Gen One- Chapter Eleven

You would have thought given what I'd been through the past month that Eden would have woken me up a bit nicer. All I knew was that I had been having the best sleep I had had in a long time. It was true I had been feeling better, but I had wanted to guarantee that I would be full of energy for the holiday. That's why Eden got permission for the nurses to give me slightly more medicine than normal and for me to get quite the sleep aid. I was out like a light. I didn't stir once like I normally did. On the flip side of things, the medicine pushed me so far under that when Eden woke me up like he did I was so ridiculously groggy I couldn't even recall why I had been so determined to have the extra dosage at all.

     "Wake up. Wake up! C'mon, stop sleeping!" Eden prodded as he shook me without notice.

I blinked blearily.

     "Leave me alone." I mumbled, lazily pushing him away.

     "Nope," Eden protested, nearly squishing me as he half laid on me, "No sleeping in today."

     "Why not?" I asked unenthusiastically.

     "Seriously? It's Christmas! No one sleeps in on Christmas."

     "I beg to differ." I mumbled again.

I shifted under Eden's weight so I could breathe better. Did he not remember that the whole reason I was in the hospital was because my lungs weren't cooperating with me? Suffocating me wasn't going to help him get what he wanted.

     "You're no fun at all," Eden pouted, "You're the kid here. You're the one who is supposed to be bouncing all over the walls in excitement while I'm the one who is supposed to be annoyed at you for waking me up. This situation is all backwards."

     "Don't care. Sleep."

     "You really don't care?" Eden asked suspiciously, "I wonder what I'm going to do then. I have this big present being brought in for you downstairs, but if you don't get up soon you're going to miss the chance to get it entirely."

I studied him as I cracked one of my eyes open.

     "How big?" I asked.

Eden smirked widely.

     "It's big. Trust me." he promised.

     "Fine. Just get off me so I can breathe, and I'll get up."

     "Whoops. Forgot about that." Eden grinned goofily.

He sat up and helped me out of bed.

The atmosphere surrounding the hospital was a lot different than it had been the past few days. The amount of people was way fewer, but those who were around had so much more energy. The quiet almost solemn mood enveloping the building had transformed into one of gentle merriment. It was strange and delightful. I enjoyed it more and more with every step I took. Eden had to practically carry me half of the way considering that I really was incredibly groggy. I could barely keep my balance. It was when we reached the first floor when I had mostly found my footing. Eden led me to one of the waiting rooms. It was completely empty. I was left to take a seat while he went and got my present. A million ideas when through my head as to what it was. The thing that confused me was how Eden said I could have lost the chance to have gotten it. Maybe the warning was just so he could convince me to get up? It was when I heard a weird noise approaching from down the hallway that I realized what was going on. That strange noise was the sound of nails padding along the tiles. It was only seconds later when Eden walked a certain, furry someone through the door.

     "Button!" I squealed as my puppy came into sight.

I hardly got the chance to take a few steps forward. Button rushed to me so fast that she yanked her leash right out of Eden's hand. That's nothing to say of how she nearly bowled me over when I knelt down to give her the biggest hug ever. It was going on a month since I had seen her last. Of course, she was still growing so her extra strength and bulk wasn't something I was prepared to handle. Then there was the fact that I was crazy weak. The slightest breeze pushed me over. However, I didn't care how Button almost knocked me down. I buried my arms against her fluffy fur and breathed in her scent even if it made my throat scratchy. I had been missing my dog so much. I didn't want to let her go for anything.

Eden sat down next to us.

     "I had tried to get the hospital staff to let her in sooner, but they were stubborn about refusing until yesterday. They said that for Christmas they would allow the visit. She can't stay for too long. A half hour or so- granted that no accidents happen." Eden chuckled.

     "Oh, please. The nurses have to clean up pee, poop, and blood all the time from the patients here. Why would a little more from a dog be a big deal?" I said, rolling my eyes.

