John Sheridan surveyed the table before him, taking a mental
inventory of the food dishes upon it to make sure he hadn't forgotten
anything. Upon said table sat a perfectly roasted, golden breasted
turkey; a mouth watering pineapple topped spiral cut honey ham;
fluffy white rice; cranberry stuffing; giblet gravy; baked macaroni
and cheese; french cut green beans; baby sweet peas; butter topped
dinner rolls; two pumpkin pies; two sweet potato pies; and half a
marble sheet cake topped with a red dressed Santa surrounded by green
roses and holly with red berries all made of icing. "Perfect" said
Sheridan, "Everything is ready, well everything but Mrs. Claus. John
was anxious to see how Delenn looked in the matching outfit he had
purchased for her to play Santa's wife but she had banished him from
the bedroom while she changed clothes reminding him the last time she
let him watch her dress before a party they were throwing, neither
one of them were dressed when their guests arrived.
"That's what they get for arriving early. You wouldn't have wanted me
to come early, would you" Sheridan retorted.
"Of course not my love. I would have been sorely displeased with you
if you had not waited for me," Delenn said with a laugh.
Sheridan gave her a teasing kiss as a preview of what awaited her
after the party was over before he left the room like an obedient
child. That had been over an hour ago and since their guests were due
to arrive soon, he decided to check and see if his wife was almost
ready.
John walked over to the closed, frosted glass doors, gave a soft
knock and called out, "How are you doing in there Sweetheart? Are you
ready? Our guests should be here soon."
"I'll be right out John. I'm just putting on the finishing
touches, "Delenn said from behind the bedroom doors as she put a dab
of the fragrance John preferred for her to wear behind each ear, at
the base of each side of her neck, and in the valley in between her
breasts.
"Well can I come in now? I need to get my coat before everyone gets
here" John asked the question through the still closed doors.
"You may enter" Delenn responded.
Sheridan opened the bedroom doors, his gaze fell on his part Minbari-
part Human wife and he let out a low whistle and uttered, "Have Mercy"
Delenn's face lit up like ten Christmas trees full of lights at her
husband's reaction to what she was wearing. She gave a throaty
chuckle as her eyes dropped down to John's groin area and said, "Oh
My Santa, it looks like you have a big present for me."
Sheridan crossed the short distance to his wife and replied, "It's
one of a kind, special delivery just for you. I hope our guests will
leave early, because I'm anxious for you to take delivery." John gave
Delenn a suggestive wink, took her in his arms and kissed her deeply.
When that kiss ended, Delenn took a deep breath and then saucily
said, "One good kiss, deserves another" as she locked her wrists
around her husband's neck and captured his mouth for another lip lock.
Sheridan happily obliged and maneuvered his wife toward the bed. When
he felt her bump into it, he peeked out of his right eye to locate
the bedside table. Since he couldn't reach his goal and continue
plundering his wife's mouth at the same time John reluctantly ended
the kiss. He twisted his body so he could reach inside the top
drawer. Delenn laughed and shook her head because she had a feeling
she knew what he was reaching for and she lightly admonished
him, "John, we don't have time for that"
Before Sheridan could respond, the door chimed. John palmed the item
with his right hand and slipped it into his pocket, unseen by
Delenn. He held out his left hand, in gesture and said, "After you",
then he grabbed his coat off the back of the chair and followed his
wife to the door, buttoning as he walked.
"Enter" Delenn called out and the door cycled open. Stephen Franklin,
his date Tessa Halloran; Michael and Lise Garibaldi, were the first
to arrive.
"Ho, ho, ho, Merry Christmas" said John as their guests entered.
"Merry Christmas, Mr. President" responded the ladies as John kissed
them on the cheek.
"Merry Christmas, Santa" said a jovial Franklin as he shook
Sheridan's hand.
Garibaldi quipped, "Hey fat man, where's your padding?"
Santa Sheridan joked, " I wasn't taking any chances on Franklin
putting me on one of his infamous food plans."
The ladies greeted Delenn warmly and complimented her on her outfit
and the lovely decorations. She responded in kind and gave John all
the credit for the festive look of their quarters saying she didn't
do much, just placed things where he told her they should go.
