Disclaimer: I do not own any character of (The Last of Us) TLOU is owned by Naughty Dog, Sony, and their creators.
A/N: Well, my follower readers this story is getting closer to the end only 4 more chapters and the epilogue. Yeah, it's going to be sad to see the end of it, but I', happy that this story gets great attention and a lot of review and support. So I want to thank you all for that. I wish the best for all of you and have a happy Halloween and be careful out there. But now, let's continue with the story. :D
Chapter 21: A Christmas gift
At his promise, Joel goes back to Marlene's house the next day in the morning as soon as Marlene calls him. Ellie, on the other hand, wakes up early but has to wait until they have some breakfast and wait for Joel to arrive. Soon Joel arrives at the house, Marline and Ellie received him. A little after Ellie starts to acts like a little child and goes to the living room and sits in front of the Christmas tree. Marlene and Joel sat on the couch and look at her while she checks the name of the gift looking for the ones from her to Joel and her aunt.
Ellie didn't feel like this in a long time. She always spends Christmas morning with her aunt alone and even that she always put some presents under the tree, she never feels this good. So spending Christmas eve with Joel and now the next day was like a dream come true. It feels like she has a bigger family and no feel like is only her aunt and her. Joel doesn't know how much she wants to jump at him and kiss him. She feels so happy that in a way she will thank Joel later.
Soon she finds the gifts that were for her aunt, she passes them to her. She wanted to give Joel's present first, but she thought that her aunt should be first. After all the things her aunt has done for her in the last month is fair for her to be the first one. After Marlene grabs the gifts, she starts to open them. Marlene broke all the wrap paper and open one of the gifts. Inside the first one were two summer blouses and in the other one a winter sweater and a gold chain with an M later on it. Marlene put on the chain around her neck and thanks Ellie for the gifts. She hugs her and told her that this was the best Christmas they have in years. Then she stood up from the couch and grabbed Ellie's gifts and passed to her.
Ellie opens her present and thanks her aunt for them and hugs her. After that Joel stood up and went to the tree and took his for Ellie and gave it to her. They continued opening the presents until they opened all of them. Then they go outside and get to the back of the house and sat there and talk for a while. Ellie was so happy to have Joel there with them. After one hour Marlene goes inside and starts to make some lunch. Joel and Ellie start to walk around the backyard. While Marlene stayed inside the house and preparing lunch.
After a few minutes, they sat in an old bank they have in the back yard. "Do you like your gifts?" asked Joel while looking at the trees.
Ellie looks at him and smiles. "Yeah… I like the iPod my aunt gave me and all the other things I get too." Ellie grabs Joel's arm and looks at the tree too. She touches that gold chain with the heart charm and looks back at him. "You don't even have to give me anything else you know that do you? You already gave me your gift in the resort remember." Ellie interlaces her arm with his and smiles at him. "But have you here and having to spend Christmas with us is the best party ever. No matter how good the gift was, been here with me make this the best Christmas I ever have." Ellie put her head on Joel's shoulder and look at the trees.
Joel looked at her and smiled. "I'm glad that you had a good time, see you happy is all I wanted. Besides been here for Christmas is the best thing that happens to me in a long time."
Ellie moves her head and looks at him. "Ahhh… you always find something nice to say... I love it when you get so cute on me," Ellie pushed him to the side softly. "What are we going to do for New year's eve?" she asked with some curiosity. Having Joel for Christmas was the best, but the holidays are almost gone, and soon she will have to go back to school and she not going to be able to see him as much she like. So she wanted to spend the most possible time with him.
Joel looks at the trees again. "Well, I'm not sure of what to do… I mean is a good day for a celebration, but nothing is going to surpass Christmas," Joel started thinks about what they can do about that they. He already told Marlene that the next gathering will be in his house, but he wanted to do something special for Ellie. " don't have any especial to do yet, but I already talk to you aunt and told her that this time we're going to celebrate the holiday in my house."
Ellie smile at that. "That sounds great… Can I go early to your house and help you with the cooking?" asked Ellie with an excited tone. She is hoping for him to say yes, so that way they can be there alone for at least a few hours. Is good that her aunt is okay with them be together, but she wanted to have some time alone with Joel, so that way they can kiss. Something they can't do much with her aunt present.
Joel looks back at her. "Sure… I don't see a problem with that, but you need to ask your aunt first. Also, you have to bring whatever you are going to wear that night. So that way you can take a shower there and change without getting back to your house."
"I like the sound of that…" It would be better if you take a shower with me so that way I can thank you for all the things you've done for me. Ellie said in her mind. She loves Joel and wants to do more with him, is too bad that she have to be a minor and Joel is respecting that. They stay looking at the trees for a few minutes. Some snow started to fall so Ellie put her head on Joel's shoulder and looked at the sky. "Are you going to stay the rest of the day here?" she asked while looking at the snow falling down.