     "I guess that's because dealing with the patients' bodily fluids is part of their job. I'm sure it's something none of them enjoy, hence why they wouldn't have to add on more of that work if they don't want to. I don't think we have to worry though. Mr. Morning said Button's been pretty much all trained up in that regard."

Sunflower's family had taken Button since I had been admitted to the hospital. Eden was with me all the time. He didn't go to the house often enough to look after her properly. Sunflower's family had a lot of pets already, so them watching her over for the moment had been the best solution.

I didn't answer Eden. Button was begging for more petting. It was clear she had been missing me as much as I had been missing her. The half hour Eden said we had together flew by before I knew it. The hospital staff was willing to give me another ten minutes, but after that Eden had to send her away with our neighbor who had been kind enough to give her the lift.

I sat in the waiting room again. Eden had left with Button, but he came back with two rectangular, brown packages. He held them out to me.

     "Sorry they're not wrapped prettily. I only thought to get them at the last second." he explained.

     "More clothes? And shoes too?" I guessed correctly, "You're always buying me new outfits. I'm running out of room in my dresser."

     "I can't help it. I see all this stuff, and I just know it will look good on you. Considering your, uh, lack of clothing options before, I feel like I have to make up the difference." Eden said with a shrug.

     "I guess I shouldn't complain," I accepted, opening the box with the clothes, "I'm not like Flower who always gets Windy's hand-me-downs."

I took out the clothes and looked at them in confusion.

     "Why is the skirt red?" I asked.

     "Well, green and red are the main Christmas colors. Most people take advantage of the opportunity to dress up in them."

I nodded.

     "Why don't you use the bathroom down here to change? You've been wearing that nightgown for way too long, and I think you'd rather be properly dressed for what's coming up." Eden then suggested.

     "What is coming up?"

     "You'll see." Eden teased suspiciously.

I knew I had no choice in the matter. I went and changed before following Eden back up to my room on the third floor. There was definitely something going on when he made me wait outside in the empty hallway while he went inside first. I leaned against the wall daydreaming until Eden called for me to enter.

I thought I had walked in the wrong room. The place didn't look anything like it had before. I didn't even notice the blue anymore. The room had become an explosion of red and green, although I was more in amazement by who was there than I was with all the decorations and food. Amaranth and Allium. Blaze and Ms. Charm. They were talking to each other when I walked in, but they all turned and gave me huge smiles when they spotted me. Those smiles soon turned into laughs. I really was stunned speechless.

I turned desperately to Eden. He was laughing too.

     "I know you were disappointed when you learned you would be spending the holiday here. I relayed that disappointment to good ol' Blaze over here, and he determined that the two of us had had a rough enough time recently. So, he got Rose to join him and me into throwing this celebration to cheer up this boring place."

     "How on earth was this all set up though?" I asked in amazement.

     "When I was downstairs distracting you with Button, of course. I had snuck most of the decorations into the cabinets over the past few days during the times you've slept, so it wasn't that hard for the others to bring in the rest of the stuff and put it all up."

I glanced back to the others feeling teary, embarrassed, and impossibly happy.

     "Thank you very much. You really didn't have to go through the trouble, but I'm really glad you did." I said, trying not to let my swelling emotions get the best of me.

Ms. Charm smiled brightly.

     "It wasn't trouble in the slightest. I know for Al and me that we've had quiet Christmases, so to get the chance to do something lively this time around was a real treat." she reassured me.

     "I'm surprised you've been allowed to set all this up though," I spoke in amazement, "I had to do so much begging to get permission for Mr. Glory to bring those sandwiches in."

     "A lot of exceptions are made for the holiday," Eden began before getting a mischievous twinkle in his eye, "And, I might have done some serious guilt-tripping about the fact that for whatever reason the nurses left you unsupervised despite all those bouts of delirium you had even though they promised me you would be fine when I tried to sneak in a nap."

I laughed at that.

