Chapter 3
The Christmas music played loudly through the TV speakers as Cass and Hiro began decorating their home.
What should have been just setting up the Christmas tree quickly escalated to the whole nine yards, untangling the lights and placing them up around the windows and walls, hanging garland wherever either one saw fit and fully decorating the tree, something that was supposed to be held over till the next day.
After three whole hours of nonstop decorating, both Nephew and Aunt were down right exhausted as they cuddled together on the couch with some rich smooth hot chocolate, the once blaring Christmas music now turned off in favor of a Christmas movie.
"Well, that sure was fun." Cass remarked, breathing a sigh of relief. "Now all that's left is to wrap your presents up and put them underneath the tree…however I won't do that till early Christmas morning when you're fast asleep."
"Is that when you do them?" Hiro asked.
"Yes…ever since our first Christmas together I've always wrapped the gifts up Christmas morning that way you would be even more surprised when you woke up. Now that you know my little secret, I trust you won't wake up early just to snoop…"
Hiro let out a little laugh. "No Aunt Cass…besides I'm getting a bit too old to be snooping around. I like to be surprised. After all, isn't that what the holidays are all about?"
Cass smiled as she took a sip of hot chocolate, looking out the window at the snow slowly falling.
"I'm so happy we're getting a white Christmas this year. It's so rare to receive snow in San Fransokyo."
"Yeah, sure brings out the feeling of Christmas even more so when it's all mixed in with the sparkling garlands and bright colorful lights. Anyway, I'm going to call it a night."
"Alright honey, good night and sweet dreams." Cass replied, giving her Nephew a hug and kiss on the forehead. "I love you!"
"Night Aunt Cass! I Love you too." He replied back as he began up the stairs.
Once up in his room, Hiro let out a sigh as he slumped down upon the bed.
On impulse, he glanced over to the empty side of the room that belonged to Tadashi, something he had been doing since the night of the SFIT hall fire and choked back a sob, promptly activating Baymax from his portable suitcase, situated by the stairs.
Once inflated, he stepped out and waddled over to the crying boy on the bed.
"Hello, I am Baymax. Your personal healthcare companion. I heard a sound of…distress. What seems to be the trouble?" the plush marshmallow robot spoke in monotone.
"Oh…B-Bay-Baymax, n-nothing is wr-wrong…I-I am f-fine. I'm fine." Hiro stuttered while hiccupping from the tears he had just momentarily shed.
"You don't seem to be fine, Hiro. Your neurotransmitter levels have dropped rapidly. This may indicate that you may be sad or depressed."
"You think?! I'm crying am I not?"
Baymax didn't reply, instead he tilted his head to one side and blinked his eyes, completely oblivious to Hiro's sarcasm.
"Look Baymax, I just had a very rough day today. That's all. I'm gonna head off to bed so you can shrink now. I am satisfied with my care."
Baymax blinked once more before waddling back to his luggage and deflated into the case, leaving Hiro alone once more.
He put on his pajamas then climbed into bed, glancing over at Tadashi's side of the room one more time before turning off the light.
"Oh how I wish you were here with me, Tadashi." He murmured as he settled into the covers for what was sure to be a very troublesome long night.
'It's 9:30 here in beautiful San Fransokyo on this rare fine wintery December day, we're now only four more shopping days away until Chris…..' Hiro turned off his alarm clock radio and rolled back over to sleep, but before he could doze back off…
"Hiro, are you awake sweetie?" Aunt Cass called from down stairs.
"Yeah…I guess so." Came Hiro's tired reply as he sat up on the bed, rubbing his eyes clear of sleep before stepping out onto the cold bedroom floor and making his way down stairs.
"What time do you want to go down to the mall?" Cass continued.
"The mall? What's at the mall? I thought we were done all our Christmas shopping."
"Well, I thought we could go down to the mall and have our annual picture taken with Santa."
Hiro completely forgot about that one particular tradition in the Hamada Family.
Every year Aunt Cass would take the boys down to the mall nearly four or five days before Christmas to see Santa and give him their letters of what they wanted the most for Christmas.
Now that Tadashi was no longer with them, Hiro didn't really see much of the point of going anymore.
"Oh, that….I don't think I want to go this year Aunt Cass."
"Why not? It's tradition to go see Santa and give him your request of what you truly want for Christmas."
"What I truly want for Christmas, Santa can't give me. As far as I know, Santa can't bring people back from the dead."
Aunt Cass felt a pang of sadness as well as hurt go through her when Hiro said that.
"Besides, I'm getting too old for that anyway. It was all fine and dandy when I was younger but now it just feels utterly ridiculous."
"Oh…well, alright then. If you don't want to go then we don't have to. We could always spend the day baking some Christmas goodies or go out tobogganing later on if you'd like…."
