Christmas Present

by Lauren Wood

  “I really do want this to work out Gregory. I really do.”

  “I know Nicole.”

  “So, when is the next time this urge of yours is supposed to happen?”

  “I don’t. It comes at odd moments, but I know when it happens when right around the time that I get a really strong feeling.”

  “A strong feeling?”

  “Like if I’m really angry, sad or happy. You know, when I’m feeling an extreme emotion.”

  “Extreme emotion huh?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Ok then.”

  Nicole began to fiddling with Gregory’s zipper. Gregory, caught by surprise, struggled at first.

  “What are you doing?”

  “Just relax Gregory. I’ll get you ready.”

  Gregory eased himself back as Nicole began stripping away his pants. She pulled his underpants around his ankles and wrapped her mouth over his cock. She began to suck on it, her tongue stroking it in unison. Gregory’s hands clenched his bedsheets tightly, his back arched back so his eyes were gazing upward. His breathing came in gasps for breath and pleasured moans. As he came into her mouth, Nicole raised her head, swallowed, and then went back for a second go at it. Gregory felt his cock growing harder again and began muttering the names of several Gods, Judeo-Christian and otherwise.

  As Nicole raised her head again, He lunged forward and pushed Nicole onto the bed like a cat pouncing on a mouse. She gave a smile as he removed her clothing one by one, tossing them off the bed with hardly a thought. He thrust his cock into her and began moving back and forth on her. Nicole screamed with glee as the two of them hit their synchronized stride. She put her hands around his lower hips, teasing the ends of her fingers against his ass, while he put his hands on her breasts and began to lightly rub them with his fingertips. They locked eyes with each other, both grinning like crazy, young kids discovering love for the first time. The two of them continued to move as one, sweat dripping down their bodies and moans escaping their lips.

  Suddenly, Gregory’s moan began turning into a very low growl. He began to stop, Nicole ceasing a moment after.

  “Gregory?”

  “It’s time.”

  “The urge?”

  “Yeah. We need to get me out of here. Fast”

  The two of them sprang out of bed, pulling on clothes as fast as they can. They rushed out the door as they could, drawing the stares of the other roommates.

  “Where you guys off to?” Lewis asked.

  “Gregory’s got an urge. I have to see him turn.”

  The roommates sprang up after them.

  “We’ll take our car.” Lewis said, grabbing keys off the counter.

  The five of them leapt out of the apartment and dove into the van waiting outside. They were speeding off before everyone had a chance to fully get their seatbelt.

  ***

  “Why did you get him on his urge right now?” asked Lewis from the passenger seat.

  “I wanted to see this so I could understand who he is, so we had sex and-“

  “I do NOT need to know that. My point is that he changes pretty fricking quickly after he gets his urge.”

  Nicole looked at Gregory, who looked as if he was trying to hold something in. His teeth were grit tightly. His eyeballs seeming to bulge out of the sockets. There was also a lot of hair on his hands, but Nicole could not recall if that amount had always been normal or if it was more than usual.

  “How far away is the park?”

  “A bit farther.”

  Gregory let out an angry roar, causing the person driving to almost swerve the van into oncoming traffic.

  “Hurry up you guys!”

  “You know, it’s not our fault we’re in such a time crunch.”

  ***

  They soon made it to the park. Nicole reached over and undid the seatbelt on Gregory. Lewis opened the door, to which Gregory came barreling out of the van and ran off into the trees in the center of the park. Within seconds, he disappeared from view. Nicole ran to chase after him, but Lewis grabbed her and held her back.

  “He’ll be right back. Trust me, you aren’t missing too much with the transformation. It’s pretty nasty to watch, speaking from first-hand experience.”

  Nicole looked off into the trees, trying to get a glimpse of anything at all. The only way she was able to tell that Gregory was somewhere in there was the sound of his roaring. It was becoming more and more primal, until it stopped. Then there was silence. The roommates began to walk forward, Nicole following close behind them. As they descended into the tree line, they began to turn on their flashlights and slowly shine them around. Nicole was handed a flashlight, which she darted the light around trying to find Gregory. Lewis steadied her hand.

  “You wave your light around like that, you’ll spook him.”

  Nicole wrestled her arm away from him and shone her light on the ground. They kept walking, out of the trees and onto the other side of the park.

  And there was Gregory, or at least a giant grizzly bear. Nicole offered a short yelp, covering her mouth in an attempt to not spook him. She began raising her flashlight to get a better look

  “Don’t shine it near his face. That scares him.”

  Nicole angled her flashlight to go over the body of what was supposed to be her boyfriend. It looked like just a normal grizzly bear. No a thing indicated that this was Gregory. And yet, Nicole felt completely safe around this bear, not the slightest thought of being attacked.

  “He just wanders around the park mostly. Most chilled bear I’ve ever seen.”

  Nicole turned to see one of the roommates, Seth, looking out at the bear.

  “It was so weird, the first time he transformed. We thought he was choking or something, what with all the growling and such. So we’re in the middle of giving him the Heimlich when he starts turning into the bear. We were freaking out, hiding behind couches and trying to not look at him. He just wandered through the house, chewing on anything he could get his teeth into. We had to replace almost everything, and we were so angry at him, but he had the most apologetic look in his eyes. We just forgave him and just went out to a movie.”

