CHRISTMAS WITH THE
FORRESTERS
A Romantic Alternate
Tale of the Star Force for Christmas
By Frederick P. Kopetz
Note: This tale fits
between "Tomorrow Never Knows" and "Save the Last Dance for Me" in the "Visions of Love And Honor"
storyline before "The Rikasha Incident"--Freddo
Earth
December 24, 2201
1138 Hours: Spacetime
"Karl, did she get
Derek from the hotel yet?" asked Teri Forrester.
"Well, he and Nova
wanted some private time together at the hotel before they came here to the
church for the midnight service," said Karl Forrester, the husband of Teri
Forrester and father of Star Force heroine Lieutenant Nova Forrester.
"Maybe they got lohst?" said Lieutenant Jefferson Hardy of the Black
Tigers, one of Nova and Derek Wildstar's comrades on the space battleship Argo.
He was wearing a black blazer with mustard-colored slacks, a white shirt, and a
gold tie...along with a Tiger pin. His girlfriend, Mio Hoshiyama, stood nearby
in a dark green skirt and white blouse with white pumps. The skirt billowed a
little in the bracing (but not cold) breeze that blew in from off the
"Nova grew up here
before the bombings for most of her life," said Teri, in one of her usual
pantsuits. "She wouldn't get lost in her hometown in her cousin Jane's
aircar that I know she knows how to drive."
"Well, she and
Wildstah both drive a little crazy when they're in a rush," said Hardy.
"Don't we know that, Conroy?"
"We do, all too
well," said Pete Conroy, the squadron leader of the Black Tigers. He was
in a suit similar to Hardy's. It had been his idea to have the Tigers present
dressed in the squadron colors.
"So, what are you
saying?" asked Teri.
Lieutenant Natalie Fisher,
the intended maid of honor at the upcoming wedding, dressed in a dark brown
suede suit and boots, said, "I think maybe Nova got a speeding
ticket?"
"She'd better not
have," said Nova's cousin Jane, one of the bridesmaids. Her back-length
blond hair billowed in the breeze along with the green skirt of her red and
green dress. She wore festive red sandals and a Santa Claus pin pinned to her
dress near the collar.
"Yeah...wasn't it your
idea to have all of us together at this time?" asked Natalie. "We
can't be rushing her for time."
A moment later, a white aircar
pulled up in the parking lot. Natalie and Jane began to applaud, and the driver
of the aircar beeped once and waved with one of her free hands before pulling
into a parking space. She stopped, and the canopy rolled back and the door came
open.
Nova Forrester, resplendent
in a white dress trimmed in pink, with pink pumps and wearing a Santa Claus
cap, waved merrily at her friend and cousin as she stepped out of the car.
Captain Derek Wildstar, her fiancée, smiled and waved, too as he came out. He
was wearing his new Captain's peacoat and cap with his ascot and blue EDF
uniform slacks. Both of them wore holly sprigs towards the right of their
outfits.
"What was the
delay?" asked Jane.
"I was helping him get
ready," said Nova softly. "I had to get him looking just right."
"You're already acting
like his wife. Good girl!" joked Natalie.
Commander Mark Venture, the
Deputy Captain of the Argo, pulled up a moment later in his rental car.
He parked, and came out with Stephen Sandor. Both of them were in EDF blues
with their blue and red peacoats and light brown boots.
"I do not believe
this," said Venture. "Nova, you made him look good for once."
"Oh, be quiet!"
said Derek with a grin. There was a note of "anger" in his voice, but
Nova knew it was mock anger. She knew all too well of his deep affection and
friendship with both Mark and herself.
"I helped him
out," said Nova. She hugged him and said. "Think I have good taste
and can get him ready for inspection? Look at his boots. Perfect shine!"
"Well, I was pretty
good at that," said Derek.
"But you need a
woman's touch about you my space cowboy," joked Nova. "You guys think
I take care of him?"
"Yeah," said
Venture.
Sandor nodded. "He
looks healthier."
"I think she does a
great job in looking out for me, and I know she thinks I'm great at looking out
for her," said Derek as he laid his head on her shoulder. "It's
different...but...I'm starting a different chapter of my life soon."
"You guys eveah gonna
get a divohce?" teased Hardy.
