Although I was still kind of shaken up by the events of the other day, I tried my best to not let it bother me. It was almost Christmas and I didn't want to dampen my spirits for the occasion.
After all, this would be my first real Christmas.
I had never actually celebrated Christmas with Mama, she didn't like Christmas. I don't know why but I also never asked because I didn't want to put her in a bad mood.
My favorite part of Christmas was the lights. Every year, I would look at the lights in the neighborhood just admiring how pretty they were.
I was a little excited when I was asked to help decorate the tree. Okay, maybe I was more than a little excited. It would be my first time decorating a tree and I've always wanted a tree so I was really looking forward to helping the others.
"Ceres! We're decorating the tree now!" Roman called me from downstairs and I jumped out of my bed and rushed down the stairs.
When I walked into the living room, I had immediately stopped at the sight of our tree. I was in awe as I stared at it. It had to be at least 8 feet I think. It was bare of any ornaments but that would soon change with the help of my brothers. All the decorations were laid out in boxes that were scattered around the room.
Off to the side, Max was grumbling things under his breath as he tried to untangle the lights.
"Still don't see why I have to do this shit..." I heard him mutter and apparently Lance heard him too.
"It isn't the end of the world, Max" he said and Max rolled his eyes in response.
"It's annoying. If you barbarians put them back properly, this wouldn't happen" He said as he finished untangling one of the lights and then groaned when he saw the many others that still needed untangling.
"Don't blame us. Ares put the lights back last year" Lucas said as he was taking out some ornaments from the boxes.
"Oh yes, blame me for every little thing that goes on in this house" Ares said with a roll of his eyes.
"You're the one here 24/7" Roman said and Ares just frowned before returning to what he was doing.
"Ceres, do you mind grabbing that box and looking for the star?" Lance asked pointing over to a box near Roman and I nodded.
There was a bunch of little ornament balls and angels inside as I sifted through the things. Some of the garlands had shedded and was all over the box.
"Um, where's Kade? I just realized it's quiet in here" Max asked looking at us.
"I think he's still sleeping" Lucas said and Roman sighed.
"Nose goes!" Ares yelled and everyone but me started putting their fingers on their nose and Max cursed out loud all of a sudden.
"I always fucking lose..." Max grumbled as he dropped the lights harshly on the ground.
"C'mon kid" Max said and I paused.
"But I haven't found the star yet..." I said and this time Lance interjected.
"It's fine. You can look for it later" he said and so with that, me and Max headed upstairs to wake Kade up.
These next depictions are simply a figment of Kade's dream. Any similarities to actual people is entirely a coincidence.
Once again, this is Kade's dream. Got it? Good.
"Kade...I guess I have to admit you've always been the best looking brother. I was just so blinded by my arrogance. How could I have possibly thought that I was the best looking?" Ares said with a frown and I basked in his compliment.
"That's no surprise at all but thank you for telling me! I'm so glad you're finally being honest with yourself" I said and suddenly in front of me was Lance with his arms crossed.
"You were always the most responsible one, Kade. You've gotten all of us out of tight spots, even me" he said and I just thanked him.
I always knew that I was the most reliable. Who wouldn't want to put their trust and faith in me after all?
Now it was Max who was looking at me with that rare smile on his face.
"I know I don't say it much...but you really are the best brother anyone could ask for" Max said and he hugged me.
He hugged me! This has to be a dream! But I didn't care, I was too busy enjoying being showered with love to care.
•
•
•
"What do you think he's dreaming about?" I asked looking at the happy look on Kade's face as he continued to sleep. Max pulled a disgusted face while looking at Kade.
"I don't know but let's just wake him up. I can't stand looking at that nasty face he's making" Max said before proceeding to harshly jostle Kade.
Kade's eyes snapped open and suddenly he was up and hugging Max.
"Max, I always knew you didn't hate me!" He cried and Max's entire face was that of surprise and disgust.
"Ahhh!! What the hell?! Wake the fuck up you delusional bastard!!" Max yelled as he tried to pry Kade off of him but to no avail he wasn't budging.
Just what in the world was going on here...?
I sighed. I would stay and help but I really couldn't help Max out when I thought about it. Not only was Kade's death grip almost impossible to slip away from, what were I to do if Kade had suddenly set his sights on me? It wasn't a favorable situation in my head so I silently prayed for Max before heading back downstairs.
"Judging by Max's screams, Kade is awake I take it?" Roman said upon seeing me walk back into the room.
"Yes..." I said, not bothering to deliver the details of what I just saw. It was clear that Kade was still dreaming when he hugged Max, but what exactly was he dreaming about that cause him to do that?
Once again, I find myself perplexed by my brothers. It seems like each and every day they get more interesting but weirder at the same time.
Max returned to the living room fuming. I could practically see the steam coming out of his ears and there was a tiny vain popping out on the side of his forehead.
"What's got your panties in a bunch?" Ares asked and Max gave him a sharp and deadly glare.
"Shut. Up." He said before going back to his abandoned lights that were on the ground and pulling at them angrily.
"Jeez sorry..." Ares grumbled.
