On the first day of Christmas, Zara Fischer's 'true love' gave to her... a breakup.
The day before seventeen-year-old Zara takes off for the Christmas holidays to the other side of the world--cold, dreary London--her boyfriend of two months dumps he...
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Sunday: December 5th, 2015
When I descended the stairs to the living room on the morning of the fifth day of Christmas, I was surprised to find only Clare and Amelia on the bottom floor.
"Where's my dad and Hunter?" I asked. I hadn't seen dad since our fight last night. Clare had waited up for me, though dad and the kids had gone to bed. When I got home, my makeup was smeared from my tears, which Clare had clearly seen as I removed my jacket and shoes. But I had quickly bid her goodnight and hurried up to the bathroom to remove my makeup before slipping into bed.
"The boys have popped out to see Chris's family for the day," she replied.
Great... So Hunter is worth showing off to my grandparents, but not me.
"We were all going to go, but I asked if us girls could have some bonding time," she then said, almost as if reading my thoughts. Clare and Amelia were sitting on the ground, playing with her ponies, Clare's hazel eyes still expectantly looking at me. "So what do you say?" she then said.
"Say about what?"
"Spending a bit of time with me and Amelia."
"Wait... you mean, the three of us?" I asked, surprised.
Nodding, she said, "Unless you of course don't identify as a girl? If so, I'm very sorry—"
The panicked look in her eyes had me disrupting her. "No, of course I do. I just... thought you meant you and your daughter."
"Zara... I know so many stories paint step-mothers as the evil villain out to get the step-daughter... But to me, you're no different than Amelia or Hunter. I know we don't have much of a relationship yet, but I do consider you my child. We're family now." There was a nervous look to her eyes as she said that, as though she feared I too might reject her. And in that moment I realised that perhaps she was also nervous about how to navigate our relationship.
I didn't know what to say back though. The part of me that felt guilty towards mum if I accepted this woman told me to say I didn't want such a relationship before storming back up to my room. But her youth and fragility permeated through the room, begging me to offer her at least some kindness—a chance to show me whatever she intended. So I asked, "What did you have in mind?"
Grinning, she said, "If you'll help me bring it all up from the basement, I was thinking we could decorate the house for Christmas."
∘◦ ❈ ◦∘
Amelia didn't last long with the decorations. After dragging up the Christmas tree (we weren't using a real one with little kids present in the house), decorations, and other ornaments, she helped place a couple of baubles on the lower branch then returned to her ponies.
Nonetheless, the Christmas tree was erected and the rest of the house redecorated with Santas, reindeer, and other ridiculous festive items within a couple of hours.
