Kodak Moment

Lomeinie

Cadet
Kodak Moment
By:
Lomeinie

Rating: G
Spoilers: All the way through the series finale

Summary: The Bristows celebrate Christmas...

Disclaimer: I don't own Alias and I have made no money for this so I ask not to be sued.

Author Note: For jbfangirl / filmlover who requested an Alias sentence/drabble/ficlet with Jack, Sydney, and Isabelle at Christmas time. Please note this is AU meaning Jack lives and Vaughn didn’t.

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Isabelle Bristow Vaughn’s very first Christmas ever was spent in the house of her Uncle Will and Aunt Tara instead from her LA home. Two weeks before Christmas, Will had called Sydney out of the blue to extend an invitation for her and Isabelle to spend Christmas with them in Wisconsin.

At first Sydney had brought up every conceivable reason as to why they wouldn’t be able to take up his invitation, reasons that included how Will should be thinking about spending time with his family or that of his new wife’s. Will had quickly shot down that reason saying that while they would be spending some of the Christmas holiday with Tara’s family, Christmas Eve and Christmas Day were actually free. So the next thing Sydney brought up was the fact she didn’t want to leave her father behind to spend another Christmas alone by himself.

"Who said anything about you leaving Jack alone in LA?" Will had responded, and when she started to protest he added, "Seriously, Syd, all three of you have an open invitation to spend Christmas here in Wisconsin." When she didn’t answer him right away, Will added, "You know what? I bet Isabelle would love the snow."

Sydney had laughed in his ear at that one saying she was a baby and too little to really enjoy it and Will had countered with "But I bet she would still love it. Come on, Syd, will you at least think about it? Talk it over with Jack?" The conversation had ended with Sydney promising Will she would give it thought and that she would run the invitation by her father.

It was now two weeks later, and they had just finished up eating a delicious Christmas dinner having opened presents already as soon as everyone got up. As dinner neared its end, it was becoming clear Isabelle was winding down, getting ready for a nap, and Jack volunteered to watch his granddaughter while they cleaned up the kitchen. Sydney and Tara worked together to clean up the mess from the cooking of dinner while Will, who called himself helping, passed them a dish occasionally while keeping the conversation flowing.

Since he was more of hindrance than a help, Will was shooed from the kitchen early with a towel thrown his direction to speed him on his way when he didn’t depart fast enough for the ladies. When Will rounded the corner of the kitchen doorway, he stopped in his tracks, completely frozen by what he saw.

Jack laid on the couch, his eyes closed, and it was obvious to Will he was fast asleep but that wasn’t what caused Will to freeze. No, what had caused him to freeze was the sight of Isabelle snuggled close to her grandfather, little snores escaping her even as she drooled a little on Jack’s sweater. She was held securely where she was by one of Jack’s hands on her back and they both looked completely adorable.

Will broke into a grin, and turned back to the kitchen, muttering to himself about how he’d never thought he’d use the word adorable to describe Jack Bristow, he called out softly to his friend, "Syd?"

Sydney stopped in mid-sentence of what she was saying to Tara and looked at him, "Yeah?"

"Syd, you gotta come here and see this," he replied, motioning with his finger for her to follow him.

Puzzled, Sydney wiped her hands before putting down the dish towel, walking over to the door where Will stood grinning like the Cheshire cat from Alice in Wonderland. She was about to ask what again when he gestured out towards the living room. "Trust me, you’re going to want to see this, Syd."

"Okay," Sydney said and rounded the corner of the kitchen doorway. She stopped in her tracks just as Will had, a grin forming on her face as she looked at her father and daughter napping so comfortably together. She half turned to Will as he came up behind her, Tara following him. "I’m going to try to get my camera without waking Dad up. I have to get a picture of this."

Will nodded, and wondered if she could walk into the same room with Jack and not wake him up. The man maybe nearly retired out of the CIA but Will was more than certain he still had the heightened senses he had needed in the field to keep him from getting killed. Will whispered "Good luck." to Sydney, which caused Tara to give him an odd look since she didn’t know about the Bristows being CIA spies.

"Thanks," Sydney said and quietly set foot into the living room. Of course the fact she was just as good of a spy as her father helped Sydney to reach her camera without making a sound.

She picked it up, and turned off the flash, hoping to get a good shot without having to use it because she knew it would wake her dad up. Holding the digital camera up, she discovered that there was just enough light to make the picture perfect. She snapped one picture and then hit the zoom button to get a close up of their sleeping faces. Satisfied with the pictures she had snapped she turned off the camera, put it down again, and crept out of the living room again with a grin still plastered on her face.

"Thanks, Will," she said.

It was a few days after they had returned to LA that Sydney presented Jack with a late Christmas present. It was a copy of the pictures of him and Isabelle napping together on the couch, both pictures framed in one frame, the close up of their faces in the frame’s biggest slot. The new pictures received a place of honor on his desk for the remainder of his time in the CIA.

FIN
 
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