𝒓𝒚𝒂𝒏'𝒔 𝒑𝒐𝒊𝒏𝒕 𝒐𝒇 𝒗𝒊𝒆𝒘
& 𝒊𝒏𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒈𝒓𝒂𝒎 𝒑𝒐𝒔𝒕
"TWAS THE NIGHT BEFORE Christmas,
when all through the house. Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse." Grandpa Jack read from the children's book he held in his hands. His reading glasses rested upon his nose before he pushed them up with his index finger. "The stockings were hung by the chimney with care, In hopes that St. Nicholas will soon be there."
River interrupted, "We ain't got no chimney-" All of us who sat in front of our grandfather on the floor shushed the boy, causing him to scoff.
"The children were nestled all snug in their beds, While visions of sugar-plums dance in their heads. And mamma in her kerchief, and I in my cap,"
My eyes darted to his fingers that flipped to the next page, he cleared his throat. "Away to the window I flew like a flash, Tore open the stutters and threw up the sash,"
This is a Christmas tradition that I've always enjoyed. Sitting around the recliner with my siblings and cousins, listening to the 2 stories our grandpa Jack always reads to us every Christmas Eve. Which consists of 'Twas The Night Before Christmas and The Birth of Jesus ( aka Luke 2 : 1-20 ) He's already read us Luke 2 : 1-20 however. It took him about 20 minutes, but I didn't mind it at all. I've heard the verses over in over in all of my 17 years of living by him and it's something I'll never get tired of.
"The moon on the breast of the new-fallen snow,
Gave the lustre of mid-day to objects below, When,
what to my wondering eyes should appear, But a miniature sleigh, and eight tiny reindeer."
Ruby sucked on her pacifier as she sat in my lap. Her large eyes that were glowing from the tiny Christmas tree lights widened. You could tell she was really getting into the story.
He flipped another page, "With a little old driver, so lively and so quick, I knew in a moment it must be St. Nick, More rapid than eagles his coursers they came, And he whistled, and shouted, and call them by name:"
I turned my head towards my left to see Evie sitting in Sawyer's lap, even though she looked absolutely thrilled to be hearing this tale, Sawyer appeared as if he was going to drop dead asleep in that very moment. I knew he enjoyed listening to our grandpa, but I think he's too sleepy at the moment.
"Now, Dasher! Now, Dancer! Now, Prancer and Vixen! On, Comet! On, Cupid! On, Donder and Blixen! Now dash away! Dash away! Dash away still!"
Quiet yet astonishing gasps left the little one's mouths. The smile on Grandpa Jack's face grew larger, deepening the dimples in his cheeks.
He boasted, "As the dry leaves that before the wind hurricane fly, When they meet with an obstacle, mount to the sky; So up to the house-top the coursers they flew, With the sleigh full of Toys, and St. Nicholas too."
Ruby turned her attention on me, giving me a Are you hearing this? look. I've never seen larger eyes than hers in that very moment.
"And then, in a twinkling, I heard on the roof, The prancing and pawing of each little hoof. As I drew in my head, and was turning around, Down the chimney St. Nicholas came with a bound. He was dressed all in fur, from his head to his foot, And his clothes were all tarnished with ashes and soot; A bundle of toys he had flung on his back, And he looked like a peddler just opening his pack."
To be honest, ever since I was a small child, I've thought that my dear Grandpa has looked like Santa Claus. With his white beard and full cheeks, it's believable. The only one detail that's incorrect is that he's a medium-sized man. But, that's truly about it. I've always wondered if that's what my Dad will look like once he grows into a elder. It won't be a bad thing of course, since Grandpa is a good looking old man.
"His eyes—how they twinkled! His dimples how merry! His cheeks were like roses, his nose like a cherry! His droll little mouth was drawn up like a bow, And the beard of his chin was as white as the snow," He read, giving Ruby a tiny wink with his left eye, causing her to giggle. "The stump of the pipe he held tight in his teeth, and the smoke it encircled his head like a wreath; He had a broad face and a little round belly, that shook when he laughed, like a bowlful of jelly."
The last sentence made Ruby giggle even louder, which lead Evelin to laugh as well. My living room filled with the sound of childish joy, it helped set the mood even more.
