Chapter Text
Barnaby Christmasses were hectic, even before Jamie’s injury.
This year was no exception.
Betty had come bounding into his room at 6 am sharp and dragged him into the kitchen to help her make pancakes for John and Sarah.
Well, Jamie did most of the cooking while Betty sat on the counter eating chocolate chips from the bag.
John stopped in the doorway, watching his daughter and his sergeant with a smile on his face. He leaned against the doorframe as Betty shoved another handful of chocolate chips in her mouth, completely ignoring Jamie’s splutters of protest that “those are for the pancakes, Betty!”
He let out a snort that stopped the two in their tracks. As if in sync, they turned to face John, who let out a louder laugh at Jamie’s dishevelled state.
The young man was covered head-to-toe in flour, the powder having gotten in his hair and matching streaks on his cheeks that looked suspiciously like it had been smeared there by little fingers.
“S-Sir!” Jamie squeaked. “Wha- what are you doing up?”
“I could ask you the same thing, Winter.” John smirked as he stepped into the kitchen.
“We made breakfast!” Betty squealed, pointing at the stack of pancakes on the counter next to the stove.
“Smells delicious, baby. How about you go and wake your mum so we can eat them?”
Betty tugged at Jamie’s pyjama sleeve and he lifted her off the counter, setting her on the floor. As soon as her feet were on the ground, she was off, bounding up the stairs on a mission.
John turned back to Jamie, still covered in flour and turning the stove off, sliding the last pancake onto a plate.
It just felt… right somehow.
John wasn't sure why, but it did. Jamie was as much part of the Barnabys as Betty or Paddy were, or Sykes had been.
It felt right for Jamie to be standing in the kitchen barefoot and in rather old pyjamas, covered in flour while Betty sat giggling on the counter.
It felt like they were a proper family, like Jamie had always been in their lives.
Like Jamie's past never existed.
"Sir?" Jamie's voice brought him out of his thoughts.
John titled his head to look at his sergeant, his mouth open to reply when footsteps sounded on the stairs and Betty’s excited voice carried down as she dragged Sarah into the kitchen, her mother laughing at Betty’s eagerness.
After breakfast, Sarah ushered Jamie into the ensuite of the guest bedroom to wash the flour off himself while John took Betty upstairs for her bath.
Half an hour later everyone was in the living room, all wearing hideous Christmas jumpers, John and Sarah sipping coffee from their mugs while Betty had clambered into Jamie’s lap, his own mug sitting on the coffee table next to them.
Presents were exchanged, Betty practically bouncing on her toes as she handed a neatly-wrapped parcel to Jamie with the tag "from Betty" stuck on.
"I wonder who this could be from?" Jamie smirked.
"Open it! Open it!" Betty giggled, scrambling onto the sofa to sit next to Jamie as he opened the present.
Jamie laughed and slowly undid the wrapping paper, watching Betty's face morph into one of impatience.
"Uncle Jamie!" She gave him The Look and Jamie knew he was screwed.
"Okay, okay." He chuckled and undid the rest of the paper, letting the present fall out into his hands.
It was a toy polar bear, not unlike one he'd gotten Betty after seeing it in the shop one weekend.
The bear was easily the size of his open palms, with plastic eyes and a stitched nose and mouth.
"Mummy said your fav'rite animal was the pol'r bear, and I like to cuddle with my fav'rite animals and cuddles are always good!" The five-year-old announced.
Jamie laughed. "They are." He agreed, holding an arm out for her to return to her favourite spot on his lap, snuggling into his abdomen, wary of his injury.
The jumper did a good job of hiding the bulky bandages, but get close enough and you could still feel them.
It still hurt from time to time, as all injuries do, but it was healing nicely and the doctor was pretty certain the bandages would be off for good come January, as long as it didn't get infected.
Sarah smiled at the two over her mug of coffee as Betty excitedly opened the colouring book Jamie had gotten her- one full of animals and landscapes- and flipped it to a page with a polar bear and started colouring the page in, using Jamie’s legs as a table.
John was already engrossed in the book Jamie had given him- The Thursday Murder Club - and was already halfway through it. Sarah was sure he’d be finished by lunchtime.
Sarah ran her hands over her own present from Jamie- a beautiful purple leather-bound notebook with her name on the front, embossed in gold.
John had gotten her a fountain pen- a proper one- in a set with different inks of many different colours. She couldn’t wait to try them all.
Jamie was reading the blurb of De ontdekking van de hemel, one of the books John and Sarah had gotten him.
He had made the mistake of mentioning he knew Dutch, which had lead to Betty begging for Dutch lessons.
