Christmas has come early, I love Christmas. Even if it might not be the normal Christmas this year, I still look forward to it. We need a bit of cheer after the year we've had.
With Christmas fast approaching Freddie is determined to make it the best it can be for Amelia's first. He's invited the entire Queen family over for Christmas lunch including Mary and her family but it will be him, Amelia and Jim for Christmas day morning, their own little family.
He's gone a bit overboard with the presents but she's his only child and her first Christmas so of course, he's going to spoil his little girl.
It's two days before Christmas and Joe is looking after Amelia for the afternoon. Freddie is at the studio and the band agreed that just for today it will be a child-free zone to get more done. Jim is at work so the cook gladly agreed, she's easy to look after.
Also needing to prepare some of the food for Christmas day, Joe decides to use Amelia as his little helper, making sure she's nowhere near the oven of course.
"Right little Miss," he sits her in the high chair next to the countertop, "We have cookies to decorate and you are going to help me. That sound fun?" Amelia claps her hands giggling, "Good," Joe smiles.
Bringing out the biscuits he made earlier he gives her a tube with sprinkles in, he ices each cookie before passing them to his little helper and she shakes on the sprinkles. Some have a lot more than others but there for children so what does it matter?
After the biscuits, he wipes the side off and Amelia's hands moving on to the cakes. He always makes one for the adults and one for the children. He couldn't let her help with the adult one because of the alcohol in it but she has a whale of a time with the kids one.
She helped mix the cake batter, Joe poured the mixture into the tin putting it in the oven turning back to find that Amelia has taken the wooden spoon out of the bowl and is licking the batter off.
He tries to pry it off her but she squeals gripping is tight. Making sure there isn't to much-uncooked batter on the spoon, he doesn't when her to have a bad tummy, Joe lets her keep it. He has another and Amelia has turned her empty food bowl over hitting it with the spoon.
"Drummer in the making," Joe muses, once the cake comes out the oven and is cooled, Joe gave Amelia the chocolate sprinkles and the icing sugar shaker. That turned out the be a big mistake.
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"We leave her in your care for a day and the kitchen looks like a sugary explosion," Jim laughs when he gets home to see the kitchen filled with a cloud of icing sugar and a mess.
Amelia is covered almost head to toe in icing, sprinkles and icing sugar banging the wooden spoon against an upside-down bowl, "I think you need to get that girl a drum because she's been doing that since I give her the spoon."
Chuckling Jim bends on front of Amelia, "Are you having fun?" He wipes away a sprinkle near her eye, "What do you think, shall we get you a drum? Uncle Roger will be pleased."
"Wog!" she squeals as Jim lifts her from the high chair gasping.
"What was that?" he grins, "Was that a word, did you just say Rog?" when she doesn't say it again he makes for the stairs to take her for a bath.
He reaches the second step when Freddie comes through the front door. The little girl claps excitedly, "Da!" She shouts making Jim stop in his tracks, "Another one."
Beaming Freddie walks closer to the pair on the stairs, "Say it again my angel."
"Da!" She cries again reaching out for him.
"Second word of the day," Jim informs him.
"What was the first?" Freddie frowns.
"Rog."
"Bastard," the singers mutters taking Amelia in his arms.
"Technically it was Wog but I knew what she meant."
"Still your are my clever little girl," he kisses her chubby cheek then notices the mess she's in, "A clever girl in need of a bath. Why are you covered in icing?" Freddie throws Joe an accusing look.
Joe holds his hands up in surrender, "I had to do something with her and I needed to make the cookies and cakes for Christmas day so she helped to decorate."
Jim snorts, "The food or the kitchen?"
"Yes will when she is to hyper to go to bed tonight, you can look after her, Joe" Freddie grins.
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It's Christmas Eve and Freddie is sat on the floor of the living room wrapping presents for the rest of the family. He has the fun task of wrapping Amelia's presents later in the evening with Jim but right now Amelia is 'helping' him wrap the last two presents, the first of the two presents is Roger's.
"What do you think red or green ribbon for Uncle Rog?" he holds both in front of Amelia and Romeo in her bouncy chair and she points to the red one and Romeo bats the loose end, "Okay red it is."
He ties the bow pushing it under the tree, picking up Brian's book, "Last gift for Uncle Brian," she squeals looking for Brian, "Oh no Uncle Brian's not here, sweetheart. He'll be here tomorrow but this book needs wrapping for him, which ribbon blue or green."
Pushing the two ribbons away Amelia points to the silver on, "You want Brian to have a silver ribbon?"
Freddie looks at the presents and Brian is the only person with silver ribbons, he brought one of each colour ribbon as he always does and the only colour ribbon not used is the gold.
"Who has the gold ribbon then?" he holds it in front of her.
"Dada!" she points at him.
Chuckling Freddie gets the message, "Oh I see, I get the gold ribbon because I'm the favourite and Brian gets the silver because he's the second favourite? I get it."
"You know she probably just likes the pretty colours," Jim grins standing in the doorway watching the scene for the last few minutes as he got back from work.
"I would agree but it doesn't explain why she has picked one colour for each person and kept it the same," Freddie knows Amelia is only 8 months old but she a lot more clever than some people will give her credit for.
Looking at the pile under the tree Jim can see what his lover means, Roger's are all in red, Brian's in silver, John's in blue etc... "maybe she has a good memory and remembers the colour to the name you said?" he suggests unable to think of any other answer.
"Yeah or maybe she was a Santa elf in her past life," Freddie muses putting the last present under the tree. He lifts a yawning Amelia for her chair, Romeo meowing in protest and he takes her upstairs for her nap.