Disclaimer: These men both belong to Paramount, but I love to play
with them.
 

"My word, Doctor! This must be the strangest custom I have ever heard
of…I know you humans have many strange ideas but this must be the
winner on all counts" Garak stared at the *tree* Bashir had replicated
for them and put in the middle of their quarters. A tree in-doors?
What a ridiculous concept. It took up almost all of the space between
the dining table and the sofa in front of the holo-video equipment. He
was just about to protest when he caught the happy glint in Julian's
eyes. He hadn't seen him this happy since the Dominion war begun. He
didn't have the heart to stop him. So, if Julian was happy about a
tree shedding its needles all over their home - then fine!

"I can't believe you have never seen a Christmas tree before, Garak?
You've been on the station long enough. But I suppose… we haven't
really bothered to celebrate Christmas in the traditional way on the
station, have we?"

Garak wouldn't know the traditional way of celebrating Christmas if it
jumped up and bit him in the nose, so he simply stared at his young
lover and was amazed at the feelings the man could provoke in him. His
joyous features was all that was required to make his heart beat
faster. Two months had gone by since they had finally admitted their
feelings for each other. Garak still had trouble believing that Julian
actually desired him and this despite the fact that he had shown him
just how much on several occasions. Garak felt like a young man again
and he decided that no matter how strange he found this Christmas
celebration he would go through it for Julian's sake. Who knew,
perhaps he would find some kind of enjoyment in it?

"Why do you celebrate Christmas?" he asked casually as he walked over
to the green tree, full of sharp needles. It looked like a really
viscious plant to him.

Julian stopped fidgeting with the tree and its - foot. Then he rose to
his feet and stared at Garak.

"Well, in the beginning it was a religious thing. Celebrating the
birth of Jesus. It has nothing to do with mine and my parent's
religion though. Several hundreds of years ago it turned into more of
a commercial gimmick. Shops started selling Christmas stuff already in
the beginning of November although Christmas isn't until the end of
December. They decorated their shops with lights and other things to
celebrate Christmas…"

Garak stared at Julian in disbelief. He didn't understand a word of
what he was saying. He was ashamed to say that he didn't know much
about Earth traditions - there were so many after all. The planet had
so many different cultures it was confusing and he supposed that this
Christmas thing was one of those strange… holidays.

"Oh, Garak… " Julian said looking a bit helpless. "Let's just say it
is a joyous occasion on Earth, a time of the year where we celebrate
life and give the people we love presents and enjoy good food… "
Julian's face looked positively wistful.

"I understand this is sort of like - birthdays then?" Garak said
cautiously not wanting to sound like a complete fool. To his relief
Julian nodded enthusiastically and smiled.

"Something like that - or like the Bajoran Gratitude Festival. You buy
gifts for your family and you eat traditional foods and then you spend
the evening with the people you love enjoying the lovely smell of
pine-trees and watch traditional holo-programs and…"

The more Julian talked the more puzzled Garak felt. What was it about
Christmas that was so special?

"But we could do this any time of the year…" he said confused.

"You don't get it, Garak. This is a holiday and this is the only time
of year we spend like this… if you would just choose any day it just
wouldn't be the same…"

Garak nodded thoughtfully and said, "Julian. I have to go out for a while.
I'll be back very soon…"

"But we should prepare the Christmas tree," Julian said disappointedly.

"Are we in a hurry to do that?" Garak queried.

Julian sighed and admitted, "No, I suppose we could do that tomorrow
night. But Christmas is only a week away, Garak. And I want everything
to be just right our first Christmas together… "

Garak nodded and pulled the young man into his embrace.  "We will do
that I promise, my dear Julian… "  Then he leaned down for a kiss and
when Julian's soft lips pressed against his he almost lost his resolve. But
he had to do some research. Christmas was obviously very important to
Julian so he wanted to read up on the occasion. He let go of Julian, stared
into those passionate hazel depths.

"I will be back soon, love," he said huskily, turned around and strode
out of their quarters. He headed for Ops. He needed to talk to another
Human. Someone who wasn't so wrapped up in this thing - this
Christmas. Julian was like acting like a child. Adorable but - not
very coherent…
 

"Captain," Garak said as he entered Ops.

"Garak, what can I do for you?"

The dark-skinned man didn't exactly light up when he entered Ops, but
he didn't kick him out either. Garak took that as a sign that the
Captain had gotten over the first shock of finding out that he and
Julian had become lovers.

"It is of a somewhat personal matter. Can I speak with you for a
moment?"

Sisko's lifted a naked eyebrow and offered him to step into the
office. He strode over to the window and stared outside for a moment.
"All right, Garak. What is it that you want?"

