Patiently Loving You
It was Christmas Eve and mom and I were decorating her store. We had had extras lights and ribbons so we decided to bring some cheer to mom's work office.
We had left Oliver at home. He said he wanted to wrap our presents without us there. I think he was just being paranoid. It's not like we mean to hear everything that goes on in the house.
"Mom, can we please go home now? I've still got to get our presents out of hiding before midnight," I whined.
She sighed and glanced around her office to see if anything else could have ribbon put on it. Mom finally nodded and followed me back out to her car. She locked the store back up before getting into the passenger seat. I threw the car into reverse and took off back home.
Once we got to the house I parked the car and we went at a human pace into the house just incase Oliver needed more time to hide what he was doing. He met us at the door and grinned cheekily at us.
I looked past him and saw a huge Christmas tree set up in the living room. He had gotten a tree for us. He had also decorated it with snowflakes, tinsel, snowmen, stars, and lights. I couldn't remember the last time we had had a tree for the holidays.
"I put your presents under the tree so don't even try to snoop around," Oliver stated, pointing back at the tree. Three presents, wrapped and ready to go, were already under the tree.
"I'll go get mine," mom chirped and ran off into her room. I followed her lead and went into my room and got the presents out of the hidden attic in my closet. I cradled them carefully in my arms and headed back downstairs.
I set the present under the tree then sat down in the floor, staring over at Oliver who was sitting on the couch staring right back at me. I wonder what was taking mom so long.
"So, um, would you like to go ice skating with me early this morning? I found this pond south of here and it should be cold enough that the water is frozen," Oliver said.
I stared at him for a moment, thinking over what here said. It was very possible that mom was trying to help Oliver get a date with me. I didn't want to be rude though and reject his offer because what if he really did just want to hang out.
"Yeah, sounds cool," I replied not a second later. He grinned and turned towards my mom that had just appeared with present in her arms.
"Okay, we can't open them until midnight. So we've got twenty minutes to kill until our presents. What do you two want to do?" mom said, sitting cross-legged in the floor just a few feet from me.
"Let's just put in a movie," Oliver suggested. I nodded and crawled over to our DVD shelf and grabbed one of the many Christmas movies that we had. I didn't let the others see and popped in the movie.
"The Christmas Story?" mom asked, her eyebrows raised up in question. I just shrugged and turned to the TV to watch for a few minutes.
Mom watched the movie but I could tell she wasn't too interested in the movie considering I made her watch every Christmas with me. On the other hand, Oliver was paying close attention to the movie.
"You know, I used to watch this every Christmas with my dad and whoever his wife was at the time. It's one of my favorites," Oliver suddenly exclaimed, grinning fondly at the TV.
Mom nodded and now watched the movie with a new interest but I was glancing over at Oliver out of the corner of my eye now. Was this too painful for him since it was a human thing for him just a few months ago?
"I think we can open presents now," he stated, grinning at us. Oliver pulled all the presents out from under the tree and passed us our two presents that we would be getting tonight.
We let mom open her presents first out of respect for her. I mean, she is the one taking care of us and helping us survive with our live. Mom screamed and hugged me when she opened the present I got for her. It was the best sewing machine available and there was a clothes designing book with it.
"Thank you, Annie. Oliver why don't you go next," mom said, cradling her sewing machine like it was a baby.
Oliver excitedly ripped the paper off of the present that mom had gotten him. He grinned hugely when he saw his new Wii with four new games to go with it. He hugged mom and even kissed her cheek.
"Come on, Annie! Your turn," Oliver beamed, crossing his arms across his chest and sitting up straight. I grabbed mom's present to open first. I noticed Oliver look of disappointment before I opened it.
"Thank you, mom," I exclaimed, grinning down at my new music book. I couldn't wait to get my violin out to play these new pieces.
Mom opened up her last present from Oliver. He had gotten her a fashion book from the 60's that had clothes designs and house designs in it. With our two presents and her job that should keep her busy for at least two years, maybe three.
Oliver didn't wait for someone to tell him to open his present. I couldn't help but be a little proud from his reaction to my gift. He ran his fingers lightly over the light brown guitar that I had gotten for him.
"Thank you," Oliver murmured, glancing up at me. I smiled back at him.
