December 25th
Quentin
I turned on my computer and activated the camera. As I hooked up the camera, I added a new entry to my video log. “It’s now Christmas, but it’s not the same without you. It’s not the lack of presents that hurts the most, but the lack of family. All of you made the holiday season special. I’ll never forget when Will tried to earn my forgiveness after he broke my PS2 by giving me one of those children’s crafts. I was livid and screamed in his face that it meant nothing. Then Mom and Dad made me apologize as they knew Will was just a child. As was I. Looking back, even though I got in trouble, I remember it fondly.
“However, there is one reason I’d never want to undo this. Three, in fact,” I said before a knock came on the door. I looked back and said, “You can come in, Scar. I’m ready to introduce you to them.”
I heard the door open. It was soon followed by Scarlett coming into my view wearing a forest green sweater and gray sweatpants. I could see that she was looking at the camera with apprehension. She sat down next to me, but seemed uncomfortable with the fact she was being recorded.
“Scarlett, can you introduce yourself to my family? This is a vlog, so I can edit it afterwards for when you think of the perfect response,” I told her as I placed my hand on hers. It was out of camera view, which was for the best since the questions they would ask if they saw it would be too much.
She took a deep breath before introducing herself. “Hello Mr. and Mrs. Smith. My name is Scarlett Rose Campbell. Your son saved me from a group of slavers that experimented on me and made me what you see before you. Quentin is a good man, and I can only thank you two for it. Without y’all, I would be dead.” She turned to face me and asked, “Is that all? Can I leave now?”
I nodded and said, “I was going to wrap up this vlog anyways.” I faced the camera again and finished by saying, “That was all for today. I miss all of you and hope to see you soon.” I turned off the computer and stood up with my girlfriend, still holding her hand. Without needing to say a word, we walked to the living room.
The decorations were purely of the secular version of the holiday since Harry and Gruma objected to the religious ones. Scarlett and I conceded, only setting those decorations up in her room. They were made in earnest by Scarlett, but her drawing skills far surpassed her craftwork. And the less said about my crafting abilities, the better.
The Christmas tree in the center of the room was excellently adorned, but it was also a hologram I took from the simulation console. It couldn’t compare to the real thing, but there was nothing I could do about it. The decorations that weren’t plants were real. Ribbons adorned the walls as ornaments hung from them. And to top it all off, I set one of the TVs to a channel with a fireplace burning on it. We took a seat on one of the couches and waited for the others to wake up.
It didn’t take long for Gruma to walk in with the giddiest smile I ever saw. She looked at the hologram tree and clapped. More specifically, she was looking at the presents underneath it. We all bought presents at the only place we were allowed to. Since we were outlaws, there wasn’t much use in keeping money around. Especially when none of us intended to go back to space anytime soon.
Harry walked in soon afterwards and sniffed the air. He smiled and said, “I can tell you lit those scented candles in here. Thank you. It’s refreshing to be able to smell again.” He looked at his girlfriend and said, “It’s time for the reason we celebrate this holiday to begin with. Getting presents.”
We all gathered around the hologram Christmas tree and picked out our presents. We soon had our own piles.
Gruma excitedly read her present’s tag. “This says it’s from Quentin! I wonder what it is!” She ripped the wrapping paper off to reveal that it was a small wristwatch-like device. She looked at me and asked, “What is this?”
I smiled and said, “It’s an energy shield. You put it on your nondominant hand and activate it to give you a powerful shield. I also gave you a one-handed laser axe to complement it. That way, you have both a two-handed option and a one-handed one.”
“Thank you,” she said before grabbing another present. “This one is from Scarlett.” She ripped it open to reveal a beautiful artistic representation of herself and what I could assume was her family. Gruma looked at Scarlett and started to cry. “Thank you! This should tide me over until I meet them again.”
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The Taraxian picked up the last present under the tree and said, “This one is from Harry. Let’s see what that handsome human put in here.” She ripped it open to reveal a silver ring.
Harry walked up to her and said, “Gruma, you’re a beautiful woman. And I want you to know how much you mean to me. I was thinking of having a short marriage with you on your planet being heading back out into space. How does that sound?” Obviously, Harry had no sense of what was romantic and what wasn’t.
