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7:30 am
Me, mama, and Billy all laid in the bed together after another night of Billy's father's drunk rampage, giving mama a black eye and Billy another bruise. The both of us were cuddled up against mama's body until she got out of the bed, gently laying us back down with a kiss to the forehead. Billy let out a soft cry. I immediately wrapped my arms around him for comfort so he could go to sleep again. Even though he was only a year older than me, he was always underneath me whenever he felt unsafe.
"Skeeter, Tweety, wake up. It's Christmas and I brought some presents for a good boy and a good girl", mama says gently rubbing our heads. I woke up, wiping the sleep from eyes, seeing Billy in his Christmas pajamas stretching his arms out to wake up. I did the same getting out of the bed. We followed mama downstairs to the living room where our presents sat under the tree with our names on them.
"Cool!", we both exclaimed while running towards the tree. The two of us kids sat on the floor and waited for mama's permission to open the boxes. She comes from the kitchen carrying a wooden tray that had 3 mugs of hot chocolate and sats it on the table. "How did we sleep?", she asked us while giving each of us a mug. "It's hot, so be very careful." "I slept okay", I replied. "My head still hurts", Billy groaned. Billy's dad hit him with his barehand after he didn't finish his dinner last night. He started to come after me with his hand after I said I was full, but mama stopped him which resulted her to getting a black eye.
"Daddy won't be here for long, so you won't have to worry about him hitting you ever again", mama says. "Now, let's open presents! Who wants to go first?" "I do, I do!" Billy jumps up and down with joy to open his first present. He ripped opened the package and pulled out an Atari with two controllers. His face lit up. "I always wanted one of these. Thanks, mommy, you're the best", Billy hugs mama. "You're welcome, my Skeeter bug", she kisses him on the cheek. "This one's for you, my Tweety bird." Mama handed me a gift and I opened it, pulling out a teddy bear.
"It's to help you sleep whenever you're at home, babygirl. I remember you telling me that your mom didn't want to get you one because she didn't want you to be spoiled, but I got you one anyway because you need some type of comfort." I smiled while looking at this teddy bear whose fur was soft and golden, and who also made me feel warm and safe again. That was the best thing that I've ever received on Christmas from anybody because it was given to me with love. I still have that same teddy bear to this day in the same shape that he was in 1978.
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