Forever Young

Chapter 40

Koda hopped up and took most of the stuffed animals from my hands. He could carry way more than me with his larger arms, and I only had a few now. But when we got to the front door, Esme was watching us, and we realized that we would have to drop our stuffed toys to put on our coats.

When we finally got out of the house- after Esme insisted on coats, scarves, hats and mittens- we took off running towards our treehouse. I lifted us up in the air so we wouldn't have to worry about climbing with our hands full, and Koda dropped his stuffed animals in the free corner of the treehouse. I did the same, but then started organizing them. If Koda had his way, everything would always just be laying in a pile. He was so messy! Didn't he know that all of the stuffed animals needed to be sitting up straight with the tallest in the back so you could see them all?

But Koda didn't even glance at our toys again. He just started removing his winter clothes. We didn't need them in the warm treehouse- unlike the one at Sam and Emily's, this one had heating. Once again, he left a pile on the floor, this time of clothes, and went to sit at the little desk that was positioned against the wall of the treehouse while wearing just pants and a tanktop.

I kicked his coat out of the walkway to make a point and then sat on the chair beside Koda. He was going through a jar of trinkets he had brought up a week ago, attaching them to a little chain.

"What are you doing?" I asked, watching him reach for a colorful bead.

He shrugged at me, looking a little embarrassed. "I'm trying to make a wind chime. For Ani. It's her Christmas gift. But it just looks like a bunch of trash, doesn't it?" He sighed in frustration and leaned on his hand.

Peeking over at the strings of colorful, shiny objects, I wondered how he couldn't like it. It looked like a rainbow, and the sun sparkled off of it, reflecting colorful rays on to the wood of the treehouse. "I like it," I assured, gently touching one of the charms. 

Koda didn't seem convinced, but he still reached for the next piece to attach. "Yeah. I don't have time to start a new one, anyway. I still need to finish my gift for you. I can only work on it at Uncle Sam's. You'd find it if it was here."

My gift? Interesting. "What are you making for me?"

Takoda smiled. "I'm not telling," he sang. 

I crossed my arms and huffed at him. Everybody always said that. I didn't understand why they took these Christmas traditions so seriously. It was already such a weird holiday, and they made it worse by trying to have so many secrets surrounding it. It was just stressful.

"Pleeeease?" I grabbed at Koda's arm, shooting him my best pleading look. He pressed his lips together and shook his head, pulling away from my grip.

"Nope," He grinned. "You have to wait. You'll love it, though!"

I would love it even if I knew what it was, though. It wouldn't take away from my excitement of actually receiving it on Christmas. But, just like Carlisle and Esme, he didn't seem willing to budge.

And I still had no idea what I was supposed to get him. Or Carlisle. Or Esme. Or anybody. But at least I knew what he was making for Ani- I had some concept of what kind of thing I could make as a gift. Koda's intricate gift made Carlisle's suggestion of simply drawing a picture seem very... lazy. I would have to do more.

I stayed beside Koda begrudgingly, picking up my popsicle sticks. The birdhouse I was trying to glue together looked more like a lopsided square, but I was hopeful that it would look better when it was all done and painted.

After working for a while, Koda groaned. "I'm out of beads." He stood and made his way back over to the treehouse door, then glanced back at me. "We should add a slide."