[ S I E N N A ]

    After dinner, all of us helped out with cleaning up. It took longer than necessary, but once the dishes were done and the table was wiped spotless, everyone gathered in the living room to exchange gifts.

    The atmosphere is crisp and warm, courtesy to the fire that Blaire and Jax made under the fireplace. The smell of apple crisp and peppermint diffuse into the air, courtesy of the candles that Blaire placed around the living room. Even the Christmas tree gives out a pine-coney smell, which gave the air a fresh glaze—the icing to the cake.

    I take my place next to Kayden on the sofa after checking on Clarissa for the third time. She's been sleeping like a log for the past few hours, which I'm really thankful for. As much as I love my daughter, I really need to take a break from her. And I think I really deserve it after what hell I've been through ever since I brought her into the world.

    Being a mother is hard.

    "Hey," Kayden says, sliding his huge arm over my shoulder to bring our bodies closer. "How's Clarissa?"

    "She's alright," I say, burying my nose into his shoulder, inhaling the faint cologne smell that sticks to his shirt. "Probably won't be up anytime soon."

    "Great," he says. "You need to rest."

    "A mother never rests."

    "If you don't rest, you'll die," Kayden says, his hair sifting through my hair, his beautiful grey eyes molding with mine. "And well, I quite like you alive and breathing."

    A smile forms on my lips. "I live for the both of you, you know that."

    The smile that he returns me causes my heart to lose a beat. Or a thousand.

    "Ho, ho, ho, motherfuckers, I'm back!" Evans saunters into the living room with his ridiculous Santa outfit. The pillow that makes of his belly threatens to fall but he hunches over and thrusts it back up. "Sexy santa Evans has come bearing gifts again! Come here, my little sexy helper. And bring me my sack."

    Brent trails along behind him with a red sack filled with presents. "Just putting it out there: we didn't know we'll be spending Christmas in LA with you guys so we hadn't exactly had time to get you guys good gifts. We picked most of them up at the airport."

    Evans takes the sack from his husband and pours all the contents onto the floor. Daniel lurches forward to scour for the ones with his name labelled on it. Alex rolls her eyes, choosing instead to pass around everyone's gifts. Naturally, Clarissa got the most, all of them I assume are toys and baby clothes. I'll have to wake her up and open them up with her later.

    I find Kayden holding my gift to him and excitement swirls inside of me. "Open it, open it, open it," I tell him. He nods, passing a smile over to me—dimples showing, of course—before unwrapping the gift. His eyes light up when he discovers what I've given him. "Boxing gloves," he says as he takes them out from the box and begins sliding each glove in each hand.

    "Yeah. The exact ones that you've wanted for so long now," I say. He pounds his fists together and whistles lowly.

    "Damn, these are really nice," he says.

    "You're welcome!"

    He chuckles. "Thanks. I'm just glad you didn't give me deodorant again."

    "You don't even use it so what's the point, really," I say, batting my eyelashes.

    "Sorry." He flashes a non-apologetic smile at me, his white teeth gleaming under the warm-tone lights. "Here's mine to you," he says, handing me a box wrapped in red and gold paper with a gold bow on top and a tag attached to it with the word 'Lucky ♥'. "Open it," he says, his grin wide with enthusiasm.

    "Okay," I say, grinning back. I tear the wrapping paper away and lift the cover of the box, then gasp when I see what's sitting inside of it. "Oh my god."

    I take it out from the box and marvel at how beautiful it is.

    It's my very own fighter's robe. My fingers dance over the smooth silk fabric—it's mostly gold with white embedded at the edges of the sleeves. I turn the robe around and my breath catches when I see the three words embossed in black behind it:

SIENNA.

LUCKY.

MOM.

    Tears sting my eyes as my index finger runs through the letters of each letter of each word. "Kayden," I whisper, my eyes glistening when my eyes turn to meet his again. "This is... this is... beautiful. I can't thank you enough."

    "It's nothing, really." He shrugs like it's no big deal, but I know he put a lot of effort into this. I take his face in my hands, my fingers smoothing over his rough jaw, and dip forward to press my lips against his.

    "It's not nothing, Kayden," I whisper against his lips. "This is the best gift I've ever received."

    "You haven't even opened the rest of your gifts yet!" yells Evans from across the room. "Open ours! From me and Brent!"

    "Okay, okay," I say, reluctantly putting Kayden's one aside so I can open another present. I struggle to keep the smile off my face when I realize what Evans got for me. "A..." I lift it up, the object dangling from my fingers. "Keychain. With... I assume is supposed to be my name?"

    "Pretty amazing, right?" Evans says.

    "My name isn't even spelled right on this. It says SIERRA."

    "Yeah, well." Brent shrugs. "We couldn't find the one with your name on it so we got the one with the closest spelling."

    "Uh, thanks. I guess."

    "You're fucking welcome." Evans bows his head, his teeth flashing as he sends a wide, cheeky grin towards my direction.