No small talk, no polite questions about health or weather. Nothing.
Perhaps he had been too quick in his assumption that the Captain
didn't hold a grudge against him about Julian anymore, Garak mused.

"I want you to tell me about Christmas," Garak said plainly.
Captain Sisko's face went through a fascinating metamorphosis at the
mention of Christmas. His face cracked in a wide grin and his eyes
shone.

"Christmas? You want me to tell you about Christmas, Mr. Garak?" he
laughed.

Garak nodded, suddenly wishing he hadn't asked. But to his
astonishment Sisko offered him to sit down and kept smiling.
"Oh, Christmas," he said with a wistful sigh. "We all look forward to
Christmas, Mr.Garak. It is a difficult thing to explain. It means a
different thing to all people on Earth. Some don't even celebrate it.
But to those who do - it is a joyous occasion. It is a time for love,
understanding and giving." Sisko smiled and Garak felt like he still
didn't know what this Christmas celebration meant and what it was.

"Thank you, Captain," he said staring at Sisko with disbelief in his
eyes. Just like Julian, the Captain now had a goofy smile on his lips
and he looked like a happy little boy. Garak felt more and more that
he needed to find out what all the fuss was about. He frowned and got
up to leave.

"Mr. Garak. I could give you access to the computer and you could do
some research of your own," the Captain offered.

"That would be most helpful," Garak neglected to mention that this was
indeed what he had been planning to do when he got out of the office.
He didn't exactly require the Captain's help - or permission - to get
to the computer… But it was quite obvious he wouldn't get anything
useful out of either Sisko or Julian - or any of the other humans for
that matter. He sighed deeply and got out of Sisko's office and
strolled over to one of the computer terminals. He accessed the
database and did a search on the word Christmas.

"Christmas: Christian holiday celebrated in memory of the birth of
Jesus."

Okay so who was this Jesus person? Garak wondered to himself. He read
through the database and realized that this made no more sense than
anything he had heard. In essence it seemed this Jesus person had
founded a religion called Christianity and he was also called Christ,
and this holiday was celebrated at the day of his birth - or so they
said. But the more Garak read the more he realized that people on
Earth actually didn't know when this Jesus person was born. Then he
kept on reading and came across another person named Saint Nicolaus
who presumably had given a couple of students a few gifts… these two
things had merged into something called Christmas. During the 20:th
century the exploitation of this holiday had begun and the shopkeepers
and merchants had used it to make huge amounts of money.

Garak watched as images of candles, Christmas trees, gifts wrapped in
shiny papers and ribbons, meters and meters of lights covering
buildings and something called gingersnaps from Sweden paraded before
his eyes on the viewscreen. Different countries evidently had
different eating habits during this holiday as well. In Sweden they
ate grilled ham covered with something called mustard and bread-crumbs
and different kinds of pickled herrings which was evidently some kind
of fish. In England they ate something called plum-pudding and in the
United States the course of their choice was evidently turkey - some
kind of bird. A similar trait in several of the countries was the
habit of buying, giving and receiving gifts, but the customs weren't
the same in every country. They didn't even agree on which day to open
those gifts…

Garak sighed and realized that this holiday was getting more and more
confusing for each page of information that rolled by his eyes. Santa
Claus - an incarnation of the true Saint Nicolaus was a huge man, with
white hair and a white beard crawling down the chimney. This man was
wearing a red suit and was giving presents to all children who had
been nice all year.

A sarcastic smile crept up on Garak's lips. Any parent would know that
this wasn't liable to happen - so in essence - this Santa must have a
slow day on Christmas…

* * *

Julian slumped down on the couch in their quarters. Maybe this wasn't
such a good idea after all. How could he expect Garak to feel the same
way about Christmas as he did? To Garak this was just some obscure
holiday, which really meant nothing. He sighed deeply. It had been so
long since he had really celebrated Christmas. Sure, Captain Sisko had
thrown a few parties on Christmas since he arrived on Deep Space Nine.
But for some reason it had never really been the same as it had been
at home.

What he longed for were the joyous occasions. The celebrating and
spending time with his family. Giving and receiving gifts was only a
small part of it all. He missed the special decorations from home and
the taste of Amsha's wonderful plum-pudding and the stuffed turkey. He
missed the smell of the pine tree and the Christmas songs from Earth.
At least he would have the pine tree. He let his eyes follow the
replicated tree and inhaled. The smell was indeed the same, and as
soon as he had the time he would replicate some decorations to go with
the tree as well.

*  *  *

Days passed and Garak made himself scarce. Julian had no idea what his
friend was up to but it was rather annoying. Garak got up early each
morning, sometimes even before he did, and on several occasions the
tailor had gotten home so late that Julian had already fallen asleep.
At lunch the day before Christmas Julian finally had a chance to bring
this up.