Joel put his arm around her shoulder and pulled her close. "I will love it too, but what can we do around here to pass the time?"
Ellie turns her head and looks at him. "We can kiss!" said Ellie with a big smile on her face.
Joel looked at her face and laughed a little. "With your aunt watching us… I don't think so." He looks at her and starts to feel like a teenager. He feels like a boy trying to be with his girlfriend without her parents noticing them doing things. It is a weird sensation, but it makes him feel young again and also forget about his past and pains.
Ellie turns her head and looks at the forest. Maybe we can take walk deeper into the forest where she can't see us." Ellie takes a deep breath and continues. "I really want us to be able to kiss whatever we wanted… sometimes I wish to be older, so that way we can be together all the time," said Ellie a little saddled.
Joel squeezed her shoulder a little. "We will be going to have time for that later... Ellie," Joel lowered his head and kissed her on the top of her head. "You just need to be a little patient and I'm not going anywhere." He knows how desperate she can be, she is a teenager after all. Some time moments like this make him think about what is going to happen in the future. He knows how society can be and how they like to judge people.
Ellie closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "Yeah, I know. But sometimes I have those dreams… you know, the wet ones?"
Joel takes his arm away from her. "Oh… c'mon Ellie... I don't want to hear any of that!" he was trying to get away from her, but Ellie grabbed his arm again and tried to keep him down.
"Ahhh… c'mon… don't tell me that you don't have any of those dreams about me…?"
Joel starts to feel a little embarrassed. The last thing he needs is to think about that right now. "Ellie I don't want to talk about that… especially in your house with your aunt here or maybe ever." Joel managed to get away from her grab and stood up.
"Ahhhh… you do… I can see it in your eyes and red face," Ellie stands up from the bank and starts walking toward him. Joel moves backward and tries to stay away from her. "How far did you get?" she asked now with some curiosity.
Joel continues moving away from her. "I'm not going to talk about this… so dropped."
"Ahhhh… c'mon I want to know how far you think about me…" she giggles a little as she continues walking toward him.
"I'm not going to tell you anything…" he continues to move away from her.
"Ohhh… don't worry I will make you talk…" Ellie lowers down and grabs some snow and makes a ball. "You know I'm the champion of this." She threw the snowball at Joel and hit him in his chest and started laughing.
Joel looks at the snow on his chest. "Oh… you're going to pay for that… missy," Joel grabs some snow too and throws it to her. Ellie moves to the side making him miss and starts to run around the back yard with Joel behind her.
"You miss… what a loser…" she says while running away from him. They continue trowing to each other snow any chance they have just like little kids.
Marlene was in the kitchen when she heard the commotion outside, so she moved to the window and saw Joel and Ellie running around throwing snowballs at each other. She smiles at the view, not knowing what to think about that. But she was happy to see Ellie laughing and enjoy herself.
Joel spends almost all morning and half the day there, but after that, he tells Marlene that he needs to return to his house to do a few things and can't stay for dinner. So after one more hour, Joel says goodbye to Ellie and Marlene and drives back home. It was a good day, and he was happy that Ellie had a great Christmas time. He has to admit that he has one too after being alone for so long.
( A few days Later )
Joel was sitting on his porch when Marlene's car arrived at his house. He texted her early in the morning and told her that he needed to talk to her in private. So soon she parks the car, Joel stands up and waits for her to get out.
Soon Marlene gets out of her car, she starts walking toward him. "Not working today?" she asked as soon she got closer.
"Nah… I have been taking some time off since I finished my last work yesterday. There is not much to do anyway on the holidays with all this snow." he said as he breathing her. "But I made a deal for a more permanent job that it will be starting next month."
"Oh… that sounds good. I don't want my niece to be with a man that doesn't have a permanent job." She said in a form of a joke.
Joel was grim at her. "Yeah, no one wants that… Anyway, that is not the reason I wanted to talk to you," said Joel while looking at her curious expression. "So, do you want some coffee?"
"Sure… I'm also wanted to know the reason for you wanted me here alone this early." Joel turns around and opens the door for her.
"Ahhhh, don't worry I will explain all that soon enough." He left Marlene to enter the house first, then he follows her inside. Soon both of them get in the living room Joel speaks again. "You can wait here or sit at the dinner table. I will go to the kitchen and get your coffee," said Joel while starting to walk toward the kitchen.
Marlen walks closer to the fireplace and starts to look at the pictures he has there. "I know we don't talk much about your personal life or your past. So maybe now is a good time to do so." Marlene grabs one of the pictures and looks at it. "So how you brother… Are you still in contact with him?" she says, trying to make some conversation.
Joel was in the kitchen putting some coffee on two mugs. "We don't talk much… I don't remember if I told you before, but we're not been close in a long time." Joel answered her.