"NO" said Derek
and Nova very emphatically in chorus. The fire in both of their eyes at this
statement took Hardy back a little.
"Well...why are you so
strong-willed about this?"
"I love him" said
Nova.
"And I love her,"
said Derek. "It goes against my faith, my ethical system, and why consider
marrying someone that you're not sure you will spend the rest of your life
with?"
"People make
mistakes," said Hardy.
"We're not
making a mistake," said Nova in a slow and dangerous voice. "I intend
to spend the rest of my life with him, and we will deal with any heartbreaks
that come up in stride. Now, let's get inside the church, guys. The service is
about to start."
Hardy went in with Mio and
sat down in the same pew with Derek and Nova, who were at the far end of the
pew talking quietly and studying the hymnal. Beside Hardy and Mio sat Jane,
Sandor, and Natalie.
"Looks sort of
Lutheran," said Sandor.
"What?"
"The inside of this
church, Hardy," said Sandor. "I've been to some Lutheran churches,
even though I was raised Russian Orthodox."
"The church is
somewhere between Lutheran and Episcopalian in its beliefs," Jane said.
"We all used to be Catholic, but then there was some kind of controversy,
so we came across town to this place and loved it."
Homer came in a moment
later, dressed in a royal-blue suit, light blue shirt, and striped tie.
"Sorry I'm late," he said. "Sandor, the planning is still going
on."
"For what?"
"The bash tomorrow
night."
"Oh, that,"
smiled Hardy.
"What?" asked
Mio.
Hardy dropped his voice to
a whisper. "Wildstar's gonna be shanghaied to a party. At 2230 tomorrow
night, it will turn into a bachelor pahty, with a
cake, a stripper..."
"What?" said Mio.
Jane Forrester gave Hardy
an icy look with dark eyes not that much unlike her cousin's. "The bridegroom's
fiancée is not letting the Captain attend a stupid bachelor party like that,
and the Captain does not care to attend such an observance."
"Sorry. We thought
it'd be cute," said Hardy.
"I have been ordered
to inform my cousin of any such developments," said Jane. "And I will
have you know that if he is shanghaied there, my cousin plans desperate
countermeasures against you guys if he is found in that lower bar suite of the
Boulderado Hotel tomorrow night." Hardy noticed that Jane said that in a slightly
loud voice. In their corner of the pew, he then noticed Derek and Nova giving
each other a decorous high-five, like a signal.
Mio said, "Jeff, you
sound terrible."
"Yeah?"
"But it's kind of
cute," she whispered. "What were you planning to do to Derek?"
"We have a couple of
Tiger measures underway, all of them secret."
"Can you tell
me?" she whispered. "After all, this is our second date."
"Give me some time and
maybe I will," said Hardy. The lovers snuck a kiss before Jane hit Mio in
the knee with her hymnal.
"Ouch!" she said
"Behave yourselves,
you lovebird. The service is about to begin. Stand up."
The congregation stood,
looking down at the altar, covered in poinsettias, white flowers and candles. A
chorus of Angels We Have Heard on High began, followed by O Little
Town of Bethlehem. Hardy felt a little stirring in his heart on that piece,
since that was one of his favorite carols.
In his part of the pew,
Derek looked in Nova's eyes as they both sang together. Their hands slipped
together under the hymnal and they held hands as the song ran through. Derek
particularly liked his fiancé's sweet alto voice on the carol.
"Thank you,
everyone," said Pastor Likanski, the church's rector. He stood behind the
lectern in a dark suit with a white robe, over which he wore a red stole.
"We are here to commemorate the birth of our Saviour and Lord Jesus Christ
tonight. We have gathered at midnight because that is when tradition said that
the Star was first seen over the birthplace of the Child. This is traditionally
a time for new beginnings, new hopes, new resolutions for the New Year. It is
said that this is a great time to start new lives. It is felt that anyone who
gets married around this time may well receive a special blessing. I have two
such services on Saturday, not a day and a half from now, one in the morning,
one in the early evening. I'd like all of you to pray for the
soon-to-be-newlyweds tonight."
"Yeah...they're gonna
need it with you guys," whispered Jane.
"Hey, Sandor,"
whispered Homer.
"Yes?"
