Here's a new update! Again, thanks for all the wonderful reviews. And hello to my Shelz! Loved your review.. I do the same thing when I find a new fic. I won't go to bed until I finish it. Enjoy the chapter!
PART II- Chapter 11.
Vaughn's POV"Hey mom! I think the turkey is ready! It's getting kinda brown on top." I yelled from the bottom of the stairs.
It was Christmas Eve and Jack and Sydney were coming for dinner. It was nice being able to spend Christmas with Syd this year. Usually my mom would drag me to my Aunt's house and I would have to endure all of their other relatives I hardly knew.
"I'll be right down!" She shouted back.
Just then, the doorbell rang and I refrained from running to the door to see Syd. Scooting Donny away from the door, I swung it open to see Syd smiling brightly with a bowl of mashed potatoes in her hands. Jack trailed in right after shaking my hand firmly.
"It's good to see you Michael. Thank you for having us over. Where is your mother?" He asked, handing me his coat.
"She's upstairs getting ready. She'll be down here any moment."
Jack stood by the door not really knowing what to do until Syd came back from the kitchen and kissed me softly on the lips.
"I forgot to give you one of those when I walked in." She said, completely oblivious to her dad standing 5 ft. away from us.
The clearing of Jack's throat brought Syd back to reality as she realized we were making her father a bit uncomfortable.
"Jack, you can go take a seat on the couch if you like." I instructed. "Do you want something to drink? Water? Beer? I'm sure my mom has wine."
"No, I'm fine for now, thank you."
I seemed to always have a no touch policy when Jack was around. Even though Syd reassured me every time he was around that he was ok with it, I still feared him choking me or strangling me to death.
Every once in awhile when I was over Syd's house during the summer, he'd send me these death glares when Syd wasn't looking. I wouldn't even chance it and take my hand off of her as fast as I possibly could.
The absolute worst was when he came home for lunch and caught me in the backyard untying Sydney's bikini top so I could apply more sunscreen. Of course I stumbled all over my words trying to get out the point that it was safer for me to put the sunscreen on and also that she didn't want any tan lines.
Syd wanted the floor to swallow her up and eat her and I wanted to jump in the pool and drown myself.
Surprisingly, the dinner was more eventful than I thought it was going to be. I pictured long awkward silences with nothing to talk about and Syd and I playing footsy under the table. The biggest shock was how talkative Jack Bristow was.
Him and my mother went on about everything going on in the world. They talked about everything from gas prices to hybrid cars. It was unbelievable. Syd and I almost felt left out and were thankful they weren't paying attention to us.
It was nice to not have people staring at us the whole night, unlike the Christmas party a couple nights ago. We both felt like we were under the spotlight and that everyone was paying attention to every single move we made.
After a couple of wine glasses later and a delicious dessert, Jack pushed himself away from the table and announced he was heading for home.
"Thank you very much for having me Amélie. The food was delicious." He told my mom as he patted her on the shoulder.
"Sydney? Are you going to come home with me or get a ride?"
"I'm going to stay here for a little bit. Vaughn and I still have to exchange gifts. I won't be home too late." She told him, giving him a kiss on the cheek.
Syd decided that she wouldn't spend the night at my house since she wanted to be with her father on Christmas morning. So we both agreed that we would exchange gifts the night before. I was practically rushing through dinner so we could get to the presents already.
I was down right giddy with excitement over my gift for Sydney. Once I saw her gift in the store, I knew it was absolutely perfect. Sure it put a big fat dent in my bank account, but it didn't matter. I wanted her to have it and money wasn't my concern.
"I think we missed the first part, Syd. They started it at 8. They're on the second one now." I told Syd after flipping on the television.
Watching 24 hours of The Christmas Story was our tradition. Ever since we were kids it was one of our favorite Christmas time movies. No matter how many times we watched it or the fact that they showed it over and over for 24 hours on TBS, we never seemed to get tired of it.
Nothing said Christmas more than Ralphie cussing in front of his father and getting his mouth washed out with a piece of soap. That stupid bunny rabbit suit he got for Christmas from one of his long last aunt's is something I would receive.
"You know, that Santa Clause still freaks me out every time I see this movie. What's up with his nose? It's so red. Plus, he's so mean to all those little kids. He made Randy cry." Syd groaned, resting her head on my shoulder.
My mom was already in bed and we had the fireplace going, giving off the romantic winter feel. Snuggling up under the blanket, I wrapped my arm around Syd's shoulders and rubbed her back unconsciously.