     "Again, I'm not going to complain." I said.

Amaranth and Allium then motioned me over. They wanted to show me all the food and presents. However, I didn't get to take three steps before I found my world spinning. I thought for a second that I was passing out again, but it was just Blaze and his antics.

     "Blaze, what are you doing?" Eden asked firmly.

     "Merry Christmas, Med." Blaze said to me, ignoring him.

     "Merry Christmas, Blaze." I giggled back.

     "Blaze, put her down." Eden said sternly.

     "Whaaaat," Blaze complained, "She told me you used to pick her up like this all the time. If you, the horribly uncoordinated klutz that you are, didn't manage to drop her, then I think she'll be just fine with me, the one who actually has a sense of balance and athleticism."

     "She's still sick, you know." Eden frowned, folding his arms.

     "Looks fine to me." Blaze shrugged, which tickled my stomach.

     "You look good in green," I said to him.

     "Thank you, m'dear. I must say, you are very fetching as well now that you are sporting some red."

     "What about me?" Allium asked eagerly.

     "Truly dashing," I giggled once more.

I glanced towards Amaranth.

     "You look alright." I teased him.

     "Haa! You're just alright." Blaze teased along.

     "It's because she's already seen me wearing this. Maybe if you weren't such a stringy old coot who didn't wait until the very last second before I need new clothes then I could dress to impress." Amaranth joked right back.

     "Pfft! If they fit and aren't torn, who needs new clothes?" Blaze scoffed.

     "Could you put me down now?" I asked.

I tried not to let on to the fact that all of a sudden I had gone very light-headed. The sensation of weakness was overpowering, which was confirmed when I couldn't even stand when Blaze set me down. I would have collapsed right to the floor if he hadn't had the speed to catch me around my waist to hold me up.

     "See? I told you she wasn't fine, you idiot!" Eden growled as he rushed over to swat Blaze away and support me instead, "We haven't started the party and already you've nearly made her pass out."

     "Sorry." Blaze apologized guiltily.

     "It's fine. I'm fine." I comforted both of them, " I feel better now that I'm standing properly."

I had been speaking the truth. My vision cleared rapidly as I found my footing. I didn't protest though when Eden had me sit down for a moment. When he saw that I was indeed alright, he got over his anger at Blaze. The mood in the room brightened cheerfully once more. I bounced up off the bed the second I felt I was able.

     "What should we do first?" I asked my friends.

     "Open the presents, of course!" Allium laughed, "Who does anything different?"

I felt sheepish and embarrassed for a brief second. I had naturally discovered of the general idea of Christmas, but it was always the truth that the amount I had to learn never lessened.

     "You should open your big present." Amaranth suggested.

     "That one is mine?" I asked in amazement.

There was a massive box, much bigger than all the others, stuck behind the left corner of the tree. I had been eyeing it, but staring at it then caused my heart to sink.

     "Oh," I said with disappointment, "I just realized I haven't gotten anyone anything."

     "Meadow, you've been seriously sick and stuck in this hospital for almost a month. No one is going to be upset or even expects for that matter for you to have bought them presents." Eden pointed out.

     "I think what everyone does want from you is for you just to get better." Ms. Charm added supportively.

     "I suppose..." I mumbled.

     "No frowning today!" Blaze jumped in eagerly as he wrapped an arm around my shoulder, "Only happy people are allowed at this party. So let's get you unwrapping your big box, okay?"

He reached behind the tree and snatched it up. It was put in front of me, and I knelt down to start opening it.

     "It's from Sap. Well, Sap, Bud, and Pistachio." I revealed as I read the tag.

     "Must be some stuff from Tropic Luna." Eden noted, mentioning the island we should have been on had the whole pneumonia thing not happened.

I pulled off the bow and slipped off the lid. It wasn't one big present inside. It was a whole bunch of presents- toys, souvenirs, treats, and even some strange kind of little flute. The box might as well have been a treasure box. The gifts seemed to go on forever. I dug deeper and deeper until I finally hit the bottom cardboard. By that point I had a pile of items and discarded gift-wrap around me.

