Hold Your Breath

"Hey Vi-"

I stormed through my front door and headed straight to my room with a handful of shopping bags in my arms. My father stared questioningly at my odd behavior. He didn't understand though. I spent two hours at the mall picking presents and pondering over the stupid song Mike had written. He was in a band and he didn't even tell me? No.. Of course not, we weren't talking yet.

I sighed as I wrapped the first present. We wouldn't be talking a long time unless I went to apologize to him first. Mike was never the first person to give when a fight went out. I wrapped a second present and wrote a name on it. Tomorrow would be a lonely Christmas.

"MORNING SUNSHINE! GET UP GET UP GET UP!" a voice yelled into my room

I groaned as I checked the time, 8:30 am. Turning over in my bed so I was facing away from the intruder, I proceeded to ignore their presence. But they wouldn't give up.

"Come on Victoria, its unwrapping time!" My father shouted again in a cheery voice.

What was he so happy about? This was the worst Christmas ever. Giving in, I stumbled out of bed and dragged my bag of gifts towards the living room where everyone was already exchanging gifts. The regulars were there. Aunt Becca, Darlene and uncle Phil. Mother was probably in the kitchen putting on the finishing touches. I began to exchange presents with my family and open my own.

I lifted up a pair of pink lingerie and stared at my Aunt Darlene who had given me the present. She gave me a thumbs up, "I asked your mother what size you were, hopefully they fit. Did you also see the gift card to Victoria's Secret I gave you?"

I gave a disbelieving laugh, "Yeah, Yeah I did Aunt Darlene. Thanks."

"Open mine!" Aunt Becca squealed, chucking a box at my head and almost hitting its aim.

"Aunt Becca!" I shouted in surprise as I looked inside the box, "A vibrator?!"

I saw my dad and Uncle Phil exchange skeptical looks. Aunt Becca absolutely beamed, "Every young women should at least own one in their entire life."

I gave her a 'what-the-heck-are-you-talking-about?' look, "Aunt Becca... how many have you had?"

I watched as she looked at Uncle Phil, "Oh you know, a couple."

I shoved the embarrassing item back into its box only to have Uncle Phil put under one under my face. I looked at him skeptically, not really wanting to open anymore presents from my family.

He smiled reassuringly at me, "Don't worry it's nothing like what your aunts have given you."

I gave a sigh of relief and opened the box. My mouth dropped to the ground, "Keys? You bought me a new car?!"

Uncle Phil laughed, "No. You don't need a new car. You have one of those already. Nope, these are the keys to my old home in Boston, MA. That way when you go to Harvard you have a place to stay, plus its paid off. All you have to do is pay for electricity and gas and etc."

"But I don't know if I even got in!"

He shrugged, "Well you can have it even if you didn't get in."

I jumped up and hugged my uncle, "Thank you so much!"

"Open ours now," my mother and father said together and handed me a box tied in a ribbon.

I looked at it suspiciously as I placed it in my lap. After pulling the ribbon slowly off of the box, I lifted the cover. I squealed happily as I reached into the box and pulled out the best present, other than my new home. A orange kitten nestled itself in my arms.

"Thank you so much mother and father!" I said as I gazed adoringly at my kitten.

"What're you going to name him?"

I thought about my father's question for awhile then decided, "I'll call him Tortoise."

"But he's a kitten?" my aunt Becca said questioningly.

"Exactly. Tortoise the Kitten."

"That guy's going to have some serious identity issues when he gets older," my dad commented. We all laughed at his joke.

Someone knocked on the door. Everyone looked at each other to see who would answer it.

"Not it!" said Aunt Becca.
"Not it!" said my mother.
"Not it!" said Aunt Darlene.
"Not it!" said my father.
"Not it!" said Uncle Phil.

I gazed fiercely at my immature family. They laughed as I put Tortoise down and went to answer the door.

"Hello?" I asked as I opened the door.

My jaw dropped when I saw who it was.

[OOC:....dramatic space.... who was it? Ryan or Mike?]

"What are you doing here?" I asked still in shock.

"It's Christmas," he said smiling at my shocked demeanor.

"You- You're not- Y-Y..." But he didn't help me out. He just stood there smiling at me.

Before I could try another sentence, he took my face in his hands and kissed me deeply.

"You're my girlfriend, Vic," Mike said sweetly, "Being a part from you was torture."

My eyes started to water. Was it happiness because Mike was here? Was it because he made such a sweet statement? Was it because I knew I had been unfaithful while he suffered from our distance? Was it because by Mike being here it officially meant that I would always be his? Or was is because it was Mike who was at the door? I didn't know which one of these was the reason for my tears. My gut told me I was better off not knowing.

I embraced Mike tightly. He laughed and kissed my forehead before wrapping his arms around me. He let go of me and reached into his pocket. He pulled out a rectangular box wrapped in Christmas paper and showed it to me.

I looked at him with a pout on my face and took it from him. He watched intently as I carefully tore the paper off and opened the velvet box. My eyes grew wide at the shiny object inside. It was a white gold chain with a the letter M on it. The middle of the M was painted gold so it would like a V. I looked at Mike who was smiling at me.

"Do you like it?" He asked.

"Mike," I said short of breath, "I love it."

"Good," he said still smiling at me, "That's not it though."

I frowned at him, "What do you mean that's not it? This must have been expensive."

He positively gleamed at me, "Nah, anything for my girl. Here follow me."

Mike entwined my hand in his and led me to his truck. I looked at him suspiciously.

"Look into the back seat," he said.

I peered in from the open passenger's door. My mouth dropped to the pavement. I turned to looked at Mike with furrowed brows and an unbelieving expression.

"Is that?..." I took a glance back, "That's not...." I looked again, "Oh my gosh it is!"

I jumped on Mike and hugged him tightly, almost knocking both us to the floor.

"Thank you so much Mike," I squealed, kissing him deeply.

"So that's a yes?"

"Yes, Mike," I said with tears in my eyes, "Yes, I will marry you."

Mike smiled at me with a huge grin and carried us over to his truck where he had set up a sign saying 'Please say yes,' with an arrow pointing down at the open ring box. Mike picked up the box and slid the ring onto my finger. I gazed at it adoringly. It must have cost a fortune.

"Let's go tell you folks, shall we?" Mike said as he began to carry me back into the house.

I smiled at him and clung onto him dearly. What did I do to deserve someone like him?