Cory's POV.
Looking out of my bedroom window, I watch as the snow falls to the ground. Everything outside looks like the perfect picture of Christmas, with the snowman that Missy built earlier this morning slowly melting and her snow angels being filled in once again. I wish I could go out there and enjoy it, with nothing else on my mind but the up and coming Christmas. That just isn't the case this year.
Missy comes racing into my room and begins bouncing on my bed. "What are you doing?" I ask the very hyper three years old who has chocolate smothered around her face.
"Playing." She looks as if I am an idiot. I can hear mumbling coming from outside but I can't make out the voices due to my sister running around the room.
"Come here," I scoop her up into my arms and fling her over my shoulder so that her head is against my back. Something about that makes her laugh which in return makes me laugh. I carry her to her bedroom and while doing so I hear the doorbell ring. The door opens so I guess my mum has gone to open it. Knowing her, she has probably been stood right next to the door for about ten minutes.
"Is that your girlfriend?" Missy asks while smiling at me.
"Shut up and wash the chocolate off of your face otherwise Santa won't come." I fling her down onto her own bed where she then sits down and crosses her arms at me. I walk away, leaving her be and head back towards my own room to get my phone before going downstairs.
Just as I grab my phone, I hear footsteps coming up the stairs. I hear my mum go back downstairs so I walk out of my room.
"Hey, how are you both?" I ask Kristen and her mum who are stood on the landing, peering into the spare bedroom.
"Well we are alright other than the fact we don't know how we're both going to fit in here. Not that we don't appreciate it though." Kristen adds in quickly at the end.
"Yeah I can see how that may be a problem. Well there's room in my room for one other person." Why did I just say that, her mother is standing right in front of me?
"Oh I don't know." Kristen replies, her cheeks turning red, making her look paler than what she already is.
Luckily for us, her mother says that she can spend the night in my room. I guess she doesn't really have to be worried as I have already gotten her daughter pregnant.
Kristen hesitantly walks into my room which in fairness isn't that big, only just bigger than the spare bedroom. She plops her bag down on the floor besides my bed and sits down. I sit down next to her and place my arm around her shoulder. She rests her head into the crook of my neck. Running my fingers through her blonde hair, I realise that it is soaking through.
"Your hair is wet." I tell which she probably knew.
"It is snowing outside, you genius." She rolls her eyes at me and I can't help but fall for her more.
"Do you want to go downstairs?" I ask her.
"Sure." is all she says in return. I grab her hand and lead her downstairs.
When we get downstairs, I look over at the clock to see that it is nearly half past seven already. Less than five hours until it is Christmas. My parents are standing in the kitchen along with Kristen's mother, talking idly and making some drinks.
"Do you two want anything to drink?" my mum asks Kristen and me.
"Can I have a hot chocolate?" I ask her. It seems fitting with it being Christmas and all.
"I'll have the same." Kristen tells my mum who begins working on the drinks straight away.
"Does Missy not want anything?" I ask, wondering what she is probably up to.
My mum, smiling at me and shaking her head say "I didn't ask. The little monkey is already far too hyper, this is the last thing that she needs. Anyway, I told her that the sooner she goes to bed then the sooner it will be morning and Santa will have been. After that she put her pyjamas on and crawled into bed herself." My mum says to me.
"Oh, that's a shame; I was looking forward to meeting her." Kristen then says while I pass her, her cup of hot chocolate.
"You'll meet her tomorrow, bright and early, I'm sure of that." My mum replies.
The five of us then walk into the living room where we decide to watch a Christmas film Kristen and I are sat on the sofa, along with Kristen's mum and my parents are both sat in the two recliners that we have. Wrapping my arms around Kristen, I pull her closer to me so that my chin is resting on her head.
I try to pay attention to the film that we are watching but it is nothing special. Just another girl meets boy at Christmas time, kiss under mistletoe and snow falls kind of film. Just as the boy tells the girl that he can't be with her, I feel Kristen wiggle against me and yawn. I completely understand how she is feeling watching this film. Through the rest of the film, I notice that she keeps yawning quite a bit and her eyes keep closing so she has to force them back open. She looks incredibly cute while doing this.
After what feels like a lifetime, the movie finally ends, with the boy and girl getting back together on Christmas day after just discovering the boy is Santa Claus. By this point, Kristen is practically asleep against my chest.
"Right then, I really enjoyed that film but I'm off to bed now." My mum announces and I roll my eyes at her. She would enjoy that film.
Kristen stirs herself awake at the sound of my mum's voice and mumbles something about how she is going to go to bed as well. I follow up behind her a few minutes later after washing all the used mugs up and putting them away. There will be enough pots out tomorrow with the Christmas dinner. Her mum must have gone to bed while I was in the kitchen because when I returned back into the room, there was only my dad left.
