Halcyon

Christmas Eve - Part 1

It's now Christmas Eve and Nikki has just finished bathing Poppy and is now sat with her on the bed with her pyjamas set out ready for her, Poppy is stood on the bed in her Unicorn poncho towel. Nikki grabs a hairbrush and manages to pull her down into her lap, she wraps her legs around her daughter and begins to brush her hair.

"Now if you stay still Poppy it won't hurt as much" Nikki sighs as her daughter starts to scream like she is being murdered.
"Mummy! stop! it hurts!" Poppy squeals as Nikki grab her hair and gently attempts to brush a knot out.

Poppy waves her arms around and attempts to stop her Mother from brushing her hair, "Sit still, or Santa won't come because he knows all good girls must have their hair brushed before bed!" Nikki smiles hoping her little lie would stop her daughter's fidgeting.

Poppy stops and whimpers to herself as Nikki continues to brush her hair. Jack soon walks into their bedroom to see Nikki sat with her legs around Poppy brushing her hair, "Having fun Nik?" Jack smirks as he places Maddison down on the bed beside Nikki.

Nikki looks up at Jack who is smirking and shoots him a look of disgust, "Do you want to brush her hair?" Nikki asks but Jack doesn't respond and just looks at Nikki. "Thought as much" She replies and then continues to brush Poppy's hair while Maddison sits beside Nikki and attempts to reach for Poppy's hair as she finds it funny Nikki brushing Poppy's hair.

"Do you want me to bath Maddie?" Jack asks as he watches the six-month-old fall to the side against rests against Nikki's leg.
"Sure, she needs her hair washing too" Nikki smiles as she glances down at Maddison who is biting down on her legs. "And once you've done that will you find her teething gel, she thinks I'm something she can bite on again" Nikki adds as she looks up at Jack as she reaches for two hair bobbles so she can plait Poppy's hair up for the night.

Jack nods and then heads to the bathroom and sets the bath up for Maddison, "Mummy, can I have a frozen plait?" Poppy asks as her mother starts to plait her hair.
"No darling, it won't stay in while you sleep" Nikki explains as she finishes the first plait before moving on to the next section of hair.

Soon Nikki has finished Poppy's plaits and takes her downstairs while Jack baths Maddison, She allows Poppy to put her stuff out for Santa including a letter to him which she wrote earlier while sat in the Lyell waiting with Jack while Nikki finished a postmortem.

"Mummy! we need to give Santa a pie and carrot" She grins cheekily as she dances around her mother's feet in the kitchen.

Nikki chuckles and opens up the refrigerator and grabs a carrot for her, She places it on the plate which Poppy had made in the nursery a few years ago using her hand to make Santa's face. Nikki then opens a packet and grabs a mince pie for her and allows Poppy to carry the plate through to the lounge. She places it down on the coffee table and looks at her Mum, "You're such a clever girl" Nikki smiles as she grabs her phone from the bookshelf and opens up her camera and takes a photo of Poppy with the letter and the stuff for Santa.

"Let me see!" Poppy giggles as she bounces up and down, Nikki then shows it her and smiles.
"Okay one more for Auntie Clarissa and Uncle Thomas" Nikki smiles happily.

Nikki takes one more photo and sits down on the sofa allowing Poppy to play for a half-hour before her bed time. She sits and looks at her phone before sending the photo to Clarissa and Thomas in their group chat with the caption 'Poppy is extremely excited to see what Father Christmas brings her tomorrow, lord help us getting her down to sleep!' Nikki smiles and then sends the message.

Soon Jack comes downstairs with Poppy who is sleepy but grouchy, He passes her over to Nikki and walks into the kitchen, "What are you doing Jack?" Nikki asks.

She can hear Jack banging around in the kitchen and chuckles to herself, "I can't find the teething gel so I'm just going to make her a bottle of milk and take her Calpol to bed with us" He calls through.

Nikki rolls her eyes and sighs, "No Jack, I want her to sleep the whole night because tomorrow muggings here has to cook for everyone" Nikki replies back.

Jack then comes back through to the lounge with a bottle for her and grabs a bib for Maddison and then sits down beside Nikki, he takes Maddison from Nikki and pulls the bib over her head before giving the last bottle of the evening to her.