Nola Scott

In my almost nineteen years of life, there has never been a morning that excites me more than Christmas morning. One of my earliest memories is opening presents I had been wanting all year on Christmas morning. My parents love going all out for us.

My childhood home is dressed to the nines in Christmas decor, inside and out. You could say mom is always in the Christmas spirit as she starts decorating the house when November hits. She'll have my dad hanging up the huge wreath in front of our house the day after Halloween. As smitten as he is, dad will have up any decoration my mom asks for the day she asks for it.

And by December our house looks like the North Pole. Minus the snow.

Christmas also happens to be my favorite time of the year because it's the only time my whole family is together. On this day, no one's missing. Even those who usually are. We all have our own busy lives but on the 24th and 25th, every single of us is present. That's all I could ask for.

Waking up bright and early by routine, I slipped on my slippers and made my way over to my parent's room. The house was still surprisingly quiet at this time. Tiptoeing down the stairs, I walked the long hall toward my parent's room. I knocked twice, not even giving them time to let me in. Their light was on and they both sat up, backs against their massive headboard. "Merry Christmas Eve!"

I throw myself at their feet on the bed. "You're not who we expected to be in here first," Dad says. Yeah, me either. I figured Kiersten or Foster would be in here nagging my parents to make their way over to the Christmas tree. They've been teasing for weeks that this Christmas - in relation to gifts - may be the best.

Sure I'd love a couple of shiny, new things. I'm not spoiled but some would say I am since my dad doesn't know how to say no to me. The only thing I care about these days is seeing my brothers and sister happy. I took matters into my own hands and got everyone a gift this year as well. Kayce and I went Christmas shopping together about a week ago to get the rest of our sibling's gifts.

I'm more excited to see them open up the gifts I got them than for me to open up my own. I think I did quite well this year. "We'll see who bursts through that door next," I say and just like I gave them ammunition, heavy footsteps filled the hallway. "Here we go," mom mumbles as we all turned our heads toward the door. "Merry Christmas folks!!"

Brooks.

My craziest sibling walks in with a huge smile on his face and two small gifts in his hand. He towers over me, wrapping his arm around my neck with his free hand and squeezing. Even though he just turned fifteen last month, he was about 5'10 which was way taller than me. The tall gene passed right over me and went straight to my brothers.

I pat his arm for him to let go and he does. "Mother, father."
Brooks extends his arms out over me and hands our parents a box each. The wrapping is horrendous which tells me he did it on his own. "For us?" Mom questions. Both of my parents share the same confused expression as they look at each other shortly. "Yes ma'am," Brooks drawls, that huge grin still on his face.

I turn my head and look up at him. He waggles his brows at me before nudging mom and dad to open the gifts they hold. Mom and dad take the messy paper off the box and open them up. I raise my chin to try and get a look at what's in the box since both their eyes widen. They both pull there things out at the same time. "Plane tickets to Paris?" Mom says. My mouth gapes open as I stare back at my brother. "What's this?" Dad asks, unfolding his papers.

"That's an itinerary for the trip. I've got it all planned out for you. Hotel, things to do, the whole shabang!" Brooks replies. "I've been saving up from my allowance and a couple of bets I made. Merry Christmas, birth givers." Oh my God. Mom stares at him in disbelief and this is one of the first times I've seen dad speechless. "Brooks-" mom starts but stops short.

My brother raises his eyebrows slightly in response, waiting for her to continue. "We can't take this. I hope you're able to get a refund and if not, we'll give you all the money you spent back," dad says. Mom nods frantically. "All of it, baby. You didn't have to do this." Brooks frowns. "I wanted to. This was my gift to you. I don't want any of it back." I sigh, feeling bad for my brother. Even if it was a kind gesture, I know my parents hate taking anything from us, especially money.

I can see the hurt in my mom's eyes. No matter what Brooks puts them through, they love him more than anything. They love all of us that much. "It kind of hurts that you guys don't like my gift." Brooks chuckles bitterly, his cheeks flushing a light shade of red. "No! We love it, we do. It's just... this is a lot. The money you get from us is yours to keep and spend it how you like, not on us. You'll never have to give us money, Brooks. Especially," Dad's words trail as he looks down at the paper he got in his box. "This much."