"Garak, what is wrong?" he asked his lover with concern in his voice.
"You and I haven't had much time together for several days now. I miss
you!"

Garak leaned forward over the table and grabbed his hand in a gentle
gesture. His eyes were filled with concern and a little guilt. He was
quiet for a moment before responding.  "My dearest Julian. I am sorry.
The truth is I have been extremely busy. I received a large order from
Bajor last week and I have been working very hard to meet the request.
Luckily I have almost finished.  The day after tomorrow everything should
return to normal."

"The day after tomorrow?" Julian couldn't keep the disappointment from
his voice.

"Is there something wrong?" Garak queried.

Julian closed his eyes and shook his head. It had been rather silly after all. He
really shouldn't have expected Garak to see Christmas the way he did.  "No,
Garak, there is nothing wrong. I'll be grateful when you have filled your order
so that we can spend some more time with each other, that's all."

"I'll try to make it up to you, my dear Julian," Garak said with a
seductive smile on his lips.

This time Julian's responding smile was much more sincere. His heart
filled with joy at the sight of the love in Garak's eyes. Impulsively
he reached out with his hand and caressed Garak's rougher skin. In
response Garak turned his hand around and they held hands for the
briefest of moments while their eyes locked and revealed all the
passion they felt for each other without uttering a word.

"I am sure you will, Elim," Julian whispered.

"I will see to it that I come home a little earlier tonight. I
promise," Garak said huskily and the look in his eyes made sure that

Julian knew exactly what he had on his mind. "I wish we could go home
right now," Julian admitted.

"Me too, I want to kiss you so badly…"

"Then why don't we? I am sure my nurses can take care of anything that
happens at the infirmary for a while… "

"I wish I could, my dear Julian, but I really must be going back to my
shop. This order I have is really important. But I will see you in our
quarters tonight."

Julian nodded and sighed. He knew he really couldn't bail either, but
he wished he could.

*  *  *

Garak had really been busy, but not with his work. He had been
preparing for a multitude of surprises for his beloved Julian for the
last couple of days, and what was more, he had enjoyed it so much he
had neglected Julian in the process. He was glad that the young man
had pointed this out to him. When he thought back on the last few days
he realized that they really hadn't spent much time together. The
truth of the matter was that they hadn't eaten breakfast together
since that day Julian brought the Christmas tree to their quarters.
Today was the first day in almost a week they had even had the time to
each lunch together. No wonder Julian had seemed a little depressed.
He had no idea what was keeping Garak so busy. He was glad he had come
up with that cover story about the Bajoran order. It seemed like it
had calmed Julian at least. He hadn't meant to upset his lover, on the
contrary.

Garak hurried to his shop. The love Julian showed him each day made
him feel special and this was his chance to give Julian something in
return. But he realized he might have gone a little overboard. He
sighed when he realized they hadn't made love for almost a week and
feeling Julian's hand caress his at their lunch table today made Garak
realize how much he had missed that.

The preparations were almost finished. This meant that this evening he
would be able to give Julian his undivided attention, and the day
suddenly seemed like it would never end….

*  *  *

Julian yawned and pushed aside the PADD he had been working on. It was
almost dinnertime and he had hurried home from work to be there when
Garak came home. He was almost beginning to wonder if the tailor had
decided to go back on his promise when he entered their quarters.

"Garak!" Julian breathed and rose from the couch in a swift movement.
Within seconds he was enveloped in the Cardassian's firm embrace. He
sighed contentedly as he felt Garak's arms tighten around him.

"Julian," Garak answered. "I've missed you today. This day has been
far too long… "

"This entire week has been too long," Julian corrected as he pulled
the tailor down for a kiss. When their lips met he sighed contentedly
and Garak's enthusiasm caused him to feel the familiar first signs of
arousal traveling down his spine. Garak's intentions were very clear
and Julian was grateful for that. He had longed for Garak for several
days now.

"Touch me, Garak…" he whispered huskily and the older man's hands
gripped firmly around his buttocks and pressed him closer. Julian
gasped as his firmness pressed against the tailor's awakening
erection.

"It seems you have missed me, Elim…" he teased and ground his hips
almost imperceptibly against the tailor's. Garak hissed and leaned his
head back.

"Oh yes, Julian. You have no idea…"

"But I think I do."

Garak's hands traveled from his butt to his back and at last his
strong hands dug into Julian's hair and pushed his head back lightly
so he could lean over to kiss him. Julian reveled in the feelings of
Garak's firm lips moving over the sensitive spots on his neck, his
cheek and finally he felt Garak's lips press against his again. Their
tongues met in a passionate dance and Julian moaned softly into
Garak's mouth.

