"JJ, GET YOUR ASS IN HERE!"

emery shouted up the stairs. she, john b, mara, and levi were sitting around the living room floor in front of the christmas tree, all resisting the urge to rip into the presents labeled with their names while amelia sat on the couch with her camera, pointing it at the teens in their coordinated red-and-black flannel pants and matching sweatshirts.

"i'm almost ready!" jj shouted back, emery groaning as she and mara shouched down in their spots.

"you've been almost ready for twenty minutes!" levi yelled, clearly agitated at the situation he was currently in. jj eventually rounded the corner at the top of the stairs, the boy sliding down the railing and running over to sit next to mara, the stevens girl between him and john b while emery was between john b and levi.

"okay- everyone ready?" amelia asked, raising her camera once again, all the kids nodding and grinning at the camera. the shudder clicked and the flash went off, amelia examining the photo closely. "alright, go ahead."

emery jumped up, grabbing the stockings from the entertainment center with the names of the five teens stitched into them, passing them around to her friends, all of them sitting in a circle.

"i'm so glad that milly isn't an almond mom like mine." mara said bluntly as she pulled a candy bar out of her stocking. "in my house, this would be an orange."

"where's your mom even at?" levi asked.

"aruba, maldives, hawaii, who knows." mara deadpanned. "all i know is i'd much rather spend christmas here."

"are everyone's stockings done?" jj asked loudly from behind the others, countless candies, a toothbrush, socks, and peppermint bark scattered across the floor around him.

"i think so." john b breathed, everyone stuffing their makeup, gum, gloves, surf wax, and candy into their stockings. so, stacking them up in a little pyramid against the entertainment center, everyone looking at amelia for their cue to dive into the pile of presents under the christmas tree.

"go!"

"love you!" john b exclaimed, turning and grabbing a large box with his name on the tag. he and jj were both tearing wrapping paper open like their lives depended on it, tossing it to the side. all of them knew it would eventually be picked up and thrown around like snowballs, but they didn't care at that moment.

"i got new shoes!" john b exclaimed, pulling a pair of white converse out of a shoebox. "thanks, milly!"

"don't even think about it!" amelia snapped at jj, who was going to reach for one of five large boxes leaned against the wall behind him. "those are all getting opened at the same time."

"taylor swift!" mara shouted, opening a box containing multiple vinyl records, all of them either taylor swift or harry styles.

"i figured you'd like them." amelia told her with a smile.

"i got shoes too!" jj yelled to john b, holding up a pair of black combat boots.

"saw you eyeing those a couple months ago, i figured you'd like them." amelia said, nudging the boy's shoulder.

finally, when all the presents but the five large boxes had been unwrapped, levi made the sacrifice of the first throw. as soon as he did, amelia moved to the kitchen across the room, still with her phone out to take the video of it she took every year.

"you little bitch!" emery yelled as the paper hit her in the side of the head, grabbing a particularly large sheet that jj and john b hadn't shredded, balling it up and tossing it at levi before diving over the top of the couch, hiding herself behind it and peeking around the corner.

"no, no, no- mara!" john b yelled, throwing his body onto the ground dramatically as mara hit him in the face with a wad of the paper, the girl laughing as he laid on the floor with his tongue out, adding more to his dramatic act.

"someone help!" jj yelled. levi had taken a sheet and wrapped it around jj's face, the maybank seemingly unable to find the end to tear it off. emery jumped up from behind the couch, tearing the paper that was being used to hold jj hostage, grabbing another ball off the ground and tossing it at levi.

"traitor!" he yelled, tossing another ball of wrapping paper at his younger sister, who let out a screech of a mixture of joy and fear.

"i hate to call off the fun, but your cinnamon rolls are ready!" amelia yelled into the living room as the timer on the oven beeped loudly. everyone scrambled to their feet, tripping over one another as they ran to the kitchen island where amelia was putting the glaze on top of the baked goods.

"dibs on the middle!" emery yelled.

"no fair, you got it last year!" levi whined.

"cry me a river, build me a bridge, and get over it." emery said, grabbing a plate and a fork from the side of the counter and holding it out to her mom, who put the cinnamon roll on her plate.

"go eat in the living room, i have to start on dinner." amelia instructed. the five teens retreated into the living room again, the five large boxes against the wall still untouched via amelia's wishes.

"mom, what's in the big ones?" mara yelled, flopping onto to couch next to emery, john b flipping her off and sitting on the other side of the stevens girl.

"as soon as you're done eating, i'll let you open them." amelia called back.

"these get better every year." jj announced, picking his roll up with his hands and eating half of it in one bite, licking the sticky glaze off of his fingertips.

"did you put maple syrup in these?" levi called into the kitchen.

"nope, it's molasses." amelia replied, emery watching as john b shoved his cinnamon roll into his mouth in one bite.

"it's hotter than hell in your fancy ass house." jj groaned, tugging his shirt off, john b and levi following suit.

"i didnt realize we hired male strippers for christmas." mara stated bluntly, emery shrugging.

"do you remember that time we made jj play the game with the ping-pong balls for game night and he started twerking in the middle of the room?" she asked, jj immediately hanging his head as the others began laughing.

