The Beating of Our Hearts
The Beating of Our Hearts - 34
-Christmas Eve Morning-
I stood for a moment in front of the door, looking at the Christmas wreath hung upon it. I had the feeling that this may be the only other decoration except the Christmas tree. I don’t know how into Christmas the guys got, but they didn’t seem like the massively decorating type.
I pressed my finger on the doorbell and had to wait only a few moments before Tomo swung the door open with a Santa hat perched on his head; it even had a little bell on the end of it.
“Merry Christmas Eve Riles!” He shouted, pulling me and my two bags into the hallway.
“Merry Christmas Eve to you too Tomo.” I laughed at his behaviour.
“Ooooo, are there presents in there?” He pointed to the large plastic bag in my hand.
“Yes. And no you can’t look; you can have yours tomorrow.” I told him, trying to hide the bag behind my back.
“OK!” He shouted, before running back in the direction of the living room.
Chuckling to myself at how excited he was, I looked around; I was right, there were only a few decorations about the place. After quickly running upstairs to hide my bags in the spare room, I followed in the direction Tomo ran and found myself in the living room; except it had been transformed. It seemed they decided to keep their major decorating confined to just the living room. There were holly garlands, fake snow on the windows, mistletoe, a giant Christmas tree, tinsel everywhere and a Christmas movie playing on the TV.
“Merry Christmas Eve Riley.” Jared and Shannon chimed together.
“Merry Christmas Eve Leto’s.” I made my way over to the sofa and squeezed between them, giving them both hugs.
“Yay, now the party can really begin.” Jared said.
“Party? It’s only noon.” I said.
“Did you get us presents?” Shannon interjected.
“Yes, but they’re hidden, and they will stay hidden until tomorrow.” I told him.
“But, but, but-“ He whimpered.
“No. No ruining your surprise.” I said sternly.
“Yes mom.” He looked downcast.
“Awww, don’t worry sweetie, it’ll be worth it tomorrow morning.” I wrapped my arm around his shoulders to comfort him.
“Yeah! And I got you the bestest present.” Shannon’s eyes immediately lit up with excitement again.
“You better have.” I laughed.
“You guys really went all out. On one room.” I looked around at the various decorations.
“Yeah, we usually stay in the living room on Christmas Day anyways. And it saves on having to clear the whole house when it’s over.” Jared said.
“Good plan. So, what else do I need to know about your Christmas traditions? I don’t want to have to wake up with you three jumping on my bed yelling ‘It’s Christmas!’.” I joked.
“Well we wait until everyone is up, which is usually early for Christmas, then we go to the living room and open presents while eating Christmas cookies and milk. Then mess around with gifts until lunch. We always have some eggnog afterwards before settling in to watch a shit load of Christmas movies. And that’s about it.” Jared explained.
“Sounds good to me. Can I help make lunch?” I asked.
“We were hoping you would say that. Jared usually tries to do it, and does an OK job, but with you here it’ll be awesome.” Tomo said from the other sofa.
“I’m excited.” I said, clapping my hands together childishly.
“Me too. I want it to be Christmas now.” Shannon said, joining in the clapping.
“Now, now children. You’ve just got to be patient.” Jared said in a parental tone.
“Yes Jared.” Shannon and I droned in unison.
We all laughed at how stupid we were being; I think we were all a bit giddy about the next day. At Christmas I always felt like I reverted back to being a child, excited for Santa to come, for that moment when you wake up and you realise its Christmas morning and you have presents waiting for you. I loved it.
“Make time move faster.” I moaned, clinging to Jared’s arm like a kid.
“How about we watch ‘What A Wonderful Life’?” He proposed.
“Yeah! Perfect Christmas film.” I enthused, bouncing up and down on the sofa.
Jared retrieved the DVD and put it in to play before returning to his seat next to me. We sat watching the film in content silence, letting its wonderful Christmassy-ness wash over us. Of course by the end, I had tears running down my cheeks. It was only when the credits began to roll did anyone notice that I was crying.
“What’s wrong love?” Jared asked, putting him arm comfortingly around my shoulders.
“It, it was just, so beautiful.” I blubbed, trying to dry my eyes.
“Sshh, it’s OK.” Jared murmured, carefully wiping his thumb across my cheeks.
“Gah, I’m such a cry baby.” I muttered, swiftly wiping away the tears that Jared didn’t catch.
“You’re a girl, it’s to be expected.” Shannon teased.
I replied with a swift punch to his arm.
After the teary ending of the movie, Jared took it out and proceeded to put in the Jim Carey version of How The Grinch Stole Christmas.
“To cheer you up.” He said, sitting back down and pressing play on the remote.
We spent the rest of the day watching various other Christmas movies, including Charlie Brown’s Christmas, which I had loved since I was a kid.
When it got to 10pm I called it a night. I always went to bed early on Christmas Eve, it made the next day come all that much quicker.