"Oh, I have really missed this. I want you Garak, so much."

"I know, Julian, oh yes. I know… "

*  *  *

Next morning Julian woke up at 500 hours. It was his com-badge
chirping.

"Nurse Daria to Dr. Bashir!"

Julian rummaged around among the clothes that still lay in a crumpled
heap by the bedside until he found his badge.

"Dr. Bashir here."

His voice sounded like he hadn't slept much and that wasn't far from
the truth. A sheepish smile crept up on his face when he remembered
the activities he and the tailor had immersed in during the night.

"There is an emergency in the Infirmary. We need you down here asap."

"I'm on my way. Bashir out."

"Duty calls I take it?" Garak's voice sounded as tired as he felt.
Julian leaned over the bed to kiss him and Garak's enthusiasm made him
chuckle knowingly.

"Didn't you get enough last night?"

"I can never get enough of you, Julian!" Garak responded honestly and
pulled him down for another kiss.

"Oh Garak," he breathed. "Hold that thought for tonight. Right now
they need me in the infirmary. I am sorry… "

"Don't be, Julian. I'll be here when you get back."

He had planned to take the day off today, but as the Chief Medical
Officer he had to be prepared for the unexpected and perhaps it was
all for the best. If he was working he wouldn't have so much time to
think about the fact that yet another Christmas day went by without
being properly celebrated.

Julian frowned when he reached the infirmary. The 'emergency' was a
minor accident in the storage room. Someone had spilled a biological
compound that was slightly toxic. But anyone with the proper
training - meaning any of the nurses - could have taken care of that.
"Why did you call me down for this?" he asked, not angry. Just
puzzled.

"I am sorry to disturb you like this Dr. Bashir. But nurse Karia
experienced a headache and had to leave. I've been treating some minor
injuries all morning and I didn't know of anyone else to call for who
knows how to handle this kind of contamination."  Nurse Daria smiled
apologetically.

"No need to apologize Daria. I'll take care of it," Julian responded
with a smile and got to work.

The compound was such that it was very sticky and difficult to clean
up. He spent the better part of the morning in the storage room. When
he was finished it was close to lunch time and he supposed he might as
well drop by his and Garak's quarters to eat lunch with his loved one.
He got rid of the coverall and threw it into the recycler before
taking a quick shower and changing into civilian clothes. He decided
at once that he would take the rest of the day off. He and Garak
really needed to spend some time together and it was - after all -
Christmas.

When he reached the quarters he entered with a big smile on his lips.
But the room was set in complete darkness.

"Garak?"

No response. He tried again.

"Garak? Are you in here?"

He took another step into the room and suddenly the lights went on.
Julian had a hard time taking it all in. There was Garak only a couple
of steps away from him dressed in the suit he knew that Julian really
liked and to top it off he was wearing a red cap complete with a toft
in the end. Julian felt a silly smile spreading on his face when he
saw the entire staff of DS9 smiling sheepishly at him. Jadzia lifted
her cup in a toast and Miles flashed him a bright smile. Behind them
there was the Christmas tree - still naked but there were big heaps of
parcels wrapped in beautiful papers and ribbons scattered beneath it.
And boxes of decorations lay waiting on their dinner table. Speaking
of which - another table was full of pots and cans sending the most
delicious smells throughout the room. Julian couldn't help but walk
over to see what was there. He could smell the delicious smell of
Amsha's Plum pudding.

He turned around to Garak.  "How did you know?"

Garak gave him one of his mysterious smiles. "I've got my sources… "
Garak's attempt of being secretive failed for once.

"Mother was only too happy to give her favorite future son-in-law the
recipe wasn't she?" Julian grinned.

"Ah, you see right through me, my dear Julian!"

"That's got to be a first!"

"Let's listen to some music!" Sisko suggested and he and Jadzia moved
over to the computer to choose some suitable Christmas carols.

And as "White Christmas" flooded the room Garak smiled, put his arm around
Julian and said, "Let's decorate the tree. I found some things from Cardassia that I
made as a boy that you will probably find suitable."

Julian nearly fell over when he saw the exquisite silver stars made
out of crystal.  "They are beautiful, Garak! Did you make these?"

"Yes, when I was about Jake's age I crafted those stars. I was quite
good at it if I may say so myself."

It seemed that, in just a few days, Garak had managed to capture the
whole essence of Christmas…

"Oh, Garak!" Julian said with all the love he could muster in his
voice. He lifted his hand to touch the Cardassian's face. Garak leaned
into the touch.

"I know, Julian," the tailor whispered. "I love you too."

The End

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