The time came for Leah to tell Elliott the big news.
She had planned to tell him right away, but after chatting with Harvey and Penny she went home and took a much needed nap. Her body – and mind – still needed time to relax and process everything before the big reveal. She didn’t want to be an emotional mess; she wanted it to be a moment of joy and excitement. A moment she and Elliott would never forget.
It was around 5pm when she was awoken by the tender kisses of her love on her forehead and cheek.
“Hi,” Elliott greeted in a light, romantic tone as her eyes opened and met with his handsome smile.
“Hi,” she repeated in a like manner, stretching her arms.
“You’re sleeping late.”
“Yeah…I was tired.”
He nodded. “I have a surprise for you…”
“Oh?” she curiously asked, propping herself up onto her elbow. Funny, I could say the same to you…
“Come,” he beckoned, taking her hands and gently lifting her up onto her feet, “into the sunroom.”
Leah cheeky grinned as he pulled her arm forward in anticipation.
When they entered the sunroom Elliott brought Leah before his tall, shining, clay masterpiece; all finished. Leah gazed at it with awe.
“I finally finished it,” he informed her with pride. “It sure was a challenge, but I’m proud of how it turned out. Heck,” he half chuckled, “I almost can’t believe I’m the one who made it!”
Leah eexpressed a little chuckle of her own.
“I know he’s not the handsomest chap, but,” he shyly glanced over at her, “what do you think of it?”
Turning toward him, with a smile as proud as any teacher would be with their student in this case, Leah replied, “I think it’s perfect.”
“Really?”
“Really. You did an amazing job for it being your first time working with clay. I’m very proud.”
“Thank you,” he expressed, giving her that same handsome smile he wore before and kissed her. “I made it just for you.”
“Aww…I love it. It is a wonderful surprise.”
“You’re welcome my love.”
Now it was time.
“So,” Leah began, lowering her head while taking his hands in hers, “speaking of surprises,” she looked up again, trying not to grin too brightly yet, “I have one for you too.”
“Is that right?” Elliott playfully asked with an arched eyebrow.
“Yeah…a pretty big one.”
His eyes widened. “Well now my curiosity is immensely piqued! What is it?”
“Okay,” Leah breathily released, stepping back a little to gain her bearings. Her heart fluttered nervously. She really wanted the reveal to come out just right – perfectly – but as much as she rehearsed it all in her mind, she had a feeling that ultimately, in the moment, the words would betray her. Just roll with it, she encouraged herself.
“So remember the other night when I asked you if it looked like I’d gained weight, to which you were totally sweet and said otherwise, but…we both know I have…?”
Elliott lightly shrugged with a look on his face as if to say, Okay, you’re right.
“Well,” she drew in a breath again to calm her racing heart, hoping to provide a pathway for the excitement to come through, “for the first time in my life I’ve never been so happy about the fact that I’ve gained weight.” She chuckled. The pathway must’ve been clearer than she thought, because joyful tears took a nice seat upon her eyelids.
Elliott noticed the incoming tears and, along with what she said, gave her a questionable look.
“I went to go see Harvey this afternoon, like you suggested. And after doing a blood test we found out that…,” she paused for a somewhat dramatic effect, “…I’m pregnant.” Her mouth naturally formed into a bright grin.
For a second, the man froze, wondering if he heard that correctly. “Wait…what was that again?” came the blinking response.
Leah’s heart skidded to a halt. “I’m pregnant,” she repeated, praying he was happy about it. She needed him to be.
In that moment Elliott’s eyes bugged out with explosive excitement. “Really!?” he asked in a high pitched voice.
“Yes!” Leah replied, expelling a quiet a breath of relief.
“There’s a baby in there?” He pointed at her belly.
“Yes,” she giggled. “A three and a half month old baby actually…”
“What!? No way! Wow…” He ran his fingers through his hair in euphoric disbelief. He couldn’t believe it. “So…I’m a dad!? I’ve been a dad!?”
Leah rapidly nodded, her cheeks aching from all the smiling, but she loved it. She loved everything about this moment.
“Oh Leah,” Elliott cried, throwing his lips upon hers with such passion and exuberant joy.
“Oh how I love you,” he whispered in between kisses, and just as Leah was about to say the same he swiftly picked her up.
“Oh! Elliott!”
The two giggled as he happily twirled her around and around…
…and gently set her back down on her feet. “Oh, sorry…,” he expressed, placing his hand on her belly. “I hope that didn’t hurt the baby…”
“No,” she chuckled. “The baby is well protected in there. You’re so cute!”
“I wonder if it’s a boy or a girl,” he asked while gently and lovingly caressing the little bump.
“Unfortunately we don’t have the technology here to reveal that,” Leah responded with a sigh. She always wanted to find out the sex before the birth. “But…I think it’ll be exciting to be surprised.”
“Definitely! I’ll be happy either way.”
Leah was glad to hear it, even though she expected as much.
“So,” he paused, looking up at her, “what else did Doc Harvey say? You’re alright? The baby is okay?”
“Yeah. Everything’s great.”
“Good. I’m glad.” He smiled.
Leah hated that her fears and concerns returned after saying that. She’d been trying to hold them back so as not to ruin the beautiful moment, especially when Elliott enveloped her so amorously in his arms again. “Oh Leah my love, you’ve made me the happiest man in the world again tonight,” he expressed while gazing deeply into her eyes. “Our dreams are coming true and it’s so wonderful! I can hardly believe it!” He pulled her in for another deep and affectionate kiss.
But the kiss was short-lived as Leah’s lips began to quiver, the tears escaping her eyes. She lowered her face from his in shame.
Elliott’s heart could feel her ache and naturally ached along with it. “What’s wrong?” he asked, confused.
Leah shook her head before meeting his gaze. “This isn’t where I want us to live out our dreams. I want it to be at home. In Pelican Town.”
“I know…” He stroked her cheek. “I want that too. You know we won’t be here forever.”
“No, but it sure feels like it’s been forever. And now I’m pregnant and if I’m being perfectly honest babe…I don’t want to be pregnant in this world!” Elliott attempted to hush her distress, but she continued on. “I always had the perfect plan laid out for my very first pregnancy. I was gonna find the best midwife in Zuzu City and have a beautiful home birth, with no involvement from the inexperienced, small town Doctor. Well now,” she lightly pouted, “Harvey is involved!”
Elliott didn’t mean to chuckle at her expression of woe.
“I mean, don’t get me wrong, I love Harvey,” she held her hand to her heart for emphasis. “He’s wonderful, he truly is. And a better doctor than I ever realized.” Saying that toned down the awkward feelings she still felt from the uncomfortable exam. “I’m so thankful he’s here to help, and he provided me with so much comfort today, it’s just,” she threw her face into her hands, “this isn’t how I planned it!”
“I know babe,” Elliott sympathized, holding her tightly. “But think about it this way, we’ve been here for so long that the quest has got to be nearing completion so…you may still have that beautiful home birth you want.”
It was sweet of him to say. “Maybe,” she acknowledged with a glimmer of hope in her heart. “But there’s also the possibility that I might not…so that’s why I need to get with Abby and have her let her dad know that there’s a 13th person in the quest picture now because,” she emotionally swallowed, “I will not have us teleporting out of here without our baby!”
“Shhh,” Elliott tenderly hushed, rubbing his hand up and down her back. “Don’t worry, that’s not going to happen. It’s going to be okay.”
Leah pulled away from the embrace and frankly asked him, “How can you be so sure of that? There’s WAY too many unknowns about this quest!”
“Well…,” he paused, “for starters you already came up with a great plan on how to remedy your fear. You should pat yourself on the back for that.”
Feeling a twinge of guilt, she nodded.
“And also, I think the Wizard knows more than we realize. He’s kinda like our…God…during this quest.”
Leah couldn’t help cracking a smile at that, as it was kind of true.
“Man, how almighty that must make him feel…,” Elliott mused, gazing off to the side.
“Okay focus here please…”
“Sorry.” He grinned.
“So…,” she gazed intently at him, her arms resting on his shoulders, “you’re not scared about losing our baby?”
“No,” he firmly assured. “Between your plan and Harvey’s care, I have a strong feeling that everything is going to be alright with you and the baby. You really have nothing to fear my love. All will be well. I know it.”
Relief and comfort swelled within Leah’s heart at his words, radiating upwards toward her lips and forming them into a smile. It was everything she needed to hear, from the person that mattered the most. “Well then, I trust in your confidence my love. It’s funny how you’ve always known just what to say to make me feel better. I love you so much. You’re going to make a great daddy.”
“And you’re going to make an equally great mommy.”
She blushed. It was her greatest hope.
“So do you think it’s true what they say? That babies can hear us talking from the womb?” Elliott asked, leaning towards her belly and holding a hand up to his ear.
“I think so.”
He then crouched a bit and pressed his ear on the baby bump. “Maybe I can hear the baby moving…or feel it.”
Leah giggled. “I don’t think they’re quite big enough for that yet.”
“Really? Even at three and a half months?”
“Yep. Harvey said our baby is only about the size of a peach right now.”
“Oh how CUTE!” Elliott exclaimed, standing up straighter and waving at her belly. “Hey there itty-bitty little baby. It’s daddy. Do you recognize my voice?”
Soon he was playing peek-a-boo with their little baby within her womb and all Leah could do was laugh. It was the most adorable thing she’d ever seen Elliott do and she loved him all the more for it.
Peace and comfort resided within her now. All she had to do next was talk to Abigail and trust in the Wizard – and God – from there.
**************
Knowing that Leah was anxious to go and speak with Abigail, and it was getting late, Elliott kissed her goodnight for the evening and left for home. Times like these made Leah wish she didn’t share a room with Penny so he could stay, but it was okay. They didn’t have to sleep together every night. Besides, the possible fate of their unborn child relied heavily upon Abigail’s ability to inform the Wizard and that was more important than missing a night of sleeping together.
For good measure, Leah texted Abigail to see if she was available for the remainder of the evening. Leah knew she was upstairs, but wasn’t sure if Sebastian was with her and didn’t want to…interrupt anything. So much romance going on these days. Maru had actually been bunking with Penny on some nights since her brother started dating Abigail because there was a spare bed in there since most of the time Leah was with Elliott. It was possible that Maru was in the bedroom with Penny right now, but Leah quickly brushed the thought away. I’ll deal with that later. It probably would’ve been best to wait and talk to Abigail in the morning, but this was just too much of a pressing matter to Leah for her to wait. She quickly pulled out her phone and started texting.
The two giggled at each other when their faces met after Abigail opened the door, because of the texts. “Come on in,” Abigail beckoned with her head.
“Oh my, I love your galaxy pants!” Leah notably expressed as she stepped in. “They’re so pretty and match your hair.” She winked.
“Thanks!” Abigail beamed. “They were a gift from Seb. He said he couldn’t wait until Christmas to give them to me.”
“Cute.”
“So…you have something important to tell me?” Abigail inquired, almost in disbelief that Leah would come to her about anything important.
“Yeah…uhh…”
When Leah told Abigail the news, the purple haired girl reacted in about the same manner as Elliott did, facial wise anyway.
“Are you serious!?” she happily cried. “I didn’t even think that could happen here!”
Leah lightly shrugged with a suppressed chuckle. “Apparently it can. No reason why it shouldn’t really…”
“Sure,” Abigail concurred. “I guess I was thinking something like that happening wouldn’t be a part of the quest, but…then again I don’t think any of us expected to be on this quest for as long as we have been so…guess it was bound to happen.”
