Hello to everyone! I wanted to apologize for Lloyd taking a back seat in recent chapters. This story becoming more Kranna based but there is a good reason for that (as you will see at the end of this chapter). Don't fear, though, as Lloyd will come back to the forefront after the next chapter. I want to thank orangepotato, Emily and fuzzycarrotfriends for reviewing last chapter! I really do enjoy the feedback and I'm glad that these stories are keeping your interest! It honors me that you'd take a moment of your time to post a review! Either way, as I always say, read, enjoy and review!

Chapter Eleven: Presents

As the night sky became brighter around the sprawling city, one small house which sat outside of its walls still glowed with an intense light. Each window was gleaming out an orange haze, mixing perfectly with the strange array of lights on the outside.

This tiny home, which was covered by pines, withstood with wicked winter weather as the family within readied themselves for the upcoming holiday.

Inside the kitchen, a fire was blazing under the metal stove. Giant pans were filled to the brim with an assortment of tasty items, soups and chowders as well as stuffing and potatoes, all melted together in one pot. She'd started early, waking just as the sun greeted the midnight air. Everything had to be perfect for the next day so she had to start cooking ahead of time. This didn't exactly bother her, as she loved to cook but the sheer stress of making it just right was going to kill her by the day's end.

She heard calm footsteps behind her, a sudden warmth wrapping around her waist. She turned her head, witnessing her husband gently kiss her head. He spoke to her, "What are you doing?"

"Cooking," she stirred a pot before placing a lid on top of it, dropping the temperature down low so it could simmer all day.

"They aren't coming until tomorrow, you know."

She scoffed, "I know that, dear, but these things take time to make." She wiggled her way out of his arms, heading to the fridge to retrieve some items from it. Making her way hastily back to the pots, she added her obtained ingredients.

Her husband watched her the entire time, "So, you're going to be at this all day?"

Giving a nod as an answer, she heard Kratos make a noise behind her. What kind of noise, she wasn't sure. Something between a grunt of annoyance and an understanding 'awe'. Not bothering to inquire, she went to the table and began laying things out. She would have to prep the turkey now if she wanted it to be done by tomorrow afternoon.

"What about Lloyd?"

Anna halted. She hadn't considered what to do about her son today. Sure, Anna loved having him around but she really didn't want to have to watch after him, to take care of him as well as the many pots on the stove. "Take him to town today."

"And leave you here?" Kratos walked close to her, concern in his eyes, "With what happened yesterday, I don't think that's a good idea."

Shaking her head, Anna looked him square in the eye, "I'll be fine but Lloyd will be a bit much for me today counting I'm so," she motioned to everything around her, "Busy."

There it was again, his inability to tell her no. Giving her a slight smile, he replied, "Alright. I'll take Lloyd to town or something but you have to promise to rest when you start feeling tired." When all he got was another nod, her hands busy at work with the different seasonings for the meat, he kissed her on the cheek and left to get dressed. He'd take Lloyd to town once the boy was up. Besides, there was something he needed to do in town, anyway.

Just as Kratos had promised his wife, he removed the child from the scene upon day break, Lloyd more than excited to go back into town again. Although he didn't give the boy a real reason as to why they were going back, the child didn't care.

Along the way, Lloyd was singing his own song, starting each new line with something he saw.

"And there's a tree and it's green like the grass," His eyes scanned the area, stopping on the mountains in the background, "The mountains are super tall and are really big. So big they could squish me."

Kratos smiled at the child's random song, listening to more of it as he walked in silence, "And I'm holding my daddy's hand and its super warm. He's wearing gloves and there purple. He likes purple just like elephants do. That means daddy is an elephant."

Well, the father figured, the lyrics didn't have to make sense.

When they finally reached town, Lloyd stopped singing, looking at his father with a curious smile, "What are we going to do today?"

Taking a deep breath, the father looked upon the city, its many lakes glimmering in the sunlight, "We are going to buy mommy the perfect present."

"The perfect present?"

Kratos nodded, "You know how I bought all of those things for you?"

The child nodded, the event very fresh in his mind.

"Well," Kratos spoke, kneeling to Lloyd's level, "Now that you have presents, mommy needs presents." He smiled at the child, a grin growing on the boy's face. It was making sense to him, or at least the father hoped it was. Either way, rather his son understood what he meant or not, they were going to go shopping for Anna today and there was something very specific he had in mind.

Lloyd's voice came to Kratos' ear, "What types of things do mommy's like?"

The father pondered this for a moment, unsure of what to answer with. Honestly, Anna was a rather down-to-earth girl, someone who wasn't all that interested in flashy things. As long as she had love, she was perfectly fine with whatever someone gave her.