Marlene put the picture of Joel and his brother back on the top of the fireplace. "Oh… I see. Well, it looks like you have the same situation that Ellie and me. You once told me that I need to fix things with Ellie and I am happy that things are working well now. We're getting closer again and that makes me happy. You should do the same with your brother, especially if he is the only family you have left."
Joel walks out of the kitchen and gets to the living room. "Here," he passed one of the mugs to her. Then he sat on the couch and took a sip of his coffee. "Yeah that will be good, but I don't think he will want to talk to me any time soon. He always was the good brother and I never appreciated that. It will be good to fix things with him, but soon he finds out about me and Ellie." he takes another sip of his coffee. "he probably doesn't talk to me again or worse..."
Marlene take a sip of her coffee and sat on the chair in front of him. "Well, at least you should try to talk to him again… maybe you will get surprised. After all, he is your family and family needs to stay together no matter what."
"Thanks for the positive support, but I know my brother and he is too moral to accept the fact that an old man like me fell in love with a 16 years old girl. He probably called the cops on me or killed me himself." Joel takes another sip of his coffee. Yeah, ha been thinking about how his brother is going to react to this, and not of them ended well.
"Yeah… maybe you're right…. But you have to deal with him sooner or later he is your family," Marlene takes another sip of her coffee and looks at him. "So what did you ask me to come here for? Is there something about Ellie?" She lowered the mug on the top of the table in front of her just in case. "Please don't tell me that you two have sex on the resort… because I will be the one to kill you first."
Joel smiled at that. "Yeah, I bet you will do it, but no, we don't do that. That is not why I call you here to talk about, it is about something else." Joel stands up and goes to the kitchen table and grabs an envelope he has there and comes back. "I have another Christmas gift for you… well is for both of you really. I wanted to give it to you back in the house, but I thought it was better to talk about it alone." said Joel sitting back on the couch.
"Joel, you don't have to give me any more gifts, you already give me more that I really wanted. Helping me to get close to Ellie again, and making me feel like a mother, it was the best gift you can give it to me."
Joel can see some tears wanted to come out. "Yeah I know, that is why I wanted to give you this," Joel extended his arm and passing the envelope in his hand at her.
Marlene looks at him and with some tears scaping her eyes, she grabs the envelope and looks at it. "What is this?"
"The other gift…"
Marlene whips her eyes and looks at him with curious eyes. "The other gift?"
"Yeah, a gift that will give you a little hope… a gift for you and Ellie…" Joel watching her as she looks at the envelope in her hand. "Is okay, just opened," he said with a smiled on his face.
Marlene raised her brow and looked at him again. She doesn't know what Joel means by that, but after a few minutes, she starts to open it. When she is done, Marlene takes out a few papers with her name on them and a bank account at her name. When she looks at the numbers, she looks back at Joel. "What is this?" she asked with a surprised expression.
Joel smiled at her. "It is what it looks like… It is a bank account in your name."
Marlene looks at the paper again then back to Joel. "But this said that contains $200.000.00… I don't understand why you give me an account with that kind of money…"
"That was what you needed for the treatment right?" Joel knows that this will be too much for her, to take in, but he really wanted to help her.
"Yeah… but this…" Marlene looks at the papers, then passes them back to Joel. "I'm sorry Joel… but I can't accept this... I don't know where you get this amount of money… but… I can't accept them, is too much," She put the paper on the table, as Joel doesn't take them back.
"I know is a lot of money, but I wanted to give you and Ellie more time to be with each other… I know that you said that the treatment is not a guarantee, but if it can give you more time to be with Ellie it worth the try."
Marlene stands up and starts to move around. "Joel… I can't… that is a lot of money… and I can't even imagine what you do to get it… I… I… just can't."
Joel stands up and walks close to her. "You need to accept it… if not for you, then do it for Ellie. She needs someone to help her right now. She needs a mother, she needs you."
"But… this is a lot… I just can't... Besides the treatment is no guarantee that I will be cured me."
Joel moves closer and puts his hand on her shoulder. "Yes… you already told me that… But you also told me that it can give you more time… More time than you can spend with Ellie and enjoy it to be a mother. This can be better than just left Ellie to see you die so early, so please, give her more time to be with you, and be the mother she needs."
Tears start to fall out of her. "Why are you doing this? I know that you care about Ellie, but do this for me… I don't understand?"
"Because someone told me once… that people deserve a second chance. And I think you deserve one too… you deserve to give Ellie and yourself a second chance to be a family… a better one this time."
"But… you don't have to do this… you already give me the chance to be that… even for a little bit. You make her forgive me and now I can be close to her just as her mother wanted. Now I can talk to her more and see her laugh and be happy, I also see how she falls in love. That is more than a Mother can wish for."
