Adopted By The Shaytards

Chapter 38 - Jingle Bells

It was Christmas morning and I woke up to several kids screaming with excitement and Shay shaking me around whilst he holds the camera on my face.

"It's Christmas you have to wake up!" Emmi shouts whilst she jumps on my stomach.

To be honest, I wasn't in the mood for Christmas and I just wished that everything that had happened had happened a long time ago. I slowly rolled out of bed and basically got pushed down the stairs as all of the kids came down like a waterfall. Shay was in front waiting to film the kids reaction when they saw all of their gifts. I never understood why they never wrapped their presents but then I realized the sheer amount of presents would be too much of a task for anyone.

"Oh my gosh! It's perfect!" Avia shouts as she picks up some new clothes she had received. I looked around the room and saw the various piles of toys the kids would probably only use once or twice.

I looked around for my pile but I saw nothing that could hint towards it. Shay and Collette were too engrossed in vlogging the kids reactions and opening the packaging, I decided to just sit there and wait until everyone was done.

Shay came over to me and stuck the camera in my face.

"Why ain't you looking at your gifts boy?" he asked pushing the camera towards me even more.

"What gifts?" I question as I look around the room.

Shay looked around and realized there wasn't anything laid out for me. He looked at Collette and turned off the camera.

"Where's Harry's pile?" Shay asked her looking confused.

"Oh, it's on the counter" Collette says looking up at the granite top counter. There sat a small pile of a few things.

I walk over to it and Shay turns the camera back on. There was a red steering wheel cover and some air fresheners. There was a few Nike t-shirts which I appreciated as I needed new t-shirts as wearing ShayCarl merchandise all of the time got kind of boring. There was a brand new Volcom cap laying on top which was near identical to the one that I had brought Shay. There was also an Itunes gift voucher and the complete series of Breaking Bad.

"I don't approve of this but Shay said it's probably one of them violent things you would enjoy" Collette laughs as she points to the breaking bad box set.

I smile and give her a hug. It was nice to receive gifts and made me feel welcome. I looked back over to the kids who at this point where all attempting to open plastic packaging or drooling at things they see laid out. Gavin came round the corner on a brand new Penny board.

"Harry look at this!" Gavin says as he comes round the corner on a red and yellow Penny board, nearly falling off.

"Not in the house" Shay shouts as he falls off and the Pennyboard knocks into the kitchen door.

"Sorry" Gavin says looking guilty. He looks at me, I laugh and I end up making a cup of coffee whilst still watching Shay gallop around the room making the all important 'Shaytards Christmas special'.

Later on during the day we go round Grandma Laurie's to have a Christmas lunch. After lunch I feel so full up I just wanted to slowly roll around and explode. I go into my car and reach into the back for the gifts I brought everyone the other day. Collettes necklace in the small box had fallen out of the bag and had gone down the back of the drivers seat.

I reached under to try and grab it but when I pulled it out it was in fact a beer bottle. I stare at it for a little while and realize what night it was from. I roll it back underneath the seat and grab the small box and the rest of the bags. Today wasn't the day to bring up past memories.

I walk back inside and open the door. I was glad to be back inside as outside was chilly and I hated the cold.

"Did you buy us more presents?" Emmi asked running up and grabbing my leg before I had the chance to walk inside.

I ignore her comment and continue to walk into the lounge where everyone has gathered.

"I brought some more gifts" I smile as I hold up the bags.

Everyone cheers and Collette gives me a 'I'm proud of you' smile. I start off by giving all of the kids their presents which they unwrap faster than lightening and the room is full of 'wow' and 'this is so cool'.

"I got you guys something too" I say as I pull out a small wrapped up box and a large wrapped present. I passed the small box to Collette and the large gift to Shay.

"I got a bigger present than you" Shay giggles in a childish manor.

"Calm down kids, they both cost the same" I say laughing.

Shay opens his first and sees the baseball caps.

"I love them, I needed some new ones since my older ones are getting tatty" he pulls off his ShayCarl hat and puts on one of the Volcom caps then gets up and checks himself in the mirror.

"Now it's your turn" I gesture for Collette to open up her gift. She begins to open it and Shay sits back down to watch. The little box is revealed and she opens up the top. Her face lights up with excitement.

"It's beautiful" she grins as she takes it out of the box and immediatly puts the shining necklace around her neck.

"Beats my gift, I just got her tickets to another George Straight concert" Shay whispers to me, I laugh.

All of the women gather around to look at the necklace. She seemed to really enjoy it. Bonus Son points were in the bag for me.

We ended the day by all of the family sitting around the TV watching Home Alone, boy did I hate that movie. I tried so hard to get out of it but ended up sitting there playing on my phone. I texted Natasha.

'Merry Christmas' I said, I waited 20 minutes before she replied.

'Merry Christmas to you too x' I smiled, it was good to have a friend. A few minutes later I recived another text, thinking it was from Natasha I opened it to see what she had said.

'Merry Xmas babe xxx' It was from Katie. What was she trying to ruin my day on purpose. I knew damn well that text wasn't for me.

'Was that for me or Jesse?' I text back with anger.

'shit, sorry' is the reply I get a few minutes later. I couldn't help but feel sad, she had honestly broken my heart. How long had she been seeing Jesse? I shut my eyes as I think about everything, christmas had been ruined by my ex-bitches mistake.

"Hey Harry, wake up. Are you okay to drive, you can go home to bed or do you want to sleep here tonight?" Shay woke me as he tapped me on the shoulder. It was dark and quiet, I was positioned against the sofa. My back was killing me from sleeping in an odd position.

"I'm okay to drive" I say getting up and stretching off.

"Here take the keys, go back to the house and get yourself to bed. We'll meet you there in the morning" I take the keys off of him and step over the various children spread out across the floor sleeping.

There wasn't very much room left at Grandma's and I would of probably prefered to stay at home on my own. As I drove home I drove past Katie's house, the lights were turned off and I saw the christmas lights around the door flash on and off. It was gone 11pm so it was best if I didn't disturb anyone.

As I got into the house I half expected Zeke to come and jump on top of me and then realised that he was over at Grandma's with Shay. The house felt so lonely when you're in it alone, it was too big for just one person.

I sat up in bed for a good hour flicking through my Facebook feed to see all of my friends from school having a good time at Christmas. I loved Christmas now compared to when I was in care, I could really understand the true meaning of it now that I had experience it first hand.

Christmas wasn't about the gifts or even so much about the relgion. Christmas is a time for family. When family is the only thing that should matter to you. Not your bills, not your job, not your Iphone, not your internet or your clothes.

Family.