When I get into my room, I see that Kristen has changed into her pyjamas and is laid in my bed. I quickly change into my own and lay down beside her, wrapping my arms around once again so that she is cradled against my chest.
With one hand, I stroke her blonde hair and ask her, "how are you feeling?"
She looks up at me, her eyes gazing into mine, and replies, "tired if I am honest. Confused but there is also the five year old in me who is very excited for Santa to visit tonight."
I smile down at her, continuously stroking her hair which makes her smile. Hesitantly I ask, "And what about the baby?" as surprisingly, no one has mentioned it all night.
The smile drops from her face, almost immediately, making me regrets asking her that but it is not like we can ignore it. Next Christmas could be a completely different one.
"Honestly I really don't know. But at this moment in time I'm leaning towards keeping it. But if I do, I don't want you to feel like you have to be there. That would be nice but-" she babbles out before I interrupt her.
"Hey I've said this before and I'm saying it again, I will be there no matter what. If you do want to keep this baby then I want to be there too because it's my child as well as yours. So you don't have to worry about that." And I mean it. If Kristen wants to keep the baby, then I want to be a part of its life. It is both of ours mistake.
"Thank you. For just being here." She replies and by the tone of her voice, I can tell that that is the end of the conversation.
Kristen snuggles her head against my chest while she drapes one of her arms over it. It feels nice for the two of us to just be lying here, holing one another. It doesn't take long for her breathing to become regular and steady, letting me know that she is asleep. Sometime during the night, I fall asleep with one hand still in her from where I was stroking it and the other around her back.
We are rudely awakened by the sound of my bedroom door being flung open and my little sister jumping straight onto my bed.
"Coooory, wake up! IT'S CHRISTMAS!" she screams down my ear. Internally I groan at her, especially when I look over at the clock and see that it has only turned five in the morning.
"Kristen, meet my little sister, Missy. Apparently she is very excited because it's Christmas." I mumble to Kristen who is still laid beside me, her eyes slowly opening.
Grumbling, but trying to sound enthusiastic, Kristen says "Hi Missy," back to her.
The three you old squints her eyes and stares at Kris. "Are you his girlfriend?" she asks with her arms folded against her chest.
"Yeah she is. Now stop being nosey and wake mum and dad up of you want to open presents. We'll meet you downstairs." I say to try and get rid of Missy. "I'm sorry you had to meet her that way." I apologise to Kristen, midway through a yawn.
"No worries, it's nice to see someone that eager for Christmas. There's not been anyone like that in my house for years, ever since... well ever since I was her age I guess." She tells me with a genuine smile spreading across her face. "It has always just been me and my mum on Christmas Day, well ever since she and my dad got divorced anyway.
'For the first couple of years or so, the two of them tried to make Christmas work but my dad was never into it. Eventually he just stopped trying and that worked out for the best. I think we all enjoyed Christmas a lot more with it being like that." She then goes onto telling me which I find rather sad.
"What about grandparents, or aunts and uncles. Didn't you ever spend Christmas with any of them?" I ask her, it slipping out of my mouth before I even realised.
"My mum's parents died before I was born and she was an only child so there is no one on that side of the family. My dad is also an only child though his parents are still alive but I don't think I have ever met them. It doesn't bother me though, the way I see it is that they raised an awful man so why would I want to see them?" I understand what she means but I can't imagine being so lonely during Christmas and not spending time with so much family.
"Well I think this Christmas will be a little busier for you." I say, pulling her in for a kiss which she gladly accepts.
"Do you know, I've never actually had turkey before?" Kristen says once she has pulled away from the kiss.
"Really?" I ask, feeling genuinely shocked about this. It is a Christmas tradition to have turkey, surely?"
"It's true. With it only being me and my mum, there was never any point spending all that money on a turkey. It would all go to waste anyway. We'd just cook ourselves a normal roast dinner." She says absentmindedly.
"Well prepare yourself for the best Christmas ever." I say while finally sitting up. "We better go downstairs, I'm pretty sure Missy will be wetting herself with excitement." I pull Kristen up only to watch the entire colour drain from her face. "Are you feeling okay?" I ask her.
Slowly she shakes her head at me before she pulls herself to the edge of my bed. "No, I've just gone really sick all of a sudden." She tells me, while placing her hand on her belly.
I watch as she slowly rubs her own stomach, with her eyes closed as if she is trying to make the sickness go away. Sitting down next to her, I begin to rub her back to see how that helps.
"Any better?" I ask her after a few minutes. She just shakes her head at me.
"I don't think I am going to be sick though." Kristen slowly says. "Let's just go downstairs. The distractions might make me feel better."