Amaranth and Allium dug into their own presents afterwards. I opened mine more respectfully like Eden, Blaze, and Ms. Charm did with theirs. I wanted to make sure I was appreciative since I continued to feel bad about not having anything to give back. I had presents from pretty much everyone: Sunset, Sunflower, Frost, all their families, Cocoa, Mrs. Shining, and obviously from the other five in the room with me. There were even a few gifted from "Santa", and Eden refused to tell me who they actually were from. One of those gifts was a rainbow lamp that I instantly rushed over to the counter to plug in. It lit up and danced through all the colors beautifully. Amaranth walked up next to me scowling. He placed some coal down.

     "Is that the present from 'Santa' you were unwrapping?" I asked.

     "You mean the one from Blaze I was opening? That old man does this to me every year. He thinks it's hilarious."

     "I think it's kinda funny." I giggled.

     "You think almost everything is funny." Amaranth grinned as he rolled his eyes.

     "I know," I accepted willingly, "What are you going to do with your coal? Throw it away?"

     "No. I've kept every single piece he's given me. One day I'm going to invent a machine that can transform coal into diamonds quickly. Then I'll show off all the diamonds I have and be the one laughing in the end." Amaranth joked so grandly that I couldn't help but to burst into laughter.

Amaranth laughed too though.

When the presents were all opened, the feasting began. There was candy to go around and then some. There were cookies and pastries of many shapes and sizes. Ms. Charm had baked a humongous Christmas cake. Eden had provided a never ending supply of hot chocolate and warm cider. It was infuriating though that Eden had to micromanage everything I consumed. What I ate was still under the jurisdiction of the hospital. I was allowed some of everything, but only a tiny bit. I did my best to convince Eden to sneak me more than what I was supposed to have. Infuriatingly, he wouldn't budge. I know he was being responsible because I often had issues with handling my food due to the sickness and the medicine I was taking, but at that point I was willing to risk the nausea in order to stuff myself.

The craziness in the room peaked after that. Amaranth, Allium, occasionally Blaze, and I played what games we could. Then we began to grow sluggish and tired after having been given that chance to digest. Talking and lazy card games was what happened after that. Allium knew a whole bunch of different ones, which he was more than willing to teach me how to play. I lost most of the time. That was because I was paying more attention to Eden and Ms. Charm instead of focusing on what cards I had. Those two were talking nonstop. I had seen them have a conversation before, but now they were going at normal Eden and Blaze levels of conversation. It was a drastic jump forward.

Then there was what happened next. I had been keeping my eye on Blaze too, for he had been chuckling to himself like a lunatic for the longest time. I ignored him until it got to the point where Amaranth and Allium gave him strange glances too. That was when I noticed he wasn't the only one watching my brother and Allium's mom. Blaze laughed whenever he looked their way.

     "Will you stop that insufferable noise?" Eden, who hadn't been deaf to the chuckles either, finally complained.

That just made Blaze laugh harder.

     "I can't help it!" he exclaimed merrily, "You two have been standing in the perfect spot for the longest time, but neither of you have realized what standing where you are standing means. I wanted to point it out, but I thought it would be funnier for you to notice yourselves. Seems like you needed prompting though."

     "What are you blabbering about?" Eden said in mildly annoyed confusion.

Amaranth and Allium joined in with the chuckles. I followed their gaze. They were looking up to some sort of plant hanging down from the ceiling right above Eden and Ms. Charm's heads. Ms. Charm glanced up too.

     "Uh, Eden?"

She pointed to it. Eden's head snapped up.

Eden whirled around, a furious blush scattered across his cheeks.

     "Mistletoe?! When on earth did you even put that there? I swear it wasn't there before!" he said loudly.

     "Nah, I think you're just that unobservant. It's not like I snuck up above your heads somehow over the past hour." Blaze grinned.

