Chapter 8

Christmas morning finally arrived and the family awoke, still half-asleep. They each went about their normal morning routine: waking up, getting their diapers changed, then they went in the kitchen for breakfast and coffee. While it was Christmas morning and they should have been ecstatic, the events of the previous night had left some of them in a sour mood, especially Alvin, Erik, and Colin. Meanwhile, Marshmallow and Renee were still somewhat sleepy due to the fact that they hadn't gotten much sleep the previous night. As for the other three, their emotions ranged from depressed to anger. Erik and Colin were depressed (both had their separate reasons), whereas Alvin was still sour towards Colin for hurting Erik. The raccoon could understand why Alvin was still steamed at him. Had it been the other way around, Colin was sure that he would have been upset with Alvin.

Once breakfast was out of the way and once they each had some caffeine running through their veins they each walked in the living room and gathered around the Christmas tree to open gifts. There weren't that many, surprisingly. Then again, there were only five members of the family. Still, there should have been more than just a few presents under the tree, each member usually having the intention to buy at least gift for each member of the family. This year was different, however. There were presents addressed to Marshmallow, Renee, Alvin, Erik, and Colin, but whereas Erik and Colin would have gotten presents for each other, there weren't any addressed to either Erik or Colin from the former or the latter. While Renee admitted that this was bizarre, she didn't question it and merely went about passing out the gifts, each member of the family taking turns opening their gifts.

Erik and Colin had saved up their money and together they had gotten Renee a new pair of scissors along with a new hair stylin kit that included a set of scissors, just in case she lost one pair. The kit came with a set of combs of varying lengths and a spray bottle along with bottles of shampoo and conditioner that all the professionals used. The two had also saved their money and had bought Marshmallow a collection of baby paraphenalia together. Among diapers and a new set of baby bottles, they had also gotten her a set of pacifiers, sleepers, and at least two jugs of milk, although they predicted that the two gallons of milk would be gone by next week given how quickly they went through milk, especially with three babies needing to be fed.

Renee had gotten Alvin a beautiful set of lead pencils that were arranged from lightest to darkest, although he could easily rearrange them so that they went from darkest to lightest. Along with it she had gotten him a sketch pad, as well as a book that detailed how to draw different characters from famous cartoons and another book that detailed how to draw still-life and do more realistic-looking drawings. Along with the lead pencils she had gotten him a set of colored pencils so he could color his drawings if he so wished.

Alvin had found that shopping for Marshmallow had been extremely easy. Basically, anything that had to do with being a baby she wanted. While this was true, he was pleased to see that she was happy with the jar of peanut butter that he had gotten her as her Christmas present, along with a plastic spoon with which to eat it. For him she had gotten him some spray-on deodorant along with some body wash and some shampoo and conditioner, knowing that personal hygiene and keeping up with his personal appearance was of utmost importance to him. She didn't look to understand why and she wasn't about to try to understand it. Unfortunately, after she'd spent all of her money on Alvin, she had no money left to buy her mother anything. She was grateful when she learned that her mother didn't care in the slightest.

"Well, I guess that's everyone," Renee said, standing up and dusting her paws off.

"No, wait," Erik cried. I have something special I want to give Alvin."

Alvin looked over at him. "What is it, Erik?"

"Just wait here," Erik instructed. He hopped off the couch and walked down the hall and entered his bedroom. He returned moments later with Alvin's backpack, which he handed to the chipmunk. "Here."

Alvin took the old worn red backpack and examined it. "Thanks, Erik, but, uh, isn't this my old one?" he asked, giving the skunk a curious look.

"Well, yeah," Erik agreed, "but I also got you a little something. Look in it!" He quickly unzipped the bag before Alvin got a chance to do so.

Alvin peered in it for a moment and pulled out a leather-bound hardcover book. "It's . . . a book?" he guessed, still unsure of what the gift was.

Erik chuckled. "You gotta open it first, Alvin," he declared. "Look inside. The rest of you do the same." He gestured for everyone else to get closer, huddling them all close together so they could get a clear view of what was on the first page.

Alvin was speechless by what he saw. "A photo album? This is so awesome, you guys! Thank you so much!" He patted everyone on the shoulder and hugged them closely with one arm.

"Don't look at me, I didn't do this," Marshmallow said, putting her paws out in front of her. "I was busy."

"Yeah, me neither," Renee added. "I was busy getting food."

Alvin looked at them, confused. "You mean, you guys didn't make this together?" he asked, still wondering what was going on.

"Well," Erik spoke up, "I don't mean to brag, but . . ." His gaze fell to the floor as he idly kicked his foot against the carpet. With his paws folded behind his back, he glanced up at Alvin once more with a somewhat sheepish grin. "I did it! I made it all by myself for everybody, especially you, Alvin." He was quite prideful and satisfied with how the book had turned out.

"Really?" Alvin asked, staring at the skunk in surprise. "That's really . . . wow! Thank you." He felt like picking Erik up and hugging him until the skunk was breathless, but instead pulled him relatively close into a headlock with one arm and began scratching his head "You little bundle of fur, how did you do this?" he asked, hugging Erik even closer, almost smothering the fat mammal.

"Well, it wasn't that hard, really," Erik declared, momentarily pulling away from Alvin's grip for a breath of air. "I mean, I just took some pictures of everybody and put them in the little picture slot things."

