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fredbassettTitle : Silver on the Tree
Author : fredbassett
Fandom : Primeval
Rating : 12
Characters : Becker/Ryan, Marcus, Kay and Alex.
Disclaimer : Not mine, no money made, don’t sue.
Spoilers : None
Summary : It’s Christmas and there’s no stopping a trio of excited puppies.
A/N : Written as a Christmas present for the creator of Pup!Verse, the very wonderful![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
fififolle and my two co-conspirators in this ‘verse, the equally wonderful lukadreaming and clea2011. The puppies are all Fifi’s creation. Have a lovely day, laydees!
Ryan watched proudly as his daughter stood up on her hind legs, resting her front paws on Blade’s knees as she dropped the Christmas card that her and her brothers had made at nursery into his lap.
Blade opened it carefully and stared admiringly at the riot of red, brown and green paw prints that, if viewed from a distance, took on a vague resemblance to a robin sitting on a sprig of holly, liberally sprinkled with glitter. The card wouldn’t win any art prizes, but there was nothing insincere in Blade’s smile. He scooped Kay up, planted a kiss on her silky brown head, and ruffled the boys’ fur, making both of them wriggle around like a pair of eels in a sack. The three of them were still liberally covered in the glitter same sort of glitter that adorned the card and as well as that, tiny Christmas stars seemed to have got everywhere. Alex shook himself and more stars flew off him onto the carpet.
“Thanks for lunch, boss,” Blade said to Becker who was sprawled out on the other sofa where he’d been defending the TV remote from the kids in an attempt to stop them watching Lady and the Tramp for the tenth time. “I’d better be going. If I’m late for supper Kermit’s Mrs will nick one of my knives and stick it where the sun doesn’t shine.”
“Gove our love to Cara and the others,” Becker said, getting up and sticking the remote into his pocket, neatly avoiding the grab Marcus had just made for it. A little black face, full of mischief stared up at him but Becker was used to ignoring his offspring on certain occasions.
The pups scampered after Blade down the hall, all clamouring for one last pat. When he’d gone, Ryan pulled Becker in for a kiss. “It was nice of the lads to send all those presents,” he said when they drew apart.
The pile of brightly-wrapped parcels under the tree was already starting to flow across the carpet. It looked like just about everyone at the ARC had sent something, including Lester. The kids were going to be spoiled rotten, but as Becker had pointed out, it was their first Christmas, so they were entitled to be excited.
Someone, almost certainly Lorraine in cahoots with Joel Stringer, had fiddled the rota so that neither Ryan nor Becker were on call for several days. Their protests had been pointedly ignored, so they’d both given in with good grace. To show their gratitude, a large box of hand-made Belgian chocolates had found their way onto Lorraine’s desk, and a bottle of decent brandy had been stashed in their fellow captain’s locker.
Ryan was surprised by how much he was enjoying the complete domesticity of their first Christmas together. They’d braved the supermarket together while the kids were in nursery, filled two trolleys to the brim and had even remained unruffled during the long wait at the checkout. Tinsel, streamers and lights festooned the living room and hall, and the tree had survived the pups’ attempts to help decorate it – much to Ryan’s amazement – although a couple of the lower branches had suffered from some experimental chewing on the part of the boys.
Kay had insisted on being lifted up so she could put the bright, silver star on the top, juggling it carefully with her paws, her small, pink tongue sticking out as she’d concentrated hard on not dropping the decoration that she’d chosen herself. Her brothers had watched almost as indulgently as her proud fathers, but now they’d reverted to type and were dashing around the living room playing tug of war with a strand of red tinsel. It was at times like this that Ryan was very glad he’d insisted on buying the most powerful hand-held vacuum cleaner on the market.
“Beer?” Becker raised his scarred eyebrow questioningly.
“Have I been known to refuse?”
