The Joy of Giving

Christmas was nearing for boyfriends Patton and Roman. It was their first Christmas spent living together and they wanted it to be extremely special. Unfortunately, with every affordable way of living as well as celebrating, there were expenses on the other side of the coin. There were times when the worry would make Patton cling to his antique teddy bear, Crimson (who has been in his family for many years), before Patton would be held by Roman in a cuddle inception. Patton had been trying to save money through his job at the animal shelter to get himself a bakery, but it seemed the bills needed him more, even after splitting his income. As for Roman, he was planning to do multiple jobs related to creative arts, from caricature artwork to auditioning for acting gigs to even playing his guitar and singing on the side of the road. He felt proud to have his guitar since it was a graduation gift from his Uncle Thomas, who always believed in him. Roman just wished the world took the arts more seriously financially.

Patton had a great idea on what to get Roman for Christmas. He didn't want the risk of further damage to be placed upon the guitar, so he took some measurements while Roman was asleep and, the following day, spent his lunch break going to a nearby shop to get a custom guitar case for his Prince Charming. The case maker told Patton what the cost would be after being given the measurements and Patton was in shock. He took Crimson out of his work bag since he was used as an anti-stress tool and the case maker tilted his head. Patton took notice and felt embarrassed.

"Sorry, but in a world like this, wouldn't you want to cling to a teddy bear and have that feeling of being a kid again?" Patton defended.

"Oh, I don't judge. Mind if have a look?" the case maker asked.

"Careful with him. Crimson has been part of my family for generations," Patton said while carefully handing Crimson over.

The case maker was holding Crimson and greeting him like he was an innocent baby. Patton felt happy as he saw it since it reminded him that there were more people in the world who could be tender if given the chance.

"You know, I had intentions of having a child a long time ago, but the wife and I had to deal with some complications and even the adoption process was tough back in the day," the case maker confessed.

Patton knew that holding Crimson ignited a warm flame within the man and he didn't want to blow it out. It gave Patton an idea of how to make the man and Roman happy.

"How about we make a deal, Mr..."

"Carl."

"I'm Patton."

They gave a gentle handshake before an emotional deal was made.

During another day, Roman spent the day going up and down the street playing his guitar and singing some underrated Christmas songs for his holiday profit. After several blocks, he stumbled upon an antique toy shop with a little fuzzy jacket in the window that looked just the right size for Crimson. Roman entered the store and asked for the price of the jacket. Unfortunately, even with the holiday profits he made that day, Roman wasn't able to afford the jacket. As he was about to leave, the clerk took notice of Roman's guitar.

"Wait, where did you get that guitar?" the clerk asked.

Roman turned around and showed the clerk the guitar.

"Oh, it's a gift from my uncle," Roman answered.

"Wow! I used to play guitar, but my family was more concerned about me working a 9-5 job," the clerk admitted.

Roman strummed a few tunes on the guitar before an idea stopped him.

"Why don't we discuss an exchange Miss..."

"Dodie."

"The name's Roman."

After a gentle handshake, they went on with their discussion.

Christmas day came and the couple's mutual friends came over for a get-together. Logan expressed relief over not dealing with his students first a while, Virgil was reading A Christmas Carol, and Remus proudly proclaimed he was going to stuff the turkey before Tiddylicious knocked him over the head with a carton of eggnog before putting the turkey back in the oven. Patton smiled as he brought the two gifts under the tree over to Roman so they could open their gifts. Roman smiled as he opened his gift until he saw what it was: a guitar case that was dark red and said "Prince Charming" in gold cursive. Patton opened his gift and smiled while ripping off the wrapping paper to see a small box, but he felt sad as he opened the box: he saw a fuzzy jacket Crimson's size with a heart on the back.

"Roman, there's something I need to tell you," Patton stated.

"Yeah, I need to tell you something, too," Roman countered.

"I...sort of...traded Crimson for your guitar case."

"And...I traded my guitar for that jacket for Crimson."

Patton set aside the jacket and gently grabbed Roman's looking over the marks of so much time spent on one of his ways of making an income.

"Do you regret it? Giving up something that meant a lot to you...for me?" Patton asked softly.

"There will be other ways to turn art into income, but there can only be one owner of my heart worth making a sacrifice for. I'm just glad I chose someone who was willing to make such a sacrifice for me in return," Roman responded.

They stared at each other for a while until they heard the boot steps of Tiddylicious decrease in volume. They looked around to see if he was up to something until their eyes landed on a mistletoe that wasn't there before. They were about to question it until they realized they don't call Tiddylicious a snake for nothing. With the noises of their guests in the background, the couple shared a kiss with a new warmth in their hearts from the knowledge that they really were willing to do anything for one another.

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