FIRST CHRISTMAS (page 2):
Eclipse had his back turned when she began calling for reinforcements.
“Sam!” she yelled, loud enough to echo down the hallway. “He won’t get up!”
With a gruff and growl low in his throat he forced himself awake. He reached out his hands, still partially laying across the bed.
“Com’er!”
Eclipse grabbed her around the waist and pulled her off her feet to keep her from yelling. He pulled her onto the bed and held her in a tight hug, and she giggled before breaking into hysterical laughter in his embrace. Listening to her laugh he couldn’t recall a time before this that they had been so safe and happy, a time where Cecillia could just be free to enjoy being a kid. He smiled.
Cecillia eventually squirmed free of his grasp, and Eclipse was now awake enough to the point that he couldn’t find any excuse not to get out of bed. Holding his hand tightly, Cecillia lead him down the hallway, babbling on about what she had seen earlier in the morning and what he should expect to see when they got to their destination.
“…and…and the cookies are gone!” she began, talking at length about the Christmas cookies she had left out for Santa the night before.
“Uh huh.” He yawned wide.
“He drank all the milk!”
“Yeah…” he agreed tiredly while wiping his eyes with the back of his hand.
She smiled up at him. “And he left us GIFTS!”