    "Open my gift, Daniel," Alex says as she nudges over a huge box over to her husband. Daniel casts her a weary glare as he takes the box from her.

    "When I open the lid, it better not be another fucking dog that jumps out of here," Daniel says in a warning tone. "Because I swear to god, Alex—"

    "Relax. It's not a dog." She laughs.

    Daniel's eyes narrow at her again before he takes a deep, nervous breath and lifts the lid of the box.

    "It's a cat!" Alex exclaims as the feline jumps out of the box to attack Daniel.

    "WHAT THE FUCK-!" Daniel screams as the cat clings unto him, its yellowish-brown fur making an utter mess of his clothes as it sticks onto them. The cat's black beady eyes stare up at its new male owner in wonder and excitement, its paw lifting to scratch his chest. Daniel compresses a naked shudder. "Get the damned thing away from me!"

    Beside him, his wife can't stop laughing as she watches her husband attempt to scramble away from the creature she gifted him. His eyes are wide with terror as the cat makes its way towards him in slow, amble movements. "Get it away!" He yells, pointing to the cat. "Get the fucking thing away—"

    "Alright, alright, relax," Alex says, scooping the creature into her arms.

    Daniel's eyes are red with anger as he stares down his wife. "You promised," he snaps. "No. More. Animals."

    "I know that," she says, stroking the cat's fur. It purrs with satisfaction beneath her. "Which is why it's not actually ours."

    Daniel blinks. "What?"

    From another corner, Blaire stands up to take the cat from Alex and passes it to Eden.  Suddenly, everything begins to click into place. I laugh quietly when I realize what actually happened. Alex is a good prankster, I must say. "It's Eden's actually," Blaire says, grinning. "We just thought it'll be pretty funny to see your reaction if we gave it to you."

    Easy chuckles fill the room—coming from everyone but Daniel himself.

    "So that cat is not my gift?" Daniel says, confusion still evident on his face.

    "No, silly," Alex murmurs, pressing a light kiss on his cheek. "I know how much you already hate the other two dogs. I won't bring even more suffering into your life by taking on another animal to care for."

    "Thank god." Relief floods through him. "You scared the fuck out of me."

    "I know. Which was what I wanted all along," she says, then whips her head to Cara. "Did you get it?"

    Cara nods, and it's only then that everyone begins to realize that she was recording with her phone. "I filmed the entire thing."

    "Good. Send it to me so I can make copies for everyone," Alex teases.

    Daniel's eyes become slits as they glare at his wife so hard that everyone could feel the annoyance lapping off of him in waves.

    "Okay my turn," Jax says as he places his gift on Blaire's lap. A bubbly laugh escapes her lips when she pulls out from the box two black pieces of clothing, of what I assume to be part of a cop uniform. Attached to the bottoms is a gun holster with a toy gun perched inside of it.

    "You little shit," she says, dangling the costume in front of her.

    "You already have a bodyguard and a nurse one. I thought I'd expand your collection," Jax says innocently.

    "Thanks, Jackson," she says, but shifts uncomfortably, "but this is kinda embarrassing. I sorta... got you the same thing."

    "What?" Jax rips open the present and what he finds inside is the exact same costume that Blaire has, except in a male size. "Oh."

    "Well," Blaire scoots over to her boyfriend and eyes him seductively, "we can always role-play together. We'll be like... dirty cops. And we can..." She lowers her voice even more, for the fear that Eden, who's at the far corner too busy opening his presents, would here, "fuck on that desk of yours I'll even let you handcuff me to the chair, how about that?"

     Burning desire glazes in Jax's eyes as he stares at his girlfriend, who's looking expectantly at them. "Deal," he says, grabbing her hand and leading her out of the room, "Let's go try these on. Now."

    Blaire laughs and winks at me before the both of disappear into his office.

    "These two are bat-shit crazy," Cara says as she makes herself very comfortable on the couch, beside me and Kayden. She's holding a shoe box in her hands—what I assumed to be Simon's gift to her.

    "What did you get from your boyfriend, Cara?" I ask, angling my body towards her. Kayden takes that opportunity to slide both of his arms around my waist and rest his chin on my shoulder. I lean into him slightly, seeking the familiar comfort that he never fails to give me.

    "Jimmy Choos," she says, opening the lid of the box to show me what's tucked inside. I gasp when I see those bright red pumps with gold studs embedded all over. "My favourite."

    "Damn," I rasp. "Those are some nice-ass heels."

    "Yeah, he made sure to take it up a notch when I told him beforehand I was going to get him an X-Box this year," Cara says, a smile lacing her face, but it disappears just as quickly as it came when she appears to have suddenly remembered something. "Hey, what's up with Clarissa? How is she?"

    "She's alright," I murmur, my eyes making brief contact with Kayden.

    "Good, good. You always said you wanted another one right?" Cara says, her eyes wide as she presses me for answers.

