"Merry Christmas," She banged the door of the room opposite her and awaited the response of the people behind it. Not a single minute passed before it opened to the sight of the most detested brown eyes and dimpled cheek coupled with bare flat chest and boxers. She groaned as she saw him, she had thought all that had happened yesterday, the 24th of December was just a bad dream but here he was, in reality. She had assigned to him Eghonghons bed due to the fact that he had not come. She hated the sight she saw and did not hide it.

"Omoruyi, Supo, you both get your lazy asses off the beds and lets go do some Christmas activity," she was excited because today was Christmas and they got to actually play the activities she had planned out, the day she got to show her talent in making the Christmas perfect.

"I have to admit, being invisible is very cool," Asike rested his body on the door frame and looked straight at her and made her feel very uneasy, she wanted nothing to do with him after the prank he had played on her. She wanted to get back at him but she had to let go, she could not get distracted.

"Well, that is what suits you the most," she walked out on him and went to the next set of room which were the floor below hers, she had to wake everyone for the first activity of the day. She was excited to have a together activity where they could all laugh like they did yesterday before the bad end. They all gathered in the sitting room after they had had their baths, which took almost an hour.

"So we would be play-" Her mother interrupted her by complaining about the sun which had made it way out of the clouds and sipped in through the window to touch her. She looked at her Mother with a raised brow and wondered why, today of all days she had to complain about the sun.

"Mummy Ebose," she was not the first child but he had always chose to call her mother that and she wondered why her sisters did not mind him replacing them with her name. It also dawned on her that, he had something planned when he called her mother and she did not think she would like the next set of words he would say. "You could cool off the heat with something cold or swimming sha," he crossed his legs and smirked at Ebose who stood quiet in the midst of everyone as the Parents nodded like he had said something very wise.

"That is a good idea o, this heat is just too much to handle this day and who says we cannot swim on Christmas day?"

"But the Christmas activity?"

"Ebose have you even finished preparing the food for today? Abi is it tea and bread that we will eat through out today?" She wanted to melt away but first punch Asike. There was no way the Christmas Game would hold with his suggestion.

Damn you Asike, Damn you, She sneered in his direction as her uncles, their wives, her mother and her father headed up towards the stairs to get their swim outfit or something that they could use to swim.

At least there has been no tragedy, her mind replied her and she mentally nodded. It would still be a good Christmas, hopefully. She walked to the kitchen to continue the food she had started to prepare before they all began to arrived yesterday, her sisters had assisted her in the preparation of the chicken and the sauce for the rice, all she had to do was prepare the rice itself. She took the measurement of the food and poured it into the pot after she had washed it carefully and thoroughly.

"We don dey go o, Planner." Eronmoselle waved at her as he passed last by the kitchen, she forced a smile even if no one was there to see her. She hoped things would still go as planned when they returned from their heat cooling activity that was not included in her list of activities.

"Aunchi Bobo," Chetachi came into the kitchen with Osemudiamen behind her, she felt bad that the eight year old would have to take over the baby sitting of the three year old but she could not cater for the small girl because she had things to do and truthfully, she did not have patience to play hide and seek with her. That was very energy draining and the little girl did not know that. "My little princess," she walked over to the black and white colored gas which had four burners. The gas was situated closely to the rack created for muffins and rags.

"Do you need anything?" She asked them as she set the pot of rice lightly on the first gas and turned it on.

"Mummy said there is Chivita for us," Osemudiamen was the one to reply as Chetachi nodded in response. Ebose chuckled, there was no way to separate these children and sweet mouth. She was sure Chetachi wanted to follow her Mother but she had used trickery to push the girl away by telling her there was juice in the fridge. She did not want to open it until it was time to be opened but she had no choice if she cared not for a special Cry to be added to the list of thing that happened on Christmas. She took two plastic cups from a neatly arranged rack and poured from the big carton she had retrieved from the tall fridge. She gave both the cups to Osemudaimen for safe keeping and they happily left her.

Her outfit of dark fitted jean and a Christmas tree decorated Tee let her reach for her phone in her back pocket. She didn't see the need for turning on her data but she did and browsed through the WhatsApp status of everyone who bothered to post about their various Christmas at 7:45am. To her, Social Media had became extremely boring with nothing new and good to be seen.

"Need some help Menmen?" she silently groaned but shook her head without bothering to raise her it to look at the trouble creator that had come to meet her in her quiet place.

"You don't want to talk to me shey?" She raised her head, made a disgusted face and looked back at her phone. Social Media was better than looking at Asike anytime, any day.

