" Happy holidays ! " Cat practically bounced into school , stopping to hug Beck then Jade ," Happy Hanukkah! Merry Christmas ! It's a good day for hugs ! I feel like giving out hugs ! "

" Cat, enough ! " Jade pulled her best friend off of her ," go hug your nerd "

" Robbie isn't here yet ! He had to drop his sister off at the middle school so my Mom dropped me off before work ," Cat twisted a strand of red hair, excitedly ," I have such good news that I couldn't wait till tell everyone in person "

" Which would explain why we haven't gotten a text message from you in five minutes " teased Beck with a knowing smile . Cat lived on her pear phone .

" Hey guys , what goes on ?" Andre and Tori made their way over to Beck's locker together as Tori noticed that the other half of Cat was missing .

" Where's Robbie ?"

" He'll be here soon ," Cat couldn't contain her excitement ," I really want to wait to tell you until Robbie gets here but he must be driving slow today . Dang it ! "

" You never told your boyfriend this whatever this is that's got you so pumped first , Cat ?"

" No ! " bemoaned Cat ,in a tiny voice ," and I only just found out about it . You know maybe if I told you guys first and you promised not to repeat it to Robbie then I guess I can tell you my happy news "

The group let out a resigned sigh and nodded their agreement to this plan, anything to get Cat to stop rambling and tell them what had her bouncing about this early .

" Robbie got you pregnant "

Cat turned three shades of red and blushed in embarrassment ." Jade ! NO! "

" You're right, Andre , it is funny," decided Jade ," when its not directed at me and Beck "

" Told you it was though I'm keeping my music away from your scissors if I ever decide to ask you that again ,' conceded Andre, ruefully ," which I wont be doing "

" Jade and I are a long time away from having babies , dude "

" Stop talking about this , you guys ! Cat is about bursting from the seams ," interjected Tori , helpfully ," so we'll keep your secret from Robbie but what is it ?"

" My brother is coming home ! Dad is picking him up after work ! Steven will be home for Christmas ! He'll be home from the hospital tonight ! "

Cat's brother Steven had bipolar disease and had spent all summer recovering at the hospital so the fact that he was coming home was indeed good news for the Valentine family . They were a close knit family and this had been extremely difficult for them .

" That's awesome, Cat ! " Tori hugged her friend , warmly .

" I know ! " bounced Cat ,as Andre gave her a hug as well ," what's even better is that Mom says he is home for good . I'm so happy ! "

" We're happy for you , Cat " voiced Beck, quietly .

" So are you planning to make your brothers annual Christmas beef tonight ? " asked Jade .

" I want too but I think I should wait and see how my brother is first, Jade ," explained a thoughtful Cat ," he's been good on the new medicine and all but I don't want to overwhelm him or anything . " She heard her phone go off and looked at it ," Robbie got stuck in traffic so he'll be late . "

Typing quickly Cat sent her boyfriend off a text to brighten his morning .

Be careful. Miss you ! Love , Cat

" So we will if we don't get to Sikowitz's class ," brought up Beck," especially this time of the year because I cant tell if he was serious or not about us improving A Charlie Brown Christmas and I don't want to do that "

" I know , right " agreed Andre ," I never got those and that dog was strange "

" Go on to class ," Tori put her hand on Jade 's arm ," I need to talk to Jade about something ..go on now . "

Andre and Beck exchanged baffled looks but didn't question it and headed on towards first period acting class .

" What do you have to ask Jade , Tori ?"

" Um, something important about Christmas " answered Tori ," why don't you go to class and distract Andre and Beck for me ?"

" Kay Kay but you shouldn't be nosey during Christmas , Tori " With that , the redhead disappeared around the corner , texting Robbie , leaving the girls alone .

" Let go , Vega " Jade shook her arm off ," why'd you send Cat away ?"

" Because I don't want Cat to tell Andre what I need to talk to you about " Tori looked furtively around as if expecting her boyfriend to be hiding around corners listening ," looks like its all clear "

" You're being stupid again ," deadpanned Jade ," what is it , Tori ?"