"I thought it could give you something to do besides reading," I stated, happy that he liked his new toy.
I didn't waste time and I opened the gift that Oliver had got for me. I grinned stupidly even though I could have gone to Wal-Mart and gotten it. There were ten CDs that had classical music on it; all of them had a violin so I could play along.
"Thanks Oliver," I breathed out, checking the songs on each of the CDs.
Oliver hooked up his Wii while mom started fiddling around with her sewing machine, setting it up in the corner. I ran up to my room and got a CD player so I could listen to my new music. We hung out in the living room until it was one in the morning.
"Annie, are you ready to go ice skating?" Oliver asked after beat one of his new games. I pulled the head phones off and nodded. We didn't bother with coats or mittens or anything like that. We wouldn't need them.
I hunted up the skates that we had packed in the attic then Oliver and I headed out into the forest. We ran silently beside each other. I knew Oliver was just running at my pace because he wanted to be polite. He could easily over take me.
"The pond is just up ahead," he stated after a few minutes run. I nodded and started to pay attention so I wouldn't run straight onto the pond.
It was only a second or two until I saw the pond that he had mentioned. It was just the right size to give Oliver and I free reign with our speed while we skated. I noticed the ice wasn't too thick so we'd have to be careful.
We didn't say anything but sat down on the frosted, dead grass and put on our skates. Mine fit me perfectly since I had them special ordered for myself a few years ago. Oliver had to order his off Ebay.
I easily glided onto the ice once my skates were laced up. I circled around once before turning to Oliver. He was still sitting down on the ground, watching me skate around. I grinned at him before twirling two times in the air.
Oliver snorted and finally got up and glided onto the ice with me. He winked at me before skating backwards past me before jumping high into the air and spinning four times. When he landed his blades got stuck in the ice.
"That's what you get for trying to beat me," I giggled, skating past him while he pulled himself free.
We continued like that for about an hour, trying to show each other up until we couldn't think of anything else to do. I just glided around on the ice, craving pictures into it.
"Annie, do you ever think about love?" Oliver asked suddenly. I stopped and looked over at him cautiously. He had this thoughtful look on his face as he skated backwards. He seemed serious so I thought seriously about his question.
"Sometimes, but not romantic love," I answered after my careful thinking that had lasted a few seconds. Oliver's face scrunched up as he thought over my answer.
"You don't ever think about finding yourself a boyfriend or something?" he asked, stopping now. I stopped also and let myself think.
I guess finding myself a mate is always a possibility but I'm not going to search the whole earth for that one special guy. He'd have to find me first.
"Vampires have mates, not boyfriends or girlfriends first off. I've thought about it a little but I'm happy with my life like this so I don't need some guy right now," I said. Oliver frowned but didn't say anything else for a while.
When the sun was starting to rise and sparkle off our skin and Oliver had fell through the ice twice already we decided to head home. We took our time making our way back though.
"Oliver, can I ask why you asked about love earlier?" I said hesitatingly. I didn't want him to get upset and run off. No one needed a wild newborn running around town at the moment.
"I realized today that I really care and love you and Mary. You're more of a family to me than my real family was. I like it," Oliver answered, smiling at me. I smiled and nudged him lightly.
"Mom will like to hear that," I exclaimed. He nudged me back but sent me stumbling into a baby oak tree. I laughed and ran after him. I tackled him to the ground, launched myself up and hurried into the house before he could get his revenge.
Mom was still sitting in the living room, sewing a few pieces of cloth together. She looked up and smiled at us. Oliver started fiddling with his guitar while I went upstairs and got my violin and started to play, letting Oliver twang along with me every once in a while.
I thought while I played. I'm sure that Oliver's questions early weren't innocent and pure minded. He was still twenty and a guy. I'm sure that I know what was on his mind early this morning. Oliver really has taken an interest in me as a mate or a "girlfriend" for him. I was a little flattered by this thought.
We didn't talk that much as we enjoyed our Christmas gifts. I noticed that Oliver still had a thoughtful look on his face that made me think that he was remembering our conversation earlier too.
Author's Note: Yes, it's short but I didn't want to write anymore for this chapter. The next chapter should be pretty interesting so be ready! It's from Oliver's Pov!
