Finding Olivia

Chapter 22

It was Christmas day at the Callahan house, which meant it was awkward central for my mom and me.

I made my way down the curved staircase and I heard the whole family in the living room. The sounds of wrapping paper being ripped, met my ears, and I was sure they were all gathered around the massive Christmas tree.

I tried to tiptoe by them, into the kitchen, for a glass of orange juice, but since I had the crappiest luck ever, Avery spotted me.

"Olivia! Come in here!" She called, and her whole family stopped what they were doing, to look at me. Her remaining four brothers had arrived a few days ago. They seemed nice but I hadn't talked to them much, preferring to stay out of the way, unnoticed. Unfortunately, Nick had a knack for finding my mother. Gag.

Ben, the brother that was a doctor, smiled kindly at me. "Don't stand there, come in," he waved me into the room.

"Uh," I stepped into the room and faced all of them. "I was going to get something to drink and go back upstairs. I promise I won't be in your way."

"Olivia, please, sit down. It's Christmas," Galen said. I was surprised he had spoken. He hadn't said much to me since him and his wife arrived, he hadn't been mean to me or anything, but he certainly didn't go out of his way to make conversation.

"I feel like I'm intruding," I tried to back out of the room.

"Sit, Olivia," Avery demanded and like an obedient dog I listened. Dammit.

"Thata' girl," she patted the top of my head.

"I will so get you for this," I hissed.

"Don't be such a baby. It's Christmas!" She chimed, throwing her hands in the air with excitement.

I glared at her and then began to giggle. "Why are you wearing an elf hat?" I eyed the monstrosity on her head.

"It's tradition!" She exclaimed.

I looked around and realized that Galen was wearing a Santa hat, Resa was wearing a Mrs. Klaus bonnet or whatever you wanted to call it, while Avery and the guys all wore elf hats, pointy ears included.

A giggle bubbled to the surface, and escaped my lips. At the sound of my laugh, I couldn't hold back full-blown hysterics.

"I need a picture of this," I wiped tears from my eyes and grabbed my phone from my pocket, snapping a picture of Avery before she had the chance to react. "This is so going in our dorm room," I laughed, waving my phone around.

When her brother's caught sight of the picture, they began to laugh. Pretty soon, even Resa, Galen, and Avery were laughing.

Once our laughter had ceased, Avery smiled menacingly. "Luckily, we have an extra hat," she stuck one of those ridiculous elf contraptions on my head. "Now," she smiled, "we can continue with presents."

"What's going on?" I turned around to see my mom standing in the doorway.

"Olivia's making everyone laugh," Nick grinned at my mom. "Join us," he patted an empty spot of carpet beside him. I watched as she made her way across the room, to Nick, and sat down beside him. He leaned over, and whispered something in her ear, which made her smile and blush at the same time.

Avery and I exchanged a look and shook our heads. I had no idea where that was heading, and frankly, I didn't want to think about the possibilities.

When they started making lovey dovey eyes at each other I wanted to point a finger at my head and yell, 'Mom! Look at me! Your daughter! Over here! Stop staring at the guy young enough to be my brother!'