"Thanks for letting us in," I whispered to Patty.

"Oh, that's no problem at all, sweetie," Patty replied.

Ethan and I had convinced Patty to let us sneak in on Christmas eve after all the kids had gone to sleep and transform the little playroom they had into a comfy living room. We brought over a whole bunch of old furniture that my dad never got around to throwing out. My dad let us use his pick-up truck and we loaded the faded brown sofa and the wooden coffee table into it. I went and bought a backdrop of a brickwall and a fireplace and Ethan bought miniature Christmas tree.

"No, no. Avery, Ethan and I will get the sofa, you get the tree," Dad instructed when I tried to grab one side of the sofa. I shrugged and picked the tree and the backdrop up, marching quietly into the hospital.

"Kay, hold the tape and hand me a piece when I ask," I said, climbing onto a stool to put the backdrop up.

"How big do you want the pieces to be?" Kay asked, holding up the clear duct tape.

"Normal sized," I said, holding my hand out once I positioned the backdrop. She handed me a piece of tape and we hung up the brick wall. We stepped back to admire our handiwork.

"Nice," Kay said, high-fiving me.

"All right, help me bring the presents in," I said.  We brought in the piles of presents that the children's parents had bought or that were donated to the hospital.  Kay and I set them up under the tree while Dad and Ethan brought in the sofa and table. After we were all finished, we all looked at the room.

"This looks amazing," Patty breathed, walking in. I grinned and side-hugged Ethan.

"Now Jane gets her Christmas wish," he said.

"This was a really nice idea. It'll mean a lot to the kids," Dad said.

"Well, we better get going if we want to be here early before the kids wake up," Ethan said.

"All right, I'll see you in the morning!" Patty whispered. We waved to her.

"Wait! The cookies!" Kay said, pointing to the plate of cookies that Jane had left out and the glass of milk. We each took a cookie and Dad drank the milk because no one else wanted to. We left one cookie and a note that read, "Thanks for the cookies, Jane. I left the last one for you."

With that, we walked happily to our car and drove home, feeling good about ourselves.

                                                                           ~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Merry Christmas!!!!!" Kay cried, jumping onto my bed the next morning. I squinted in the early sunlight. I groaned. I had only gotten three hours of sleep. Ethan and I had stayed up talking and didn't go to bed until really late.

"Go away," I mumbled, pulling my pillow over my head. Kay snatched it back.

"Come on! We have to open up our presents and then go to the hospital," she said.

"My present is to get fifteen more minutes of sleep," I said, rolling onto my stomach. She dragged my blanket off of me and I sat up quickly and glared at her. She waved the blanket around and then dropped it by the door. "I am going to kick YOUR ASS KAY!" I shouted, jumping out of bed and running after her. I ran into a hard mass and stumbled backwards.

"Ah, Christmas morning," Dad said, smiling down at me. Kay was behind him and I jumped at her, but Dad pulled me back. "That's enough, kiddos," he said.

"Wow, it is impossible to sleep through that," Ethan yawned, stretching and coming out into the hallway. He looked about as tired as I did. "Merry Christmas everyone," he said smiling.

"Merry Christmas, Ethan!" Kay squealed, throwing her arms around him. She smiled and closed her eyes, resting her head against his broad chest.

"Get off of him," I said, pulling her away from him. I took her spot and hugged him as she glared at me. Ethan laughed.

"I feel loved," he said, kissing the top of my head. I stuck my tongue out and Kay stomped her foot.

"All right, now all of you give the old man some love," Dad said, holding his arms out. We all looked at each other and then at him. "Are you kidding me?!" he cried. We all laughed and hugged him, too.

"All right, let's go open presents!" Kay exclaimed, bounding down the stairs.

"I'm going to wash my face first," I said, still feeling drowsy.

"Me, too. We'll meet you down there," Ethan said. Dad nodded and walked down the stairs. I yawned and poked Ethan's abs.

"Merry Christmas, best friend," I told him. He smiled at me and pulled me into a hug. He held me there a little while longer than he usually did. I was the one that pulled away. "You all right?" I asked. He caressed my cheek with his thumb and nodded.

"I'm fine," he said. I gave him a meek smile, not thoroughly convinced.

"I'll meet you downstairs," I said, going back into my room to brush my teeth and wash my face.

                                                                         ~~~~~~~~~~~

Kay had already begun opening her presents when we got down there.

"Oh my gosh! You got me the Rachel Roy dress!" she exclaimed, opening the present I got her.

"Yeah and it was hella expensive," I muttered, sitting on the ground with a cup of coffee. Kay sqealed in happiness and threw her arms around me. I laughed and pushed her off. She handed me the present that she bought me. I opened it to reveal a pair of brown leather booties.

"Shut up! These are so cute," I cried, pulling them out. I took the paper out of them and tried them on, standing. "I'm totally wearing these tonight," I said.

"No you're not," Dad said.

"Why?" I asked.

"They're not formal," he replied. I pouted and took them off.

"Thanks, Kay," I said kissing her cheek.

"Ewww," she said, wiping her face. I laughed.

"Open your's, Ethan!" Kay urged. He glanced at me, wondering what she got him. He ripped off the wrapping paper on the box and pulled out a RL United States Soccer Polo with a matching hat.

"Oh, sickest..." Ethan said, holding it up. "Thanks, Kay," he said. I raised my eyebrows at her.

"How the hell did you afford that?" I asked her. Dad nudged me with his foot.

"I know someone that works at the Nordstrom's I bought it from. They gave me a discount," she replied. "Are you jealous that I got him such an awesome present?" she added, smirking at me.

"Oh, please. My presents are always the best," I said.

