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With the Christmas holiday fast approaching, I didn't have much time to celebrate the end of the semester before I was swept up in decorating, shopping for gifts and food, and getting ready for Caroline and Steven to return home once again for the break. My mother wanted to hurry and finished buying everyone’s gifts before they arrived so she could spent time with them, so she decided to include me in the shopping, making me carry the bags or push the cart while she went through her list of things to buy. I chose not to complain and battled the crowds of shoppers along with her, knowing I could relax once it was all finished.
Caroline and Steven's flight landed Monday night and everyone as usual piled into the car to meet them at the airport before we all returned to the car for the drive home. The routine was memorized by now, Steven had it down as well as everyone else by now, and we all sat in the back and talked casually while my parents were in the driver’s and passenger's seats at the front, listening and commenting occasionally. It had only been a few weeks since we last all been together but everyone still had something to tell or announce to everyone. As we were all entering the house to escape from the cold December winds Caroline began relaying all of the classes she was taking next semester, the excitement in her voice as it would be her last and then she would graduate. The two of us took her and Steven’s bags to the spare bedroom they were using once again, talking about the last classes she was taking and when the graduation ceremony would be. I listened and encouraged her as much as I could, happy that she was almost finished with school after working at it for so long.
The five or so days before Christmas were spent catching up with everyone else and also relaxing either from the plane ride like Caroline and Steven, or just recuperating from the final exams like I was. For the first time since Thursday afternoon I had a little time to think, either about my classes in the new semester, about how everything would be shifting and changing, or about Liam and how, despite the fact that he was making himself less known in my life like I wanted, it still felt strange to feel him disappear. I was happy that the possibility of waking up with him in my house was lessoning but it was strange that he was leaving again, feeling just as distant as he had all those years ago. Before too long, I decided it was better not to give myself too much time to think and I focused on preparing for Christmas instead of allowing my mind to wonder places where I’d rather it stay away.
I went with various people to stores to buy presents for someone, like Caroline who needed a gift for our father or Samuel who wanted to buy something for our mother, staying behind only when they insisted I couldn't go because they had to buy for me. I put a lot of effort into making myself busy, as not having any studying or assignments to do was strange, and also to forget about Liam and the last few days of the semester and how strange they had been. It worked just as I’d thought it would and before I knew it I was waking up Saturday on Christmas morning to find my entire family slowly waking and up and navigating towards the Christmas tree in the living room surrounded by presents of various sizes.
I put my contacts in and applied a small amount of makeup for the photos my mom was planning on taking, pulled on an old hoodie sweatshirt over the tank top I’d slept in and walked down the stairs to meet everyone else. Sitting in between my brother and sister on the couch, I yawned and watched in a sleepy daze as my parents passed around gifts to everyone, passing them among each person until they reached who they belonged to. It was tradition to have mostly small gifts, especially considering that Caroline and I were older now, while the larger presents were focused at Samuel since he was still only eleven years old. Everyone opened the gifts or passed around what they had bought someone, all conversing about what they’d been given, where it had been found, or how it was needed, laughing and joking as we all thanked one another.
My mother, as I'd expected, took countless pictures of everyone either opening gifts or grouping together and smiling for the camera and I was happy that I had prepared a little beforehand so that I wouldn't look as tired as I felt from being up so early. We were all given our stockings, traditionally filled different assortments of candy and small toys, and after opening everything we'd been bought and socializing with one another for few hours we all slowly went our separate ways. My mother began the big dinner she was planning, wanting to have an early start on the main meals so they would be done in time, and my father moved towards the television to watch whatever was coming on, awaiting the Christmas Football game which would start in a few hours.
Steven, Caroline and I all shrugged into our winter coats to evade the light snow which had began early this morning and walked with Samuel to the park, the same one we had visited during the Thanksgiving Break, finally persuaded by him wanting to play in the snow along with his new toys he’d received. I made use of the new coat my mother had bought me, thankful for it when the winds picked up and the snow became heavier and we took refuge in the spiral slide, laughing the entire time at how dramatic we were being. After a few hours we decided to walk back to the house, leaving our crowded makeshift cover from the cold and making the short trek back, happily greeted by the smell of cooking food as well as the warmth we’d gone hours without.
After only waiting for a few more hours, socializing with the living room with my father, we all crowded into the dining room and helped set the table, passing around plates and silverware before setting down the multiple dishes in the center of the table, each of them steaming and giving off an enticing smell which wafted through the whole house. Once everything was set up and ready we all sat down and began eating, passing around dishes and starting conversations all around the large table, laughing and joking as we began eating.
The dinner was one of the most fun parts of the Christmas Holiday as usual, other than the morning routine of passing around gifts, and every year was always one of the best aspects of the day. With everyone sharing stories and remembering jokes to tell, the hours seemed to slip by at a rapid pace leaving everyone wondering where they went. Once cleaning was finished in the dining room as well as in the kitchen, putting away food and washing the many dishes that had been used throughout the cooking process, everyone was ready to go to sleep, either exhausted from all the work that had been put in or from all the events the day had held. Regardless, when the clock stuck eleven we all moved towards the bedrooms, each eager for sleep after such a long day.

