Page 44 of Purring, Presents, and Parties

The older kids got information squares. Cherish and Wind showed up just in time to get theirs. Wind let out a little whoop of joy then ran off to a far corner to interact with his gift.

Ari noticed Rain looked subdued but happy. She could relate.

Then the adults were given gifts. Most were information squares, but some were given these strange jackets made out of plants. Every person acted overjoyed, but Ari could see both confusion and amusement on their faces.

“I know what that is!” someone behind her exclaimed. She looked over to see Chloe laughing. “My grandmother told me about those. They were really popular when she was a kid. They were engineered plants that could be grown in any shape and didn't have a root system. The Old Earth ones would glow in the dark and change color depending on how much oxygen was in the air. The trend didn’t last long, but for a little while, everyone was wearing them!”

Ari could see why the fashion didn’t last; the people wearing them were already looking uncomfortable and were quick to hand them off to curious children.

After all the gifts were handed out, Norrium left and returned in his normal outfit to join Liz, Andres, and Lucia at theirhearth. He was purring when he drew Liz into his lap. She said something then hugged him tightly.

Ari let her eyes wander the tent, noting all the joy contained there. It was amazing to see so many happy endings around her.

A bell tolled, and Baz jerked under her. “The orchard is ready.”

Several Talins were standing up and carrying or guiding their humans out of the tent. Baz got to his feet and picked her up to follow them.

“Orchard?” Ari asked.

“You’ll see,” Baz said.

They walked until they were in a spot where a bunch of trees in massive pots were standing. The trees were all the same species, one that reminded Ari of a weeping willow back on Old Earth but with long, corkscrew leaves.

What surprised Ari was that all the trees looked like they’d been spray painted until color was dripping off them. Colorful puddles were gathering under them as paint slowly dropped from their curling and coiled leaves. Under all the paint, Ari thought the trees might have normally been a silver color.

“This one is yours!” Baz announced, setting her on her feet next to one of them. Taking a wide stance, he grabbed the trunk of the tree and started pulling. His muscles bulged under his thick plating as the tree's roots slowly gave way.

With a rattle of triumph, Baz pulled the tree free of the pot. Ari was hit with a small shower of dirt as Baz presented her with the dripping tree.

“This is your Christmas tree,” he announced proudly, holding it out to her.

Trying hard not to laugh, Ari nodded her head as she looked admiringly at the tree.

“It’s gorgeous! I love it!”

“We couldn’t find an image of one of your Christmas trees, but we know you pulled them from the ground,” he explainedas bright paint dripped over his hand. “These are malnuk trees. Our ancestors used to prove they were strong enough to train as a warrior by pulling them out of the ground as I just did for you.”

As he spoke, several other Talins pulled trees free and presented them to their humans. Ari noticed that Norrium had pulled two trees, one the same size as Baz’s and the other tiny, barely a twig with a few leaves. He handed the small one to Liz’s older child, Andres, and presented Liz with the bigger one. Like her, Liz was obviously stifling laughter.

The entire evening was over the top and perfect.

“Will the tree die?” Ari asked. “Or can it be replanted?”

“Of course it can be replanted,” Baz answered, and placed it back into the pot. It listed a bit to the side, making it look drunk. “That’s one of the reasons this tree specifically is used for the strength test.”

“Can we plant this one outside our cottage?” Ari asked.

Baz started purring and turned back to her. “If that’s what you want, then yes. I can pull it from the natural ground next year for our Christmas celebration instead of the pot.”

“Or maybe we could decorate it together,” she offered, planning to spare the tree any more sudden unrootings.

“I’d like that,” he agreed, opening up his arms. Ari folded herself into his embrace, sighing with pleasure at being surrounded by his warm strength.

“You’re the best Talin a girl could ever ask for.”

“And you’re the best human a—”

An alarm sounded, cutting Baz off. He grabbed his Ident, and Ari waited in silence as he checked the security captures. When he sounded an irritated rattle and cursed under his breath, Ari knew it was bad news.

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