I stood for a moment in front of the door, looking at the Christmas wreath hung upon it. I had the feeling that this may be the only other decoration except the Christmas tree. I don’t know how into Christmas the guys got, but they didn’t seem like the massively decorating type.
I pressed my finger on the doorbell and had to wait only a few moments before Tomo swung the door open with a Santa hat perched on his head; it even had a little bell on the end of it.
“Merry Christmas Eve Riles!” He shouted, pulling me and my two bags into the hallway.
“Merry Christmas Eve to you too Tomo.” I laughed at his behaviour.
“Ooooo, are there presents in there?” He pointed to the large plastic bag in my hand.
“Yes. And no you can’t look; you can have yours tomorrow.” I told him, trying to hide the bag behind my back.
“OK!” He shouted, before running back in the direction of the living room.
Chuckling to myself at how excited he was, I looked around; I was right, there were only a few decorations about the place. After quickly running upstairs to hide my bags in the spare room, I followed in the direction Tomo ran and found myself in the living room; except it had been transformed. It seemed they decided to keep their major decorating confined to just the living room. There were holly garlands, fake snow on the windows, mistletoe, a giant Christmas tree, tinsel everywhere and a Christmas movie playing on the TV.
“Merry Christmas Eve Riley.” Jared and Shannon chimed together.
“Merry Christmas Eve Leto’s.” I made my way over to the sofa and squeezed between them, giving them both hugs.
“Yay, now the party can really begin.” Jared said.
“Party? It’s only noon.” I said.
“Did you get us presents?” Shannon interjected.
“Yes, but they’re hidden, and they will stay hidden until tomorrow.” I told him.
“But, but, but-“ He whimpered.
“No. No ruining your surprise.” I said sternly.
“Yes mom.” He looked downcast.
“Awww, don’t worry sweetie, it’ll be worth it tomorrow morning.” I wrapped my arm around his shoulders to comfort him.
“Yeah! And I got you the bestest present.” Shannon’s eyes immediately lit up with excitement again.
“You better have.” I laughed.
“You guys really went all out. On one room.” I looked around at the various decorations.
“Yeah, we usually stay in the living room on Christmas Day anyways. And it saves on having to clear the whole house when it’s over.” Jared said.
“Good plan. So, what else do I need to know about your Christmas traditions? I don’t want to have to wake up with you three jumping on my bed yelling ‘It’s Christmas!’.” I joked.
“Well we wait until everyone is up, which is usually early for Christmas, then we go to the living room and open presents while eating Christmas cookies and milk. Then mess around with gifts until lunch. We always have some eggnog afterwards before settling in to watch a shit load of Christmas movies. And that’s about it.” Jared explained.
“Sounds good to me. Can I help make lunch?” I asked.
“We were hoping you would say that. Jared usually tries to do it, and does an OK job, but with you here it’ll be awesome.” Tomo said from the other sofa.
“I’m excited.” I said, clapping my hands together childishly.
“Me too. I want it to be Christmas now.” Shannon said, joining in the clapping.
“Now, now children. You’ve just got to be patient.” Jared said in a parental tone.
“Yes Jared.” Shannon and I droned in unison.
We all laughed at how stupid we were being; I think we were all a bit giddy about the next day. At Christmas I always felt like I reverted back to being a child, excited for Santa to come, for that moment when you wake up and you realise its Christmas morning and you have presents waiting for you. I loved it.
“Make time move faster.” I moaned, clinging to Jared’s arm like a kid.
“How about we watch ‘What A Wonderful Life’?” He proposed.
“Yeah! Perfect Christmas film.” I enthused, bouncing up and down on the sofa.
Jared retrieved the DVD and put it in to play before returning to his seat next to me. We sat watching the film in content silence, letting its wonderful Christmassy-ness wash over us. Of course by the end, I had tears running down my cheeks. It was only when the credits began to roll did anyone notice that I was crying.
“What’s wrong love?” Jared asked, putting him arm comfortingly around my shoulders.
“It, it was just, so beautiful.” I blubbed, trying to dry my eyes.
“Sshh, it’s OK.” Jared murmured, carefully wiping his thumb across my cheeks.
“Gah, I’m such a cry baby.” I muttered, swiftly wiping away the tears that Jared didn’t catch.
“You’re a girl, it’s to be expected.” Shannon teased.
I replied with a swift punch to his arm.
After the teary ending of the movie, Jared took it out and proceeded to put in the Jim Carey version of How The Grinch Stole Christmas.
“To cheer you up.” He said, sitting back down and pressing play on the remote.
We spent the rest of the day watching various other Christmas movies, including Charlie Brown’s Christmas, which I had loved since I was a kid.
When it got to 10pm I called it a night. I always went to bed early on Christmas Eve, it made the next day come all that much quicker.