Life Of Bayla

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"Hurry up, Génesis", mom hollered. "Your food is getting cold".

"Just a minute, mom", I replied with my lips going back to a concentrated pout and my toes curling up to their tips.

"You're so short. What are you, four-feet-two?" Aaron snickered and I rolled my eyes, knowing fully well he couldn't see me and then turned my head back to stick my tongue out at him. He chuckled, folding his arms across his chest. "You know you could've just let me or Ian put up the star on the Christmas star right?"

"Right..." I stretched my hands higher and strained my toes to their limit "..there". I turn to Aaron with a big smile on my face. "See? I did it".

Aaron chuckled and clapped. "Great, now that this is over, can we like get to dinner?"

The dinning was packed. Marion, Eleanor, Ian, Aaron, Mom, Dad and me, Bayla, were all present. I didn't expect this turn out. I had never ever pictured us having a Christmas dinner. I'm still kind of adjusting to the fact that my family is working on growing to become an actual family.

Everyone is all smiles as Lolita waltzes about the place, placing dishes and cups and drinks. Her hands are so full, she nearly spills some juice on mom.

I wince a smile. "Need some help with those, Lolita?"

She blows out a breath. "Si".

I spring to my feet and follow Lolita into the kitchen, cradling two soup bowls in my arms and assisting Lolita to set up the table. Soon, I settle for dinner.

"You can't even imagine how grateful I am to you, Ri, for convincing my Miguel to turn down that photo shoot for this". Mom smiles widely as she speaks. "It really means a lot".

"Oh, it's nothing", Marion replies and then turns to Ian, a smirk on her lips while replying my mom. "He actually didn't need a lot of convincing".

Mom's brows shoot up to her forehead as she returned Marion's smirk. "You don't say".

Ian shrugs. "I actually wanted to be present for this".

"The real shocker here is Aaron, though", I said. "He's the one that should be getting hit with the spotlight".

Everyone murmurs their agreement and Aaron rolls his eyes at us playfully.

Our last Christmas was nothing like this and the ones before that were pretty much the same. It was like the usual last year: Mom went out with her friends and drank the night away, getting back home wasted. Dad had travelled out and even though he could be home to spend Christmas with his family, he chose not to and lied about having to work a little bit more. We all knew he was lying. Ian had model work. Aaron went out partying with his friends and also arrived wasted like mom, except after stumbling into the house and spluttering shit, he blacked out and I had to lug his drunk ass into his bedroom.

That Christmas, it was just me and Lolita till she had to leave and spend Christmas with her family, leaving me alone in the end. I didn't care though.

Oh, who am I kidding? It sucked and I cried myself to sleep.

This night, Aaron clung to Eleanor like a leech.

"Are you sure you're not allergic to oranges?" He asked her, eyebrows dipping. "I could tell Lolita to change your drink or something".

Eleanor smiled and placed her hand on his which rested on her shoulder. "I told you I'm not allergic to oranges. That one time, I choked on a seed. So stop worrying about me, okay?"

Marion let out an exaggerated groan. "You guys are so cute you make me want to puke".

Dad raised his glass of wine and cleared his throat, drawing everyone's attention. "I'd like to make a toast but first of all, I have some things to say".