Leah sighed. “Very true.”
“Well I’m super happy for you and Elliott,” Abigail congratulated, patting Leah’s shoulder. “I can’t wait to meet the little one.”
“Thanks,” Leah smiled in appreciation. “I was also wondering if you could, uh, do me a huge favor? Well, me and Elliott a favor.”
“Yeah! Anything! What is it?”
Leah drew in a breath as she expressed her concern to Abigail, hoping the girl would be understanding and sympathetic about it and not think it silly. It wasn’t easy for her to vulnerably open herself up to someone she wasn’t really close to, even if they had all grown much closer together since the start of this journey.
“So…,” Leah concluded, “do you think you might be able to contact the Wizard and inform him about the baby? So that they will return safely to Pelican Town with the rest of us at the end of the quest? I just can’t fathom the thought of our baby being left behind…”
Feeling Leah’s emotions, and understanding wholly, Abigail gave her a firm nod that ended with a shining smile. “I’d be more than happy to do that for you and Elliott, Leah. And I don’t blame you at all for being concerned. I’d be lying if I said I wouldn’t have the same concern being in your shoes.”
“Thank you,” Leah whispered with glimmering eyes.
“But I should let you know,” Abigail paused, her manner turning subdued, “most of the time when I reach out to my dad…he doesn’t respond to me. It used to hurt my feelings, but now I think a lot of it has to do with not interfering with my personal growth on this quest. Or rather, to prevent a moment in which he might let something slip about it that I’m not supposed to know.”
“I see,” Leah whispered again, lowering her head.
“But that’s not going to stop me from letting him know about this anyway!” Abigail perked up. “Whether he responds or not! But…let’s hope he does.”
Leah nodded.
“And I’m excited to say that I’ve learned a new way to reach him compared to my previous methods. I can now reach him directly to his mind!” She cheeky grinned; exactly in the way he reached her while she was in a coma.
Leah’s eyes brightened as she praised, “Wow! Wonderful!”
“Yeah!” Abigail grinned. “So to do it I’m gonna need a few candles. Do you mind helping me gather some?”
“Not at all! Can I be present when you reach out to him?”
“Absolutely! Let’s do this!”
****
Upon returning to the bedroom, Abigail took the eight candles they gathered and formed them into a circle on the floor. She then sat herself down within it, crossing her legs together, and kindly asked Leah to turn off the lights. When Leah did so, Abigail used her magic to light the candles all at once and Leah watched in wonder as she sat herself down outside of the circle.
With all the candles lit, Abigail closed her eyes and entered into a meditative state, whispering a powerful spell to connect her mind with the Wizard’s. Leah rested her arms upon her knees in a respective silence.
Soon Abigail spoke in an inaudible voice, calling out to the Wizard and informing him about the situation and Leah’s concerns. Oh how badly Leah wanted to ask about what was happening, but she didn’t want to interrupt, nor distract Abigail when this clearly required a lot of mental focus.
Abigail then opened her eyes and quietly informed Leah, “His mind and mine are connected. I have told him everything. Now…we wait.”
And the two did just that. For much longer than a few fleeting seconds it seemed…
Abigail could faintly sense many heightened emotions swirling about within the Wizard’s mind, but the bulk of them were carefully concealed; cleverly suppressed. His breaths were steady, despite the quickening beat of his heart pulsing through the veins in his cerebrum.
Acknowledged my dear Abigail.
That was it.
Figures…, Abigail thought, forgetting for a second that her mind had been fused with his. Should I even attempt to ask why you won’t say anything more?
He didn’t willingly say it, but she heard it within his subconscious anyway. You know why…
…Yeah. I guess I do. Even if she also knew it wouldn’t be the response Leah was hoping for. In that regard, she quickly searched through her father’s carefully concealed emotions, to perhaps find a crack in them that would provide something less vague and more comforting to give to Leah than his official response. But Rasmodius closed off the mental connection before she had much time to explore.
“What did he say?” Leah asked, unable to hold back from doing so any longer.
Sighing from the abrupt shut off, Abigail raised her head to meet Leah’s longing gaze. “He told me he got the message,” she replied, “but that was it.”
“Really?” Leah asked in a tone bleeding with disappointment.
“Yeah…,” Abigail sympathized. “I’m sorry.”
“Well, I guess you did warn me…,” Leah ended with a sigh. “At least it’s comforting to know he got the message. Now I’m just wondering if that makes the situation better or the same?”
Abigail lightly smirked before responding. “I think better.”
Leah gave her a questionable look of inquiry.
“I tried to connect with his emotions to provide us with something more concrete on the matter and for the most part…I could feel peace. The kind of peace where you know that, no matter what happens…or how crazy or difficult things get…it’s all going to be okay. And everything will work out.” She smiled.
The corners of Leah’s mouth turned up into a smile as well. That was comforting.
“I think Rasmodius knows what he’s doing. I’m confident the baby will come home with us.”
Leah nodded in acceptance, tears of relief forming upon her eyelids. “Thank you Abby.”
The two stood up, Abigail offering a helping hand to Leah.
After extinguishing the candles and turning the lights back on, Leah took Abigail into a grateful hug, expressing her thanks again.
“Aww, you are most welcome Leah. I’m glad I could do something to help ease your mind.”
“For sure! Now,” Leah paused to rub her little baby bump, “if I can just get through the rest of the pregnancy and the delivery with ease that would be great!”
“You will,” Abigail assured, without a doubt in her mind. “In fact…I actually know a blessing spell that I could cast on you if you’d like? Well,” she paused to correct, “it’s actually a ‘good luck’ charm, but in this case…I’m calling it a blessing spell.” She winked. “Would you like me to?”
For a moment, the mother hesitated; still harboring iffy feelings about magic. “Oh uh, I dunno…”
“It’s completely harmless and won’t hurt the baby,” Abigail assured, sensing her thoughts. “I promise. Think of it as a prayer wrapped in a magic spell.”
Leah grinned, thinking that was cute. “Well, in that case, I welcome your ‘prayer’ of blessing Abby.”
Abigail beamingly nodded as she readied her hands.
It only took a few seconds, with sparkling green stars simply swirling all around Leah before they disappeared, and Abigail was right, it didn’t hurt. She didn’t feel a thing actually, except for the warmth of a friend’s loving thoughtfulness and considerate “prayer.”
**************
Three days later, in the early evening, Emily was hard at work pinning the final embellishment on the latest clothing top she had been working on.
It was then that Haley slipped into the bedroom and closed the door behind her, pressing her back against it with a lovestruck sigh.
“Hey,” Emily casually greeted with a quick glance in her sister’s direction. When she didn’t hear an immediate response, she gave Haley her full attention, curious about the dreamy look shining brightly on her face. “Uh…are you okay?”
“Never better…,” came the blissful response.
This was…unusual.
“Oh really?” Emily asked with raised eyebrows and a half grin, removing the remaining pins in her mouth and placing them on the nearest nightstand. She plopped herself down on the edge of Haley’s bed and crossed her legs. This she had to hear, she was just too darn curious; for once in her entire lifetime about her younger sister’s affairs.
Haley’s growing relations with Sam were a mystery to no one. In fact it came up often lately between Emily and Shane during their many conversations together. They noted some miraculous maturity developing within the blonde diva, but Emily didn’t care about that at the moment. “Did you have a nice day with Sam?” she amusingly asked, resting her chin into the palm of her hand.
“Yeah…We hit up the strip mall to get some Christmas gifts for everyone.”
“And?”
“And,” came another blissful sigh, “I watched him jam out on his guitar with some androids outside of the movie theater. He was amazing. He always is…”
“That’s cool.” Emily grinned. “Anything else you wanna tell me?” she anxiously encouraged, but kept it in check.
Haley finally stood up straight and stepped toward her sister with bright, twinkling eyes. “I dunno how to explain how I’m feeling right now Emily. Only that…I’ve never felt anything like this before.”
Her eyes wandered, dreamily, as she delved into her thoughts. “These feelings I have for Sam, they’re so much more than any crush I’ve ever had. They’re…deeper. Like…truly and madly and…have much more meaning. I can’t stop thinking about him, even seconds after we say goodbye. Like right now!” She gestured with her hand. “I try to just go about my business, yet he’s still in my thoughts. My heart like, literally aches being away from him. And all I wanna do is run right back to him and never leave his side because I hate not being around him anymore! I feel like a part of me is missing. And then when I’m with him,” she held her clasped hands to her heart, “Oh my gosh, he drives me wild and makes me feel so alive. In a way that I never felt being with Alex and it’s crazy! With Sam it’s different. He makes me happier than I’ve ever been. In all my life. I wanna make him happy too. Hell, I’d do anything for him! And the way he makes me want to be a better person, I – I can’t explain it.”
Emily broadly smiled behind her fingers, her heart swelling with joy for her sister.
“I’ve just never felt this way before about anyone. Oooh,” she swooned, thinking about Sam again.
“You know what it sounds like to me?” Emily willingly expressed. “It sounds like you’re in love.”
Haley’s cheeks turned red. “You know, I was just going to say I’m pretty sure that’s what it is. Eeeeek!” she squealed with a clap, finally admitting it. It felt amazing. Because it was real. “I’m in love!” Her face beamed in declaration.
In that second, Emily stepped right over to her little sister and enveloped her into a tight hug. The most meaningful hug the two could ever remember giving each other.
“Oh Haley, that’s wonderful!” Emily rejoiced near Haley’s ear, rocking them back and forth. “I’m so incredibly happy for you!” She released her sister just so she could give her a proud pat on the shoulder. “Welcome to adulthood. And mature feelings.”
Haley laughed in a shamed demeanor. “Thanks. Somehow I feel like I should be telling you ‘thank you…’”
“No,” Emily kindly opposed, shaking her head. “You did this. You made it happen. I just gave you a little nudge.”
“That’s what I mean…”
They exchanged loving glances.
Emily could hardly believe the beautiful change in her sister. She could almost hear the hallelujah chorus playing and couldn’t wait to tell Shane all about it.
“So this is what it means to be in love huh?” Haley playfully asked.
“Yeah,” Emily confirmed.
“This is what you’ve always felt for Shane?”
“Uh, YEAH!”
“Sorry…,” she chuckled. “Sorry I didn’t understand before…” She lowered her head.
“That’s okay,” Emily soothed. “You just hadn’t found the right one to help you discover it yet.”
“So…you think Sam is the right one for me?” she asked, raising her head with a smile.
“Apparently he is.” Emily smiled in return. “He too has grown a lot in the past few months, like you have. I guess that’s just what the two of you needed to truly find each other.”
“This damn quest…,” Haley shook her head with a slight titter, “since when did it become the best thing to ever happen to all of us?”
Emily arched her head at her, impressed by her words. “Very perceptive. That makes me all the more proud of you.” She winked.
“So hey,” Emily changed the subject with, “I don’t know if I told you this, but I really like your new haircut. It’s cute, and suits you well.”
“Thanks!”
“It got me thinking about changing my hairstyle a little bit. It’s been forever.”
“YEAH it has! No offense.” She grimaced.
“None taken,” Emily chuckled. “Would you…like to help me find the perfect new look?”
Haley’s eyes bugged out. It finally happened! “WOULD I!?”
Emily grinned brightly at the reaction.
Haley never felt so honored. “Oh girl, I’m gonna give you a style that will not only highlight your best facial features, but also knock Shane’s socks off!”
