Disclaimer: I don't own any professor Layton characters especially not Professor Layton himself nor Alfendi Layton since they belong to Level 5 games.

Christmas bells.

Professor Layton slowly opened his eyes to the sound of high pitched shrieking. He could very easily discern the sound to originate from the very lungs of his adopted son and he couldn't help but smile sleepily at the very fact that two things were happening this time of year:

Christmas and Alfendi's first one.

It had been about two years precisely since Alfendi was first brought home and became an official Layton and during those two years the Professor couldn't have been more proud of the minuscule bundle he was raising since he was growing up so fast that it was hard to keep up with the rate he was actually growing at.

The thought of Alfendi being an infant one moment and being a rebellious teenager was enough to make him inwardly shudder. The gentleman archeologist slowly lifted his head and sat up in his bed but he was very, very, very shocked to see that a very familiar bundle was curled at his feet with a tiny thumb in his mouth.

"A-Alfendi Layton! How did you get out of your crib!?" The Professor exclaimed, leaning forwards and scooping up the child before he placed him against his chest and watched the little boy squirm before giggling happily, his pudgy little hands reaching towards his father's face whilst he uttered a single word that explained everything:

"Kissmas!"

Hershel Layton was rendered speechless and all the surprise he felt was replaced by a huge amount of heartfelt warmth. It all made sense now, Alfendi was probably excited a both Christmas and had actually somehow managed to escape his crib and slipped on to the bed so he could hopefully be there whence the gentleman awoke.

The Professor couldn't help but chuckle as he asked the little toddler softly, holding him up so their eyes could meet and he even rubbed his nose against his boy's pointed one while he was at it to give Alfendi a little affectionate nose kiss "You wanted to be there when I awoke, did you?"

In response, Alfendi giggled again and clapped his tiny hands together in glee. His little legs even kicked the air and accidently hit the Professor in the jaw even though he tried not to flinch from the sharp impact to his face and simply smiled at him with narrowed eyes filled with playfulness. He bounced the giggling boy in his hands and gave him a very quick tickle on the tummy which made Alfendi scrunch himself up whilst he tried to avoid the delightful torture.

The Professor simply began to shift himself out one side of the bed and he slowly climbed to his stiff legs, giving a very slight yawn as he done this, and he carried Al in his arms and he slipped his feet into a pair of slippers which were fuzzy and preportioned just right so the Professor could slip them right into the slippers the moment he tried to get out of bed.

Whilst he was at it he grabbed a velvet brown dressing gown and placed it over himself with Alfendi still in his arms.

Holding the squirming infant in his arms and playfully bouncing him with an increasing enthusiasm, Layton took one step after another to get used to walking after being asleep for much longer than normal whilst he began to lumber out of the room and wander into the hallway with a very slight ache in his step as his dressing gown trailed behind him with each step his feet made each time.

The Professor smiled down sleepily at the toddler whilst he bounced the child up and down in his arms and Alfendi let out the occasional gurgle whilst he tried to say some more words although his excitement about the event of today was as plain as the nose on his chubby little face.

His arms even flailed about joyfully as he giggled and let out trilling bursts of laughter as he tried to roll over to his side and get a better view of the big tree that was able to be seen through the railings of the banister leading downstairs. He even pointed to the big sparkly tree which had strange boxes beneath it wrapped in paper and had little bows wrapped around them each.

The very sight of the lights and gifts not only intrigued little Alfendi but also mystified him as he stopped giggling and looked straight at the puzzling gifts that made his little mind twist and turn to try and grasp the concept of such a thing.

The Professor, noticing his son's curious glance on the items, grinned merrily and asked him gently in a playful tone "You see those, my son? Those are Christmas presents." He explained with a smile whilst he allowed the baby to take in the admittedly wonderful sight below them. The Professor was proud that his adopted son was such a bright child who was able to grasp the concept of many things that he couldn't sometimes work out, that told the archeologist and puzzle enthusiast that the child would be a very smart cookie when he got older.

Al gave a very tiny gasp as he echoed "Kissmas?"