Hiro cringed upon the suggestion of tobogganing, yet another activity he felt was getting too old for, however if he declined that as well, his Aunt would start to wonder if holiday depression was setting in.
"I guess we could bake…" he muttered quietly.
"Great, we could turn on the Christmas music and…"
"No….I don't feel like listening to Christmas music right now…I just want to bake in silence."
"Hiro…" Aunt Cass began, unsure exactly on what to say or how to even say it, but she knew it had to be brought up. "You're not starting to get depressed on me, are you?"
"What? No…no Aunt Cass. I'm not depressed. I'm just, not in the mood right now, that's all."
"Hiro sweetie, I think we need to talk. Come here."
Hiro walked over to Cass, his eyes diverted to the floor as he approached, not wanting to make eye contact with her as she wrapped her arms tight around him.
"I know you're hurting Hiro Hamada. I know you've been hurting for quite some time and its showing. I can tell you're putting on a painted smile and masking the pain deep inside, not wanting me to worry or be concerned but I see right through you. I can see what you're trying to do. The night that we decorated the house….when you went upstairs to bed, I couldn't help but over hear you crying. I know it's our first Christmas without him and things just don't seem to be the way they used to be."
Hiro fought back the urge to cry in his Aunt's embrace but found it very hard as he listened to her words.
Immediately he wrapped his arms tight around her waist and let all his pent up emotions out upon her shoulder.
"It hurts me too Hiro. Every night I cry for Tadashi as well, wishing he could come home, wishing he could still be with us to share in the magic and memories of this and many other Christmases to come." Cass continued, now sobbing herself. "But he won't and never will physically, however he is still with us in spirit as long as we remember him, as long as we remember the memories….Tadashi wouldn't want us to just give up everything because he's no longer with us, he would love more than anything to have those traditions continue because he wants you to be happy. I'm sure he's hurting just as much too…he's hurting to see you like this and he doesn't want to see you hurt anymore sweetie. He wants to see you be happy again and so do I, ok Hiro?"
"Y-y-yes Aunt Cass. I'm sorry. I just feel so alone without him here."
"You're not alone honey. You have me, you have Baymax and you have your friends. The reason why they've yet to promise coming over to our place is because they're probably waiting on confirmation with their own families. They don't want to promise something and then have some sort of family reunion pop up out of the blue that they need to go to and can't make it here, disappointing you in the process….so don't worry Hiro, alright? I'm sure things will work out. You know what they say; Holidays are a time for miracles. If one was to happen to the Hamada family, guarantee it will happen sometime around Christmas. You watch, ok Sweetie? Just don't give up hope, alright?"
Hiro nodded as Aunt Cass broke the embrace to caress his wet cheek, wiping the tears away.
"Tadashi loves you sweetie, no matter where he is he will always love you."
"Tadashi is here!" came Baymax's monotone voice as he carefully waddled down the stairs towards Cass and Hiro, joining in the embrace.
"That's right Baymax. Tadashi will always be here. Now, what do you say to some Holiday baking huh? We'll make some sugar cookies, some shortbread, a batch of Rice Krispy Squares and peppermint brownies. Sounds good?"
"Yeah….sounds good to me Aunt Cass. Thanks Baymax! By the way, how did you activate?" Hiro inquired.
"Hairy Baby said 'ow'."
Hiro and Cass couldn't help but laugh at the response as Mochi came down the stairs after Baymax, purring and meowing against the robot's inflatable legs.
"What seems to be the trouble?" Baymax asked the cat as he meowed again.
"Baymax, nothing's wrong with Mochi. He's perfectly fine!" Cass remarked as she went into the kitchen to get things ready.
"But he said 'ow', Hiro. I clearly heard him say 'ow'."
"No…no…you're not hearing the ME before the 'OW' making it MEOW." Hiro stated as Mochi came over to rub his leg affectionately. "So, you want to watch us bake some Christmas goodies Baymax?"
"I would love to Hiro. Would you like me to put on some Christmas music for you to listen to?"
"We would love to!"
Meanwhile at Lee Manor, Fred was in his room wrapping up some gifts he had bought for everyone when there was a knock on the door.
"Who is it?" He asked, frantically hiding all the gifts underneath his bed sheets before heading over to the door.
"It's me sir, Heathcliff. I have Honey Lemon on the line, she says it's urgent."
Fred opened the door to find his butler holding the phone in one hand while covering up the talk piece with the other.
"I've got it Heathcliff. Thanks!" Fred remarked as he took the phone and dismissed him before closing the door. "Honey, hey what's up sweet tart?"
"Hey Fred….have you heard from the others yet regarding Christmas Day?" Honey inquired on the other end.