“Great! Let’s do it! But…tomorrow,” Emily halted. “It’s time for dinner and…I may turn in early tonight.” She yawned.
“Okaaay,” Haley playfully pouted. “You spending the night with Shane again?”
“Actually, no…,” Emily replied with shifting eyes. She would tell Shane why later. “I think I want to have a girl’s night with my baby sister and hear more juicy details about you and Sam.”
“Well…,” Haley held back with a blush, “nothing’s really happened yet…”
“Really!?” Emily eye-balled her in shock and disbelief.
Haley rolled her eyes.
“Okay…sorry,” Emily corrected. “That’s not a bad thing. You did just get out of a long relationship after all so…we’ll just have a fun sister’s night chatting about anything and everything. With yummy snacks. It’s been a long time. What do you say?”
“Sounds good.” The blonde smiled.
Perhaps it would be the beginning of many fun sister’s nights together.
**************
It was a cold night. Sam tossed and turned for hours trying to sleep. Sebastian never returned home from his dinner date with Abigail. He must’ve decided to sleep over at the ladies house with her again. His absence made the room feel uncomfortably quiet.
Sam rolled over again and glanced up at the alarm clock. 3:17. “Ugh,” he groaned, turning onto his back, staring at the bunk above him. “I’m never gonna get any sleep at this rate!”
It wasn’t the absence of his friend, or the dead silence, or even the underperforming heater that was keeping him awake. He was missing Haley. Her touch, her presence, her everything. He was struggling being apart from her overnight now apparently. His heart pined for her. More than usual. Without any forethought, he slipped out of bed and pulled out his phone to give her a call. Maybe, she was struggling to sleep as well, for the same reason, his heart hoped.
Emily and Haley finished chatting around 3 o’clock when they finally decided it was time to go to sleep. Emily fell asleep instantly, for Haley, it took a little longer. She had just drifted off into dreamland when her phone vibrated on the wooden end table; again and again and again.
When she finally realized what the annoying sound was, she reached for her phone, saw it was Sam calling, and promptly answered it while stumbling out of bed.
“Hey you,” she whispered, fluffing her hair for some strange reason. “Why are you calling so late?”
Sam loved hearing her whispering voice, it created some feelings of arousal. “Ohhh I dunno…,” came the sheepish response. “I guess I was feeling lonely…” He smirked, honestly feeling a little nervous saying it; not wanting to come on too strongly. But he just couldn’t contain the way his heart, and soul, was feeling anymore.
Haley grinned brightly on the other end, brushing some hair behind her ear in a besotted fashion.
“I miss you…”
Her heart fluttered.
“I had a lot of fun with you today.”
“Me too,” she finally spoke. “And I miss you too…”
Now Sam’s heart fluttered. Wildly. “Sweet!”
Haley suppressed a giggle. Typical Sam reaction, she thought.
“Can I come over and see you?” Sam asked with desire.
“Now?” she shot a glance over at the clock.
“Why not? I can’t sleep anyway.”
Haley shook her head with a grin. “I guess I can’t now either…”
“Alrighty then.” Sam’s heart rejoiced. “You just stay put beautiful, and I’ll be right over.”
“Okay.” Her cheeks flushed, feeling so enamored. “Guess I better throw on some clothes…,” her random thought came out in voice.
The man’s eyebrows bounced. “Well that’s entirely up to you…”
“Oh you! I’m not naked if that’s what you’re thinking?”
“I wasn’t!” Maybe…
They laughed.
“See you soon,” Sam amorously concluded.
“I can’t wait,” Haley’s heart voiced for her.
Oh how much Sam wanted to say “I love you” right then and there, but not yet. He had a plan. One he’d been planning for a little while now.
It was the perfect time. The time.
He hung up the phone and with a nervous, yet excited sigh, he thought, Here it goes…
**************
Noticing the car headlights flash through the windows for a split second before disappearing, jumpstarted Haley’s heart. She leapt from the couch, hands clasped tightly before her chest and fixated her eyes on the front door with a beaming, blushing smile on her face. Sam had arrived and she couldn’t wait to find out what kind of magic was going to happen between them during the remainder of the wee morning hours. Every moment with him lately had been magical, by no influence whatsoever from the world, but solely from their own two hearts.
As Sam’s footsteps grew louder, Haley’s heart quickened. She hoped she looked good for her love, throwing on whatever cute combo she could find in the dark and forgetting she cleaned off all her makeup before bed. None of that really mattered anymore though. Not with Sam. She lost a breath when she heard his light knock on the door. Quickly running some fingers through her hair, she anxiously stepped forward and opened it.
There Sam stood, within the backdrop of the setting moon, looking as handsome as ever, wearing his normal adorable smile and that silly Appaloosa Plains t-shirt he purchased during their outing yesterday. He was also carrying his acoustic guitar. “Hey you,” he charmingly greeted.
“Hey you,” Haley greeted in return, biting down on her lower lip.
“Wow…,” he breathlessly paused, his jaw lowering. Her top accentuated her striking blue eyes. “You look even more gorgeous than I was expecting. Foxy!” He winked.
Awww! She swooned from within, her shoulders meeting her chin.
Naturally she stepped to the side with her arm outstretched, gladly welcoming him in.
“You brought your guitar,” she curiously noted as they headed for the living area, sitting herself down on the sofa. “I wasn’t expecting that.”
“Yeah,” Sam expressed with some reservation, sliding the coffee table out of his way. “I’m just full of surprises.”
Haley shook her head at him with a grin. Most of the time it was true and she loved it.
Pulling over a nearby chair and setting it just a few feet before her, Sam sat himself down on it with his guitar and went on to say, “I thought I’d play some songs for you…since I know you like it…and I love to do it.”
“I do,” Haley confirmed with a blush. “But…,” she shifted her eyes from him for a moment, “what if you wake the others?” she asked in a whisper.
“I won’t,” he assured while tightening a couple of guitar strings. “I’ll play softly.”
“Well in that case you might end up putting me to sleep,” she winked, stifling a yawn.
“No…I don’t think so,” he said with confidence.
The look in his eye held a sneaky secret, Haley could see, and it got her wondering just what he was up to.
Pretty soon the aspiring Rockstar began playing for her a very popular song known all throughout Stardew Valley, acoustic style of course. Haley found herself liking it much more than the original. But really though, she was just enamored once again over Sam and his incredible talent.
She quietly clapped at the end of the song, telling him how awesome it was, and before she knew it he went on to play another song. One from this world, that he heard playing on the radio while they were mall shopping and Haley was pleasantly surprised that he liked it upon first listen as much as she did. It was great to hear again.
After taking a quick rest from playing, Sam’s brow continued to perspire as he nervously, yet excitedly, gripped the neck of the guitar; the internal voices of his soul encouraging him on. “This last song I’m going to play,” he began, “is one I started writing about two weeks ago, and I just finished it.”
“Ooooh,” Haley expressed with excitement. She knew this would be a real treat.
“So this is its debut.” He smiled, giving her an affectionate look. “And I wanted you to be the first to hear it.”
Aww! Haley’s heart swelled, as she held her hand to it.
“So for you Haley…here it goes…” He got his fingers in position and took in a few short breaths to steady his nerves and create the right mood.
“What’s the title?” Haley quickly asked.
There was a pause. “I hadn’t thought of it yet…”
Nodding, Haley crossed her legs and placed her hands neatly in her lap, feeling so honored that she was the first to hear what was sure to become a future hit. She gave him her full attention.
When Sam played the intro, Haley recognized the tune instantly. It was the same tune he would randomly hum to himself during the quiet moments of their get-togethers recently, and now she knew why. She already thought it was a beautiful tune – thought it to be some favorite song of his that she never heard of – but now she thought it even more beautiful hearing it on the guitar.
And what a pleasure it was to hear him sing this time around as well.
You and I crossed paths,
For the first time in my dreams.
I’ve waited so very long,
To cross an endless ocean of time.
Rising into the sky,
Above the walls of impossibility,
Not knowing if you’d ever see me,
No longer feeling alone.
Haley’s brow curiously furrowed and her eyes gradually widened as she listened to the words. The look he was giving her while he sang…was he speaking to her? Did he just write a song for her?
Her heart skipped a beat, fluttering rapidly now. Her lips closed and turned upwards into a heartfelt smile. No one had ever done something like this for her before. Then again, Sam did everything for her that no one else ever did.
I take a chance,
Standing before you with this guitar,
This fantasy becomes a beautiful story,
And my dreams become reality.
Sam’s fingers stopped as he lightly addressed, “Haley,” then went on to strum and sing the chorus.
All I want to do is,
Spend my life with you.
And all I want from you is,
A chance so I can prove my love to you…
Haley’s eyes glistened at the subtle declaration, locking her gaze with his as he stood from the chair and stepped closer to her.
Will you take a chance on me?
Let me show you how happy you’ll be.
You’ll discover a love that’s not happenstance.
Please…give me a chance?
Haley grinned behind the clasped fingers pressed upon her nose, unable to control her emotional breaths now.
Before Sam could kneel and continue with the rest of the song, Haley unsuspectingly burst up from the couch and jumped right into his arms crying “YES,” before planting her lips on his. The guitar dropped to the floor, ringing loudly, but Sam didn’t care. The girl of his dreams was in his arms, kissing him fiercely; desperately, passionately. Showing him with her lips, tongue, and movements that he was all she ever wanted. The man of her dreams.
And getting the response he had so greatly hoped for, he held her tightly and kissed her just as wildly and affectionately in return.
A few feet away, Penny and Maru peeked their heads through the bedroom doorway and grinned brightly at the romantic scene before them, a new relationship unfolding.
If they had the ability to see, they would gasp in awe at the star that formed out of nowhere and swirled around the two lover’s heads before shooting up into the ceiling, to take its designated place in the nighttime sky.
“I love you!” Haley tearfully and breathlessly declared, gripping Sam’s cheeks to kiss him again.
Sam then carefully lowered her feet to the floor and gave her a pleasurable smirk as he teasingly asked, “You love me too?”
“Yes!” she cried with a broad smile and a sniff. “I really do. The only man in my life that I’ve ever loved.”
Nodding in heartfelt acceptance, Sam responded in the typical fashion, “Sweet,” with a beaming smile.
Haley chuckled at his cute antics while Sam held her cheeks and sweetly pressed his lips upon hers again. He soon led her to the sofa to kiss her more and more and more. He could drink of her love until dawn and beyond.
“Ooooh, I never thought they could look so adorable together!” Penny whispered above Maru’s head, still watching, her voice nearly squeaking with excitement for her dear friend Sam. “Isn’t it wonderful?”
Maru had to take a step back and avert her eyes from the scene now, but whispered in response, “…Yeah.” She began to wonder how this event was going to affect Alex. She could only hope that with his growing maturity, he would deal with it in an appropriate manner. Her shoulders drooped with a sigh.
Sam and Haley passionately made out on the couch until the sun came up and when it did, they fell fast asleep in each other’s arms.
From that day forward, the two were inseparable.
They finally found “the one” they were always meant to be with – when they never thought it possible before- and their futures were looking a whole lot better and brighter with the other person in it.
