For most people in Kokaua Town, Christmas was a time of joy. Especially when you freely lived alongside alien experiments who could make the holidays that much more special. Be it Slushy, who made sure every Christmas was a white one, to Duplifier happily creating hot cocoa that was just as delicious with only half the calories, to the every-chipper Page, who was eager to assist Father Michael in making the local church as vibrant, warm and beautiful as possible for Christmas service. Ms. Hasagawa's many "cats" would be each put a present for the beloved octogenarian under her Christmas tree, Jesstifier the portrait drawer would work his magic at the mall, and, of course, there was Gigi.
Gigi might seem to most to be no more than Myrtle Edmond's dog on first glance. But no dog could talk like Gigi could, and now that the town had been used to the idea of "aliens living here", there wasn't any real worry about the sight of a teenage girl speaking to her pet as they sat outside the convenience store, the redheaded Myrtle sipping on an Icee, waiting for Gigi to finish her peanut butter-covered chex mix.
It was then that they noticed the owner of the convenience store exiting the doors and putting down a small tray of nachos at their table, a look in his black-but-tinged-with-green eyes. Ahinahina was a new face to Kokaua Town who seemed to know everyone by now, and had charmed many people over with his kindly attitude, immense strength, and the fact he smelled like cotton candy. That and he had a great Christmas discount for frequent customers like Myrtle and Lilo Pelekai. It made you disregard his weird affinity for wearing tie-dye pants and the very long, almost shaggy brown hair that flowed down from his head, and the very thick grey-furred chest he had. And, of course, the black, unretractable claws.
Myrtle couldn't help it. There was just something slightly unsettling about Ahinahina's black, couldn't-be-retracted claws. His clawed hands laid the nachos down as he gave them a toothy fanged smile, Myrtle noticing a small napkin with a message written underneath the nachos. "On the house for a few of my favorite customers." He offered, giving them a small wink before heading back inside the store, a man sitting at a nearby table, sipping on a hot chocolate.
If it was what she thought it was-yep. As Myrtle looked it over, she frowned. It read "He's been watching you the entire time you were in my store." So it wasn't just her imagination. This redheaded guy with green eyes in the big, brown jacket and ultra-thick blue glasses had been following her to the store. She'd thought it was just coincidence.
"He's not an undercover cop, do you think?" Gigi asked. "I mean, nobody knows I pooped on Mr. Jameson's yard, right? And they can't arrest you for making me go again and again, right?"
"I don't think so." Myrtle admitted with a shrug. "Besides, he deserves it, he was saying disgusting stuff about Jewish people. You'd think I'd get over his Anti-Hanukkah crap every year, but-"
"You're…talking to a dog? And…and the dog is talking back?" The man remarked.
Myrtle blinked a few times, turning to look directly into the man's face, realizing he had the same nose she had. The same eyes. That same shocked expression she'd seen on her own face when her first pimple popped up.
"I just-I mean, wow. I heard this town was strange, but-I mean, WOW!" Mr. Henry Edmonds admitted, holding his hands up in a "Whatcha gonna do" fashion, Myrtle's mouth dropping wide open in surprise. "Myrtle, I, um…that is, you probably don't remember me, but-"
"I do. A bit." Myrtle murmured. "I mean, its mostly a haze, but I do remember your voice more clearly now." She finally managed to get out, shaking her head back and forth, biting into her lip.
"Been a while, I suppose." Henry Edmonds admitted.
"10 years." Myrtle said with a small nod. "Quite a while."
"Guess we've got some catching up to do." Henry admitted. "I mean, you got so tall! And beautiful. You got a boy from Prom?"
"I'm a Junior, Dad. NEXT year I'll be a senior. They're the ones who get a Prom." Myrtle sighed.
Inwardly, bells were ringing in her head. Alarms were blaring. Sirens wailing. She was struggling to stay conscious, so many questions, so many things she wanted to say. Part of her was absolutely furious, baleful, wanting to strangle him for missing out on a decade of Birthdays, Halloweens and Christmases. Sure, she'd had Rupe and Gigi and Mom but…no Dad.
Yet truth be told, so much of her was simply glad to have her father here and talking to her.
"I was driving through San Francisco on business. I'm an IRS agent now, so I have to go where they need me. But since I was so close to Hawaii and I had a some time off, I thought it would be good for me to spend Christmas here! With you and your mother!" He sighed wistfully. "I miss Moley."
