Chapter Twenty Eight

Gary woke in a rather uncomfortable state for a guy, scowling. He'd dreamed about the woman in the river again, but this time his mind had placed Eve there. They hadn't been interrupted by motors either. The calm afternoon had remained, and things had turned out a little different.

Smacking himself in the head, he chastised himself and got up to make his way to the bathroom. It was chilly, and the window there was covered in a thin crust of ice, snow piled on the sill halfway up the pane. He showered and made his way back to his room with the towel around his waist, hurriedly dressing into jeans and a sweater to get warm.

Umbreon and Eevee were quite content to stay where they were under their heated blanket, he could just see their eyes glinting out from under the edge watching him. He moved around his room, rooting out the hiding places and the presents he had put there.

He had gotten his grandfather a new book on the newer species of Pokémon being found; Daisy, he had gotten a Furret. This he had been trying to hide for weeks, but it was difficult to sneak the food upstairs, and to keep it content in the closet. Umbreon and Eevee helped, and today he could finally bring it out.

"Alright little guy, you get to meet your new trainer today." He smiled as he opened his closet to see the Furret perfectly comfortable in a pile of his old shirts and a heated blanket also. It stretched and flicked its tail and tilted its head at him as he shifted things around, making a nest in a box and leaving the blanket plugged in until he took the box downstairs. "There, stay in there, won't be too much longer." He said, and shut the door as he turned for where he had hidden Eve's present.

He had gotten her a locket.

It was a pretty little thing, all silver with a flower imprinted on the front. It was empty so she could place whatever pictures she wanted inside. He hadn't known what to get her, and even this seemed personal, but it had seemed so perfect at the time he hadn't thought of it.

Shaking his head, he turned to wrap these presents, listening for the sound of Eve arriving. She had promised to be by early, eight or nine o'clock. He could hear Daisy In the kitchen singing a Christmas carol. The redhead found himself smiling; he hadn't looked forward to Christmas in years.

It wasn't long after he got the presents wrapped that he heard Eve knocking on the door. He gently soothed the Furret and got it to lay in its box, which it did surprisingly quickly and let him tie the top with a large, shiny bow. The smaller gifts he carried under one arm, the Furret under the other.

As he reached the bottom of the stairs, Eve came from the kitchen, smiling, her hair braided over one shoulder and wearing a Christmas sweater she had gotten recently, padding around in blue jeans and fluffy Christmas themed socks.

"Hey Gary, too bad your eyes aren't green, then you'd really match the holiday!" She grinned. Gary rolled his eyes, but laughed.

"Well, can't have all the luck, eh?" he asked, grinning at Daisy who rolled her eyes. They both had blue.

Eve was excited to start on the presents, and Gary was with her, rather than teasing her and keeping her away as he would have done. The pokemon wouldn't like being shut up too long. It took maybe thirty minutes, but finally the group was all settled in the living room around the giant tree that Gary had decorated, much to Eve's distress, using a rickety old ladder to do it. Not wanting to make the Furret wait any longer, he urged Daisy to open hers first.

The morning began with her cry of delight and the Furret's happy cry to get out, and the two bonded nearly straightaway. Gary had gotten it some of its own toys, so after this, they all decided it would be a good idea to let the pokemon have at their small piles of presents.

While Eevee, Furret, and Gaia inspected theirs and daintily removed the wrapping, Zephyr and Umbreon went at theirs, soon chasing each other around and overall just having a ball. Both Gaia and Eevee got matching pink bows, blankets, and a jingle bell ball; Furret got a bow as well from Gary since he knew the other two would have one. She had also gotten a gnawing stick and a bell ball as well, all courtesy of Gary. Umbreon received a new blanket to replace his worn old one, a ball a bit larger than Eevees, and a rawhide while Zephyr had gotten a blanket also and a gnawing stick as well, and from Samuel he got a 'charge-ball.' The mouse could charge the ball, and it would glow for hours.

After they watched the pokemon darting in and out of the paper on the floor, they started exchanging their own gifts. Sam had gotten Gary a new journal, as Gary would need one, and soon. He gave Eve her own Pokedex, and Daisy received a pair of beautiful hair pins.

Eve had gotten Daisy a fashion book, full of patterns for clothes; and had gotten Samuel a new notebook for recording his new findings. It was hard back and held blank charts and other odds and ends that he decided would be rather useful.

Daisy had gotten her brother a new pair of shoes and a shirt, and for Eve she had gotten hair pins also, and Eve slipped one in right away. It was pale pink in color, nearly matching her eyes at certain angles, and made up of tiny little diamonds and it swooped a little in its design, almost like a long, fluffy tail.

Now, while Samuel flipped through his new book from Gary, and Daisy played with her new Furret, Gary and Eve leaned back on the couch, Eve curling her feet up under her as they exchanged gifts.

He opened his first. It was small, like his gift to her was, not that he minded. He opened it gently, and revealed a glossy black box. When he opened this, his eyes widened slightly. It was a Self-Winding Skeleton Watch, the gears moving smoothly under the glass. Dark metal made up the frame and wrist band, and, smiling, he immediately slipped it on.

"Thanks Eve." He smiled, tweaking her nose playfully. She flushed and laughed, and turned to hers.

Here, he thought his breath stopped. It seemed to take forever for her to undo the bow and peel the paper off which she seemed to take just as much care in removing as he had putting it together. The box wasn't at all fancy, simple, and plain white, but he saw her eyes go wide and the smile that graced her face didn't let the air back into him... no, it knocked whatever sense he had left out the window.

"I love it, Gary, thanks." She smiled, looking up at him. Hell, if a girl couldn't make a man go crazier than this, well Eve just took the world record, because he had completely forgotten where they even were. All he could do was smile back at her. And then she did something he never would have expected.

She leaned forward and kissed him.


So was this a finally? I cant remember if they kissed before, i need to read over the story again. Sorry for missing a few updates!