The Professor smiled warmly at his son's attempt of saying "Christmas". He was still trying to grasp the art of speech and was already grabbing the concept of learning how to talk. He was also still trying to learn the art of walking although now he was beginning to master that on his own too, making the Professor that much prouder.

He bent his head downwards and planted a kiss on Alfendi's cheek "Hahaha, yes. Christmas."

The Professor didn't want to sound so immodest but he actually found himself loving the job of fatherhood. He enjoyed teaching his son things that he loved to learn about in turn, he enjoyed learning how to do things on his own instead of having somebody else do the task for or with him even though he loved help whenever it was needed. He also liked looking after this adorable little bundle he called a son.

He wandered down the staircase with Alfendi still fixated on the Christmas tree and he proceeded to carry him straight into the kitchen, much to his dismay. Chuckling a bit at his little son's chagrin, the Professor replied to the boy's pouty face "Alfendi, before we investigate the tree we must have the important meal of the day first before getting dressed."

The boy gave a disappointed groan but didn't argue, not that he could if he tried, as the Professor proceeded to feed him before bringing him back upstairs to dress him up in something nice and relaxing to match the rather lonely Christmas Day. The Professor dressed Alfendi up in a red shirt that fit snugly on the top half of his podgy body and he chose some green trousers for him to also wear as well as some little fuzzy slippers that looked very identical to the ones his father wore.

After dressing the little boy up, as well as tidying up the big mop of placid purple wavy hair on Alfendi's little head, the Professor fulfilled his promise and brought the infant back downstairs before placing him on the floor on the lower level of the house so Alfendi could crawl towards the tree and investigate it.

While the Professor left his son to his own devices, he decided to do just a little bit of work upstairs but decided to keep an ear out just encase his son needed him.

Walking up the stairs, hand running smoothly along the banister, the Professor turned to face his little son and he told him "You stay here and check the tree for papa, Alfendi, I just need to do something upstairs quick."

The boy simply gave a noise of agreement before he crawled towards the tree, pawing at one of the prickly branches out of pure curiosity. He sat himself down and his large amber irises searched every inch of the tree so he could count the many blinking lights wrapped around the abundance of green spiky branches.

However it was then that something caught his eye.

Alfendi looked towards the shiny object resting on top of the fire place, wanting to examine it. He gave a very curious yet mischievous coo as every instinct in his childish mind was practically screaming until strained to study the shiny artefact that was so catching his attention.

He thought of ways to get up there and grab the shiny artefact that looked like some sort of star with what looked like a cup at the bottom.

His childish eyes lit up whence such a brilliant idea had snapped into his mind. For such a little child, he was way smarter than he should have been even though he didn't quite grasp the concept of consequences. The term "look before you leap" clearly didn't apply to him since he wouldn't understand it even if you tried to explain it.

The infant fell on his hands and knees and begun to crawl over towards a nearby coffee table. He helped himself stand by grabbing on tightly to a table leg and used it as a means to prop himself up to his wavering yet chubby legs. He very steadily clambered up to the table until he was laying atop the wooden surface of the object.

Alfendi took a moment to catch his little breath before he proceeded to crawl towards a bookshelf which was nearby.

After crawling from the table and from the bookshelf to the top of the fireplace, Alfendi had stopped when he found the object he had worked hard to reach. He studied it as best as he could and he studied it with such an innocent wonder sparking in his huge eyes that sparkled with curiosity.

It was, indeed, a star. But it looked very different from the other stars he had seen.

It was strangely shaped around the bottom as if it was supposed to be a topper of some sorts. He used some dinky fingers to brush the mops of placid purple hair out of his eyes and he proceeded to get up -whilst he used the wall as a means to keep himself balanced on his own two feet- and he bent down to grab the star that would actually be about the size and width of his chubby chest.

As he picked it up, clenching his tiny digits around the star-shaped object, he underestimated its weight and found himself unable to carry the weight. The force was enough to turn his little legs into jelly as he lost his balance on the surface of the fireplace and he found himself tumbling off the side of the fireplace, being fortunate enough that his feet became entangled in some stray Christmas lights that just so happened to have been dangling off the same side Al fell from and he was hanging suspended upside down.