They had an entire fridge full of beer and wine in the utility room. Ryan thought that was definitely a sign of a household that had its priorities right. It was also the sign of a household that got visited a lot by members of the armed forces. And the science team could run the lads a pretty close second when they set their mind to it. Ryan had already taken the precaution of stashing an extra bottle of decent malt in the cupboard in readiness for a visit from Cutter and Stephen on Boxing Day.
After one more showing of Lady and the Tramp – proof that whilst Becker might be able to hold his own against the regimental sergeant major he was still a pushover where his kids were concerned – Ryan hustled the pups into the bathroom for so that paws could be washed, teeth cleaned and all pine needles and glitter could be removed from their fur.
The trio trotted off happily to bed, but Ryan wasn’t convinced by how much sleep they’d get. Marcus was an early riser at the best of times and although he was generally happy to play in his basket with his toys, Ryan didn’t think that would be enough for him on Christmas morning.
After the statutory three bedtime stories, Becker tucked their fleece blankets around them, gave each of the pups a kiss, stood back while Ryan did the same, a distinctly soppy look on his face, and then they retired back to the living room to enjoy a late supper in peace.
“They’re going to go crazy tomorrow, aren’t they, Tom?”
Ryan grinned. “The place’ll look like the sergeant’s mess on New Year’s day.”
Becker winced. “That bad?”
“That bad with an added sprig of tinsel on top for good measure.”
Becker leaned against Ryan’s shoulder and nabbed his beer bottle, which Ryan happily surrendered as there was another one next to him on the coffee table, but Becker liked the intimacy of drinking from the same bottle, and if Becker liked something Ryan was more than happy to oblige.
They spent the rest of the evening watching enjoyably crappy films and downing several more beers before rounding the night off with a large brandy each. At just on midnight, both their phones started beeping, but it was nothing more life-threatening than the customary round of texts from the lads offering them a Happy Christmas. Or in Finn’s case, eppy Xmu.
“Happy Christmas, love,” Ryan said before kissing Becker softly on the lips.
“Happy Christmas, Tom.” Becker deepened the kiss as his tongue delved hungrily into Ryan’s mouth.
Suddenly, the hairs started to prickle on the back of Ryan’s neck. Gently, he disengaged from his lover and looked around over the back of the sofa,
Three pairs of bright eyes gleamed in the darkness of the hall.
Ryan rolled his eyes. “Back to bed, the three of you! It’s not officially Christmas until Santa’s been and he won’t come while you’re awake.”
He made a shooing motion with his hands and the pups nearly tripped over each other in their haste to snuggle back down in their baskets.
For the second time that night, Ryan and Becker tucked them all in and then returned to their own room, where clothes were shed unceremoniously on the floor and they fell into bed. Arms around each other, they fell asleep to the sound of soft snoring and whiffling broadcast through the puppy monitor.
* * * * *
The same parental sixth sense that had alerted Ryan to the presence of his children at midnight brought him out of a deep sleep as easily as the sound of the anomaly alarm would have done.
He sat up in bed to see Marcus and Alex sandwiching Kay in the open doorway, positive quivering with excitement and the words Is it Christmas now? hanging in the air as clearly as if the pups had been able to voice the words aloud.
Ryan glanced at his partner who was sprawled on his stomach, dead to the world. He never ceased to marvel how selective parental instinct could be, sometimes waking him, sometimes waking Becker, but generally not waking both of them at the same time. It was as if only one of a mated pair needed to be on duty at once.
He smiled at the excited pups. There was no way Becker was going to be allowed to stay asleep much longer. “Yes, it’s Christmas Day, but that doesn’t mean…” The rest of what he’d been intending to say was lost in a volley of excited yips and scrabbling paws. Ryan leaned over and kissed Becker’s smoothly-muscled shoulder. “Come on, sleeping beauty, we need to get up before the kids cause complete chaos.”
