Nio still felt the chill from the cold, snowy day that they had just been out wandering in. Though he'd been in the house long enough to peel away all the layers that had kept him warm, his hands and face were still hard with cold, and his hair and ears were wet from the falling snow. He and Enoh had just spent the day shopping for the Christmas presents that now lay around him, mostly packaged. At the time, he silently thanked heaven that the stores packaged gifts nowadays, because the sheer amount of packaging they would have had to do boggled him. There were so many family members, he mused with a forlorn smile. So many people that they had to make sure were ultimately happy this holiday. The Christmas tree looked as stuffed as a Thanksgiving turkey, with all of the presents that had been shoved under it. The few that were not yet wrapped lay on the wrapping paper in front of him, along with the tape and scissors. Mechanically, he wrapped them, while lost in thought.

What kind of a Christmas would this be, he wondered? Though he could remember bits and pieces of the Christmases that had passed with his family, his memory was still patchy. Would this Christmas live up to their expectations?

He lifted up a pair of boxes, still unwrapped, and opened them. Identical teardrop shaped lockets rested inside of them. They were empty inside, awaiting the picture of their recipients choice, but.. what if..

He put the lockets down.

What if said recipients never..

He closed the boxed and quickly began to wrap them. He would not allow himself to think that way. They would wake up. There was no room for doubt.

He put the dual wrapped boxes under the tree, after writing a name on each. One for Vidya, and one for Adonis.

When they came down on Christmas morning, he was sure they would open those first.