"Yeah, that is true… but you can give her more than that. You can see her grow, finish high school, and go to college. You can see her become the wonderful woman she is destiny to be… you deserve that and so is Ellie."
Marlene looks up at him. Maybe Joel never going to be the perfect man she would wish for Ellie to be with, but now she can see how much he cares for her and understand why Ellie loves him so much. He maybe is too old for her little girl, but she knows now that Ellie will be in better hands than in a younger man. Tears start falling again from her, but when she feels Joel embraces she just let them out without holding them back. After a few minutes, she has the will to speak again. "Thank you… Joel. I really appreciate all that you're doing for Ellie and me."
After a few more minutes they move away from each other. "I still have one conduction," said Joel looking at her.
Marlene wipes her tears with the back of her hand and looks at him. "A condition?"
"Yes… I want you to tell Ellie everything as soon as you make the arrangement to start the treatment."
Marlene looks away from him. "I don't know Joel… I don't want to give her false hope… if this doesn't work."
"That does not matter… she deserves to know what is happen to you no matter what." Joel put his hand on her shoulder again. "Don't worry, I will be there with you if you want me to. I am not going to let you do this alone with this… I promise."
Marlene turned around and looked at him. "Thank you, Joel… for all the things you're doing to help us? I can see now how much you love Ellie… really love her. But also helping me after all the things I said to you before... "
"I want Ellie to have the mother she never has… and if I can help you even a little with that... I wanted to try." Joel moves away and walks toward the window. He put one hand on the wall and looked outside. "I never like to talk about this… but that weekend with Ellie up there it helps me a lot."
Marlene looks at him not knowing what he is going to tell her now, but she can see the pain in his face. So she just moved a little closer and let him talk.
"I know you don't want to hear this, but I never was a good man. I got in trouble a lot when I was younger. And things got worse when my mother died. I never got too close to my dad after that, or with my grandfather, when our dad died too. But when I found a woman and got married, I thought all that was going to change, but it didn't. I think we were happy for a time, but the need for money makes me work more and I don't see that that ruined my marriage." Joel takes a deep breath.
Marlene saw tears coming out of his eyes, so she moved closer to him. "Joel whatever this is you don't need to tell me. I know people have a hard life sometimes, so you don't need to feel bad about it." She tried to make him feel better.
Joel turns his head and looks at her. "I just want you to know the other reason I wanted to do this. Is not only for you and Ellie but for myself too," he saw Marlene give him the sign to continue, so he turns his head and looks outside again. "The day my wife found out that she was pregnant… it was the happiest day of my life. But that makes me start to work harder to get what we need for the baby… I thought that having a child will change things between us and make us closer. But when our baby girl was born… it changes things for the worse." Joel lowers his head and closes his eyes.
"So… you had a child?" asked Marlene with some curiosity.
After a few minutes, Joel opens his eyes and looks outside again. "Yes, we have a little girl… but she was born too early and sick…" Joel stops for a moment and tries to calm himself. "We name her Sarah… but she only… live… for a few… weeks."
Marlene moves closer and puts one hand on his shoulder. "I'm so sorry… Joel," she said with some condolences. "Did Ellie know about all this?"
"Yeah… I told her at the resort. I wanted to tell her all about that sooner, but I didn't find a way to do it." Joel stops for a moment and whips some tears from his face. "Anyway, Sarah never has the chance to change things around. And my wife doesn't even care much about us. So after she dies I get more and more in trouble and drink a lot. I lost my job and after that, everything got worse between us. Then I found out that she doesn't want to have kids and that she was taking some kind of pill to prevent it. I never found out if that was the reason our little baby was born sick, but we got divorced after that." Joel turns around and looks at Marlene. "Now you see why I want to do this? I never have the chance to help my little girl, but maybe I have the chance to help you… even if it's just a small chance for you to get better."
Marlene moves closer and hugs him. "Thank you, Joel… not only for trying to help me but also to be so good with Ellie. I'm so sorry about your little girl, but I'm sure that she will be proud of the man you becoming now."
"I'm not sure about that. Falling in love with a 16 years old girl… is not what I can call a good man."
Marlene moves apart and looks at him. "I know this is not a normal situation for you two. I really wish that you're younger or Ellie a little older, but love always has his way… and we can't change that. But I think that you two were destined to be together and help each other to heal your souls. So, don't worry Joel, I think that in the end, everything is going to work just fine."
"I hope so… I want to give Ellie the best life she deserves." Joel doesn't know why but he feels much better now. Let Ellie and her aunt know about Sarah, take off all that weight from his shoulder.
After that Marlene gets the paper bank back from Joel says goodbye to him and gets back to her work. Joel feels happy that she accepted the help and that she wanted to get better for Ellie, even if it is only for a little longer. Now that all that is done, he can get back to prepare things for the new year in his house.