Two months had passed since the incident that resulted in my week-long suspension from school. Frankie and I would still cross paths with Elena and Tiffany from time to time, but now they just seemed to ignore us. My relationship with Frankie had also been changing at this point. We weren't just friends anymore. We were something more. I don't think we could have made it any more obvious than holding hands whenever we spent any time in school outside the classroom. I could really feel the mutual attraction between us. Maybe it was just because we were both only twelve and thus didn't know any better, but we seemed convinced that we would be together forever. We could feel it in our bones.

Meanwhile, while it wasn't obvious yet, most people by now were starting to find out about Mrs. Richardson's pregnancy. I could've started calling her Arizona at this point since she and Namęšéme were pretty much together now, but I didn't really care to have her be my new néške'éehe anytime soon (or ever, in fact). I didn't care what anybody else thought of Namęšéme having another kid, either. Like he'd even know that that baby wasn't his anyway. I already knew. I was ashamed that it had even gotten to that point, but what else could I have done?

It didn't matter now. Winter break was just around the corner, and I couldn't wait to be out for Christmas. Neither could Frankie. During lunch break and recess, she gushed on and on about how awesome and pure Santa was because he had magical elves that made presents for him to deliver all around the world. We were both old enough to know by now that he didn't really exist, but I wasn't going to tell her that. Besides, my grades had been improving somewhat thanks to the other McBride kids offering to help me do my homework for free. Frankie helped me out in that department as well, but it wasn't very often. Either way, we were glad to have each other in our lives.

Five days before Christmas (and one day before winter break was to start), Frankie and I sat in our usual seats in Homeroom, waiting for Mrs. Richardson to arrive and begin class. I knew that Mrs. Richardson was going to be running a little bit behind now because of her condition, but she seemed to be running about five minutes late. We waited a bit before she finally arrived.

"Good morning, class," Mrs. Richardson said. "I hope you're all excited to be out for winter break."

"I certainly am!" Frankie piped up.

Mrs. Richardson chuckled at Frankie's outburst. "I can see that. Anyway, I have an announcement to make. I've been keeping it hush-hush for a while because I wanted to make sure nothing happened before I got the chance."

"Really?" Delta asked. "What is it? Tell us!"

"Yeah, I wanna know!" Benton chimed in.

Soon, all the other kids were clamoring to know what the big news was.

Mrs. Richardson cleared her throat. "Alright. Everyone, my boyfriend and I are having a baby."

In an instant, all the kids around me started shouting on how happy they were to hear the news, Frankie especially.

"Wow!" Frankie exclaimed. "Did you hear that, Jasper? Mrs. Richardson's having a baby!"

"Yeah, I already know," I grumbled. "Namęšéme told me months ago."

"Still, though, a real baby! This is going to be so exciting! I can't wait to meet it!"

"Alright, calm down, Frankie. She's still got a long ways to go."

Mrs. Richardson cleared her throat again. "I can see how happy you are by all this. Well, when the baby's born, I'll be sure to bring him or her with me to class so you can meet it. What do you think? Does that sound like a good idea?"

The other kids seemed to think so, as they all clamored up, wanting desperately to see Mrs. Richardson's new baby once she had it. I tolerated all the clamoring for just a bit more until Homeroom was over.

Mrs. Richardson looked up at the clock that hung over the chalkboard. "Alright, time's up. Off you go now to your first period classes. Don't forget to have fun over winter break. I hope to see you all again next year."

With that, we gathered up our backpacks and headed out the door for our first classes of the day.

It was soon lunchtime. Frankie and I sat at our usual table along with Benton, Delta, and this other girl named Phoebe from my class with Mrs. Callison. We all talked about what we planned to do once winter break started.

"So what are you hoping to do once you get out for the holidays?" I asked Frankie.

"Well," Frankie started. "I've already finished up on my list for Santa, so I guess I'll just wait for him to deliver my presents on Christmas Day. Once that happens, the whole family and I will go over to Grandma and Grandpa's house and spend time with all the aunts and uncles and cousins."

"Okay... what about you guys?"

Benton and Delta pointed at themselves, confused.

"Who, us?" Delta asked.

"Yeah, you guys," I replied.

"I guess I'll go to Hawaii with my folks and collect more rocks there," Benton said. "We're hoping to get ahold of some obsidian rocks and peridot crystals embedded within olivine minerals, and maybe we might sell them into the new year."

"Damn, you guys keep collecting rocks even during the holidays?" I asked, astonished.

Benton nodded. "Yeah, we basically live for these rocks. It's our passion."

"That's nice," Delta said. "As for me, though, my family and I are going to spend Christmas with my great-grandma. She's the only great-grandma I've got left."

I couldn't believe what I'd just heard. "Whoa, you still have a great-grandparent? All my great-grandparents are dead."

"I sure do. Her name's Winona, and she can tell you all kinds of stories for hours."

"That's cool, I guess. What about you, Phoebe?"

Phoebe was snapped out of what seemed to be a daze. "Huh? Oh, well, my brother is supposed to be coming home for Christmas. He goes to school in Texas. We'll be doing everything we can to celebrate. What do you plan to do over winter break, Jasper?" She didn't hear me give an answer. "Jasper?"

"I guess, uh, Namęšéme and I will spend Christmas at home and tend to the cattle," I said. "We don't go all out when it comes to Christmas."

"That doesn't sound like fun," Frankie said. "You know what would be real fun, though?"

"What?"

"If you and your grandpa could spend Christmas with me and the rest of the family."

I just looked at her, surprised. I wasn't quite sure what to say. "You'd really do that for us, Carnelian?"

Frankie gave me a toothy smile. "Of course I would. I'd do anything for my girlfriend."

"Would your folks be okay with that?"

"Of course they would! You guys are our friends."

"Well, okay, then. Just make sure they know you want to invite us, okay?"

"Will do, Jasper."

Once school let out, I quickly got into Namęšéme's truck and immediately let him know that Frankie wanted us to spend Christmas with her family.

"She really said that?" Namęšéme asked, genuinely surprised.

"Oh yeah, she really said that," I replied. "She said that we were friends. It only seems fair that we could spend time with friends, you know? They're our neighbors."

Namęšéme seemed to give the idea some thought. "Well, they have done a great job showing us some hospitality. Plus, thanks to them and our other neighbors, we're somewhat familiar with this state now."

"Should we really spend Christmas with them?"

After five seconds, Namęšéme's stoic face gave way to a smile. "The next time we see Newt and Jewell, I'm going to tell them that we'll be joining them for Christmas."

I was so psyched. I couldn't wait to spend the holidays with the love of my life. On the way home from school, I pumped my fist into the air.