It was Wednesday, and Taylor found himself strolling through the local mall, skipping Biology. Christina's birthday was in two days, on November 13th.

He had been there half an hour, just wandering around, and he had no clue. He had some money put away for occasion, but not much. He was saving the ring for Christmas, and he had gotten her a small, silver hoop for her ear once she could change her earring. That was all he had. He wandered by The Bath and Body Works. He had seen a few things in her bedroom from there, so maybe something from there?

Taylor was glad it was the middle of the afternoon, for he would have died if anyone he knew saw him there. The place stank to high heaven, and it was all light and pink and...flowery. He had no idea what she liked, and he was beggining to feel overwhelmed when someone tapped him on the shoulder.

He turned around to see a middle aged woman. She smiled "Hi."

"Uh, hi." Taylor said, giving her an awkward smile.

"You seem to be a little...lost." She said. "Girlfriend, sister, or mother?" She asked.

"Girlfriend." he said. "How'd you know?"

"There's only one reason young men come in here, and one reason only." She said. "Last minute something for their girlfriend, sister, or mother." She said, leading him to the front desk.

"Yeah." He said with a smile. "I have no idea what she even likes." he said. "All I know is that she shops here."

"Well you've done well so far." She said, giving him a sympathetic smile. "What you can do is give her gift certificate for the price of your choice." She said. "That way she can come in and pick out whatever she wants."

"Thanks." Taylor said. This wasn't so bad.

"It's just too hard to guess what she'll want, and this way she can get something you'll know she'll like." The woman said, pulling out a form.

"Yeah." Taylor said.

"Now, how much do you want this to be for? "Um, how's thirty five?" He asked. "I have no idea." He admitted.

"Tell you what. You pay me thirty five, and I'll make it fifty on here, just because you look desperate." SHe said, filling it out.

"Thank you." Taylor said. "You don't have to do that." He said, pulling out his wallet.

"No problem." SHe said. "You should have seen the look on your face walking in here." She said.

"I really appriciate this." Taylor said.

"My pleasure." The lady said. "What's her name?" She asked.

"Oh, it's Christina." He said. "Really long, dark brown hair." Taylor said.

"I'll be looking for her." She said.

"She'll be in here." Taylor said, taking the card.

"Okay."

"Thanks for all your help." He said, walking out of the store.

The lady just smiled.



Ten minutes later, Taylor walked into American Eagle. He KNEW she wore clothes from there, so it wouldn't be a problem. He immediately saw several sweaters he knew she would like. A few minutes later, he had picked one out that was burgundy and had a V-neck with beads swen into the hem. He bought it, then walked around the mall some more. Time was running out, and he had to hurry.

He knew there was something else he could get her, but he had no idea what. He scraped the back of his mind, trying to think of things she liked, but he couldnt come up with anything. Suddenly, he got an idea. He knew she wanted one, but he would have to be sneaky.

"Taylor, thank you." She said, kissing him on the cheek as he closed her door behind him.

"My pleasure." He said. They had just gotten back from dinner at a little Italian place nearby and a movie. She had already worn her sweater to the movie. Thankfully, she opened it and loved it right away, so much that she had even changed into it and worn it out to eat.

They sat down on the couch. "So what all have you gotten for your birthday so far?" He asked her, putting his arm around her as they got settled on the couch.

"Well, my parents send me six hundred extra dollars this month and a card." She said.

"Oh."

"And, my grandma sent me some money and another pair of anlkewarmers, and Michelle gave me some cool earrings and a new shirt." She said. "And Michelle's parents sent me some money, and I got lots of cards and a little money from all my relatives." she said.

"Well that's nice." He said. "You can always use money."

"Yeah, you should have let me pay tonight."

"No, tonight was my treat." He said. "You're the birthday girl."

"Oh, and I forgot. My crazy aunt Cheryl gave me a subscription to Cosmo." She said, holding up the first issue of the magazine. "Trash." She muttered, dropping it back down on the coffee table.

"No, not trash." he said, picking it up. "Let's look here." He said. "Love horoscope, making it work with coworkers, ultra sexy makeup, In the Bedroom; how you and your mate both get satifaction." He read from the cover. "Ohhh....I like that last one." he said, giving her a coy smile.

"Keep dreaming." She said.

"Okay, okay."

"I guess I'll read it sometime." She said.

"Uh huh." He said.

She nudged him, giggling. "It's my birthday." She said.

They laughed for a few moments, then Taylor remembered his other presents. "Oh, I can't forget, I have a few more things for you." he said, getting up to get some of her presents. He handed her an envelope and the small box. She opened then envelope first.

