Rewritten Past

Presents, huh?

...Ah, I should probably make some myself.

Hm...

I looked over at April's mom and said, "Serena?"

Serena paused in the middle of mixing another batch of cookie dough. "Yes, Alex?" She tilted her head and said, "Did you need something?"

"Do you think you could take me shopping?"

Mom frowned. "If you want to go shopping, I could take you, Sweetie."

"I know. But it's a secret." I smiled and said, "I want to get some gifts for everyone. And I already have mine for April's Mom. But I still have to get something for everyone else."

April gasped and said, "You're getting me a present? Nooo! I have to make you one too then!" She immediately dashed off to my... well, I guess 'our' room and started rummaging around. Probably to draw something.

I chuckled and said, "Well, that works for keeping her distracted all day."

Serena finished mixing the cookie dough and wiped her hands down on her apron. "I don't mind taking you shopping." She looked at Mom and said, "There's a store nearby, right, Mei?"

Mom nodded and said, "There is. But it's a bit of a walk..."

I waved my hand and said, "That's fine, Mommy." I flexed my arm and said, "I'm strong. I can carry everything!"

Seeing my childish antics, Mom laughed. "Fine, fine. If my little boy insists..." She looked up at Serena and said, "There's a dollar store about three blocks down and around the corner. I'm sure Alex knows the way."

Serena took off her apron and hung it on a nearby cabinet handle. Then she washed her hands and said, "In that case, we'll be back." She held her hand out to me after drying it. "Let's go then, Alex."

I took her hand and said, "Appreciate it, Serena." I turned my head back towards my room and said, "April! Help my mommy if she needs anything!"

"Kay~!" April called out. "I'll protect Alex's mommy and baby sister! Just like Miss Hero!"

"You'd better~" I teased April just a bit more, and then I headed off with Serena.

Now...

What can I make in this short time period that would be a good gift for everyone...?

===

11:30 AM, Christmas Eve.

Yue used her spare key to unlock the front door of the Li household and then walked inside, lugging a bag of wrapped gifts with her. "I'm back. Took a bit longer than expected, but got everything settled."

She set the bag of gifts down and then looked around. "Anybody home?"

April ran over and said, "Miss Yue! Wow! You brought lots of presents!"

Yue smiled and ruffled April's hair. "Yep. The cool auntie had to bring lots of presents to keep that title, right?"

"Yeah! Can I see?" April peered around Yue, trying to look into the bag.

"Nuh-uh~" Yue picked up the bag and said, "Just like with Santa's presents, you have to wait until the morning."

"Aw..." April huffed.

At that time, Mei walked out from the kitchen, a soft smile on her face. "Don't worry, April. It'll just make it more fun in the morning to see the big pile of presents, won't it?"

April paused, thinking about it. Then she sighed. "I guess..."

Yue took another look around the room and then said, "Hm... are Al and Rina not home?"

Mei shook her head and said, "They went shopping at the dollar store. Apparently, my little boy wants to make us all last minute gifts."

Yue walked to the closet in the kitchen and put the gifts inside it. Then she turned towards Mei and said, "Really? I would have thought he would have made presents beforehand." She laughed and said, "Guess he's still an ordinary kid in some parts."

That was a good thing.

Yue had been a bit worried Alex would get worse after the Thanksgiving incident, but it seemed like he was getting more relaxed. And since the distance between him and his parents was closing again too, it looked like the main issues Yue had been worried about would be resolved soon.

Like Alex deciding to completely sever ties with his parents.

Mei let out a thin smile and said, "I'm glad. Sometimes... well. I'm just not sure about my little boy... but you're probably aware of it, Yuyu."

Yue nodded. "Yeah..."

There were still moments. Maybe since Alex was more relaxed, he was starting to slip a bit more. Sometimes, when he thought no one was watching, Alex would suddenly seem older. Like he was mulling about a future no one else could see.

Yue hadn't asked. None of them had, really. But since it didn't seem to be causing any problems, and since Alex didn't want to talk about it, they just let it be for now.

"Huh?" April tilted her head. "What do you mean, Alex's Mommy?"

Mei smiled and patted April's head. "Nothing, Sweetie. Now, the next batch of cookies should be done soon. Do you want to taste test them for me?"

April gasped and said, "Yes! Cookies!"

Yue watched them head back to the kitchen together, but after that Yue plopped herself down on the living room sofa to unwind.

'The year's almost over already, huh?'

Honestly, it was a bit of a mess.

Not in her personal life or with Alex. All of that was fine.

Instead, Yue was thinking about what a mess everything else was in society right now. Specifically, the hysteria about Y2K.

Although she was insulated from it a bit in the acting field, people kept mentioning it. The talk of the town was that the moment the year turned to 2000, all the computers around the world would break since the calculations were based around the 1900s.

Yue thought it was ridiculous. If all it took to break the pinnacle of human technology was a simple number, maybe it deserved to break.

But anyway, she overheard a lot of people talking to it while she went out to buy some of the new mobile phones for everyone.

Since communication was so important, Yue had decided to splurge a bit so that everyone in their family could keep in touch. But even the store clerk had cautioned her about not being sure what would happen when the new year arrived.

Honestly, Yue wanted to pick Al's brain about it since he was such a whiz kid when it came to computers. Considering how the crazy little brat had whipped up a whole video game on his own, he would definitely know what to expect about the whole situation.

'...Though maybe he'd been making subtle hints about it all year?'

Yue DID recall him pointing out more than a few tech companies in the business papers when she was looking for investments.

Considering the panic, there were undoubtedly a lot of people who would be selling since they were under the impression it would all be worthless past the new year if the computers all broke.

'...Huh. Maybe I should be on the look out for that.'

It was risky. All signs were pointing to a big computer disaster. And there were a lot of technology experts saying even they weren't sure what would happen when the year changed.

But considering how Alex hadn't even brought it up once...

'Al is probably certain it'll be fine.'

That was the only reasonable explanation.

Yue wasn't sure WHY Alex was so certain. But considering her son- Well, son in every way that counted.

Considering he was going about his business like nothing was wrong, it was probably just mass hysteria.

...She did feel empathetic towards her brother-in-law though.