- III -
Ace poked the wood within the fireplace, sending a flurry of sparks flying up into the chimney. The fire rose and returned to its original crackling roar. “There we go,” he announced.
“Mm,” Athena snuggled tighter in the blanket she was wrapped in.
“Warmer now?” Ace took his place on the rug beside her.
“Yes; thank you.”
Near the front door of the Edwards abode stood a medium-sized fur tree, decorated in strands of tinsel, bows, and baubles. Beneath the tree were four wrapped gifts of varying sizes; one to Athena, one to Ace, and two for Dorian. Gifts from Dorian had not yet been placed, as the young man had not yet returned from town.
Ace looked at the boxes, a nervous excitement filling his thin frame. He was ready for Athena to open her gifts; hopeful to witness a positive reaction.
Athena glanced at him before she, too, turned her attention to the presents beneath the Christmas tree. She tapped her feet beneath the blanket, impatient to watch Ace open his gift.
At last, the door opened.
“There you are!” Ace quipped when Dorian appeared. “And I thought I did my Christmas shopping at the last minute.”
“Don’t question my motives,” Dorian set a few things down behind the tree–out of Ace and Athena’s sight.
“As long as you got what you needed, right?” Athena grinned.
“Exactly.” The Kalgaran stepped around the tree and sat down on the rug across from Ace and Athena. “So, who’s first?”
“Ace should go first!” Athena raised her hands into the air, causing the blanket to slip off her shoulders.
“Me?” Ace rolled to his knees.
“You’re the youngest, aren’t you?” Dorian jabbed. “You get to open the first present.”
“Oh, is that how this works?” Despite his verbal protest, his actions spoke otherwise. Crawling to the tree on his hands and knees, he snatched up the box with his name on it and scooted back into place.
Raising an eyebrow, he carefully unwrapped the box, then smiled wide as he opened the lid.
Without a single blow, the breath was knocked from his lungs. There, in the box, were two sets of horsehair guitar strings and a woven guitar strap with card suits stitched into it. “Oh!” He said to hide the concern flooding his emotions.
Athena, on the other hand, was beaming. “I know you’ve been needing new strings. And, I thought that strap was too ‘Ace-y’ to pass up.”
“It is fitting, isn't it!” Despite the discomfort in the pit of his stomach, he leaned over and hugged Athena’s side. “Thanks, Teena,” he said, “these are exactly what I needed.” He hated to bluff, but he wasn’t sure how to explain to her that his guitar was not currently present in the house.
“Here you are,” Dorian handed Athena the next gift as Ace resettled, “as the next oldest.”
Athena was still smiling as she unwrapped her gift, though her smile faded as the butcher-paper wrapping gave way to a small, narrow, dark-stained wooden box. “A keepsake box!”
“I thought you could keep your dagger in it,” Ace grinned. “What do you think?”
“Oh, this is perfect for it!” She smiled sadly.
“Yeah?” Ace noticed something was off from her falling expression.
“Dorian’s turn!” She deflected, setting the box in her lap.
The quiet young man turned and took one of the boxes–the contents clinking in the process. With a smirk, he unwrapped it and opened the box to find four small bottles within a small wicker basket. “Oh, yeah; potion bottles,” he said with more excitement than they had expected. “Thanks, Athena,” he followed up with a smile.
Ace smiled through clenched teeth. “Uh… you may want to go ahead and open mine… while you’re at it.”
Athena glanced at him. “Wait, did you…”
Sure enough, Dorian took the second clinking box into his hands, opened it up, and pulled out three more small bottles. “Oh, yeah; potion bottles. Thanks, Ace.”
The two across from him looked at each other, then nervously turned back to Dorian.
“Sorry we got you the same thing; I had no idea,” Athena offered.
“Oh, don’t be sorry; I can always use bottles, and they’re exactly the kind I need. I appreciate you both,” Dorian set the second set of the bottles beside the first. “They’re very utilitarian gifts.”
Ace blinked. “Utili–what?”
“Useful. Practical.” The Kalgaran got back to his feet. “I did discover something different about the gifts you gave to each other, however.”
Ace and Athena watched as Dorian ducked behind the tree and lifted the large case he had come inside with. With his other hand, he also picked up a small leather object that had been lying beside it. When he came back around the Christmas tree, Ace immediately recognized the shape of the case.
“That’s a guitar case,” he spoke aloud, the sinking feeling again filling his stomach.
“Ironically, when I went over to the leather shop looking for a gift for Athena,” he knelt down and laid the case on the ground. “I happened upon a very familiar guitar.”
