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While walking through the doorway, Len was not surprised to hear Christmas music playing through their quarters, as his wife loved the season, especially now that they had children. He could hear the children giggling in one of their rooms as Hermione sang to them.
He made his way closer to the girls’ room to find out what song she was singing, as Len didn’t recognize it.
“Let’s cozy on up by the fireplace and dim those Christmas lights,” she sang as she helped the children pack.
They would be staying with his parents for the next week so he and Hermione could take a much-needed vacation while the Enterprise was being retrofitted. Their twins hadn’t seen their grandparents in years, and the two younger children had never met their grandparents in person. Everyone was looking forward to their trip, even if their youngest, Rupert, was a bit apprehensive about meeting new people.
“So kiss me on this cold December night.” Hermione picked up Rupert and kissed his cheek.
“Kiss, Mummy!” Rupert squealed as he smacked a hand against Hermione’s cheek.
“Does daddy get a kiss too, Rupert?”
The children all turned to see their father in the doorway. “Daddy!”
Len barely had time to prepare himself before his three oldest children bombarded him. “Well, hello to you three. Are you all about ready to go to grandma and grandpa’s?”
“Yes!” Minnie exclaimed as she hugged his leg.
“Mum’s almost done here, and then we’ll be ready,” Georgia Grace explained.
“Just need to grab the bags from our room and the boys’ room, and we’ll be ready to go,” Hermione clarified.
“I can do that. Do you want to help me, Min?”
“Yup!” Minnie said as she grabbed Len’s hand and pulled him from her room.
By the time Len and Minnie had gathered all of the bags, or rather Minnie gathered them for her father, and he carried them, Hermione and the other children were in the main room. She had already turned the music from earlier off.
Hermione opened her magic bag, as the children called it, and Len slid each one he was holding inside. Once it was full, she slipped it over her shoulder and picked Rupert up from where he was sitting and playing with his blocks.
“Ready?”
“Yup!” Three voices chorused in response as Rupert shook his head.
Hermione nodded at Len.
He led the way from their quarters to the shuttle bay, listening in on his wife and son’s conversation.
She explained to her youngest, “Your brother and sisters will be with you, and you’ve met your grandparents before.”
“Miss you,” Rupert replied as he snuggled into Hermione’s arms.
“Oh, honey. Daddy and I will miss you too. And we’ll miss Georgia Grace and David and Minnie too, but we’ll be back with you all before you know it. Plus,” she lowered her voice as if she was sharing a big secret with him, “you’ll be having so much fun with grandma and grandpa that you’ll forget about daddy and me.”
“Never!”
She winked at him. “We’ll see about that.”
By the time the McCoy family made the trip from the Enterprise to the shuttle depot in Atlanta, Rupert was finally looking forward to spending time with his grandparents. Of course, it helped that Georgia Grace and David were more than happy to tell their younger siblings about all the fun things they get to do with Nana and Pops on the farm.
Minnie made a beeline for her grandparents when they saw them only a few feet away, with Rupert toddling along behind her. Their oldest children weren’t far behind, but Hermione was thankful they didn’t run off too.
“Len, Hermione, how are you both doing?” Nora asked as she kissed her son’s cheek.
“Looking forward to our week in Norway,” Len replied.
“Are you sure you don’t want to join us for both weeks?” Len’s father, David, teased.
Hermione chuckled, “Not on your life. You enjoy these four while we get some peace and quiet.”
Nora gasped, “Our angels? Not giving their parents peace and quiet? I don’t believe a word of it.”
Minnie giggled as Rupert clapped his hands from his grandfather’s arms.
“I see what you mean,” Nora laughed. “Okay, children, get your bags from your mom and let’s go.”
It was a flurry of activity as duffels were pulled from Hermione’s bag, hugs and kisses were shared, and even a tear or two was shed before Hermione and Len were left alone in the Atlanta Shuttle Depot.
Hermione sighed, “Oh my god, I can already hear myself think.”
“Same here,” Len laughed as he wrapped an arm around Hermione’s shoulders. “Let’s go catch our shuttle to Oslo.
“Oh, that sounds fantastic. I cannot wait to get to our cabin for the next week.”
“I know,” Len agreed. “Nothing but a lake and forest as far as you can see.”
“And no children,” Hermione whispered in her husband’s ear before nipping the lobe. “Don’t get me wrong, I love them to death, but the—”
“Silence is music to our ears,” Len finished.
“Exactly.”
“Come on. We’re over here.”
Hermione and Len boarded their next shuttle and were off to Scandinavia.
When they arrived at their cabin on the shores of Maridalsvannet, Len had only one thing on his mind. The song Hermione was singing when he arrived home earlier.
“So, about that kiss on a cold December night?”
She glanced at the darkened window. “Well, it is a cold December night.”
Len wrapped his arms around her waist. “Let me warm you up.”
Hermione smirked, “You know just what I like.”
“Indeed I do,” Len said as he led her toward the bed. Stopping long enough to allow Hermione to light a fire in the fireplace.
After a week of peace and quiet and the great outdoors, Hermione and Len were ready to get back to the hustle and bustle of their children. They spent the holiday with his parents before returning to their home among the stars, although it did take some coaxing to get Rupert to leave his Pops at the end of their stay. The little boy was enamoured with his grandfather’s cows and talked of nothing but his Pops and his Pops’ cows on the shuttle ride back to the Enterprise.
Hermione and Len shared a look knowing that the family farm would be in good hands with their youngest.