It took no more than about two minutes for them to pull on teeshirts and jogging bottoms, but in that time the puppies had fallen on the parcels under the tree with the force of a barbarian horde. Shiny paper was now strewn everywhere. Kay had several bows and ribbons stuck all over her fur and all three of them were wearing reindeer antlers, although from the way Alex was scratching at his with one hind paw, they clearly hadn’t been his idea. Kay stared at her brother with a distinctly smug expression on her chubby brown face.
“This isn’t going to make writing the thank you letters easy,” Becker muttered.
“Played with it constantly/broken it already/given it to the poor pups,” Ryan replied, quoting a favourite line of his from the Molesworth books he’d loved when he’d been not much older than the kids were now.
Becker laughed. “I don’t think anyone’s going to want that pigs ear when Marcus has finished with it.”
Becker was right, one corner of the ear was already looking decidedly unhealthy. Lyle was nothing if not predictable when it came to presents. A pig’s ear for each of the pups whatever the occasion. Other presents included new blankets, some adorable little knitted winter coats, three bright red scarves with white pom-poms on each end, picture books and DVDs. The excited yelping showed no signs of abating but then Kay suddenly noticed that they were being watched. She poked Marcus with one sturdy paw, nipped Alex’s tail to get his attention and promptly turned a pair of melting brown eyes on her fathers.
Ryan chuckled and slipped his arm around Becker’s waist. “We don’t stand a bloody chance against those three, do we?”
Becker leaned his head against Ryan’s for a moment, enjoying the sight of their children piled up in a head on top of each other under the Christmas tree. “We didn’t from the moment they were born.” He turned to Ryan, making no attempt to disguise the fact that his eyes were shining with tears. “Thank you for everything, Tom.”
Ryan ran his fingers through Becker’s sleep-tousled hair. “It’s me who should be thanking you...” A chorus of excited barks forestalled anything else that he might have been about to say. “Those little buggers are going to spend tomorrow matching up labels with presents,” he vowed.
Becker laughed. “Too bloody right they are. Come on, they know perfectly well that Santa’s left some more booty for them.”
One look at three furry faces staring up at them hopefully promptly sent Ryan straight for the large bag he’d locked away in a cupboard. The Regiment might have taught him to withstand interrogation, but his instructors in Hereford had nothing on the pups when they were determined to get their own way.
“And at least we know who they need to thank for the pig’s ears,” Becker said brightly.
“One down, at least fifteen more to go.” Ryan sighed in mock irritation.
“Fourteen. One of the reindeer antlers has a label still hanging off it.”
Five minutes later, they were sitting on the floor next to the tree, with an armful of exited pup each and Kay turning ungainly cartwheels on the rug, her chocolate brown coat glowing with yet more glitter.
This was very definitely the best Christmas ever.
Author : fredbassett
Fandom : Primeval
Rating : 12
Characters : Becker/Ryan, Marcus, Kay and Alex.
Disclaimer : Not mine, no money made, don’t sue.
Spoilers : None
Summary : It’s Christmas and there’s no stopping a trio of excited puppies.
A/N : Written as a Christmas present for the creator of Pup!Verse, the very wonderful
fififolle and my two co-conspirators in this ‘verse, the equally wonderful lukadreaming and clea2011. The puppies are all Fifi’s creation. Have a lovely day, laydees!Ryan watched proudly as his daughter stood up on her hind legs, resting her front paws on Blade’s knees as she dropped the Christmas card that her and her brothers had made at nursery into his lap.
Blade opened it carefully and stared admiringly at the riot of red, brown and green paw prints that, if viewed from a distance, took on a vague resemblance to a robin sitting on a sprig of holly, liberally sprinkled with glitter. The card wouldn’t win any art prizes, but there was nothing insincere in Blade’s smile. He scooped Kay up, planted a kiss on her silky brown head, and ruffled the boys’ fur, making both of them wriggle around like a pair of eels in a sack. The three of them were still liberally covered in the glitter same sort of glitter that adorned the card and as well as that, tiny Christmas stars seemed to have got everywhere. Alex shook himself and more stars flew off him onto the carpet.