"Aww, c'mon. This is the best part! It's when Ralphie acts like a jerk to that dorky kid with huge glasses and blows off the evil witch from Wizard of Oz. You know what I still don't get? Why is the characters from Wizard of Oz parading through the mall during Christmas time?" I asked.
"I don't know… all the random things make this movie a classic. You still want that red rider bb gun, huh?"
"Of course I do." I chuckled. "It's every little boy's dream."
We watched the entire movie, repeating almost every single line, and laughing our asses off like it was the first time we ever seen it.
"Ok, it's present time!" I nearly shouted, jumping off the couch to go get Syd's present from under the tree.
"A little excited, are we? You know, you were always one of those kids who looked for your Christmas presents when your parents weren't home, right?"
"Of course I was. But, I never found them. My mom has one hell of a hiding place that I still don't know about."
Pulling the small wrapped package from under the tree, I walked back to the couch and placed it on the coffee table.
"I want you to open my present first." Syd told me as she pulled a box from behind her back.
"If you say so. Let me read the card first."
Vaughn-Words can't describe how wonderful these last 8 months have been for me. I will never be able toexplain what I feel for you or how deep it is. So all I want to tell you is that I love you… now, forever, and everyday in between. You have my heart.
Merry Christmas-
SydI was emotional after reading the card and I'll admit it. The card was all I needed. Syd didn't need to write a long letter to me to show how she felt. She wrote 3 lines and her words meant the world to me.
"Cry over it later. Open up your gift now." She teased me while running her hands along my jaw.
Ripping off the red wrapping paper, I nearly fell to the floor with shock as I gazed down at my gift. In my hands, I held a framed autographed picture of Wayne Gretzky, my childhood hero.
"This is…"
"Yeah it is, Vaughn."
"How did you? I don't believe it… I mean… Syd." I was so completely stunned that my hands began to shake.
"Francie and I found this sports collector's shop called Lefties in the city. Originally, I was planning on ordering you a custom made Kings jersey. But, I saw that on the wall and I knew I had to get it for you." She explained, laughing at my incapability to utter any full sentence.
"I can't tell you how much this means to me." I finally squeaked out.
"You don't have to. I can see it in your eyes."
Placing the picture frame carefully on the table, I cupped Syd's face in my hands and kissed her softly on the lips.
"Thank you. You're incredible, you know that?" I asked, kissing her again.
"I just want to make you happy."
Syd's POVAfter Vaughn was done admiring, kissing, and imagining all the different places he could frame his Wayne Gretzky picture, he handed me a small box from his pocket.
"Oh wait… your card is on the kitchen table. Be right back." He told me.
Jogging back into the family room, he handed me my Christmas card. Whatever he had to say in here, I knew it would be good since Vaughn managed to always say the most heartfelt words.
Merry Christmas Syd! I know how you get when I turn serious and I don't want to make you cry on Christmas. But I just wanted to thank you. For being there for me when my mom got sick, for seeing me through everything and giving me the strength to fight, for being the most loving, caring and supportive person in the world. You've been my best friend and always will be.
I loved you from the beginning and I'll never stop…
Vaughn
"I'm not crying!" I joked, hardly being able to spit out the words due to Vaughn always choking me up.
Opening the black velvet box, a small, white gold angel pendant sat inside with diamonds along the halo. The angel, sparkling under the bright lights of the room, stood sideways holding a small red heart in it's hands.
"Vaughn… it's perfect." I gasped as I took the necklace out of the box.
"I knew it was when I saw it."
Taking the necklace out of my hands, Vaughn reached behind and clasped it around my neck. Immediately I ran to the mirror to take a look at it. It was the most precious gift I had ever received.
"Oh it's beautiful!" I shouted, lightly touching the pendant with my fingers.
"They told me the stone in the heart is red sapphire. That was the last one left." He explained.
Throwing my arms around his waist, I hugged him tightly, and then ran kisses all around his jaw and chin.
"I absolutely love it. Thank you, Vaughn." I whispered before kissing him.
"You know, these presents are going to be pretty hard to top next year. I think we outdid ourselves." He joked, brushing a strand of hair away from my face.
"Yeah… well I don't need anymore presents. All I need is you." I sighed.
The next morning when I awoke, I threw on some pajama pants and a sweater and made my way downstairs. I had never experienced a snowy Christmas before. Ever since I was a kid, I'd look out the window of my house hoping the Christmas magic had worked it's way to California and that the ground would be covered in white snow.
It was a tradition I did every morning and every year I'd be a bit disappointed that my fantasy didn't come true.