The days in between Christmas and the new year always felt slow and calm, each of them mainly consisting of either relaxing with the family and watching TV or preparing for the New Year's celebration, in which my parents traditionally held a party for people we knew as well as those who lived in the neighborhood around us. As was accustomed, my mother and father bought the New Year's decorations and put them all around the downstairs of the house, banners saying 'Happy 2011' as well as balloons of gold and silver, also making sure to provide the usual hats, glasses, horns, and the glasses for champagne. I helped out as much as I could, generally leaving it to them since it was a party more for them and their friends and my siblings, Steven, and I all participated in the socializing and conversations people pulled us into.
Two nights before New Year's eve I was sitting at my desk in my room alone, having taken out my contacts, changed into the clothes I was sleeping in, and pulled out my laptop for some time on the Internet, something I was still getting used to being able to do again - even if it was only until classes began again. I'd been talking to friends that had gone to different Colleges and Universities either out of state or too far away to visit when I heard a knock on my bedroom door, glancing up to see my sister stepping into my room smiling and saying, "Hi," as she closed my door and sat on my bed.
"Hey," I answered with a slight questioning tone, watching as she pulled her robe tighter around her and crosses her arms, looking around the room for a second before back at me and finally asking what I was doing. "Just talking to a friend," I replied as I stood from my seat at the desk and moved to sit next to her, throwing pillows and straightening out blankets before I sat and looked to her. Once I was settled I began to notice that she seemed nervous about something, though still she smiled and seemed relatively happy as her face turned and she glanced at me as well.
We sat in silence for a few seconds before a smile broke on her face, still containing traces of apprehension though they were hardly noticeable, and she shifted her eyes away before looking down to my carpeted floor and laughing slightly to herself. I took all of this in with a blank expression, smart enough to realize that something was going on and that she was going to tell me, though I didn't have any idea what it was. Eventually she looked back up at me, pulling her long blonde hair behind her ear and said shyly, "So guess what?"
Whether or not it was a rhetorical question, I shrugged lightly as my own smile grew, correlating with hers, and I watched as she slowly uncrossed her arms enough to allow her left arm to slip out, jutting it forward quickly too fast for me to realize what she was showing me before she squealed excitedly, "Steven proposed; were getting married!" I felt my mouth fall open in shock, the words along with their meaning slowly sinking in and taking effect on me. My brain was slow to process the thought: my older sister was getting married, she was about to start her life and her family.
Caroline began crying, though they were tears of happiness mixed in with her big smiles and excited squealing, and I finally fully understood the information she was telling me and began questioning her, asking to observe the ring he'd given her, when he had proposed, and when they were planning the wedding date. "He asked me at the end of last month," she explained as she held out her hand while I took in the sight of the ring on her left hand, wiping away her tears of happiness with the right sleeve of her robe, "It was his mother's ring that his father proposed to her with, so it's really special to him especially since she died a few years ago."
After looking at the ring thoroughly, analyzing the small, clear diamond and the thin silver band, I glanced up at her with a smile and admired how truly happy she looked for a moment before asking, "So our parents know, right?" She laughed at my question, taking her hand back and lying on the bed, looking down at the ring on her finger as she answered, "Well Steven told Dad of course, go get permission and all that, but Mom doesn't know yet. Were planning on announcing it at the New Year's party; I just wanted to tell you personally." I grinned at her when she met my eyes, a genuine expression of happiness on my face as our eyes met and I remembered all the memories of us as children having fake weddings with our dolls and stuffed animals, and now we were sitting here talking about her actual marriage plans.
"We're thinking about having the wedding in late summer or autumn, but we haven't planned anything out yet," Caroline told me with her eyebrows drawn, still smiling though she knew that it would be better to have it before my college classes start next fall so that I don't miss anything. "We don't even know if it will be here or not," she exclaimed as she looked down to the floor again with a small laugh, pausing before letting her eyes wonder back to me before she spoke softly, "You'll be a bridesmaid, right?"
"Of course," I answered her with a laugh, hardly believing that she would think her own sister wouldn't want any part in the wedding she'd been dreaming about all of her life. I watched her smile return fully, the worry she'd had over me not being a bridesmaid vanishing from her face, and her blue eyes met mine full of swirling emotions of happiness, excitement, and the general fear that went along with not only planning a wedding but also the future steps of her life.
I congratulated Caroline for what must have been the thousandth time, beaming with happiness for her as I watched her stand from my bed and saunter over towards my door, turning and looking at me as I walked back towards my computer desk to reply to any messages and sign off for the night. She said goodnight with a small wave as she opened my door, slinking through it quickly before it closed leaving me alone in my room with only the sound of my laptops and my thoughts on the news she'd told me. It was a lot to take in, the fact that she was getting married along with all of the emotions and changes that went along with it all, and I'd only scratched the surface by the time I turned out the lights in my room and crawled in my bed, entertaining the thoughts for a second before drifting off to sleep.