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“Do you want any cream and sugar in that, sweetie?” Gracie looked at the mug in front of Shadow. She sat across from him at the dining room table on a particularly cold morning. Shadow wore some fuzzy socks and his favorite red jacket. He actually considered wearing his gloves but decided his coffee would warm his hands instead.
“No. I want to try it plain this time.” He carefully brought the steamy drink to his mouth and took a small sip. He scrunched up his nose and bristled at the bitter taste.
“Was it that bad?” She smiled and grabbed some creamer out of the fridge.
“I don’t like that. It tastes… brown.”
“I don’t know how people drink it plain like that. I think they are lying to themselves. Nothing wrong with some sweetness.” Gracie put a splash of peppermint mocha creamer in his mug.
“That’s better. Thank you.” His quills laid flat again.
“So… Christmas is next week. Are you excited?” Gracie asked.
“I don’t know. I’m nervous…” His ears drooped a bit. “You said there will be more family coming to stay with us right? What if they are scared of me?”
“They won’t be scared, Shadow. I’ve told them a lot about you and they know you’re a sweet kid. Your new cousins are excited to meet you.” She reassured him. “And they loved the picture of you that I sent, remember? They think you’re a little cutie.”
He sighed and rubbed his ear to help calm his anxiety.
“It’s about time we set up the Christmas tree, my little helper.” She took his empty mug and ruffled the fur on top of his head. “Kinda late this year but I’ve been a little preoccupied.”
Gracie led Shadow to the garage where her Christmas decorations were stored.
“Alright, what we need is in that back closet past the car. Would you help me-” Shadow blipped away in a flash and reappeared in front of the closet door.
“Hey! You could have just walked around the car, goofball. And what did I say about teleporting in the house?”
“We are not in the house.” Shadow opened up the closet and started shuffling around. Gracie sighed and shook her head. He was technically right.
Shadow pulled out a large rectangular box that was at least 4 times larger than himself and held it above his head with ease.
“Where do you want this?”
“In the living room please. I suppose it’s okay if you want to tele-”
Another blip and he was setting the box down in the living room, which spooked Juniper, causing her to hiss and puff up.
He apologized to the kitty and reappeared in front of Gracie who startled a bit.
“Sorry, Grandma.” He looked up at her with his best puppy dog eyes, which of course worked like a charm.
“Awwwww it’s okay buddy I know you’re just helping.” She patted his head. “Go ahead and take that blue bin inside the house too and we’ll be done.”
The blue bin disappeared with the hedgehog. He returned to walk back inside with Gracie.
A black claw tore through the tape that held the large tree box together. Shadow looked inside curiously. Gracie pulled out 3 pieces of plastic Douglas Fir and instructed Shadow how to fluff up the branches by bending the wire inside them.
He recoiled and shuddered as his hand touched the fake branches. He wiped his hands on his jacket to try and remove the scratchy sensation he felt. “...It feels weird.”
“You don’t have to touch it if it’s too weird, honey.”
“I still want to help. I’ll try again with my gloves on.” He grabbed the gloves from the coat closet and adjusted them so that his inhibitor rings fit back into place around the cuffs.
He successfully touched the plastic branches with the gloves as a barrier and got to work making sure his piece of tree was extra fluffy.
Once the tree was assembled, it was time for decorations.
Gracie opened the blue tub which held her ornaments and lights. Shadow reached in and grabbed a handmade ornament painted by what appeared to be a child. He guessed it was supposed to be a reindeer. A name and date were written on the bottom: Gracie 1971.
“You made this the year I came to earth.”
“I still forget how old you are sometimes.” Gracie teased.
“I’m not old, you are.” He teased back which earned him a laugh from Gracie.
Shadow carefully placed each ornament on the tree with precision spacing between each one. Gracie haphazardly wrapped a string of lights around. When the tree was decorated Gracie gave Shadow the honors of plugging it in to light the tree.
