Chapter 37
ZOEY
I’m in the middle of the best dream when something starts shaking my shoulder.
Or someone, at least.
“Zoey,” my little brother whispers. “It’s Christmas.”
“It’s not Christmas,” I groan. “It’s time to go back to bed.”
Olly giggles. “It’s Football Family Christmas. Presents, Zo-Zo. Presents!”
“Presents!” Portia sits up in her bed. “Harley, it’s time for presents!”
Her twin sister groans like her beautiful dreams are being disrupted as well, and I want to tell all three of them to shut up and let me get back to making out with Hero Fiennes-Tiffin.
The actor had me in his arms, making out against a wall in some room that kept changing colors.
It was hot and perfect, and I don’t give a shit about Football Christmas and presents. I want to go back to my dream.
“Zoey, come on. Let’s go look under the tree!”
That was one of the activities Aunt Libby planned yesterday. We decorated a fake Christmas tree, and I’m pretty sure before all the adults went to bed, they put a bunch of presents under there.
I don’t know who bought my gift this year, but I hope it’s a good one.
Flinging the covers back with a growl, I sit up, rub my eyes, and glare at my brother. But his excited smile is so damn cute that my lips are soon twitching into a grin. He hands me Dad’s old sweater and my favorite pair of fluffy socks, then jumps from toe to toe as I slowly pull them on.
I don’t even know what time it is, but it’s still dark outside.
Dad said I could have my phone back this morning. He even gave it to me for a couple of hours last night so I could check my messages, but I’ve never been allowed to sleep with it in my room, so I can’t even check what time it is.
“Shh,” Olly reminds me just before we creep out the door with Portia behind us. She’s holding Harley’s hand, who looks like a little zombie with her messed-up hair and half-open eyes.
I snicker and get pulled along by my brother.
We creep downstairs, and I spot the time on the microwave when we walk past the kitchen.
It’s 5:45 in the morning. Seriously?
Ugh!
“Oh, wow!” Olly exclaims way too loudly, then slaps a hand over his mouth while Portia jumps beside him, opening her mouth as if cheering but not letting any noise comes out.
The tree looks amazing. The fairy lights wrapped around it must have been twinkling throughout the night, and presents are exploding from under the tree.
Portia and Olly break into a happy dance as Harley flops against my leg.
I pick her up and walk to the couch, nestling her onto my lap, where she drifts back off to sleep against my shoulder.
Lucky duck.
I rest my cheek on the top of her head, and my eyes are just fluttering closed again when Seb jumps down the stairs with a loud crash and runs into the living room.
“Presents! Christmas!” he yells, and we all shush him.
“Don’t wake the parents,” Portia warns him.
“Why not?” He scratches the top of his scarecrow hair. “The sooner they’re up, the sooner we can get on with it.”
I snort and shake my head. “Or the sooner they tell us off for being up too early and send us back to bed.”
“Oh.” Seb bites his lips together and bobs his head, but the hyperactive kid can’t stay still for long and is soon pretending to be a ninja with Olly while Portia inspects the gifts.
“How do you spell Sebastian?” Portia asks.
“S-E-B,” he whisper-yells before jumping off the couch and trying to land like Spider-Man with one arm up and one leg stretched out.
“I found your present,” Portia tells him excitedly.
“Let me see!” Running over, he looks about ready to careen into the tree.
“Slow down,” I bite out. “And don’t touch any of those presents. You guys know the rules.”
They both kind of whine at me, but I stand my ground and then have to repeat myself another fifty million times as all of the other kids arrive in the living room. Ugh. The joys of being the oldest.
Thankfully, Dom helps me out when he gets down and even posts himself as a bodyguard next to the tree so Kendall and Seb keep their sticky little fingers away.
Olly makes a daring attempt and gets tickle-tortured by his older brothers until he starts yelling, “I’m gonna pee!”
They jump away from him, because it’s been known to happen. The kid laughs so hard sometimes he wets his pants. Jeez. I really hope he grows out of that one fast. It’s so embarrassing.
“Well, who needs an alarm clock when children exist?” Dad walks into the room, looking like he could use another couple of hours.
“I’ve been trying to keep them quiet,” I tell him when he walks toward me.
“You did good.” Leaning down, he kisses the top of my head, then hands me my phone.
“Thanks.” I smile up at him, and he winks.
I gaze down at my device, then slip it under my leg. I actually don’t want to check my messages right now. I’m kind of over the Curry insults and… in spite of my internal protests, I’m actually kind of enjoying watching my family get all excited about presents.
I’m excited too.
Getting this extra Christmas every February is always the best.
