Who can resist the guys with a little girl?

“Are you sure you’ll be back for Christmas?”

Jim looked down at the little girl with long golden curls and pointed ears.

“Well. Pretty sure.”

She stuck out her plump bottom lip. “You should promise.”

Jim smiled and crouched down beside her. “I can’t promise, angel. There are far too many variables.”

“You sound like Father”

“How about in the meantime we do something my mom did when I was a kid?”

“What?”

“Christmas in July.”

She looked at him doubtfully. “In July? That’s not logical!”

“Probably not. But see my mom wasn’t going to be around for Christmas, so she decided to give me and my brother Christmas in the summer when she was there. We decorated a tree, and sang songs, and watched movies, and even had presents.”

“But.” Her lip trembled. “If we do Christmas now, doesn’t that mean you for sure won’t be home for real Christmas?”

“No, it doesn’t mean that.”

“How will Santa know to come now?”

Jim smiled. “He won’t. Santa’s real busy right now getting ready for Christmas in December, so for this little mini Christmas your father and I will handle everything. We don’t want to overwhelm Santa.”

She smiled too, her eyes sparkling for the first time that morning. She clapped her hands. “Yay.”

“Want to make gingerbread?”

“With Father too.” She lost her smile just a bit. “You think he’s not busy?”

“Oh, he’s never too busy for that. Let’s go ask him.”

Jim contacted Spock through the bond so that as soon as they reached him, he would know.

“Father, are you—”

Spock’s gaze met Jim’s before going down to their little girl. “Did someone say Christmas?”