"Merry Christmas Ambassador" Stephen and Michael said to Delenn.
Their eyes lingered on her a little longer than usual until John
playfully cleared his throat. Both men blushed slightly. Stephen was
the first one to speak, "Santa is certainly a very lucky man."
"Too lucky" retorted Garibaldi, " I know he hasn't been that damned
good."
"I don't have to be good, I'm Santa" John responded. "Now stop ogling
my wife and go make yourselves comfortable, you're blocking the door."
"Yea move your asses" ordered Captain Susan Ivanova who had just
arrived with Ranger Marcus Cole.
"Merry Christmas Ivanova. I can always count on you to bring class to
any occasion" Sheridan teased her as he bestowed a brotherly kiss on
her cheek.
"Damn straight," she kidded back as she moved further into the room
to greet Delenn with a respectful, "Merry Christmas Ambassador"
"Season's greetings, Mr. President" Marcus said with a bow before he
straightened and clasped Sheridan's hand and shook it vigorously.
"Happy holidays, Entil Zah" Marcus said while forming the sign of the
triangle and bowing deeply to Delenn.
"Happy holidays to you too, Marcus" Delenn returned his greeting
with a similar gesture although the bow wasn't as deep in deference
to her position. Next to arrive were Lennier, then Commander Corwin,
Security Chief Zack Allen, Dr. Lillian Hobbs and their dates. Londo
and Vir followed them, after them Talon and G' Kar arrived. Guests
continued to stream in steadily for the next half hour.
The party was going great. For once there was no talk of war or
darkness. Everyone was making small talk and enjoying the food and
drink. John was keeping an eye on the punch bowl to make sure no one
spiked the eggnog with alcohol, since he knew it was dangerous to the
Minbari guests.
Garibaldi decided to pick on Sheridan, since he had a captive
audience. He started razzing John about the food, " It looks good
but is it edible? We are not gonna have to pass out the barf bags,
before dessert are we? Whose idea was it to let Sheridan cook
anyway? Did we forget about the time he almost burned down his
quarters?" Garibaldi asked as he was on a roll.
Everyone burst out laughing because they remembered the `incident'.
It was whispered about all over the station from C and C to down
below, about "firebug Sheridan" as Garibaldi had nicknamed him. John
not willing to let Garibaldi have the last laugh, cut in, "What you
didn't know chef Mighty Mouth, is that Delenn was here, so I wasn't
exactly concerned about the cooking going on in the kitchen, just
that I was serving it up right in the bedroom. Besides Garibaldi, I
cook a damn fine meal and you know it. I don't seem to recall you
ever turning down my Veal Parmesan in the past, or my roast rack of
Lamb. You don't seem to have an aversion to the meal tonight either,
if your three trips to the table are any indication."
"I'm jut being a polite guest," Garibaldi shot back.
Stephen cut in before John and Garibaldi could start the next go
round of insults. "Everything tastes wonderful, John. When did you
find the time to do all this with your busy schedule?"
"I gave myself and my staff the week off. That's one of the benefits
of being the president" stated Sheridan. That statement set Garibaldi
off again, as he grinned and said, "There he goes again, reminding
everyone that he is King of the world."
John jumped in, "No, not king Michael, just president. Don't let ISN
hear you say I think I am king or they will demand a recount and I'm
sure you read about the last time that happened. It was before
Earthgov was a single entity, back when they had something called
states in part of North America. There was one state that never did
get the count right. Oh what was the name of that State, I can never
remember" Sheridan said. The group continued to joke with each other,
and soon the talk turned to funny stories about screw ups the
different members of the group had made since coming to live on
Babylon 5. When John began to tell about a particularly embarrassing
time of Delenn's she interrupted and sent him on a mission to refill
her cup with egg nog. Sheridan quickly complied with her request,
knowing he wanted to keep his wife in a good mood for the celebration
he had planned for later that night. Susan figuring she might be able
to get the story out of Delenn if the men weren't present, sent
Marcus to top off her cup. Tessa and Lise caught on and soon Stephen
and Michael were sent on the same errand.