He had seen Christmas trees before on TV and at the base, Maria had a small tree that was about as tall as him. She had to make her own ornaments for it out of craft paper and glitter that she snuck in. Shadow showed up for testing the next day covered in red and green sparkles and tracked it all over the lab rooms. Once he got back to Maria’s room he gave his fur a good shake which created a cloud of glitter all over the rug. The glitter was confiscated shortly after. They both were put on lab cleanup duty but giggled about it the whole time.
Shadow’s eyes went wide at the sight of a full size tree sparkling with colorful light. He stared in awe while Gracie snuck a picture of him with her phone.
“It’s so beautiful, Grandma.” He delicately touched one of the small light bulbs which reflected a vibrant red against his glove.
“Oh! There’s something missing!” Gracie exclaimed and dug around in the box. She pulled out a star tree topper. “Do you want to put the topper on, buddy?”
Shadow looked at the top of the tree, down at his feet, and then back to Gracie with a raised eyebrow. “....I can’t reach that high.”
“Oh I know.” She chuckled and reached out her arms toward him. “I’ll help you.”
Shadow let Gracie pick him up. He wrapped his legs around her torso and she supported his bottom with her arm. He reached up and gently placed the star on top of the tree’s highest point. He turned back to Gracie for approval and saw her smiling with pride.
“Good job sweetie, it looks perfect.” She hugged him and gave a little kiss on his ear as she set him back down on the floor. Shadow purred at the affection.
Suddenly, Juniper came dashing in and started swatting at the low hanging ornaments and rolling around under the tree which shook a couple of ornaments off.
“Juniper, you silly cat!” Gracie laughed as she picked up the fallen decorations and put them back in their spot. When she turned back around, Shadow was gone. “Shadow? Where’d you go-” Her question was cut off as she looked back at the tree and saw a pair of slippers and a fuzzy black tail swishing back and forth from under the tree. He went under to look at the lights with Juniper. Gracie cooed at his childlike curiosity and of course snuck another picture of the two hanging out.
The morning of December 24th had arrived and Shadow was already up helping get the house cleaned up for the guests. Gracie’s kids and grandkids were coming over to spend the night and share Christmas morning together. Gracie had 3 adult children, each bringing their spouse, and each of them had a child of their own. Shadow offered to share his room since he had plenty of space for air mattresses.
Gracie bounced around the kitchen, prepping her crockpot and getting the festive table cloth and placemats set up for later. Shadow requested for Gracie to make her special mac and cheese and pecan pie.
After the prep was complete they sat down on the couch to relax and wait for the family. Juniper sat on Shadow’s lap and kneaded her paws on him. A few episodes of The Golden Girls later, Shadow had dozed off and laid his head on Gracie’s shoulder. His purrs made her heart melt. He quickly shot up when he heard a knock at the front door.
Gracie hurried to open the door and was hit with a barrage of hugs and excited chatter as everyone filed in. Shadow’s heart started to beat faster from the commotion and new people. He wanted to hide under a blanket or teleport into his room. As he sat on the couch he heard a small girl’s voice yell, “Kitty!”
She must have seen Juniper, he thought. To his surprise the little girl came running over to him and jumped up on the couch next to him. Juniper had since snuck away to hide under the couch.
“Hi kitty! I’m Lillie! You’re so cute!” The girl reached up and started petting his head gently.
“Lillie! Don’t touch people without asking! And his name is Shadow, not Kitty.” The child’s mother called out.
“Sorry kitty! Can I please pet you?” She asked, halfway listening to her mother’s instructions.
“...uh…sure.” Shadow replied nervously. His ears shifted backward. Lillie’s mother came to pull her off of him and apologized.
Gracie went through introductions with Shadow and the rest of the group. He found out that Lillie was only 5 years old. He hadn’t met anyone that young before. The only boy, named Joey, was 10. The oldest of the grandkids was a girl named Claire who was the same age as Shadow. The kids took turns asking him questions while the parents and spouses caught up with Gracie. Shadow was nervous but pushed through to meet his new…cousins? That’s what Gracie called them. They of course wanted to see his powers but he told them Grandma said he’s not allowed to use them in the house but he would ask if it was okay to go outside later and show them.
