Chapter 3: Present days, guilt exposed

Martin came back to sleep, but in 30 min. approximately, he was woken up again.

"What the hell is it now?" he said groggily, as he opened his eyes and looked at the person who was in front of him. This time it was a red-haired, green eyed little girl (who looked like his dad, Henry), dressed in a green robe, holding a cute furry reindeer in her arms. "You look like aunt Tatiana"

"Yes, I'm your aunt" she smiled. Tatiana Swinton was Henry's older sister; therefore, she was Martin's aunt, who had died 10 years ago.

"But wait, my aunt is 46 years old!" Martin exclaimed.

"I'm the ghost of her childhood, I resemble how she was when she was 6 years old" she smiled.

"Oh, I see..." Martin said "And I suppose you're gonna show me the Present Christmas"

"Yeah, you're right" the girl said "But we gotta hurry, because I'll die as soon as the night is over"

"You'll die? But you're a ghost, aren't you?" he asked, confused.

"My life is as long as December 25th is, that is 24 hours" Tatiana explained "As soon as Christmas ends, I'll disappear. Here, I'm outta time, gotta hurry" she added, and took Martin's hand, making them both disappear.

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They flew through the city, but this time Martin wasn't as scared as before, he had gotten used to flying now.

"Where are we going?" he asked.

"You'll see" Tatiana smiled, as they stopped at the centre of the city, in front of a huge building, with a peacock-like statue.

"Here works my dad" Martin said, once he had recognized the Cybertronics building.

"Wanna see what they're doing on Christmas?" Tatiana asked.

"Well, do I have any other choice?" he sighed, as he followed her into the building.

They walked through the offices, all of them decorated as the season required: boj leaves, tiny trees, even a Mecha-Santa Claus was greeting the visitors with his old-fashioned "ho-ho-ho!" sound.

"It's amazing how such a serious company like Cybertronics can get affected with the Christmas' spirit" Martin said.

"It's because Christmas is not only for children, it's for everybody" Tatiana said "Even old people has a young soul, and lets the Christmas joy fill their hearts"

"Some people just never grow up" he said.

"I knew it would be hard to understand for you" Tatiana rolled her eyes "You're getting old before your right time"

"I'm not!" he protested.

"Well, whatever...let's keep going" she said, and they kept walking until they stopped in front of an office "Here we are" she added, and opened the door.

There was the Conferences room (A/N: if you watched "A.I.", it's the huge room where Dr. Hobby makes his speech at the beginning of the movie), but this time a large table was in the entrance, dressed in green, with wine, cheeses, fresh fruits and other sorts of fine snacks. A huge Christmas tree was in the centre of the room, adorned with all the lights and balls you could imagine. On top, instead of the traditional star, there was a mini-replica of the Cybertronics statue.

Martin looked at the executives, and then at Tatiana, but this time, by his side there was a young woman in her 20s, with a shorter robe, but still red-haired and green-eyed.

"Excuse me, who are you?" Martin said, confused.

"I'm still Tatiana, but when she was 26" the young woman explained "Remember I told you I would age as Christmas passes, I only have 1 day of life"

"Oh, yeah, I forgot" he said, as he returned his gaze to what was happening in the room, relieved that they couldn't see him wearing his green pyjama and his green slippers decorated with a cute reindeer head in the top (a "silly" gift from his mom)

All the executives, men and women, were drinking and chatting animatedly. Suddenly, a door opened, and a man entered the room and reached the group.

"Henry, my boy!" one man said, patting the newcomer's shoulder in a friendly manner "We thought you wouldn't make it!"

"Y'know I wouldn't miss this, Bill" Henry smiled.

"That's great" Bill said.

"So how's the family, Henry?" another co-worker said.

"Dad never talked me about parties at work" Martin said.

"And that teaches you that no matter how old you are, you can still have fun, in your own ways of course" Tatiana said.

"And how's David doing?" Bill asked.

"Well...he's really excited about Christmas" Henry said "In fact, he helped to make the dinner, buy the presents, decorate the tree... He really takes Christmas seriously"

"That's really interesting" Dr. Hobby said "The innocent, yet passionate interest David has on these holidays...you only see that in small children"

"I'd say he's one of the biggest Christmas-lovers in the family!" Henry smiled "What I can't say about my older son..."