"…Moley?" Myrtle remarked with a raised eyebrow.
"Oh, you don't know!" Henry chuckled. "Your mother has a mole on her-that is…I…well…" He trailed off. "Just a pet name. She'll get it." He said, gesturing with his hand. "So why don't we head home and see her?"
"Uh, well…sure! Yeah!" Myrtle said with a cheery nod as she rose up, turning to her dear pet and friend. "Isn't this great, Gigi? Oh, Mom's gonna flip!" Myrtle exclaimed, giddily rubbing her hands together.
"Sure! Yeah, this is great." Gigi said. Inwardly though, she was cringing nervously. She really, truly wanted Myrtle to be happy. She loved Myrtle dearly, the redhead had always taken good care of the Shi-Tzu-esque experiment. But she had a bad feeling about this. After all, Mr. Edmonds had been gone for a decade. Mrs. Edmonds was going to be pretty shocked, to say the least. Would she be able to handle it?
MEANWHILE…
Mrs. Edmonds was currently in the living room, getting an examination of her casted-up foot from a white-furred rodentine creature with rabbit-esque ears, a long tail with a tuft at the end, big feet and a cute little pink nose with piercing red eyes. He wore a labcoat over a big blue shirt and was currently filling out a prescription, his voice having a faint Eastern European accent to it.
"Just don't put any pressure on it, take this much Ibuprofen and you'll be fine, mon frere. To be honest, not much need for a prescription. It's Ibuprofen. I could open your mouth and just toss a bunch of them at you and whatever landed inside, that's the right dose." Dr. Rupert Jacques von Hamsterviel remarked, the shiny "H" buckle on his belt glittering gold. They heard the front door opening and Hammy nonchalantly hopped off the table he as standing on, Mrs. Edmonds rising up as she smiled at the two entrees to her home, her glasses-wearing face beaming with warmth.
"Good afternoon Myrtle, Henry, how-" She stopped mid-sentence, gaping in surprise, her poofy red hair sticking up even more as she almost fainted on the spot, clutching at her chest, pointed nails digging into the green t-shirt she wore beneath her short-sleeved whitish/blue jacket. "Henry?" She murmured.
"Mol, gotta say, good to see that even after all these years, you're still as beautiful as the day I met you." Henry said with a big smile, Hammy gaping at the realization.
"Oh. Your father." He murmured. "Well, um…Guten Tag!" He said with a nervous grin. "I'm, ah…your family's doctor doing a housecall."
"We have gerbils doing housecalls in this town? Such strange and wondrous things I've missed out on." The stunned husband admitted as he rubbed his chin, Hammy frowning in irritation.
"HAMSTER. I am Hamster-like." He insisted.
"Why Myrtle, what a surprise this is! You should have told me he was coming! You…really should have told me, this is…wow." Mrs. Edmonds murmured, holding her head in one hand, taking in a few long, deep breaths. "I…I just…so you're here for the Christmas season, I take it?"
"I had some time off, so yes, I decided to come here. I know Hanukkah is winding down and Christmas is just a few days away, so I thought I should come here." Henry admitted with a big smile. "And Myrtle is just so excited about all this! She was kind of wound up, so we had a few drinks on the way here."
"WHAT?!" Mrs. Edmonds gasped out.
"He's kidding, he's kidding!" Gigi insisted, Dr. Hamsterviel cringing as he pulled his face down, then glanced out the nearby window, poking his head through the curtains. Phew. No sign of Lilo and Stitch. He had to use an image inducer whenever they were anywhere nearby because if they found out he was here and not in prison like he was supposed to be, they would flip. Especially since he was trying to start a family and really needed all the money he could get. And the Edmonds weren't just wealthy, they were very, very compassionate if you could get in good with them. It had also helped that he'd fixed Gigi's leg when she'd broken it on a Christmas similar to this.
"What're you doing?" Henry inquired as Hammy's tail shot up and he slowly turned around, cringing.
"Trying to hide." He admitted.
"I know the feeling. I'm an IRS agent. I get three bottles a day thrown at me." Henry admitted sympathetically, holding up his jacket and showing off his ripped-up shirt. "This was my last good shirt. Gonna have to go shopping! Again."
"You're really her father?" He asked. "Mol-I mean, Mrs. Edmonds and Myrtle always talked like he was a deadbeat who left his family to fix up a possibly failing tourism business."