Mom looks even more worried at that, stealing the paper from my dad as she analyzes it. "Oh God," she whispers. "How long have you been saving up?" My brother shrugs, standing with his hands behind his back politely. "Just a couple of months, I guess." I stare at him deeply. He seems...unfazed. After a couple of seconds, he shakes his head and chuckles. "It's fine, never mind." Walking over to the side of the bed, he takes both presents back. "I'll just... take these back. Don't worry about it."

My mom starts to shake her head but doesn't speak. "Bud," dad says dejectedly. Brooks walks out of the room, shaking his head and ultimately ignoring my dads call. I stare at him curiously as he leaves. Dad starts to get up but I stand up first. "Give him a minute," I say softly. "I'll go over and talk to him first." Dads blue eyes scream 'no' but he nods. This is the first time something like this has ever happened on Christmas morning. Usually, we have a good day from start to finish.

I pat his arm lightly and walk out of the room, back upstairs to my little brother's room. "Brooks, it's me," I say into the crook of the closed door, quietly. I don't want to wake up my other siblings yet. A couple of seconds later, he opens the door. Letting myself in, I shut it behind me and Brooks climbs back into bed straight-faced. Earlier, I seemed to question his motivations for some reason, but I can see he's upset now.

He stares at me for a couple of seconds before he bursts into laughter. My head juts back in confusion and I walk over to sit in front of him on his bed. "What the hell are you laughing about?" I question, pinching the skin on his bare stomach. He rubs it and tries to regain his composure again. "Do you think they bought it?" he whispers. I furrow my brows. "What?"

"The whole Paris trip I booked." He uses quotation marks for the word booked. That's when realization dawns on me and my mouth gapes again as I smack his arm. "You didn't actually get them a trip to Paris?" I ask. He rolls his eyes and scoffs. "Where am I going to find money to do that? I blow my allowance as soon as I get it. I did it because I knew they'd react that way and I've been trying to sell myself to them for weeks now!" he explains.

Another realization hits me. "You did that because you think they'll feel bad enough to let you move in with Kayc?" Brooks winks and points at me. "Right enough. This will make them appreciate just how much of a good son I am and that they'll have to respect my wishes to move in with my brother. See, I'm smart." I shake my head at my little brother. "Sly is what you are, little bro," I retort. He shrugs, "I'll take it."

A knock interrupts our conversation and Brooks' face goes back straight. "Who is it?" I ask. The person behind the door replies by entering. Kiersten and Foster saunter in, blue and green eyes wide awake. "Uhm, it's Christmas morning what are you doing in Brooks' room?" Kiersten asks. "Kayc isn't awake yet, we have to wait," I reply to my little sister.

She rolls her eyes. "I'll go wake him." Foster stares at her when she leaves and shrugs. "Can I stay here with you guys?" he asks shyly. I smile at his question. We'd never say no but my brother is shy even with us. "Course kid," Brooks says, patting the space between us. Foster walks over and jumps on the bed. Kiersten comes back in a couple of seconds later with a frown. "Kayce wasn't in his room."

My brothers and I look at each other confused. "Let's see," Brooks says, grabbing his phone from the nightstand. He looks at it for a couple of seconds before saying anything. "He's about thirty minutes away from home," he furrows his brows, looking up. "Wonder where he went."

While Kayce is someone who's never home, always out doing something, or doesn't show up to things, he wouldn't do it on Christmas morning. It's one of the things important to my family which means he will always be there.

"He took my car to go pick up your uncle. We'll wait up on them before we start opening anything." Dad's voice has all my siblings looking over at him. That makes sense. It's not like Kayce to be absent Christmas morning. "Can you guys give Brooks and us a moment? We'll meet you downstairs for breakfast. Nola start the oven and stove and get the stuff out for pancakes?" Mom asks.

I nod at my mom with a smile. Damn, Brooks. My mom looks more anxious than ever. "Cool," Kiersten says, walking past my dad who ruffles her dark hair. Foster follows behind her and I stand up, my body covering Brooks'. I narrow my eyes at him and he smirks before I start walking out of his room. The door closes behind me and I skip down the stairs toward the kitchen to do what mom said.

***

After a huge breakfast, we opened up gifts from our Uncle Ripley and mom and dad. The kids opened up Kayce and I's gifts as well and I was right when I said I didn't do bad this year. They enjoyed them as much as mom and dad's gifts. Okay, maybe a little bit less, but they enjoyed them. I was grateful for what I received and happy to be where I was.