Gruma was visibly filled with glee as she jumped up and hugged him tightly. If he wasn’t a musclebound seven-foot-tall man, he’d be dead with how powerful the hug was. She looked at him and said, “I accept your marriage proposal. While you won’t be one of my primary husbands, you’ll still be valued.” And apparently polygamy was alive and well on Besmen.
Harry opened his presents next. There wasn’t much to note since they were all more guns. Not that he didn’t like it. He was overjoyed with all the weapons he got.
Scarlett went next and grabbed a present from Harry. She shook it and said, “I wonder what’s inside.” She opened it up to reveal a dog collar. Her face morphed to anger as she shouted, “Harry! I told you to not give me a gag gift! I thought our prank war was over!”
Harry busted out laughing before he said, “The collar has a zipper. Why don’t you open it up?” She followed the instructions and was greeted with a flash drive. Harry explained, “I managed to convince a Qarri smuggler to retrieve all the available data he had on you. I decided to let my files disappear so you can have yours.”
Scarlett gasped as she placed a hand on his shoulder. “Harry, you willingly let go of your past to let me see mine?”
He nodded. “I already have all I want. I’m human again, have a hot girlfriend, and a bright future. You, on the other hand, lost your humanity and are seemingly stuck the way you are. I figured the kindest thing to do is give you all the information you need on how your body currently works.”
In response to the gift, Scarlett gave him a friendly hug, purposefully avoiding anything that could be perceived as romantic. She broke off the hug and grabbed the gift from Gruma. She opened it up to reveal a new dress. It was knee-length with no sleeves and a low v-cut. There was a carefully cut tail hole in the back. Scarlett’s tail wagged as she said, “Thank you for this dress.” She looked at me and continued, “Perhaps I should wear it at that steak dinner that Quentin promised me.”
Finally, she grabbed my present and opened it up. Inside was a simple gift. It was a smartphone. I explained, “I got this from one of the stands selling primitive artifacts. It’s one of the latest models with several enhancements made to it. It was given a special charger to work with our spaceship’s outlets and should be able to use a normal one on Earth. I know our SADs can already do everything the phone can, but I thought it would be nice to give you something normal on Earth.”
She nodded as her tail wagged faster. “Thank you, love. Now I only wish I could make up those lost years.” She looked at it and asked, “Will it register these?” She wiggled her paw-fingers.
“We’ll find out,” I replied. However, it would have to wait since it was my turn to open presents. “The first one is from Harry,” I announced as I opened it. It turned out to be a coffee mug with the phrase ‘Galaxy’s Best Captain’ printed on it. “Thank you for the slightly tacky present.”
I then moved onto the present from Gruma. I opened it up to see that it was a cape. She explained, “On my planet, capes are worn by those in positions of authority, especially in the army. That’s why I gave it to you.”
“Thank you,” I said with a shaky smile as I put it to the side. I didn’t want to upset her by saying that capes were worthless in space, so I moved onto the last present. “This one is from the lovely Scarlett. I wonder what you got for me,” I said as I looked at her.
I opened it to reveal a strange helmet. She touched it. All of a sudden, I could hear her voice in my head without her mouth moving. “This helmet amplifies your psionic abilities. By just touching it, it amplified mine to include telepathy. It’s not to the level of mind-reading, but I can still hold conversations with you.”
I thought of my reply in my head. “Scarlett, while cool, let’s not use it when we can still talk to each other. It feels like an invasion of my mental space.”
She withdrew her hand from the helmet and said, “I agree.”
I smiled and said, “Besides, I like hearing your voice come out of your mouth. It helps others see you as you truly are.” I then tapped her nose playfully, which made her smile. She tapped my nose back and we laughed. Harry and Gruma looked at us like we were insane, but it was fine.
After the laughter calmed down, my foxy girlfriend leaned to my ear and whispered, “I’m getting a present for you on Valentine’s Day. I hope you’re prepared for it.” I didn’t know what the present would be, but she seemed excited for it.
Mr. Black and Dr. Octavia entered the room and told us they weren’t interested in our little holiday. And with that, our Christmas celebrations ended. Scarlett and I ate a preprepared feast before heading to her room. She changed out of her sweater and into her tank top and shorts. We watched a Christmas movie.
The day ended with a kiss before I went to my room and fell asleep. Overall, it was a great day. A break from all the insanity I had to deal with. But it felt a little hollow without my family. However, we were making progress. We’ll earn our happy ending no matter what!