  Nicole gave a small smile and laughed.

  “Deep down though, I think he hates this about himself.”

  Nicole’s smile died almost instantly.

  “I mean, some people have acne, some people have an ugly family, but this guy turns into an animal every once in a while. I mean, he is so scared about telling people this because he’s afraid they will judge him. He really needs a support system.”

  “So if you’re going to do something that splits the two of you apart,” Lewis said, turning to face Nicole, “You better get it over with so he doesn’t get led on.”

  Nicole looked back to Gregory, a tight knot forming in her stomach. She took a step forward to him, then another one, and then another one.

  “Nicole, no!”

  Keeping her eye on Gregory in case he suddenly turned around, Nicole slowly walked over to her boyfriend. Her mind was screaming for her to stop and turn back now, but her heart pulled her forward, telling her to go to him.

  She could hear the snap of a branch underneath her foot. She froze mid-step, looking at Gregory. He slowly turned his head and looked at her. Lewis and the other roommates prepared to run and grab Nicole away should things go south. They weren’t quite sure how Gregory reacted when he noticed other people around him. If he was anything like a normal Grizzly Bear when he turned, then they imagined they never wanted to see what happens.

  Nicole and Gregory looked at each other eye-to-eye, neither one hesitating. When she looked into those eyes, Nicole swore they looked almost like his eyes. They seemed to be filled with such kindness and concern, not a primal curiosity like a normal bear.

  Taking a deep breath, Nicole took a few steps more towards Gregory. He gave a mild roar in response. Lewis and the others made a move to help her, but Nicole waved them away. She turned back to face Gregory, taking a
few more steps. He roared again, taking a few steps back.

  “I’m not afraid of you!” Nicole said.

  Gregory stopped, looking at her.

  “I’m not afraid of you.”

  She raised her hand as she kept moving forward.

  “She’s crazy.” Seth said.

  “Yes she is,” Lewis said, “but you’d have to be crazy to make this thing of theirs work.”

  Nicole approached Gregory, who was watching her intently, her hand still upraised. Slowly, she lowered it until it was right under his nose. She held it there, looking back into her boyfriend’s eyes. A few seconds passed before she could feel his nose sniffing her finger. Once he stopped, Nicole slowly raised her hand and began petting him. She dug her hands into the fur as she rubbed them against Gregory’s sides. She could feel his tight, muscular shoulders rippling under the brown, scruffy fur. She massaged his sides, hearing a very satisfied growl omitting from Gregory’s lips. Nicole wrapper her arms around his big, muscular body, rubbing her body up and down his side. She could feel him rubbing up against her too, a low hum escaping his lips.

  The roommates watched this scene with looks of uncertainty.

  “Maybe we should go wait in the car.” Said Lewis.

  “Yeah,” said Seth, “Not sure I want to see how this goes.”

  The three quietly walked away, leaving the two lovers to, once again, express their love for each other.

  ***

  An hour later, Nicole and Gregory, now back in human form, lay side-by-side in the grass, smiling and gazing into each other’s eyes.

  “I love you” said Gregory.

  “I love you too. That was…wonderful.”

  “Was it?”

  “It’s strange, I won’t lie, but I think that I will be able to live with that.”

  “And what if the baby turns out being like me?”

  Nicole turned away and looked up into the night sky.

  “Well then that will have to be something that you have to teach him or her about. I mean, I only saw you once in that form. I have no idea how it all works.”

  Gregory reached over and grabbed Nicole’s side, pulling her back to facing her.

  “I can’t believe how accepting you are of this. I…I am so lucky I found you.”

  “It…It’s nothing Gregory.”

  “No Nicole, it’s not. This has been such a big secret for me. I mean, it took a lot of courage to tell you that.”

  “Well, you probably wouldn’t have told me if I wasn’t pregnant with your child.”

  It was Gregory’s turn to roll over and face the sky, “Yeah. I guess so.”

  Nicole reached over and squeezed his shoulder, “I didn’t mean it like that. I mean, this baby was a blessing for us.”

  “Was it?”

  “Yes. It brought us together as a couple. We’re stronger because of it.”

  “But what about the child?”

  “What about it?”

  Gregory turned to face her, “What happens during its first transformation? What if we aren’t there when it happens? They will be ostracized, if not taken away and experimented on by scientists. One slip up, and this child’s life will be ruined forever.”

  “Well when did you change first?”

  “I was twenty-one, already living on my own. I didn’t have any family around who could be ashamed of or worry about me.”

  “And what about your family now? What do they think?”

  “They haven’t heard from me in a while. It’s better that for the both of us if they don’t even know that I’m still alive.”

  “But Gregory…”

  Gregory stood up and turned to face her, extending his hand.

  “Come on. Let’s get back to the car. I’m sure my roommates have been waiting for a bit too long now.”

  Nicole took his hand and allowed herself to be helped up. The two began walking back to the car, Nicole casting glances at Gregory. He had on a look of hurt, one that she felt she would be seeing from time-to-time for the rest of her life if she chose to spend it with him.