**************
In the following days, the radiance of Sam and Haley’s true love could not be masked and it was a beautiful sight in the eyes of most everyone in the group. Except for Alex, as much as he tried to let it go. All those very recent crushed dreams and heartbroken emotions were unpleasantly unearthed from their shallow grave and brought right back up to the surface. And something still kept eating at him, which was making it especially difficult to let go. The star gridball player hated any form of losing, especially losing to a loser. How in Stardew Valley did that happen? Such ridiculousness stung deeply at the jock ego still present within him. Haley looked so good in love, with those sparkling baby-blue eyes and genuine, bright smiles, all for Sam, which painfully reminded him of what he thought he had with her. What should have been his. It all the more fueled his upset towards her, but mostly towards Sam. He couldn’t stand the kid. Never liked him and didn’t trust him either. That was the eating issue. Because someone that annoying and stupid looking had to have some kind of hidden persona or agenda they were masking, all to work towards their own benefit. How else could Haley have fallen so hard in love with the inferior one? The brewing feelings of hate and frustration over it all festered like a zit, about ready to pop all on its own. He wasn’t sure if he could keep it contained anymore.
On this particular morning at the guy’s house, Emily and Haley kissed their lovers goodbye before heading off on a sister’s shopping trip.
Christmas was still around the corner – as well as Leah’s birthday just two days beforehand – and Emily, especially, hadn’t even started her shopping for everyone. Sam figured he would hang out and have fun with his other two best buddies during Haley’s absence. Shane gladly sat himself back down on the bean bag in front of the TV to return to playing the new, cool video game (very similar to gridball) he discovered on his, also, unfinished Christmas shopping trip. He’d finish it with Emily later.
Abigail sat on the sofa behind him, watching him play with great interest, wishing to join in, but figured he would probably prefer to play on his own right now. It was alright. She enjoyed watching people play sometimes. It’s how she would learn a few tricks.
Elliott and Leah were out together somewhere and Harvey, Penny, and Maru were upstairs doing research as usual.
Alex nodded a goodbye to the exiting sisters while wallflowering in the foyer, casually checking the daily reward on the lame puzzle game on his phone.
When the car pulled out of the driveway and headed for town, all Alex could do was eyeball Sam in the distance with glowering eyes.
With Haley out of the way, he suddenly felt the push to give in to his festering emotions; his better judgement becoming skewered by the sudden force.
Sebastian – with his back turned to Alex and not noticing his slithering closer – gave Sam a little fist bump and whispered, “Yeah! You and Haley bro! You two look amazing together!”
Sam proudly returned the fist bump, not noticing Alex either, because he was readying his plastic players for an epic new game of foosball. He was gonna roast Sebastian this time around!
The sound of Alex’s sneakers halting beside him, alerted Sebastian of his presence. “Oh. Hey Alex,” came the awkward greet. “Come to watch us play?”
“Not exactly,” Alex dryly responded, crossing his arms over his chest and eyeballing the man on the other side of the table. “Congrats to you and Haley, Sam.”
Sam’s head popped up in surprise, Shane and Abigail glanced over in a like manner.
“Uhh, thanks,” Sam naturally replied with a cracked, bemused smile. He wasn’t expecting that. Not so soon anyway.
Alex flashed a fake smile before going on to say, “So tell me Sam, is this how you musicians get the girls you want? Play to be the perfect guy and serenade them with songs just so you can steal them away from their boyfriends?”
Abigail’s mouth dropped. That was enough to get Shane to pause the game and fully turn in the guy’s direction now, the feeling in the room escalating.
“What!?” Sebastian cried in a defensive, yet flabbergasted manner over Alex’s audacity. But Alex stood his ground and continued to eyeball his rival.
Sam just dismissively shook his head and turned his attention back to the little plastic foosball players. “You dunno what you’re talking about man…”
“Don’t I?” Alex protested, stepping closer with balled fists.
“Yeah!” Sam fired back. “You don’t know me. And what you think you know about me is wrong.”
“Oh I know enough!” Alex huffed. “You think I haven’t noticed your attempts to snag Haley away from me this whole time? Like that one time when you kept slapping her butt in the garden while you guys were playing in the sprinklers? Trying to turn her on, right there in front of me!”
“That was just some innocent flirting,” Sam countered, not entirely proud of who he was when they started this quest and didn’t need the reminder. “Besides, she wasn’t even your girlfriend at the time!”
“Yes she was!” Alex half-lied. “She was always my girl and you knew it! You should’ve left well enough alone!”
Sebastian slid over to stand beside his best friend, showing Alex with his scowl that he had Sam’s back and was ready to defend him if necessary.
“I wasn’t even trying to…you know what?” Sam stopped, raising his palm in the air. There was no point in arguing with Alex. He was done with all of this. Beyond tired of it. “You wanna fight?” he approached Alex now, his face stopping mere inches from his. “Bring it! Let’s end this once and for all!” His nostrils flared like a bull’s as his broad, muscly shoulders flexed, continuing to stare the athlete down. “I’m not afraid of you!”
Not anymore.
Truthfully, Sam’s confidently abrupt confrontation caused Alex to quake, but he would never back down. This was Sam. The scrawny little punk kid he grew up with. He could take him on easily, even if Sam had managed to beef himself up a little. The athlete was strangely impressed by it.
Shane grinned brightly at the two, getting himself comfortable and grabbing some more popcorn to munch on. He was going to love watching this. For once he wasn’t the one involved in a brawl.
On the flip side, Abigail’s eyes bugged out with fear.
In a flash, Alex threw the first punch. Almost knocking Sam to the floor.
“You son of a bitch!” Sebastian seethed, launching himself at Alex – Abigail crying out his name in the process – but Sam stopped him with an outstretched arm.
“I got this Seb!”
Sebastian’s eyes glowered at Alex as he helped Sam back up onto his feet, the spikey haired guy stammering in the process. That hurt…his cheekbone stung with every beat of his pulse, but he didn’t care. He went right ahead and gave Alex just as good of a blow in return, giving this fight his all.
“YEAH!” Shane cheered with a mouth full of popcorn while punching at the air with his fist. “Fight! Fight!”
“STOP IT!” Abigail cried out over the back and forth punches between the two guys. It was getting intense.
The foosball table ended up getting knocked over during the brawl, making a terribly loud sound that rang all throughout the house. It alerted the three upstairs and they came rushing down to see what was going on.
Pinning Alex to the floor, Sam wailed on him now; blow after blow after blow. Years of repressed emotions coming out through his fists.
Alex did somewhat well shielding himself from the punches with his arms, but one epic punch made its way through and popped him in the nose. Blood dripped from it within seconds.
“That’s right Sam! GET HIM!” Sebastian cheerfully egged on. It was about time his best friend stood up to Alex and his ridiculous and unknown hate towards him. Well…before he won over the dude’s ex-girlfriend.
“Shane DO something!” Abigail implored, considering using her magic to stop the fight, but feeling too emotionally unstable to properly do so.
“Why?” Shane simply responded. “Looks like Sam is taking care of it all on his own.” He popped another puffy kernel into his mouth with enjoyment.
Abigail rolled her eyes with an exasperated breath, readying her hands to cast a spell, until she heard…
“Hey hey hey hey hey!” Harvey cried, rushing over to the scene and bravely pulling the two brawlers apart, planting himself firmly between them with outstretched arms. “Break it up! We’re not doing this gentlemen…” It didn’t take a genius to know what they were fighting over. Nevertheless the two tried to push past Harvey’s arms in rage anyway. “We are NOT doing this gentlemen!” Harvey sharply repeated himself, stiffening his arms. “I will not be patching the two of you up simply because you decided to throw unnecessary punches at each other!”
Then he turned his head toward Alex and sternly yet sympathetically whispered, “There are better ways to handle this…”
“Hey while you’re at it there Harvey,” Sam interjected, “why don’t you tell Alex that he should think twice about picking fights over false assumptions. And LOSING over it!” He boomed to purposely hurt the athlete’s pride. It felt so good!
“That’s right!” Sebastian hissed.
“Enough!” the Doctor yelled, shooting quick glances between Sam and Alex. “Now the two of you go to your rooms or somewhere and cool off.”
“With pleasure,” Sam spat out while still giving Alex a death stare, then turned for his bedroom with Sebastian in tow. The door slammed.
Alex panted as he wiped the blood from his nose with his bare arm, every eye in the room locked onto him. He sharply turned for the solitude of his bedroom, but not before noticing Maru’s piercing gaze at him near the stairway. He stopped, seeing her head slightly shake at him, her expression filled with disappointment. It wrung at his heart.
He pressed his lips together and quickened his pace, right on past her and straight into his bedroom. She continued to watch him until he slammed the door.
“Aww man Harvey,” Shane broke the silence in a half-teasing whine, leaning back into the bean bag and crossing his legs. “Why did you have to interrupt such a good show?”
“Shane…,” the Doctor turned to with a sigh, “not now, alright?”
Shane just shrugged and turned his body and attention back to his paused game. Abigail went to join Sam and Sebastian in their bedroom; mostly to make sure Sam was alright and also to chide her boyfriend for not stopping the fight.
Penny stepped over and gave Harvey a hug, relieved that he didn’t get hurt while abruptly stepping in the middle of those two. Harvey tenderly kissed the top of her head in comfort.
Maru glanced back over at Alex’s door, debating within herself as to what she should do. Leave him alone or talk to him?
She decided on the latter.
****************
Maru approached Alex’s door and stopped to listen for a moment.
Nothing.
Gently, she knocked on the door, turning the knob at the same time and quietly entered. The broken man sat on the edge of his bed in an emotional stillness, his head lowered towards the resting, clasped hands in his lap. Normally she’d never enter a man’s room without his permission, but in this case, it felt ok. Almost necessary. Some powerful force was pulling her soul towards him, but most of that force was driven by her own feelings. Her feet stopped about four feet from him, her arms crossing over her chest all on their own, telling him that she was here and listening.
As Alex lifted his head up to acknowledge her presence, she could see the tears resting on his eyelids, waiting to be released. Of course he didn’t let them. He wiped at his nose with his arm again, taking the remains of the smeared, dried blood with it as he said, “Come to tell me you’re disappointed in me? Go ahead and say it,” he shifted his gaze toward the wall, “you wouldn’t be the first…”
Maru closed her eyes for a moment, hating his negativity and self-loathing, but she understood why. Yet it was time to put an end to it.
“I’m not going to express my disappointment,” she simply said, “but I do think you could’ve handled that better.”
That’s not what Alex wanted to hear.
“Well can you blame me!?” he snapped, throwing his hands up in protest and dropping them onto his lap. “You can’t tell me that if you were in my shoes you wouldn’t have reacted in the same way!”
Maru held her stance. “I sympathize with your feelings Alex, I’m not disregarding how hurt you feel. But you once told me that we’re not in high school anymore. That we’ve all matured from those days. Yet what you did back there,” she pointed with her thumb at the door, “was a very immature, high school Alex reaction!”
Alex jerked his head away from her, hating the harsh truth and verbal slap to the face; with his own words even. It all the more fueled the raging fire within him and oh how he wanted to yell something back at her in defense. And yet…he lowered his head again and shook it with a sigh.
She was right.
He couldn’t deny it and he couldn’t fight it anymore.
He couldn’t be angry at her either; that made his heart ache just feeling it for a few fleeting seconds.
“That’s not you anymore,” Maru went on. “You’re better than that now. I’ve seen it. And I know you still are.”
Her words miraculously doused the raging flames in his troubled soul like a mid-summer monsoon. Oh how much it meant the world to him to hear it, he didn’t fully realize…
She still believes in me, he thought with a relieved and comforted heart. How he came off to her mattered to him more than with anyone else in the world.
