The cold night outside the window of the living room certainly made the fireplace more desirable to Scott and his four siblings. They were all huddled like a group of penguins, wrapped up in small separate blankets, sat neatly in front of the warm, crackly log fire. This was the kind of night the 15 year old loved - being seated with his 13 year old brother John to his left, his 10 year old best friend Virgil to his right, their 7 year old squid brother to the right of Virgil, and the tiny 3 year old Alan half asleep on Scott's lap.
It honestly wasn't all that late, not really, but everyone sure was exhausted from the day. It had been Christmas, and boy had there been a lot going on.

Straight away in the morning, their loving Grandmother had appeared at the front door, bring her five grandsons a bountiful amount of gifts, some handmade and others store bought. Alan, amongst his other siblings, had been so excited to see his grandmother that he had gotten up extra early to watch the window and wait until she appeared.

Gordon was excited to see young Penelope, as she always had exhilarating stories of what she'd get up to at her father's estate in the countryside of England. He was constantly fascinated with her tales of horse riding around the estate - this time without an attendant - and he was always happy to trade stories with his growing knowledge of marine life and boast about competitions he'd won.

Virgil was delighted when he was gifted a load of new sheet music, paints and paint brushes, all by various people. He also, however, was excited to see Penelope, as for her eighth birthday, he'd decided to paint her a lovely scenery of a summer's beach, where the waves glistened against the golden sunlight and the sand had the softest feeling under foot. He may have been two years older than Penelope, but when faced with an English lady, Virgil was a right gentleman, even a little hesitant to give her the belated birthday present, in case she didn't like it. Penelope, of course, loved it.

John's present was a little more expensive that everyone else's. In fact, everyone wanted to pitch into his main present, even if that meant using what money was left aside to buy much smaller presents for the newly-turned teenager. He'd been so enthusiastic about space, space camps, anything space related, that when Jeff heard that there was to be a limited time offer for kids to spend a full week as 'Shadowing Astronauts,' he made sure John had the best ticket money could buy. Sure, Jeff himself was a fully fledged NASA astronaut, and the family had gone to the Kennedy Space Centre more times then they could count, this trip for John would be different. He'd be actively learning and helping actual astronauts. Needless to say, John was a little ecstatic at the idea, and the present.

Scott didn't want a present, though. Of course, he got many, but what he wanted more than anything else was to see his whole family and all his family friends happy on Christmas Day. He wanted to hear laughter, see joyful faces and share the Christmas spirit that was so rightly deserved by everyone around him. He loved being able to share memories with people he cared most for, and he didn't seem to be satisfied until he was positive everyone was having the best time they could. However, this didn't mean he wasn't excited to open a present and find the newest model plane sitting neatly in a display case. He was still reaching for the sky, and wouldn't stop, not even for a moment.

Yes, the Christmas certainly was busy, but it wasn't late. Scott and his four siblings were still huddled together in front of the fireplace, when Jeff and Lucy sat down with them, one last present neatly inside a large envelope.
"Hey, who wants to go on a skiing trip in February!" Lucy smiled to he boys, watching as they all turned around with excited faces and eager nods.
How bad could it be?