Dear Santa

The familiar scent of vanilla and peppermint filled Noah’s nose the second she stepped into her childhood home. The warm air swirled around her, engulfing her in a warm hug as the front door shut firmly behind her. Almost immediately four large huskies came racing through the house to greet her, bouncing around and pawing at her. Yanking her boots off, Noah set them down next to the door with the piles of her brothers’ boots. Unzipping her wet, snow covered jacket, she hung it up with the rest of the jackets to dry off. Several loud barks alerted her mother to her presence, as she peeked her head out from the kitchen.

“Hello dear!” she called out, immediately racing off to check on the cookies baking in the oven once again.

Smiling, Noah pushed the dogs down from her. All four stood at her feet staring up at her, eyes wide and unblinking. Shaking her head, she pushed past the wall of fur and made her way back to her bedroom, passing by her father’s study as she did so. The door was cracked just enough to let her know that he was in there, hovering over the piles of letters that filled his desk every holiday season, reading each and every one. Down the hall, Noah pushed the heavy wooden door open to her own, slightly tiny, bedroom. Being the youngest of six kids, Noah ended up with the smallest bedroom, but being the only girl also meant that she got her own room. The four dogs followed her in, settling down all over the floor, basking in the heat from the heating vent.

Aspen was spread across the front of an entire vent, taking up the most space of all of them. Casper was curled up next to Aspen, with his head propped on top of his brother. The only girl, Bailey, took up at spot right at the foot of Noah’s bed so she would know the second that Noah decided to leave; she had to be with her at every minute possible. The youngest, Max, was curled up between Aspen’s legs as small as he could make himself, not wanting to be alone for a second. He was barely one, and still hadn’t quite gotten used to any form of startling noise yet.

Smiling to herself, Noah tugged off her layers of winter clothes, quickly replacing them with layers of fleece pajamas. Outside, she could see the snow swirling down, falling by the foot onto the already high piles of snow outside. The cold air seeped in through the panes of glass, fogging the windows. Small droplets of cold water collected around the edges of the window, holding on to the woodwork. Closing her curtains, Noah pulled her sweater tighter around her and made her way to her bed. Climbing in under the covers, she picked up her phone and glanced at the messages.

7:56 PM
To: Noah
From: Adam
Noah, please call me. I’m sorry.

8:30 PM
To: Noah
From: Adam
Just answer me, I said I was sorry.

9:24 PM
To: Noah
From: Adam
Noah, I can’t believe you’re doing this to me. I said I was sorry, I don’t get why you’re still mad. Come home.

Sighing, Noah put her phone back on her night stand. He had his chance, and he was the one at fault. He was the one who couldn’t do anything right, and the one who fucked everything up. This was his fault, and he could deal with the consequences. Shutting her eyes, Noah rubbed her temples, he was still giving her a headache from thousands of miles away.

December 1st, the beginning of Noah’s favorite time of the year. Thanksgiving was over, fall was over. It was winter, and Christmas, and Noah’s favorite time of the year. Adam knew that, so he should have known she would be completely absorbed into decorating the apartment from that moment on. He should have known she would be out running errands and shopping for decorations all afternoon. He should have known she would come back that evening, bags in hand, ready to spend all night decorating.

When she pushed her way into the apartment that night, she called out a hello, and dropped her bags off in the kitchen. As she began putting away the groceries, the dogs nosing at the bags with their treats in them, Adam still didn’t appear to greet her like he always did. He was definitely home from work, his jacket was hanging by the front door. Making her way back into the bedroom, Noah pushed the door open, and there was Adam. And another girl. Not just any girl, Noah’s best friend.

Former best friend.

Shaking the memories out of her head, Noah fell backwards into the large pile of pillows on her bed, letting out a loud groan. This was not the way she was supposed to be spending Christmas. Not that she minded, of course, Christmas with her family was the best way to spend it. But she had planned on being at her own home, with Adam. Spending Christmas with just each other. Instead she was home, curled up in a tiny bedroom littered with trinkets from her childhood, and four large dogs. The room was hardly big enough for all of them.

Down the hallway, in the living room, Noah could hear her brothers arguing about something, as they always did. There were four of them, all older than her. They still lived with their parents, working with their father in the family business, the one that Noah had left for an adventure in the big city. But here she was, back at home, with nothing but memories of her big adventure away from her family.

“NOAH!!!” the loud yell came from the hallway, and in came the youngest of the boys, Kris.

“Hey Kris,” she smiled, reaching out for a hug from her older brother.

“I missed you, kid,” he grinned, messing up her hair as he climbed into her bed. The bed creaked under the sudden increase in weight, her brothers were by no means small. All of them were over six foot, leaving Noah the smallest in the family, at only five foot.

“I missed you too bro,” laughed, leaning against her brother.

“Don’t leave us again, it’s more fun when you’re here,” he said, and for once, he didn’t seem like he was joking.

“Well I’ll be stuck here for a while at least.”

“Good.”

After a few minutes in silence, Kris climbed out of the bed, ruffled is sister’s hair, and headed out of the room. Noah shook her head, as much as she wished everything was still the way it was supposed to be, home was nice.