Please Stand By

Chapter 5: Interlude 1 The First Christmas

The first Christmas in the Wasteland was the hardest. Charli helped Preston and Sturges clean up the house they had been using for the past few months as a workshop and turn it into a decent place to celebrate Christmas with everyone. She helped Mama Murphy gather presents and wrap them for everyone. Charli helped Jun and Marci collect food to prepare for the meal that night. It wasn't perfect; the tree was small, half the lights worked and there weren't many ornaments.

Christmas Eve was peaceful. Stories of the past were shared, small traditions were exchanged. But when it came time to sleep, Charli couldn't. After saying goodnight to everyone and heading home, she felt the memories resurfacing. She pushed the palms of her hands into her eyes and held her breath as she stood in the kitchen of her home. Everything felt familiar, yet nothing was the same. It had only been a few months since she emerged from the Vault but she still turned at the slightest sound expecting Nate to walk in through the door at any moment.

They never got to have Shaun's first Christmas before the bombs fell. The year before that, Nate was overseas. Tears fell down Charli's face. Things weren't supposed to be this way. She wasn't supposed to be alone.

She made her way to the bar cart, grabbed a bottle of whiskey and sat on the floor in front of the couch. Dogmeat had laid down in front of her, ears back and tail sagging. He whimpered at her but she ignored him. Charli took a long swig from the bottle and wiped her eyes but the tears kept coming. Her heart ached, her body shook. No Nate. No Shaun. No presents. Nothing.

A woman out of time, Mama Murphy had called her when they first met. Charli thought Mama Murphy had meant she was from a different time period. Now she started to see the phrase differently; she was out of time to find Shaun, to find the things she needed most.

Charli sobbed, mourning all she had lost, and put her head on her knees, wrapping her arms around herself. This isn't how things were supposed to be. She knew it. But it didn't change the fact that things were how they were and she had lost so much.

Codsworth hovered into the room, stopping by the couch.

"Mum, are you alright?" He asked.

Charli tried to clear her throat but nothing happened. She shook her head slightly and sobbed harder.

"Oh. Oh dear." Codsworth murmured, making his way next to her. "I... How about I make you a fresh cup of coffee Mum? That might cheer you up." He said, placing his metal claw on her shoulder.

Charli nodded, head still down. It would take much more than coffee to help her now but the thought of her companion aiding her right now made her feel slightly better. Codsworth drifted away towards the kitchen, humming Christmas songs to himself.

Charli lifted her head slightly to see Dogmeat staring at her, eyes wide and sad. She smiled weakly at him and reached her hand out to him. He crawled to her and snuggled right up next to her body.

Things may be different now - so vastly different than they were before the war - but it didn't mean it couldn't have good parts. Nate and Shaun were gone, but she still had love. Sometimes it was just harder to see.