“Thanks for lunch, boss,” Blade said to Becker who was sprawled out on the other sofa where he’d been defending the TV remote from the kids in an attempt to stop them watching Lady and the Tramp for the tenth time. “I’d better be going. If I’m late for supper Kermit’s Mrs will nick one of my knives and stick it where the sun doesn’t shine.”
“Gove our love to Cara and the others,” Becker said, getting up and sticking the remote into his pocket, neatly avoiding the grab Marcus had just made for it. A little black face, full of mischief stared up at him but Becker was used to ignoring his offspring on certain occasions.
The pups scampered after Blade down the hall, all clamouring for one last pat. When he’d gone, Ryan pulled Becker in for a kiss. “It was nice of the lads to send all those presents,” he said when they drew apart.
The pile of brightly-wrapped parcels under the tree was already starting to flow across the carpet. It looked like just about everyone at the ARC had sent something, including Lester. The kids were going to be spoiled rotten, but as Becker had pointed out, it was their first Christmas, so they were entitled to be excited.
Someone, almost certainly Lorraine in cahoots with Joel Stringer, had fiddled the rota so that neither Ryan nor Becker were on call for several days. Their protests had been pointedly ignored, so they’d both given in with good grace. To show their gratitude, a large box of hand-made Belgian chocolates had found their way onto Lorraine’s desk, and a bottle of decent brandy had been stashed in their fellow captain’s locker.
Ryan was surprised by how much he was enjoying the complete domesticity of their first Christmas together. They’d braved the supermarket together while the kids were in nursery, filled two trolleys to the brim and had even remained unruffled during the long wait at the checkout. Tinsel, streamers and lights festooned the living room and hall, and the tree had survived the pups’ attempts to help decorate it – much to Ryan’s amazement – although a couple of the lower branches had suffered from some experimental chewing on the part of the boys.
Kay had insisted on being lifted up so she could put the bright, silver star on the top, juggling it carefully with her paws, her small, pink tongue sticking out as she’d concentrated hard on not dropping the decoration that she’d chosen herself. Her brothers had watched almost as indulgently as her proud fathers, but now they’d reverted to type and were dashing around the living room playing tug of war with a strand of red tinsel. It was at times like this that Ryan was very glad he’d insisted on buying the most powerful hand-held vacuum cleaner on the market.
“Beer?” Becker raised his scarred eyebrow questioningly.
“Have I been known to refuse?”
They had an entire fridge full of beer and wine in the utility room. Ryan thought that was definitely a sign of a household that had its priorities right. It was also the sign of a household that got visited a lot by members of the armed forces. And the science team could run the lads a pretty close second when they set their mind to it. Ryan had already taken the precaution of stashing an extra bottle of decent malt in the cupboard in readiness for a visit from Cutter and Stephen on Boxing Day.
After one more showing of Lady and the Tramp – proof that whilst Becker might be able to hold his own against the regimental sergeant major he was still a pushover where his kids were concerned – Ryan hustled the pups into the bathroom for so that paws could be washed, teeth cleaned and all pine needles and glitter could be removed from their fur.
The trio trotted off happily to bed, but Ryan wasn’t convinced by how much sleep they’d get. Marcus was an early riser at the best of times and although he was generally happy to play in his basket with his toys, Ryan didn’t think that would be enough for him on Christmas morning.
After the statutory three bedtime stories, Becker tucked their fleece blankets around them, gave each of the pups a kiss, stood back while Ryan did the same, a distinctly soppy look on his face, and then they retired back to the living room to enjoy a late supper in peace.
“They’re going to go crazy tomorrow, aren’t they, Tom?”
Ryan grinned. “The place’ll look like the sergeant’s mess on New Year’s day.”
Becker winced. “That bad?”