While their guys were gone to refresh their drinks, Delenn, Susan,
Tessa and Lise discussed the gifts they had gotten for Christmas from
their significant others. They joked that their men must have all
shopped together since they all bought jewelry for their ladies. John
had given Delenn a diamond, X-O Tennis bracelet, with a card that
said, "for when you need a hug and kiss and I can't be near"; Michael
presented Lise with a flawless strand of Freshwater pearls; Franklin
gifted Tessa with a pair of one karat diamond solitaire earrings;
Marcus surprised Susan with a gold locket on a twenty four karat gold
chain, saying it was a reminder that she holds his heart. When they
had finished discussing what they received, the ladies next topic was
what they had given to their men.
Meanwhile the guys were watching he ladies. They decided to wait
until the coast looked clear, before they ventured into the den of
gossiping women. While they waited, they devised a plan to separate
their ladies long enough to have a little Christmas romance. Franklin
turned to Sheridan and said, "John, I think you have been a little
remiss in your duties as host. How do you expect for us to coerce the
ladies in to a little public merry making without Mistletoe?"
"Yeah Santa, you forgot the Mistletoe" Garibaldi chimed in.
"Marcus, I can understand because he is shy, but I am surprised you
two Casanovas, didn't buy all the Mistletoe in the Zocolo.
"Actually, I did buy some Mistletoe" Marcus stated rather shyly.
"And just who are you planning to use it on?" asked Garibaldi,
because if it's Susan, you know she's gonna kill you"
"He's right," said Stephen and John simultaneously.
"Oh but what a way to go," Marcus rejoined with a goofy grin on his
face as all four guys roared with laughter.
Hearing the commotion the room got silent as everyone was curious as
to what had just occurred. In command as always, Sheridan spoke
up, "As you were folks. Enjoy the festivities, there's plenty of food
and drink, so grab it while you can, because when the party is over,
you don't have to go home but you have to get the hell out of here."
Seeing his wife's frown, he quickly added in "And I mean that in only
the nicest way, so Merry Christmas everybody, let's keep this party
rocking." The first words out of Sheridan's mouth as soon as he made
his way over to his wife's side were, "It's just a saying, Honey."
"John you are president of the Alliance. Diplomacy and decorum should
always be uppermost in you mind, at all times. If it was just our
family of friends here, that would be different, but you have a room
full of Ambassadors and other dignitaries among us. How would it look
if someone took offense and started telling anyone who'd listen
President Sheridan was a rude host? You should have thought before
you made a statement like that, John, you know the tiniest slight can
create a diplomatic incident."
"That's for damn sure. Some of these Ambassadors are the most thinned
skinned...," Sheridan trailed off his mini tirade when he noticed the
glare Delenn was giving him. "Sweetheart you know I wasn't including
you, don't you?"
"Yes John, I know but that is besides the point. Some things are
better left unsaid, no matter how true they may be" she said with a
slight smile.
Seeing the smile, John was pretty sure he had been forgiven but he
thought he'd better ask her if she would forgive him, just to make
sure."
"I don't know if I should forgive you or not," said Delenn as she
turned her head to the side and pretended to be seriously
contemplating the matter.
John could see the mischief in her eyes, so he replied, "I guess that
means I have to take out the heavy artillery. I'm gonna have to go in
the old pants" As he began to reach in his pants pocket, he
said, "I'm glad I slipped this in here before we left the bedroom. I
knew it would come in handy."
Delenn mentally recalled him going into the top drawer on his side of
the bed, looked at John in question and whispered, "John, you do
recall we still have guests, don't you? You are not going to do
anything even more embarrassing this evening are you?"
It took a second for Sheridan to figure out why Delenn was asking him
that question and when it dawned on him what she thought he had in
his pocket he decided to have a little fun with his wife.
With the most serious, dignified look on his face he could muster up,
John looked at her and said, "Delenn we are all adults here. I'm not
ashamed to let everyone see what I have in my pocket. It's not like
most people in this room has never seen one before," he said as he
took her arm and pulled her into the center of the room and cleared
his throat loudly to get everyone's attention.
"First I'd like to say, that I hope everyone is having a great time.
