Three Gifts

"Make sure you get home safely," Gill advised Owen as he finished writing his signature, approving Owen's purchase of a new plot of land up in the Garmon Mine district. "I know you spend all your time outside and you're used to this sort of thing, but it's pretty nasty out there. I wouldn't want you to slip on the bridge."

"Thanks, but you worry too much," Owen laughed as he gave a strong, light-hearted slap to Gill's left shoulder. "Besides, I'm spending it Kathy at her place. It's a holiday, so we might as well celebrate in the best way possible, right?"

"Right…" Gill groaned as he rubbed his shoulder. The slap hurt almost as much as the stress headache that he had had off and on over the past few weeks. When Owen mentioned celebrating in "the best way possible," he didn't know if he was talking about the drinking he would probably be doing tonight or something else entirely, but that (especially the latter part) was none of his business. He was a little bit annoyed that the muscular blacksmith wasn't taking the weather seriously, but on a night like this, he chose not to let it bother him too much. "Just be safe. Last thing we need is another funeral during the holidays."

"Yeah, you're right," Owen agreed, his voice suddenly growing soft when Gill said the word "funeral". "Well, I'll be going now. You and the Misses have a good night, okay?"

"Yes, thank you. Merry Christmas." Once Owen was gone, Gill let out a sigh of relief. That was the last business of the evening that he needed to be taken care of, and now, he was free. Quickly but carefully, he filed the rest of the papers on his desk and put everything else back in its proper place. "Time to get home," he said to himself, a little smile emerging on his face as he slipped into his thick, wool coat. Tonight was going to be a good night, he told himself.

Once he left the Mayor's office and locked the door behind him, he noticed how the snow and ice had gotten a lot thicker since the afternoon, save where the salt was spread on the streets. The sky was already dark, but thankfully, the street lamps made him feel a bit better. All around, the snowflakes drifted gently towards the earth, creating a lovely scene.

Christmas Eve… This holiday now had a bitter-sweet connotation for Gill. The bitter part was due to the death of his father, Mayor Hamilton, last year. Hamilton had passed away in his sleep on the night of the 23rd, taking the entire island of Castanet by surprise. In hindsight, it wasn't so astonishing. His father had indulged in unhealthy eating habits for years and he rarely exercised. Still, the man seemed healthy enough, so his death did seem to come out of nowhere. While Gill was never emotionally close with his father like he was with his mother, Goddess rest her soul, he was still distraught by his father's sudden passing. The entire holiday that year was spent in a blur as funeral preparations were made and the town held an emergency election. Gill ran unopposed, becoming the town's youngest mayor in the town's history at the age of twenty-four. He had been preparing for this role for his entire life and his first year had been a political success, but his life was still riddled with the unfortunate circumstance of his father.

On the other hand, the sweet part of this season, Gill loved Christmas, and this Christmas in particular was going to be great. Tonight, he would be holding small dinner party consisting of his family and friends. But more importantly, it would be his first Christmas with Luna… well, married to Luna that is, given that he was "with" her last year. He wouldn't let past tragedies interrupt his present and future with his wife and his soon to be born son or daughter.

The walk home was incredibly short and when Gill opened the door, he was greeted with the heat of the fireplace and the pleasant smell of the baking pumpkin and blackberry pies, mixed with the aroma of a seasoned turkey, red herb mashed potatoes, and peas among other foods. Upon the opening of the door, a rush of cold air alerted the chefs at work that Gill was home. Two of these chefs were Maya and Chase. Maya was good friends with Luna, so naturally, she was invited to tonight's gathering, bringing Chase with her. Gill wasn't certain of what Chase and Maya's relationship was, given how the two of them were as different as night and day and they fought like cats and dogs. Still, if Maya brought Chase, they must have had some common ground (which he assumed was their love of food). Next to them was Candace, Luna's sister, easily identified by her long, blue braids. She was a talented seamstress, but a very quiet individual. So quiet, that despite being Gill's sister-in-law, he couldn't remember having more than ten conversations with her in all the years that they had known each other. Strangely enough, other than Luna, the only person Candace ever talked to was Julius, who had not arrived yet. But of the four people cooking in Gill's kitchen, the one that caught his eye the most was Luna.

When she turned her head to see him, her sapphire-colored eyes lit up and her mouth burst into a wide grin. It was if she hadn't seen him in years, although it had only been nine hours. "Gill!" She dropped her spoon and ran to his side, embracing him in a tight hug. It would have been tighter if it weren't for the bump on her belly, but he would never complain about that. "I'm so glad you're home."

