Then Do It

Chapter 17

As Christmas gets closer Mom and I start making sure we have the tree set up and decorating the house a little. I told Brady about Mom and I having our own Christmas with Chloe and he and his parents decided that they would join us so Mom and I have spent most of our free time having fun decorating and making sure the house has enough space for the six of us.

                Mom wasn't happy that I got hurt but she wasn't extremely mad since it was an accident and the cut's mostly healed now. It doesn't need to be covered anymore but I can still feel it there.

          "Mom, do we still have the ornaments grandma had me make when I was little?" I ask as Mom hangs some lights by the kitchen window. 

    "Yeah, they should be in the box with the rest of the home made ones." I nod and search through to find a little sleigh I made out of popsicle sticks. 

    As I finish putting the ornaments on the tree, Mom has me help make cookies with her. Since it's Christmas Eve she wants the cookies done tonight instead of waiting to make them the day of.

    When a knock comes from the door I set the cookie cutter down. "That must be Chloe." I go over and open the door to find Chloe standing with snow covering her hair and jacket. 

    "Hi," she smiles as I let her in. She looks cute with little spots of white snow in her hair. Wait, did she change the lime to purple?

    "We're making cookies if you wanna help," I tell her as she takes her jacket and boots off. 

    "Sounds fun," she nods.

    The three of us start more cookies as Christmas music plays in the background.

    "Did you change the highlight in your hair?" I ask as we put the pan of cookies in the oven.

    "Yeah, I thought purple would look better," Chloe shrugs.

    "Looks cool," I nod and Mom sets a timer for the cookies.

    "So, what now?" Chloe asks as a slight blush appears on her cheeks.

    "We relax until the cookies are done," Mom answers. We decide to pass the time watching Christmas movies until the cookies finish and we decorate them after cooling. 

    "Alright. Sit on the couch," Mom orders as the clock turns to nine.

    "What's going on?" Chloe questions as we sit down.

    "Every year on Christmas Eve, Mom gives me a present before going to sleep. It's basically always just some pajamas and a movie," I explain and Chloe nods as Mom grabs two small box presents.

    "This year you get that too," she smiles as she hands Chloe and I a box each.

    "Thanks," we rip the wrapping off and open the small boxes. 

    On top is a copy of Robots. I set it between Chloe and I and pull out the pajamas. It's a simple white shirt with a blue shark on it. There's a trans flag behind the shark with the words "Misgender me and I'll bite you." above it. There's also some soft black and white plaid pajama pants in the box.

    "I love it," I smile at the shirt as I put the wrapping in the box and set it aside.

    Chloe pulls out a copy of The Runaways movie and looks at it with a bright, happy smile.  She sets it aside and pulls out a black t-shirt with a white Rorschach skull on it. It also kind of looks like a bird of some sort. With the shirt is a pair of red plaid pajama pants.

    "This is so cool," Chloe holds the smile as she does the same thing I did with my wrapping and the box. 

    "I'm glad you guys like them," Mom smiles. "I didn't know what you like, Chloe, so I got Brady to give me a hint."

    "I love it, thank you. I've been trying to find this movie for a while."

    "I saw it at work and picked it up," Mom smiles. "Alright, I'm going to bed."

    "Good night," she goes to her room and I turn to Chloe. "Wanna watch these?" I hold the movies in front of my nose so I can still see the smile on her face.

    "Yeah," she nods and I put The Runaways in first. "Have you watched Robots before?" She looks at the case.

    "Yeah," I nod as I sit next to her on the couch.

"What's it about?"

"Well, Rodney and his friends have to work to repair the 'outmodes' of Robot City and defeat Ratchet and his mom. It's a kids movie but I love it," I shrug. "We had it a while ago but it broke so we had to throw it out. I always watched it when I was upset so when it broke I was devastated."

"Oh, that's cool," Chloe smiles and sets the movies on the coffee table. "Sounds like a good movie."

"It is," I confirm. After watching The Runaways we change into our new clothes before starting Robots.

Chloe falls asleep halfway through the movie and I manage to last a little longer before falling asleep too.