     "Kiss! Kiss!" Amaranth cheered, quite enthused at the turn of events.

That hardly cleared away my confusion. What did that plant have to do with Eden and Ms. Charm apparently now having to kiss one another?

     "You're too much like your uncle." Ms. Charm smiled at Amaranth.

     "You say that like it's a bad thing," Blaze responded, "But he's right, you know. You're under the mistletoe. You have to kiss. It's the rule."

     "Need I remind you that Rose is engaged?" Eden told him.

     "Pfft! It's a mistletoe kiss, Eden. We all know it doesn't count for anything." Ms. Charm laughed.

He shifted back to her and let out an amused scoff.

     "So you're all for it too? Fine. Whatever." he spoke as he smiled and shook his head.

Ms. Charm's grin got wider. All of the rest of us stopped breathing when she pulled on Eden's shoulder to bring him closer to him. I was anticipating that because she said the kiss didn't count for anything that there wouldn't be a big show about it. That's what it seemed like how it was going to be at first. Ms. Charm leaned her face closer, and Eden closed his eyes. Then Ms. Charm smirked mischievously before full out pressing her lips against Eden's. I think she got even more adventurous, but I really couldn't see that well considering Eden's back was blocking out almost everything after all. The kiss continued for a second or so before it sunk in to Eden that he was getting more than he expected. He jumped back with wide eyes and a blush burning even brighter.

     "EWW!" Allium cried in disgust over Blaze's and Amaranth's roaring laughter.

Ms. Charm joined them.

    "Sorry, Eden," she spoke through her chuckles, "I just couldn't help it. I knew I would get a good shock out of you. You're too pure a guy."

    "Pure? I don't think you know what you're talking about, Rose. It's not like the dweeb is a virgin." Blaze revealed suddenly.

    "Eeh? You're not?" Rose asked in amazement.

    "Shut up, Blaze!" Eden cried in embarrassment before half-glaring, half-pouting at Ms. Charm, "And what's with that kind of reaction?"

     "Sorry," she apologized again with a sheepish shrug, "You simply give off that kind of aura."

     "Nope. Somehow, he had a girlfriend back in the day. She couldn't handle his smarts though, so she broke things off when he started college." Blaze continued.

     "I am seriously going to murder you if you don't shut up!" Eden warned, "And you're scarring poor Meadow for life!"

It was true I was standing there rather still and quiet. I honestly had no clue what was going on. I was still lost over what the mistletoe had to do with kissing, how I had just seen Eden be kissed, and now I was struggling to follow the conversation because I had never heard the word "virgin" before.

Blaze smartly escaped the room for a while after the ruckus died down. Ms. Charm, Allium, and Amaranth took a break from the room by going for a walk among the floors. Eden stayed behind to begin cleaning up, and I volunteered to help since the sensation of weakness was returning. I didn't want to admit it, but I couldn't escape my sickness yet. It was scrambling to drag me down again. I turned my attention away from it by using the chance to get an explanation out of Eden.

     "So what exactly is mistletoe? Why did you have to kiss Ms. Charm?" I asked.

     "There's not much to it. It's just kinda a Christmas tradition that two people who stand under the plant have to kiss, but there's no exact reason as to why. Not one that I know of anyway."

     "Okay. Um, and..."

     "And?"

     "Uh..."

I hesitated because I knew very well my next question would make Eden fluster more.

     "What's a virgin?" I went ahead and questioned.

Eden did struggle not to blush again. He took a while to answer because he was clearly attempting not to make the answer a big deal.

     "It's a word used to refer to use a person who hasn't...had sex." he said incredibly quietly.

     "Oh. So you've had sex?"

     "Ugggh," Eden groaned as he rubbed at his temples, "Yes. And that's all I'm saying about it."

     "No worries. I don't really care."

     "Good. At least someone is willing to let my private life remain my private life. I don't know why I ever thought to tell that idiot about anything at all."