“You’re right,” he softly admitted, raising his head to meet her gaze. “I don’t know what came over me. Actually…I do. But I just,” he sighed, slapping a hand down onto his leg again, the embers within still burning, “I hate knowing that I lost Haley to HIM! Of ALL the guys in Stardew Valley…”
Maru just shook her head. “Sam is a good guy, Alex. He really is. If you had taken the time to truly get to know him, instead of making snap judgements about him all these years, you would see that.”
“I know…,” he surprisingly acknowledged. “And maybe I’ve always known that…it’s just,” he somewhat tittered, “I was captain of the gridball team. I had to pick on someone. He was the obvious target.”
Maru shook her head again with a slight eye-roll and a cracked smile as she sat down beside him. “Not anymore,” she kindly reminded him, with a light pat on the leg. “That’s not you anymore. Remember?”
Alex looked down at her hand and then back up into her eyes with an appreciative smile. “Yeah…”
Closer now, the two’s heads began to lean into each other. Alex adoring her rich brown eyes, so full of affection and that spunk he was beginning to love about her, while Maru briefly got a whiff of his cologne or deodorant, she didn’t know which, that teased at her hormones. He was so attractive that a girl would have to be an utter fool not to notice or melt like butter in his presence. Her attention then turned to his nose, with flecks of dried blood still present on the inside of the one nostril. Instinctively she reached up and carefully lifted it with her thumb to get a better look. “How’s your nose? I hope it’s not broken…”
“It’s not,” Alex assured. “Trust me, I know what a broken nose feels like.”
Bouncing her eyebrows she said, “I’m sure you do,” then drew herself back a little.
But Alex kept leaning in, subconsciously. “So…if Sam is as good of a guy as you say he is, is that really why you kissed him that one night?” He smirked. “Not just to pull a prank.”
Maru inadvertently blushed as her smile widened, knowing what he was really asking. She played to think his question over for a moment. “Maybe…but the fact of the matter is, which I believe you pointed out also that night,” she winked, “he isn’t my type. Plus he’s always been that second brother to me so it would feel weird to date him regardless.”
Alex nodded. That made sense. “So,” he paused, somewhat hesitating to ask, “what is your type then?”
“You know,” she stopped and thought with a sigh, clasping her hands within her lap and gazing at the wall. “I always thought I knew, but now…,” she returned her eyes to his, “I don’t know.” She shrugged.
His gorgeous smile appeared again. “You want a Brainiac,” he expressed with certainty, looking down at his hands, “just like yourself…”
Maru could detect the disappointment in his voice, which is why she said, “Brains aren’t everything Alex…” Which was definitely something she’d been discovering for a while now.
Alex looked over and flashed her a warmhearted smile as he returned his gaze to his hands, beginning to twiddle his thumbs. “Guess I dunno what my type is either anymore…” The hurt tried to surface again, but he wasn’t going to let it. It needed to pass.
Maru lowered her head in sympathy. When she looked back up, her eyes were pleasantly met with his again.
“Hopefully we’ll both figure it out soon,” he simply said.
“Yeah,” she nodded with a smile.
“In the meantime,” he sighed, “I guess…we just keep doing this quest thing…”
“Right…,” she expressed with an eye-roll.
“Gosh I’m so tired of it.”
“Me too!” she exclaimed louder than intended. “I mean it’s definitely been an incredible learning experience and let’s face it, we all look better than we’ve ever looked before in this world so that’s nice.”
Alex wholly nodded to that.
“But man, I just can’t shake off feeling like the Wizard did this for some sneaky reason, or whatever his whole reasoning was for sending us on this ‘quest.’ I really haven’t been able to figure it out! It’s terribly frustrating!”
“Welcome to the non-genius life…”
A playful shoulder bump met his as they chuckled.
“I miss Dusty,” Alex randomly expressed. “I’ve needed his puppy loves lately.”
Maru smiled at him with a gleam in her eye. She’d nearly forgotten about his faithful watchdog, behind the small fenced in area, scaring people away from his grandparent’s house with growls ever since he and his mom moved in with them. “I’m sure he misses his owner’s loves too.”
The affectionate and appreciative look in Alex’s eye melted Maru’s heart. He was having that effect on her more and more recently and…she wasn’t quite sure how to process it. So much of her heart and soul wanted to explore it – she could feel his did too – but so much was still up in the air between the two. A bit more personal growth was needed, mainly for Alex. Time is what would help everything become grounded. Whether that would happen on this quest or back home, neither could be sure. In the meantime, they just had to keep on living and fulfill the seemingly never ending quest.
“Thanks Maru,” Alex heartfully expressed, interrupting her thoughts. “I really needed this…even the verbal butt whoopin.’” He chuckled.
Maru chuckled too, proudly brushing some hair behind her ear.
“But seriously…thanks for caring and…being here for me.” His hand twitched, longing to take hers into it, but it didn’t quite feel appropriate.
“You’re welcome,” she kindly expressed in return. “What are friends for?”
He smiled. He loved being her friend. It should’ve been like this between them years ago.
“I know it won’t be easy, but I know you can overcome this and move forward Alex,” she continued. “Make amends. Accomplish your goals. Reach for your dreams. You’re a lot stronger than you think you are. And in the meantime, if you need anything…,” now her hand longed to take his, “I’m here – for you – to help.”
“Thanks,” he concluded with that swoon-worthy smile of his again.
The two then stood from the bed, sensing from the other that it was time to part, but maybe not exactly wanting to.
Alex stepped ahead of Maru and opened the door for her. “Thank you,” she whispered as she exited. He nodded while leaning against the doorframe, watching her leave. He loved that she glanced back at him for a moment before completely disappearing.
Wow. She really is somethin’, he thought with an impressed, smitten, and aroused head shake.
It had been a long time since he felt this better and empowered after speaking to someone and he knew what he needed to do.
It would be hard, but it was time to tell himself that he could do hard things outside of the gym and the gridball field. It was time to act like an adult. BE an adult. Be the man his father never was, and who he always wanted himself to be.
****
In an hour’s time, Alex cleaned himself up with a shower and then relaxed on his bed with a book. When he finished the chapter his stomach growled loudly in want of food. He didn’t realize he had skipped lunch. Just as he was about ready to put a shirt on and head for the kitchen, someone came bursting into his bedroom with a raging start.
“What the hell is the matter with you!?” Haley sternly addressed with raised palms.
Oh boy…
“I’m gone for a couple of hours and return to find out that you got in a fight with Sam!? Good GOSH Alex! I thought we were past this!”
“Haley, I–” he attempted to calm.
“Sam had NOTHING to do with the break-up, you understand! It was me! ALL me! So if you’re gonna pick a fight with someone, pick it with ME!” She pointed at herself. “The person that actually hurt you. Otherwise,” she threw her arms into a folded position, “BACK OFF!”
With raised eyebrows, Alex blew out a breath through puckered lips. He certainly couldn’t blame his former girlfriend for bursting in and yelling at him like this. And once again it was a well deserved tongue lashing that carried with it a valid point. Geez these women today…, he thought as he scratched at the back of his head.
He knew what he did was wrong and was in no position to argue about it, nor did he want to anymore.
“Aren’t you gonna say something!?” Haley pressed.
“You’re right,” Alex solemnly replied. “I’m sorry…”
Shocked and confused, Haley took a step back. “Well…okay then,” she mellowed, lowering her arms. Her eyelashes flapped for a moment to bat away the baffle. “I really think you should be saying that to someone else right now though.”
“I know…you’re right about that too.” He lowered his head.
Haley appreciated his acceptance and submission, but gave him a questionable look anyway. “Seriously, what’s going on with you? Are you ok?”
“I’m just tired…,” he rubbed at his forehead.
“You don’t seem like yourself.”
“Well…hopefully that’s a good thing?”
That took Haley off guard. “It…it could be,” she replied, looking down at her hands. “I…uh…thank you for your apology.” Then she glanced back up at him. “What I said earlier…about hurting you…I really didn’t mean to hurt you. Or break your heart. You do know that right?”
It took a second to say, but, “Yeah,” he truthfully replied, instinctively stepping closer to her.
“You were my best friend Alex…really the only one I had. I could never intentionally hurt you.”
“I know,” he soothed, stopping just a couple of feet from her now. “I should’ve focused more on that instead of letting my anger and jealousy take over…
…Don’t worry about it. It was my bad. It’s all good.”
Nodding, she said, “I’m glad.”
Soon a smile crept up on both of their faces, a mutual understanding developing between their souls. Realizing all the more that what happened between them really was for the best; for both of them.
“You’ve been acting differently lately too, you know,” Alex playfully noted. “Very much in a good way.”
Haley acknowledged his compliment with a smile. “Thanks. I feel different. It’s been…really nice.” She didn’t want to elaborate too much on why, out of respect to his still tender feelings. She surprised herself even by how much she had grown. “I’m ready to start a new chapter in my life. Turn over a new leaf.”
Pondering on that, Alex expressed, “Me too,” with a smile in return.
“Well,” Haley sighed before turning to leave, “I still expect you to make things right with Sam. Don’t think I’m not still pissed about that.”
“I know…and I will,” he avowed. “I just need a little time.”
She nodded. That was fair. “Guess you both do.”
Once Haley left, finally feeling closure, Alex felt all the more ready to turn over a new leaf in his life as well.
And he couldn’t wait to find out what would happen on the journey.
***************
In the blink of an eye, Christmas (aka “Snowflake Day” in Appaloosa Plains) was just a mere two days away. Love, joy, warm fuzzies, and excitement filled the air among the group, just as it always did at Christmastime back home. Any harbored negative feelings towards each other, were forgotten about for a time. It amazed them all how the spirit of Christmas was just as present in a world so very different from their own. Proof to most of them that God really is everywhere in the universe, while to others it meant that the Christmas spirit can be carried anywhere they might be. Really, it was true on both accounts.
Before the joyous day however, there was another birth to celebrate: Leah’s. She would be turning 31. Elliott went out of his way to make it the most special birthday to date for his love. In many ways for Leah…it truly was.
She was engaged to be married to her best friend and love of her life and on top of that, she was carrying their child. Her biggest dreams had come true and life never felt more perfect.
When she and Elliott made the grand reveal that they were going to be parents to the whole group, the entire house shook with roaring excitement. Every person was eager to come forward with a handshake or a hug to express their congratulations. Naturally there were questions and concerns expressed, but thankfully Leah, Harvey, and Abigail already had excellent answers for them all.
After cake and presents, Leah stood underneath the not so subtle mistletoe that someone hung from the ceiling and alluringly invited that said someone to kiss her underneath it.
The man played to be bashful…
…but leaned in to deliver a light, tender, and luscious kiss that made Leah giggle like a schoolgirl afterward. All this time together and Elliott still managed to take her breath away. She felt like the luckiest and most blessed woman on the planet.
Then they took a romantic photo together to capture the beautiful moment in time.
In the past, some of the others expressed whether it was even worth it to take pictures of their time in Appaloosa Plains when their cell phones would most likely disappear upon returning home; the photos lost forever. But Elliott would kindly remind them, “It’s good to make and capture memories, to look at often, to remind you of where you’ve been, all that you learned, and all that you have.” The lover of sentiment in his fiancé wholeheartedly agreed with his response.
“Happy birthday my love,” Elliott once again whispered in Leah’s ear when the celebration came to a close, holding her in his arms. “I hope this birthday was everything you hoped it’d be.”