Once Kade came down, with a busted lip might I add, we all began decorating the tree. I began to put candy canes on the tree, Roman and Lucas put the garlands around it, while Kade and Ares put the ornament balls and angels on.
"Ceres, wanna put the star on top?" Lance asked as he grabbed it. I looked up at the top of the tree and then back to Lance before speaking.
"I don't know if you can see but...I can't reach the top" I said and Lance just let out a chuckle before lifting me up unexpectedly.
"This helps right?" He asked while handing me the star and I nodded before putting it on top. Once I did, Lance put me back on the ground and we all stepped back to take a look at our tree.
"I don't know. It feels like it's missing something, don't you think?" Lucas asked and I nodded. Something was missing but what? I had stared long and hard at the tree before it hit me.
The lights were missing.
I looked over to where Max was still fumbling with the tangled lights. His scowl from earlier was still present but I could tell that he wasn't angry anymore. He was just pouting to pout really.
"Do you need help?" I asked when I reached him and Max looked at me for a moment before nodding and I sat down next to him.
Seeing what I had done, our other brothers also came over to help and with everyone's help, the lights were now free and untangled. We hung them on the tree and once they lit up, the tree had immediately looked so much better. Who knew lights could do such a thing?
"Okay, now that that's over let's eat something" Lance said and we all agreed.
Gift opening wasn't supposed to happen until way later on tonight. Roman had explained to me some time ago that the way they exchanged gifts was decided in a random order.
This year the order was: Lance —> Ares —> Me —> Kade —> Lucas —> Papa —> Max —> Roman —> Lance
The order changed every year and the way it was made was by picking out our names from a hat.
Yesterday, Papa took me gift shopping with him so that we could help each other out. We were at the stores for a long time and although I knew that anything I gave Kade would make him happy, I still wanted to give him something special.
So even though it was small, I chose something that would probably send Kade over the moon. Hopefully he won't die on the way up.
"Agghh! Ares, this is salt not sugar!" I heard Max yell from the kitchen and I was confused as to what was happening so I walked over and saw Roman trying to usher Ares out of the kitchen.
"Who let you in here anyways?" Roman asked.
I just shook my head while watching them. We had to wait a little longer to eat breakfast since Ares messes up the first batch of batter and once we finished breakfast, I decided to head up to my room to finish working on Kade's present.
The woman at the store told me that this was the perfect gift for someone who will appreciate anything you give them.
It didn't take long but I just wanted to make sure that everything was perfect before I gave it to him. Once I finished it, I put one inside the small green envelope and put the other in my pocket.
I had finished up some break homework as the rest of the day had passed by us and soon enough it was time for the gift exchange. When hearing my name called, I came downstairs with my gifts hidden inside my sweater pocket.
"Okay, let's get started now" Papa said as I took a seat in between Lucas and Lance.
Lance was first up and he tossed his gift at Ares who just barely caught it.
"Hmm...it's a little small" Ares said and Lance glared at him.
"I can take it back. I've still got the receipt, you know?" Lance said and Ares shook his head.
"No, no. No need" Ares said before opening up his present.
Inside was a book but I couldn't read the title of it. Ares didn't strike me as the type of person to like reading yet Lance got him a book anyways.
"A cook book...thanks" Ares said with a strained smile as he put the book next to him.
"I just want you to be able to take care of yourself when you live on your own. Is that so much to ask?" Lance asked and Ares sighed with a shake of his head.
"Sorry. I'll study it and try to learn something" Ares said and Lance gave a proud smile in turn.
It was now Ares' turn to give me a gift and if I was being honest, I was very curious about what he had gotten me. After seeing Roman's birthday present it made me wonder if that's the same kind of gift I would get. If that was the case, I had to prepare some nice words in my head to say.
Ares looked at me and I looked at him. As far as he was concerned, we were still on bad terms and he was right to think that since he still hasn't apologized. But, I wasn't upset at all, I was just waiting for his apology.
"Wow, two gifts from Ares in one month? Keep this up and we might actually put effort into your gift next year" Max said as he eyed the cook book laying next to Ares.
"Are you saying that I didn't put effort into his gift?" Lance asked with an all but friendly smile and Max paled.
"N-No! Of course not, haha..." Max said trailing off and Lance just huffed.
Ares just rolled his eyes at the two before taking a card out from behind him and handed it to me.
I took it from him and looked down at the card before slowly opening it. Inside of it was some kind of stick figure drawing and underneath it was a small paragraph in Ares' handwriting which by the way was far neater than his drawings.
'I'm really sorry about eating your bagel bites. If you could find it in your heart to forgive me, will you be my Kiddo again?'
- Love, your coolest bro
I looked up at Ares after reading his card and his face was red as a tomato and his eyes were averted. I guess he wasn't used to doing something so heartfelt, which was endearing in its own way.
He's such a dork.
I let out a small giggle and I could see his head turning to me. When I had his attention, I nodded my head gladly in response to his question. I was glad that he had finally came around and apologized. I was even more happy to see that a smile had found its way to Ares' face as well.