     "But he keeps things interesting." I joked.

     "Blaze is just lucky I'm not as willing to spill all of his secrets."

     "Can I hear them?"

     "Maybe later." Eden laughed.

I didn't last much longer. Everyone came back to the room. Blaze had some sparkling cider, to which we toasted. Perhaps it was the bubbliness of the drink that did me in. It had me burping quietly often, and the more that happened the more my lungs hurt. I sat down and had some water. It helped for a few seconds. However, when I stood back up my chest stung and burned as a far too familiar coughing fit overtook me. Almost instantly I lost the ability to breathe. I felt myself heading to the floor as my legs nearly gave out.

     "Uh-oh." I heard Eden say.

He lifted me up under the arms and moved me to the bed right before I collapsed. He held me up, rubbed my back, and grabbed one of the cloths nearby to hold to my mouth to catch the nasty mucus sliding up my throat. I didn't dare open my eyes. They were watering too much, and I didn't want to see everyone gathered around like I knew they were. The last thing I wanted was for the celebration and the good mood to be spoiled by me. Unfortunately, that's what happened.

     "Blaze, would you mind helping me with her? Everyone else, can you give us a moment?" Eden requested.

I heard the sounds of Ms. Charm, Allium, and Amaranth shuffling out of the room. I felt Blaze's presence lingering around. However, it soon grew impossible to focus on anything else besides the tightness and pain constricting my stomach. I clutched onto Eden's shirt hoping he would get the message, because I didn't have the strength to say it.

     "Blaze, get that bucket over there." Eden instructed quickly.

Thankfully, he picked up the message easily. It was good for him that he had. Eden barely got the bucket from Blaze and held it under my mouth before I threw up everything I had eaten so far that day. It seemed like for eternity my stomach had its rampage. Even when there was nothing left for me to throw up I had to deal with the constant dry heaves. I seriously felt like I was coughing and hacking so much that I was going to make myself pass out. I was only dimly aware of Eden telling Blaze that a nurse had to be brought over.

I began crying when my body's fit stopped. I had gone from feeling the best I had in days to feeling absolutely miserable. I didn't even care to listen to Eden's rationing that the large dose of medicine I had taken the previous night had worn off, and that was the reason why my symptoms had returned. There was no choice but for me to take another doze, be put back on the IV and monitoring machines, and be stuck to bed-rest once more. There was no opportunity for me to talk to the others. As soon as I was set up, Eden had me lay down. I was half-asleep the instant my head touched the pillow.

     "I don't want to rest. I want to keep enjoying the party." I managed to mumble out.

Eden stroked my hair.

     "I know, but you can't push yourself. You're improving so fast that we'll be home before the week is out. Even this celebration is not worth risking that. Don't worry though. Everyone knows you need to rest. They're willing to wait while you take a little nap. We'll keep having fun once you feel better again." Eden promised.

I nodded weakly. Eden continued stroking my hair as I fell asleep completely.

I believed I was still sleeping when I woke up. Otherwise, what I was seeing would have been a nightmare. My shoes had been removed, and I had been placed under the covers. My body was sluggish as if I hadn't moved in hours. The lights in the room save for the Christmas ones were off. Snow was falling outside in a world where night had descended. I stared at that sky before sitting up in a flash, throwing the covers off. No way! Was it actually that late? Had I slept so long? I hadn't even wanted to take a nap. It hadn't been noon yet when I fell asleep, so that the sky was so dark meant that I had been out for a long time. I hung my head and tried not to cry as my heart sunk. There was the celebration gone. It was ridiculous to think my four visitors were still waiting for me. They had to have returned home.

