Until Fate

Chapter Eleven

It was officially December 1st, two days before my birthday. December was always my favorite month and the best time of the year, in my opinion. The weather was cold and the land was dead, but everyone was decorating their house for the holiday spirit and people were usually kinder this time of year. I loved the music, the decorations, and the many festivities during Christmas. There was the New Haven float parade, the occasional snow balls fights, and the nativity play at the local church. I was going home for the holidays since finals were over. I passed all my classes with flying colors and Cael actually managed to finish Drawing One with a B.

It would be nice to be back in my family home again. As much as I liked the solitude of the beach house, it was a lonely, quiet place during the holidays. Maya, Klaus, and Cael had been over at the cottage every night since my dad was admitted to the hospital. It appeared that they were trying to distract me from breaking down. They were actually a big help. They would come over, eat dinner with me, and make fools of themselves as we played board games and watched movies. My mood swings were few and less severe with them around. They kept me from thinking too much and overanalyzing the future.

Cael grew more anxious with each passing day. I didn't know what was unsettling him, but whatever it was troubled him severely. I usually caught him dazing off, lost in thought. He was always touching my face as if he was trying to memorize every inch of my skin like he was afraid of losing me. I tried to remain optimistic and not attribute it to anything I had done, but his quiet behavior was strange and unlike him. Whenever I asked him what was on his mind, he merely shook off his odd actions and teased me with his smirking lips. It was then that I realized I didn't really know anything about Cael. I didn't know his family or his background. Did he even have a family? I didn't know. We also hadn't had our first kiss yet. Maybe back in the eighteenth century that was normal conduct, but in the twenty-first century we should have kissed by now. Then again, most of this century was all about technology and living life for fun and pleasure. I didn't necessarily believe the same way. A part of me wasn't upset or fazed about the fact that we hadn't kissed. The other side was sort of confused. I knew he loved me and was attracted to me, but no first kiss? What the heck?

Maya and I were packing some of my clothes and cleaning the house for the holiday. It would be nice to come home to a spotless pad in January when school started back up. I still hadn't decided what to major in. My guidance counselor was becoming rather impatient with me. She said that I was wasting my time taking classes that I may not even need in the future. She implied that I need to either take a break from school to figure it out or just pick a major. She was kind of rude about it, but I understood she was just doing her job. I needed to choose my future career quickly. Classes were already filling up for next semester.

We had already cleaned the house with Klaus and Cael's help the day before. We sent the boys to pick us up some lunch while we stayed behind to fold laundry and pack my clothing for the next six and a half weeks. Syri, Marc, and Antony were supposed to be joining us for pizza at my house that night. My mother and Cassie had been spending a lot of time at the hospital with my dad whose health was as bipolar as my mood swings. The issue was that his health was so fragile that the doctors were leery over letting him come home for the holidays even with an around-the-clock nurse. Klaus had mentioned that he could pay a world renowned surgery team and doctors and nurses to stay at the house during Christmas, but my mother kindly refused his offer.

"What's taking them so long?" Maya groaned. Her stomach growled. She was fishing around in my dresser.

I smiled, grateful for the distraction from my thoughts, "I don't know. Men can't multitask."

"Multitask? We only asked them to do one thing! Go to McDonalds; pick up some cheeseburgers and fries, and come back home. Is that not clear enough?" Maya scoffed.