“That bad with an added sprig of tinsel on top for good measure.”
Becker leaned against Ryan’s shoulder and nabbed his beer bottle, which Ryan happily surrendered as there was another one next to him on the coffee table, but Becker liked the intimacy of drinking from the same bottle, and if Becker liked something Ryan was more than happy to oblige.
They spent the rest of the evening watching enjoyably crappy films and downing several more beers before rounding the night off with a large brandy each. At just on midnight, both their phones started beeping, but it was nothing more life-threatening than the customary round of texts from the lads offering them a Happy Christmas. Or in Finn’s case, eppy Xmu.
“Happy Christmas, love,” Ryan said before kissing Becker softly on the lips.
“Happy Christmas, Tom.” Becker deepened the kiss as his tongue delved hungrily into Ryan’s mouth.
Suddenly, the hairs started to prickle on the back of Ryan’s neck. Gently, he disengaged from his lover and looked around over the back of the sofa,
Three pairs of bright eyes gleamed in the darkness of the hall.
Ryan rolled his eyes. “Back to bed, the three of you! It’s not officially Christmas until Santa’s been and he won’t come while you’re awake.”
He made a shooing motion with his hands and the pups nearly tripped over each other in their haste to snuggle back down in their baskets.
For the second time that night, Ryan and Becker tucked them all in and then returned to their own room, where clothes were shed unceremoniously on the floor and they fell into bed. Arms around each other, they fell asleep to the sound of soft snoring and whiffling broadcast through the puppy monitor.
* * * * *
The same parental sixth sense that had alerted Ryan to the presence of his children at midnight brought him out of a deep sleep as easily as the sound of the anomaly alarm would have done.
He sat up in bed to see Marcus and Alex sandwiching Kay in the open doorway, positive quivering with excitement and the words Is it Christmas now? hanging in the air as clearly as if the pups had been able to voice the words aloud.
Ryan glanced at his partner who was sprawled on his stomach, dead to the world. He never ceased to marvel how selective parental instinct could be, sometimes waking him, sometimes waking Becker, but generally not waking both of them at the same time. It was as if only one of a mated pair needed to be on duty at once.
He smiled at the excited pups. There was no way Becker was going to be allowed to stay asleep much longer. “Yes, it’s Christmas Day, but that doesn’t mean…” The rest of what he’d been intending to say was lost in a volley of excited yips and scrabbling paws. Ryan leaned over and kissed Becker’s smoothly-muscled shoulder. “Come on, sleeping beauty, we need to get up before the kids cause complete chaos.”
It took no more than about two minutes for them to pull on teeshirts and jogging bottoms, but in that time the puppies had fallen on the parcels under the tree with the force of a barbarian horde. Shiny paper was now strewn everywhere. Kay had several bows and ribbons stuck all over her fur and all three of them were wearing reindeer antlers, although from the way Alex was scratching at his with one hind paw, they clearly hadn’t been his idea. Kay stared at her brother with a distinctly smug expression on her chubby brown face.
“This isn’t going to make writing the thank you letters easy,” Becker muttered.
“Played with it constantly/broken it already/given it to the poor pups,” Ryan replied, quoting a favourite line of his from the Molesworth books he’d loved when he’d been not much older than the kids were now.
Becker laughed. “I don’t think anyone’s going to want that pigs ear when Marcus has finished with it.”
Becker was right, one corner of the ear was already looking decidedly unhealthy. Lyle was nothing if not predictable when it came to presents. A pig’s ear for each of the pups whatever the occasion. Other presents included new blankets, some adorable little knitted winter coats, three bright red scarves with white pom-poms on each end, picture books and DVDs. The excited yelping showed no signs of abating but then Kay suddenly noticed that they were being watched. She poked Marcus with one sturdy paw, nipped Alex’s tail to get his attention and promptly turned a pair of melting brown eyes on her fathers.