Leah smiled brightly, holding him tighter. Knowing all the effort he put into it to make it special and it warmed her heart. “It was,” she replied, “…and then some.”
“Eh?” he curiously asked, releasing her from the embrace to look into her eyes.
She held her beaming smile. “You gave me the greatest gift I have ever received this birthday. And because of that, I’ll never forget it.”
His eyebrow was still arched. “Uh…the perfume, chocolates, or the maternity dresses?”
“No,” she chuckled. “Our baby.”
“Ah, of course!” he grinned, playfully smacking at his forehead. The sparkle in his eyes lovingly expressed, “you’re welcome.”
“Although it was a mutual effort,” he added, gently pulling her in closer to him and pressing his forehead upon hers, hiding his smirk.
“So it was,” Leah chuckled again and kissed him.
***************
Christmas (Snowflake Day) had arrived!
The girls stayed the previous night at the guy’s house so they would all be there together in the morning to open presents and celebrate.
Emily made sure the holiday tunes were playing, the pine candles were burning, and the breakfast casseroles were baking before everyone woke up. Snow gently fell outside of the frosted windows and swayed in the wind. She smiled at them thinking, Perfect. White Christmases were the best!
In the previous month Emily excitedly offered to be in charge of all Christmas Day plans, which of course she wouldn’t do all by herself, she was mainly the coordinator. It was definitely a team effort, especially when it came to Christmas dinner. The schoolteacher in Penny came up with a “draw a name from a hat/mystery Santa” gift exchange so that everyone would at least have one gift to open on Christmas morning. It was certainly a sweet and considerate idea, but Sam suggested they “kick it up a notch” and make it a “white elephant” gift exchange. Most of the other’s found that to be a little more fun and amusing so Penny nodded her approval and they rolled with it.
Shane lounged on one of the couches and played around on his phone after helping Emily in the kitchen. She insisted he relax while she set the table. Sebastian, Abigail, and Maru were the next ones to wake, Abigail giddily shaking with an energy that was completely foreign to the brother and sister in the wee hours of the morning. Next came Harvey and Penny in matching pajamas which made Shane snicker behind his phone. It became all the more difficult to not laugh when Elliott and Leah came out of their bedroom wearing matching pajamas as well! Sam and Haley emerged from Sam’s bedroom giggling, thinking no one saw him slap Haley on the bottom beforehand, but Shane sure did. They totally had sex last night, he thought with a smirking head shake, but in all honesty, he really couldn’t be sure. ’Merry Christmas darling,’ he added in a sarcastic, sensual tone, laughing at himself. Alex came out last, awoken by all the voices. He rubbed at his messy, slept on hair with a yawn as he scanned the room for the last available seat, a spot on the couch next to Emily and Shane. Emily gathered up all the presents and stacked them neatly in the center of their circle before sitting down.
“Well,” Harvey spoke, once everyone was seated. “Merry Christmas everyone!” They all said the same to him in return. “It’s nice to all be gathered together again like this.”
“Gee Harvey you sound like our dad on Christmas morning,” Haley chuckled, throwing a glance at Emily to which she nodded.
“Well,” he lowered his head in modesty, “it sure has felt like we’ve become one big family since we got here…”
“Nice jammies by the way, ‘Dad,’” Shane threw out with a smirk.
Everyone laughed as Harvey’s cheeks grew pink, along with Penny’s. “Guess that means you’re alright with me being the man of the house after all Shane?” he had to tease his buddy back with.
Nice, Shane thought with a nod, remembering, then shook his head. “Only because you’re the oldest one here…,” he simply replied. Emily affectionately rubbed at his back to his response.
Leah turned and glanced at her fiancé, flashing those cute, doe eyes of hers and Elliott knew exactly what she was encouraging.
“He’s not the oldest,” the man humbly voiced to the group. “I am.”
Leah’s eyes and smile lit up like the sun and she gave him a peck on the lips as a reward.
Almost all heads whipped towards Elliott’s revelation with gapes, except for those that knew.
“Whaaat?” Sam asked in an oddly “losing” sort of tone.
“SEE! I was right all along!” Sebastian cried out to his buddy. “I knew it! Told ya so man!”
“Wow…,” Sam whispered, shaking his head and then burying his face in his hands, rubbing at his forehead. Haley chuckled at his momentary disbelief. “You serious?” he asked Elliott while lifting his head.
“Yes, it’s true,” the man replied. “I greatly relished in the fact that all of you thought Harvey was older than me for all these years, so I didn’t feel the need to say otherwise. Nor did I really want to. It was flattering and in a way, it made me feel young. I liked that feeling. Cause let’s face it, no one likes getting old…”
They all casually nodded.
“But now that I’m becoming a dad,” he turned his gaze towards Leah and then down to her baby bump, stroking it, “it’s time to embrace my age…and my new responsibilities.” He then looked back at the group. “I’m not getting old, I’m getting wiser.” He winked. “So with that,” he paused, switching his gaze, “Merry Christmas Harvey.”
Touched, Harvey smiled and said, “Why thank you Elliott. The handlebar style mustache certainly made me look older so…”
Everyone laughed and nodded in agreement. “SO glad you ditched it!” Emily voiced in the background.
“Ok!” Shane playfully addressed Harvey with a pointed finger, “I’m not okay with you being the man of the house, or the leader, anymore.”
With a head shake, Harvey held a long, half-grin stare at Shane until Shane cracked and they both laughed. As much as Shane tried to tease Harvey, the Doctor always saw through it or had something clever to say – or do – in backfire. But it was still fun. It was always how Shane showed affection to his best friends. Harvey was like Jackson in many ways and it felt great to Shane to have that kind of buddy again.
“Well I have no problem admitting I’m the oldest woman in this group,” Leah declared with her hand upon her chest. She held that status proudly, especially while on this quest.
“Well yeah cause we always knew that,” Abigail quipped.
Hearing that however caused Leah to feel somewhat disturbed. Just a tiny bit. Always?
As soon as everyone’s voices quieted, Harvey spoke again. “Anyway, before we open gifts I just wanted to say to you all…how truly wonderful this journey has been with all of you.” His sincerity radiated in his smile. “Granted we’ve had some ups and downs and,” he chuckled, “it’s been annoying at times trying to figure out what this quest is about and wondering if we’re ever going to return home, but,” his tone changed back to the previous sincerity, “we’ve been a great team throughout it all and…I wouldn’t trade the experiences I’ve had here for anything else in the universe. And I think all of you would agree with me.”
Indeed they did.
“I mean we’ve been here for what,” he turned to Penny for help, “eight months now?”
“Just about,” she answered.
“Wow…,” he looked back at the group. “Who would’ve thought we’d be here this long…and grow so much because of it.” Most everyone smiled. Alex lowered his head though, Maru noticed. He was still healing and learning some self confidence, but she made a note to remind him later about how proud she was of him.
“I’ve pretty much given up on trying to figure out this quest and when we’re gonna go home,” Sebastian said with a shrug. “It’ll happen when it happens…no point stressing over it anymore.”
“I agree,” Abigail nodded. And most of the others did too.
Alex and Maru shot glances at each other – based on their last conversation – and looked away with cracked smiles. They’d both still try to figure it out anyway.
“Could I say something too?” Haley asked of the group. When all eyes turned toward her, she gripped her hands tightly together in her lap, somewhat struggling to look each of them in the eye. “I know I’ve…been a real bitch to all of you in some form or another—”
Light chuckles interrupted her, which she fully expected, and even a snort came out of Abigail to which she immediately apologized for. Maru’s eyebrows bounced, hardly believing what she was about to hear.
“Anyway,” Haley carried on with a light grin, “I agree with Harvey that it feels like we’ve become one big family here and…that we’ve truly grown a lot on this quest,” she rubbed at her hands again, finally glancing up at the group, “I know I’ve learned a lot in the past month.” She glanced over at Emily particularly, expressing a quiet thanks which made Emily’s eyes tear up. She also took Sam’s hand in hers to show her appreciation to him as well. “So, in the spirit of Christmas, I just wanted to say to each of you…I’m sorry…for being a royal bitch.” Chuckles were heard again, but in a kind way. “And I also want to say…thank you for putting up with my bitchiness…especially when you didn’t deserve it,” now she looked at Shane with glistening eyes, “and for giving me a second chance.”
Shane smiled at her with a nod in return, wholly accepting and understanding, just as he did when she personally apologized to him before. “Amen,” he voiced. In his mind, there was no better group in all the universe at giving second chances.
“Amen,” Emily also expressed, on both accounts.
Thank you, Haley lipped to them both. Sam then took his girlfriend into a hug and tenderly nuzzled and kissed her cheek, letting her know how proud he was of her for opening up like that when it’s never an easy thing for anyone to do. He even gently wiped away a tear that escaped her eye. It was a beautiful sight to Maru, even Alex thought as much. The love those two carried for each other was becoming more and more apparent to him with each passing day.
“Well,” Harvey spoke, standing up from the couch to which everyone followed suit. It surprised him.
“I dunno what traditions you all engage in on Christmas morning, but,” he turned to Emily, the coordinator, “what’s next? Breakfast first? Presents first?”
“PRESENTS!” many of them shouted before Emily could respond. The blue-haired girl just shrugged as if to say, “I guess we’re going with presents first.”
“Alright then,” Harvey chuckled. “How shall we begin opening them?”
“You know what Harvey,” Sebastian urgently, yet kindly stepped in, “how about we all just find our gifts and open them up already? It doesn’t need to be orchestrated.” He threw out a light wink for good measure. “It’s Christmas morning for crying out loud!”
“Ditto!” Sam expressed, Maru nodding her agreement to the Doctor as well.
Harvey nodded with a suppressed laugh. “Well then, let’s open presents!”
Squeals and cheers rang through the air as everyone raced to the pile of presents, taking the first gift with their name on it that they could find and then stepped off to the side to make room for others while they picked out and opened their gifts.
Elliott and Leah stayed put on the loveseat in a cuddle.
“Wanna watch the ‘kids’ open their gifts for a bit first?” Elliott asked her, practically reading her mind.
“Yeah,” Leah dreamily replied, stroking his leg with affection, “I would like that.”
Penny wanted to watch presents being opened first as well so she found a spot on the floor with the best view, just like she would do as a kid, and also if her students were present. Harvey smiled at her with a twinkle in his eye. He would’ve joined her on the floor, but his knees weren’t very kind to him these days when trying to stand back up from sitting on the floor. Penny understood and insisted he stay put.
Christmas time always filled Penny’s heart with joy and peace because all the cares of the world and anxieties she carried daily were instantly forgotten.
“SAMUEL!” Abigail cried, eyeballing her friend – knowing full well it was him – after opening his white elephant gift to her.
“Hey!” Sam hollered back. “That gift is nothing worth full-naming me over!”
“Oh yes it is,” she retorted, “and you’re gonna get it for this one. Just you wait! I know where you sleep…”
Sam almost instantly brushed off the threat, but then grimaced, forgetting that his lifelong friend possessed strong magical powers.
“What did you give her?” Haley curiously inquired through his ear. When he whispered it to her, she held a hand to her gaping mouth and then giggled.
Emily opened up her first gift with a heartfelt smile. It was one from Shane and it was a tiger-vine plant, the plant he remembered her eyeballing in awe at the local nursery when they were out together one day.
Maru casually stepped over towards Alex sitting all by his lonesome on the couch, all the while watching wrapping paper flying all over the place and gifts revealed. She stopped just a few inches beside him. “Feel like watching people open gifts first too?”
