A/N: Okay, back on track here. . . and thanks for all the support you guys, it really means a lot! ^_^
Chapter 9: Gifts Arrive
Six months later, Duo and Heero, still happily together, were putting up Christmas decorations in the house they now shared. Around Duo's neck, sharing a chain with the cross he always wore, was the ring he had bought for Relena.
Now he stood on the end of the couch, hanging garland, while Heero decorated the tree with ornaments, tinsel and strings of popcorn. There was a little pile of gifts sitting on the red tree carpet. The pile would soon grow with the arrival of first Trowa and Quatre, then Wufei, and later even Hilde and Catherine showed up to share the Christmas joy. Soon the little stack of presents was spilling out from under the tree. Duo was in the kitchen getting drinks when Hilde came in to help him.
"Hey, Duo," she said, taking a glass from him and filling it up from a nearby tea jug.
Duo smiled at her. "Hey, Hilde. Haven't seen you in a while. What's been up?"
"Well, I heard about you and Heero getting together, congratulations."
"I guess that means you heard about Relena too, huh?" He smiled sadly.
Hilde paused uncertainly. "I had thought. . . you wouldn't want to talk about it."
"She's not coming back, I know that. Don't you think she'd rather us remember her happily, instead of treating her like some tragedy we're all ashamed of?"
"I guess so. . ." Hilde said uncertainly. But she then saw Duo smiling, and she was reassured. The smile reached all the way to his eyes. A true smile at last. She straightened up, smiled, and started to leave, but then. . . "Oh, I meant to tell you." She dropped her voice to a whisper. "We have a surprise for Wufei. Since he's the only one of us who's single —"
Duo raised his eyebrows. "You have a boyfriend? When did that happen?"
Hilde grinned nervously. "Well, not exactly a boyfriend…" her eyes strayed to where Catherine was sitting with Trowa and Quatre on the couch laughing and talking.
Duo laughed. "I get it. I guess we're all kinda messed up, huh?"
Hilde laughed and blushed slightly. "Yeah, anyway, Wufei needs somebody, don't you agree?"
Duo nodded, still laughing softly. "Yeah. . . but who?"
"Well, we'll have one other guest later, if you don't mind. . ."
"Okay, who is it. . .?" Duo asked, motioning with his hands.
Hilde took a deep breath and closed her eyes expectantly. "Sally Po."
There was a moment of silence, then Duo burst out laughing so hard he fell to the floor, tears coming to his eyes. He was rolling around on the ground when the others came running.
"Duo, what happened?" Heero called as he reached the kitchen. Duo waved his hand.
"Oh. . . oh. . . man. . . of. . . all. . . the people. . . it's. . . perfect. . .!" He was laughing so hard he could hardly speak. Hilde giggled at his response, but the others only looked more confused.
"Duo. . . what are you talking about?" Heero's eyebrows were knit together in confusion, but he was having trouble keeping a straight face at the sight of Duo rolling on the kitchen floor, tears of laughter streaming from his eyes as he giggled madly.
Hilde grinned and shook her head. "It's nothing. It's. . . something I told him. A joke."
Heero and the others looked skeptical, but they knew that Duo could find the slightest thing laughable, so they filed back into the living room, leaving Duo and Hilde alone in the kitchen once more.
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A/N: I'd just like to kind of give a shout out to a couple of people who gave reviews to this story. . .
First of all Patty 40, who was the first to review Forgive Me Father, and has continued to come back for more. . . Of course I care about my reviews. ^_^ thank you so much, and I'm not mad at you. ^_^ --^--v--@
To. . . "Interesting idea". . . yeah. . . you know who you are. . . heh. Anyway, that's actually a good idea. I've never written a fic centered around Relena, but I just might do that later. ^_^ thanks for the idea!
Shaeric Draconis: you've reviewed one of my other stories, haven't you? I've got a returning fan!! ^_^ *dances around with Shaeric* heh okay, I'm done now. . . thanks a lot, I hope you enjoy my other stories as much as you did this and Missing You! ^_^ --^--v--@
And as for you, lain. . . heh. . . you weirdo. ^_^ and yes, I know it's you. . . you and your weird names. . . whatever. Thanks! --^--v--@