I'd also like to thank everyone for coming tonight to help us
Celebrate. Now my lovely wife here was kind enough to point out that
my earlier joke about you leaving our quarters when the party was
over might have been misconstrued by some one, so if I offended
anyone, let me assure you it was not my intention, I hope you'll
forgive me. Now I also would like to enlist your help, in getting my
wife to forgive me and while I'm at it, introduce those of you who
are unfamiliar with it to one of the Human Christmas traditions. Back
on Earth, in days past, Christmas was a time of love and forgiveness.
Sometimes those two concepts need a little help. That is where the
item I have in my pocket comes in." John reached into his pocket and
pulled out a healthy sprig of Mistletoe. It is a Human tradition that
when two people of the opposite sex are under this plant at the same
time they have to kiss. So here's where you come in. It is also
customary for onlookers to cheer the couple on by chanting, "Kiss,
kiss" while they are under the Mistletoe, especially if one or both
partners is reluctant to participate. Now as most of you know my wife
is big on ritual and tradition, but I have a feeling she might be
just a tad bit reluctant to participate at this moment. I can tell by
the, I'm gonna get you later look she is giving me at this moment"
John said as the room exploded with laughter. John added, "I don't
even have to be looking at her to know this. I'm a married man, after
a while we can just feel it when our wives are displeased with us."
By now Delenn was blushing at the spectacle John was making out of
them, plus the fact that he knew her so well. As soon as John turned
to face her and put the Mistletoe above her head the crowd began to
cheer, "Kiss, kiss." When she didn't immediately begin to comply with
their request, the room's occupants cries for a smooch became even
louder. John's grin grew even wider and Delenn could only laugh at
her incorrigible husband as she joined him for a kiss that quickly
turned so searing that it should have set off the smoke detectors.
When their kiss ended, Sheridan passed the plant on to the next
couple.
The sprig of greenery began to make the rounds of the room. Delenn
steered John away from the crowd and into the kitchen area, where it
was a lot less crowded and not quite as noisy. They placed their arms
around each other's waist. Their lips were soon once again engaged in
a kiss. The kiss was interrupted by the first of their guest to
leave. The couple wanted to say good bye and thank the hosts for a
lovely evening. Soon most of the party guests began to depart. It
seemed all that kissing under the Mistletoe, had given quite a few
couples the urge to find a quiet place to be alone. After the last of
the party attendees, had left, John and Delenn put away the remaining
food and picked up a the worst of the mess, leaving the rest for in
the morning when they'd be a little more inclined to finish cleaning
up. At the moment that wasn't first and foremost in their minds,
their own private Christmas gift giving was.
Later on that night as he drifted into a blissful slumber John
Sheridan thought about how blessed a man he truly was. He wasn't one
much for organized religion, but especially at this time of year, he
thought about the Divine power, that surely watched over him. His
grin grew even wider as he recalled the news Delenn had given him
before they made love. In about seven and a half months their child
would be born and that thought the proud father to be is the greatest
gift of all.
The end. Merry Christmas. Love one another and Peace shall follow.
Story Notes:
Disclaimer: I do not own the show B5 or any of the Characters, if I did it would still be on the air. This story is just my need to visit with the characters every once in a while.
Setting, rating and Notes: Pg-13 in my opinion but if you are more conserative, like my alterego, consider it R rated. This is set between season 4 and 5. It does not stick to cannon as the character of Lochley is not one of my favorites and I think season 5 would have been better with Ivanova. Also I have included Marcus Cole in this
story, Susan wasn't hurt in the Shadow war so Marcus didn't need to give his life for hers. There is another matter that I have sped up the time line on but I will let you discover that line for yourself. If you can't pick it out, then it really wasn't that big a deal in
the first place, so just forget I mentioned it.
Setting, rating and Notes: Pg-13 in my opinion but if you are more conserative, like my alterego, consider it R rated. This is set between season 4 and 5. It does not stick to cannon as the character of Lochley is not one of my favorites and I think season 5 would have been better with Ivanova. Also I have included Marcus Cole in this
story, Susan wasn't hurt in the Shadow war so Marcus didn't need to give his life for hers. There is another matter that I have sped up the time line on but I will let you discover that line for yourself. If you can't pick it out, then it really wasn't that big a deal in
the first place, so just forget I mentioned it.