"i haven't been the same since." levi managed to get out through laughter.

"you all suck." jj deadpanned, grabbing his shirt and tossing it to the top of the stairs.

"we're done eating!" john b yelled into the kitchen, emery grabbing everyone's plates and smacking john b on his back. "what the hell was that for?"

"don't yell at my mom." the melville deadpanned, putting the plates and forks in the sink.

"okay, everyone get your box- don't open them yet!" amelia added as jj grabbed his immediately, his shoulders falling in disappointment.

"i don't know what these are. i haven't seen these anywhere in the house- where the hell did you hide them?" levi asked, pulling john b's box from behind the tree and passing it to him, emery and mara dragging theirs across the room.

"they're heavy as hell." mara groaned, she and emery sitting on the ground next to each other after slowly lowering the boxes.

"ready?" amelia asked, holding her phone up as everyone nodded eagerly. "now, you're all lucky that it's eighty for christmas this year, because you get to try these out today."

"you didn't." john b said happily, he and jj's eyes wide as large grins spread over their faces, amelia shrugging.

"rip in." she said simply, the teens all ripping the paper on the boxes to reveal plain cardboard underneath. emery was the first to pull her box open, revealing a new surfboard inside.

"holy shit!" she exclaimed, jj and john b both staring in awe at the opened boxes in front of them.

"i love you so much." jj said, standing up and practically throwing himself on the couch next to amelia to hug her.

"well, come on, get them waxed!" she exclaimed, putting her phone down as the teens all dove for their stockings- they should've known it wasn't a coincidence they all got surf wax- and grabbed the new boards and fins.

"ems, what kind did you get?" mara asked.

"i got strawberry." she said.

"i got banana." mara said, holding the block up, emery's jaw falling in disappointment, but mara held her brick out, she and emery trading the blocks of wax.

"are these customs?" john b asked as emery set her board on the sawhorses that were set up in the backyard surf shack to set a board up on for waxing.

"i think so." levi replied, looking over the blue and teal marbling on the bottom of emery's board and the orange and red on the bottom of his.

"they definitely are." jj said, laying his across another set of sawhorses and pointing by where the fin-insets were, his name on the bottom in bold black lettering.

"mines in gold." mara announced, emery looking at hers.

"mine too." she said, passing her block of base wax to levitate before starting in with the banana wax.

"these are so damn pretty." mara mumbled. still looking in awe at the bottom of her board.

when all the boards were waxed and everyone had gone back inside to change into swimsuits, the group made their way to the beach.

"guys, this water's freezing." mara whined. while the air was about eighty, the water hadn't warmed up with it, considering it had been about fifty all week.

"mom also just texted me and said lunch is ready." levi added.

"it can always go in the microwave." jj said, shrugging.

"he has a point." emery added.

"you guys are gonna drown or some shit." mara said bluntly, emery looking and jj and john b, the trio shrugging and running at the water, paddling out into the ocean as far as the surf ran.

"they're so stupid." levi mumbled.

he and mara had been right, the group all got about three waves in apiece before heading back in, teeth chattering as they did.

"told you." mara said bluntly, emery, jj, and john b flipping her off as they tossed their boards in the back of levi's truck, climbing into the back seat.

"how was the surf?" amelia asked when they got home.

"cold." emery mumbled, sitting down at the dining room table.

"we told them not to go." mara said bluntly, sitting next to emery again, john b mouthing something along the lines of 'eat my ass' before setting for the seat across from emery.

"this all looks so good, milly." jj told the woman, sitting next to john b.

"you know you're only gonna eat the mac and cheese, why bother?" mara asked, already passing the pan to the maybank, who piled it onto his plate.

"everyone get everything they wanted?" amelia asked, the pogues and levi all looking at each other and nodding.

"i'm so grateful to have a family when my mom decides she doesn't want me." mara said jokingly, jj holding up his glass of dr. pepper.

"cheers to that." he mumbled, clinking glasses with the blonde across the table.

"can we have a shot tonight? in the christmas spirit, of course." emery added, looking at her mom hopefully, everyone else's gazes turning to amelia.

"you could be drinking wine right now, i don't know why you're looking at me like i don't let you drink." she said, emery and mara immediately getting up and walking to the kitchen.

"bring me one!" john b called.

"and me!" levi added.

"make that three!" jj yelled.

"come refill mine while you're at it!" amelia shouted.

"merry christmas, bitches." emery said in a singsong voice, a bottle of wine in one hand and three empty glasses in the other, mara carrying the remainder of the glasses, which they passed out to everyone.

"you're the best." john b told emery as she filled his glass last, setting the bottle in the center of the table.

"to mom." levi said, holding his glass up, everyone doing the same and looking at amelia.

"i'll toast to milly." jj said bluntly.

"hell yeah, to mom!" mara exclaimed, everyone drinking from their glasses.

"merry christmas, kids." amelia said as she set her glass back on the table.

"merry christmas." emery mumbled, looking across the table at john b.

kens speaks 🪐

this exists bc of harringtonssss (honestly the whole book does so)