A breather from school was exactly what I needed. It's only been a couple of weeks and I'm already feeling a thousand times better than before. I've been happier and a lot more content with the way life is going. There are still a couple of things missing. The biggest of those things is me growing the balls to talk to coach Laurel but I know that I'll do it soon.

Other than that, everything seems okay. I'm breathing easier. I'm breathing, period. Not too much is stressing me out right now so I've never felt lighter. It feels nice. Being with my family makes it even better.

Later on at night, my house was packed with family. All of my aunts and uncles were present with their kids as well as some of their parents. My grandparents were also here. Once the clock struck midnight, the younger ones were eager to get to the gifts while I was quite worn out from being up so early today. There was nothing more I wanted to do the get into bed and sleep but my Christmas spirit kept me alive for a couple of more hours.

Also, the loud scream that came from my kitchen seemingly caught all my attention.

Deciding to take a chance and check it out, I got up from the comfortable chair I sat on and walked over to my kitchen. I pressed my ear to the door when I heard voices coming from the other side of it.

"Sienne, you need to calm down." That was my aunt Nova who I didn't notice had been missing. "No! He knows I don't like this so why would he get me it?!" There came my younger cousin Sienne's angry voice. Silence arose for a couple of seconds before my aunt replied. "You didn't have to tell him to his face, that hurt his feelings." My brows furrowed in confusion. I shouldn't be listening but I wondered who they were talking about.

"Who cares! He hurts my feelings all the time," my cousin said then, her voice coming over softer than before. She may only be eleven but she's one of the feistiest girls I know. In some ways, she reminds me of my Aunt Maddy. "Don't say that. That's not true. You're being ungrateful right now," Nova says, not raising her voice. "It is true. You would know if you paid attention. He hates me," Sienne replies.

Aunt Nova sighed then. "Don't say that either. He loves you Sienne. He's your father." Realization smacked me in the back of the head then. They're talking about her dad. Uncle Valdez. "Ugh, you don't understand and you have will!" Sienne shouts. Two seconds later, the door swings open and hits me. I stumble back but my younger cousin is too angry to notice my presence as she rushes off into the other room.

After she walks off, I walk into the kitchen where my aunt cuts a piece of apple pie. "Hey," I say. Aunt Nova looks over her shoulder at me and gives me a weak smile. "Hi beautiful," she replies, placing the piece of pie on a glass plate. "Everything okay?" I question, coming up next to her. A flash of panic passes through her eyes before she covers it up by nodding her head with a smile. "Fine, just came to get a slice of pie for your uncle," she tells me.

Deciding not to pry on her familial matters, I smile back and nod. The two of us join the rest of our family in the sitting room again. I look around for Sienne and spot her near the Christmas tree with my younger brother Foster. They were born two days apart and have become great friends over the years. My cousin's face is a bright pink color and she sits crisscrossed in front of Foster who shows her his new surfboard gifted to him by her parents.

Thunder rains over her as she barely acknowledges him, glaring directly at... uncle Valdez. He doesn't notice her as he chats with my dad and uncles, having the time of his life. Sienne turns her glare from her dad and her blue eyes land on mine. I give her a soft smile and pat the cushion next to me. Her eyes soften momentarily as she pats my younger brother on his head and rushes in my direction.

She leaps next to me and I wrap my arm around her shoulders. "Hey, pretty. You okay?" I ask, rubbing her shoulder gently. The emotions cross her eyes before she opens her mouth to speak. "No," is all she whispers in response. "What's wrong?" I ask. She looks away from my eyes, directing her attention to her hands. "I just ha-"

"Hey, Sienne!" A voice interrupts her and both of our attention is turned towards the boy jogging over to us. I feel Sienne stiffen under my arm as Izaak approaches her. He wears a boyish grin as he reaches out, giving her a red velvet cookie. "I stole this from Xavier for you since you didn't have a chance to get one," he says. "Aw that's nice, Zak," I speak.

Sienne looks up at me shortly before looking back at him. Her cheeks flush a bright pink as she takes the cookie from him. "Thanks. Xavier will be mad," she replies, her voice low. Izaak shakes his head and waves his hand. "I can handle him. You're welcome!" He pats her arm before he rushes out of sight again. My hard-headed cousin smiles down at the cookie in her hand.

