(hey guys, sorry this has been going so slow lately, but im trying to wrap things up a little in the story... itll pick up again soon. and the next update wont take as long as this one did either.) Chapter 26 – Vagueness January passed by in a flash, and before I knew it, it was my birthday. My 18th birthday. I woke up suddenly that morning and opened my eyes. The room was filled with the sunlight that was filtering through the curtains, and it was so warm and comfortable lying there that I couldn’t convince myself to move. Nathan opened the door after a little while and smiled when he saw that I was awake. He walked in, and I moved over so that he could lay dawn next to me. I wrapped my arms around him, and he kissed me. “Happy birthday.” He said softly. I kissed him. “Aww, you remembered.” “Of course I did… How could I forget?” I smiled at him. “What time is it?” “About 10.” “Shouldn’t you be at school?” “Nope. They cancelled it.” “Really? Why?” He got up, took my hand, and led me over to the window. He opened the curtains to reveal a perfect world of white. “It…It’s snowing?” “Amazingly enough…Yeah.” “But… It doesn’t snow here.” “Apparently, it does today.” “But… It hasn’t snowed here in like, 15 years.” “Well… Maybe someone up there wanted to make sure that your birthday was special.” He said with a soft smile. I turned away from the window and hugged him. As I did, his jacket gave a high-pitched cry. I pulled back and gave him a strange look. “Uh, Nathan… your jacket’s crying.” He smiled. “That would be your birthday present.” He led me back over to the bed, and we sat down on it. He reached into his jacket, carefully pulled out the gift, and put it down gently between us. It was a tiny kitten, no bigger then my fist. It looked up at me with bright blue eyes, and its fur was as white as the freshly fallen snow outside. I looked at it wonderingly. “I…I’ve never had a cat before…Damien was allergic to them, and my mother hates them…” “Do you like him?” I carefully leaned over the kitten and kissed Nathan. “I love him.” I looked down at him again. “He’s so tiny!” Nathan picked him up and held him out to me. “Here, hold him.” “But…But he’s so small… What if I hurt him?” Nathan laughed. “He won’t break, I promise.” I took the kitten gingerly and held him close to my heart. After a minute, he started to make a low, rumbling noise. “Whoa, what’s that, what’s he doing?” “He’s purring Lily, it means he’s happy.” He answered with a slight laugh. “Y-You sure? I’m not hurting him?” Nathan smiled again. “No, you’re not hurting him… Jeez, I hope you’re not this nervous with the kids.” I looked up at him with wide eyes. “Kids?” “Well…Yeah. Don’t you wanna have kids someday?” “I-I guess I never really thought about it. I mean, you already have one on the way, so he’s probably gonna keep you pretty busy…” “Not too busy for you and any kids we may have though.” He said with a smile. “Well, I don’t want any for a while, but eventually, sure, I’d love to have a whole bunch of kids… As long as I can have them with you.” He laughed. “Deal. But are you sure it’s the kids you want, and not just the process you go through to get them?” “Nathan!” I said with a laugh. “Not in front of the little one!” He leaned over and covered the kitten’s tiny ears with his hand. “Better?” I rolled my eyes at him and smiled. “So what’s his name?” “Orion.” I answered instantly. “Orion, huh?” He scratched the tiny kitten’s chin. “Good name.” “Yeah, I’ve always liked it. When I was little, I always wanted a cat, but I couldn’t have one, so I had an imaginary one instead. His name was Orion, too.” Nathan laughed. “So…What do you wanna do today?” “Hmm… I don’t know. We could go to the lake…” “Lily, its February, remember? The water would be freezing!” I smiled. “So? It would be even more beautiful then usual with the snow.” “Ok… But no swimming this time.” “Ok…” I agreed reluctantly. “We need to stop at my house first though.” I gave him a puzzled look. “Why?” “I have some things I need to pick up… Clothes and stuff…And I want you to meet my parents.” “So soon?” I asked sarcastically. “Look… I’m just gonna warn you now, they’re not totally… ‘there’.” “Ok…?” I asked, even more confused. “Just…You’ll see.” “Way to be vague, Nathan.” I said with a smile. He grinned. “I know.”