New Year's Child.

Ch. 1

A/N~ IMPORTANT PLEASE READ! Hey everyone! So, many of my fics, you will notice, have a 'ON HIATUS TO BE EDITED!' post in their summary blocks. That's because it is what it says – and New Year's Child is also going through some major edits and some minor revisions! Fear not, nothing huge will be changed, I just want to fix up the grammar and punctuation, fix any errors in plt or timeline, and so forth. So stay tuned, folks!

Please enjoy!

Now edited!

~s~s~S~s~s~

Jack Frost-

You are invited to the Guardians' New Year's party at Santoff Clausen! We hope to see you attend to both have a wonderful New Year's celebration, and to formerly announce your Guardianship to the rest of the spirit world. The party starts at 7:00pm tonight. Don't be late!

~North.

Jack reread the letter for what had to have been the tenth time, still unable to fully believe the elegantly scrawled words on the sturdy parchment. But once he was sure his sight wasn't playing tricks on him, and that the invitation – delivered by one very grouchy Yeti via Snowglobe portal – was in fact real, he couldn't stop the overly excited grin from breaking over his face.

"I'm invited to a party…a party at North's," he whooped and flipped around in the air, the wind tossing him to and fro in his excitement.

A small part of him knew he was acting childish for his excitement. To others, the invite would be so insignificant and not worth all the enthusiasm – most everyone was invited to North's annual parties, it was almost expected to receive an invitation if North knew you. But to Jack, a spirit known for being kicked out of parties when he would try to worm his way in uninvited, it was like winning the lottery.

Jack looked up at the small clock tower beside the tree he was in. The time currently read 5:42 in the evening. He had plenty of time to send one last snowfall for the kids for New Year's, and get ready and maybe clean himself up a bit. Maybe he could get Jamie to lend him a tie for a laugh or two. Wait, did he have to dress formally? There was nothing in the invitation saying so. Did he need to be festive? Ugh, red looked horrible on him…

'Oh who cares?! I'm going to one of North's parties!' Giving one last whoop, Jack cut through the chilled Canadian air and made his journey back to Burgess…

~s~S~s~

The frost sprite touched down atop a familiar memorial statue in Burgess' park, surveying his handiwork. Snow covered every inch of the town in a thick blanket. Various icicles dripped from awnings and gutters, while floral frost patterns covered windows and vehicles. Even now the sky was still letting down a slow, gentle snowfall to help the winter wonderland build up overnight. The kids of Burgess were pretty much guaranteed a snow day tomorrow.

Now satisfied, Jack took off into the air again. All he had left to do was to re-ice his lake so it was safe for ice skating in the morning, then he could head to North's for the party.

'Wonder who else is going to be there…' he thought. He hoped Harley, Patrick and Hal would be there. Harley made parties into celebrations that you wake up from two days later with no memory, and Hal always managed to stir up some kind of silly mischief for a giggle. And Patrick – no party was complete without witnessing a demonstration of his drinking prowess in a drinking contest. He was a hilarious drunk too.

His lake now in sight, Jack touched down on the shore, taking in the surrounding area to-

"Waaaahhh…!"

Jack startled at the faint sound before instinctively falling into a defensive stance, his staff held out in front of him. His eyes swiftly looked around the surrounding forest and his lake, unable to pinpoint the noise.

"Waaaahhh…!"

What was that noise? It sounded like a distressed animal.

"Hello…?" he called cautiously, carefully stepping onto his lake.

Another noise, this one sounding almost like a garbled hiccup, was heard; and it was somewhat closer. Jack tightened his grip on his staff, a frown creasing his forehead. The noise seemed…familiar. Where had he heard it before? He knew he had heard it somewhere, he just couldn't for the life of him pinpoint where.

"Hello?" he called a little louder this time.

Jack jolted when what sounded like a shrill whimper rang through the chilly air, followed by…was that a sob?

'Wait…that sounds like-'

The back of Jack's heel hit something soft, drawing out a startled whine. Yelping, Jack jumped back and spun around, pointing his staff at whatever it was he hit.

Jack blinked in confusion when he saw no one in front of him. There was nothing but the forest before him, and a small stretch of his lake. So then what…?

"Bah…"

Tensing, Jack slowly lowered his gaze downwards and onto the iced surface of the lake.

His jaw dropped open in utter astonishment.

Lying on the frozen water's surface and swathed in a thick, warm looking forest green blanket with intricate ivy embroidery, was a baby.

"Uh…" this was probably the least most intelligent thing Jack has ever said in his life. Ever.

The baby whimpered and opened – his? Her? – eyes. Bright emerald green eyes locked onto Jack's ice-core irises. A sort of awkward staring contest ensured. And in true Jack Frost fashion, Jack smiled meekly at the child and waved a hand.

"Hey there, kiddo," he said uncertainly.

The baby stared with wide eyes at him…

And then started to bawl its eyes out.

"Ah! N-no, no! I-it's okay!" Hesitantly, Jack got down on his knees and lifted the baby into his arms, rocking her back and forth, "Shh, shh, it's okay. I didn't mean to scare you."

But still the child continued to cry. The child's surprisingly thick black hair stuck to red, tear soaked cheeks. Jack continued to rock the baby in his arms, but the crying wasn't relenting. If anything, it seemed to be getting louder.

'Oh man, what do I do?' He thought in dismay.

Jack wracked his brain to try and find out what it was that could be distressing the child. It couldn't be that the child was cold; the blanket was very well insulated, and the baby felt warm. Was the child sick? Hungry? Moon forbid, did it need to be changed?

'I don't know what to do! What would a mom do?!' He thought.

He suddenly blinked and looked around, his mind reeling and heart frantic as something dawned on him.

Where was the child's mother?

To be continued…

~s~s~S~s~s~

A/N~ This fic can also be found on DreamWidth!

Next up, North and the other Guardians, plus a troop of other spirits, show up to see why Jack hasn't showed up, and all throw in their two cents on childcare. This can only end well. And Pitch just wants to go to sleep, damn it.

R&R please!

~S~