"Yep. Sounds about right." Henry sighed, shaking his head back and forth and shrugging a bit. "It crashed and burned. That's why I never sent any checks."
"Well! Ah…welcome back to Kokaua Town, then!" Dr. Hamsterviel said cheerily, jabbing with his thumb at the back door. "I'll just be going. Ah, be sure to call me if that foot acts up!" He added with a nod at Mrs. Edmonds, heading for the back door as Mrs. Edmonds rubbed the back of her neck, nervously biting into her lip.
"Well, Henry, I admit, its very…surprising to see you back. So, ah…I imagine we have quite a lot to talk about! What have you been up to?"
"I wish I could say I was my own boss since I'm out on the road so much, but I go where the IRS needs me." Henry remarked.
"Yet you wouldn't come here, where Myrtle needed you." Was what Mrs. Edmonds wanted to say, but instead, she simply smiled. "You know, there's this lovely carnival in town that I think we could all go to together, as a family. Wouldn't that be nice? That sounds nice." She said, clasping her ringed hands together and cheerily grinning.
"Yeah, that's great!" Myrtle proclaimed, clapping her dad on her back as he cheerily ruffled her hair. "Let's get going!"
…
…
…
… "Wow. He's…really?" Lilo Pelekai asked, sitting in a chair at the carnival, eating some fried dough with her blue, koala-esque alien "dog", Stitch. Lilo was wearing a festive green and red jacket with mistletoe in her hair whilst Stitch watched the roller coaster cart that the Edmonds family was on do a loop-the-loop, Mr. Edmonds and Myrtle's hands in the air as the poor missus tried not to puke out snow cone all over. "I mean, he's really her father?"
Word got around very quickly in a small town. And Ahinahina had immediately informed Lilo of what he'd overheard. He had, however, been loathe to find out her boyfriend Christopher was also there was well. Christopher. With his perfect little smile and the fact he didn't have a stubby little tail-
"No, no. You will not get jealous. You will not get jealous. You will not eat the tires off his car. AGAIN. It's Christmas. Be charitable." Ahinahina thought to himself, forcing a grin on his face as he pushed his plate of fried dough over to the slightly messy-haired Christopher, black and green eyes staring into green. "Here, Christopher, I'm not gonna eat all of it, why don't you-" He struggled to find the words. "Be romantic and feed pieces of fried dough into Lilo's mouth?"
"Ooh, ooh, shoot 'em in!" Lilo insisted, opening up her mouth as Christopher took small pieces of the fried dough, tossing them at Lilo as she gobbled up a few, Stitch nodding his head.
"Aim uncanny." He admitted sagely, seeing Ahinahina was inwardly screaming inside his head. He could tell the Experimental American was jealous, but he wasn't sure why. But then, seeing Mr and Mrs. Edmonds walking away from the roller coaster with Myrtle by their side and Gigi hopping along made all four of them perk their heads in their direction, a warm fuzzy feeling rising in them. "Aloha." Stitch said, waving at Mr. Edmonds.
"Mr. Edmonds, I'm Lilo Pelekai. This is Stitch, Christopher, and Ahinahina. We're friends of your daughter." Lilo cheerily remarked. "You've been gone a while, huh?"
"Yes, and he's catching up, trying to make up for lost time." Myrtle said, every single one of them unaware that the tall, handsome human getting fried dough nearby was, in reality, Dr. Hamsterviel in an image inducer. He was sitting at a nearby table, slowing taking pieces off, watching Henry intently with a piercing look. Not that they could see that.
"And I heard you became an IRS agent after your tourism business failed? Say, does that pay well, by any chance?" Christopher wished to know, raising a thick eyebrow up.
"Oh, well, pretty well."
"Then how come naga sent money to Myrtle?" Stitch asked, Ahinahina elbowing him in the stomach, quickly and fervently shutting him up, Dr. Hamsterviel's disguised form gazing over at Henry.
"I guess I owe you an explanation, Myrtle." Henry admitted, Myrtle nervously grinning.
"Oh, uh, nah, I…I mean, no you don't…um…" She murmured.
"The day you were born, that was the happiest day of my life." Henry said with a big, cheery smile, putting a hand on her shoulder. "I didn't think I'd ever put you down. But…" He trailed off, biting his lip. "I began to think I wasn't ready to be a father. I was five years younger than your mother and I was selfish, cowardly…" He sighed. "One day I just panicked. Buried myself in work and left. Sorry."