"I meant more like, what made you think of this?" Alvin asked, letting go of Erik completely and starting to look at the next page.

"Oh," Erik replied, now understanding. "Well, everyone was thinking of stuff to do for you and I wanted to do something no one else would." He couldn't help but be a little proud; he rarely had the chance to prove himself to everyone, let alone Alvin.

"Erik, this is really good," Renee said, looking over a page entirely dedicated to her, Colin, Erik, and Marshmallow.

"Aren't there any of me and you in here?" Marshmallow asked Erik, quickly searching through the pages. "Here's one. Aww, you even put a little heart frame around it."

"Yeah," Erik said. "Well, I wanted to do something special for all of you, but, remember, it's still Alvin's." He quickly closed the photo album and handed it back to Alvin, who took it gratefully, before Marshmallow was finished looking at it.

"Wow, Erik, that was really thoughtful of you," Colin said.

"Yeah," Marshmallow agreed. "I never would have been able to think of that all on my own."

Renee, Melissa, Colin, and Marshmallow decided to go in the kitchen to begin preparing lunch, leaving both Erik and Alvin in the living room by themselves.

Erik felt a bit invisible now that no one was paying any mind to him or his gift anymore.

Alvin took quick notice of Erik staring at the floor with the small photo book held in one of his paws. "Hey, are you doing okay, buddy?" he asked.

Erik quickly looked up into Alvin's blue eyes. He was almost entranced by them but regained his usual expression quickly "Oh, I'm fine, just tired, I guess. Umm, yeah, tired from helping the others get everything set up for this party, that's all." He tried to act like himself, but Alvin wasn't buying it.

"You didn't do much of anything today, remember?" Alvin reminded the skunk. He was curious as to why Erik was acting in such an odd manner. The skunk wasn't himself.

Erik knew he couldn't fool Alvin this time. "Well, I . . . it's just . . . It seems like everyone is ignoring me, and I don't want you to ignore me, too." He was feeling depressed all of a sudden by what he was saying himself, which rarely happened.

Alvin frowned. "What makes you think they're ignoring you?" he asked, putting a hand on Erik's shoulder, causing the skunk's body to shudder a little

"Well, they're always doing things without me," Erik explained. "Like yesterday, I could've helped more, but I didn't want to get in the way; besides, I'm not like them." He sat down on the soft tan carpet, looking over to where everyone else was starting to get things cleaned up and put away.

Alvin sat down next to him "What do you mean? You get along great with them, and nobody says anything bad about you." He heard Erik scoff so quietly it sounded more like a whimper.

"I get along with them," Erik agreed. "They like me, but I'm just not like any of them; I feel out of place whenever I see how different they are from me. It's like I don't belong here, yet they still call me family."

Alvin sighed "You know, I'm the same way. Everyone here loves me for who I am and I feel really weird being given all of these things and being part of this. But I feel like I don't belong here either, yet here I am."

Alvin's statement brought a smile back to Erik's face "You're right, Alvin. I should be happier. It's just hard, you know?"

"Yeah, I understand what that feels like," Alvin said as he got back to his feet, yet Erik stayed where he was. "You want to help me get this wrapping paper be away?"

Erik hopped to his feet and nodded his head eagerly. "Sure!"

The shredded wrapping paper was thrown away in the trash while the boxes were kept and put in the garage. The group went about their separate ways after that. Alvin lounged around in the living room watching bad TV specials while Renee went in the kitchen to prepare Christmas dinner. Marshmallow was put down for a nap after her bottle-feeding. Meanwhile, Erik and Colin went in their bedroom to have a nice, long talk.

"I noticed you ddin't get me a present this year," Colin said to Erik.

At first, Erik didn't respond. Then he replied, "But I did. My present to you this year was me. I . . . thought that much was obvious."

Colin's ears flattened against his head and he frowned. "Oh. So that's what the letters and the date were all about?"

Erik nodded weakly. "Yes."

"Oh," Colin repeated. "Listen, I've been doing some thinking about what you said last night and . . ." He rubbed the back of his neck and looked down at the floor before beaming at the skunk. "I figured why not give you a chance?"

Erik's head jerked up and he beamed at the raccoon in front of him. "You mean . . ."

Colin smiled and nodded. "That's right. What say you and me spend the day togeher, just you and me?"

Erik latched onto Colin and buried his face in Colin's chest, nuzzling his face in the soft white fur that covered it. "Oh, Colin, I would truly love that!"

Colin chuckled and gently pushed Erik away. "I figured you would." He suddenly ducked under his bed and began fishing around for something, while his furry rump and tail were completely visible to Erik, much to the skunk's delight. He finally emerged and held up what he'd discovered. "Why don't we start by trying out that ice skating thing again?"

"I . . ." Erik took a couple of steps back. "I'm not so sure."

"Oh, come on." He slung the ice skates over one shoulder and held onto the laces. He put his other paw on Erik's shoulder and smiled down at him. "I'll be right beside you every step of the way."

Erik smiled. "Well, okay."

"Great! Then afterward we can have a nice romantic dinner."

Erik chuckled. "You've been reading romance novels again, haven't you?"

Colin laughed. "Yeah, I guess I have. Come on, let's go." He put an arm around the skunk and they walked down the hall together.

"I'll give you your present tonight," Erik whispered in Colin's ear as they exited the house.

Colin smiled, looking forward to what present could be awaiting him when the two of them got home that night.