The two of us walk downstairs where we are greeted by Missy, my parents and Kristen's mum. Missy is literally bouncing on the spot, ginning a big toothy smile while eyeing up the presents.
Kristen's mum walks over to us. "How are you feeling sweetheart?" I hear her ask Kris who just shakes her head at her.
"She's feeling a bit sick." I explain to her mum who in return smiles kindly at me. She then walks over to my mum and by the looks of things asks her something. My mum then disappears into the kitchen where I presume she has gone to get Kristen a tablet to help with the sickness. Instead my mum walks back with a gingerbread man in her hand.
"Here, eat this. The ginger should help soothe your stomach." I hear my mum whisper to Kristen who reluctantly takes the biscuit.
After that, we get some hot drinks made and sit around the Christmas tree, ready to open presents. Missy receives a lot of toys, mainly large noisy ones which I know will get annoying but probably also forgotten about by the day after tomorrow. My mum and dad get each other perfumes and chocolates, the kind of gifts you would expect them to get. Kristen got her mum a locket with a baby picture of herself in which I thought was very sweet. Her mum got her some expensive make up which made Kristen happy but I just didn't understand it. I get clothes mainly but I don't mind, I actually enjoy getting them.
Kristen is the only person who doesn't get me clothes; instead she gets me a new wallet which is really nice. I hand her over her present, wondering how she is going to react.
She pulls a face when she first feels the packaging as it is rather heavy. Slowly, she begins to unwrap it only to be faced with a cardboard box that needs opening. Less carefully, she rips the box open and pulls the present out. I watch as her face goes from confusion, to recognition and then into a big smile.
"Is this what I think it is?" she asks me and I nod my head at her. "I can't believe you went back and got it. Especially as you said it would cost a 'small fortune'. Were they not your words?" she asks, a grin forming on her face.
"They were. It wasn't that expensive in the end." I openly admit.
"I love it either way. I just can't believe you went back and got that snow globe." I had gotten her the snow globe that she had knocked over when we were looking for decorations for Laura's Halloween party. I thought it would be a nice gift so I'm glad that she likes it.
Kristen shakes the snow globe and we watch as snow fall onto the Christmas scene, covering penguins and reindeers. I think I made the right choice.
The rest of the morning passes with my mum making Christmas dinner with the help of Kristen's mum as well. Kristen and I end up having to play with Missy and her new toys until Kristen begins to feel sick again, leaving me to play princesses with the three year old. Just after one, dinner is served so I go and wake Kristen up who has fallen asleep on the sofa.
"Kristen, I understand if you don't want to eat anything. I didn't really want to eat much when I was having her." My mum says to Kristen and points at Missy.
Kristen's cheeks grow redder at the comment and she gives my mum a small smile before politely saying, "thank you."
The meal was probably the best Christmas dinner I have had yet. The turkey was cooked perfectly and so was the pork. Then there were the potatoes, pigs in blankets, vegetables and Yorkshire puddings as well. Everything tasted delicious, it was a shame that Kristen wasn't feeling well though because she didn't eat much of it. She only managed a potato and a nibble at the turkey before giving up.
After lunch my parents decide to go on a walk so they take Missy with them and Kristen's mum also volunteers to go. This leaves only me and Kristen left in the house.
"How are you felling?" I ask her when the two of us are laid on the sofa watching the Christmas programmes on telly.
"I've felt worse, I guess but I've still really enjoyed today. Such a shame I felt sick though." She says to me. Her back is pressed against my chest and I have my arms wrapped around her front, my chin resting on her head once again.
"It won't be forever." I whisper in her ear. "You'll feel better soon enough." I try and comfort her. She drifts off in my arms and only wakes up once everyone has returned back from the walk.
It doesn't take long for Missy to reunite with her new toys, for my dad to slump down in his chair and my mum to pour herself a glass of wine. The six of us all sit together and watch telly for a couple of hours. It is nice to just unwind for a bit.
"Cory, are you going to London at New Years with Kristen and everyone else?" Kristen's mum asks out of the blue. I have no idea what she is talking about. Was this something that Kristen forgot to mention?
"Mum, I don't think we're off this year. I completely forgot to book tickets." Kristen says before I have the chance to tell her I don't know what she is talking about.
"No worries, I got Laura to do it. She ordered enough for the five of you to go." Her mum replies back to her. By the sounds of it, they all like to go to London for the New Year. That sounds like it could be fun.
Kristen smiles, that news must have picked her mood up a bit after being ill. "Well what do you say Cory, you want to go?" she asks, still smiling at me.
"Yeah, that sounds like a lot of fun." I smile back at her, suddenly feeling more excited for what the New Year could bring.