New Year's Midnight Kiss

A/N: This story will tie into the other fanfictions that I'm currently writing, but I don't think that you will have to read them in order to enjoy this one. Just know that Walstrid is a pairing in my other stories.

Walter walked about the lab as he hummed a tune that was had been playing over-and-over again in his head, yet for the life of him he couldn't recall what the song was called or where it came from, it was just stuck. Lights that were left over from the Christmas decorations were still strung up in his lab, far away from his lab equipment, he made sure of it. As a scientist, proper handling of all of his lab equipment was always a priority to him, no matter the occasion. He had been reluctant to agree to letting them put up decorations to begin with, but Astrid was able to sweet talk it out of him, which ended in her giving him a satisfactory grin as she leaned over to peck him on his cheek to show him her appreciation for letting her decorate.

The lab was beautiful, he couldn't deny it. The way the lights glinted off of the beakers and other equipment, made the lab look as if it were twinkling and he couldn't help but think that it reminded him of the stars in the night sky.

"It was a good idea, wasn't it?" Astrid's voice suddenly rang out through the lab as she came through the door with a bag of groceries in her arms. He knew what was in it; after all, he had been the one to send her out to get everything in the bag. She had always been so kind and patient to him and he had always been so very grateful to her, even if he had failed to show it to her.

"W-what?" he spun around and looked at her in surprise.

"The lights." She replied as she sat the hefty bag of groceries down on the table and came over to stand next to him.

"Oh, yes. I was just admiring them." He said as he made a gesture towards the lights that were wrapped around the hand rails about the lab. "Don't you think that the lights make everything in the lab sparkle? They remind me of stars."

Astrid took a moment to look around the lab before looking back at him and giving him a nod.

"It's a good thing that we didn't take the lights down. I think that they're perfect for tonight." She replied as she reached out to unbutton his lab coat and began to take it off of him.

"Tonight?"

"Well there's the party. But I think that they're kind of romantic too…" she said, folding the coat over her arm and carried it over to the hanger to put it in its rightful place. "Olivia and Peter should be here with Etta any minute now. They had to give her a bath before bringing her down here, just in case she falls asleep."

"Yes, Etta hates bath time." Walter smiled to himself, knowing that Peter and Olivia often bickered over who would be the one to give her a bath each day, and the two seemed to go as far as bribing the other with something else in order to be the one to get out of it. "Etta is a smart and determined child. I think that she will try to stay up just as long as she can."

Astid nodded her head in agreement before she walked back over to her bag of groceries and began laying the contents out on the table beside of it. Ice cream, party hats, and other party favors, along with some Bang Snaps and other smaller fireworks.

"Hey Walter, are you sure that these will be safe to play with in the lab?" Astrid asked, picking up a box of Sparklers and began eyeing the warning label on the side.

"Perhaps not…" he replied with a solemn look on his face as he joined her at the table and began looking everything over.

"We can always take them outside on the campus." She suggest, laying the box back down on the table and placed her hand on her hip. "You know, I invited Broyles to join us, but since he got that promotion, he's always seems to be busy."

"It's such a shame. I'm certain that Olivia would have loved to have him here."

"So would I…"

The door to the lab suddenly opened once again, revealing Peter coming through and holding open the door for Olivia who was holding a sleepy looking Etta in her arms, her head resting on her mother's shoulder.

"This one won't be making it to midnight." Peter's voice was cheerful as he spoke.

"I will too." Etta protested.

"Oh, no you won't kiddo." He teased. "It's already way past your bedtime. I'm surprise that you've already made it this far."

"They have been arguing about this the whole way here." Olivia rolled her eyes as she sat Etta down on the floor. "She is just like her father."

"Am not."

"Hey! Don't say that like it's a bad thing." He said, stooping over to tickle her tummy and she immediately started laughing.

"Stop it!"

"Say please."

Etta stubbornly scrunched up her nose, almost as if she were thinking about waiting it out for her father to grow tired of tickling her. "Okay, please stop it."

"Well… since you asked so nicely." Peter did as he was bid to do and took a step back and Etta's eyes landed on her grandfather.

"Grandpa!" she exclaimed, running over to him and wrapping her tiny arms around his legs to the best of her ability and Walter immediately stooped over to pick her up in his arms to give his granddaughter and embrace.

"Hello Etta." He greeted, giving her a peck on her cheek. "How was your day?"

"Good…" she straightened up so she could get a better look at him. "Would you like to play some games with me?"

"Certainly! What would you like to play?"

"Do you have Candy Land?"

Walter glanced over to Astrid who wore an amused expression on face and gave him a nod before walking off to retrieve the game from one of the various shelves in the lab.

"I believe so, yes. Aunt Astrid is getting it for you."

"Is that ice cream?" Etta suddenly asked, pointing at the various flavors that Astrid had brought back from the store.

"Oh no…" Peter sighed as he placed the palm of his head on his forehead.

"Etta, don't you think that it's too late for desserts?" Olivia asked, crossing her arms to let her daughter know that she was being serious.

"Come on Olivia, its New Year's Eve. A little bit of ice cream to celebrate couldn't hurt anything." Walter was the one to protest this time.

Olivia looked indecisive for a moment but then she relaxed a little. "Oh, alright. But don't make it a habit, okay? It's just for tonight."