Alex shrugged. “Yeah, guess so. Just not feeling super anxious to open gifts this year…”
Maru nodded. It was understandable given all that he’d been through lately. In a way she wasn’t feeling like opening hers right away either, especially in front of the group. She’d rather open hers in private and relish in them that way. That’s generally what she always did.
Alex might’ve taken a little peek at Maru’s fine legs on display beside him while wearing such cute, short bottoms. It couldn’t be helped.
Just after Leah stood up to use the restroom, Elliott watched in amusement as Haley opened his “secret Santa” gift to her. She certainly wasn’t an easy one to buy for – and he wasn’t exactly thrilled at the time to pull her name out of the bowl – so he just went with something every girl loves. Normally.
“Oh…uh…okay,” Haley expressed, seeing a simple light pink candle in a plain glass holder; unscented. She glanced around at the group with an awkward smile and said, “Thanks…secret gift giver…whoever you are. It’s…great!”
It really was a nice gift. Just a little low-end in her opinion. But it’s the thought that counts, she reminded herself, and that it was a white elephant gift which most of the time are lame gifts anyway. At least it’s not what Sam got Abigail, she chuckled.
After opening two very thoughtful gifts from Penny and Emily, Shane’s heart felt so full that he actually held his hand to it as he watched the others open their gifts; the Christmas spirit bursting forth from every present and shining in every eye. He could honestly say this was the happiest Christmas of his entire life.
The gift pile in the center of the room was getting smaller and smaller.
Sebastian opened his big gift from Abigail which was a laptop computer, complete with all sorts of games programmed into it.
He went right over to her and gave her a long kiss to show his appreciation.
After opening Harvey’s special gift to her, Penny closed the lid with glistening eyes and a smile, giving him the most loving and heartfelt gaze in thanks.
He gifted her a pocket size, portable music player, with simple ear-buds. Not headphones. It was fascinating! Similar to – and paying homage to – the “walkman” he and Doctor Harris gifted her teenage self that special Christmas all those years ago. I love you, she lipped to him. He lipped it to her in return.
In the light of that spirit, Harvey went ahead and opened her special gift to him.
It was a portable chess table, one he could play any time he needed to take a break from researching, compounding, or doctoring. He loved it. He always enjoyed playing chess as a kid, but never found time for it in his adult life so he was sorely out of practice. Now he could work towards becoming the master at it that he always hoped to become.
Shane finally found his white elephant gift. There was an instant glare of disgust as he found a strange, frog-horse hybrid plush within that even looked like a joke. He could’ve sworn a bad smell was added to it as well.
“Alright, who’s the wise-guy?” he asked the group…
“…or girl?”
A few chuckles were expressed.
“It was YOU Harvey, wasn’t it!?” he directed his attention to, lowering his tone. “This had to be from you.”
“I swear it wasn’t from me,” Harvey said with honesty written all over his face.
In that case, Shane met eyes with every person in the room, practically demanding that one of them come forward and explain such a hideous gift, but they all held straight faces. “Fine then,” Shane gave up. “But whoever you are, you have one hell of a disturbed mind!”
Alex sat on the couch in the shadow of the others smirking gloriously within his mind. He had hoped he would’ve gotten a much stronger reaction out of Shane than that, but the bland response was enough to make this day feel a little better for him. Enough to get him up off the couch to at least open one present with his name on it. It was a pair of hand grippers, used to increase the strength of one’s hands. Not a bad gift at all. “Sweet!” he happily expressed. “Thanks Penny!”
Sam and Haley took a moment to quietly open their special gifts to each other. Sam gifted her a black “groupie” girl shirt with neon lettering and tight jeans to match which made her laugh – and he thought she would look HOT in – and Haley gifted him a miniature guitar. It was the coolest thing he had ever seen! “You’re the BEST babe!” he declared with a kiss.
“I know…,” she quipped, giving him some light tongue in return. “You’re the best too.”
“Well,” Elliott sighed, turning his gaze toward Leah to which she did the same, “it looks like it’s our time to open presents now.”
“I think so too.”
The white elephant gifts the two received weren’t terrible, they were actually quite nice. Leah liked to think it was because they were so well-liked and practically the “parents” of the group.
Yeah no one dares to mess with us…, Elliott proudly thought.
He then bent down to grab Leah’s special gift to him.
He opened it up to find a beautiful table-top easel nestled within. While he knew Leah got it for him to encourage an interest in painting, and he adored it, he ended up shaking his head at it with a laugh.
Leah too lowered her head and shook it with a laugh after she discovered that Elliott had gifted her the very same gift she gifted him!
“My gosh we are too perfect for each other aren’t we?” she asked him gleefully, as she wrapped her arms around his neck.
“Was there ever any doubt?” he responded with a quick peck on her lips.
There was another present given to the both of them from Harvey and Penny that had baby clothes and cloth diapers within along with a little note that read: “Just in case.” Leah heartwarmingly smiled, knowing they knew she was hoping to deliver the baby at home in Pelican Town, but if not, they were once again assuring that she, and baby, were in good hands. She went over and gave the two a hug, expressing her thanks. Then she gasped, feeling the very first movement from the baby. It was another exciting announcement to make to everyone. Penny then asked Leah if she could feel her belly in case the baby decided to move again. Of course Leah consented. Penny was overjoyed to feel the tiny life move again, even for a few seconds.
“Awww,” Emily cooed from the sidelines, cuddling with Shane on the couch. “I can’t believe Elliott and Leah are gonna have a baby. I’m so excited for them!”
“Yeah,” Shane expressed. “It’s pretty cool.”
“Someday…,” Emily carefully began with a hopeful sigh, “maybe…that’ll be you and me?”
Shane sat up a bit and looked her in the eye in surprise for a moment, which made Emily’s heart race, but it calmed down when he cracked a smile and answered, “Absolutely.”
“Really!?” She widely smiled.
“Yeah! Really!” He stressed each word with a chuckle. “Em…do you think there’d ever be anyone else in this entire universe for me instead of you?”
She shook her head in answer, her heart fluttering.
“So yeah of course it’s going to be you I wanna make babies with.”
She laughed, always thinking that was a funny way to say it.
Then Shane leaned in and almost touched his nose with hers with a smirk as he whispered, “And I know we’re gonna love trying…”
“Oh yes we definitely will,” she giggled. “Oh Shane…I love you so much. Merry Christmas.”
Shane repeated the same as they deeply kissed each other, squeezing the other’s hand at the same time.
When all of the presents were opened – Alex somewhat forgetting he was missing a white elephant gift from someone – everyone went into the dining room to have breakfast. Raves were given over how delicious the hearty breakfast casserole was and how incredibly creamy the hot chocolate was. Afterward, the dishes and wrapping paper were all cleaned up and the twelve friends sat around and mingled or relaxed in the living room with the Christmas tunes lightly playing in the background.
“So what was Sam’s white elephant gift to you?” Sebastian curiously asked Abigail.
The girl puffed. “Trust me, you don’t want to know…”
“Oh I think I really do.”
“Okay…,” she gave in. “It’s been this long running joke, or really a game, between me and him. He takes something that I utterly despise and finds some way to make it worse. I’ll do the same with things he doesn’t like. Usually we debate it out in verbal form cause like I said, it’s a joke. But this time he managed to do it in gift form.”
Sebastian’s brow furrowed. “Okaaay, let’s see it.”
With averted eyes, Abigail handed him the gift box.
At first, Sebastian wasn’t exactly sure what he was looking at. It was a toy carp with something lodged in its mouth. He knew Abigail hated carps with a passion. They’d find dead ones on the beach back home all the time. Upon closer inspection, the item in its mouth was a rather large piece of clay carved into the shape of a…, “Oh!” he gasped as realization set in. Immediately he snickered.
“Oh you men!” Abigail cried, slapping at his shoulder. “It’s AWFUL!”
“I get it Abby, but c’mon, that’s hilarious!”
“Okay fine, maybe it is a tiny bit, but honestly Seb that is NOT something I want to open up in front of the group! Nor do I WANT it! I’ll be destroying it with FIRE immediately!”
Sebastian roared with laughter.
His laughter diminished though when he took notice of Alex approaching his sister.
“Hey,” Alex timidly greeted Maru, with one hand behind his back. “Uh, you got some presents right? I don’t remember seeing you open any…”
“Yeah I,” she paused, quickly brushing a hair behind her ear, “opened them privately, when no one was really looking. I prefer to do it that way. I always feel a little uncomfortable when someone watches me opening a present they gave me and vice versa.”
Alex’s eyes bugged out for a moment at her response which made his heart pound against his chest all the more. “Oh…uhh,” he stammered. “Well I umm…sorta got you something last minute…actually I got it as more of a ‘thank you’ gift for the other day, but,” he revealed the present he was holding behind his back, “I wanted to give it to you personally…”
“Oh,” Maru gasped in pleasurable surprise.
“I mean, if it makes you feel uncomfortable to open it in front of me, that’s cool. I’ll just turn around or–”
“No, it’s okay,” Maru chuckled at his sweetness. “I’ll make an exception in this case because it’s different.” She winked.
“Nice!”
“This is so sweet of you Alex,” she breathed as she took the gift from him, holding her hand to her heart. “You really didn’t have to.” She couldn’t remember the last time a guy personally gave her a gift that wasn’t her father.
“Well, I wanted to so…,” he ended with a blush.
Maru carefully opened the gift and gasped again to find the most beautiful maroon and yellow orchid bloom she had ever seen, sealed in glass.
“It’s a paperweight,” Alex informed. “You know…to keep all your papers from flying around. And it’s also something pretty to look at while you’re doing all that brainy research you do and stuff.” He nervously scratched at the back of his head.
“It’s lovely,” she said with a smile. “Thank you. These two colors are one of my favorite color combinations. How did you know?”
He shook his head with a shrug. “Lucky guess I guess.” He smiled; that gorgeous smile.
“Well,” Maru sighed, placing his gift down on the couch behind her and reaching for a gift that was hidden among the decorative presents under the Christmas tree, “I too,” she turned and held out a present to him, “wanted to give you your white elephant gift in person actually…” He could hear the hint of nervousness in her voice, but could feel she was mostly excited about it.
“You were my secret Santa? I was beginning to wonder if Sam or Haley drew my name and decided not to get me anything…”
“Aww,” she expressed in sympathy. “No, I had to wrap this late last night. I didn’t want to leave it in there for days on end…”
He shot her a questionable look.
“Just open it.”
Naturally, Alex shook the box for a moment to get an idea of what might be inside.
“Uh, I wouldn’t do that,” Maru cautioned.
“Why?”
“Just open it!”
“Impatient are we?” he smirked at her as he pulled off the ribbon and tore off the paper. He nearly dropped the box when he found a pretty large cockroach resting on top of some tissue paper within, twiddling its antennae. He promptly shut the lid and set the box down on the floor which made Maru laugh. “A cockroach? Really?”
“Not just any cockroach,” she clarified. “That’s the cockroach whose life you saved from countless tests by offering yourself up as our test subject instead.”
Alex just shook his head, feeling somewhat touched. “I see. Thanks.”
She smiled. “I don’t think I ever properly thanked you for doing that, so…this is my silly way of saying thank you.” Her eyes beamed. “It meant a lot to me…to all of us. It’s one of the bravest acts I’ve ever seen anyone do honestly.”
Alex blushed, not really knowing what to say.
