Forever and Always - Scomiche One-Shots

Christmas Miracle

I'm currently working on something that a couple of people have asked/sold their soul for that may take a few days but in the meantime have this little out of season one shot

Christmas was a busy time for everyone.  Throngs of people cluttering the streets of New York City as the snow fall showed no sign of stopping.  Last minute Christmas shopping was common for everyone, no one was ever as prepared as they thought they were.  One particular person who was no stranger to Christmas Eve shopping was Mitch Grassi.

It wasn't that he forgot he had to buy people gifts, he just hated it so much he'd procrastinate and procrastinate until Christmas right on his door step.  It was now two days before the holiday and his flight to Texas was leaving this evening meaning he had mere hours to get gifts for his family.  He had already picked up various gift cards a few weeks ago in an attempt to be more organised this year but he needed actual presents now.

The hustle and bustle of a big city wasn't Mitch's favourite thing to begin with and New York was maybe the worst he had ever experienced.  Mix in the stress of the holidays and the grumpiness of the average New Yorker was raised to almost unbearable levels.  The brashness was unpleasant and far from welcome with Mitch.  His tolerance level was exceptional until he was pushed too far and he was so close to exploding at the next person who rammed into his shoulder without so much as an apology or even any sort of acknowledgement.

He pulled his grey, woolen coat tighter around him to keep the warmth in but also to make himself as small as he could to manoeuvre his way through the onslaught of shoppers. With his head down, he marched down the slippy sidewalk to the department store a block away. He planned on just going to one store that could provide him an array of options so he didn't need to deal with people anymore than he had to.

The cold nipped at his uncovered ears and the tip of his nose was bright red so the warmth the store greeted him with was certainly appreciated. The petite brunette dusted the loose snowflakes from his coat and bangs and stamped his boots on the mat in the way in. It was polite to wipe your feet after all. Mitch made it through the next set of automatic doors but stopped dead in his tracks. If he thought the swarm of people outside was bad, it was nothing compared to this. Old men on mobility scooters taking up more space than necessary in the already tight aisles; children running riot begging their parents for a certain toy in their high, grating voices; middle aged woman ready to fight anyone for the last item on the shelf. No matter how many years Mitch inflicted this chaos on himself, he would never get use to it.

With a deep breath and a squaring of his shoulders, Mitch entered into the madness.

He only needed a present for each of his parents, his sister, brother in law and each of their kids.  That was doable.  Maybe... If he could handle this mess for any longer than 5 minutes.  A plan of action would be required.  First, his niece and nephews.  His sister had texted him what toys and tv shows they were into so all he had to do was find them, that would be easy enough.  His brother in law and father would be next, they were both easily pleased so maybe even just a bottle of wine to accompany their gift cards.  His sister would be fine with a nice scarf or a new pair of shoes but his mother would take some more time.  Mitch's mom always spoiled him as a child so ever since he started earning his own money he always made sure to get her the best present he could afford.

He headed to the toy area, dodging rogue children left, right and centre. He grabbed the first things he could find, wanting to get out of there as fast as possible, and throwing them in his basket. If his niece and nephews weren't happy with them, his sister could return them. A new handbag was picked up for his sister and he was moving onto his mother. He was right on track.