"Me too," he answered as he tightened his embrace, inhaling the scent of her pink hair, pulled to both sides in large pigtails. His hand trailed down her red, ornate dress that flowed down to her knees, and he slowly touched the spot on her belly next to where the baby rested. One more month. "Where is your grandmother? I thought you said she was coming."

"Well, she was, but she's spending the holiday with Jin and Irene. Said something about how sad it is that they spend Christmas alone…"

"Alright." Gill then noticed how tired his young wife looked. She had done most of the planning and preparing for this event and it showed on her careworn face. "Are you feeling alright? How long have you been on your feet today?"

"I'm fine," she assured him. "Take off your coat and come in. Dinner will be ready soon."

"Already?" Although he had spent his whole day at work, Gill felt bad that his very pregnant wife had spent her day toiling over a stove. "Please, sit down. Let me help."

"Gill, I'm fine," Luna giggled as she reached up and undid the buttons on his coat. But Gill was not satisfied.

"Luna, please, for the baby, take a rest. I don't want an incident like what happened last week happening again. It would be-"

"Again with this?" Luna snapped, stepping back and putting her hands on her hips as her face grew cherry red with anger. "Damn it Gill, I'm fine! I think I would know if I was going to pass out. It happened once and I know it won't happen again."

"You know…" Gill murmured in response so that he could break the tension, "you're absolutely adorable when you're pouty." He let a small grin show through that left Luna speechless in fury. He knew she hated the word "adorable". To her it had a connotation of childishness. But the way Gill had phrased it made it sound like he was calling her cute, leaving her in a state of confusion regarding what she would do next. He felt a bit proud of himself. A little over a year ago, he would never have flirted with her like this. But to his surprise, Luna took in a deep breath and exhaled it slowly, calming herself.

"I didn't mean to yell. Just these hormones… They're driving me nuts." She let her arms hang down. "If you really want, I'll take a break. You can work on mashing the potatoes."

"Very well." He gave her a quick kiss before taking off his coat completely and taking Luna's place in the kitchen. For a second, he was concerned about cooking in his clothes, given that he was wearing his good white vest and pants, but it was too late to back out. He took the masher and began to mash at the boiled potatoes, but he barely made three strokes before getting chastised by the chef to his right.

"Faster!" Chase snapped. "I want those to be smooth. No lumps!"

"Chase, be nice!" Maya whined.

"Yes, Chase," Gill said, rolling his eyes and the red-haired boy. He suddenly felt a bunch of unnecessary pressure. He wanted the food to be good, but Chase had ridiculously high standards. I really hope the others get here soon. Hopefully they bring worse food so that I don't get any more heat.

"HELLOOO EVERYBODY!" As if on cue, Julius entered the house, looking as flamboyant as ever in his purple, fur-tipped coat that matched his multi-colored hair. Despite the wind and the snow, he didn't seem frazzled by the weather at all. "I brought the fruit salad!"

If Gill could read minds, he imagined that he'd hear Luna and Chase groaning at Julius's "spectacular" entrance. Luckily, Candace was much happy to see him. Like the case with Maya and Chase, Gill didn't know exactly what the relationship was between the Candace and Julius, given that they were complete opposites of each other, other than their love of clothes. That being said, while Julius was known to bully Candace from time to time over her "lack of style" as he put it, they rarely fought and seemed to be very good friends. Luna wasn't the most pleased with their friendship, but she did like that somebody gave Candace attention.

"T-thanks… Just put it on the table," Candace told him. She hadn't said a word since Gill had arrived, but now, she wore a soft smile. Gill just didn't get it.

"Thank you sweetie," he replied, winking at her. Gill turned back to his food, but he couldn't escape Julius. He knew that the jewelry maker was behind him just by the smell of his lavender perfume.

"My, my, aren't you busy. I hope you don't spill those on that vest of yours. It would be quite a shame to stain such lovely clothes, Gilbert."

"Thanks for the warning," Gill replied, tensing up somewhat. Julius had no concept of personal space and right now, he was completely breaching Gill's. Luckily, it didn't take long before he moved on to Chase, pestering him over his preparation of the turkey. From the corner of his eye, Gill could see Chase's blood boil up in his face. Either Julius didn't know how sensitive Chase was about his cooking or he simply didn't care. It was then when Gill recognized that this dinner party was a recipe for a possible disaster. Putting Chase, Maya, Julius, and his wife in a room together… all of those differing, explosive personalities trying to coexist for a few hours seemed impossible. This wasn't going to make his headache any better. And there was still one more guest that Gill was really concerned with. "Where is Kasey?"

