The Diary

:(16):

       While everybody slept in the living room, I found myself sitting at the kitchen table, staring at the moon through the falling snow. I watched it slowly pass through the sky, wondering if everything would turn out okay tomorrow.

-x-

       "OMG! Mom, thanks!" Summer now stood in the middle of the dining room, holding a new dress up against herself.

       This morning, everybody had woken up around the same time, the sounds of excited discussion pulling me from a short slumber. I sat in a chair in the corner of the room, watching the excitement. A ball of tense nerves sat in the very pit of my stomach. 

       I watched as Summer set the dress down and walked over in my direction, grabbing a blue bag on her way. "Here, grampa Rick. I picked this up a while ago." I took the bag from her hand, wondering why she would stop to think of me. 

       The bag wasn't particularly weighty, something that made me feel better. I wasn't too keen on giving or receiving gifts, but there was something about Christmas that changed everything. I set my flask down on my leg, taking the bag and propping it on the other. Removing some tissue paper revealed a small glass frame, a picture of Summer, Morty, and I laughing. It looked like a selfie taken from Summer's point of view, so she must have snapped it when something humorous had happened. In the photo, I had an arm slung over Morty's shoulder, my head tossed back in a laugh. The kid was staring up at me with big brown doe eyes, a light pink on his face. No wonder I never noticed. I never took the time.

       I sighed, setting it down. Morty must have been 17 when that was taken. "Thanks, eugh Summer. That's actually r-really neat." I smiled at the picture once more, resting outside of the bag. I wrapped it up in the tissue paper and set it back into the blue material, not wanting to break it. "I-I'll find some- eugh somewhere for it eventually." Summer leaned down and pulled me into a hug, "It was no problem, grampa. And thanks for the mirror!" She held it up and I watched her fidget with it, "It's really cool!" She squealed and pulled me into another hug before she ran off and played with the other shit she got.

       I glanced over and noticed that the pile was dwindling now. There were four gifts left, the one for Morty being the furthest from the group. One by one, they disappeared, and I found myself bouncing my knee and drumming my fingers nervously. 

       Damn it all, calm down!

       Finally, Summer reached down and grabbed my gift, it being the very last. She paused and glanced at me, receiving a weak, anxious smile. Her eyes widened and she looked like she understood, handing it to Morty soon after. He looked from the gift to me for a moment before slowly opening it.

       "No way! Does it actually work?!" Morty jumped up and ran over to me, holding his brand new portal gun. "Yea, I-I eugh fixed the battery on-on the old one. It, uh... it's eugh yours now, kid." I watched as his eyes lit up, wide as they could possibly be and the dumbest grin on his face. "I-I-... Thank you, Rick!" He pulled me into a quick hug, pulling away to look back at his new toy. He flipped it over and found the short note I'd taped to the side.

       I could remember what it said. The words were all that went through my mind up until this point.

       If you're not mad at me anymore, meet me in the garage in 10 minutes.

       Morty gave me a funny look before shoving the note into his pocket and walking off, grinning while he showed Summer his portal gun. Summer's eyes went wide and she glanced over at me. I waved, smiling.