I got up in the morning as mom pulled out the curtains. 

"Merry Christmas, Lucy," she  wished, her face breaking into a beautiful smile. I smiled back giving her a warm hug.

 "Merry Christmas, mom"

"Go freshen up, now. We're having a small Christmas party today,"she said.

"What Christmas party? " I asked, surprised by the sudden plan.

"Just a small one. The Halters will be coming," she informed.

My eyes lit up. Christmas with Blake. I hurried into the washroom. 

___*___

I decided to wear a knee-length black laced frock, with a white watch and let my hair loose, fixing it with a white hairband. Black and white. 

Then, I went down the stairs looking around the house. 

The living-room had a Christmas tree, decorated beautifully, possibly by Heather. Streamers and some balloons adorned the place. The cushion-covers were changed, each displaying a green Christmas tree,and one in the center displaying Santa Claus. A Christmas cake lay on the kitchen counter. My house looked nice. I liked it.

"Merry Christmas," Heather greeted me  giving me a quick hug and handing me my Christmas gift.

"Thank you," I said, happily accepting the gift. "And Merry Christmas. "

"Merry Christmas," dad greeted us all. We did the same.

"By the way, when are the Halters coming?," I asked, anticipated.

"In half an hour from now,"mom said.

"Okay," I chirped. Everything is great when it comes to celebrating Christmas with my best friend.

Heather smiled at me, certainly noticing my excitement. 

____*____

The Halters came in exactly after half an hour. Mrs.Halter greeted  us with a warm hug.

"Merry Christmas. We got something for you, just a Christmas present," she said, handing over a wrapped gift. 

"Oh you really didn't have to do this. Thank you so much, though,"mom said, accepting it.

"Merry Christmas, Lucy,"Blake whispered in my ear.

"Merry Christmas, Blake," I whispered back. He smiled, releaving his perfect dimples. 

We all sat down on the couch, laughing, talking and singing Christmas songs. 

Blake and I settled on having hot chocolate , while our parents decided to have wine.  

"Here, wear this," Blake said, placing a Christmas hat on my head.  I pouted. He looked at me and laughed. I took out another hat, and placed it on his head. 

"My Christmas angels," Mrs. Halter said.

"Angles don't wear a hat, mom," Blake joked.

"Let's eat cake!," I suggested.

It suddenly reminded me of the "They don't have bread? Let them ear cake!" dialogue. 

 "Yeah, right," Heather said. 

She cut the cake and put the pieces in small plates. We served it to everyone and then I took mine, sitting beside Blake, who was texting someone.

"Who are you talking to?,"I asked, intrigued. 

"Sophie,"he said, without looking up.

"Who's Sophie?," I asked.

"A friend,"he said, tugging a smile on his lips.

What friend? I wanted to ask. Wait, what's my problem anyway?

I got up to leave.

"Hey,"Blake said, holding my hand.

"What?," I asked, angry.

"She's my cousin,"he informed.

"Oh," I replied, blushing.

____*____

The "small Christmas party" went on for another two hours. Blake and I chatted, getting to know a lot about each other.  With him, I  was never bored, never alone. With him, everything was magical.

"Time to go, Blake," Mrs.Halter informed.  No, I wanted to talk more! Blake got up, reluctantly. 

Our parents exchanged a few words. Within this time, Blake pulled me to a corner.

"I got something for you,"he whispered in my ear, fishing out a small box from his pocket and handing it to me, placing it gently with my palm.

"Thank you so much, Blake," I smiled at him a sudden desire of hugging him creeping inside me. But I didn't , of course.

We thanked them for coming, and finally closed the door. It had been a wonderful day.

___*___

That night, I sat down on my bed and stared at the wrapped  gift Blake had given me.

"To Lucy, from Blake," it read.

I slowly opened it, my heart beating. It revealed a small box and a note. I opened the note first.

"Merry Christmas, Lucy. Thanks for making everything so beautiful for me."

I opened the box. A pendant. It was platinum -plated pendant with the initial "L".It was beautiful.  Another note lay beneath it. 

"With all my love today and always".

I smiled, my heart blooming with mirth. Thank you so much, Blake. 

Lucy looked out of the window towards the moon. It shined brightly that day, brighter than she'd ever seen before. 
--*--