"Hopefully not coming," Luna said bluntly, not caring who heard her. Some people may have thought she was joking, but Gill had known her long enough to know the difference.

"That's not nice," Gill told her as he turned away from the sufficiently mashed potatoes to face her, a slight tone of annoyance in his voice directed at Luna's rude remark. "What did he ever do to you?"

"Nothing. I like Kasey. He's a nice guy. It's his girlfriend that pisses me off."

Several minutes later, that fateful knock on the door sounded. By now the food was already set out on the old oak table in the center of the room and everybody was getting ready to sit down and eat. Gill went to answer his door and as expected, Kasey was there, wrapped up in a gray, wool coat and a blue scarf. His medium length brown hair was tussled by the wind, but he looked as good as he always did with a positive attitude to match.

"We brought swordfish," he announced, holding up a large dish with a marinated fish inside. If it tasted as good as it smelled, Gill couldn't wait to try it.

"Thank you, it's good to see you," he greeted, giving his friend a par on the back of his shoulder. While Gill was not disliked by anybody on the island, he didn't have many people that he would consider friends, other than Luna. Kasey was the surprising exception to the rule. Almost two years ago when he arrived at Castanet, his hard work on the abandoned farm stimulated the town's economy. At the same time, under the direction of the Harvest Goddess, he found and rang the five bells, revitalizing the island. Throughout this process, Kasey looked to Gill for guidance, both in running the farm and understanding what he had to do to save the island. Through this business relationship of sorts, the two became friends, and in an informal return of gratitude, Kasey helped Gill in his pursuit of Luna. He was Gill's best man at the wedding for a reason. Yes, Gill was happy to see Kasey, but he was concerned with his date for the evening.

"Oh, it's so cold. I hope you have a fire going," an accented voice chimed in. In strode the sultry redhead, Selena, looking as gorgeous as always. Not that Gill would let Luna know that he thought that.

"Well, maybe you should have worn something thicker," Luna commented snidely from her chair.

"I'll find a way to manage," Selena replied, her tone souring some as she frowned. It was true that Selena was wearing clothing that didn't seem suitable for the winter. For shoes, all she wore was thin moccasins without socks and her green, detailed dress left little of her voluptuous body to the imagination. It was like the one of the dresses she wore at the bar where she danced.

Gill, like many people, didn't have a problem with Selena. While she didn't like talking with most people, she wasn't a bad person. In fact, people who were friends with her (such as Kasey) said that she was incredibly nice. That being said, it wasn't so visible behind her exterior personality, which was chillier. As for her and Luna, the two of them disliked each other greatly. Gill wasn't quite sure how it started, but he knew that both were at fault from time to time. If she wasn't Kasey's plus one, she would never have been invited.

"Selena," he greeted politely.

"Gill, it is so generous of you to have us for dinner," Selena answered before coming in close and kissing him on the cheek, forcing his cheeks into a flush. He could almost hear Luna mentally screaming at this. Sure enough, when he turned to see her, he could tell she was holding in rage. He wasn't sure if Selena had kissed him because she was trying to unnerve Luna or it was because the affection was just her being polite. Either way, he figured that he would be yelled at later.

"Alright everybody, before we eat..." They had all joined the table now and Gill raised his glass to summon their attention. Normally, he didn't drink, but since it was a special occasion and since most of the dinner guests liked alcohol, everybody (except Luna) had a glass at their place. "As you know, my father died around this time last year. It was a tragic time for me, but I know that he would not want me to associate this day with loss. So tonight, I would like to make a toast to all of you. So here's to us, family and friends. May we have a merry Christmas tonight and for many years to come." There was chatter of agreement, a clanging of glasses, and then, the meal began.

There was a lot of talking at the table. With eight people sharing a table, the conversation divided amongst the guests. Maya, Chase, and Julius chattered over the food, Kasey and Selena talked "cutely" with each other (much to most of the guests' annoyance), and Luna talked with Candace, keeping her from otherwise sitting in silence. Gill would talk to everybody from time to time, but mostly he sat and observed. The dinner was going well so far with little controversy. Maybe it was the good food that kept the contrasting personalities from clashing. But of course, just as he was thankful for that…

"Luna, you're eating so much for such a tiny girl. I wish I could do that while keeping my figure. But I guess you're confident." Selena delivered these lines with such sweetness in her voice that Gill couldn't tell if she was trying to get a rise out of Luna or not. Luna did have a lot of food on her plate, but since she was eating for two, nobody thought anything of it.