From the shock, Al let out a frightened squeak that send his father pounding down the stairs as he bolted to the scene.

Needless to say, he was horrified to find his little son hanging upside down in some Christmas lights with his head threatening to hit the hard surface of the floor should his feet become untangled in the slightest.

The Professor raced to his son's aid, his mind hurrying to try and find the knots in the lights that had caught Alfendi's diminutive feet in its tight tangles. He didn't waste any time in untying the boy and turned him the right-side-up before he placed him down on the ground, glaring down sternly at him as he watched the boy cower beneath his shadow with tears in his eyes.

"Alfendi Layton, that was dangerous! What would have happened should I have not got there in time? What would have happened if-" he stopped when he realised that Alfendi was shaking and whimpering, clearly frightened by the accident of what had just happened and hearing his father scold him clearly wasn't helping in the slightest.

Calming himself down, the Professor gave his son a quick sympathetic look. He couldn't stay angry at his child when he was in such a state...

He pulled his son in for a hug and held him tight, closing his eyes and hugging him tightly as he swayed his body from side to side in order to soothe the bundle in his arms. He closed his eyes and didn't say a word but he did rub the child's back in order to provide some comfort.

The gentleman Professor eventually stood up and looked down at his son before he felt the corners of his lips curl upwards to form a small grin, clearly making it so a comforting expression was etched on his rectangular face, and he asked the child "Alright, you little trouble maker, what was it that made you get into that situation in the first place?"

He was also questioning how Alfendi got on to the fireplace in the first place but decided against asking the boy that since he knew all too well that his little toddler was prone into getting himself into mischief for all the wrong reasons.

Alfendi pointed his gaze down towards the Christmas tree star on the floor and he replied with a small smile "Star!"

The Professor knelt down to examine the star. The pieces clicked together in his head as he worked out the reason why Alfendi had done all of this, the gears in his mind turning as he pondered on the situation at hand.

He looked from the star, to Al, and back to the star again while he ignored the fact that his top hat was so close to falling off "You wanted to put the star on the top of the tree?"

Al looked a bit confused but nodded his head anyway.

The Professor was now satisfied with everything. He had hoped that Alfendi had learnt his lesson about pulling off dangerous stunts like that and decided to just make sure he got the message quickly before doing much else.

Pulling Alfendi close so his nose touched his own, the Professor requested softly "Now, son, don't do anything like that again without my knowing. You could have gotten seriously injured. Just ask me to get you something next time, alright?"

Alfendi giggled and snuggled his father, rubbing his cheek affectionately against Layton's nose while he cooed and giggled softly.

The Professor hoisted the boy over his shoulder and picked up the star in one hand, easily managing to juggle it inside one of his palms, as he passed it to the boy sitting on his shoulders.

The Professor gave the toddler a piggyback ride all the way over back towards the tree and held Alfendi up so high so he could put the star on the top of the tree where it should have been to begin with.

When that was done with, the Professor decided to sit the boy down and open presents with him. The Professor got a picture from Alfendi, a picture of messy lines and scribbles drawn by the boy but still sentimentally heart-warming nonetheless, whilst Alfendi got a puzzle book that would hopefully get the lad into puzzles starting young.

After the presents were opened and all fun was had, the Professor found that Alfendi had wrapped his podgy arms lovingly around his father's neck and he smiled adoringly with his big eyes closed. His mops of placid purple wavy hair bristled slightly against a very slight chill in the air, clearly giving away that there was a very small trace of moisture coming into the house somewhere.

"M'rry Kissmass, papa." Alfendi murmured softly.

The Professor smiled proudly. That was Alfendi's very first full sentence! He didn't know how much more proud he could get and he wasn't sure if he could love his son anymore then he was loving him right at this very moment.

He returned the hushed murmur and replied "Merry Christmas, Alfendi."

Disclaimer: Ta-da! Merry Christmas everyone!

I thought that I should upload a Christmas one-shot...on Christmas Day, no less! Anyways we get another Professor Layton and Alfendi holiday special but this was a bit different. I hope you all like it!

Please review and merry Christmas.

-Chloemcg