" Do you know what Andre got me for Christmas ?"

Jade's blue eyes shot up in annoyance and amusement .

" Why would I care what Andre bought you, Vega ? I don't ..care ..at all "

" Are you lying , Jade ? Come on, I am dying here ! Andre insisted that I couldn't ask Beck, Robbie , or Cat but he never once mentioned you which makes sense because he would probably tell you because you wouldn't care one way or the other .

So, come on, jade , what did Andre get me ?"

Jade looked pained ." I don't care and this is really funny how pathetic you are if you cant wait a couple more days till the dude gives you the chizzin present "

" So its just the one present then ? "

" It's still early enough in the morning for me to strangle you with your scarf , Tori , and I promised Beck I would be nice until Christmas . Do you really want to tempt me ?"

" Strangling me is being nice ?"

" Yes ! I'm going to class ! " Stopping herself from the temptation of murdering Tori and burying the body , Jade strode down the hallway leaving the brunette alone .

Robbie made it to school just as first class let out but he didn't actually have a chance to talk to Cat until after their third period Tech Theatre class when they both had study hall.

The teacher was being super lenient since school was close to being out for the holidays so the couple lingered near his locker , catching up .

Cat had her arms hooked around his neck, smiling gently at him and savoring the feeling of his arms holding her close .

" Did you get your sister to school on time ? " inquired a curious Cat .

" Yes though why she had to change outfits three times this morning is beyond me ," rambled Robbie of his younger sister ," you don't do that . Do you ? You've always been ready to go when I pick you up to go anywhere "

Cat giggled and dropped a soft kiss to his lips ." Robbie , it takes me at least an hour to get ready for a date with you "

" I don't know why ," Robbie shook his brown curls ," you're already beautiful, Cat "

Cat kissed him again ." I have really good news, Robbie and I've just been dying to tell you about it but its not something to text about .."

" What is it , sweetie ?"

" Steven is getting out the hospital for good tonight ," announced Cat , beaming from ear to ear ," he'll be home for Christmas ! "

" Cat, that's awesome news ! I'm so happy for you and your family ," Robbie hugged her close ," See I knew he was much better the last time we went to visit him . "

Cat took his hands into hers and dropped a light kiss against his lips ." I knew you would be happy ! I have missed my brother so much all these months , Robbie "

" I know .." replied Robbie ,swinging her hand and deliberating on telling her his news which wasn't going to make her happy but he didn't want to spoil her good mood ," and Steven can go with you to Tori's Christmas party "

" With us , you mean, Robbie , since we're going together after we exchange our presents "

Robbie grew quiet and decided they had the hall to themselves so he might as well tell her the news that way Jade and Tori would be around to help .

" Uh, Cat, about our plans ," hedged Robbie, really wishing he was a braver man but he wasn't ," I was thinking maybe we could start some new tradition between us about the holidays "

Cat stepped back, looking curiously at her boyfriend ." Why would we want to change them ? We decided our plans together and you wanted us to exchange presents together before we went to the party…and snuggling in front of the fireplace "

" It's not that I want to actually change our plans but I sort of have to change them "

" I don't understand "

" My parents decided that we're going to spend Christmas as a family which means that we're going to visit Aunt Doris and Uncle Bruno this year ," explained Robbie , quietly ," I have to go , Cat. It is expected of me and I'm sorry .."

" But your aunt lives two hours away from here ," Cat's face fell as the realization dawned on her and the knot sunk to the pit of her stomach ," you..you wont get back in time for us to ….what about our first Christmas together ?"

" We'll have ours the day after and I can take you after Christmas shopping " rambled Robbie , trying to find something positive as he noticed her lower lip starting to tremble like it did when she was upset ," and we'll make it our First New Years still , sweetie "

" It's our first Christmas together , Robbie ! " Tears sprang to her eyes and she knew she was being unreasonable but she had so been dreaming of this wonderful, romantic Christmas with the man she loved and now he was going out of town ," I'm sorry ! "

Robbie touched her shoulder ." Cat , don't cry . Can we at least talk about this ?"

