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Adults' Kitsmas Dreams
by Pirate Turner
The glorious, golden sun of late afternoon was finally beginning to sink behind the city buildings when four tired penguins scuttled back into their lair. Each penguin wore a smile of triumph and joy for they had certainly made the day a Kitsmas to remember, but as Rico, who brought up the tail feather of the group, looked to his friends, he realized that only one thing was amiss. They had celebrated the holiday in grand style, a mix of the old and the new, creating a new tradition that held a true piece of them all in it, and they had given their friends and the children a wonderful Kitsmas.
Yet they had managed to forget about themselves during the mayhem that had turned into the jubilant celebration they had shared. He had not managed to give his friends a single present or catch Kowalski once underneath the mistletoe. Indeed they'd not even had any time to speak of to themselves, and now Kitsmas was coming to an end.
Rico paused in the doorway, his feathered brow furrowing with thought. He saw Skipper sneak a longing look at Private and knew what must be going through his leader's, and good friend's, tactile mind. They'd managed to cover all the bases except the ones that meant the most to them, and Skipper would not dare to voice a single word of dismay at what they had not been given or longing for the time he needed with his secret love.
Rico's beak twitched. He rubbed a flipper against his jaw in a habit he'd adopted from his own secret amour. None of the others would ever dare to admit the truth of those they loved, Kowalski out of fear that they would be rejected, Skipper out of concern that he'd lose his tough leader and strong man penguin images, and Private out of being told countless times, by Skipper, to never breathe a word of their affection to any one else. Rico himself had often thought that he'd stand a chance of losing every one he held dear if he came out, but then again, that had been long before he and Kowalski had revealed their true feelings to each other.
"Rico?" Kowalski queried, looking back at his lifemate. "What's wrong, old chap?"
Skipper's eyes narrowed as he gazed suspiciously at Rico. "What's the matter, man? Spit it out."
"Spit what out, Skipper?" Private asked, innocent as always. "Oh, I know!" he cried suddenly, flapping his flippers in excitement. "Maybe Rico wants to have a private Kitsmas celebration! Maybe he wants to celebrate the holiday for our family and in honor of our love!"
Skipper's eyes nearly bulged out of his head. He slapped Private with a flipper. "Shut it, man!" he commanded. "You're speaking nonsense!"
His final decision firmly in his mind, Rico made his move. He flipped up and sailed through the air, spitting mistletoe out like crazy, and when he had landed, mistletoe and decorations alike were strewn throughout their lair. He winked at Kowalski, who stood underneath one of the many sprigs of mistletoe with his mouth dropped wide open in shock, and then gazed at Skipper and Private, who were both standing under mistletoe.
"Hum, Skipper . . . " Private started, dragging a talon across the floor and pressing his flippers shyly together in front of him. "I . . . I, hum, I seem to quite be standing underneath the mistletoe, and, hum, so do you."
Skipper turned beady eyes upon Rico. "What's the meaning of this, soldier?"
Rico looked at Skipper for a moment, and then he squawked. Striding with a clear purpose, Rico waddled over to his man, took Kowalski in his flippers, and promptly, before Kowalski could complain or pull away out of fear, dipped him while pressing his beak to his.
Skipper's and Private's mouths dropped open as Kowalski moaned sweetly against Rico's beak and his eyes began to flutter back into his head in ecstasy. Rico paused and looked back up at their friends with his love still dipped inside the safe cocoon of his flippers. "Merry Kitsmas," he said before picking Kowalski up and carrying him into his laboratory.
Skipper was still staring in the direction in which Rico and Kowalski had disappeared when the door to the laboratory slammed shut. Slowly, he turned wary eyes upon Private, who swayed side by side, dragging his talon across the hard floor of their lair, looking quite sheepish, and smiling shyly. "Hum, Skipper . . . " Private started again, but Skipper didn't hear him for his mind was awhirl with facts populating truths he had always before thought impossible.
Rico and Kowalski were in love just like he and Private! Clearly his men had no problems with being gay and, therefore, would have no qualms with his own, matching sexual orientation, a fact of his persona that he had kept strictly hidden his entire life. They were a unit that could have fallen apart had his secret been revealed, and Rico had just let the proverbial cat out of the bag. They were all gay!
But they were more than a unit, more than a team, and even more than friends. They were a family, a family who had been blessed not once, but twice, with love, and that love should be celebrated -- as long as it would not doom them all which Rico had just clearly shown it would not.
Or, at least, Skipper amended silently, it would not destroy their union, their friendship, their family, or their team, and was that not why he had kept his truths hidden from his boys? He had no other reason to hide his love for Private for he did not care what the world thought, only that his unit would follow him and that together they would be an unstoppable force in saving their part of the world one animal at a time. Love made one stronger, not weaker, Skipper finally realized, for it was that love amongst them that had enabled Rico to have the stones to come out of the closet and made them the unbeatable team that they were.
It was far past time, Skipper recognized at long last, that that love was not only acknowledged and brought into the open but celebrated as well. Snapping out of his silent reverie and seeing the tears beginning to sparkle in Private's eyes as he now waited patiently and with lowered, wobbling chin for the denial he clearly expected to come, Skipper strode forward with the same bold purpose that Rico had held just scant moments before. "Cute and cuddly, boys," he called out, "cute and cuddly, and merry Kitsmas to all!" Then he grabbed Private, ducked him underneath the mistletoe, and gave him the most passionate kiss of his entire, young life, curling his feathers and making all their own, private Kitsmas dreams come true at long last.
The End