"Kiddo!!" Ares cried as he gathered me up in a bear hug and I couldn't help but laugh as he spun us around.
Well that is until he tripped and we both fell to the ground. Though it didn't hurt as much as it should have, I soon found out why when I heard a groan from underneath us.
"Fucking hell....." Max gritted out as he glared up at us and Ares paled once seeing the deadly look on his younger brother's face.
"Sorry dude" Ares said as he moved off of Max and I moved off as well while checking to see if Max was alright. He wasn't physically hurt which was good but I was a little afraid as he continued to glare daggers at me and Ares.
Now it was my turn to give Kade my gift.
I grabbed the tiny envelope before reaching over and giving it to Kade. He thanked me before carefully opening it and his eyes widened when seeing what was inside.
"It's a bracelet" He said when taking it out and I nodded.
"A friendship bracelet," I said and took the other one out of my pocket. Mine matched Kade's to a T and the only thing different was our names. I had used little beads with letters on them to spell it out and then put other colorful beads to fill out the rest.
"And now we match" I said slipping the bracelet on and holding it up for the others to see.
"This is...so...I'm sorry, I need a second" Kade said as he seemed to be wiping at his eyes and I couldn't help but let out a small smile at his over emotional reaction.
"That is so cute. Let me-" Papa had tried to get a closer look at the bracelet in Kade's hands but he didn't get to as Kade clutched it to his chest and gave a glare to Papa.
"Touch it and you die" he said. Papa let out a nervous chuckle before backing away with a surrendering look.
Not even a few seconds later, Kade turned to me with a smile so wide I thought the corners of his lips would crack.
"Thank you so much, Honey. I'll treasure this forever!!" He said and I nodded enthusiastically at his promise, truly happy that he enjoyed his gift.
After putting his bracelet on, Kade handed Lucas his gift and Lucas looked at it warily before opening it.
He was surprised momentarily when seeing the present.
"This is actually really nice. Thank you" Lucas said and Kade smiled.
"After seeing how your rock ended up in Max's shoe, it seemed like it was time that you needed another box for your collection" he said.
"Thanks" Lucas said again before putting his gift to the side and grabbing Papa's gift and handing it to him.
Papa opened up his gift and he looked at it blankly before looking up at Lucas who was simply looking back at him in turn. Max and Kade were once again laughing with each other but this time Ares joined in with them as they all looked at Papa's gift.
"Lucas"
"Yes?"
"Why on earth would you think I need gel insoles?"
"You're always complaining about your feet hurting so I don't see what the problem is" Lucas said.
"I do not!" Papa protested but it didn't help his case as the trio's laughter grew louder.
"Oh god, I can't!" Kade cried as he was now on his side while clutching his stomach.
Poor Papa...I felt so bad for him. Old age must be hard for him.
"Alright pull yourselves together" Roman said and the three tried to straighten themselves out as asked. It took some time with a couple of giggles here and there but soon enough they were back to normal.
"I don't even understand what was so funny about that anyways" Papa said with a glare as he shoved Max's gift in his arms before going to the kitchen saying he needed a drink.
Not even waiting for Papa to come back, Max opened his gift. Max let out an excited gasp as he looked at his gift.
"A new paint set! Oh my god!" He exclaimed.
"You don't deserve it after that humiliation you three just subjected me to" Papa said as he came back into the living room with a glass of wine.
"Thanks, Dad!" Max said and Papa choked on his drink at hearing Max's gratitude.
"I guess it's fine..." Papa said while staring into his glass.
Who knew it would only take a paint set to finally get Max to call Papa, Dad? I felt a sense of refreshment as I watched Max inspect all the colors in the paint set with an excited twinkle in his eyes.
It was so different from his normal brooding self and I'm glad that he wasn't afraid to hold back his emotions when it came to the things he loved.
"Oh, that's right. Here's your gift, Roman" Max said handing Roman the wrapped present.
It was a lavender scented candle and sleeping mask.
"I know you have rough nights. Hopefully you can relax a little more with those" Max said and Roman gave him a smile.
"I feel like you guys are trying to put me to sleep forever with all these things" he said with a small chuckle as he placed his gift down next to him.
With that, it was finally Lance's turn to be given a gift.
Roman handed Lance the gift and Lance was surprised to see that it was a watch.
"Thanks, I needed a new one" Lance said as he gave a thankful smile towards Roman and Roman returned it with a smile of his own.
"I noticed when you went to check the time and you weren't wearing your watch" he said with a chuckle and Lance let out one of his own.
And with that, our gift exchange was finally over as it was now well past one in the morning now.
Or at least I thought it was over.
"Ceres" I turned my head when hearing Papa call me. He pulled something out of his pocket and handed it to me.
It was a phone.
"Sorry about not getting you one sooner. All your brothers have already added their contacts so if some of the names are a little weird...blame them" He said with a chuckle at the end and I smiled.
"Thank you" I said before looking down at the phone.
As much as I was excited to have one, there was just one problem with it. I wasn't exactly sure on how to use it. Mama had a really old phone that wasn't touch screen like this one, so I just hope I'd be able to figure it out.