Ace watched with wide eyes as Dorian flipped open the latches of the guitar case and opened the lid. His guitar was then revealed within the soft plush fabric that lined the inside of the case.
Athena had turned up her chin to look inside the case; and almost immediately, she whipped her head towards him. “Ace–you gave them your guitar??”
He shrunk back. “It was just until I could pay back the rest!”
She paled. “The rest of what?”
“Hold on,” Dorian reached between the guitar case and his lap. “Because, when I went to the music store to find a gift for Ace, I found a very well-crafted dagger.”
He lifted the small object and revealed Athena’s dagger, nestled within the pocket of the simple leather sheath.
Athena swallowed and sat back on her heels as Ace’s eyes returned to her.
“Did you sell your dagger to buy my guitar strings?” He asked her directly.
“Did you sell your guitar to buy my dagger box?” She replied similarly.
The answer came in the silence of realization that settled between them.
Dorian studied each of their faces. “To me, that just shows the depth of the relationship you have; you didn’t just want something useful for each other, you wanted something special.” He looked down at the gifts between them. “And, both of you decided it was worth giving up something you treasured in order to give the other something they would treasure.”
Eyes locked, Ace and Athena now appeared somewhat in awe of each other. They were grateful, warm, and both shared some amount of tingling within their stomachs or fluttering within their chests when they considered the lengths they were willing to go to to give a worthy gift for one another.
Athena, at last, curled away sheepishly and balled her hands into the blanket in her lap.
Ace shook his head and turned back to his guitar. Slowly, however, he cocked an eyebrow and raised a gloved finger. “My guitar wasn’t in a case when I left it.”
“It wasn’t,” Dorian casually flipped the case closed and pushed it towards Ace. “That’s my present to you.”
Ace froze. “What??”
Athena gasped as the sheathed dagger was presented to her. “Oh, Dorian, you shouldn’t have,” she protested. “Just getting it back would have been enough!”
Ace looked between the sheath, the dagger, the box, the guitar, the strings, and the case, ending with an exasperated shake of his head. “How much did you have to spend to get all this??”
“Don’t worry about it.” He dismissed, despite Ace’s persistent concerned expression.
Athena held the leather in her hands, laid it gently into her box, then squeezed all three against her chest. “Thank you,” she offered simply.
“You’re very welcome,” the Kalgaran nodded.
“Both of you,” she added with an almost coy glance in Ace’s direction.
Ace simply looked down at his lap and shrugged. “Of course. I… I care about you–and Dorian, too,” he shot him a glance before returning to his lap. “You’re the best friends I’ve ever had. And seeing this,” he held open his hands over their bounty now spread across the rug, “I feel cared about too. Thank you, both, too. Although,” his narrowed and slid back to the man at his side. “you didn’t wrap it.”
At last, Dorian’s stoic exterior cracked into a wide smile. “Sorry about that.”
Athena set aside her gifts and got to her feet. She scooted behind Ace and slipped in between the two young men. With a hand on either of their shoulders, she got back to her knees and pulled them both together in a hug. “Merry Christmas Dorian.” She squeezed his shoulder.
Dorian turned his head away shyly. “Merry Christmas, Athena.”
“And, Merry Christmas, Ace.” She hesitated for only a moment before placing a small kiss on his cheek.
The ex-gambler lit up brighter than the flames of the fireplace across the room, turning almost as red as the hearts and diamonds stitched into his new guitar strap.
“Yeah, Merry Christmas, Ace,” Dorian offered a playful sneer when he noticed Ace’s reaction.
His heart still pounding within his chest, Ace elbowed Dorian before he slipped his arm around Athena to accept a cozier hug.
“Merry Christmas, everyone!”
---
WELL WASN'T THIS JUST THE CUTEST.
I finally got the idea to convert this story to the Tale of Ace Gallagher gang; I inserted this sometime after Book 2, so the trio is very close friendship-wise (and 2 are beginning to realize it's a bit more than that... ahem), and they've officially moved in with the Edwards - but I wanted to keep the cast small... so the others are off traveling to visit family. Problem solved, lol.
I allowed Dorian to be the 'narrator' in the finakl scene, so he could put into words the point of all this; being willing to give up something you treasure to give someone else a treasure - for such were the gifts the magi brought the baby Jesus. Aww.
I feel like I had more commentary but it's very late when I am scheduling these since we leave tomorrow... so yeah.
Thank you for reading and hope you have a Merry Christmas!!!
