i asked , eyeing the dark path of doom ahead of us . christopher covered his face with his hands , laughing so hard he fell to his side on the couch . `` no , '' he promised , then broke into a grin . her mind seemed to rebel against the facts . no , he can be much worse than that . she looked away from his face and down to his hands . `` want the rest of your present ? '' they came before us and prepared . 