I had been taken off the IV and machines at some point, so I slid off the mattress and slipped my feet back into my red boots. I turned around to make the bed when I got quite the surprise. Eden often took naps on the couch in the room, but the person sleeping there then was not at all who I expected it to be. Amaranth was right there resting peacefully. I think I froze, for I didn't move for a while. It was difficult processing the sight of him there. I wondered if I was delirious again. He was truly there? Was he actually still waiting for me to wake up so we could continue to have fun? Were the others around too? If they were, I couldn't understand why they had gone through so much trouble. I had learned very well how dull and boring the hospital was. Even on Christmas, it couldn't have possible been fun at all to spend most of the day lazing about waiting for me to wake up.

I tried my best to be quiet as I walked from around the bed. I didn't want to wake Amaranth. He was either not that far asleep, he had been faking it, or he was that light of a sleeper, because he was awake and practically entirely alert by the time I got around the bed. He jumped up and rushed over with a smile before I could take another several steps.

     "Good to see you awake. How are you feeling now?" he asked.

     "Alright. The rest and medicine should hold me over for the rest of the day," I said before pouting, "But I guess that won't be too much longer since I slept so much. I'm surprised you're even still here."

     "We said we would wait, so wait we did."

     "Is Allium and his mom around too then?"

     "Well, no. They did actually have to go home. Allium was getting a bit sniffly, so the staff told him he couldn't stay because he was now a germy risk. Otherwise, yeah, those two would be here as well."

     "That makes me feel somewhat better knowing they at least wanted to stay." I said.

I glanced around.

     "Where are Eden and Blaze?" I asked next.

     "They said before they left that they were going to get a snack. I guess I haven't been sleeping that long myself if they're not back yet." Amaranth answered.

     "Considering how much those two can chat, it is possible they've been down there for longer though."

     "True." Amaranth smiled.

It was silent for a moment. My brain was taking its sweet time waking up. It couldn't come up with anything to say or any suggestions for what Amaranth and I could do with it only being us pretty much stuck to one hospital room. However, Amaranth's eyes suddenly widened and he glanced up.

     "Whoops. I forgot." he mumbled in amusement.

My head raised as well. Eden had cleaned up some of the decorations, but he hadn't taken down the mistletoe. I had forgotten about it too, so I hadn't bothered to avoid it. Amaranth and I were standing right under the plant.

We both shifted nervously for a second until Amaranth laughed.

     "I'm not going to demand a kiss if you don't want to do it. The whole thing is rather silly anyway." he said.

     "I thought you had to kiss if you stood under it though."

     "Nah. I've seen plenty of people refuse to kiss."

     "It's not...well, I don't really mind one way or the other," I said perhaps a bit awkwardly, "If you want to, then we can. If you don't, then we won't."

Amaranth smiled goofily.

     "Eheh," he chuckled, "So that's how it is? Kay. I think we should do it then. Might be fun. Be the first time you've been kissed by someones besides your family I bet."

     "Actually, Sap kissed me at the end of summer."

     "Huh?"

Amaranth's smile quickly dropped.

     "He took me to see Mrs. Bright's stable. He had to leave to go do something with his family, but before he left he gave me a small kiss on the cheek. He said that was how people in France said goodbye or something, and he had picked the habit up since he was there for all those months."

     "Right." Amaranth said slowly.

His expression was absolutely different from the cheerful look he had been sporting. He appeared both unenthused and annoyed.

     "Do you not like Sap?" I had to ask.

     "What?"

     "You were so stand-offish to him at my birthday party, and almost every time I mention him now you look irritated. You told me before he came back from his vacation that you were friends, but it seems like you don't like him anymore."

     "No. That's..." Amaranth sighed, "It's nothing. Just ignore all that. I like him just fine. Promise."

     "If you're sure." I said uncertainly.

Amaranth did a weird sort of shrug. He might have said that he was fine with Sap, but he wasn't giving off the signals that he was telling the truth.

     "So, we still gonna uphold the mistletoe tradition?" Amaranth asked, distracting me from my thoughts.

     "Y-yeah." I agreed, feeling more nervous than I felt like I should.