Cat shook her red hair vigorously ." I …no…I'm so upset ! We can talk later ! "

Choking back her sobs, Cat made a beeline for the girls bathroom , leaving Robbie feeling horrible and knowing it would be fine between them once she got over her upset .

He was disappointed too but he couldn't go against his father on this family thing .

" I thought we said no lame gifts this year, Beck ," argued Jade as she and her boyfriend joined the rest of their friends at the usual table at the Asphalt Café ," you cant just leave dorky gifts in my locker and not expect me to be wazzed off about it "

" It isn't dorky and you're wearing the present , Jade " Beck lifted her hand where a chunky black metal bracelet rested on her wrist ," and I know you love new scissors , babe, but sometimes I want to buy my girlfriend something besides scissors "

" Ohh let me see , Jade ," Tori wrenched the dark haired girls arm causing her to shoot her an evil glare but examined the bracelet ," oh wow , Beck and Jade forever . That is so sweet and so unlike either one of you "

" I had a poem but the man didn't get it and I thought it spoke the truth " told Beck , easily .

" Give me my arm, Vega " Jade yanked her arm away from the brunette and brushed her lips hotly over Beck's in a thank you ," and even though its lame, thanks "

" There still might be new scissors " Beck kissed the shell of her ear .

" Andre ?' Tori turned her gaze on her boyfriend who shook his head and chuckled at her .

" I didn't buy you any jewelry , baby, so you might as well stop guessing while your ahead cause you can be surprised "

Tori leaned against his shoulder and ran her fingers through his dreads , seductively .

" Dre, please ! One little hint is all I'm asking ..that isn't too much "

Andre kissed her swiftly ," Eat your French fries , Tor , cause I'm still not telling "

Frowning , Tori made a face at him and then glanced at Cat , who was picking at her salad and playing on her phone with a sad face .

" Are you still upset at Robbie ? "

" A little ," sighed Cat , " I really need to talk to him though "

" It's not his fault he has a family thing , Cat ," reminded Beck, patiently ," you know how horrible his Dad is …"

" Yeah , I know …" says Cat in a soft voice as she spotted her boyfriend coming around the corner ," there's Robbie . I need to go talk to him..byeeee ! "

Sprinting as fast as her legs could carry her , Cat stopped Robbie and pulled him back inside the empty hallway so that they could talk in private .

" Cat, will you at least let me explain better before you decide to be mad at me for the rest of the day ! You know I would rather spend the rest of the Christmas with you than with my Dad and Uncle Bruno in the same house but I cant do that to my sister or Aunt Doris or even Maw Maw ," went on Robbie , " and when we get married one day this is the crazy you'll be marrying into , sweetie "

" Robbie , I'm soo sorry ! " Cat launched herself into his arms, hugging his neck, tightly and he reached for her waist ," I was just so shocked and disappointed ! I wanted our first Christmas together to be so special and I was so wrong to be upset ! I'm so so sorry "

She pressed tiny kisses all over his face then kissed him tenderly ." I love you "

Robbie smiled against her lips ." I hate this too, Cat ! You know I would rather spend Christmas all cozy with you instead of going to listen to Dad argue politics with Bruno and Maw Maw all night . I don't want you to be upset with me over this …"

" I'm not ," Insisted Cat , empathetically ," I promise . We'll make our own Christmas when you get back and it will be even better , Robbie "

" I love you, Cat " Robbie whispered in her ear before drawing her into a slow , easy kiss just as Lane and Sikowitz rounded the corner , spotting the young couple .

" Cat ! Robbie ! The tree is not a kissing tree even though its Christmastime " told Lane .

" It could be though " giggled Cat, twining her fingers with Robbie's .

" Aw the shiny newness of a teen couples first Christmas together ," Sikowitz pretended to wipe a tear ," its as sickly sweet as winter berries and ice . Makes me want to find my own lady and whisk her away to a chalet in the mountains for our own tree trimming "