"Well, I don't want to talk to you either sha, they told me to call you to come and play game with them,"

"What game could who possibly play now?"

"Well your cousins and sisters are waiting to play Menmen," he snorted and walked out of the kitchen, her curiosity took the best of her and she left the kitchen to go see what they were up to. Omoruyi, Nnnena, Efosa and Eghosa had all gathered round on the floor as Asike approached and joined them on the sitting room while Supo was on the couch, focused on his phone.

"Ebose, come and join us to make this complete," Efosa commanded when she spotted her, she had created a space between her and Nnnena for her to sit down.

"Why don't you call Supo if you want to be complete so bad na,"

"I don't feel like playing game, I have to read for something," she knew he was lying, it was either he was talking to a girl or a woman. Either way Supo was talking to a female on his phone. They all knew him and how much he liked females and all things that wore skirt so they did not bother to sing the regular song they sang for him when ever her bluffed.

"See, join us, he's scared because of the movie he watched," Eghosa was the one to talk this time. She was confused but Supo did not bother to explain, his eyes on his phone as he laid with his back. She had to agree.

"Alright let me pour this thing into the rice and come back," she quickly walked to the kitchen and turned the sauce into the rice to make it a perfect blend of orange and put the gas on a low heat.

"So what game are we playing?" she asked after she had settled down on the floor like the five of them.

"Truth or Dare," Omoruyi responded as he rubbed his hands and licked his lips like he had always wanted to ask someone amongst them something and now he had gotten the chance to ask. It made sense to her what movie had made Supo not play.

"Truth or Dare ke? Is that a Christmas game?"

"Does it always have to be a Christmas something on Christmas day?" Nnenna frowned at her and marred her face in the process. It was bare and makeup free like most of the time but she had always had a very pretty face from the first time Ebose had began to remember faces of her cousins and sisters.

"Who suggested it?"

"Must you know? Just let's play" Efosa gave her a glare

"Its him abi," people usually said pointing at someone was a wrong action but Ebose did not care as she stretched her hand and her finger towards Asike with a frown on her face. There was no one apart from him that would suggest something like this except him. Why? that was his favorite game. He had told her when they were in Senior Secondary School one that he could never resist a dare that was given to him.

"Does it matter, I want to start o," Omoruyi responded and looked at Nnenna with a mischievous glint in his eyes.

"Wait jhoor, how are we to play it then?" she reluctantly had to accept to play the game because she did not want to be left out of the secrets that might be spilled or the funny dares that would be given to one or two of them.

"Two truths and a Dare,"

"Chaii, oya na."

"Nnenna Nnenna," Omoruyi smiled very wide as he faced her and all she did was raise a brow in his direction.

"Truth,"

"Why not Dare na," he grumbled but still rubbed his hands in the process, "What happened between you and your Pastor boyfriend?"

Nnenna did not look shocked, she looked like she had expected that question already, everyone in their family that played the game too did not look shocked except Ebose.

Way to go guys, She was the only one who did not know Nnenna had had a boyfriend talk less of a Pastor boyfriend. She had always thought the girl was too introverted to even meet somebody and, although she was old enough to have, she acted like she hated everything male.

"He went out with my friend, men are scum, question answered." There was a valid reason given to Ebose on why Nnenna acted like she hated men, she did did not like them cause of the said 'pastor boyfriend'.

"Omoruyi your turn," Efosa smirked at him this time and he groaned.

"Weeell, truth."

"Great, how did the plagiarism issue go with the professor," Omoruyi groaned longer. They all knew the story, he had claimed that her had not been involved in the Plagiarism act that occurred in his second year in the university but they knew he was too lazy to do his own project assignment and had actually copied word for word from the net, unknowingly it was his lecturers written work posted online.

"They had a meeting over my matter and then they just decided to let me do another piece by myself to prove I did not actually copy his work, I didn't and as a nice loving family, y'all should have believed me, but no, everyone was calling to ask me if I did it," he looked a bit angry as he answered his question and then sighed,

"Anyways, I got an A in the course at the end of the day." They knew that also, he had flaunted the result in everyones face or ears, which ever way you got to reach him or him you.

"Okay who wants to ask next?" Asike scratched his perfectly barbed hair like there was lice in it and looked at Ebose who scoffed at his face. She hated that she had to play the game he had suggested, this was supposed to be her event. She was in charge, supposed to be rather, but he had come to ruin and take over, like he always did.