    "Uh, I guess. When the time is right."

    A hinting smile passes over to me as she asks again, "Sure. And that time is....soon, right?" She wriggles her eyebrows at me, suggesting that she knows something. "Like super soon? Maybe.... now?"

    My eyebrows knit in confusion. Kayden appears to look just as perplexed as me.

    "What?" Both of us said at the same time.

    Her eyes narrow on mine, as if trying to unravel any sort of secrets I'm hiding. I stare at her back, wondering why the hell is she acting like this. I mean, Cara is weird on a daily basis, but this is on a whole different level.

    "Nevermind," Cara says, waving us off. "Forget I said anything. Bye!"

    And she leaves the couch and scurries off into the kitchen where her boyfriend and Alex are making us drinks.

    "That was weird," Kayden says, his arms from my waist retreating and laying one over my shoulder.

    "I know," I say, "I wonder what's up with her."

    Something tells me I'm about to find out soon enough.

* * *

    An hour later, the room is a mess with all the torn wrapping paper and bows scattered all over Blaire and Jax's marble floor. Everyone appears to be satisfied with their gifts.

    Alex's real gift to Daniel was a gorgeous navy blue military-style trench coat, which she says brings out the blue reflected in his own eyes. All the girls definitely agreed when he put it on and modeled the coat in front of us.

    In return, he got her a limited edition boxed collection of J. R. R. Tolkien's Lord of the Rings series. They're all in hardback, just exactly like how Alex loves her books to be.

    Evans got Brent some edible underwear, and Brent got his husband a hitachi wand. Evans was so happy that he was waving it around the living room like some maniac. When Eden asked me what was that thing he was carrying, I had to lie and say it was a lollipop.

    Which was a huge mistake because seconds later, Eden told Brent that he wanted one next Christmas so he can lick it. Brent and Evans couldn't stop laughing for a good ten minutes.

    Jesus Christ, what have I done?

    Sometime before midnight, Clarissa was awake so I had to retrieve her from the bedroom. She was all smiles when I brought her downstairs so everyone can meet her. They all seem quite taken with her—she has that kind of effect on everyone, to be honest. Sometimes, it gets a bit annoying—so I let them take turns carrying her. To my relief, she was completely fine with being carried around by strangers. I bet she likes the attention that my friends give her.

    That little hoe.

    Eden, in particular, appears to be very enraptured with Clarissa. He carried her longer than any of the others, and even helped her open her huge bundle of presents that I was only halfway done unwrapping for her. He played with the Barbies that she received with her—giving voices to some of them and moving their hands and legs about, as if to tell a story. Her smile was wide and giggles erupted from her every so often Eden made a ridiculous joke come out from the Barbie's mouth.

    Seeing the way Eden interacted with Clarissa made me wish that we lived closer to Blaire and Jax. I don't get to see them as often as I'd like, and it kills me. And I have no doubt that Clarissa would miss Eden too when we have to go back to Boston tomorrow morning.

    "Alright, everyone!" Alex says, clasping her hands together as she rises from the couch. "Let's get a group picture!"

    "Blaire and Jax aren't here," Cara says, her head leaning against her boyfriend's shoulder.

    "We're here," Blaire announces as the both of them emerge from the office. I snort when I spot Blaire's ruffled hair and the hickeys adorning her neck and collarbone. Jax's eyes are still wild with lust and adrenaline—and they always seem to find their way back to his girlfriend. He grins knowingly at Blaire, and Blaire to him.

    I can't believe they did it while we were in the next room. I know they're both thrill-seekers, but...

    Ah fuck, I shouldn't be complaining.

    Me and Kayden would totally do the same thing.

    "Everyone by the Christmas tree, let's go!" Alex says, ushering everyone to the spot where the picture's going to be taken. I take Clarissa from Eden and stand beside Kayden, who has his arm slithered around me. He presses a kiss to my temple, then down on Clarissa's forehead. When everyone's ready, Alex heads to the little contraption she's made. It acts as a tripod for her phone: she stacked all of her books on a coffee table, with the top book slightly pushes book to give space for the phone.

    "Okay, everyone ready?" Alex asks. Everyone nods. She smiles, then takes out the phone from the side pocket of her jeans—

    And a stick pops out of the pocket, dropping and skittering on the floor, towards us—

    "Oh no," Alex breathes. "Oh fuck no-"

She quickly lunges for the stick to claim it back, but not before everyone gets a good look of what the stick actually is.

    A positive pregnancy test.

* * *

A/N: whoops! Almost forgot to update today! Hehe.

Sorry. I'm like super exhausted right now from doing all my assignments before going back to Malaysia so it's gonna be a really short author's note.

Sienna is back! Hehe. I missed writing in her POV you have no idea.

By the way, I'll be back in Malaysia for winter break so maybe I'll catch up with my Malaysian fans! How about that? Let me know in the comments section below If you'd like that!

See you on Saturday!

Love, Claudia