     "Alrighty. Close you eyes then. I swear I won't pull a Ms. Charm on ya." Amaranth teased.

     "You'd better not." I warned back in the same manner.

I gave him a little joking glare before closing my eyes. I tried not to tense up. All I could hear in my head was the loud laughter that rang out after Eden and Ms. Charm kissed. There was no way I would be able to live down that same kind of embarrassment. I was eternally grateful that there was no one around. I twitched slightly when I sensed Amaranth moving closer. I didn't have time to prepare at all. I was expecting something big for some reason, but Amaranth simply pressed his lips half onto my cheek and half onto my lips for a short moment before pulling away. Honestly, it barely felt like he had done anything. I opened my eyes. Amaranth was smiling casually.

     "That's that." he said.

     "Yup." I agreed.

I guess it was because the previous kiss under the mistletoe had been such a big deal is why I was surprised at how quickly both Amaranth and I forgot about ours. We continued on as if it hadn't even happened. Amaranth pulled out his deck of cards again for us to resume playing some of the games Allium taught me earlier. I did a whole lot better than my first time around, which was naturally because I was paying attention instead of being distracted by the adults. I even managed to win a few rounds. Eventually, we got bored of playing. Amaranth stood up to put the cards away. He then offered to give me one of the pieces of candy he had snuck away before Eden had packed everything up so that I couldn't sneak anything. I rose to take it, but my dratted weak state got the best of me again. Falling harmlessly to my knees, I struggled to breathe.

     "Are you okay?" Amaranth asked in slight panic.

     "Yeah." I whispered.

     "I should go get Eden or something."

     "No, don't. I'm really fine. I just need to not move for a bit."

I sat back down on the carpet. Amaranth sat next to me, and I was forced to lean against him when I battled with light-headedness even though I wasn't moving.

     "I'm so sick of this." I mumbled bitterly.

     "You're almost there though. By this time next week, you won't be in the hospital. Then you'll get completely better, and you can play with us like you did before." Amaranth comforted.

     "The doctor told me," I began quietly, "He said that this was bound to happen again. Maybe not because of pneumonia, but he warned me to expect constant hospital stays for pretty much my whole life. It's not just because I haven't had my vaccinations. They did some tests. I really was just born with a terrible immune system. That means they actually can't give me many vaccinations at all, which leaves me open to all sorts of illnesses if I'm not careful."

     "Oh." Amaranth said softly.

     "I hate it. If only-"

I had to cut myself off. I had grown too comfortable being around Amaranth. I had very nearly just spilled the secret by almost complaining about how The Company had tinkered my very existence into creation. It was always a weird battle I fought. I didn't know whether to be grateful that I had been born or if I should curse for being given such a life.

I shook my head when Amaranth glanced at me wondering if I was going to continue.

     "I...that just sucks," Amaranth said after more silence passed, "But it's good that we know now. That way we can be careful. Al, Frost, Sun, and me, we'll make sure to stay good and healthy so we don't pass anything to you. If you tell us you're cold or that you don't feel right, we'll listen this time around. If you don't try to force yourself when you feel like you might catch something, I'm sure you'll be fine. I'll make sure that you are."

     "Thanks." I said gently, more embarrassed by Amaranth's comforting than I had been by the kiss.

The silence returned. I concentrated on getting my lungs to work right. It was about when I felt normal when Amaranth resumed speaking.

     "You know what?" he said.

     "Hmm?"

     "I think Christmas is my favorite holiday now."

     "What?" I laughed at the random change of topic.

     "My favorite used to be summer vacation-"

     "That's not a holiday."

     "It is to me," Amaranth continued without missing a beat, "But anyway, yeah, I like Christmas more now."

     "Why's that?" I questioned curiously.

     "Because it's all red and green. It's like us. We're like it. We are Christmas. It's our thing. Our holiday."

     "You're right," I agreed, "I like that."

Amaranth beamed. I smiled too and didn't bother to stop resting against him.