“And I’m so glad you walked away from it alright…,” she ended, shyly looking away.
“Oh you were worried about me eh?” he teased with a bouncing eyebrow.
Maru simply rolled her eyes at him, not willing to indulge him in that.
They chuckled.
“Look at those two,” Harvey whispered to Penny as they snuggled on the couch. “I get the feeling something is developing there…”
Penny took a quick glance at her best friend and the old Pelican Town High School jock. “Maru and Alex?” she whispered too. “Maybe…but I kinda doubt it. He’s always bugged her. She’s bound to meet another genius in college and steal his heart away…”
“Yeah…most likely.” Still, he very much wondered…
Penny blissfully sighed, changing the subject. “What a wonderful Christmas this has been, despite being away from our families.”
“Indeed. I was thinking the very same thing.”
“I hope my mom is alright…I wonder if she’s even celebrating today…” she frowned, remembering how hard that first Christmas was when her dad left them. Pam treated it just like any other day…
Harvey gently pulled his love in closer to him. “I’m sure no matter what she’s doing she’s thinking of you.”
Penny tilted her head toward his chest in agreement as he kissed the top of it.
“Merry Christmas my dear Penny,” he whispered before tenderly brushing his lips with hers.
“Merry Christmas to you too darling,” came the response as she kissed him back.
“Maybe next time this year…you’ll be carrying our first child too.”
“Mmm…,” she expressed, rubbing noses with him. She very much liked that idea.
“I love you,” he wholly expressed, kissing her again and again. Thoughts of their future wedding pleasantly occupied both of their minds.
Off to the side, Haley stood with a playful look and stance of disgust while teasing, “Maybe it’s time for you two to get a room…”
Sam snickered.
“Yeah, yeah,” Harvey muttered back to her.
“Hey,” Sam stood and addressed his girl with a smirk, “maybe that’s what we should be doing right now,” and bounced his eyebrows at her.
“We were just a few minutes ago…” She smirked back.
“Not on the comfort of the couch.” He winked.
“True. But I have something even more special for you…” She held her open palm up to her chin and seductively blew him a kiss while winking.
“HOLY COW!” Sam exclaimed. “There’s actually a heart coming out of your mouth! Awesome-sauce!”
Abigail took notice from the background, sensing some kind of magic other than her own manifesting. The world liked to throw out little surprises like that.
Harvey and Penny eventually separated to chat with some of the others.
“Merry Christmas!” Penny hugged Maru with, after Maru had given her brother a hug.
“Feliz Navidad,” Maru said in silly response.
“You got my present right?”
“Yes! Thank you so much. You are so thoughtful. You got mine too?”
“Absolutely! I love it! Thank you!”
The two continued to hold each other for a few seconds, maybe because they felt like it had been so long since they had.
“Sorry I’ve been so busy spending time with Harvey that we haven’t had a chance to hang out like we used to…,” Penny expressed.
“It’s okay,” Maru assured with a gesture of her hand. “I’m sorry I’ve been busy with him too.” She then winked.
They laughed.
“So…you and Alex…” Penny curiously asked.
“Yes?”
“Is there something going on there?”
Maru blushed. “No. We’re just friends.”
“Are you suuuure?” Penny teased.
“Penny trust me…if anything was going on, you’d be the first to know.”
“Hey Harvey!” Shane called to, whipping past the two girls. “Check out this video I found on the World-Wide-Web this morning! It’s hilarious!”
Harvey had a feeling it was some sort of inappropriate video, but he watched it of course for the sake of his buddy.
Shane kept glancing at the video chuckling while Harvey honestly thought it wasn’t all that funny.
Until the very end…
“Told you it was hilarious,” Shane reiterated watching Harvey suppress his laugh. “See, inappropriate videos can be funny too, Mr. Modest.”
“I know,” Harvey admitted. “My gosh Shane…,” he continued to chuckle, thinking back on the video. That was awfully good.
“Did you show that one to Emily?”
“Oh yeah! She’s the one that suggested I show it to you!”
They laughed.
About fifty feet away, Sebastian quietly, yet swiftly, approached a certain someone.
“Hey. Alex. Can I talk to you for a second?”
Alex turned and froze, not exactly caring for Sebastian’s tone, but having a feeling as to why. He begrudgingly agreed.
“What’s going on between you and my sister?” He tried to keep the tone down so no one would notice.
“Nothing.”
“Yeah right.”
“I’m serious. I was giving her a gift. That’s all.”
Sebastian shifted his body weight onto his other foot and sighed. “Look, I’m not stupid. I’ve noticed the two of you spending more time together for a while now. And I know all the rest of us have hooked up so maybe you feel like that’s what you’re supposed to be doing with Maru, but,” he inched closer with a pointed look, “I don’t like you…especially not after what you did to Sam.”
“I get it…,” Alex mumbled, trying to hold his gaze.
“Not trying to be a jerk alright…just looking out for my sister.”
As you should…, he thought with a nod.
Sebastian sighed again as he continued to stare Alex down. He wasn’t blind either. Anyone could see how much Alex’s eyes lit up whenever Maru was near, but he was still not entirely convinced of the man’s motives. He really didn’t want to start another fight either, especially on Christmas day. “Look, all I’m asking is, if your feelings and intentions are not pure towards my sister then please, just end whatever relationship you have with her right now. She doesn’t need anyone screwing up her life. Not when she has a bright future ahead of her.” Painfully he sounded like his step-dad just then, and maybe he gained a little understanding in that regard, but right now, he didn’t care. He loved his half-sister. More than he ever realized before being on this quest. And he’d be damned if some guy tried to swoop in to take advantage of her brain and body and not sincerely give her the love and respect she deserved.
“Don’t worry. I would never disrespect her,” Alex surprised Sebastian by saying, knowing the brother’s thoughts. “We’re just friends. Honest.”
“Good. I’m glad we have an understanding. Cause yeah anyone who hurts my sister, gets hurt by me,” Sebastian hinted at, clenching a fist in a way that Alex would notice, for good measure.
Alex did and he nodded.
In the distance, near the stereo, Sam and Maru were happily conversing about how nice the day was going and all the wonderful gifts they had seen given. Maru mostly approached him to congratulate him on his new relationship with Haley.
“Why you still being friendly with Alex?” Sam couldn’t help asking her, a little bothered by it. “You do realize he’s the one who started the fight with me, right?”
“Yes…”
“Then what gives?”
Maru chose her words carefully. “Let’s just say that he’s my friend too and…I’m working on him.”
Sam arched a curious eyebrow at her. “Alex? A friend of yours?”
“Uh, Haley? A girlfriend of yours?”
“Hey now.”
“Well…” She spread her hands apart with a shrug, then chuckled.
Sam shook his head with a grin. “Dang you’re good…”
“I know I am,” she declared with confidence. “That’s why I’m asking you to trust me. I’m not siding with Alex and throwing our friendship away if that’s what you’re concerned about.”
“No…not really,” he answered while digging at the rug with his big toe.
Maru found it cute. “You’ve been a good friend and ‘brother’ to me Sam.” She smiled. “Especially during this quest when we felt like we were the odd ones out.”
“That really was a fun night…” He smiled.
“Yes, it was…I’ll never forget that kiss.”
“Me neither.”
They grinned at each other with rosy cheeks for a moment.
“So uh…you actually considering dating Alex or what?” he dared to ask.
Maru gaped at him in a somewhat dramatic fashion.
“C’mon Maru, it would make sense. You two are the only one’s left of the group that aren’t together…” He smirked.
“Hey weren’t we just talking about how that was you and I not too long ago? And that didn’t lead to anything.”
“Yeah! But we ended up kissing even when we ultimately knew it wouldn’t lead to anything so, HA!”
“I knew that! You on the other hand were hoping…” She smirked back.
“Hey, be nice to me…I was in a sad, desperate place back then okay!”
Maru smiled. “I know…and look, now you have the girl you always dreamed of having. I really am happy for you Sam. I wish you both a long and healthy relationship. You both deserve that.”
“Thanks Maru.”
“She better treat you right,” she frankly concluded with folded arms.
“She will,” he assured in a slight tone of annoyance, but he understood why she expressed it. “I sure hope you find the perfect guy someday. If your smarts don’t scare them off.” He stuck his tongue out.
Maru shook her head.
“Merry Christmas little sister!” Emily joyfully said to Haley with a squeezing hug in front of the Christmas tree.
“Merry Christmas Emmy!”
“Oh wow…it’s been a long time since you called me that…”
“I know,” Haley said as they broke the hug. “For some reason I felt like saying it again.”
Emily smiled, her heart swelling with love.
There were so many things Haley wanted to say to her big sister in this moment, but the simplest way to express it all was to say, “I love you.”
Hearing those three words from Haley, when she couldn’t remember the last time she did, made Emily’s eyes glisten with incoming tears. Her heart felt so full today. “I love you too,” she said, taking her little sister into a hug again.
“Your hair is so trés chic by the way!” Haley grinned. Some terms she just couldn’t stop using. “My compliments to your Stylist. What was her name again?” She jokingly gripped her chin in thought.
Emily just shook her head. She liked that some things about her sister would always stay the same.
During the next few hours before Christmas dinner some of them played video or board games while others napped or engaged in a snowball fight outside.
In one moment Abigail thought about her ghostly friend Donna and how she ought to look for her and wish her a Merry Christmas. At nightfall, she decided. Maybe she would bring Sebastian along for Donna to meet. He’d flip! In a good way.
With help from every single person in the group, Christmas dinner was smelling divine and ready to be served. It naturally consisted of a browned, juicy turkey, stuffing, cranberry sauce, mashed potatoes and gravy, a fancy salad for a healthy side and of course…Christmas cookies for dessert.
The conversations around the table were filled with joy, happiness, and laughter. Like at a big family reunion when all felt good and wonderful in life being surrounded by loved ones. One could almost see the magic in the air. Maybe they all did. They talked and talked well into the late hours of the night. It was a Christmas they would never forget, cherished in their hearts for years and years to come.
***************
Sims 3 Stories by Em 
AUTHOR’S NOTES in regards to the big event scene between Sam and Haley. ❤
While I very much loved writing the scene, it was somewhat difficult to do 😉 mostly because of coming up with lyrics for a song. I am not a poet, nor a songwriter. (I know, shocker! 😛 ) It's always something I've struggled with in the writing world. So I took a random poem from the internet and combined it with some lyrics from a song – as well as tweaking the words to better fit the story between the characters – and ultimately came up with Sam's special song for Haley. ❤ I hope it flowed right and sounded good cause, I tried! Haha! 😅
***Credit for the poem goes to Ronald J. Chapman ("Take a Chance," c. 2016) and credit for the thrown in song lyrics goes to Tom Higgenson/Plain White T's. From their song "Gimmie a Chance" from the Every Second Counts album (Released 2006).***
AND as usual I have to include this very fitting song to go with the ending of that scene. 😁💗⭐
("I love you" – Martina McBride)
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A/N: I also posted this song as a prequel to the “Big Brawl” scene. I felt it was fitting in a *couple* of ways. And it was a good mood setter. Enjoy! 😁 (Looks like I need to put together another “Soundtrack” for this story like I did with my last one. 😛)
“Hate (I Really Don’t Like You)” – Plain White T’s
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A/N: Prequel (Alex’s) song before Maru’s entrance into his room after the fight. ⭐Crank up the volume and enjoy.
“Castle of Glass” – Linkin Park
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