"I'll ask next and I'm asking you," Eghosa smirked at the boy and looked at her sister like she had something evil planned out.

"Alright, I guess since two truths are gone, there is only dare so dare," he reminded them then smirked at her elder twin sister. Eghosa's face went sour like she had wanted to ask him something that required the ultimate truth but her plan had gone down the drain when she was reminded of the game process.

"Alright, lets see," she kept her hand under her chin and thought of the best there to give the boy.

"Just ask him to take one thing off his body," Olasupo spoke without his eyes off his phone, he may not have been a part of the game but his ears were in it. Eghosa smiled at Asike, he had been the trouble maker who always scattered Eboses room. He could not come close to them because they had threatened to put him into the well that used to be opened at the back of their house.

"What he said,"

"Are you sure?" He raised her brow and looked at Ebose again who just watched intently, "You know I cannot resist a Dare."

"Abeggi, just do it jare," Nnenna commented and rolled her eyes, he nodded and proceeded to do as he was Dared. He slowly rolled the hand of his long sweatshirt up with their attention on him. Ebose felt disgusted because she knew what he was going to take off his body while the others girls present smiled.

"Done," they looked stunned as he dropped a black beaded bracelet on the floor as proof that he had taken something off his body. It looked familiar to Ebose but she could not quite place where she had seen the beaded decoration.

"What? that is not acceptable," Efosa lamented,

"Well you said take one 'thing' off my body not one clothing and I am not ready to show my hot body to Ebose yet,"

"I'll pass that offer even if you were," she gave a disgusted look in his direction and he smiled at her before he spoke next. She did not expect that he would seize the opportunity to be the one to ask her next.

"Truth of Dare Menmen?" She would never accept a dare from him because he was an extremist. She had only watched when he played the game with his friends whenever she was forced to stay in his house and he had his friends came around, he would dare you to even hang yourself and die.

"Truth," she gave him a bored face and awaited the question he would ask, he smiled the more like he had expected her or like he knew she would run away from being dared by him at all cost.

"Why did you like Segun?" And he hit her in the brain, she had avoided the name for the past three years of her life, Segun Olagoke had been the boy she had been head over hills for in Senior Secondary School 2 and he had even asked her to be his girlfriend and made her butterflies flutter extremely in her stomach but he had eventually turned out to be a play boy, the regular secondary school Yoruba demon who had spread a rumor that he had had sex with her after she had pushed him off her the last night they had their 'paroll'. The rumor did not last though because Segun had come up the assembly the next week with a mysteriously swollen face he told everyone it was a lie, the teachers and the rest of the students not in their set were clueless even when he said 'I did not sleep with her.' No other set and not one teacher knew the 'her' or she'd be dead at home for even having a boyfriend. She had thanked God so much and thanked him more for being on her side and had erased the name off her memory and now Jagajaga had to just make mention of his name.

"Who is Segun?" one of her twin sister asked very interested in the question now as the other smiled mischievously and awaited her answer.

"Uhh," she did not think the memory of how the boy she liked so much had tried to force himself on her in the empty classroom could be too painful to remember, she had to fight all the urge that pressed her to shed a tear. She had forgotten about him and did not want to remember but Asike had triggered the memory.

"I don't know," she whispered but the boy still had to make mention of the fact that he could not hear her. She was about to give an angry response when Osemudiamen walked into the sitting room sniffing the air.

"Something is burning," that statement pulled Ebose out of her angry state, she stood up from the floor in haste and zoomed into the kitchen to find out that her precious Christmas meal had been burned to black, only a few part of the rice had been able to survive. She wanted to scream, this was the hard struggled prepared food that was supposed to be perfect for their family Christmas dinner but she had no idea how she would prepare the rice without anything.

"Is something wrong?" Asike and the rest of the people in the house came to the door of the kitchen and she looked at him with rage in her eyes. If he had not come, no one would have suggested that the parents went swimming and that would not have led to them playing the stupid game and that would not have led to her not remembering the food.

"Yes, You,"

"I'm alright babe," he smirked at her and she had all the will power to punch him but her sisters walked to the pot before she could raise her fist.

"Damn, our Christmas meal is charcoal, nice," Efosa used a spoon to turn the food and kept on making comments. Ebose knew she had no choice than to order from the open Eatery around, she would have to do that immediately with her saved up allowance for school but if she wanted to save her Event planning image, she had to actually use it now and think of how to get it back later.

"Excuse me, I have a call to make."

°°°

Third day, third chapter.
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Lots of Christmassy Love
Emmanuella