"Look, why are you telling her this now? Telling US this now?" Mrs. Edmonds wanted to know, sighing as she folded her arms over her chest as she stood next to Myrtle, Henry turning over his hands.
"I'm a changed man. I want to be different, and to be a part of your lives." He insisted. "To really get to know the beautiful you that you grew up to be!" He told Myrtle. "You know, your mother wanted to get contacts, but I told her she didn't need to, she looked worldly and wise in glasses. And so do you." He added, nodding from Mrs. Edmonds to her daughter.
"Really? Wow."
"And I'll have you know that, as a government agent, I've been automatically trained to use a weapon. I've got the greatest marksmanship score in the whole IRS!" He added, putting a hand on his chest as Stitch snorted.
"Hah. Naga beat Stitch's score." He remarked, gesturing at the "Shoot the Targets" booth over by the Candy Cane stand. Mr. Henry grinned, pointing a finger at Stitch.
"You're on. Wanna see your old man clean this koala's clock?" He asked Myrtle, giving her a "c'moonnnn" jab to the stomach as she finally grinned and walked over to the glowing neon booth, the experiment named Gunner grinning up at them as he twirled one of the stand's fake guns, the vaguely reptilian/kangaroo-esque being passing both Stitch and Henry a weapon.
"Okay, sissies. There's two types of people in this world. Those who can shoot…and those who get shot. Show me which one you are, new meat." He told Henry. "But the veteran here shoots first."
Stitch grinned, holding up the fake pistol as Gunner pressed a button on the stand. The far wall instantly popped buttons up, Stitch firing off little lasers that made the buttons light up in red and green and white like a Christmas tree, harmonies ringing out with each blast. "Better watch out! Better not cry! Better not pout! Tellin' you why! 626-is-gunning-you-doooown!"
"Not bad. But lemme tell you a little secret I'll bet you didn't know. Santa's secretly a CIA spook. How else would he see when you are sleeping and know when you're awake?" Henry wisecracked, holding up his fake pistol and taking aim, Myrtle grinning broadly as her dad began blasting away at the buttons, Stitch gaping in surprise as Henry fired and fired. Within a few seconds, he'd hit about a dozen more than Stitch had in the time limit, and finished it off with a twirl of his pistol, blowing fake smoke off of it as Stitch gaped in amazement.
"Wow. You're something special." Gunner complimented as Myrtle happily hugged him and beamed in delight.
"He's my dad." She said with a grin.
THE NEXT DAY…
"It was amazing, I tell you! We rolled every roller coaster in the park, won every single prize and the backseat of my car is now stuffed with so many plushies you could have a Furry convention in our driveway." Mr. Edmonds admitted as he ruffled Myrtle's hair, Dr. Hamsterviel looking over Mrs. Edmonds's leg, since it appeared to be flaring up with pain again.
"It's good to see you're having such a…good time. Yes." Dr. Hamsterviel said, Gigi flashing him a worried expression that made him raise a nonexistent eyebrow up. Something was bothering her, but she wasn't saying what.
"I have to get back on the road in a few days, but you know, I'd like to take Myrtle with me on my trip to Seattle. I mean, it'd be a great way for her to see more of America, get to spend some time with her old man, then I could come back just after New Years!" Mr. Edmonds remarked with a shrug. "Sounds fun, right?"
"Yeah, sounds…interesting. You're clearly really hitting it off with Myrtle." Mrs. Edmonds remarked. "I…um…"
"We're gonna go to Seattle? Really?" Myrtle asked as Dr. Hamsterviel saw the look that had been in Gigi's eyes was now being reflected in Mrs. Edmonds.
"Um, Mr. Edmonds, ah…could you, by chance, leave the room? I think I need to have a private moment with Mrs. Edmonds and her daughter. You're not technically part of my private practice coverage so you don't count under the whole "doctor-patient confidentiality" plan." Hammy remarked with a slightly tart tone, Henry nodding a bit and leaving the room as Myrtle glanced from him to the others, the door finally closing.
"What's this all about?"
"Look. This is a bad, BAD idea." Mrs. Edmonds said. "I don't want you going anywhere with him. Your father was gone for a decade and he can't just waltz back in here and act like nothing really changed. He's got a lot to make up for! I mean…" She held her head in one hand, shaking it back and forth, her tone slightly rising. "I want him back in our lives too but, I mean…he didn't even pick up the damn phone, Myrtle!"
