Break the Ice

A scream echoed throughout the airport.
My scream.

“You idiots! Get off of me!” I attempted to push Eric, Marc and Jared off of me, but failed epically. “Go attack Jordan or something….” Right on cue they ran over to Jordan, and by the sound of the ‘thump’ he fell in the same fashion I did.

By this time everyone was staring at us. I’m not sure if it was because we were causing a major scene, or since there were four pretty famous hockey players there. I was leaning towards the first one.

“Guys! Come on. Don’t embarrass me!” I whisper yelled.
“Awww, is poor Nicki embarrassed by her older brothers.” Marc mocked, as I rolled my eyes.
“Shut up retard. Let’s get our luggage, Jordan.” He nodded and we went and got our bags.

About twenty minutes later the car pulled into the driveway. I jumped out and ran up to the door.

“Hey! Don’t forget about your bags!” Eric yelled.
“You guys can get them,” I winked back at them before pounding on the door. “Mom! Dad!” I hugged them each when my father opened the door.

We started walking in, but I kicked the door closed…..right on time……
“Ow!” Came a painful yelp from the other side of the door, I think it was Jared.
“The evil one is back…..” Marc stated from outside.
“I’m not evil. Just smart in my own way!”

Finally, after a few minutes all of the bags were inside. I ended up helping…..with one.

We all sat down and chatted, catching up with what has happened in the last few months. Phone calls just didn’t cut it.

A while later we decided to follow our normal Christmas Eve tradition. Each of us got to pick one gift to open. It could be any gift, but no matter what it was, we could not open any other one tonight…

“A new xBox controller!” Jordan yelled.
“CD!” That was Eric.
“Hockey stick,” Marc always picked the hockey stuff on Christmas Eve. Either he was good at guessing or someone gave him a hint…
“Socks….” I laughed. Jared was always the unlucky one.
“NHL 09!” I always got something good. The guys all looked at me, then we ran down the steps saying muffled thank yous.

We got downstairs so we could play on the bigger TV.

“Okay…Nicki and Jared on one team. Marc and I on the other….We can rotate on and off, sound good?” Eric instructed, taking the ‘older brother role.’
“No! Why do I have to sit out first?” Jordan asked.
“Because you suck Jord, now come on let’s play!”
Jared and I sat beside each other planning out what we were gunna do for the game. “We’re Pens, called it!” I shouted.
“Fine,” Marc replied…”We’ll be…” He looked over at Eric, “Canes.”

Jared and I won game 1.
Eric and Jordan won game 2.
Marc and I won game 3.
Jordan and Jared won game 4.
Jordan and Marc won game 5.

“Damn, I’m out.” Eric stated. Each of us had won atleast two games except him. I think he’s better at real hockey than hockey video games.

For the next round the teams were: Jared/Marc vs. Jordan/Me.

“Let’s get ready to rumble…do do do do.” I laughed along to the song I was trying to sing.
Jordan and I ended up beating the other guys 7-3.
“Ooooh, Jordan vs. me. Get ready to be owned.” I smiled at him then looked back at the screen.
“One rule guys! Neither of you can be Pittsburgh.” Marc shouted out. The other two guys nodded as Jordan and I agreed. “Jordan has more wins, so he picks his team first…”
“Vancouver.”
“Columbus.” I stated.

Within a few minutes the game ended…5-3 for me.

“Yes!” I jumped up. “You suck Jordan!” I joked.
“Oh, so you say that now?!” Jordan started tickling me and my other brothers joined in.
“Ahhh! Retards st--st--op it.” I was laughing while trying to yell….not a good combo.
I’m guessing at this point my parents were in bed, cuz they came down…not looking very happy.
“What are you guys doing?” My mom said sleepily.
“They’re……ti-ti- tickling me!”
“Boys, stop okay? See you in the morning, night.” Our dad said before they both turned to walk up the stairs.
“You can tell when the kids are home can’t you?” Mom said quietly, but we still heard her.
“That was mean!” Jared yelled up the steps.

I burst into a fit of giggles. “I’ve missed you guys!”
I laid down on the floor and Jared laid beside me….”So anyways, what time is it?” He asked.
“11:59.” Marc replied.
“It’s almost Christmas!” I squealed.
Eric laughed, “Yes it almost is….”
We all watched the clock……”Merry Christmas!” I shouted as soon as it turned to be 12:00.