Ryan chuckled and slipped his arm around Becker’s waist. “We don’t stand a bloody chance against those three, do we?”
Becker leaned his head against Ryan’s for a moment, enjoying the sight of their children piled up in a head on top of each other under the Christmas tree. “We didn’t from the moment they were born.” He turned to Ryan, making no attempt to disguise the fact that his eyes were shining with tears. “Thank you for everything, Tom.”
Ryan ran his fingers through Becker’s sleep-tousled hair. “It’s me who should be thanking you...” A chorus of excited barks forestalled anything else that he might have been about to say. “Those little buggers are going to spend tomorrow matching up labels with presents,” he vowed.
Becker laughed. “Too bloody right they are. Come on, they know perfectly well that Santa’s left some more booty for them.”
One look at three furry faces staring up at them hopefully promptly sent Ryan straight for the large bag he’d locked away in a cupboard. The Regiment might have taught him to withstand interrogation, but his instructors in Hereford had nothing on the pups when they were determined to get their own way.
“And at least we know who they need to thank for the pig’s ears,” Becker said brightly.
“One down, at least fifteen more to go.” Ryan sighed in mock irritation.
“Fourteen. One of the reindeer antlers has a label still hanging off it.”
Five minutes later, they were sitting on the floor next to the tree, with an armful of exited pup each and Kay turning ungainly cartwheels on the rug, her chocolate brown coat glowing with yet more glitter.
This was very definitely the best Christmas ever.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2012-12-25 11:54 am (UTC)*melts at Kay had insisted on being lifted up so she could put the bright, silver star on the top, juggling it carefully with her paws, her small, pink tongue sticking out*
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Date: 2012-12-25 12:07 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-12-25 11:57 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-12-25 12:08 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-12-25 12:01 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-12-25 12:08 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-12-25 12:58 pm (UTC)Puppies!!!!!!
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Date: 2012-12-25 01:05 pm (UTC)The BBC has no longer stolen Christmas! Hurrah! :-D
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Date: 2012-12-25 01:00 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-12-27 10:56 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-12-28 10:19 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-12-25 12:02 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-12-25 12:09 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-12-25 12:44 pm (UTC)*Snivels shamelessly*
This is so totally adorable and so totally perfect that I want to eat it up with a spoon!
All those pressies for the pups, and the little winter coats! And fleecy blankets! And faces washed and teeth cleaned! And uncles (love Finn's text message)!
Thankyouthankyouthankyouthankyou!
*Runs off to read it all over again*
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Date: 2012-12-25 12:52 pm (UTC)Well, you had to have puppies on Xmas day!
I tried to get most of the shopping list in. *g*
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Date: 2012-12-25 04:47 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-12-25 05:03 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-12-25 05:50 pm (UTC)I love Ryan and Becker in happy domesticity with beer *g*
Gorgeous! Thank you so much xxxx
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Date: 2012-12-25 07:57 pm (UTC)Thank you for creating pup!verse, it's given me vast amounts of pleasure this year.
LOL, they're blokes, so it has to be domesticity with added beer.
*hugs*
xxx
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Date: 2012-12-26 09:11 am (UTC)Wishing you a much better Boxing Day, I hope Mr FB is on the mend.
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Date: 2012-12-25 09:49 pm (UTC)PUPPIES!!!!!
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Date: 2012-12-25 10:31 pm (UTC)But my excuse is... PUPPIES!!!!
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Date: 2012-12-25 10:55 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-12-26 09:54 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-12-26 08:53 pm (UTC)no subject
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Date: 2012-12-30 04:32 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-12-30 06:39 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2013-01-08 06:07 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2013-01-08 07:21 pm (UTC)I like a bit of Xmas fluff.
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Date: 2013-01-20 09:57 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2013-01-20 10:02 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2013-07-01 09:16 pm (UTC)*ahem* I may have got distracted during the masterlist!
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Date: 2013-07-02 06:12 am (UTC)