This Is Me Famous

Chapter 10

"Here kitty, kitty, kitty." I called out from the middle of the kitchen. Eap poked his head around the corner and looked at me. "Do you want a treat?"

I held out a small can of wet food in offering. He inched closer. He wasn't a fan of my chair, but when I was in bed or on the couch, he'd snuggle right in with me. It had been two weeks since we got him, and unless he wanted to cuddle, we rarely saw him. I dropped the can of food to the floor and wheeled myself backward. He pranced over and happily started eating his midmorning snack.

"Hayden, are you ready yet?" I called out, looking to the dining room. Alie was already gone, choosing to let Hayden and I go tree shopping together. She still had to get gifts for Hayden and I, and said it would be easier to get them in the house and wrapped with out us around. She promised to join us to decorate the tree. I was itching to go, not only because it was one of my favorite birthday activities, but because today was the day I got to try walking around on my new cast with crutches. I could have started the day before, when I'd gotten promoted at therapy, but I was too sore.

"I'll be down in a minute." He called, sounding annoyed. I'd been pestering him for nearly an hour about wanting to leave.

"Yeah, you said that ten minutes ago." I muttered. I wheeled myself into the living room to wait.

He ran down the stairs a minute later with a green box in his hand. He handed it to me with a smile.

"I thought my gift was the cat?" I asked.

"It's not from me." He said. "You're mom left it here, problem was, she decided to hide it upstairs, and I couldn't find it."

"I don't go upstairs..." I said trailing off.

"I know." He shrugged.

I unwrapped the box and handed him the paper. I pulled the lid off and looked inside. I reached in and pulled out a photo album. Hayden took the box from my lap and I opened the album and saw pictures of Hayden and I at various points of our childhood, all the way up to a few photos she'd taken while she was here.

"Oh, Hayden!" I said holding it out to him. "Look."

He tossed the trash on the couch and took it from me.

"Oh wow." He smiled. "This is really nice. There's even space to add more."

"I noticed." I smiled. "Once we have the tree trimmed, we should curl up under it and look at all the pictures."

"I like that idea." He leaned over and kissed me. "I'll leave this on the coffee table."

"Yeah, I want to get to the tree farm before all the good ones that are left are taken." I teased.

"I want to get lunch, I'm starving." He said handing me my crutches. They'd been leaning by the front door.

"That's your fault for not eating breakfast." I said. "I'm stuffed."

"I didn't skip breakfast on purpose. You had me up all night and I over slept." He stood close while I steadied myself on my feet, a crutch under each arm.

"It was worth it, though." I smiled at him.

"I didn't say it wasn't." He gave me a flirty grin. "Let's go find a tree."

The tree I picked out was just a little taller than me, but it had full, bushy branches. I'd fallen in love with it as soon as I'd seen it, and I wouldn't let Hayden talk me out of it. I stood by with a huge smile on my face as the tree farm worker cut it down and tied it up for us, then followed behind as he helped Hayden carry it to the car. Once the tree was secured to the top, Hayden helped me get in.