"He was chubby and plump, a right jolly old elf, And I laughed when I saw him, in spite of myself, A wink of his eye and a twist of his head, Soon gave me to know I had nothing to dread; He spoke not a word, but went straight to his work, And filled all the stockings; then turned with a jerk, And laying his finger aside of his nose, and giving a nod, up the chimney he rose;"
A look of concern planted on Ruby's petite face, but I figured I'd ask her about it once the story was finished. She tilted her head like a puppy hearing a squeaky toy.
Grandpa lastly exclaimed, "He sprang up to his sleigh, to his team gave a whistle, and away they flew like the down of a thistle. But I heard him exclaim, ere he drove out of sight, 'Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good-night."
Claps by all of us filled the air as he closed the thin book, then placing it on the side table placed beside the recliner.
Ruby's expression didn't change however, it lead me to worry. "What's wrong, Rub?"
"How will Santa give us all our gifts if Aunt Ada and Uncle Ben's house don't have a chimney?" I wanted to laugh, in all honesty. Her true level of concern ached at my heart, I wish these type of things were something I had to be worried about nowadays.
My Mother reassured the girl, "Santa has a key to every house in the world that doesn't have a chimney, darling." Her mouth formed into an o and her anxious eyes died down. I watched Mom sip a drink of her coffee while sitting on the sofa beside Aunt Gemma.
Grandma Lydia trotted into the living room and sat down on the recliner's arm rest. Grandpa placed his left hand onto her lower back. "Are you kids ready for the gift exchange?"
Almost every head in the room nodded. Other than the adults, of course. Since it's only an sibling/cousin gift exchange.
It's another tradition I adore and we've had it since we were little, I think my father and aunt had it when they were kids too.
In the beginning of the month of December, we draw names from Dad's old baseball cap. Whoever we draw we have to buy a gift for. We then open it Christmas Eve night and it's the only gift we open until actual Christmas day. It's a way we don't have to purchase a present for every sibling or cousin since it adds up fast. And this year, I happened to get Sawyer.
I was honestly excited yet confused when I drew his name out of the hat. Once again, buying gifts for the opposite gender isn't something I'm good at. Especially since Sawyer is already a somewhat quiet person when it comes to things he wants.
"This is the whitest thing I've ever seen." Sawyer groaned, standing up from sitting on the hardwood floors that was covered by a rug. He motioned the matching pajamas our Mom insisted all of us wore. The pattern of them were red and black plaid. They were truthfully comfortable and I look forward to the "matching pajamas extravaganza" every year.
He then added, "Since I'm being tortured by wearing these pajamas can I open mine first?" He waited for the ok from Mom, before I stood up from the floor too. She looked over at me, knowing I'm the one who drew his name earlier this month. "I don't care, he can."
I walked over towards the tree, adjusting my pajama bottoms in the process. My eyes scattered over the tons of presents under the tree, I tried finding the gift that was labeled, To: my least favorite brother From: your favorite sister
Once I spotted the present, I quickly handed it to the eager boy.
A part of his gift I purchased the day Louis and I went to the mall, Louis even helped me pick it out. I wrapped it, not caring if it was messy or not, cause cmon, it's Sawyer. It's not like he gives a damn what it looks like anyways. The other part I ordered offline as a gag gift, even though he most likely will actually like it.
He held up the blue t-shirt for everyone to see, "IT'S BOYS WHO CRY." Sawyer's shocked face was enough for me to start laughing, he examined the t-shirt in awe. The Spongebob episode has always been one of his favorites and I knew he would get a kick out of it once I saw it online, it was only supposed to be a joke however.
The other part of the gift was a simple cologne Louis insisted on me getting Sawyer, since he had it back home and it's one of his favorites. So, I figured if Louis liked it it'll be good.
I watched my siblings and 2 cousins open their gift-exchange presents from the couch beside my Mom. I held my knees to my chest.
"Ryan's turn!" Margot clapped her hands together and the smirk planted on her face concerned me a bit. Her unkempt ashen locks kept getting in her eyes as she examined all of the presents under the tree, trying to find my gift, I'm guessing. "From the look on your face, I'm guessing the present isn't a good thing?"
