Coney Island

Chapter 12

'Karlie.' I heard Taylor murmur as I placed teasing kisses just below her ear. 'Honey.' Her voice was gentle, causing me to smile against her skin. 'Kar, wake up.' I felt someone shaking me and snapped my eyes open. I had been dreaming apparently because Taylor definitely wasn't sitting in between my legs trying to play the piano while I distracted her, but instead was hovering above me with a big grin on her face and wearing a green and white Santa hat. 

'What's wrong?' I asked sleepily as I squinted at her, 'is Hugo okay?' My mind instantly jumped to the worst-case scenario like it tended to do these days.

Taylor pressed her lips to mine in a sweet kiss. 'Hugo's fine, but you need to get up now,' she said as she pulled on my arm, forcing me into a sitting position.  

I looked to the side at the clock and groaned. 'Tay, it's five o'clock in the morning. If nobody is hurt, then why the fuck are you awake?' I slammed my head back into the pillow and covered my eyes, annoyed that I'd only had about three hours of sleep. 

Taylor giggled as she rolled on top of me, using her own hands to remove mine from my eyes. 'It's Christmas morning, Karlie. So get up!' she commanded as she used her fingers to hold my tired eyes open. 

'Tay, it's too early,' I whined as I batted her hands away, making her giggle more, 'Hugo isn't even awake yet, and neither is anybody else.' I spoke too soon because a few seconds later, our bedroom door flew open. 

'Merry Christmas, siblings,' yelled Austin, sounding far too happy for how early it was as he strolled into the room, dragging a half-awake Selena behind him. 

 'You were saying?' said Taylor smugly as I glared at Austin, who had just thrown himself on the bed. Poor Selena looked as though she had no clue where she was. 

'Hey, where's Hugo?' He asked as he looked around the room. 

I gently pushed Taylor off me and sat up. 'He's still in bed because, unlike you and Buddy the elf over there, he's normal,' I replied as I gestured towards Taylor, who I just noticed had on a full elf costume. 

Austin laughed as he got up off the bed. 'Can I get him, Kar, please?' He asked as he bounced on the balls of his feet, looking like he was going to explode with excitement. 

I nodded, and honestly, I had never seen him move so fast; he shot out the door like Usain Bolt. 'I can not remember you two being this excited for Christmas,' I said to Taylor, who kept nudging Selena every time she closed her eyes. 

'Well, maybe you're remembering wrong because Christmas has always been my favourite holiday,' she replied, and I noticed that she sounded a little upset. 

I sighed as I realised I had been the one to dampen her excitement. I used to love Christmas too, but after nine years of being stuck with Josh and his family that love had dwindled and now I just felt anxious about the day ahead. It was confusing because up until yesterday I had been really feeling the Christmas spirit, but now I couldn't feel anything but overwhelmed. 

Christmas wasn't a big deal in the Kushner household. The children opened their gifts, and then they were sent to play until dinner was ready, which, of course, was made by a cook while the adults talked business. I usually just sat quietly, wishing I was with Taylor and our families; laughing about the silly gifts we'd gotten each other while Christmas music played in the background, and the house smelled of roast Turkey and cinnamon. 

The last few Christmases with Josh had been awful. He thought Hugo was too old to believe in Father Christmas, so he wouldn't allow me to sign any of his presents off him. I still did it, though, I'd save it until there was just him and me and then I'd give it to him. It was always something from his list that I knew Josh wouldn't approve me to buy. He didn't want him to have too many toys and only allowed him the ones he did have, so there were no questions raised when he had friends over.