"He made a mistake." Myrtle grumbled darkly, folding her arms over her chest.
"Myrtle, mon cherie, please hear me out as well. Your father being here is clearly stressful on your mother. There's a lot of issues you both need to work out. And its simply a bit too much for him to expect you to immediately go with him, he hasn't exactly earned back the trust-"
"If I can forgive him, you should too, Mom. And you!" She turned on Dr. Hamsterviel. "I thought you'd be happy for me, Rupert. Or are you just mad I've got a real fa-"
"Don't…you say that." Now the Muridean doctor was mad, a growl coming from his throat. "I know his type. I've seen it before. I'm just afraid he's doing this more for himself than you." Dr. Hamsterviel snapped. "I was there for Gigi. I was there for your mother. I've been there for you for almost a decade myself now!"
"Hey, hey, please. Let's all calm down, we can talk about this later." Gigi spoke up, popping up from the top of the couch and flopping down onto a pillow.
"There's nothing to talk about." Myrtle said. "I'm going with him. It's time we really made up for lost time. This'll be great!"
"You can't just-you're making a mistak-" Rupert began to say before Myrtle glared at him.
"Don't tell me what to do! You're just our doctor, not my dad!" She snapped, Rupert Jacques von Hamsterivel's mouth falling open before he slowly curled his tail around himself and hopped off the table he'd been in, heading out the back door, head hung low as Myrtle stormed off for her bedroom, Mrs. Edmonds holding her head in her hands, sighing quietly.
…
…
…
… "What nerve. What…what gall." Hammy muttered as he lied down behind the counter in the convenience store, Gigi sitting next to him as Ahinahina poured another wine cooler for him from his alcoholic section. "The audacity of that…I mean…who does she think she is?!"
"She's just upset." Gigi insisted gently, putting a paw on his furry white arm, his labcoat tossed to the side, Hammy now utterly naked and smelling very strongly of wine as he hiccupped and downed another cooler, Ahinahina cringing.
"I was there for her. Whether it was a pat on the head, a flu vaccine or fixing your leg. I was there." Rupert muttered, his voice kind of hoarse and accusatory as Ahinahina gave him a sympathetic nod.
"Believe me, I know how it feels to know you've been there for somebody for so long…and to know feel like they really appreciate all you've done." The necklace-wearing experiment sympathetically sighed, scratching his hairy grey chest with his sharp black claws.
"She is being so selfish. It just feels like none of that matters now since Henry showed up." Hammy muttered as he tossed down yet another wine cooler and hiccupped, a bubble rising up from his mouth. "That dirty piece of schisse. Oui, I would kick him in the hiney if I was large enough to-" His muttering began to devolve into more Muridean swears before Gigi whacked him in the face. "HEY! What gives?!"
"Somebody is being selfish. But it isn't Myrtle."
"…sigh." Hammy groaned, tugging his long ears down and biting into his lip. "You're right. I HATE it when you're right. Why did Jumba design you so…bitingly intelligent?"
"Because he wanted me to be good at biting in every single way." She said with a grin, Hammy sighing as he put on his labcoat and his image inducer. "Now go apologize."
And where was Myrtle, you may ask? Well, Myrtle was cheerily packing a bag in her room, Mrs. Edmonds rubbing the back of her neck as she stood in the hallway outside. She'd been at it for half an hour now and was working herself into a frenzy. "You're sure about this?" Molly Edmonds nervously murmured. "I mean…really sure?"
"Absolutely! You know, it's funny. This Christmas, I'd been thinking I was never gonna see my dad again. I mean, I couldn't even think about it because I knew it'd never happen. And now it's really happening! It's like a miracle!" Myrtle admitted with a cheery grin, putting some socks into the suitcase she had on the bed, stuffing them deep down past her underwear. "A Christmas miracle."
A few minutes later though, a knock came at the door and Myrtle turned to see a slightly hiccupping, red-nosed, wiping snot-from-his-arm Muridean doctor and her mother side by side. "Honey, um…me and Hammy said some things that were uncomfortable for you."
"I owe you an apology." Rupert remarked. "I meant what I said but I was still out of line." He mumbled, head hanging low.