"When you pray in
here, is it like synagogue? Do you bow your head?"
"Same thing,"
said Sandor.
A moment later, when they
"Let us pray" came up, Jane kneed Mio, and she and Hardy bowed their
heads as the pastor made a long prayer. Hardy fidgeted a little, and Mio
playfully bumped him. At that, Jane went "shhh...guys...don't you know how
to act in church?"
"Maybe he
doesn't," said Mio with a wink. She put her arm around his waist, getting
a little bored with the service.
"A'hm bored,
too," said Hardy. "When can we get outta here?"
"You gonna be bored on
Saturday?" asked Jane.
"No...because I'll
have duties."
"Guys...chill,"
whispered Sandor in a low voice.
Finally, the long prayer
was over and they sat down.
Later on, outside, with the
bells ringing, the group came out of the church. It was a little colder, and
Jane shivered a little as she came out. Mio held Jeff, and, of course, Derek
had a protective arm over Nova to keep her warm, since her dress had a scoop
neckline that bared much of her shoulders to the Rockies breeze.
"Are you okay?"
Derek said as he helped her into the car.
"Fine. Just a little
chilly. I should've brought my coat from the house. Didn't think it'd get this
cold tonight." Nova put her keys into the car's ignition, listening as the
little chime went off for a moment. She got it started, and closed the canopy
and automatic doors. Soon, they were up on the suspension field, drifting
towards the exit of the parking lot.
It was a short drive to the
Forrester home. The house twinkled with many white and multi-colored Christmas
lights as they drove up. They went to the door and knocked. Teri greeted both
Nova and Derek with big hugs, saying, "Do you have your presents in the
bags?"
"Yes, we do,"
said Derek.
"Our first Christmas
together on Earth," said Nova. "Isn't this fun?
"It is," said
Derek as his eyes misted up. "It's been so long since I've had a
family..."
"I'm your family
now," she said as she gave him a big hug on the doorstep.
They kissed, and then went
inside.
The party was going soon
afterwards. Teri made sure her daughter and soon-to-be son in law had full
plates with slices of ham, turkey sandwiches, macaroni salad, and even
kielbasa.
Near the tree, a while
later, Nova handed Derek two wrapped boxes. Wildstar opened one of the boxes,
and found a model of a little snow-globe with a model of Denver in it.
"Pretty," he
said. "What do you do, Nova?"
"Shake it, and watch
the snow fall," she said softly.
He turned it upside-down
and watched the snow falling as everyone applauded.
"Open the other
one," said Nova.
Derek did so, and his eyes
went wide as he pulled out a silver Stellar Navigator Chronometer wristwatch.
It was quite accurate, and very expensive.
"Wow..." he said.
"You caught me looking at it in the store, didn't you?"
"I sure did," she
said as she put it on his wrist. "There you go, Captain. Now you can keep
us on time aboard ship!"
They all clapped.
"Now, for you," he said, handing her a single small box.
"What is it?" she
said.
"If I told you, it
wouldn't be a surprise. Open it up, Nova."
She tore open the gold
paper tied with a black ribbon and opened a small box. She looked in the box,
and squealed. "Oh, my God...what a beautiful little diamond necklace! And
it's a blue diamond! Where did you get it from?"
"Iscandar," he
said with a smile. "When we were there, I picked it up when you weren't
around. I spent quite a bit to have it cut. And the chain is platinum."
"Put it on me!"
she cried. Derek did so, and she stood up on tiptoe in her pumps to give him a
big, big hug.
"Well," said Mio
as she looked at Jeff.
"Yeah?" said
Hardy.
"What did you get for
me, you Tiger?"
"You'll find
out."
Both of them watched as
they heard a little girl in a sleeper yelling, Okay, you guys! Get under the
mistletoe! KISS him, Cousin Nova!"
"Uhh...I think we've
been abducted," said Derek with a grin as a little blond girl in a pink
sleeper pulled at his coat.
"We're going over,
Kristin," giggled Nova. "Don't knock cousin Derek over now.
Otherwise, you might lose your job as flower girl on Saturday."
"I won't, Novie-wovie!" said Kristin. "But you gotta kiss
him! Otherwise Santa Claus won't come!"