It feels like forever, but eventually the parents make their way downstairs.
Poor Aunt Nylah is having to be supported by Uncle Carson.
His arm is wrapped around her tight as she struggles down the stairs.
She’s always had a small limp because of her busted leg, but I think the pregnancy is making everything worse.
She looks like she’s beyond ready to get that baby out of her.
Uncle Carson guides her to the couch, and as soon as she’s sitting down beside me, Harley crawls right off my lap and snuggles into her.
“Good morning, caramel.” He grins down at his girl.
She gives him a shy smile. “Hi, Daddy.”
Aunt Nylah grins, kissing the top of her head and wrapping her arm around her.
“Daddy, Daddy, look!” Portia jumps up and down.
He grabs her under the arms and lifts her up to eye level. “Hey, blueberry.”
She giggles. “I got a present under the tree!”
Uncle Carson narrows his eyes. “You didn’t touch it, did you?”
“No.” She bulges her eyes, then points at me. “Zoey wouldn’t let me.”
“Well, Zoey is a very smart young woman.”
Young woman?
Yeah. I like the sound of that.
I can’t help sitting up a little straighter and beaming at my uncle. He winks at me before taking a seat on the floor near Aunt Nylah’s legs.
“Ho, ho, ho!” a deep voice rumbles from the staircase, and we all whip around to see Uncle Wily walking down the stairs in a Santa suit.
He has a pillow secured under his costume with a big black belt, plus the long beard and the floppy hat. He looks so great.
“Santa!” Seb yells, running toward him and punching the pillow.
Uncle Wily makes a show of bending over and pretending it hurt while Aunt Libby frowns down at her youngest son. “Don’t be mean to Santa or you might not get your gift.”
Seb giggles, then puts on his sweet voice. “Sorry, Santa. I mean, Dad.” He giggles again, squealing when Uncle Wily picks him up and throws him over his shoulder.
“Who wants presents?” he booms in a deep voice.
“Me, me!”
“Me!”
“I do! I do!”
Various shouts echo around the room as the excitement levels increase by a thousand.
I wince against the noise and notice that Mom is doing the same as she hands a bleary-eyed Aunt Blake morning coffee. She yawns and takes the cup with mumbled thanks before turning to whisper something to Aunt Dani.
They giggle together, and I wish I knew what they were saying.
I wish I was sitting on that side of the room.
I’m always caught in the middle. So much older than all these kids, yet too young to be considered an adult.
Although, Uncle Carson did say young woman before. I’m gonna take that shit and use it to my advantage any way I can.
“All right. Who goes first this Christmas?” Uncle Wily booms while Jane stands beside him, holding the jar of golden marbles. Aunt Libby made it about six Christmases ago, and each time another child is added to the family, she adds a new ball.
“Santa” then pulls out a ball each year and hands out the gifts accordingly.
“Is there a Charlotte in the room?” Uncle Wily is doing great with his deep Santa voice. I love it.
Charlotte jumps up, waving her hand in the air. “Me! I’m Charlotte!” Her cute voice is so adorable! Hearts are melting all over the place as she steps forward and opens her gift.
It takes forever doing it this way, but traditions are traditions, right? And the way it works is that one person gets to open their gift at a time, which means we all get to see what they got.
Charlotte lets out an ear-piercing squeal as she pulls the wrapping paper off her new Squishmallow and hugs it to her chest.
Aunt Libby looks up from breastfeeding Paris and winks at Aunt Blake. “Good job.”
“It was the easiest gift of the lot.” She grins, and I look back at the glass jar, where Santa is pulling out a new marble.
And so it goes, each kid getting a present until finally it’s my turn.
I’ve now worked out that Uncle Carson is my gift buyer this year, and I am stoked with the neon sign he must have had custom made. It says Zoey Bird in fancy writing and has a stylized love heart on the end.
“That is so cool.” I grin at him.
He smiles back at me, obviously pleased that I’m into it. “Thought it’d look cool in your room.”
“It’s going to look amazing! Thank you.” I lean down to kiss his cheek, and I see who Harley gets her closed-mouth smile from.
Cute!
Seb’s the last to get picked, and I’m pretty sure he’s dying by the time his marble is finally drawn, but all is well the second he tears off his wrapping paper and reveals a set of plastic light sabers.
“Oh, wow.” Aunt Libby bulges her eyes, then looks at my dad with a very dry, very sarcastic “Thanks for that.”
He laughs. “Sorry, not sorry?”
“Olly, let’s go!” Seb hands him a light saber, and we’re soon ducking and dodging as the boys start an immediate battle.
“Take it the rec room!” Aunt Libby quickly orders and points to the doorway.