F I V E ~ G I F T S

J A C K S O N

~ ~ ~

"Nerida, I have something for you." She crawled out of her little cocoon and made her way over to me. She crossed her legs and sat patiently and I found myself smiling at her obedience.

I took the medium-sized gift box off of the dresser and placed it on her lap. Her eyes lit up and I realized that this was probably the first wrapped gift she's ever received.

"We were able to retrieve quite a few items from the fire, especially in your bedroom since the flames didn't spread that far. I thought you should have them," I explained as she lifted the top off.

A gasp left her lips and her eyes welled up with tears when she saw the contents of the box. As far as possible, I made Juliette handle the gift since I wanted to respect Nerida's privacy. I felt like if she wanted me to know more about her past, it should come from her mouth.

She pulled out a pale pink scarf and hesitantly brought it up to her nose. A soft sigh of what sounded like utter relief left her lips as she inhaled deeply.

She brought it to my nose and the strong lavender scent flooded my nose. I'm not sure how Juliette figured out that this scarf was supposed to smell like lavender or how she got it to smell like that after all the smoke, but she has definitely earned herself a shopping spree for all her help.

"This scarf belonged to my mom. I sleep with it every night and my daddy says it smells just like her. That's why lavender is my favourite flower, it reminds me of her." She wrapped the scarf around her body and crawled across the short distance that separated us.

She plopped down between my legs and leaned against my chest, bringing the box to her lap again. Hesitantly, I wrapped both my arms around her waist, telling myself that I just wanted her to be comfortable.

She proceeded to unbox all the items, telling me the importance of every item and the story behind it. She showed me a few portraits of her mother and the resemblance was unnerving. A literal copy and paste.

Joy emanated from her as she showed me photographs of her dad and mom when she was pregnant with her. Nerida said that these were her only family portraits.

Watching the photos and seeing how happy George and Freya were, it really highlighted some things for me. All along I was looking at George as the bad guy who neglected his beautiful little girl.

But when I looked between the lines, I realized that George and Freya were in love. They were probably so happy together and when Freya got pregnant, that joy probably increased tenfold.

However, Freya died whilst giving birth to Nerida and George was left to raise their daughter all by himself. Nerida looks exactly like her mother. He probably felt as though his wife died but she never left. It must've sent him crazy to see Nerida's face.

I'm not saying that neglecting her the way he did was right, but I think I'm starting to understand George Spade's point of view.

~ ~ ~

"So what made the wishes come through?" I pressed. Nerida had coerced me into watching a stupid Disney movie and of course, I agreed. I can't seem to deny her anything she wants. I believe we were watching something called 16 Wishes, but what do I know?

I just found it funny how my little angel was starting to get annoyed with me. Nerida was the definition of an angry bunny; completely harmless and their rage was the cutest thing ever. I was scared she might start gnawing at my wrists.

"I just told you Jackson. The candles have the power of birthday magic in them and are making her sixteen sixteenth birthday wishes come through," Nerida huffed, turning her face to the television once again.

We sat on the couch comfortably with me lying behind her against the couch and her back against mine. Nerida covered us in two blankets even though the temperature in the apartment was only 12°C. I preferred really cold temperatures and when I offered to raise it for Nerida, she actually wanted it to be lower.

Apparently, colder temperatures make burying yourself in two or more blankets much more enjoyable.

"But what-" I started again but received a surprisingly harsh elbow to my gut.

"Shut up Jackson or I'll never watch another movie with you again," Nerida threatened and I let out a hearty laugh. She was too precious.

I stayed quiet and tried to watch the movie but my thoughts were constantly infiltrated by a tiny fae, that by the feel of things, wasn't very tiny.

I felt like a pedophile, preying on a broken, neglected teenage girl and I couldn't find any sort of decency in the situation. Even if that teenage girl was a week from being legal, the most beautiful person I've ever seen, the sweetest little angel and had a fantastic body.

My mind was a war zone of pros and cons, morals and common decency lessons and I felt as though I was sending myself crazy.

In the midst of all my thoughts, I heard a soft snore right next to my ear. I looked down to find Nerida sleeping soundly, her head buried in my neck with her hands spread out on my chest, tightly gripping onto my t-shirt. Classic Nerida sleeping position.

I carefully sat up and she ended up straddling me since one of her legs had been thrown across my body. I secured her arms around my neck and stood up, unintentionally placing my hand a little too low on her back.

My throat tightened and I looked around frantically, as though the cops were there, waiting to arrest me for child molestation or something.

I reigned my anxiety in and assured myself once again, that I didn't think of Nerida like that. I wasn't a pervert.

Quietly, I walked us through the apartment, hiking Nerida further up on my waist when I got to her bedroom. I placed her in the middle of the bed and immediately her arms reached out for me. I placed a pillow in her hands and she hugged it tightly.

I fixed the scarf on her and pulled the blanket up to her neck. Before I could convince myself otherwise, I placed a kiss on her cheek and wished her a goodnight. I turned on the nightlight since Nerida was absolutely mortified of the dark and left both our doors open.

Then, I took off my t-shirt and sweatpants and crawled into bed, clad in my boxers alone. The moment I laid down, discomfort overcame me. The lack of Nerida's warm body made it hard to get comfortable. I've slept with her in my arms every night for the last week and it just felt weird not having her here with me.

The clock on my nightstand read 3 a.m. and as I laid there thinking, I found my mind going back to just a few hours ago when I told Nerida it was time to go to bed. She quite cockily told me that she didn't have a bedtime and she could watch TV for as long as she wanted to.

It was becoming more and more apparent that Nerida's entire life revolved around television. As far as I can tell, everything she knows she's learned it from TV and I'm not so sure that's a good thing.

Under those angelic features of hers, she's a sassy little thing.

Which doesn't make sense because her range of television was restricted to Disney and that was only princesses and shit.

I didn't want to jinx myself but something told me it would only take a few days for Nerida to turn me into a Disney master.

~ ~ ~

The next thing I remember is flying off of my bed at the sound of a scream. I sprinted to Nerida's room and found her yelling and fighting against the blanket.

Without another thought, I climbed into her bed and pulled her body to lie atop me.

She rubbed her head against my chest and wrapped her arms around my neck, her screams immediately ceasing. I didn't realize I was crying too until I felt the tears run down my nose.

"You left me." That was all she said. No room for redemption, no room for excuses.

"I didn't leave you Nerida," I stated. I cupped her cheeks and brought her to face me. She needed to see that her pain was mine.

"I promised to never leave you didn't I?" She nodded, tear tracks running down her face.

"So why didn't you sleep next to me?"

"Neri, baby," I began, wrapping my arms around her so I could bring her back to lying on my chest. "I wanted to respect you. I don't want you to think of me... badly."

I don't want anyone to think I'm a sick pervert.

"Jackie I will never think of you badly. You saved me." She tightened her hold on me and placed a kiss on my neck, forcing my body to contradict my mind. "I don't care what anybody says. You're going to sleep with me every night, okay."

I looked down and found her sporting the ultimate look of determination.

"Fine Nerida, we'll sleep next to each other every night."

"Good."

I pulled the blanket over us and finally, I was ready to sleep. Just before I succumbed to my slumber, Nerida called out to me.

"Yeah babe?"

"Now I have a nickname too. You're my Jackie and I'm your Neri."

"Yeah babe, I guess we are."

~ ~ ~

gosh

even i feel to vomit sometimes with all the mush i write

shorter chapter

didn't see the need to make it longer than it has to be

now, little guidelines to the pronunciation of the nicknames

neri~ near-ree

Nerida is still pronounced as... well... Nerida

✨d o r i s✨