Tis the season for mistletoe

Posted on 17 Mar 2023 @ 6:34pm by Lieutenant JG Rosaline Belikov & Civilian Ziva Belikov (NPC Rose)

Mission: Through the looking glass
Location: Rose's and Desmond's shared quarters
1365 words - 2.7 OF Standard Post Measure

On:

Sitting in her new set of quarters she now shared with Desmond, Rose was next to a synthetic Christmas tree placing a few decorations around the base with her Daughter Ziva on her lap. This had been the first Christmas the pair had actually celebrated since Ziva's birth and now that both she and Ziva had moved in with her boyfriend Desmond, Rose figured it would be nice to have some 'family time' as such. The two of them had decided to start the decorating a little early, but Rose was going to make sure that they only covered the parts of the tree Ziva could reach so Desmond didn't feel left out when he returned from his shift in Engineering. Although they hadn’t been living together long, Rose had started to notice that his work schedule wasn't as flexible as hers was, but ultimately she didn't mind as she got to spend nearly every night in the arms of her Casanova, or with him in her arms, depending on who was the ‘big spoon’ that night.

For the first time in a while, things had started to feel right.

The door opened, and Desmond stepped inside, "Oh good you've left something to do." giving a little bit of a teasing smile. He walked up and swept Rose into a warm embrace, and kissing her rather thoroughly. When he pulled back he said to her. "Hello love, its great to see you once more, and your kisses are still as sweet as ever."

Returning Desmond's smile with one of her own, Rose lifted up a hand and gave him a boop on the end of his nose, "oh you sweet talker you. How about you go take a sonic shower and you can join us in decorating"

"Right will do so, shower it is." Desmond stepped away running his hand along Rose's cheek then walked away heading for the shower. A few minutes later, Desmond came back out, dressed in a tee shirt and some sweats, to help out in the tree trimming. "You know I never thought I'd be doing this with someone . This is a true Christmas present indeed." Desmond reaching down and getting an ornament to hang upon the tree.

“It’s been a while since I put up a tree, about three years I think” Rose said, as her mind flashed back to her last Christmas with Dimirti. Shaking her head a little to clear the sad thoughts from her mind, Rose focused on the here and now, “I guess it felt like the right time. Don’t you think?”

"I most certainly agree with you, love." Desmond picking up another ornament and then picked up Ziva, "Here you go lovely lady, let's put this pretty ornament right here." this ornament being green and had a white lacy netting over it.

Taking the ornament from Desmond, Ziva reached out with the hook and placed it onto the tree where Desmond had pointed too, “there” she said, looking up at him with a beaming smile.

Looking at her daughter and her boyfriend getting along so well, Rose wrapped her arms around Desmond’s waist and rested her head against his shoulder. As she did, a single tear fell from her eye as a content smile spread across her face.

Desmond smiled when he felt Rose snuggle up against his back. It felt so natural, so home like."You know I am really liking this living together, feels like home" he stated. "You know I do have a present or two for you both but when would you like to see them?"

looking up at Desmond, Rose gave him a smile, "how about now? I don't think it would be bad to hand out presents a little early"

He smiled "Okay, um hopefully someone likes stuffed animals" Desmond replied, pulling out from a red velvet bag a soft stuffed kitty the color of C'Tora.

"And for you, um.. hope you like silk." Desmond pulling out from his bag dark red robe which was rather soft.

Ziva lit up at the sight of the stuffed cat and immediately took it from Desmond, hugging it to herself, "hmmm, Soft kitty" she said, rocking the toy back and forward.

Taking the silk robe from Desmond, Rose was speechless. The silk felt as soft as anything she'd ever worn and the colour was so deep and rich. Leaning up towards him, Rose gave Desmond a kiss on his cheek, "thank you. it's beautiful." she said before carefully placing it down on the nearby lounge and hurrying off into their shared bedroom, returning a moment later with a small blue box tied with a light blue ribbon. "here, this is for you" she said, offering the box to Desmond. Inside was a pair of cufflinks as well as a thick metal wristband which had been engraved with a rose vine twisting around a rapier.

Desmond opened the box and his eyes widened at the beautiful gift inside. "Oh Rose this is abosolutely fabulous, and I like it." walking over and pulling Rose in close for a warm embrace and a kiss. "Now I will make certain to wear something that I can wear these with." gesturing towards the cufflinks. then he place the wrist band upon his wrist. "And I love this as well."

“I’m glad. I thought something unique to us would be nice, and I figured a tattoo might be a little to much” Rose said as she enjoyed every moment in her lovers arms.

After a moment of silence, Ziva walked up to the pair with the plush cat in her arms and looked up at the two of them, “daddy, me too” she said as she held up her free hand towards Desmond, asking for a hug.

Hearing that word from Ziva caused Rose to freeze in place. She wasn’t quite sure why she was having such a strong reaction to Ziva calling Desmond ‘daddy’, but her stomach felt like she was doing somersault. Looking up at Desmond, she tried to gage his reaction.

Desmond looked down at Ziva when she called him daddy and he leaned over and picked her up in his arms. "Is it okay if she calls me daddy? I don't mind at all." his voice filled with emotions as it was the best thing he'd ever heard regarding himself. He gave Ziva kiss on the head, his eyes filled with love for this little girl.

Taking a few breaths, Rose eventually nodded, “so long as you don’t mind, sure. I mean, at this point you might as well be” she said as she gingerly placed her head back onto his shoulder. There was a part of her that wondered what might happen later on when Ziva asks about her biological father and how she might react to Desmond as she matured, but perhaps that was a bridge better off left for later.

Noting a slight pensiveness from Rose, Desmond remarked softly, "When Ziva gets older, and she can understand, we can tell her about her father. Around 5 years old would be good, just show her images even now and talk about him. Hopefully you have some recordings of him. And it will be okay for her to know that she had another father."

"I do have a few recordings of Demitri. I guess I've been saving them for a rainy day" Rose answered, looking to Ziva, "I'm glad she feels comfortable enough with you to call you daddy. I guess you're stuck with us"

"Well she is a lovely little girl and someone I will be proud to call Daughter. I do dearly love you both, Rose." Desmond giving a deep contented sigh. "This is the best Christmas ever, being with you."

Giving a relieved sigh, Rose nodded, “yes. This is the best Christmas ever”

Another kiss from Desmond, an embrace of the two ladies whom he fell in love with. That was the best Christmas present one could ever have. That was family.


END

Ensign Porthos
Engineer
USS Andromeda

Lieutenant JG Rosaline Belikov
Chief of Intelligence
USS Andromeda

Ziva Belikov (npc Belikov)
Child