The Disbanded: Divided We Stand-Chapter 33
By MyNameIsCAB
---Max's POV---
Today is Christmas!!! Iggy's cooked up a nice breakfast and I can smell it from my room.
"God, I'm so hungry now," Fang said, sitting up.
I helped Fang into his wheelchair and we headed to the kitchen. Ella was already there, carrying on conversation with Iggy.
"Morning," Iggy said as he placed another waffle on what was already becoming a tower of waffles.
"Good morning," Ella smiled at us.
"Iggy, are you making bacon?" Fang asked.
I rolled my eyes and pushed Fang so he was in front of the table before sitting down next to him.
"Yep," Iggy answered with a grin.
The smell of food started to wake the others up. Ted had come into the kitchen, still rubbing his eyes. His hair was messy, like it was most days when we went to work because Cal wasn't always around to fix it.
Cal came in next. She frowned at Ted. "Your hair is all messy, Teddy."
She stood behind him and her fingers through his hair.
"Ouch," Messina complained.
"Well, at least it looks better," Cal sighed, sitting down next to him.
Mom came down just as Iggy was finished cooking. He and Ella placed all the food on the table and proudly, Iggy said, "Dig in!"
We were all in the family room, trying to agree on what channel to watch on TV.
"Hey, move over," I said to Fang. He was spread out, taking up the entire couch.
He sat up and I sat down where his head was. Now his head returned, resting on my leg. Fang gave me a quick smile before looking at the TV.
We all sat on the floor, our presents had been sorted out and now sat in front of the people they belonged. With our FBI paychecks and help from the others, we had gotten Mom a new car. Ted had got it from the dealership this morning and parked it down the street. He and Cal just put the big ribbon on it and drove it in front of the house while Mom was busy cleaning up the dishes. It was a minivan.
"Mom, why don't you open your present first?" I asked.
She picked up the small box that had the keys in it.
"Car keys? You're….This is a joke, right?" Mom looked shocked, holding up the keys.
"No, come outside and look and see," I said.
We got to the front door and she stared at the car.
"It took all of us, but we paid for it. It's totally yours," Iggy said.
"I didn't even expect anything from you," Mom said, hugging us. "You guys really shouldn't have."
"Hey, we all fit in one car now," I said and she smiled.
"And what did Max get me?" Fang asked smugly, leaning back onto the armchair we had squeezed into. He was holding the heart rate monitor I had bought him.
"It's full of rocks," I joked.
"Can I throw them at you?" Fang smiled as he started to unwrap it.
I watched Fang's smirking smile turn into an appreciative one.
"You got him a watch?" Ted asked, but then suddenly realized that he shouldn't have opened his mouth. Fang never told Mom about lung problem.
"That's a nice watch, Fang," Mom smiled.
"Yea, it is," Fang lied as he took off his old heart rate monitor and put on the one I had got him.
"I got it set to beep at 170," I whispered.
"Thanks," he said, quickly grabbing the next present before Mom or Ella could say anything else about the watch.
After going through a couple of small gifts, he reached the Nick Markakis baseball jersey. He unwrapped it, showing a rare smile to everyone else. Ted, Cal, and I started laughing hysterically.
"I don't get it still," Ella said.
Cal explained that Nick Markakis had been Fang's alias. Even Iggy was laughing now.
"Hey Fnick," Iggy cackled, referring to when Fang had been in the hospital and almost gave his real name, but had quickly come up with Nick.
"Shut up, Jeff," Fang smirked, grabbing a large present that I knew wasn't from me. I scanned the room to see who was watching. It was from Ted.
"Whoa, Ted, you got him a laptop?" I almost gasped.
Messina nodded. "I still owe him."
I watched Fang open his mouth to protest, but Ted was already watching Iggy open his presents from Ella.
---Fang's POV---
"Hey, Max," I said in almost a whisper.
She looked over at me. "Hmm?"
I handed her the box with the necklace in it. It wasn't something I wanted to give to her when everyone was watching. Ted glanced at me and gave me thumbs up. It was nice he cared.
"Fang…It's beautiful," Max smiled. I pulled it out of the box and helped her put it on. Luckily everyone was too busy watching Iggy fool around with his new spatula.
"It was Ted's idea, actually," I admitted.
She nudged me in the shoulder. "That's okay. I still love you."