"You were saying?" I push, hoping she continues. Her light blue eyes look up at me again but she doesn't wear a frown anymore. "Sorry, I don't remember. I'll be right back!" She doesn't give me a chance to respond as she hops off the couch and runs into the kitchen. My eyes don't leave her until she's out of view and another one of my cousins takes her place.

"Where'd she run off to?" Zya asks. I shrug my shoulders, leaning back on the couch. "I couldn't tell you," I laugh. My cousin turns her head toward the football game that plays on our TV. The Saints played the Packers earlier and my uncles are rewatching it. Zya has an appreciation for sports and always has since she was young. Curious thoughts linger in my head as I remember that fact. "Hey, Zy?"

She turns her head toward me telling me she's listening. "Do you know an inch about hockey?" I ask, making sure no one in a five feet radius shares the same blood as me. Zya nods, "C'mon cuz, you know I like every sport. It's not my favorite but I'll watch the Stanley Cup every year." My face flushes slightly as I think about the man I'm about to bring up. "Do you know who Miles Dempsey is? Plays for the-"

"Kings?" Zya says for me. I nod as the anxiety flares up inside of me. "Yeah. Him," is all I say. "Oh yeah, haven't been paying attention to hockey too much but I heard he's killing it this season. He and that new rookie they drafted. I might have to tell my dad to take me out to a game so I can get more knowledge on the sport," she spews. After a couple of seconds, she speaks again. "Why?"

Oh gosh. I don't know why I asked.

"He followed me on Instagram. I was just curious about who he is," I kind of lie. Her eyes widen. "What?! Really?" she says loudly. I look around to see if anyone's paying attention but everyone is minding their own. Nodding, I chew on the inside of my lower lip. "Lucky! He's so fine, like mega hot. Did you follow back? Did he hit you up? Has he liked any of your pictures?" Zya throws questions at me.

"Yes. No. No," I say. The fact that Miles and I are on...talking terms is something nobody needs to know about. No one in my family at least. I don't know how they'd react and I'm not sure I want to find out. Plus, it's not like this weird relationship between us will go anywhere. I barely know the guy. But after the solid advice slash motivation he gave me, I've thought about him a bit more than I'd like to admit.

It's only because his words meant something to me, not any other reason. Still, the curiosity he peaks in me has me asking dumb questions like this one.

"Wait, let's stalk him," Zya says, pulling her phone out from her dress pocket. I groan, "Zy, no." She doesn't listen, opening up Instagram. "Who are we stalking?" Frankie says, plopping down on the other side of Zya, surprisingly not accompanied by her boyfriend. "Miles Dempsey. He followed Nola on Instagram and she's just spilling the tea," she fills Frankie in.

Shit. Now two people know.

Frankie raises a brow. "Miles who?" Zya pauses on her typing as she looks over to our older cousin. "You'll see," she says with a mischievous smirk. "Guys c'mon!" I sigh. Watching Zya's phone, I see her press onto Miles' familiar Instagram page. She gasps, allowing us both to see the phone perfectly. "He's only following like fifty people and you're one of them! That's insane," Zya exclaims. Frankie presses on one of his pictures, zooming in on his face, and swiping through them.

"He's a babe," she says. Zya nods quickly, "And an athlete?" She pretends to faint and Frankie laughs. All the while, I'm here embarrassed, my cheeks flushing pink. "How do you know him, Nola?" Frankie asks me. Both of them look at me and I start to stutter before actual coherent words come out of my mouth. "I really don't know him at all," I say. It's a lot but not a big one.

I've only talked to him - in a good way - a couple of times. "Well get to know him," Zya says, winking. Frankie nods in agreement. Grabbing Zy's phone, I swipe out of his account and lock the phone. "Alright, enough of that. I'm not doing anything with that guy," I admit truthfully. Both of the frown, looking disappointed in me. "Don't look at me like that!" I demand.

"Do you really love my daughter or does her success intrigue you more than her heart, asshole?"

The raised voice has all three of our heads turning. "Rhys," Aunt Monet says, putting a hand on her husband's bicep to pull him back from Alistair. "Shit," Frankie says, standing up and walking quickly toward her boyfriend and dad on the other side of the living room. Zya and I look at each other. "This isn't a Williamson, Scott, Valdez, Adler Christmas if there isn't one hint of drama," she breathes.

I've never heard anything truer.