"Rupert, look, I…I truly do appreciate everything you did for me." Myrtle said, taking in a deep breath before approaching the two. "And Mom, you've been amazing. Just amazing. I'm so glad you didn't freak out over Gigi talking. And you provided for me for years! You threw me amazing birthdays, got me great dolls, you were there when I was sick…and then YOU were there when I was really sick." She said, smiling at Hammy. "It's just not about you. It's something I have to do for me, y'know? I mean, it's my Dad!"
"I know. And…I hope you have a good time." Hammy remarked with a nod as he and Mrs. Edmonds headed back downstairs, Myrtle smiling before holding her stomach, eyes widening. Uhoh. All the carnival food they'd been eating the past few days was now ready to come out in the worst way possible. With a gurgly groan, she raced for the bathroom.
"Ooh. I told her, she shouldn't scarf down funnel cake so quickl-" Mrs. Edmonds admitted as they descended down the stairs, taking notice of Henry, who was standing by the doorway, rubbing his hands together, smiling in a slightly nervous fashion. "Oh. Henry, what's wrong?"
"I just got off the phone with my boss. I'm not going to Seattle. Gotta head to DC immediately. We've been getting reports of some people worshipping the creatures here and I need to file a report whilst also bringing over some "For-Their-Eyes-Only" packages in San Francisco. Would you believe Oahu made a Church devoted to beings like you?" He told Gigi as she gave him a glowering look before "harrumphing" and storming off to the kitchen to drown her sorrows in water.
"Wait. What?" Mrs. Edmonds said, mouth hanging slightly open in surprise. "Okay, uh…well, I guess you and Myrtle better get going."
"Ohhh, well, thing is, I need to drive all the way to DC and regulations say I can't bring a family member to work there without pre-approval. And I'll need an extra driver to keep driving the car when I fall asleep, so I'm picking up a fellow IRS agent in San Fran who'll help us get to DC in time."
"Oh. Ohhh. So there won't be any room for Myrtle. I could, y'know, get her a plane ticket and call your bosses. She could meet you in DC and you could spend a few days there?" Myrtle offered as Henry rubbed the back of his neck.
"Well, thing is, I'm on bad terms with my boss and I don't want to push my luck. If I suck up to him and get there in time, he could get me this great assignment I've been wanting down in Las Vegas, trying to bust fraudulent churches. You know what I mean?" He remarked.
"Oh, yes, we…know what you mean." Hammy murmured quietly. "…Myrtle is going to be crushed, Mr. Edmonds."
"Yes, well, that's why I was thinking perhaps you'd best break the news to her?" Henry asked. "Mol, I know you could explain it so she won't feel upset." He remarked, gesturing at her as the snowflakes kept wafting down past the window, yet even despite how chilly it was inside the house and outside…a furious, boiling warmth was rising in Rupert Jacques von Hamsterviel's tiny body as Molly Edmonds struggled not to scream in fury.
"Ah…um…I…" Molly tried to find the right words.
"…I need to leave the room right now." Hamsterviel murmured. "Or I shall say something very…unpleasant. And DO something even more so." He snapped, exiting the room as Molly folded her arms across her chest.
"Sit down, Henry." She insisted.
"I don't have time for a lecture, Molly, you can't talk to me like-"
"OH, YES, I CAN!" Mrs. Edmonds snapped, Henry sitting down on the couch in the living room as her eyes blazed darkly behind her glasses. "I honestly wasn't sure if I believed you're really an IRS agent now. But I don't care if you are or aren't. I don't care what you do." She told him, pointing accusingly. "You know, Myrtle was doing fine until you just showed up. But now that you're back, you have responsibilities to her!"
"Look, we're still going to take that trip 'round-" Henry began to say.
"The HELL you will." Molly snapped. "Myrtle isn't a coat you just hang on the wall until you're ready to pick it up! She isn't supposed to be here for you, YOU'RE supposed to be here for her! You could have called! Written! Done something! You never did anything! And then you just waltz back in for a few days and then take off before Christmas for some job?! I…" She held her head in her hands, taking a few steps away and biting into her lip. "You used to care so much. Then bit by bit you started to drift. Even then I thought you'd come back one day. I wanted to believe you'd own up to what you did. But whatever you're doing seems to matter more than checking in on your own family after a decade of being away."
She slowly turned around, eyes haunting and accusatory. "Nothing's worth that. You were supposed to be there for her. And for me. I put my trust in you."