My younger sister spotted the bright red wrapped box in the crowd of them, ignoring my question for a few short seconds. Before handing it to me, she double-checked if it was the correct present.
"I'm the best gift-giver in this room, I don't know what you're talking about."
I quickly tore open the gift, placing the wrapping paper beside me. Annoyingly, there was another white box that held whatever Margot got me inside.
"Wait, these are cute." I admitted, holding up the gold jewelry and reindeer fuzzy socks. She grinned at me from ear-to-ear and waited for me to examine the rest of the prizes inside the box. My bottom lip stuck out once I noticed a bright red mini Instax polaroid camera, along with 2 boxes of film.
Our Mom whined, "I was gonna get you that, but Margot wouldn't let me!" She placed her coffee mug on the floor since she finished her beverage.
"There's something at the bottom." Margot informed me, causing me to shuffle the white tissue paper around in the box. A petite polaroid laid peacefully at the bottom, but the photo registered on it was of me and Louis. The one she captured of us in the hallway under the stairs. "Now I don't have to take gushy love photos, you can do it!"
I snickered and placed the gifts in my lap. With open arms, I waited for Margot to fall into my arms for a hug. She did just as I expected and a whiff of her coconut supreme shampoo shot into my nostrils.
"Thank you, sis."
After breaking the embrace, I placed each gift inside the box it came in. The rest of my siblings/cousins were still unwrapping their gift-exchange presents.
Evelin announced out of nowhere, "I hope santa brings me Barbie house!" I raised my eyebrow before I glanced over at Mom. "You already have a Barbie house, Evie!"
"Ken and Barbie got new jobs and need to move." She explained, Mom shrugged her shoulders and sighed in response.
"Fair enough."
"RYAN, WAKE UP!" An aggravating River whisper-yelled, shaking my sleeping body. I felt his 8 year old body straddle me, I could tell he wanted me to annoy me. Sleepy groans left my mouth, signaling I didn't want to get out of bed just yet. "Santa came."
Last night ended off with all of my siblings and I setting out cookies for Santa Claus. It didn't take me long for me to fall fast asleep in my bed due to the day being long and tiring. I loved spending time with my family, but their chaotic personalities can definitely wear you out if you let them.
Another body plopped onto my bed, which I guessing is Evie. I opened my eyes fully, but my vision still wasn't the best since I just woke up.
"Why can't you bug Margot to get up instead of me?" I questioned him as rubbed my eyes. Evelin sat in front of me, her golden curls untidy and her puffy red face staring back at me. That's when I noticed the sky outside didn't have a lick of daylight in it, it made me realize that it's still early in the morning.
He shrugged, "Cause Margot will hit me." I chuckled and motioned for him to get off, even though he's 8 he's still starting to get heavy. "Are Mom and Dad even up?"
"Yeah, but they have to make their coffee first."
Sounds like them, truthfully. Even though it's irritating, they've always been like this. The two make us sit on the stairs, for at least 20 minutes, and wait for them to finish before we could open our gifts. Hopefully it's different this year, because I'll go right back to sleep if not.
All 3 of us scurried downstairs once I fully awoken. Evie made me carry her due to her being sleepy. It caused me to slow down whenever I hit a slippery stair, falling this morning definitely wouldn't be the greatest. "I know you can walk, Evie."
"Good morning." Sawyer mumbled. We entered the living room and I spotted our older brother sitting on the couch cross-legged. Margot sat beside him, both of them seemed just as tired as the rest of us.
And once our parents finished their morning coffee and entered the living room, they let us go to town. Wrapping paper, gift bags, etc, flew around the room basically. Dad scattered across the room, trying to capture any wrapping paper in a large black garbage bag. His stressed face was amusing, the mess was the only concern he had.
The other expression that Dad had was surprise. Every gift we opened he looked just as astonished as we were. Most likely due to Mom actually buying the presents, but she still wrote on them in marker, From: Mom and Dad.
"I got a science kit." River said happily over the chaos. I looked up from one of my gifts and watched him examine the science kit box. He's most likely the smartest person in the room, he'll tell you random facts all day if he could. "Thank you Mama."
Purchasing gifts for 5 children can definitely be worrying and exhausting. I've never done it personally, but props to our Mother for doing it every year for us. I'll never be able to explain how grateful I am for both of my parents and everything they do for me.
