Feel Alive(Adopted By Mikey Way)

22~Shallan & Mikey

We have two weeks till Christmas and I'm really excited. Today Donna and I are going shopping for Christmas presents. Donna said she help me pick out gifts for people and pay for them, including Patrick. We are in the car.

"Mind if I turn the radio on?" she asks.

"No. Go ahead." The voice of Bing Crosby fills the car. I love Christmas music. Mom would turn it on and we'd sing while we decorated the Christmas tree. Dad would grab my hands and swing me in circles. Mom would do the same with Felix. And then Dad would pick me up and let me put the star on the very top of the tree. Felix would complain that he never got to do it, Mom would say that's because she has a special job for him and then Felix would plug the lights in. We would stand and admire our work and then we'd sit and have hot cocoa while Mom read A Christmas Carol to us. I miss that. I miss Mom and Dad. And Felix. I miss playing in the snow with Felix. I miss baking with Mom and reading with Dad. I miss family dinners where Felix and I would throw a vegetables at each other, Dad would laugh, Mom would scold us while trying not to laugh. 

I watch the snow fall and sigh.

"Something wrong dear?" Donna asks.

"No. I'm just thinking about my family." Donna nods, but doesn't say anything. We pull into the parking lot and get out. By the time we reach the door we are dusted with snow. I pull the beanie I 'borrowed' from Mikey, off my head and shake the snow off. I replace my hat and wait while Donna grabs a cart. We walk through the store, her pointing out things I could give everyone for Christmas.

"What about you and Don?"

"What about us?"

"What can I give you?" she grabs a Christmas tie off a rack. It's covered in reindeer.

"You can give this to Don and Mikey said he got you something to give me, because he figured you'd want to." I nod and we keep walking. This reminds me off Christmas shopping with Mom. She would let me stand on the end of the cart. I always loved it. She'd let me pick the wrapping paper. We'd find really weird looking ties and laugh about them. Then we'd go home and wrap presents. I would arrange them under the tree, hide the small ones in the tree. A lot of times we'd forget about the ones hidden in the tree until we started taking the tree down. That was always a fun surprise.

When we finish and pay we walk back out to the car. I help Donna load the bags into the trunk. The ride home is silent aside from the crooning voice of Bing Crosby. We get to Don and Donna's and Donna and I bring all our bags in and wrap our gifts. When we're done wrapping the gifts we put them under the tree. Then Donna takes me home. I walk in, kick my shoes off, hang my coat up and take a seat next to Mikey. He's watching a movie. Gee is there too. He spends quite a bit of time here since he gets bored at his place.

"Whatcha watching?" I ask.

"A Muppet Christmas Carol."

"I love this movie." I rest my head on his shoulder. Something starts vibrating against my leg. Mikey pulls his phone out. He flips it open and answers.

"I will be so glad when this stops." he says and then holds the phone out to me.

"Shallan?" Patrick asks.

"Hey Patrick."

"Hey, what are you up to?"

"I'm watching a movie with Mikey and Gee." Gee looks up when I say his name, probably because for the first time I say Gee instead of Gerard. He smiles.

"Cool. I was reading. And then I got bored."

"I thought you said I wasn't a cure for boredom? Methinks you lie."