It was around 7am when Luna woke up that day. She opened her eyes getting hit by the sunlight that entered through the window making her put her arm over her eyes trying to protect them from the sun
The house was in complete silence, the only thing she could hear was Emma's heavy breathing.
It took a few minutes for her to fully wake up and realize what day it was. December 24th. Christmas... well almost. As weird as it may sound, it didn't make any excitement appear on Luna's body.
Most kids loved Christmas, some kids could even be talking about it, weeks before the actual holiday. They would try to be on their best behavior as they tried to show Santa, they deserved to be on the good kids list. Thinking for weeks about the toys they would ask for, getting super excited as they write the letter that somehow would travel from the tree to the north pole where this big, old, kind man and his helpers would make their toys specially for them.
That night, when everyone is sleeping, he would come to your house in his flying reindeers-driven sleigh, delivering the toys placing them gently under the tree. Not before drinking the glass of milk and eating the plate of cookies that were baked for him earlier in the day.
The mystery of how he delivers toys for all the kids in the world, or how reindeers are able to fly doesn't matter, in fact that's part of the magic.
That's the thing, Luna wasn't able to feel that magic anymore. She hadn't felt that for a while now and she was pretty sure she was not going to be able to feel it again.
She doesn't know when it happened exactly but what she knows is that, as the years went by that warm feeling... that magic began to disappear little by little until there was nothing there. She still made the effort for Emma but for her, Christmas didn't mean anything anymore.
After a few minutes laying on her bed, the brunette decided it was time to get up.
Slowly, Luna sat on her bed trying not to make any sound, being careful not to wake up her sister. She slipped off her mattress and slowly made her way out of the room, heading towards the kitchen
"Good morning bella" she heard Carina say from the kitchen where she was making breakfast "How did you sleep?" she asked smiling at the girl who came closer to her
"Morning" she whispered smiling a little "Good" she said as she shrugged
"That's good" the Italian said as she turned back to the kitchen counter again to grab her cup of coffee "Are you hungry? Breakfast's ready" she asked earning a nod from the girl "Go sit at the table then, I'll bring it to you" she said making the girl nod before heading out of the kitchen
Sat at the table, Luna turned to the side and looked at the Christmas tree. She looked at all the lights and at all the ornaments that decorated it. A slight smile appeared once she saw the big star on top of it
"Morning" a voice said snapping the little brunette from her thoughts "Look who woke up early today?" the blonde said appearing from the hallway carrying her baby sister who had decided she was still tired mid-way to the living room, so she had placed her head on her mommy's shoulder, hiding her face on the woman's neck
"Morning bambina" Carina said walking towards her wife, giving her a little kiss once she was close enough. Not before giving a kiss to the little blonde who didn't seem interested in waking up just yet
"Morning" Maya said smiling at the brunette "Well, someone has changed her mind" she said making the woman in front of her chuckle at the little blonde
"Well, she can sleep a little longer" the brunette said running on of her hands through the girl's blond hair "It's still early" she said before going back to the kitchen to grab a plate that had French toast and a glass of chocolate milk
Once the brunette placed the food in front of Luna, the girl couldn't help the smile that came from her.
"Thank you" she said to the Italian who couldn't help to smile at the girl's excitement
"You welcome bella"
"Andy texted" Maya announced to her wife making her turn around to look at her "They have it all fixed" the woman stated earning a nod from her wife
The station had decided to do a little reunion to celebrate Christmas eve. They would eat something together, have a nice time and then watch the fireworks. It was going to be nice
The couple had already told the girls about it and Emma was super excited, she loved to see those things light up the sky with colors. On her side, Luna thought fireworks were okay, but it always happened to her that at some point, the sounds would get a little overwhelming. Anyways, she would have to just deal with it, she just hopes she's able to
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"You okay bella?" the brunette asked once she saw Luna fidgeting with her hands as she looked at her lap
"I'm okay" she said trying her best to give the woman a smile. For Luna's bad luck, the woman knew her better that she thought and wasn't buying it one bit
"Mamma! It's almost time!" Emma said loudly running towards her. The sound of her sister's voice made the brunette almost jump. She couldn't hold her nerves in
"I know" the Italian said smiling at the blonde "It's almost time for the countdown" the woman said smiling when the girl nodded eagerly "Why don't you go tell mommy about it?" she said not forgetting about the stressed girl she had right next to her
"Mommy!" the little blonde shouted, running off towards her mom making Carina chuckle at her
"Are you sure you are okay?" the woman asked again making the girl look up at her for the first time. However, when she was about to say something, a voice cut her off
"Countdown guys" Vic said gathering the people
Once it started, Luna couldn't help but to get a bit closer to Carina. She was trying to think about other things other than what was going to happen when the countdown finally reached its end. The simple thought of all the noise that was about to explode made girl have to close her eyes to calm her heart rate and control her breathing
Carina on her side, noticed something was going on with the girl. Going back to all of what she knew about her, it was a matter of seconds before she connected the dots and realized that fireworks probably weren't a good experience.