"Mommy's like things that show how much you love them." Kratos finally concluded, looking at his son for some kind of reaction. When there wasn't one, he frowned a little. It was all too deep for the boy.

The child spoke, "So, what are we going to get her?"

"Why don't we start by looking around the mall?" The two smiled and were on their way, both walking hand in hand. It didn't take them long to reach the familiar building, Kratos having so many negative feelings about said place. Regardless, they went inside, Kratos steering clear of Santa. That man was sure to see them again if they walked by and the father was sure he couldn't handle any more embarrassment.

Heading up the stairs, they entered into a clothing shop. Kratos did know Anna had an affinity for scarves. For some reason, she looked forward to the chilled seasons for the sole reason that she got to wear scarves. It would make an easy first gift, to say the least. The auburn walked to the accessories department, a rack of scarves apparent there.

Several colors caught his eye, the child seeming rather intrigued by them as well. "Does mommy like those colorful things?"

Kratos nodded, "Which one do you think she'd like best?"

The boy removed himself from his father's hand, closing the distance between himself and the rack, head only inches away as he studied each one. The father considered them as well, unsure of which his wife would like better. The only color she'd ever claimed to like was Kratos' eye color but there wasn't much that came in a rusty red color.

"This one," Lloyd pulled out one of the long clothes, handing it to his father. It was a deep blue, like the evening sky.

"Why this one?" He held it, looking into his son's eyes for answers. Sure, he thought the color was good and all but he did wonder why his son would pick this one, especially over the multitude of red ones sitting beside it.

"Because," he spoke, grinning, "It'd look good with her hair and eyes."

It was then that the father realized that was true, the blue would complement her brown hair and eyes expertly. Smiling at his son's intelligence, they went to the front of the store and purchased it. Carrying a small sack with them, they hit up other stores, buying select items from each. As they shopped, Kratos made sure to go painfully slow through the stores. The last thing he wanted to have happen was run out of things to do. Anna would be very annoyed if the two men returned early from their city adventures.

Kratos stopped along the way to buy Lloyd some chocolate ice cream, the child licking at it as they continued to enter stores. With every couple of minutes, Kratos would have to stop and wipe his son's mouth clean of the chocolate smear, the child giving him a frustrated look each time.

"Maybe I want to look like my ice cream attacked me." He said once, giving his father a defiant stance.

"And maybe I don't want people to mistake my son as a scoop of chocolate ice cream."

Finally, mid afternoon was rolling buy and Kratos had only one more store to go in. Everything inside of it was sparkling, each item twinkling under the carefully placed lights. Almost everyone inside was a man, each busily searching through the fine pieces.

Kratos bent down to his son's height, "Now Lloyd, don't touch anything." With a nod of brown spikes, the two headed inside. Everything was placed in cases, dozens and dozens of shiny items all locked away, just out of reach.

There was one thing in specific Kratos was looking for, something he knew Anna would love. Ever since the day he'd met her (even though he hadn't been fully aware at the time) he'd wanted to create the perfect moment for her. Something that would define everything he thought of her. She was his everything, his reason for life. Before he'd had her, he'd become complacent and uncaring, close to losing his humanity.

Then he'd locked eyes with her on a journey of regeneration. It'd been completely accidental, just a typical notion that happens when someone's walking through the streets and yet it'd changed his life forever.

So many things he wanted to say to her and yet he could never find the words. His hope was to capture that with this one item. Something that would say the words he failed at saying, something to tell her just how he felt and would always feel.

As they walked through the store, Lloyd poked a finger at one of the glass cases, his big eyes turning towards his father. "Would she like that?"

The father, whom had been distracted, looked into the display case, eyes catching on the thing that Lloyd was pointing at. His son had not even been aware of what his father was looking for and yet, what he'd pointed to was exactly the type of thing he was looking for. It screamed at the auburn and he grinned at his son, "I know she will." He picked up his son and hugged him close.

It didn't take long for the two to purchase the item, the father tucking it safely into his inner coat pocket. It would wait there until the perfect moment, one that Kratos was scheming on at this very moment. He'd have to wait, not utter a word of it and make sure that, all the while, his little son didn't say anything, either.

They walked back, Lloyd singing again, his songs make less and less sense with each passing phrase but it only made the father smile. As the house came into view, Kratos felt a sense of dread come over him. All of his joy was starting to wash away when he realized yet again why Anna was so busy at work.

Tomorrow would be the first time Kratos would meet Anna's family. Even more importantly, it would be the first time meeting her parents.