Spoilers: After cattle incident and snippets of future
episodes
Disclaimer: I own none of these characters, and if I
did, I would have never gotten rid of Eric! :D
May indeed include fictional shops and stores.
Pairings: C/E, snippets of C/W
Dinner
was delicious. Eric had thought this
Christmas would be a dud. He’d already
chalked up the year to being horrible and wishing he could have stayed in
Colorado. But things seemed to be
turning around. The Lowes had always
been like a second family to Eric. He
spent so much time with Griffin; he could have sworn he was his brother. As Eric surveyed the food-laden table, Eric
couldn’t help but well up with happiness.
Suddenly
his eyes fell upon Caitlin. The past
months since his return from Colorado had been unexpected to say the
least. Eric never would have imagined
the turn in events where Caitlin was concerned. It had been quite promising until Will became an obstacle in
their growing friendship. Eric imagined
it was a big shock to both of them when he had returned.
Unfortunately
Eric assumed things would be exactly the same when he returned. But life was full of changes and
surprises. Griffin was a friend with
Will and Caitlin was then dating Will. In
some ways Eric regretted ever leaving, but he didn’t have a choice.
Now
Eric was surrounded by the Lowes again, and though Griffin and Will continued
to hangout from time to time, he and Griffin were as tight as ever. Both Griffin and Eric planned to attend U of
M after graduation. Griffin would go
for his BA in Business and Eric planned to get his degree in agriculture. They chose the university closest to High
River, and planned on taking many trips home.
Eric had an obligation to his father’s ranch and he didn’t want to shirk
that responsibility when he would eventually be taking over the ranch.
His
relationship with Caitlin on the other hand, was tentative at best. Eric didn’t really know what to make of his
feelings for the fiery redhead. He knew
that he’d never felt this way about another girl before, but Eric was hesitant
to make any further moves. The kiss in
itself was a fiasco, and Eric didn’t want to strain their relationship more
than he’d already done.
Eric
sighed. The Lowes’ raucous laughter and
conversation filled the room.
“Hey
anyone up for dessert?” Dori smiled knowingly.
Eric’s
eyes rolled back and he let out a deep breath.
“Oh guys I don’t think I could eat another bite, so better count me out
on this one!” he laughed.
Dori
nudged Griffin. “Even if it’s Double
Mocha Choca fudge?” Griffin smirked.
Eric
sat up. “Oh, ah, I didn’t know it was
that!” Eric exclaimed.
Dori’s
fudge was Eric’s main reason for living.
Okay, he may be exaggerating.
But it was definitely a strong contender among the reasons Eric hung out
at the Lowes. That and he didn’t mind
hanging with Griffin. Eric belched and
rubbed his stomach. “Maybe I can find
room for such a dessert, since you took the trouble to make it and all!”
Eric grinned mischievously.
Dori
rose from the table and patted him on the back. “I thought you might!” Dori laughed.
~~~
After
dinner Eric felt like he was going to explode.
He excused himself from the table and stalked up the stairs to Griffin’s
room. Eric began throwing clothes up
off the floor in search of his backpack.
After the time he’d spent with Caitlin, Eric decided he would give it
to her. He hadn’t bought Caitlin a
gift, but during his time at Colorado’s PS 14, his Art teacher assigned a
project for the class. It was to be a
collage of memories. In the end Eric
had completed a scrapbook with the help of his mother. It contained photos of Eric’s escapades with
Griffin and the Lowes. It also held
carefully matted photos that Caitlin had given him. Furthermore, Caitlin and Eric’s crusade against the toxins in the
nearby acreage had been his centerpiece.
Eric had put clippings about their campaign and even one of their
flyers.
“Hey,
what are you doing?” Griffin asked, sticking his head around the corner.
Eric
stood up with a start. “Oh, hey! Griffster!
Dude, I just had to see if I brought any sweats. After tat diner I don’t think my jeans will
fit,” Eric rambled, hoping Griffin wouldn’t notice him slipping the scrapbook
into his backpack.
“First
of all, I don’t buy it,” Griffin drawled, pointing at Eric.
Eric
tensed as Griffin came into the room.
“What do you mean you don’t buy it?” Eric choked.
Griffin
smirked. “Well, you and me could both
fit into the jeans you’re wearing!” Griffin laughed.
Eric
relaxed a bit. “Whatever Griff!” he
chortled.
Griffin
slung his arm around Eric’s neck. “Mom
accused you of trying to get out of dish duty!” Griffin chuckled. “So I’m capturing the escapee!”
Eric’s
knees almost buckled before he heard Griffin’s theory. “Ah, dude!
Ya caught me!” Eric grinned.
“Well,
let’s go then!” Griffin urged.
Eric
relaxed and relieved Griffin hadn’t seen the book, nodded. “Yeah, I’ll be down in a sec!”
Griffin
frowned. “You’d better be, or she’ll
send in reinforcements!” Griffin warned as he walked out of the room.
Eric
hid the book cautiously and grabbed two gifts.
One was Griffin’s present. It
was a burnt CD of his favorite songs.
He’d wrapped it and everything.
Eric also had gotten Jim and Dori a gift certificate the other day for
The Grill. It was the nicest restaurant
in High River, which wasn’t saying much, but they would appreciate the
sentiment. Eric ran down the stairs to
help with the dishes.
It
was a good Christmas after all.
***
Caitlin
wondered why it was talking Eric so long to come down. She’d been distracted the entire
dinner. Caitlin couldn’t get the
earlier encounter off her mind. They
had just left it without saying anything.
