Merry Christmas!
Merry Christmas to @discordanddarkness I hope you have an awesome day! Here is your Secret Santa gift:
Todd’s best Christmas
The sun seemed to take forever to rise this Christmas for Todd, even longer than the Christmas before. He lays on his side staring out the window, watching as the snowflakes hit his window and instantly melt and trickle down. He takes in a deep breath and lets it out slowly in awe of the beauty and also to not cause his still healing chest much harm. Todd had hoped that his wound would have been fully healed by Christmas but it is still on the mend. He brings his eyes to the bandages, still sensation through his body, he grimaces and turns his gaze back to the sunrise. The glowing sun has almost fully risen and Todd can feel his excitement growing. He sits up carefully and pulls out the drawer next to his bed and gently touches the not so neatly wrapped presents that he has safely stored for Ben and Viola. He pushes the ribbon of one of them over slightly, so that it’s just right. Ben and Viola have done so much for him over his slow healing process and much before then so he endeavours to make this Christmas as special for them as he can. He even had one of the healers bring him a daisy to slip under the ribbon of Viola’s gift. Suddenly there is a knock on the door. Todd freezes momentarily and then begins to lower himself down in his bed. He struggles to pull his quilt over himself as fast as he can because he was told by Ben to not ‘sit up all night and wait for the morning as he has to give his body time to mend’. Todd almost has his quilt pulled over his torso when Ben swings open the door. “I know you’re not asleep, don’t bother hurting yourself trying to fool me” Ben says with a chortle. Todd squeezes his eyes shut, just in case Ben doesn’t really know he’s awake. “Todd. You do this every Christmas, why would this one be an exception?” Ben says, walking over to Todd’s bedside and pulling up a chair. “I wasn’t up all night, I only just woke up” Todd says rolling his eyes at being caught. He begins to sit himself up but Ben rushes to his aid and packs pillows behind him. “Yeah, of course you weren’t up all night” Ben says sarcastically, making Todd’s eyes roll again. “Merry Christmas, Ben” Todd says, almost begrudgingly for being caught out. “Merry Christmas, son” Ben says, leaning over and planting a kiss on Todd’s forehead, giving his hair a ruffle too. The floorboards from outside Todd’s room begin to creek as Viola appears in Todd’s doorway. “Damn it Ben, you beat me to him” Viola playfully exclaims. Ben laughs and Todd’s cheeks go bright red. Viola, dressed in the prettiest dress that Todd has ever seen, traipses over to Todd. “Merry Christmas!” She says, pressing her lips against Todd’s cheek, sending them an even brighter red. Todd’s mind goes blank for a moment as his heart beats what seems to be 1000 times faster than ever before. She’s like an Angel, Todd thinks to himself. Viola pulls up a chair on the other side of Todd. “Presents?” Todd queries. “Yes!” Ben and Viola say in unison. Todd reaches over to his drawer and pulls out the gifts, handing one to Ben and one to Viola. They both tear into their presents after thanking him. “Oh, Todd, you shouldn’t have” says Ben holding up a bottle of Ale. “One of the healers makes it at home, she said I could give you as many as I like but she just gave me the one for now so that I could stash it in my drawer” Todd says, chuffed with himself. “Thankyou Todd. I will enjoy this” Ben says with a chuckle. Viola studies her present. It’s a leather bound book with handwritten text in only the first couple of pages. “Todd”, Viola states, “Did you write these poems?” “Poems?” Ben questions, astounded. “Yes…I did. They aren’t the best, I’m sorry it’s not a very good present but I couldn’t go out to get anything” Todd says, looking into his lap, embarrassed. “Todd, they are beautiful. I can’t believe you wrote them. This is the best Christmas gift ever!” Viola says with the beginnings of a tear in her eye. “Really?” Todd says. He looks up but before he can meet her eyes she has thrown her arms around him and pulled him into a tight embrace. “I….can’t…..breathe” Todd chokes out. “Oh, I’m sorry” She says, wiping a tear from her eye as soon as it dares to emerge.
“Don’t suppose you would like a gift now Todd?” Ben says. “I wouldn’t say ‘no’ to a present” Todd says, intrigued. Ben pulls a small box out from his pocket and hands it to Todd. Todd eagerly opens it to find a ring. “Are you proposing?” Todd says with a laugh. “No” Ben says, rolling his eyes “Cillian gave that to me when we adopted you. As a sort of symbol of our love and our love for you…..all that fuzzy stuff that makes you blush”. Todd’s piercing eyes start to well up even though he fights the tears with all his strength. “So why are you giving it to me?” Todd says looking closely at the ring. “I think that Cillian would have wanted you to have it, since he isn’t here” Ben says with a weak and also joyous note in his voice. “Thankyou” Todd says wearing the ring and giving the biggest grin in the world. “Time for my present to you!” Viola cries. She walks over to the large window beside Todd and shoves it open. She sticks her head out the window and whistles. Todd and Ben exchange confused glances and then turn back to the window. Suddenly what seems to be an overgrown ball of fluff comes into sight out of the window. Viola runs her fingers through the fluff and then turns to Todd and shouts “Merry Christmas, Todd!”. She moves to the side of the window and her gift comes fully into view. It’s a baby Battlemore, covered in a super layer of fluff. About the size of a large horse, with the energy of a puppy. The Battlemore bounces up and down in delights and leans its head through the window and gives Todd a sloppy lick that covers all of his face. “Well, merry Christmas to you too buddy” coughs Todd. The three all laugh together and the Battlemore continues to give surprise kisses.