  “I’m not ashamed of you at all. “

  “Thank you Nicole. That means a lot.”

  The way he said that, it sounded like he imagined she would soon be gone just like everyone else he had ever come to care for and love. By the time they made it to the car, it seemed like the intentions of brining her and Gregory together had just done the complete opposite.

  ***

  Nicole had them drop her off at her home. She kissed Gregory on the lips before walking up to the apartment. As soon as she closed the door behind her, she finally gave into the tears that were rimming her eyes. She was doing her best to try and show Gregory her devotion to the two of them since the announcement of the baby, but this event only seemed to be dragging them apart from each other. The longer this went on, the more Gregory seemed to be trying to separate himself from her and the baby. She just did not know what else she could to prove that she would love him despite any differences he possessed, no matter how strange it was.

  Nicole loved Gregory, there was no doubt about it. Despite finding out he was half-bear, nothing had changed with how caring he was, how much of a good listener he was, and the length of which he seemed willing to go to make sure Nicole was happy. And she wanted to be able to show him how much his happiness meant to her, how she wanted to do everything she could to show him just that. The problem was, everything she had tried thus far had seemed to only show him that his difference prevented him from being happy. She had exhausted almost every idea she could think of to prove him he was wrong.

  Well she thought, pulling out her cell phone and moving through the contacts, almost every one.

  ***

  The ringing of his cell phone awoke Gregory from his rest. Turning into a bear sapped a lot of energy out of him then he ever would admit. Luckily for me, his urges usually arose when it was in the evening, so he would appear normal if he slept into the early afternoon. He turned to the clock, which read that it was eight thirty-seven in the morning. He turned to see who was calling. No surprise, it was Nicole. Gregory sighed and let the phone go to voice mail. When it did, it showed that she had tried to call him several times already. His phone lit up again, saying that Nicole was trying to call him. It must be important if she was willing to continue calling him over and over again.

  “Hello?”

  “Gregory! Thank goodness you picked up.”

  “Yeah…I usually have to sleep after the transformation. It takes a lot of energy out of me.”

  “Oh. Sorry about that. I just really needed to tell you something.”

  “Tell me what?”

  “You’re coming with me to dinner with my parents tonight.”

  There were a few seconds of silence from Gregory’s side, “What did you say?”

  “You’re coming with me to my parents for dinner-“

  “Why?!”

  “Gregory, I understand that you do not think that someone can love you in the world because of your thing, but I want you in my life. I want you to come with me and do things that couples do, like meeting the parents of your girlfriend.”

  “But Nicole, what if I go into my urge-“

  “We will work it out. I’m not asking you to divulge to my parents who you are. I just want to feel like you can belong and be with someone who you love. You do still love me, don’t you?”

  Gregory gritted his teeth, “Of course I still love you. I just…I don’t know if I can do this.”

  “Yes you can. I will be there right you, supporting you through all of this. You aren’t going to be alone in this. So, will you come?”

  Gregory held the phone in between his hands, thinking about what he could possibly say to save both of them from this tragedy waiting to happen. Deep down, he knew she would not accept anything but him to say yes. She wasn’t the same timid woman he had met on that first date at the movie theater. She had found something to believe in, someone to believe in. />
  He brought the phone back up to his ear and took a deep breath.

  “Gregory? Are you still there?”

  “Yeah baby, I’m still here. I’ll come with you to your parents. I’ll pick you up from the apartment and we can head over to their place. How’s that sound?”

  “That sounds lovely! Thank you so much! I’ll text you the details later. I love you. Bye.”

  “I love you too.”

  A small smile spread across his face as the phone clicked. She had sounded very happy that he was coming. Now, it was time to get back to bed so he’d be well-rested to meet the parents.

  ***

  Gregory pulled up to the apartment around four –thirty in the afternoon. He looked down to inspect the purple dress shirt he had on, hoping that he was dressed appropriately for this. He got out of the car and walked up to the apartment. He knocked on the door and waited, thrusting his hands into his slacks and bouncing on the balls of his toes.

  The door opened and there stood Nicole, dressed in a white cocktail dress with matching pumps. Gregory’s eyes widened as he looked her over.

  “Wow.”

  “Wow, yourself. You also shaved the stubble off.”

  “Yeah, well,” Gregory said, averting his gaze when she stroked his chin, “This dinner means a lot to you, so I wanted to look my best.”

  Nicole retracted her hand and kissed him on the lips, “Thank you.”

  Gregory linked arms with hers and led her to the car. After helping her into her seat, he got in and they drove off. He could feel her hand rubbing his thigh seductively. He sensed a boner beginning to form as a result of that. One of Nicole’s fingers reached out and lightly brushed against it. Gregory tightened up slightly and looked at Nicole.

  “You’re feeling very frisky aren’t you?”

  “I just can’t wait to introduce you to my parents. We’re all really excited that I finally found a man I can be comfortable around.”

  “Is this what you call comfortable?”

  ‘I’ll show you how comfortable I am when we have a moment alone.”

  Gregory chuckled and turned his eyes back on the road. This was going to be an interesting trip to say the least.