A World Apart

Promises

Christmas Day arrived and this time, it was bigger and better than ever before. Dana had decorated my place to the extreme, so much so that there was barely even a spare inch of surface that wasn't adorned in tinsel, lights or ornaments. I was glad that we were having Christmas in my parent's penthouse as there would be no room to stand a single drink, let alone cook and eat dinner in there.

"Red really is a great colour on you," Jake murmured in my ear, encircling me from behind.

"Thank you," I smiled, twisting around and throwing my arms around his neck.

"Jake put her down," Gillian laughed, entering the room with a large platter of sausage rolls.

"We'd invited Jake, Gillian and Tina for Christmas, this was the first time in ages that they'd had cause to celebrate the festivities, and with it being a time for spending with family and loved ones, they fitted perfectly into our intimate gathering. Jake had even received a card and a phone call from his parents that morning, the little steps of effort managing to further progress them along their path to patch up their relationship with their son.

Dana was happily keeping Tina occupied in the living room, allowing her to try on her latest line of jewellery she'd been working on. Something which Tina was ecstatic about, given her love of playing princess. Gillian and my mother were getting on great, and I rather enjoyed watching them bonding over things. She'd always been stuck with just me and Jake to talk to, so it was nice to see her conversing with someone a little closer in age.

"Dinner's ready!" My father called happily from the kitchen.

"Ugh, finally!" Dana whined, leaping up and practically bouncing toward the table, casting her eye toward the newcomers. "If there's one thing our dad does well... It's Christmas dinner."

"I like to think I do many things well," My father said, entering the room carrying a huge turkey on a platter.

"Sure you do, Daddy," I said sweetly, kissing his cheek and taking the turkey from him, leaving him floundering as he looked to our mother for support.

"You make a wonderful dessert too," She teased.

As a roar of laughter rumbled around the table, he retreated to the kitchen to bring out the rest of the dinner.

Christmas Day drifted into Christmas Night, and still, the party was in full swing. Dinner was done and dusted, but the games had begun, and with charades on the table, we split into two groups, the kids versus the parents. Jake, Dana, Tina and myself, against my parents and Gillian.

"Okay, Danes, you're up," I patted her on the back, shoving her forwards.

Picking a piece of paper from the small, glass bowl, she bit her lip in thought, then put it into the paper bag and stepped into the clear space in front of us.

"Movie," Jake said as she began to mime the signal for a movie.

"Two words," I acknowledged as she continued.

She paused, looking around for inspiration before spotting the lamp which she turned off.

"Light?" I questioned.

She crashed her head into her palm as our parents laughed beside us. She ran to the light switches on the far wall and turned those off too, leaving us all sitting in the pitch black.

"Dark?" Jake asked.

In the dark, we couldn't see Dana, so we didn't know if we were right or wrong, but with the loud clunk behind us, we heard her coming, and bumping into a table en-route.