The Orphan and Her Family

Chapter Twenty-Five

A few hours later, Jack pushes himself to his feet. "I know you said the 23rd, but I've been thinking. Would you hate it if we started the celebration now?"

Sophie follows him to her feet, and smiles, "I have absolutely no decorations, and my flat isn't exactly ready for guests."

Jack gives her a deadpan stare, and Sophie chuckles, "Why not. It is Christmas after all."

*Sophie's Flat*

Sophie unlocks the door, and Jack follows her into the flat. He looks around the room, and smiles, "I thought you said you weren't ready for guests."

"Sorry about the mess."

He turns to look at her incredulously, "What mess? There's like two pieces of paper on your floor." He strolls into the room, grabbing the pages off the floor, and sets them onto the coffee table. "There, mess cleared."

She laughs, and slips into her room. She grabs a different jacket out of her wardrobe, and walks back out. "So, I have absolutely no decorations. We may need to head to the shop."

"You're also in need of a Christmas tree."

"So, what do you say? Shopping time?"

The immortal slings an arm over her shoulder, "I'm paying."

"Jack, I can't ask for you to do that."

"You didn't ask," he says, stepping out of the flat.

***

Their first stop is to get some decor. Jack's smile is contagious, as Sophie walks into the aisle with the Christmas baubles. "So, I was thinking, maybe we can make paper chains and popcorn sting for around the tree. I've never done it, but I've always seen people do it in movies."

The Captain shrugs, "It's your first real Christmas since you were a kid, so, you can decide."

She beams up at him, and reaches for a small box of red baubles. Jack moves her wrist up to a bigger container. He then grabs a selection of a mix of gold and silver. "We need stockings, lights, and maybe a wreath."

Jack nods, and heads into the next aisle, "You sure that's all you want? Because you can get more, kiddo."

"Nope, that's perfect. A nice, traditional Christmas." Sophie surveys the shelves, grabbing a box of lights that glow like candles.

They round the next corner, and walk into an aisle full of stockings. "I have an idea," Jack states, his eyes glowing.

Sophie smiles, "I'm all ears."

"Let's pick out each others stockings."

She smirks, and takes off down the aisle, leaving the immortal with the trolley. She heads to the end, surveying over thr military themed stockings. She grabs one that says 'World War II' veteran on it. Turning back, she spots a silky stocking, a perfect TARDIS blue. She grabs it, and heads back toward Jack. He holds up a black stocking, with the Ursa Major, and the Ursa Minor on it.

She holds up the World War II stocking, and grins. Jack wraps his arm around her shoulder, "Good find, kiddo." He then notices the blue one in her other hand, "Who's that one for?"

She glances down, "I don't know, I saw it and thought of the Doctor. I want something that makes me think of him there, y'know. He's family."

"Fair enough. So, decorations wise, we still need a wreath and a tree topper. Then we'll get the groceries, and pick out a tree, if that works for you."

She wraps her arms around him, and kisses his cheek, "Thanks for doing this, Jack. You don't know how much this means to me."

"Course, kiddo. I'd do anything for you, you know that."

***

They get back to the flat, and the sun starts to set beyond the horizon. Jack carries the tree up, and Sophie grabs the bags, following him up to the room. He leans the tree against the wall, and raises an eyebrow, "Where do you want it?"

"Uh. I was thinking maybe beside the fireplace."

"So beside the telly, got it." He places the evergreen onto the floor, and a dozen needles fall to the ground. Jack grabs a tree skirt out of one of the bags, wrapping it around the base of the tree.

While he assembles the tree, Sophie starts to pop some popcorn, and grabs a large stack of paper, and some scissors and tape. She deposits everything onto the coffee table, and the immortal flops down onto the couch. Raising an eyebrow, Sophie asks, "What movie do you want to watch?"

"I'm a sucker for White Christmas. I mean Bing Crosby, what a night we had."

Sophie chuckles, and pops the DVD in. She tosses the remote to Jack, and goes to grab the fully popped corn off the stove. She vanishes into the next room, only to reappear with a needle and some bright red thread.

Jack slides the bowl of popcorn to himself, grabbing the needle and thread. Sophie plops down onto the couch beside him, as the opening credits for the movie scrl across the screen. She starts to cut the paper into strips, and form them into ringlets.

Bing Crosby shows up on screen, in a war zone. Sophie turns, "Was the war really like that?" she nods at the screen.

Jack, who had been humming along to the music, glances over at her, and sighs. Glancing back at the screen, he starts, "Not really. It's definitely a lot more dramatized. That's not to say it's bad. The thing you have to realize is, this movie came out shortly after the war, and it was still fresh in everyone's mind. The last thing they wanted was a reminder of the pain of the war, but a nice Christmas movie."

Sophie nods, hooking another link onto her chain, "I guess that makes sense."

They sit in silence watching the movie and working on their garlands. The film progresses, and about halfway through, Jack has run out of popcorn, and he's singing along to the movie. "Snow, it won't be long until we'll all be there with snow! I wanna wash my face, my hands my hair with snow."

Sophie watches him, grinning, "Snow, I long to clear a path and lift a spade of snow

Snow, oh, to see a great big man entirely made of snow, snow."

They continue to alternate between lyrics. When the song ends, Sophie sets aside her garland, deciding it's long enough. "Did you meet any of these guys? I mean, I know you mentioned meeting Mr. Crosby, but, anyone else?"

Jack leans back on the couch, as Sophie pulls her legs under her, sitting cross legged. "Oh, Bing and I had a fun night. Course, he was a good little Irish Catholic boy. But that doesn't mean I didn't spend better nights with others from this movie. Rosemary had quite the nickname for me."

She rolls her eyes, "I asked for stories, not about your sexcapades. But you knew the others in the cast?"

"Most of 'em," he nods.

They turn back to the movie, and Jack smiles as they plan their show in the hotel. They're both intently watching, but, as Choreography rolls around, Sophie gasps, "Is that you!"

Jack half smirks as a handsome man walks across the screen, his face half obscured by a hat, "What, I said I knew most of the cast."

"You didn't tell me you were in it!"

"What, I did a lot of stuff. I was bored, alright."

"Dude!" she shouts, smacking his arm emphatically.

He just continues to smile. She doesn't say anything else, content to just watch the movie, hoping to see him again. As the finale starts to play, Jack stands from the couch, and pulls her up as well. He starts to dance, and Sophie grins, joining him.

As the end credits roll, she pops the DVD back into its case, and grabs the lights for the tree out of one of the bags. Jack raises his eyebrows, and walks over to Sophie's record player. He flips through her vinyl collection, grabbing the first Christmas one he sees. Julie Andrew's voice filters through the small flat, as she sings.

Sophie wraps the lights around the tree, and Jack follows with the popcorn chain. Once the lights are plugged in, Jack grabs the paper chain, and adds it as well. Sophie starts to add baubles to the tree, but Jack grabs her hand, and starts to dance. She laughs, and joins him as he swings her around the flat.