grin.
“Hmm, I
don’t know…” Denise started to say when they heard big Derek yelling out their
names…and cursing a little!
“ALEX, DEREK
WHERE ARE YOU! WHAT IS GOING ON HERE?”
Nova looked
in Alex’s direction, “Alexander, what
did you do now?”
“Nothing,
Mother,” Alex began to say with an innocent grin on his face.
“Uh oh,
Alexander Wildstar, you had better fess up now before your father gets in
here!” Nova snapped. “I know you did something when you call me mother like
that,” Nova said with a stern voice as she waved her finger at him.
“Mom…It
wasn’t my idea!” Alex said. “I was
only an…accomplishment! Or is
that…accomplice!”
Yvey turned
to her son and said, “Derek Stephen Sandor, que
usted hizo and how did you get him
involved and you better start talking right now, do you hear me?”
Just then
Derek walked in drenched with water; water dripping off his uniform, and water
dripping off his longish hair, “Come here you two, I’m gonna …..”
“Derek what
happened, why are you wet?” Nova looked at him trying not to laugh.
“They rigged
a bucket of water over the bathroom door and well ,
I…I got drenched, damnit! Come here, Alex, you little …..” At that, Derek
started to chase his son around his mother, waving a wooden spoon that he had
picked up.
“Derek stop
it, they are only kids!” Nova tried to get between the two of them; namely, her
son and her husband.
“I’m gonna
kill him, and the little monster put ice in it. Come here, why you little sh…….”
“DEREK!”
Nova yelled. “Enough! You’re acting as bad as he is! Do I have to spank both of you? Now go change…I’ll deal
with him.”
Derek took a
deep breath and mumbled something under his breath as he walked out of the
kitchen. Nova, Denise and Yvey could hear the others laughing in the other
room.
Nova turned
to Alex and folded her arms, “Alexander start talking, or else I’m gonna feed
you to your father.”
“Don’t I get
a lawyer?” he said.
“No,” Nova
snapped.
“I’m sorry, Derek thought it would be a great idea to put it
there. He said it will take off all of the space dust that Dad comes home
with.”
Yvey then
turned to her son “Derek, start talking or you don’t have to worry about me
feeding you to your father! I’ll eat you myself!”
“Well, um,
Alex was saying that when Uncle Derek comes home Auntie Nova says he is always
glowing when he see him, so I figured that we’d try to
wash it off so no one would get any space sicknesses!”
Nova and
Yvey looked at each other and started to laugh. “Okay you two, we’ll deal with
your fathers. Stay out of trouble, do you hear me?” Nova said trying not to
laugh
“Yes, Ma’am,”
they both said, now totally obedient.
“Very well,
both of you go to Alex’s room and stay there,” Nova said. “Play quietly until we call you for supper,
UNDERSTOOD?”
“Yes,
ma’am,” they both replied, bowing together in unison. Denise thought they looked
so cute at that moment.
“March, gentlemen!” Nova pointed out the door.
They watched
as Derek and Alex walked out the door and then let out a loud laugh. They all
made their way to the living room to find that Sandor, Pesci and Delvechio were
laughing harder than they were.
“You should
have seen his face; Wildstar was fit to be tied!” Pesci said to them as they
enter the living room.
Nova tried
to stop laughing and said “Uhh…I’d better go check on him, make sure that he
doesn’t try to kill them, please excuse me,” she told them as she made her way
into their room where she saw Derek changing into dry clothes.
“Are you
calm, Derek?” She said still smiling.
“Nova, I
swear when those two little creeps get together, they’re nothing but trouble.
Do you know I almost peed on myself? It was freezing cold water, damn kids!”
Nova walked
over to him and put her arms around him “Babe, you have to admit it was kind of
ingenious for them to do that. Two 4-year olds rigging a bucket to the door you
have to laugh at it. If it were me, like that one time when I was pregnant
early on with Alex, you’d be on the
floor rolling with laughter; remember?” she said as she kissed him
“I guess
you’re right, but why is it that when they do something I’m the one at the
short end of their little stunts? It is not fair! Remember last time they
climbed the tree and decided to play Spider Man and they set up the whole yard
to be a spider web and I’m the one that got caught in that? It took us twenty
minutes to get me out of it, I spilled my hot coffee all over me. I didn’t know
what the hell to do, do you remember?” Derek said as he pulled on a fresh
sweater.
“Yes, dear I
remember, but they’re kids and they’re going to get into things, and remember
we are going to have another one soon,” Nova said.
“Nova, can’t
we just trade them in for good kids, or get a refund on the one we got
already?” Derek tried to laugh as he began to calm down while pulling on fresh
jeans.
“Oh, I don’t
think that will happen. There’s no way Alex can go back now,” Nova smiled at
her husband. “I love you, Derek,” she said. And then she kissed him
“I love you
too babe, give me a few more minutes and I can love the little monster too,” he
said thinking at what happened and realized it was funny after all.
“Good, now
get your fresh shoes and socks on…we have company, and then finish getting
dressed! Everyone is waiting to eat, dinner is almost ready,” Nova started to
walk away and he grabbed her arm.
“Why don’t
we let them wait a little longer?” Derek said giving her a mischievous grin.
“And…why don’t I get you out of that dress for a bit?”
“Are you
serious?” Nova laughed as he nodded his head yes. “Derek, we have guests! They
might hear us!”
“And they
will understand,” he held her arm a little tighter
“I don’t
think so, now get dressed, Derek!” Nova took his hand off of her. “And maybe
later on, Mrs. Claus will be nice to you all alone after Alex is in bed. Okay?”
Derek smiled
at what she said “Nova, you promise?”
“I promise”
she said as her finger ran down his nose. She left him getting dressed and
walked back out to their guests.
Later…..
Dash was the
last to come, he was just in time for dinner with his
date Karen. With his arrival, they all took their seats. Derek and Nova sat
next to each other, Derek at the head of the table, Yvey and Sandor sat on the
other end, with Sandor on the other end. Dash and Karen sat on the left and
Denise and Pesci with Delvechio sat on the right. The kids sat at a little
table that Nova sat up for them next to the big table.
Derek stood
up and looked at his new family and said, “Thank you everyone, for making this
another great memory. Although not everyone from the Star Force is here they
are in our thoughts. Those that are still with us but now with their own
families visiting elsewhere, and those that are no longer with us, we will all
miss them all. Also, Captain Avatar who guided us in our
first mission, to those that now are our friends. To our growing
families there were times, when I thought I’d never see the day. And to my beautiful
wife that I love so much, and has given me a great kid
that I am very proud of, even though there are times I just want to kill him.
To Yvey and Denise for marrying two good friends of ours and next year we will
be graced with two more future Star Force recruits. Thank you all for being
here with us.”
“Hear,
hear,” was said all around the table and, at that, they all began to eat.
Merry Christmas and a
Happy New Year to all!
-Yuki