By the time I reached the bottom of the stairs, the familiar smell of pancakes and eggs hit my nose. Knowing my dad never really touched a pot or pan, I was surprised to see him pouring more pancake batter onto the grill.
"Dad… you haven't cooked breakfast since I was around 4." I greeted him as I walked into the kitchen.
"I thought I'd give it a shot since it was Christmas morning. Which, by the way, Merry Christmas Sydney."
Walking over to my father, I planted a kiss on his cheek before peeling off an end of a pancake and sticking it in my mouth.
"Merry Christmas to you too. This smells delicious. Pancakes and eggs too? Wow Dad, this is a change." I joked, pulling the carton of orange juice out of the fridge.
"I wanted to do something special for you. I know your mother always used to cook you breakfast."
A sudden sadness poured over the both of us as we started to think of mom and remember all of the good times we shared with her. Holidays were always hard considering it was just the two of us. My mother loved Christmas just as much as I did and would always have more of a spring in her step around the holidays.
When she was alive, every year we would string the popcorn together for the Christmas tree and would have to cook dozens of pots of popcorn because we'd find ourselves munching on it instead of putting it on the strings.
"I miss her too, Dad." I said, knowing he was thinking about the same thing I was.
"I know." He responded while he threw some hash browns into the pot.
The breakfast was quiet, but a comfortable quiet as we ate and reminisced about funny Christmas memories. I never knew that my dad had remembered so many of my childhood memories since he wasn't around too much after my mother had died.
It was like he shut himself off from the world, including me and was only living and going through the routines because it was the only thing he knew how to do.
"Would you like to open up the presents now?" He asked, taking both of our empty plates to the sink.
"Yeah, let's do it in the family room though. I already put your gift under the tree."
Making our way through the threshold, the both of us sat on the floor close to the tree and grabbed our gifts. It was the first year in many years that a Christmas tree had been up in our house. When I came home from San Francisco, I had convinced my father to buy a tree and decorated it with Vaughn a few days before Christmas Eve.
"Ok dad, this is my first gift for you." I told him, handing him a long, thin box.
Ripping off the red wrapping paper, he opened up the box and held the navy blue tie in his hands.
"Thank you Sydney. I can never have enough ties. I love it." He told me while tucking the tie carefully back in the box and placing it next to him.
"And here is your other gift. Francie helped me pick it out so I hope you like it."
Right before my dad started opening his present, I could hear my phone beeping from the kitchen. Instructing my dad to wait till I got back, I ran to my phone knowing it was a message from Vaughn.
Merry Christmas Syd! I know you're with your dad right now so I didn't want to call and disturb you guys. But, I'm just dropping you a line to tell you guys Merry Christmas. My mom got me Kings tickets! Love you!
-V
I smiled to myself know how excited he was over his Kings tickets. After replying quickly, I made my way back into the family room and took a seat.
"Was that Vaughn?"
"Yeah, he said Merry Christmas." I responded. "Ok, open it up now. I'm excited."
Bouncing around like a little kid, I anticipated my dad's reaction to the watch. I was hoping he would love it after all the time I spent trying to figure out which one he would like. I pissed off one good salesman attempting to find the perfect style.
My dad's eyes widened a bit after he opened the box and found the silver watch sitting inside.
"So… what do you think?" I asked, trying to read him through his eyes.
"Sydney, it's perfect. How much did this cost you? Let me pay you back." He said quickly, taking off the watch and strapping it on his wrist. It looked great on him and fit perfectly.
"Don't worry about it. I knew you needed a new watch since you've been wearing that other one forever."
After polishing his new watch with the bottom of his shirt, my dad handed me my gift that was, to no surprise, wrapped in a bag instead of wrapping paper. He never did figure out how to wrap presents.
I threw the tissue aside and was surprised when I reached in and found a picture frame. I gasped in surprise as I looked down and realized it was an old picture of my parents and I when I was around 4 or 5. It was outside on our porch with me in a sundress and tightly grasping onto my father's neck. My mother stood on the left side of him with one arm wrapped around his waist with her other hand placed on my back. The three of us smiled at the camera brightly, looking like the perfect little family.
A lone tear escaped from my eye while I examined the picture closely. I missed being a child. I missed being young and innocent. But mostly, I missed having my mother.
"I found that picture a few days ago in my closet and had it framed. You can take it to San Francisco with you when you go back." He told me, lightly touching the corner of the frame.
"Seriously dad, I think this is the best gift you've ever given me."
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