Candy Hearts | Watty's 2015

| 24 | Friday, December 25

 | 2 4 | Friday, December 25

Christmas day, Arizona falls off her bed. It's seven a.m., and her duvet is all tangled up with her legs. Groaning, she lifts her torso off the ground before crawling out of the sheets and leaning her head against the footpost of her bed. It's too early to be doing anything productive.

Pulling on her socks, she takes a breath before heaving herself up and off the ground, and yanking the bedroom door open. Arizona brushes her teeth with blurry eyes, toothpaste dribbling down her chin, and she combs her hair with a series of impatient noises when the teeth of the brush gets stuck in her many blonde tangles.

By the time she makes it up the stairs and onto the main floor, Arizona is awake. She can smell coffee as she nears the kitchen, and she can hear multiple voices speaking at the same time. It feels like Christmas, and Arizona smiles to herself. When she steps onto the linoleum tiles, her mom squeals and hurries to hug her. "Merry Christmas!" Her dad smiles at her and mumbles the same. "We're waiting for you to open the presents."

"How long have you been up?" Arizona raises her brows and Lara sets her coffee mug down.

"Since six."

"Why."

Nobody says anything.

"Where's Ross?"

Lara jerks a thumb behind her, at the living room. Arizona cranes her neck and catches a glimpse of Ross splayed out on one of the couches, arms spread out around him, mouth slightly agape, the tiniest of snores escaping him. Arizona bites back a grin. When Lara yells for him to wake up, he jerks open and sits straight up on the couch, blinking rapidly.

Arizona sits down at the table after filling a cup with tea. There are cookies on the counter, next to a bag of bagels, and Arizona takes one of each, spreading some cream cheese on the bagel. She bites into it, and watches her mother gather up the presents to set on the table before them. Ross joins the family a second later. "Lara...Ross...Arizona...ooh, me! Ben." Arizona had left the presents down in her room, and she sighs sitting back in the chair. She'll get them later, once everybody else is done. Arizona slowly unsticks the pieces of tape pressing down on the carefully wrapped, small box. As soon as she gets it unwrapped, Cora takes the paper, because she's always been a huge believer in the three R's.

Inside is a red, velvet box, and Arizona flips the top open slowly to find a golden charm bracelet inside. "Oh, that's really pretty! Thanks, Mom."

"Dad tacked his name onto that, too," winks Cora and Arizona smiles.

"Thanks, Dad."

Ben nods. The unwrapping of presents proceeds. Lara got Arizona a book she's never heard of before, and Ross got her a Powell's Bookstore gift card. Arizona had brought her presents up from her room. A necklace and earrings set for Lara, a gift card to a furniture store for Cora, glossy photo paper for Ben, and an iTunes card for Ross. Twenty minutes later, the family sits at the kitchen table, mugs of tea spread out before them.

"So," says Arizona's mother, "I haven't seen Jeremy in a while."

Arizona had forgotten to tell everybody about the break-up. Four months ago. Shit.

"We broke up," she tries to say nonchalantly, sipping at her green tea.

"What?"

Cora blinks. Lara freezes. Ross raises his eyebrows. Ben looks totally indifferent.

"Oh, did I forget to tell you guys?"