At Selena's words, Luna scowled, saying nothing. She had been on her best behavior all evening, but it was obvious that she was reaching the edge of her patience. Gill gave her hand a light squeeze as if to say "keep it up", and when Selena went back to talking with Kasey, Luna turned to him and in a low voice, bitterly asked him, "Can you believe her?"

"No… I don't know if she's doing it on purpose. Kasey says that she's really sweet most of the-"

"Of course you try to defend her," she growled in frustration. Then, her eyes lit up with fire. "You liked it when she kissed you, didn't you? That's what this is about?"

"Of course not. I was… incredibly indifferent to that kiss." While he was being truthful, it was the wrong answer.

"Hmph, the correct answer would be that you were disgusted by it," she told him, crossing her arms and leaning back in her chair.

"Oh Luna…" Gill shook his head, letting out a soft groan. He was enjoying the dinner, but the noise of the talking and his wife's displeasure were hurting his head again.

"You alright?" Luna suddenly asked him, sitting up and touching his head. "You don't look well."

"It's my head. It's been causing me a lot of pain lately." It was a casual comment, but the mere mention sent Luna overboard.

"Oh my Goddess, this is my fault," she said, clutching his arm. "I shouldn't have said those things. I know that you love me. It's just- It's just-"

"Hormones?" he asked, nudging her lightly. She laughed.

"Look," he continued, "it's not that bad of a headache. I saw Dr. Jin the other day and he said he'll bring by some pills when they're delivered from the mainland."

"Okay, as long as it's just a little thing. It's going to be an exciting month. Christmas tonight, New Years in a week, baby within the month… I can't wait till the baby is born," she murmured, her eyes growing dreamy as she shifted the subject as she rubbed a hand over the bump. "I feel like our family will really begin when he or she is born… not that it hasn't already."

"I understand… We need to decide on names, don't we?" It was something that they had discussed already and they narrowed it down to a few choices. "What do you think?"

"Well…" she said, smiling widely, "if it's a boy, I like the name Gabriel. But if it's a girl… Vivian. I really like Vivian."

Vivian. It was a name that Gill had suggested; his mother's name. He had only mentioned it once, but Luna had picked up on it. She must have known how important it was to him.
"I really like those names." He gave her a light squeeze and they returned to their food. The dinner was almost over, so they enjoyed the rest of the meal, knowing that with all of the hungry mouths at the table, there wouldn't be many leftovers.

With eight hands, the cleaning went by quickly. The socializing began again all over the main room. Luna had baked gingerbread cookies and Maya was stuffing her mouth with them while Chase chastised her. "Come on, they aren't even that good," he whispered to her so that Luna wouldn't be cross with him.

Julius and Candace were talking over near the fireplace. From what Gill could tell, Julius was speaking in a low voice and he wasn't acting as vibrant as he normally did. Perhaps it was an intimate conversation? He had never seen Julius behave this seriously before. Meanwhile, Kasey was sitting in the armchair with Selena on his lap, and he was feeding her a gingerbread cookie piece by piece. I guess that's cute… I wouldn't know, Gill thought to himself.

Luna sat on the sofa next to him, her head resting on his shoulder. He stroked her pink hair slowly as she breathed softly. In this moment, he felt incredibly fortunate to have her with him. Two years ago, he wouldn't believe that this would be his life. Though Luna and him had always been friends, they used to fight all the time over the littlest things… they still did sometimes, but they rarely stayed mad at each other like they used to. Still, while Gill did develop feelings for Luna, he had concerns over expressing them. She was four years his junior, and while that wasn't such a big difference now, he was too caught up in the difference in age that was more obvious when they were younger. He felt that asking her out would be weird, but Kasey was the one who convinced him to pursue with the ultimate words of wisdom: "Who cares? You like the girl. You're both adults. Just ask her out." At first, he felt that Kasey was a tactless moron, but now, he was glad he took the advice.

There was a soft knock at the door. No… not now… He kissed Luna on the forehead before shifting off the couch and walking to the door.

"Dr. Jin?" This was a surprise. He figured Jin would be celebrating with Irene and Shelly, but then again, maybe not. He remembered a time when Jin was married to a young woman who had died… like Gill's father, this woman died around Christmas. Maybe that's why Jin didn't celebrate this time of year.