Here Martin rolled his eyes.

"Why does that sound so familiar?" Tatiana said, and Martin made a scowl on his face.

"Well, that's normal, Henry" Bill said "Martin is fifteen, right? Surely he won't feel Christmas as he used to when he was a child like David"

"But I didn't think he would be so cold about it" Henry said.

"No worry about that, buddy" Bill talked "Maybe a special success will make him change...remember, Christmas is the best time for miracles!" he smiled.

"I wish you're right"

"Did you hear that, Marty?" Tatiana said "You still have a chance to change, that would be a special Christmas miracle for you and the family"

Martin looked down, and Tatiana could see the guilt exposed into his eyes.

"Here...Merry Christmas to you all!" Dr. Hobby said, raising his champagne glass.

"Merry Christmas!" everybody said cheerfully, as they said their good-will wishes and the glasses clinked one against the other during the toast.

"Martin, my time's almost over" Tatiana said "We have to go to another place now" she added, as they disappeared again.

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This time, they stopped at the Swinton's living room, which was beautifully decorated now with the Christmas tree full of lights and gifts, the Santa Claus puppet and the Rudolph (the red-nosed reindeer) stuffed animal David had put in the window, and the table arranged with the special Christmas tableware, waiting to be filled with the delicious food David and Monica had cooked during the afternoon.

Monica, David, Henry and the other relatives were in the room, chatting and eating. Everybody praised Monica's great food, but she smiled at her little blond-haired blue-eyed kitchen helper.

"CUUUUUUTE!" everybody said.

"Hey Monica, where's Marty?" Aunt Sabrina said.

"He's on a party" Monica said "Yeah, a party thrown by a classmate of his"

"He said he would come home later" Henry said.

"They had to lie, so your relatives wouldn't get suspicious" Tatiana said.

Martin said nothing, his head bowed down...

"Let's make a toast!" Henry proposed.

"Great idea!" Uncle Anthony said "Who starts?"

"Well...why not David, since he's the youngest one here?" Aunt Sabrina said.

"That would be great" Monica said "David, you wanna do this?" she asked him, and he smiled.

"Yes, Mommy" he said, handing his glass, which was in Teddy's hand. "I'd like to make a toast for...Martin"

Everybody, including Tatiana and Martin, surprised.

"Why are you making a toast for him?" Monica asked.

"Because he's part of my family, and I want the good for him" David explained innocently. Monica smiled at him, happy to have such a good kid, known for her that Martin didn't like David very much, now the little boy wanted something good to him. How ironic, isn't it?

"That's good of you, hunny" she said, and raised her glass "For Martin!"

"For Martin!" everybody said, raising their glasses.

Martin looked at the scene with tears in his eyes, the calm cool had left them.

"I can't believe it" he finally said "I treat him so bad...and he made a wish for me..." he looked at Tatiana, but now there was an old lady, with white hair, with the same green robe.

"My time's up, Marty" she said "The day is dying, and so am I..." she added, as she slowly faded away.

"Wait! Please! Don't go!" Martin begged.

"You still have a chance!" her voice echoed, as her body disappeared.

"WAAAAAIT!!!" he shouted, and suddenly he was transported again...

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Martin was lying on his bed, but he didn't close his eyes. He was very worried now. Two ghosts had come to him, showing him the past and the present...but what about the future? What would it be? He didn't know.

"The Future Christmas ghost will be here any minute now" he said "I must be prepared"

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Author's Note: Now it's a boring Sunday night, 11:50 p.m. in Venezuela, so I guess I have to go to sleep. Yeah, I usually write at these hours, because I'm a night owl (that's how you call ppl who likes staying up until late, right?) and I usually get inspired at night, listening to some music (I'm actually listening Phil Collins Christmas Carols, his songs are really inspiring! If you're a writer, I recommend you to listen ANY to his songs to get inspiration!).

Who will be the Future Christmas ghost? What will he (or she, I dunno what sex will it be, since I'm still brainstorming ideas) show Martin? You'll have to wait until I publish Chapters 4 and 5, in two days approximately.

Well, I'm yawning now, so good night! And don't forget to review! *Dannie takes her Teddy bear and goes to sleep*