"It just HAPPENED, I…"
"Don't you give me that! You had a choice! You made a…I can't even!" Molly Edmonds groaned, waving a dismissive hand in the air. "I'm not doing your dirty work. You tell her yourself."
"I'll call her from the road, then." Henry said, beginning to make for the doorway before Myrtle cheerily called out.
"Hey! Dad! Aloha! How's it going?" She called out, heading down the stairs with her suitcases, a backpack slung over her shoulder as Gigi peeked in from the kitchen, Hammy peeking in as well from the bathroom, biting his lip as Henry smiled that nervous smile.
"Hey, sweetie, ah, glad you're here! I, uh…I've got some bad news. Some business came up, and I need to go." He admitted, gesturing with a hand. "So we're gonna have to put that trip on hold, okay? You understand, right?"
"Yeah. Yeah, I…I understand." Myrtle said quietly, though Hammy could see she was now gripping the suitcases in her hands with increasing tightness and ferocity.
"Just for a few weeks, maybe a bit longer." Henry admitted. "I'll call you when I get to DC, alright? We can iron out the details."
"Yeah, uh, sure. Mmm-hmm." Myrtle said with a nod and a shrug, though her smile had dropped a bit as Henry patted her on the shoulder.
"It was good to see you, Myrtle." He insisted.
"You too. Henry." She remarked quietly, Henry's face slightly falling, his head sinking a bit before he turned, heading out the door and to his car as Hamsterviel closed it.
"I'm…I'm so sorry." He murmured quietly, Gigi nuzzling up against Myrtle's leg as she put one of the suitcases down, plopping the bag down by the staircase as she walked into the living room, Mrs. Edmonds trying to find the right words to say once again. But now the hurt and the pain bubbled forth from Myrtle as her voice became tense and increasingly more high-pitched and furious.
"Y'know, this…this isn't a big deal! I mean, why should I be mad? He actually said goodbye this time! Besides, I mean…Seattle woulda been boring anyway. Just…just mad I wasted time on buying this stupid extra suitcase present." She muttered, holding up the suitcase she hadn't yet put down, tossing it to the floor.
"I'm sorry. If…if there was something I could say to make it all better-" Mrs. Edmonds began to get out.
"Hey! Heyy, no, no, I mean, it's fine!" Myrtle said, her voice cracking a bit. "I mean, I'm not 8 anymore! I can handle this! I'm not going to be sitting up every night like I was, wondering where he's gone! And y'know, I did alright! I did alright, didn't I?" She added, putting her hands on her chest, gritting her teeth, the tears beginning to come to her eyes, stinging harsh and cruel. "I finally got guys to notice me, I've got great grades in class! He didn't teach me how to ski or how to build a snowman. It wasn't him that was by my side when I was really sick with the flu four years back and I was vomiting all through Christmas eve! I learned how to drive a car without him, learned how to do my laundry without him, had ten great birthdays and amazing Hanukkahs and Christmases without him! TEN!" She screeched out, slamming her fist against her chest. "I did just fine!"
"Myrtle…" Gigi whispered softly.
"And you know what? You know what?! He never even sent me a fucking Christmas card! SO TO HELL WITH HIM!" She screeched, turning to glare off at the door Henry had walked out of. "And y'know what?" She added, giving a quiet, angry little snort of a chuckle. "I'm gonna go to college, get a real job without him, get married without him and y'know what? You know what?! I am gonna be a better parent to my family than he was to me. I'm not gonna just up and leave my kids because I'm scared! There ain't a damn thing he could teach about how to love my Ohana!" She shrieked. "A damn thing!"
She stopped yelling then, her voice hoarse and bloodied and raw, the tears now dripping down her cheek as she fell to her knees, covering her face with her hands, her body wracked with sobs as the snowflakes continued to gently fall.
"…why doesn't he want us?" She managed to ask her mother, Molly Edmonds quickly embracing her daughter from the left, getting to her knees as Rupert gently held her right, Gigi lovingly patting her dear Myrtle's back, the snowflakes continuing to drift slowly past the windowpane. Bells from the church chimed through the air as the sun began to set and Christmas Eve began to roll around. Lilo and Stitch, out in the driveway, poked their heads up against the windowpane, glancing at each other…before giving themselves a solemn nod, heading back the way they'd come. They could wait to give the present tomorrow. They understood.
After all…
Christmas deserved to be spent with your family.
With the ones who loved you above all else.