December 25
When I opened my door this morning at around 8 o'clock, there was a Liota waiting outside.
"Were you waiting for me to wake up?" I asked.
"Yes." He popped up. Without missing a beat, he grabbed my hand and tried to drag me down the stairs. I grinned and resisted.
"Wait, wait. Is Grampa up yet?"
"He's making breakfast. Come!" I finally allowed him to pull me downstairs.
We had to pass the living room to get to the kitchen, and when we did, we both stopped short. The area under the tree was overflowing with presents! The wrapping paper glittered in the light of a morning fire, tinted with the colors of the lights on the tree above it.
"Whoa!" I whispered. Then I grinned and glanced down at Liota, who still looked surprised. On a whim, I scooped him up and swung him through the air. He gasped.
"Iiiiiit's CHRISTMAS!" I shouted, then said, in my best Santa impression, "HO HO HO, MERRY CHRISTMAS!"
Liota giggled and smiled at me. Best Christmas present already.
I heard chuckling and saw that Grampa Corcon had come out to watch us.
"Merry Christmas, boys," he said with a twinkle in his eye.
"Merry Christmas," said Liota.
"Merry Christmas, Grampa!" I cheered, grinning at him. "Are all those presents for us?"
"Mostly, though I'm hoping there are one or two for me in there," Grampa teased. "But before we can investigate, I made breakfast." He shooed me and Liota, who I put down, into the kitchen.
There were pancakes in various shapes waiting for us to eat them. I saw attempts at snowflakes, lightbulbs, and Christmas trees. Batter art looks hard, so I don't hold it against him.
"Sorry I'm not the best artist," Grampa Corcon apologized.
"What really matters is the taste, right, Liota?"
Liota nodded and forked a ton of pancakes onto a plate. He handed it to me.
"That's kind of a lot," I protested, but Liota continued to hold out the plate to me, so I had to grab it.
We all sat down to eat, and in the end, I was glad Liota gave me extra, cuz I ate it all. I didn't know I was so hungry.
Then Grampa suggested we open presents. Liota wasn't sure what to do with so many presents. I'd never seen this many either, but I did remember a couple long-ago Christmases before everything... fell apart. It made me a bit sad, and Grampa and I shared a look as we watched Liota crawl around the tree in confusion.
"Why don't you pick a present you like and see who it belongs to?" Grampa suggested to Liota. "You can decide the order we get to open them."
Liota inspected the presents for a few moments, then picked one up and handed it to me. It was from him. The package was wrapped neatly with red, snowflaked paper. I ripped the paper off. Underneath was an old book about the excavation of a submarine from the 1800s. I thought it was pretty cool, and promised to read it to him later.
Liota eventually got to my present for Grampa. Liota handed it to him.
"Oh, for me?" He turned to me and smiled so warmly that I got embarrassed. "Thank you, Arawn."
"You d-don't even know what it is yet, don't thank me!"
He just kept smiling and pulled off the paper. It came undone easily, revealing the mug.
"Oh!" He held it up so he could see it better. "I am a grampa," he whispered. He wiped at his eyes, then pulled Liota and me into a hug. "Now I'd like to thank both of you. You'll never know how much it means to me to have grandsons in my life."
I felt a little awkward about getting that affection, but it felt nice, too. I hugged him back, and then we went back to opening presents.
In grand total, I got:
A submarine excavation book
A bunch of cool new clothes
Some cash
A pack of building toys called Legos
A pair of graphic novels set during the Boxer rebellion
Three Spider-Man comic books
A cane full of M&Ms
A necklace with beads made of obsidian from Greece
Some of the stuff I got was from people I didn't know, Grampa's friends. The necklace was from Genua and Ana Vasquez, Grampa's friends who just got back from a dig in Greece. Pretty cool. Too cool for me. It'd look better on Vinni.
When all the presents had been opened, we sat back and watched some Christmas specials and did some reading. I started to feel sad again.
Why couldn't my parents be here? Why did my dad have to leave? Why did Seren have to hate Liota? Why did Liota have to have so many lonely days? Why did this have to be the only week I spent with him in a long while?
Grampa seemed to sense that I was thinking about sad things, because he rubbed my head and gave me this look. After a few minutes, he spoke.
"Arawn..." he hesitated. "I-I have another present for you. I wasn't sure if I wanted to give it to you now, but I think I will. I-if you want it, I mean. Let me grab it." He stood with surprising ease for a man his age, and headed out of the living room. I wondered why he thought I might not want it, and why he didn't put it with the rest of the stuff under the tree. Liota turned away from the Peanuts Christmas special to give me a questioning look. I shrugged.
Grampa Corcon came back with a small box clasped in his hand. It wasn't wrapped.
"One of the seniors groups I'm a part of was giving these out as p-prizes," he said. "I suppose the idea behind it is that old folks aren't so steady with their hands. But I thought such a sturdy thing might be good for a young boy." He held out the box to me, and that was when I saw what looked like an old-fashioned cell phone. It had actual physical buttons on it, and a small screen. "It's a Nokio Touch. Nearly impossible to break. I know you d-don't have a cell phone, so I thought you might like this, although it's not the fanciest phone; it would just be n-nice to be able to k-keep in touch more. Of course, I'll p-pay for the phone plan."
He looked uncertain, I guess because I hadn't said anything. Without really thinking, I finally reached out and took it from him. I turned the box over to read the info on the back.
I finally looked up at him. "This is awesome," I whispered. "It's like a spy phone."
He laughed.
"I'm gonna call Vinni."
"Hold on, it's not activated yet!" Grampa laughed again. "Here, let's get it set up. How do we get it out if the box?"
"Shhh!" hushed Liota, apparently not willing to put up with the noise now that the initial gifting was done.
"Fine, we can set up in the kitchen, geez," I muttered in mock irritation.
Liota ignored me.
The phone was already dialing when I realized that Vinni probably wouldn't pick up on account of not being in the state. I groaned and hung up. Maybe he'd get a cell phone for Christmas too, and then I could call him. I only have to wait two days anyway. But it's too bad I couldn't wish him Merry Christmas.
After supper, we played a board game until Liota and Grampa started to get tired. I wasn't as tired, so I decided to write this down before going to bed. Goodnight.
A/N: Oh. *laughs nervously* Hi. I'll just... leave this here.
Seriously, though, last semester was murder.
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PROPERTY OF A. KENDRICK
Teen FictionA. Kendrick is bullied at school and has no allies among students or staff. And why should he? He's small and strange-looking and slow. His only purpose in life is to keep his younger brother safe from their negligent and occasionally violent mother...