The brunette without thinking about it, placed her arms around the girl holding her close to her. Luna too busy trying to calm herself down, didn't mind it and just focused on her breathing.
And then, it finally happened, fireworks were everywhere, they covered the sky. Unfortunately, Luna wasn't looking at it, she could only hear the sounds from it that made her jump every time. Her chest ached and her breathing was uneven. How long was this going to last?
"It's okay bella, you are okay" the woman whispered as she placed one of her hands on the girl's ears trying to muffle the sounds "I got you" she said frustrated at herself for not having thought about this possibility but mostly frustrated because she couldn't do anything to help
Slowly, Luna's breathing went back to normal, her chest stopped aching and she stopped jumping at the noises. When she finally got used to her surroundings, she decided to open her eyes and look directly at the sky. She didn't want to be met by any worried eyes on her
The Italian looked at her making sure she was okay, scanning the girl's expression to know if she needed anything
"It's pretty" the girl suddenly said after a few minutes of looking at the sky
"It is" the brunette said smiling, feeling a sense of relief run all over her "It is really pretty"
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"Mamma?" the little blonde called the brunette as she tucked her in her bed "Do you think Santa will actually give us toys?" she asked finally letting out a doubt that it had been bothering her all day
At this question silence filled out the room making the brunette stop her actions and look at the toddler. It all became clearer
"Of course, Santa gives toys to good kids" Carina started explaining with a lump in her throat that was caused by her daughter's question "and you have been really good... both of you have" the woman said looking at the older girl that looked at her from her bed
"Yes... but are you sure?" the girl asked again trying to convince herself "We don't usually get toys... we are bad" the girl said repeating what she had been told repeatedly. She had heard those three words so much that she had come to believe it
"Bella... don't say that" the woman said not liking to hear those words coming from her daughter "You and your sister could never be bad" she said not wanting to even imagine how her girl had come to that conclusion
Maya, that util now had stayed out of the conversation, listened to her wife from the older girl's bed, where she was sat. On her side, the firefighter couldn't help but to feel a bit angry at the image of someone telling that to her kids.
"You sure?" the girl asked not really getting how that could have changed. She doesn't recall doing anything different that before. How come she was good now?
"I'm sure" the brunette said giving the little kid a smile while she came closer to give the girl a kiss on the forehead "Now you have to sleep... you know Santa doesn't come if you are awake" the woman said making the girl nod quickly as she shut her eyes tightly
"You have to sleep too" the blonde told Luna who immediately looked at her and nodded "Good night kiddo" she said as she stood from the girl's bed
"Good night bellas" Carina said as she stood up as well and followed her wife "Sleep tight" was the last thing both girls heard before the couple closed the door as they left the room
Next morning Emma was the first one to wake up. She was overly excited about today. Although she did was a little skeptical about all the Santa stuff, her mom had told her that he would actually come this time and her mom didn't lie.
"Luna..." the girl whispered as she slipped off her mattress and walked the few steps she had over her sister's bed "Luna" she said again as she moved the older girl "It's morning Luna... It's Christmas" she said unable to hide her excitement with her sister
"Good morning, Emma" she said as she rubbed her eyes trying to get rid of the tiredness she had before getting up "Merry Christmas" she said softly
"Let's go!" the little blonde answered tugging on her sister's sleeve
"I'm going, I'm going" she said sitting on the bed before getting out of it
With that both girls left their room to start walking towards the living room where some gifts waited for them.
As they entered the room Emma couldn't hold in the gasp that escaped her mouth once she saw the pile of gifts under the tree. Her eyes sparkled as a smile crept into her mouth.
On her part, Luna couldn't help the smile that appeared on her face as well. She knew there were going to be presents, she knew Carina and Maya would put presents under the tree. However, it did make her feel something once she saw the image. She hadn't had a normal Christmas since she was little... this was kind of nice
Before Luna could even think to stop her, Emma had already run towards the tree, kneeling in front of the pile of boxes and bags. She was excited to start opening them, even so she was stopped by a voice behind her
"If you touch that there will not be presents for neither of you" a voice said jokingly, making both girls turn around "Good morning girls" Maya said followed by the Italian with a smile
"But... mommy" the little blonde begged not wanting to wait anymore. She was curious about what could be inside the boxes and bags
"Okay, go ahead" the blonde said rolling her eyes
That's how Christmas day began, and as the morning went by Luna couldn't help but look around and truly smile. Maybe she was able to feel that magic again after all.