"Mr. Mayor," he greeted, pushing a strand of windblown black hair off of his serious, bespectacled face. "I'm sorry I interrupted your evening. I just realized that your pills did come in. Irene missed giving them to me. Here." He handed the headache medication to Gill and continued. "There is something we need to discuss though.

"Sure, come on it. There is still some food left that we can warm-"

"Gill… I think we should speak privately." The doctor seemed undisturbed by the cold air and the gently falling snow, so Gill stepped outside to join him, shutting the door behind him.

"Okay… What do you have to tell me?" he asked, now feeling concerned.

"You remember when I did a brief scan of your head when you came in, correct?"

"Yes, I do." Gill had slipped on the ice a couple of days after the headache started which was the other reason why he went to the doctor's office. He didn't have a concussion, but Jin had done a scan to make sure his skull wasn't cracked.

"Yes. Your skull was fine, but this bothered me." He took a paper from the clipboard he had carried with him. He handed it to Gill, but the young mayor squinted at it, confused.

"What am I looking at?" he asked. He could see the scan of his skull and brain, but everything looked fine.

"See this?" Jin asked, pointing at a spot on Gill's brain. "It's hard to tell, given the limitations of my equipment, but that lump there…" He stopped momentarily, deciding on how to phrase what he was going to say. "That… that may be a tumor."

The frozen air was nothing compares to the cold as the wave the flooded Gill's system. He felt his mouth drop open and his eyes widen at the news. No. You are mayor. You need to be strong. Forcing composure upon himself, he asked, "Is it bad?"

"It looks small and I doubt it's malignant, but I don't know," Jin answered, trying to be sympathetic. "I'm not the doctor you'd want to discuss with about this, but you'll need to have it removed. Even if it's benign, its very presence can cause serious problems for your health. The headaches are just the beginning. The good news is that it's on the surface of your brain. You can get it surgically removed if you have the money."

"Of course I have the money," Gill answered. Along with his well paying job as mayor, Gill's family was a family of "old money". That wasn't the thing he was worried about. "But what if it's not benign?"

"I don't know… it may have spread to other parts of your body. You'd probably have to get chemo… I'm sorry to tell you this now, on Christmas Eve and all, especially since you and your wife will be having a baby soon and-"

"No… you did the right thing by telling me." He thought of Luna, so wrapped up in excitement for the holiday and for the baby… this news would destroy her. "I'll tell her after Christmas… I'll come by in a couple of days and we can discuss treatment and contacting an oncologist from the mainland."

"Very well. I'm sorry. Sorry about all of this." Despite his cold tone, Gill could tell that he was sincere. "You have a good evening." Jin nodded and turned back to go home.

Once inside again, Gill stood in a state of shock, clutching the bottle of pills in one hand and his aching forehead in the other. How can this be? He had always eaten healthy, he rarely drank, and he never smoked. How could he have a tumor at such a young age and at this stage of his life when the town depended on him for leadership? Not just the town, but Luna and the baby too. The thought of his child growing up not knowing him made him shudder. Even if the tumor was benign like Jin had predicted, the situation was stressful nonetheless, and he really didn't want to worry Luna with it when she was eight months pregnant. That being said, he had to tell her. Not doing so would be dishonest. I just… I want to celebrate so many more Christmases with my family and my friends. This can't happen. Not now.

"You alright? You look cold." Luna had approached him, concerned with his blank expression. Touching his hand, she gasped, "You're really cold. What happened?"

"Jin gave me my pills," Gill answered, showing her the bottle. "I have to check in with him on the 26th."

Luna squinted at this delivery. She must have seen in his eyes that he was hiding something, but much to his surprise, she said nothing. Instead, she hugged his wind chilled body in a warm embrace. "Well… that's good. I'm just glad you're alright."

"Yes... I'm glad too." Gill tightened his grip on his wife and he looked up at the ceiling, trying to figure out how he would break the news to her. That's when he saw the mistletoe that he had hung up earlier that day. Not waiting for Luna to notice it, he crouched to kiss her on the lips. In this moment of uncertainty, this kiss almost felt as magical as the first one they shared over a year ago.

"I love you," he murmured into her ear after the kiss broke.

"I love you too," she returned.

In that embrace, Gill felt comforted. Things always had a way of working out. When his mother died, it hurt, but he grew stronger and overcame the loss His father's death hurt him too, but he found a way to be survive. This… this scared him, but everything would be alright, somehow or another. My three gifts in this uncertain world: my friends, my family, and my will to overcome. We'll overcome somehow.

Happy Holidays!