'𝐀𝐦 𝐈 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐚𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐬𝐥𝐮𝐭𝐬?'

'marcy, it's for you'-(46)

Marcy:"ready?" I asked anxiously.

Mattheo:"as ready as I'll ever be." He smiled and I returned the gesture.

We walked out of the spare room together, teddy was running up and down the hallway.

Marcy:"Jesus teddy, if you're already this hyper, maybe my present is too sugary for you." I smirked cheekily, his eyes widened with curiosity and eagerness.

Teddy:"you got me food! Please, I'll be good I promise."

Marcy:"oh I get it, now you have the idea it's food, you'll stop being hyper now, is that right?" He nodded with a massive grin on his face. "Piggyback down the stairs?"

Teddy:"can Mattheo do it?"

Marcy:"yeah sure, as long as he's okay with that?" I looked at him curiously.

Mattheo:"only if Marcy will hold your Christmas present." He smiled, kissed me on the cheek and passed me his already wrapped Christmas present. It was weighted, something quite heavy.

Teddy:"Ew." He looked at us in disgust.

Mattheo:"who are you saying ew to monkey man?" He threw onto his back and jumped around excitedly. It worried me with how alike Mattheo could be with teddy's overwhelming excitement but it was nice to see them hitting it off.

Teddy giggled and held on tight to Mattheo as he ran down the stairs and I followed after them.

Marcy:"be careful you too, I won't be wheeling you to the hospital when either of you break something."

Teddy:"it's okay, it'll be Mattheo's fault if I break something." He laughed and Mattheo let him down to the floor to stand.

Mattheo:"oh, I see how it is." He put on a fake disappointed face and crossed his arms.

The Christmas tree didn't have a lot under it this year. There wasn't really ever much under there, but this year it seemed like there was a wider variety. My mom trailed out from her bedroom, already fully dressed with a somewhat better mood than what she appeared to be in when we got here. Whatever Mattheo did has somehow improved her. It's probably a tad harsh, but I couldn't stand the woman I've had to put up with for nearly 5 years. She is insufferable, the woman I knew before that was much more loveable. She sat down on the sofa, the rest of us took a seat on the floor.

The majority of the presents under the tree were for teddy and my mom. She only had one but still, most of them were for teddy. He got the chance to open ours first.

He unwrapped mine carefully, prioritising the fact that he knew it was something edible. The child loved food, I don't know whether you'd call him a foodie or a sugar addict. It's one or the other.

Teddy:"a chocolate frog! I heard about these."

Marcy:"just be careful, they have a tendency to jump out of the box. But the cards you get in them are the best part." I showed him, he had the biggest smile on his face and it made me happy seeing him like that.

Teddy:"you can get cards?"

Marcy:"yeah, they're famous witches or wizards. Except I've had dumbledore like a thousand times, so I hope you got something different."

Teddy:"thank you, Marcy." He sat up and reached out to hug me. He set it aside to open the rest of his gifts, that was probably best considering the frogs like to jump off.

Mattheo:"I hope you like mine buddy." He said with a faint smile on my face, praying that he loved it.

Teddy unwrapped the wrapping paper eagerly and discovered a dark case with a latch on it.

Marcy:"what did you get him?" I whispered to Mattheo, but he didn't reply.

Teddy:"what is it?" He said as he opened the case.

Mattheo:"Marcy showed me the amazing card you sent her on her birthday. She said you liked to write and draw, so this is a writing and drawing set so you can send even more cards." My heart began to pace. The fact he remembered all of that proved he listened with care, the idea that he even bought him a gift to begin with made me feel overjoyed.

Marcy:"that's really sweet, Mattheo." He turned to me and smiled.

Mattheo:"that means I'm at least expecting a birthday card, Mr."

Teddy:"when is your birthday?" He said curiously. It was only now that it hit me that I didn't even know Mattheo's birthday. We've talked practically every day for the past 3 months and somehow this never came up in conversation.

Marcy:"yeah, actually...when is your birthday? You never told me." I don't know how it hadn't been mentioned before, it felt like maybe after all this time I'd been asking the wrong questions and avoiding the ones that were really important.

Mattheo:"29th of December."

My heart dropped, he hadn't even mentioned it. I felt guilty for having not asked or at least gotten him a present. It was so soon and I had so little time to make it up to him.

Marcy:'in 4 days?"

Mattheo:"yeah."

Marcy:"why didn't you say anything?" He looked down at the floor, I was shocked he hadn't told me. We were together now and even before that, he hadn't told me his birthday.

Mattheo:"we were having a good time, I didn't think it was that important."

Marcy:"of course it is, Mattheo. It's your birthday. I can't believe you mention it...I didn't get you anything." I frowned, he glanced at me with a partial smile.

Mattheo:"just being here with you guys is the best present I could've got." Whether he genuinely meant that or not, still made me feel guilty. He got me an amazing birthday gift, one that I held very close to my heart and I hadn't even gotten him a Christmas present at that.

He took my hand and held it tightly.

Teddy:"Marcy, you have a present."

Marcy:"I have presents?" I looked at him confused. I never normally had presents to open on Christmas morning. It seemed strange and out of the blue. Part of me hoped it wasn't from Mattheo, because I would feel ten times guiltier for not having got him a Christmas or birthday present.

Teddy:"yeah, Marcy, it's for you."