"Thanks mom!" she said cheerfully and Walter let Etta down to reap her rewards.

"Walter, if Etta starts bouncing off the walls later, she's your responsibility." Peter warned, pointing a finger in his direction.

A bowl of ice cream and a round of Candy Land later, Etta was starting to get even sleepier, and thankfully not as hyper as Olivia and Peter had predicted that she would be. But Walter wouldn't let her give in and sleep yet, as he had other things that he had wanted to show to her. He had specifically asked Astrid to get the sparklers for Etta to use and he wanted to show her how to use them.

"You hold them out and away from your body like this, and when Astrid lights it for you…" Walter held his own sparkler out for Astrid to light it up for him and immediately the sparks started flying off of the wand, causing the little girl to start to giggle with excitement. "You can move it around in the air to create shapes… like this…" Walter demonstrated as he spoke by making a circle with it as Etta watched him with excitement.

"Let me try!" she called out and Astrid moved over to her and stooped over.

"Just be careful and keep it held away from you like your grandfather says, okay?" Astrid asked and Etta eagerly nodded her head, ready to get started. "Okay…" she switched on the lighter once again and lit Etta's stick and sparks started flying. Etta momentarily held the stick just as far away from her as she possibly could; trying to make sense of what it was doing, before she started waving it around a little.

"It's really pretty." She said, finally becoming more comfortable with it, just enough to start making circles with it just like her grandfather had showed her. "Why don't you try one Aunt Astrid?"

"You know what? I might just do that." she gave Etta a wink and glanced over Walter's shoulder where Peter and Olivia stood nearby. "Why don't you come and join us over here?"

Peter scratched his head and wore a face that clearly told her that he was about to protest, but then in an instant, he seemed to change his mind and took a step forward. "Sure, why not? I used to love these things when I was a kid." Astrid offered him a stick from out of the box and he plucked it from her fingers, Olivia not too far behind him, and soon enough, all of them had their sparklers lit and they were showing Etta all new ways of playing with them.

After about an hour or so, the boxes of sparklers that Astrid had purchased had quickly run out and the group decided to head back inside. Etta had thankfully had her fill of the sparklers and seemed to be too tired to care about them running out of them at this point anyways, but she still seemed to be just as determined to fight to stay up until midnight, which was now less than thirty minutes away at this point.

Peter had sat Etta down in Walter's arm chair and placed a blanket over top of her to keep her war, and she protested the entire time, but she soon quieted down as her head fell to her chest and she was out for the count.

"Well, she almost made it…" Olivia said, observing her stubborn daughter who was all bundled up in her blanket. "She will be so disappointed that she didn't make it in the morning. Do you think that we should wake her?"

"Nuh-uh." Peter shook his head 'no' in response. "Knowing her, she'll be just as disappointed that she fell asleep."

"You're probably right."

Walter had wandered over to his mini-television set on the other side of the lab and turned it on while the others discussed what they should do with Etta, and flipped it over to the news so they could watch the ball drop as they started the new year. It had been tradition at one time, for their family to gather and celebrate the new year together, and he hoped that it could become one once again, now that things had seemingly calmed down.

"Five minutes now." Astrid observed as she came up from behind him and wrapped an arm around his waist.

"Should we do the midnight kiss together?" Peter asked as he led Olivia to the other side of the lab to join them by the television set."

"I-I don't know." Walter said, looking down at Astrid, who placed a gentle hand on his chest. "What do you think, Astrid?"

"This is technically our first New Years together." She slowly patted his chest as she spoke. "I think that it would be a good way for us to start off on the right foot, don't you?"

He wanted to protest and to say that it was all just superstitious nonsense, in fact he could feel the lecture building up inside of him, just dying to get out, but the more that he looked in her dark brown eyes, the more he realized that he couldn't tell her 'no' on this matter. If this was important to her, then it would be important to him.

"Alright." He finally said out loud after a moment of silence as he thought it over. "I would love too."

"Alright! We're all set then." Peter said, pumping his fist in the air.

The four turned their attention to the TV as the news reporters started to give their last minute thoughts before the ball began to drop, and before they knew it, they started the countdown. Astrid still stood in her place next to Walter with her arm wrapped around his middle and he took the opportunity to nervously wrap his arm around her shoulders. Peter had Olivia in an embrace next to them, leaning his forehead against hers, eagerly waiting for the countdown to hit zero so her could kiss her.

Walter had always thought that Peter had seemed do natural around her, so calm and relaxed, like he knew exactly what he was doing. Walter on the other hand had always been the exact opposite around women and it was starting to show now as he nervously leaned his head down, his lips just inches away from hers.

3, 2, 1…

Any other words that were said after that had somehow managed to fade into the background as Astrid's lips came up to meet his own. They had kissed many times before this, so why had this time been any different from any other? He quickly decided not to question it any further as their kiss began to deepen and he felt his free hand involuntarily move to her cheek.

"Alright you two, break it up! The show is over. If you want to continue this, you need to find a room." Peter teased the two as he patted his father's shoulder.

Walter innocently looked up at him for a moment and Peter redirected his attention to Etta who had wandered over to where the four of them had been standing and was sleepily looking up at Peter with a defiant smile on her face.

"I told you that I could make it."