"Oh Taylor, it's beautiful." She said, pulling the earring out of the box.

"It's for when yours heals." He said.

"Thank you." She said.

"You're welcome." He said. Next she opened the envelope. "Oh my gosh, Taylor!" She said, reading it.

"What?"

"Fifty dollars?" She said. "That's a lot of money in that store!" She said.

"What can I say, the lady gave me a discount." He said with a smile.

"This is perfect, you did great." She said.

"I did?"

"Yep." She said. "Thank you, this has been a great birthday. Come here." She said, grabbing him gently by the collar of his shirt. She kissed him sweetly, then patted his cheek. "I'm actually not done." he said. "Wait here." He said.

"Taylor....what have you done..." She asked, smiling at him.

"Nothing....just give me a minute." He said.

He walked to the end of the hall to the guestroom/office. He got in the corner, then pulled out a box. "Come here." He whispered, moving around, knocking things around him.

Christina leaned over on the couch, trying to see down the hall. She saw Taylor on his hands and knees, crawling around on the floor, with a cardboard box near him. She frowned, not able to figure out what in the world he was doing.

He grabbed for something, then he looked at her. "No peeking!" He said.

"Oh okay." She said, returning to her position. "Close your eyes!" He yelled to her.

"Okay!" She said.

A few moments later, she felt a small box placed on her lap.

"Okay, you can open them." He said, sitting down next to her.

Christina opened her eyes, then looked down into the box. There in the bottom were two tiny, gray striped kittens.

"Oh Taylor!" She said, picking one up. "How perfect!" She said

"You like them?"

"I love them!" She said, putting them both in her lap. "How did you.....oh my gosh." She said.

"I remembered the time you said that your cat died, so I thought you'd like another cat. And well, they can keep each other company." he said. The darker one is a boy, and the lighter one is a girl." He said, picking one up.

"They're so cute." She said. "Taylor, thank you, this is the best present ever." She said.

"I knew you'd like them." he said.

"Thank you so much." She said, kissing him again. "This is perfect." She said, stroking the one she had.

"What are you going to name them?" He asked.

"Um....." She thought a moment. "This one." She said. "Will be called Fuzzy because she's fuzzy, and that one will be Oscar."

"Cool." he said, holding up the kitten. "Hello Oscar." The kitten meowed, and he set it back down on his lap, stroking his head.

"Thank you Taylor." She said. "This has been wonderful."

The door suddenly opened and Michelle walked in. Michelle was slowly recovering from her traumatic experience, and she was just now beggining to trust David again.

"Hi hon." She said, smiling tightly. She handed Christina a box. "I just came over to tell you Happy Birthday." She said.

"Thank you." Christina said, taking the box. She stood and gave Michelle a hug. She pulled away and saw the longing sadness in her friend's eyes. Michelle looked terrible; she hadn't done her hair in days, and her face was pale and she had dark circles under her eyes from lack of sleep. She had lost almost ten pounds from a combination of worrying and stress. She smiled wearkly at Christina. Christina hugged her again, just wishing she could erase the pain and memory of her terrible fate.

"We'll celebrate next weekend, okay?" She asked.

"Okay, that's fine." Christina said.

She gave her one last pat on the shoulder before walking out the door and across the hall. Christina sat down on the couch with a sigh. She picked up her two now sleeping kittens and set them on her lap, stroking Fuzzy's head.

Taylor wrapped a protective arm around her. "What's wrong babe?"

She sighed again, tucking a strand of hair behind her ears. "I feel so bad....for what happened.

"Of course you do, we all do." Taylor said, giving her shoulders a squeeze.

"I just...wish that it wouldn't have happened to her." Christina said.

"It shouldn't have happened, and I think it's terrible that it did. We can only be thankful that Michelle is physically okay and still alive, and she's here with us." Taylor said, looking down at Christina.

A silent tear rolled down her cheek, then one after another. Taylor lifted the kittens from her lap, put them in their box, then helped her up and led her to the bedroom. They got changed into pajamas, and then turned out the light and climbed into bed. Taylor pulled up the covers around them, and pulled Christina to him so that she was on her side, her back against Taylor's warm body. He wrapped his arms around her, and tried to make her feel secure the best he could.

"Happy Birthday, sweetie." He said, softly kissing her cheek. She sighed, another tear rolling down her cheek. Taylor understood that she was going through a rough time, and he was going to do his best to help her through it. He held her tightly, vowing that he would never let her go.