Author's Note:

Originally, I was going to put this scene in my next chapter of A Time to Heal as a seasonal bonus feature, but that won't be uploaded till after Christmas. The reason I want to post this at all is because I won't get to Christmas in that story till… I don't know, spring? Or later? So until then, have fun with this little Christmas special!

To those of you that haven't read A Time to Heal, what's gone on before is as follows: In the spring of 1904, Holmes and Watson mysteriously end up in New York State in the year 2025. They are taken in by a female private detective and her family, and the duo learns to adapt both to the new century and to life with seven kids. This one-shot takes place roughly seven months after the most recent chapter.

==A Time for Christmas==

(Kathleen Duran's POV)

"Don't let it slip, Watson!"

"I'm—ergh—not!"

"Okay, you're close—Sherlock, just back up a little further…"

"Kathleen—"

"That's it! Right there!" Both men breathed a sigh of relief as they set the tree down. I grinned, and the kids cheered. "Great job, guys!"

Sherlock straightened and stretched backwards. "I expect full compensation, of course."

"Christmas cookies," I fired back. "Okay, c'mon, kids—let's get the lights and tinsel on!"

Jeremy and Cameron proudly displayed the fruits of their labor: the strings of lights untangled. "Hey, kudos!" Christy cheered.

"Jeremy?" I beckoned. As the tallest, it was his job to help me string the lights.

"Here, Mama." He handed me one end of a string, and we set to work. Christy put an old cassette tape—old, as in, one of my mother's tapes—into the old portable player and turned it on. "Christmas Eve in My Hometown" filled the air, and Christmas nostalgia filled the room.

Until Holmes grumbled, "Remind me why we have two trees?"

Holmes used "we," I noted mentally with a smile, not "you".

"Old tradition," Kathleen replied cheerily. "Artificial tree is from the city days; real tree is from being out in the country. Didn't want to do without either."

"Oh, for the love of heaven…"

I grinned outright at Holmes's exasperation.

"Sherlock," Kathleen said blithely but pointedly, "which do you prefer: Ebenezer Holmes or Sherlock Scrooge?"

I laughed, not at all deterred by the wintry glare my friend was giving me.

Chestnuts roasting on an open fire

Jack Frost nipping at your nose

Yuletide carols being sung by a choir

And folks dressed up like Eskimos…

Kathleen and the older girls were softly singing along with the tape, and I hummed it myself as I rummaged through the box of ornaments. Upon joining me, Holmes said in an undertone, "I don't even see the point of this song."

I refrained from smiling. "It's merely a song celebrating the season, old boy."

"Hmph."

"Shouldn't that be bah humbug?"

"Watson!"

I snickered. "'Tis the season, my dear fellow."

"'Tis the season for idiocy," he grumbled. "And you, old chap, are just as bad as the rest of them."

"Just as I like it," I retorted happily. "Now do stop grousing before your mood infects the children, there's a good fellow?"

He gave me one last mulish look before nodding, and I was hard pressed this time to restrain a fond smile. These children had quickly wormed their way into Holmes's heart, and sometimes, it seemed that everyone realized it but the man himself.

I finally did smile when Holmes let little Aubrey up on his lap to take out the ornaments.

==Fin==

So, it's pretty pointless. Just some fun Christmas fluff. Hope you enjoyed it, nonetheless, and maybe are interested enough to check out A Time to Heal if you haven't previously.

God bless you all, and may you have a very Merry Christmas!

Please review!