𝐒𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧 𝐃𝐚𝐲𝐬 | ᴍᴊᴊ sʜᴏʀᴛ

𝐖𝐄𝐃𝐍𝐄𝐒𝐃𝐀𝐘

𝘋𝘌𝘊𝘌𝘔𝘉𝘌𝘙 21𝘛𝘏 1996
𝘊𝘈𝘓𝘐𝘍𝘖𝘙𝘕𝘐𝘈

𝘞𝘦𝘥𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘥𝘢𝘺,
𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘸𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘢𝘸𝘢𝘺

     Michael got up early as he planned to do some shopping since Christmas was just four days away. Solace of course had her own gifts for Shyori that she'd secretly brought with them and had stored away until Christmas, but he wouldn't be Michael if he didn't spoil both of them with presents of his own.

Usually, people wouldn't find anything good in stores four days before Christmas but after calling to have the stores shut down, he was sure that all of the shelves would be stacked.

He was right.

"You know the point of me retiring was so I didn't have to follow you around anymore, right?"

Michael had also called Bill, asking him to join him in his Christmas shopping. Bill Bray had been Michael's head of security for years, but he'd retired earlier in the year as his age was finally catching up with him.

"You're not following me around to protect me, that's what Wayne and Ben are for." He pointed behind them to the two men dressed in suits, one pushing the toy-filled cart. "You're just shopping."

"I don't need anything from here."

"Ok well, I'm shopping and you're just...keeping me company."

"Great, you got me out the house to gossip with you."

Michael chuckled and stopped walking when he caught a glimpse of a puddle plush toy. Shyori loved stuffed animals. She had plenty of them stacked in the corner of her room at home and Solace would probably fuss at him for adding to the collection, but he thought the light pink poodle was adorable and he knew she would love it.

"No, I just wanted to catch up with you." Michael shrugged. "That's all."

"Yeah, yeah, who are you out shopping for anyway."

"Solace and Shyori are spending Christmas with me at Neverland."

Bill nodded. "You still ain't married that girl yet?"

Bill always joked about how Solace and Michael were perfect for each other. When their friendship first started, Michael couldn't shut up about how beautiful and perfect his new friend was and the more they got acquainted, the more Bill could see that Michael admired her more than you should a friend. He'd always deny it and move on with the conversation they were having but it didn't stop Bill from joking about how he wanted to sit front row at their wedding.

"Bill hush."

"You already let her get snatched up once."

"Mm," Michael hummed bitterly at the memory of Solace's last relationship.

Michael had never met Shyori's father and because of that, he couldn't say he had disliked him. They hadn't dated for very long; they were only six months into their relationship when Solace found out she was pregnant. After freaking out to her mother and Michael, she told him, only for him to bail on her claiming he 'wasn't ready to be a father'. That was all Michael needed to lose any respect he had for him as a man.