There was nothing to say. Was
there?
Caitlin
was confused. As confused as ever! With Will’s surprise visit and then the
incident with Eric. Life was throwing
her a few curveballs.
“Hey! Wash or dry?” Eric yelled as he careened
into the kitchen.
Caitlin
looked at the boyish smirk on Eric’s face and she just rolled her eyes. “Dry!” Caitlin stated, throwing a tea towel
at Eric who winked at her.
~~~
After
the cleaning had been finished, Griffin, anxious as he was, sat in front of the
Christmas tree, beckoning the family to join him. “Come on guys! I had to
wait all morning! I want my
presents!” he yelled.
Caitlin
stalked over to the couch and sat in the middle seat with Dori and Jim hedging
her in. “All right, you can open my
gift!” Caitlin sighed pointing at the red envelope.
Griffin
smiled wickedly and ripped the envelope open.
After all the gifts from Jim and Dori had been opened. Caitlin and Griffin surprised Eric with a gift of their own to him. The blonde teen was speechless, which to Caitlin was a momentous occasion. Caitlin watched as he tore open the gift. Griffin and Caitlin had decided for his first Christmas back in High River, they would get him a customized, not legal, but none the less, cool license plate. It had two snowboarders bordering the letters, ‘2CU RIP’.
Eric’s
face lit up and he laughed. “Guys this rocks!
Thanks!”
Caitlin
nodded and looked over at Griffin and grinned.
Suddenly Eric’s face turned morose and upset. “But I didn’t get you guys anything?” he pouted.
Caitlin,
Dori, and Jim shook their heads.
“That’s okay. You didn’t have
to,” Caitlin chided.
Eric’s
head hung like a puppy that had been hit in the nose. “Hey, I expected one!” Griffin whined.
Caitlin
shot a withering glare at Griffin. He
just shrugged and smiled. “I’m
kidding!” he exclaimed.
Then
Eric’s head rose with a big grin on his face.
“Just kidding! Gotcha!” Eric
yelled, pulling out two gifts.
Eric
handed one to Dori and one to Griffin.
Caitlin and Eric locked eyes.
“Um, here,” Eric handed her an envelope.”
Caitlin
was happy that she’d received the card, but part of her felt disappointed. It just had her name and ‘Wishing you a
Merry Christmas’ preprinted on the inside.
Caitlin swallowed and gave him a weak smile. “Thanks!”
Dori
and Jim loved the gift certificate and Griffin put the burnt CD Eric had made
for him into the stereo. Caitlin
excused herself and ran up the stairs to her bedroom. All the holiday spirit had caught up with her and Caitlin flung
herself onto her bed. Taking her framed
picture of her mother, Caitlin hugged it to her chest. “Merry Christmas Mom,” Caitlin whispered.
A
few minutes had passed and Caitlin could hear Dori and Jim starting their
annual Christmas board game tournament.
It usually started out with Monopoly and ended with a rousing game of
Charades. Caitlin knew she would
eventually have to join them, but for a few minutes, Caitlin just wanted to
wallow in the confusion that was her life.
Suddenly
there was a knock on her door. “Go
away! I don’t want to play Monopoly!”
Caitlin yelled. There was another knock
on the door and then Caitlin heard the creaking of the door hinges
opening. “I said…”
Caitlin
was surprised to see Eric standing in her room. “Eric? Did they send you
to get me?” Caitlin sputtered.
Eric
scratched his head. “No,” Eric replied
sheepishly. “I wanted to give you
something.”
Caitlin
frowned. He wanted to give me
something? “But I already got your
card?”
Eric
shook his head. “No, that wasn’t
it. I…well, I just didn’t want everyone
to make a big deal over it so I thought I’d wait to give this to you.” Eric held out a medium sized green package.
Caitlin
tucked her legs under her as Eric laid the package on her bed and sat down in
front of her. “What is it?” Caitlin
asked curiously.
Eric
grinned. “Open it and find out.”
Caitlin
cautiously tore open the gift. A faux
leather book appeared from under the wrapping.
Embossed on the front of the book were the words, ‘Memories’. “It’s a scrapbook,” Caitlin gasped.
“Yeah,
I made it out in Colorado. I thought
you’d like it, since I really don’t have any use for something so…you know,
girlie,” Eric shrugged.
Caitlin
peered up at Eric and smiled. “Thanks,”
Caitlin scoffed as she opened the book of memories.
As she
poured over the pictures, Caitlin couldn’t help but feel this overwhelming joy.
She couldn’t believe Eric would give her
something so sweet. “It’s great! I love it!” Caitlin whispered as she fingered
her matte photos.
Unexpectedly,
Caitlin felt herself wrap her arms around Eric’s neck. Slowly, she felt his arms tighten around her.
When they finally pulled away, Caitlin could
feel the blood rushing to her cheeks. “Thanks.”
Eric
shrugged. Uh,” Eric mumbled. “Could you not tell Griffin I gave that to you?”
Caitlin
nodded. “Yeah. It’s not like it’s his present or anything.” Caitlin
tucked a lock of hair behind her ear. “No
problem.”
Eric
sighed. “Great. Thanks.”
He lingered
a moment and then rose from the bed. “I’d
better get going, Griffin’s probably wondering where I am.”
Caitlin
smiled. “Yeah, I’d probably better come
down too.”
Caitlin
looked for a safe place to put her new gift. Finally she decided under her pillow was as good a place as any. “Let’s go!” Caitlin chirped as she followed Eric
down the stairs.