“Can I touch your fur?” Claire asked. Shadow nodded and held out his arm, expecting her to pet it. Instead she had a mischievous look on her face and reached for his sides. He yelped at the sudden contact and held back a laugh.
“H-hey! I’m not ticklish!” He lied. Maria used to do this all the time just to hear him laugh. He forgot about this embarrassing weakness of his.
This of course encouraged Claire to do it again except this time he couldn’t contain his laughter as he tried to wriggle out of her grasp. This caught the attention of everyone else. Gracie had never heard him laugh so hard and knew he could get out of it if he wanted to.
And he did. He teleported out of her grasp and appeared in the kitchen with the adults. He hid behind Gracie and tried to catch his breath. The kid's eyes were huge at the sight of him vanishing. Gracie warned the family ahead of time that they may see him do this even though he wasn’t supposed to. She let it slide this time.
“Sorry, little guy.” Claire’s mother apologized. She’s a bit of a wild child but she means no harm.”
“Sorry Shadow!” Claire called from the living room. “I was just playing! I promise I won't do it again!”
He cautiously returned to the kids. The little boy, Joey, spoke up.
“...She does that to me too.”
“I like to make people laugh, what’s wrong with that?” She giggled. “He looked grumpy so I cheered him up.” Claire defended.
“I’m not grumpy…” Shadow protested with brows furrowed, proving her point.
“Alright Mr. Sunshine if you say so.”
And I thought they would be scared of me… He mused.
The dining table seated all 11 people, including Shadow. The adults all brought a Christmas dish to share. There was a large ham, green bean casserole, mashed potatoes, Gracie’s mac and cheese, fresh bread, and some roasted vegetables. Desserts included Gracie’s pecan pie, gingerbread cookies, homemade chocolate candy, and an apple pie.
Joey’s dad led a prayer of blessing for the food, although Shadow had no idea what was going on and snuck a candy while everyone’s eyes were closed. Dinner went on without any issues. Shadow mostly just listened to everyone’s conversations and took some of whatever was passed to him. His favorite, other than the mac and cheese, was the ham and mashed potatoes. And of course he loved all the desserts.
The family played several board games in the living room that Shadow had never seen before. Gracie said it was okay if he needed to take a break from the chaos but he insisted on being present for family time. It was all new to him and he wanted to soak in the experience.
Unfortunately his attempt at this failed when he fell asleep on the couch 30 minutes later and started snoring. The family, of course, thought this was adorable and let him rest. He managed to sleep through all the commotion and was awoken by Gracie picking him up to take him to bed. The other kid’s beds had been set up and they were also getting tucked in for the night. While he was phasing in and out of sleep he overheard the kids whispering about their excitement for the morning.
Shadow woke up the next morning to Lillie, the youngest jumping on his bed in her hello kitty footie pajamas and shouting, “Wake up Shadow!!! It’s Christmas!!!”
“....’kay…I’m up.” He mumbled sleepily and dragged himself out of bed. It was only 6am but everyone seemed so energetic. He put on some Christmas themed socks and followed the kids into the living room to sit around the Christmas tree. Gracie was already up making coffee for the grown ups (and Shadow). She brought everyone a Christmas design mug full of hot coffee and creamer according to their preferences which she had memorized. The kids were given hot cocoa. She brought Shadow his mug, which he hadn’t seen in the cabinet before. It had a picture of a hedgehog wearing a red Santa hat and a scarf. She must have bought everyone mugs as a gift.
“Why is Shadow drinking coffee, Grandma? Isn’t he a kid too?” Joey asked. Shadow ignored the curiosity and focused on waking up as Gracie explained to Joey that caffeine doesn’t make hedgehogs go crazy like it would a human kid.