"Okay," said Nova
as Derek embraced her. She threw her arms around him, and as several family
members snapped pictures, they kissed to applause, cheers, and lots of shouts
of "awww" and "how sweet"
After they got done, Nova
noticed Hardy and Hoshiyama standing nearby exchanging gifts. She winked at
Derek and said, "Guys, that can wait a minute."
"Why?" asked Mio.
Nova smiled and shoved them
under the mistletoe. She whispered, "kiss, you two!" in
Hardy's ear.
At that, Hardy and Mio
kissed, again and again.
The family members laughed
while Derek and Nova snapped pictures.
"You know what?"
said Derek.
"What?"
"Watching those two
smooch is giving me ideas..."
"How dangerous are
those ideas?'
"Very," said
Derek. "But not too bad. The real fun stuff will be on Saturday
night."
"I know,"
whispered Nova.
They had some eggnog, and
then disappeared for a while. Hardy thought he heard something about "Get
the trains out, you two..."
At that, Derek and Nova
vanished.
A while later, Mio
Hoshiyama and Jefferson Hardy found themselves sitting in a white-paneled
bedroom, kissing and hugging.
"Jeff, you drive me
crazy," said Mio.
"I'd hope so,"
said Hardy. They hugged and kissed again on the bed, and Jeff began to run a
hand up Mio's leg.
"Whoa," she
whispered.
"What's wrong?"
"Not under the skirt
yet, hon. We don't know each other well enough yet."
"Sorry," said
Hardy.
They went downstairs to a
rec room. "This place seems quiet," said Hardy.
"Hopefully you don't
want to kiss more? I'm not sure it's right to sneak off and smooch in someone
else's house."
"No...let's have some
Bourbon. Synthetic, but it's there."
"Okay," said Mio.
To her amazement, Hardy made them a pair of decent Bourbon and Sodas.
"What shall we drink
to?" said Mio.
"Us."
"I agree," said
Mio. They clinked glasses and drank.
A moment later, they heard
the sound of whispered endearments and kisses.
"What do you
hear?" asked Mio.
"Kissin'
"said Hardy."Shh..."
They went over to the
direction that the kissing was coming from. Hardy opened the door of a storage
room slightly to find an adorable scene.
Two Lionel train set boxes
sat on the floor. There was a stepstool near a set of high shelves. Perched up
there were Derek and Nova, busily smooching. Derek was running his hands over
his wife's slender form, while Nova was running her hands down his open peacoat
and under his askew ascot. She also occassionally
stroked his ankle with a slender stockinged foot, since her shoes were kicked
off on the floor.
"Shh," said Hardy
as Mio was about to say something.
"What?'
Hardy pulled Mio over and
embraced her, giving her a deep kiss while he gently used his boot to close the
door to the storage room.
"Don't know if I mind
this," said Mio. "Inspiration from your Captain?"
"You could say
that..."
Later that night, Nova took
Derek back to the hotel. It was around 5 AM, and she insisted he needed to get
a few hours' worth of sleep before coming back over to her parents' house. Nova
would've stayed with him, except for the fact that she was expected back at her
parents' house.
Later on, at noon on
Christmas Day proper, Nova showed up tapping at the door to Derek's hotel room.
She had on a different outfit; a brown suede skirt, boots, and a white sweater
with a black vinyl coat and matching beret.
"You look cute
today."
"Merry Christmas all
over again," she said with a smile. She looked at him through the door.
"Uniform?"
"No....I'm trying to
put on the suit you got me."
He opened the door,
standing there in blue slacks, a white shirt, dark green vest, black blazers,
and no tie. He had it in his hand.
"Don't you know how to
put that on?" Nova asked softly.
"I haven't worn a
civilian suit in years, since the orphanage," he said. "I've sort of
forgotten this."
"Let me help
you," said Nova. She stepped into his room, looked at him and the
snow-globe on his desk, and smiled. "Be sure you're ready to check out of
here tomorrow morning when I get to take home my biggest Christmas
present."
"And that is?" he
said as he smiled at the feel of Nova's soft hands tying his tie.
"You," she
replied. "Merry Christmas, Derek."
"Merry Christmas,
Nova."
On that tender note, they
kissed again. It took a little while for Wildstar to get his tie tied.
END.
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