John and Sarah encouraged it.
Hence, his weekends were often spent teaching Betty simple Dutch words and phrases, slowly building up her vocabulary.
The four sat in relative silence with only the turning of a page or the scratching of a pencil filling the serenity before Sarah got up to start making Christmas lunch.
Jamie managed to convince Betty to let him up so he could help Sarah with the food, Betty going over to show John her colouring-in.
The pair practically danced around the kitchen, peeling and chopping vegetables, putting the turkey, Yorkshire Puddings and pigs-in-blankets in the oven, making the gravy and stuffing.
Lunch was virtually chaos, but the good kind, where everyone was having fun.
Crackers were pulled and Betty, in true Betty form, slapped the cracker hat on Jamie’s head, laughing all the while.
Jamie started clearing away the plates, John swatted at him.
“Leave those, I’ll do them. You sit down.” He took the plates from Jamie’s grasp and took them out into the kitchen.
Suddenly, the dining-room lights were turned off, plunging the room into semi-darkness and making Betty giggle.
“Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you, happy birthday dear Jamie, happy birthday to youuuuuuuu!”
Jamie’s head snapped towards the door, John and Sarah walking into the dining-room from the kitchen, Sarah holding a cake, lit up by candles.
She put the cake down in front of Jamie, grinning like a little kid.
The actual little kid had somehow climbed onto Jamie’s lap during the song, still giggling and clapping her hands.
Jamie blinked, looking down at the cake, barely making out some figures through the candle flames.
He hadn’t had a birthday cake in so long, not since his first birthday after his parents were sent to jail.
They’d stopped after Phillip went to university.
Betty tugged on his sleeve, bringing him back to reality.
He looked down at Betty with a smile.
“Want to help me blow out these candles?”
Betty nodded so fast Jamie thought her head was going to fall off.
He laughed. “Okay, ready? 3, 2, 1-”
They blew the candles out, Betty more so as Jamie dissolved into laughter mid-way through.
With the candles out and the lights on, Jamie could see the cake properly, and immediately burst out laughing.
It was polar bears, of course. Mini marzipan polar bears on white icing moulded to mimic snow and a pool made from blue icing.
“How did you know it was my birthday?” He asked, shifting Betty so she wasn’t putting all her weight on one leg.
John looked sheepish. “I checked the records, we thought you deserved a proper birthday.”
Tears filled Jamie's eyes and spilt down his cheeks.
Betty frowned and raised her hands to wipe the tears away.
“Why are you crwying?” She asked, pressing her palms to Jamie’s cheeks.
Jamie let out a watery laugh. “I’m just really happy.”
Betty wrapped her arms around Jamie’s neck, burying her face in his neck.
Sarah pulled Jamie up and into a hug, John joining in.
For the first time in ages, Jamie felt like he truly belonged.
“There’s another thing for you, Jamie.” Sarah smiled as the family unfurled from the hug.
Jamie blinked. “For me?”
“It is your birthday.” John nodded. He looked down at Betty. “Do you want to show Uncle Jamie his birthday present?”
Betty nodded and jumped down from Jamie’s lap, grabbing his hand and pulling him outside to the garden.
Jamie’s jaw dropped.
There, on the patio, stood a telescope.
Not a shitty one like he had as a child, or the one he’d bought with his first proper paycheck as a police officer in London. No, a refractor telescope, one that could easily see Jupiter, maybe even Pluto.
One where he could properly see the stars on a dark night.
Betty dragged him over to the telescope, her grin practically splitting her face in half.
“I- I don’t know what to say.” Jamie stuttered, staring at the piece of kit in from of him.
‘How much did it cost? ’ He couldn’t help but wonder.
“You seem to have a knack for getting Betty into things, she loved the astronomy lesson you gave her the last time she was round yours, came home rattling off space facts.”
Jamie laughed, remembering the night he’d sat with Betty in his back garden and showed her his telescope.
They’d spent the rest of the evening looking at constellations, stars and planets, Betty sharing in Jamie’s fascination of astrology.
“...so she suggested getting you a new one.” Jamie just caught the end of John’s sentence.
He looked from a still-grinning Betty to John and Sarah, mouth still agape.
“I- thank you, Sir.”
“John.” John smiled. “You’re family, Jamie.”
Jamie smiled, but before he could say anything, Betty was dragging him to the telescope, chatting eagerly about stars and space.
Jamie laughed and let her help him set up the telescope.
And so their Christmas day ended with the family, biological or not, sitting on the grass of the Barnabys’ back garden, looking up at the stars.