Even though happiness was dwelling over me and I couldn't contain it, I couldn't help but feel sad on the inside. Knowing this is my last Christmas as a kid, technically, took a tole on me. But, I wasn't going to let it ruin this already perfect day for me.
"Okay! Open your sibling gift now!" Mother gushed, clapping her hands together excitedly. Dad randomly came around the corner from the entryway with a medium-shaped box in his hands. It was somewhat wrapped in Christmas tree themed wrapping paper. The box was placed onto the wooden coffee table beside the L-shaped sofa.
All of us stood around the coffee table, I could tell we were nervous/excited for whatever was stored inside. The look on our parent's faces was priceless, which honestly started to worry me.
Sawyer raised an eyebrow, "Is it a baby?" His face dropped. "Please tell me it isn't a baby, I have enough sibl-"
"No, Sawyer, it isn't a baby." Dad explained, sitting down beside Mom on the couch. "Good, cause I don't want another Evie."
The toddler smacked him across the chest before she decided herself to take the top off the box. She stood on top of the coffee table in awe from what appeared inside the box.
"IT'S A KITTY." She practically yelled, throwing the top onto the floor. We all gasped and I picked the cat out of the box, it's brown fur grazing against my skin. Even though Evelin said kitty, it definitely wasn't the size of one. It wasn't large, but it wasn't tiny either. It's eyes were honey brown, they honestly reminded me of Louis' when I first met him.
Mother informed, "He's a British Shorthair and we knew you guys would love him!" All of us admired the new addition to our family, petting him, playing with his paws, etc. He took in every second of it, which surprised me honestly. Every cat I've been around has been tried to bite or scratch, it's most likely my fault though, but this one seemed nice.
"What are you gonna name him?" Dad questioned us as we continued to play with him. It didn't take us long at all to pick out an name for him, especially since it suited him so well.
"Casper."
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♥ liked by louispartridge_ and 567 others
RYANJDARR merry christmas ( meet casper btw )
view all 257 comments
zacharmstrong merry christmas whore
⤷ ryanjdarr 🥦🥦🥦
lilliangrace merry christmas pretty!! 😍
jensen03 casperrr
mariahh MERRY CHRISTMAS MY LOVE
⤷ ryanjdarr LOVE U
saiafromna hi casper
margotdarr ft sawyer's ugly ass finger
⤷ ryanjdarr MHM
⤷ sawyerdarr ok ?????
jackmiddleton79 merry christmasss 🎄🎄
seaveygustav 😍😍😍
ivy_down <casper3
santdaniel merry christmas to everyone except
people who own kia souls
⤷ ryanjdarr STOP
santdaniel love u
⤷ ryanjdarr LOVE U
corbinjohnson 😇😇😇
carterahr098 merry christmas 🤪🤪
louispartridge_ merry christmas ryan ❤️❤️❤️
⤷ ryanjdarr merry christmasss 🤍
louispartridge_ is the second pic bigbear
⤷ ryanjdarr yes
partridgewife ????
louisaesthetic who are u and why does louis
keep commenting on ur posts
milliesrose merry christmas!! hi casper 🖤
lqiusprtridge are you louis' girlfriend??
𝑮𝑹𝑨𝑪𝑬 𝑺𝑷𝑬𝑨𝑲𝑺!
merry christmas!! my day hasn't
been the best but i hope santa
brought yall some good ass gifts🤍
and uh oh the partridge fans finally
spotted ryan um
i'm sorry for the late update. i'm gonna
try to update everyday, or every other day.
key word; TRY SNJS. and stay tuned
for some intense ryan and louis action
soon!! hehe
i'm still tryna figure out more and more
ideas for this book even tho i have SO MUCH
in my notes. but, if you'd want, pls drop
some in the commentss.
YOU GUYS DONT UNDERSTAND HOW
MUCH I APPRECIATE 81K?? I FEEL LIKE
I SAY THANK YOU FOR READS IN
EVERY CHAPTER BUT I TRULY APPRECIATE
ALL OF IT SO MUCH.
I LOVE YOU 🤍🤍
( also he totally said this to me btw )