Opal's Pov

I almost didn't go home for Christmas. After Thanksgiving break, I couldn't bear to. But the university shut down everything but the dorm buildings, so I ended u going home to save myself the boredom.

Luckily, only my mom and Pearl were there when I got home. I was glad that the house wasn't chocked full of people who were pissed at me.

"What did you expect? That I invited the entire student body of Crystal Prep?" My mom asked. "People tend to stay home for Christmas." I nodded and went up to my room to take a nap.

I laid down on my bed and thought about it. Dad was opening presents at home but said he and my sisters would pop over for a bit on Christmas Eve to exchange presents. I'd heard from word of mouth that Sugilite was going to demand to spend Christmas at her mother's house. Alex had mailed presents over and said she couldn't make it. Rainbow was spending it with her mom. I sighed and ended up falling asleep.

The next day, I took Pearl to the mall for some bonding and some last minute Christmas shopping. After a while, we split up so she could buy for me and Peridot and so I could buy for her. That's when I also ended up looking for a gift for Sugilite.

After looking through a few stores and finding nothing that screamed: "I'm sorry for accidentally cheating on you". I was close to giving up, then I realized that I needed something else. Not an apology gift, something real.

I found what I was looking for at Barnes And Noble. I noticed a display with necklaces that came with quotes from Maya Angelou poems. I bought her the one that featured the last stanza of Caged Bird.

Then, for good measure, I also bought a book of Maya Angelou's poetry. I hoped it would be enough for her.

When we got home, Pearl and I mailed our gifts for both Amethyst and Sugilite to Amethyst. I hoped she would receive it and at least not hate me.

Christmas day came and I was satisfied with the gift's I'd given and surprised by the gifts I'd received. Both Alex and Sugilite had sent me gifts, which caught me off guard. Alex sent me a novel she'd enjoyed that she thought I'd like. Sugilite sent me the newest album of my favorite band on vinyl.

Her gift really confused me. I didn't think she'd be so considerate after what I'd done. It briefly crossed my mind to wonder if she'd bought it before Thanksgiving, but I didn't have much time to ponder it before there was a knock on the front door.

Sardonyx and Ruby had walked over, despite already having come over the night before. They were wearing my presents, pajamas with fuzzy pants and tops with animals on them, and matching hat and glove sets. Sardonyx practically headbutted me to show how much she loved her fox hat, then took off her jacket and sat down on the couch.

 I sat with all four of my sisters on the couch as Pearl and I opened our last few presents. Pearl and I did our yearly tradition of opening our presents from each other last.  Pearl opened hers; a small jewelry box for her earrings. I knew she'd mentioned her favorite music box not being big enough. Then, I opened mine from her.

"It's not as fancy as yours was, but I'm confident you'll enjoy it." She said, blushing slightly. I smiled as I tore open the wrapping paper to find a picture frame that was split in two. On one side, there was a picture of me and Pearl on my ninth birthday. On the other side was a picture of the two of us at my graduation. I almost started crying.

"Thank you so much, Pearl!" I hugged her.

"I know you mentioned how much you missed me during Thanksgiving, so I decided to try to help remedy this.

I smiled again and hugged all three of my sisters. Mom took a picture. I laughed.

"Seriously Mom?" She smiled.

"What?"

"You take so many pictures! Come on, you'll have a lifetime to take pictures of us. Come enjoy the moment." She sat down with us and the five of us started talking and laughing. I ended up taking a picture of my mom to turn the tables while she was hugging Pearl.

"Hey, Opal." Sardonyx said while I was in the kitchen getting a drink.

"Yeah?" I turned around and she hugged me.

"I'm glad we can celebrate together like this. Thank you so much." I smiled.

"We can celebrate like this every year. Even when we have kids, the four of us can get together. You and me and Ruby and Pearl. Forever." She smiled and hugged me again.

Suddenly, my phone started to ring.

"You go take that." She said.

"No, it's fine. I'll silence it for Christmas." I took my phone out and quickly checked the caller ID, then abandoned my promise and answered it.

"Merry Christmas baby."

(A/N) Happy Holidays! Do you have any Holiday Traditions? Let me know!

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