Xenomorph

Tiny's First-Second Christmas

Tiny chittered as he opened his luminous eyes and looked around the dim, grey bedroom. It was early. Gavin was still sleeping. He was on his back, propped against the pillows as he had been for the past few months. His condition had improved during that time. He'd gained weight and muscle and could now go for short walks. There was still a long way to go for a full recovery, but the process had taken hold. He could swim a few laps before getting tired, and bend over and lift light things, including Tiny. The feeling of lounging across Gavin's shoulders as he walked was one he'd missed. He chittered softly as he nuzzled into Gavin's shoulder, purring softly. It no longer hurt for Gavin to hold his weight, though he hadn't taken to sleeping on his side yet.

The house had been a hive of excited activity for the past few weeks. Tiny didn't really understand this Christmas thing, but it had certainly caught hold of Chloe and the humans of the household. He'd watched with wonder as a giant tree had been erected in the front parlour. It was huge! So tall it almost touched the ceiling. Furniture had been moved around to make room for it, and Tiny was somewhat gleeful to find that the tree now stood upon the very spot he'd disposed of Davey the year before. Gavin had helped to decorate the artificial tree, which Tiny had been firmly told he wasn't allowed to play in. What was the point of erecting a tree if one couldn't enjoy it? He'd done as he was told. The tree pleased Chloe and Gavin, so Tiny would take care of it.

Gavin had wrapped colourful lights around the thick branches and woven glittering red and gold tinsel across each layer. Tiny had enjoyed playing with the shiny material before it went on the tree. Gavin had laughed and shaken the streamer back and forth, letting Tiny practice his hunting skills as he jumped and pounced on the end. The game had ended when Chloe had reminded him of his current task, and Tiny had watched him string it around the tree with a sense of loss. The shiny little baubles and colourful decorations had come next. Tiny had helped with the lower branches. He'd placed the little round balls at random, enjoying the mixture of colours. There were gold ones, red ones, green ones, and even some blue and purple.

Gavin had carefully selected other decorations like teddy bears, presents, gingerbread men, Santas, reindeer, snowmen, little festive drums, and toy soldiers for the higher branches. Elijah had brought through some larger decorations for the room. A potted red flower, a Santa statuette, and a wooden nutcracker in the shape of a toy soldier. The nutcracker was clearly old and well used. The wood was chipped in places, and the blue paint of its jacket was worn and patchy. Elijah left a bowl of walnuts beside it, and it didn't take long for Gavin to show Tiny how the little machine worked. The tapping sound of the nut being struck was quite satisfying, as was the crack that followed as the shell popped open.

Elijah set up a stepladder for Chloe so that she could take care of the top of the tree and Gavin remained close in case she fell, but her balance was impeccable as always. Once she reached the topper, a golden star, she called Tiny up to place it. He was unsure why it was so important, but he'd allowed her to lift him and carefully set the star on the very top of the tree. It had looked pretty when they'd finished. That had been at the beginning of the month. Chloe had wanted the house decorated so that she could enjoy it for as long as possible. Apparently, it was bad luck to keep things up beyond the sixth of January, so after New Year's Day, it would all come down again.

The one thing he didn't like about Christmas was how secretive Gavin had become about certain things. He'd gone out with Elijah a few days ago. Tiny had screeched all the way to the door, chittering miserably at Gavin's promise he'd be back. He'd said that before. Chloe had managed to cheer him up eventually, but the day had passed slowly without Gavin. He'd spent it mostly in the kitchen as Chloe baked gingerbread cookies. She'd even let him ice some of them with little swirling ribbons and smiling faces. He'd done one especially for Gavin, which Chloe said she'd wrap carefully as a surprise. Tiny wasn't sure why waiting for Christmas Day was so important, but went along with it. She put it in a lined, airtight box and put it in a bag labelled To Gavin, From Tiny. It had then gone under the tree. A strange place for cookies indeed!