Shopping! Come join us at the shopping center. We’re buying presents for everybody. Well, everyone in my family. I don’t know if River is doing presents.
What do you want for Christmas?
Blabe
A GPS tracker on you.
Be there in ten.
I chuckle and show the texts to River. “I don’t think knowing where I am at all times will make melessinfuriating, will it?”
“No,” River says bluntly. “It’ll only make us accomplices to whatever you’re up to because then we know where you are and can’t plead ignorance.”
I find a bench for us to wait at, and I scoot closer to River so I can lay my head against his shoulder.
“Remember Christmas two years ago?” I ask quietly. “When Rachel dragged us to that shop all the way across town just to get their limited edition sweater.”
River exhales slowly then nods. “Yeah. Then it turned out she didn’t even like it in person.” He smiles ruefully. “It was pretty ugly.”
I remember the garish colors, which had looked a lot more muted in the online mockup. Rachel’s disappointment had been palpable.
We’d all laughed anyway, and in the end I’d bought the sweater for Rachel. I never saw her wearing it, but that wasn’t really the point of the gift.
“It was a fun outing,” I say. “Even if we didn’t buy anything. And we did discover that Chinese restaurant! I’ve gone back multiple times since.”
River links his arm in mine. “It was good. That whole day was good.”
It had been. It had been before she’d started keeping secrets from me.
“Last Christmas…” I blink a few times, and for a split second the world is covered in a blurry haze. “Last Christmas sucked. I was with my family, but it wasn’t the same without you and Rachel to meet up with on the 26th and do our own mini gift exchange.”
“Yeah,” he mumbles. “I missed you, Pandora. I missed both of you so much. I…” He’s quiet for a moment, then he adds softly, “I’m glad I have you back.”
“Me too. I’m glad you’re back in my life.” I squeeze his hand, the one with only four fingers, and maybe I should apologize for my part in him losing the finger.
I don’t regret having his bones with me, though.
Maybe River doesn’t regret what happened to me at the gym, either, no matter how much he apologized for it.
We sit quietly until Blaze and Asch find us. Neither of them are bleeding from any orifices, so everything must be fine again.
Asch is the first to approach, and he touches my chin to tip my head up to kiss me. “Hey. Shopping, huh? My idea of a perfect day,” he drawls.
I give him a quick peck, and do the same for Blaze. “Yep! Christmas shopping. I’ve got…” I count off on my fingers, then run out of fingers. “At least eleven gifts to buy.”
“What do you want for Christmas, Pandora?” River asks. “Besides the heads of your enemies on a silver platter. Because I don’t have enough silver platters for that.”
“Boo!” I knock his shoulder gently. “I like snakes, knives, the color pink, the color black, and the three of you!” I hook my arm with Blaze’s. “So if you want to save money, your gift to me can be you joining me for Christmas at my family’s place.”
Blaze shakes his head. “I told you, it won’t work. Maybe next year.”
My smile widens.
He expects to still be with me next year.
“So a knife with a snake handle,” Asch says, deadpan. “Maybe in pink. Well, at least you’re specific.”
River gets up. “Easy,” he says. “There are pink knives with snakes everywhere.”