"Not yet, however I do know my folks and I will be heading over to the Hamada household for the day. After I had told my Dad what Hiro and Cass had gone through, he'd offer that we spend our time with them instead of having our own get together. I got Hiro some things that I'm sure he might like…oh and I got for you guys too but I'm not going to tell you what they are…You'll gonna have to wait til Christmas!"
"Oooooohhhhh, I love surprises Freddie…is it a sweater?"
"No."
"A box of chocolates?"
"No."
"A new housecoat?"
"No….I'm not telling, nor am I going to give you any hints so you can stop guessing now."
"Ok…."Honey said, sounding a bit disappointed but it didn't last long as her cheery side came back. "Oh I just can't wait til Christmas! Anyway, the reason I called is because I just got off the phone with my family, they said they're not going to be doing Christmas this year, kind of sad really cause I was really looking forward to seeing them…. Oh well I guess I'll be joining you this year! Besides, I'm sure Hiro would be happy to have us there….wouldn't he?"
"For sure! Anyway, I'll let my Mom and Dad know you're coming too…..do you want us to pick you up in the family limo or uh…."
"Or I could just come over to your place and we could go from there….?"
"Yeah, that sounds even better….oh just don't tell Hiro about any of this….it's supposed to be a surprise."
"My lips are sealed! Alright Fred….I'll see you about what? Nine O' Clock Christmas Day?"
"Yeah sure, we won't be leaving till around Ten O' Clock anyway so nine should be fine! Alright Honey, I'll talk to you later! Bye."
As soon as Fred got off the phone with Honey, the phone rang again.
"Hello, Lee Manor. Fred speaking."
"Hey Fred….it's Wasabi. Got any plans for Christmas Day yet?"
"Wasabi….my man! Yeah, the folks and I are spending our Christmas over at the Hamada household this year. After telling my Father about what they had been through, he'd offer our family time to be spent with them. Honey is also going to be coming since her family opt out on Christmas this year. She didn't really go into details, but I can tell she's pretty bummed out about it. Oh well, at least she has Christmas free to spend time with Hiro and his Aunt who are in total need of companionship. That's what friends are for after all, right?"
"Totally….you can count me in as well Fred. My family is having a bit of an altercation right now that I plan to avoid entirely. Besides, Hiro needs me more than they do anyway!"
This news made Fred smile even wider.
"Sorry to hear of your family Wasabi but hey, kudos on spending time with Hiro. Oh man we're going to have so much fun this year. All that's left is Gogo….oh, hold on a sec got another call….Hello Lee Manor, this is Fred speaking!"
"Hey Fred!"
"Gogo, Hey girl, we were just talking about you!"
"Exactly who is this 'WE'?" Gogo asked with a hint of anger rising in her voice.
"Wasabi and I…I've got him on hold at the moment. Great timing considering. Honey had just called to confirm, so has Wasabi…my Family and I are heading over to the Hamada's to spend Christmas with them, all we need is one more!"
"You can count on me Fred! That's why I called to see if you had heard from the others. My family and I, we don't really get along no matter what time of year it is. If anything, I'd rather avoid them at all costs. I was hoping you would have some sort of plan in place to cheer Hiro up. He sure looked bummed out when we last saw him."
"Yeah, well you would be too if you had recently lost someone close to you like Hiro has. Christmas is known to be a very difficult time for people, especially for someone who may still be in mourning or grieve, that's why my folks and I are doing this….to help the Hamada Family through their first of many special moments without Tadashi."
"It's going to be hard on all of us Fred. Tadashi Hamada was OUR best friend and all of us miss him deeply. It sure isn't the same without him. Anyway, what time are you guys heading over to the Hamada's?"
"About Ten O' Clock, so somewhere between Eight or Nine is good….although I do like to sleep in a bit on Christmas morning, so uh….if you come around Eight, Heathcliff will let you in."
"I'll just come around Nine then if that's ok?"
"Nine is good…..anyway, sorry to let you go, but I still have Wasabi on the line and I don't want to keep him waiting."
"No problem Fred….see you at Nine Christmas Day."
"Bye Gogo…Wasabi, you still there buddy?"
"Yeah, still here. Let me guess, that was Gogo on the line?"
"You better believe it. It's officially a go! The Big Hero 6 are spending the holidays with the Hamada Family!"
Author's Note: Well, there you have it folks, the third chapter done and done…..so very sorry about the major delay in this update. Since Christmas has come and gone, it gets more and more harder to keep that holiday frame of mind…..furthermore it's been a pretty busy Christmas Day for me spending as much time with my folks as I can! I hope this chapter is alright! Seems Hiro is in for a BIG Holiday surprise after all! For those whom have commented or adding this story to your favorites, Thank you OH SO VERY MUCH! It truly means a lot to me!