“He sounds like a growed up. Are you sure he’s not an old man?” Lillie giggled.
“Lillie, that's not very nice, sweetie.” Her mother corrected. “Everyone’s voice is different, and there’s nothing wrong with that.”
Shadow’s ear twitched but not in response to the questioning. He was staring at the presents that had appeared under the tree. How did those get there? He remembered Maria talking about Santa but she and him both knew it was just a story. Gracie must have done it while he was sleeping, but he wouldn’t spoil the secret for the others.
“Okay, the youngest goes first!” Gracie announced.
One by one the kids took turns opening their gifts and cheering with excitement. It was entertaining to watch them shred the wrapping paper and throw it behind them while one of the dads hovered around with a trash bag and collected it as soon as it hit the floor.
“Here you go, baby.” Gracie handed Shadow 2 wrapped boxes with his name written on the outside in marker along with a card in a green envelope.
“These are for me?”
“Of course! You’re one of my grandkids, why would I leave you out?” She patted his quills. “The card is from your cousins.”
He opened the card first. Inside was a classic cheesy Christmas sentiment from the manufacturer along with a handwritten note from the family.
“Dear Shadow,
Welcome to our family. We are so happy to have you! We all love you very much already and hope you have a wonderful Christmas!
Sincerely,
Your new Aunts, Uncles, and Cousins”
A folded up piece of paper was also in the card. He opened it and revealed a hand drawn picture of Lillie, Joey, Claire, Gracie, and himself holding hands in a line with a bright sun, green grass with flowers popping up, a blue cloudless sky, and little pink hearts above Shadow’s head. The words ‘Welcome home Shadow’ were written in glittery ink at the top of the page and each kid’s best attempt at a cursive signature.
It was too much. Too kind. Too much love. Too generous. He couldn’t stop tears from building in his eyes. He cleared his throat and thanked them for the gift, while quickly wiping his eyes. This made all the adults tear up as well.
“Why are you cryi-” Lillie’s mom quickly interrupted her.
“He’s happy honey, don’t worry.” She whispered to the curious kid and held up a finger to her lips as a sign to hush.
The next gift Shadow opened contained a hand knitted dark blue sweater with individually embroidered yellow and white stars. Buttons lined the front so he didn’t have to worry about getting it over his quills. There was also plenty of bagginess in the back so that his back quills had room. He put it on right away.
“Did you make this?” He asked Gracie in awe.
“I sure did, honey. I was sneaky and worked on it every time you went to run around outside.”
“It’s beautiful, thank you.” He admired the tiny star details again.
“One more to open!” Gracie clapped excitedly.
He opened the last gift and gasped when he saw the contents of the box. A pair of red and black roller skates lay tucked under the decorative paper. He picked them up and stared at them with wide eyes.
“You can use those in the house if you promise to be careful. I’m sure you’ll be an expert already.” She smiled at the stunned hedgehog. “There’s a park with a super smooth path around here. Wouldn’t it be fun to skate around with your alien buddies?”
“Yes…I think it would be fun. Thank you Grandma. These are very special to me.” He sniffled.
Gracie remembered the stories Shadow told about him and his sister skating around the base and having fun. She thought it was a good alternative to his normal shoes burning marks on the floor and charring up her driveway. The linoleum could withstand plastic wheels much easier.
She also knew how much he loved his sister and wanted him to have something he could connect with her (other than the various star themed items he owned, of course.)
He sat the skates down and ran over to the chair Gracie sat in. He climbed into her lap and gave her a teary hug. He didn’t want to cry so much in front of everyone, but he felt so much love he couldn’t hold it back.
“I- I love you, Grandma.” He choked out in a small voice.
“I love you too, sweet boy.” Gracie gave him an extra squeeze and kissed his forehead.
Shadow was overwhelmed with emotion. It was his first Christmas without Maria there physically, but he knew she was there in his heart.
She would be so happy for him.