It was December 24th, 1986 and Freddie and Jim were desperately trying to get their daughter to go to sleep so Father Christmas could come. So far, their methods had proved inefficient, unreliable and completely, utterly useless.
"But Papa, I wanna see Father Christmas come down the chimney!" Sophia complained to Jim as he finally managed to take her into his arms. Freddie shushed her tiredly and kissed her forehead, attempting to explain the situation.
"Baby, if you don't go to sleep, Father Christmas won't come down the chimney and give you presents."
"But... why?!"
"Because Father Christmas is magic," Jim stepped in. "And he only appears when every person in the world is fast asleep."
Sophia looked sad, but nodded. "Oh, I just wanted to give him a hug."
"I'm sure he would've liked that honey. Now come on, you can sleep with me and papa tonight." Freddie carried Sophia up the stairs and into his bedroom, whilst Jim stayed downstairs to "finish something."
Sophia snuggled up to her daddy. Freddie placed a kiss on her rosy cheek, holding her close. Sophia sleepily murmured,
"I think Father Christmas likes cuddles."
"I think he does too." Freddie whispered, tucking a strand of hair behind his daughter's ear. "I love you baby. Sweet dreams."
"Love you daddy..." Sophia mumbled and soon she was fast asleep on her daddy's chest. A moment later, Jim made his way up the stairs and into the bedroom.
Freddie looked at his husband with a smile.
"She used to sleep on my chest like this when she was a tiny little baby. This is how she slept when I gave birth to her. Do you remember? She was so tiny..." Freddie swept some hair out of his daughter's closed eyes, and kissed his fingers, placing them on her forehead.
Jim chuckled and lay next to his lover and child, wrapping his arms around them both. "I remember, alright. You were both so sleepy, just like you are now."
Freddie couldn't deny that. He snuggled up to his husband. Jim rested his head on the pillow, Freddie's head by his shoulder. With a kiss to Sophia's cheek, and one on Freddie's lips, everyone in Garden Lodge was fast asleep.
The next morning rolled around rather quickly, and Jim woke Freddie with a kiss on the nose. The Persian stirred, and opened his eyes. He's beautiful even when waking up Jim thought to himself.
"Good morning darling." Freddie mumbled, nuzzling up to the irishman, his daughter still curled up on his chest.
"Morning, baby." Jim beamed. "It's snowing outside."
Freddie giggled in response. "Soph will love that." The singer reached down to sweep his hand through his daughter's hair, waking her up.
"Morning, pumpkin." Jim spoke in baby tone. Freddie smiled as his daughter reached her arms out lazily for her papa. Jim obliged, picking her up, holding her tightly against his chest.
"Do you know what today is, sweetness?" Jim asked his girl. This seemed to wake Sophia up, and all of a sudden she was whizzing around the room like someone had fed her 12 buckets of invisible sugar.
"It's christmas! Daddy, it's christmas!" Sophia shrieked, pouncing onto Freddie's lap. He chuckled, rubbing her cheek with his knuckles.
"It is. Do you want to go downstairs, baby?"
Sophia didn't even bother replying. She was halfway down the staircase before Freddie made it out of the bedroom, followed by Jim. Surprisingly, Sophia didn't rush under the tree first. Instead, she stopped by the window, and gasped at the beautiful landscape outside.
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"Look at the snow, daddy!" Sophia gasped in awe as Freddie wrapped his arms around her from behind. Jim had disappeared into the kitchen, and was planning on making hot chocolate and marshmallows for the three of them, as well as special Christmas crepes.
"I know, sweetheart. It's very pretty isn't it?" Freddie murmured, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. (He always did that) Sophia turned to her daddy,
"Can we open the presents now?"
Freddie chuckled, pressing a kiss to her forehead.
