Title: Spreading Festive Joy
Fandom: FAKE
Author: badly_knitted
Characters: Dee, Mother.
Rating: PG
Setting: Before the manga.
Summary: Dee is doing his best to make sure Mother’s kids enjoy Christmas as much as he did when he was growing up.
Word Count: 400
Content Notes: None needed.
Written For: Challenge 465: Amnesty 77, using Challenge 464: Joy.
Disclaimer: I don’t own FAKE, or the characters. They belong to the wonderful Sanami Matoh.



Growing up, Christmas at the orphanage had always been a bit manic. Dee and Mother’s other charges hadn’t gotten a lot in the way of gifts, and they’d had to dress in their best clothes to attend church before doing anything else, but there’d always been a proper Christmas dinner, and everyone had played board games, watched TV, sung carols, and been happy with what they had.

Everything had been so uncomplicated back then, and he remembered finding joy in the simplest things. Frost on the windows, making paperchain decorations, stringing popcorn to go on the tree, which had been a threadbare artificial monstrosity that had fallen apart by the time he was eighteen… Sometimes he wished he could recapture the happiness he’d felt at Christmastime back then.

Not that he wasn’t happy now, because he was. He had his own apartment, a job he loved, even if he could’ve done without all the paperwork, and he’d recently been promoted to detective, which was his dream come true. So life was good, even though he didn’t currently have anyone to share it with.

Unfortunately, life was also full of bills to pay, and having to get up for work on days he would’ve liked a lie-in. He also had to work Christmas Eve and Christmas Day this year. It meant he’d have New Year off, but it still sucked.

Nevertheless, when he finished his shift on the Eve, late though it was, he headed straight for the orphanage with a pile of gifts to put under the very real Christmas tree he’d taken to buying for Mother and the kids every year. Now that he was working, he could afford to help out, knowing how hard it was for Mother to stretch what funds she had to cover everyone’s needs. He’d paid for the fresh turkey as well. It was a shame he wouldn’t get to join Mother and the kids for Christmas dinner this year, but he’d be thinking of them, gathered around the orphanage’s big dining table, enjoying the festive feast.

Next year, with luck, he’d have Christmas off so he could be there to watch the kids open their gifts, and share the joy of the season with the people who meant the most to him. And maybe someday, he’d have someone special in his own life, someone he could make new and happy Christmas traditions with.


The End