"How about before you open Avery's, you all open mine," Dad suggested before Kay could retort. We all pulled the presents that Dad bought us and opened them. Mine was a rather large box compared to the other two. I opened it to reveal a boxed guitar.

"Oh my goodness! Finally!!" I cried. I had wanted an acoustic guitar since I learned how to play guitar, but I never had one of my own. "Thanks so much, Daddy!" I said, kissing his cheek.

"No problem, kiddo," he said.

"All right, open each other's now!" Kay urged Ethan and me. We glanced at each other and smiled.

Ethan and I had a sort of thing where we would make each other gifts. When we were kids, we used to draw each other pictures or make jewelry out of dried foods. As we got older, we got more creative.

"At the same time, then," I said, handing Ethan his gift and taking mine. Ethan nodded.

"I'll do the countdown," Dad said.

"I'll do drum roll!" Kay exclaimed. She began patting on the ground and Dad counted down from five.

"And open!" Dad said. We both ripped the wrapping paper off our presents.

"Is this supposed to be a sweater?" Ethan asked, picking up a maroon knit sweater with a gold 'R' on the front.

"Yes, it is," I said. He laughed.

"Is the 'R' supposed to be like 'Ron' from Harry Potter?" he asked. I pointed at my nose.

"Hah! I knew you'd get it!" I said excitedly. He chuckled and looked at it.

"The sleeves are two different lengths," he pointed out.

"Hey! It was the first time I ever knitted something; cut me some slack," I said. I picked up the silver necklace that Ethan had gotten me. "You made this?" I asked, looking at it. It was a simple necklace with a misshapen little key as the pendant. He nodded.

"They have a metal working class at the university. I asked them if they'd let me use the facilities and they said yes," he explained.

"Nice," I said, smiling. Ethan put on the sweater and we all started laughing.

"Maroon's not really my color," he said, a cocky grin on his face.

"It's the thought that counts," I replied, grinning back.

"Well; we should get going to the hospital," Dad suggested. We nodded and got up to leave. 

                                                                         ~~~~~~~~~~~~

"WOW!!!" Jane shrieked, entering the room, her blue eyes wide. She was in complete shock when she walked into the playroom to see it transformed into a living room. "Mommy! Daddy!" she cried, running up to her parents, who smiled at her and hugged her.

"Merry Christmas, sweetheart," they said.

"Merry Christmas!" Jane replied happily.

"Look Jane! Santa left you a note," Patty said.

"Santa left the last cookie for me! Look!" Jane exclaimed, reading the note. We all laughed and she came up to us.

"Well, I guess you got what you asked for, right?" I asked her. She nodded vigorously, smiling widely.

"Well go on, open your presents!" Ethan exclaimed. We watched as the kids opened their presents and let out shouts of glee and excitement. I stood by my Dad, Ethan, and Kay, smiling at the happiness that we were able to give them kids.

"We did good," Ethan said. I nodded in agreement. We did.

                                                                         ~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Avery, so good to see you. You look lovely," Mrs. Matthews said when I got to Austin's house for lunch. The place was noisy; it seemed like there were tons of people in the house. "Don't mind the noise. The kids are playing around; they're excited to see each other," she explained to me. I smiled at her. "I'll get Austin. Lunch will be ready in a few minutes," she said. I nodded and thanked her. She left me waiting in foyer. Austin bounded down the stairs a few moments later.

"Hey, you look amazing," he breathed, putting his hands on my hips and pulling me into a deep kiss.

"Ewwwww!!" we heard kids cry. We broke away, smiling.

"Merry Christmas, Avery," he whispered.

"You, too," I replied somberly. He took my hand and led me upstairs.

"I know Mom said that lunch would be ready in a few minutes, but that's just Mom-speak for a half hour," he explained. "So while we're waiting, I wanted to give you your present," he said. I smiled at him.

"I got you something, too," I said, handing him the gift bag I was holding. He handed me a little rectangular box.  "You first," I said, nodding at his present.

"Ok," he agreed, pulling out the tissue paper. He took out the watch that I had bought him. It was a black watch with black leather straps. "Aw, sweet. It's awesome. I needed a new watch," he said, taking it out and putting it on. "Thanks," he said, kissing my lips. I pulled away.

"My turn!" I exclaimed, tearing the paper off the little box. I recognized the robin's egg blue box and knew what the gift was before I opened it. He had bought me a Tiffany's necklace. I pulled out the silver heart key charm necklace. I felt my initial excitement faltering.

There was no doubt that necklace was beautiful and expensive. But I couldn't help but remember the necklace that Ethan had made for me. The difference between the two was that Austin went out and bought this. But Ethan had spent time and effort making the one he gave me.

"If you don't like it, we can exchange it," Austin said, reading my expression. I blinked and looked up at him, restoring the smile on my face.

"No, I love it. It's really beautiful," I told him, reaching up and kissing his lips softly.  We tumbled backwards onto his bed, deepening the kiss. I could feel his hands unzipping my dress from the back and I held onto them and pulled away slightly.

"What if someone walks in?" I asked, a little out of breath from the intense kissing.

"It's locked," he answered, flipping me over. He succeeded in pulling the top of my dress off. As he started to unclasp my bra, we heard a knock at the door.

"Austin! Avery! Lunch is ready!" we heard Austin's cousin shout. We both scrambled to our feet and I hurriedly put my dress back on and fixed my hair. I couldn't help but think that every time we got close to having sex, we were always interrupted.

"Here, wait. Put the necklace on before you walk out," Austin said. I reached up to my neck. I was already wearing Ethan's necklace.

"No, no. It's all right. It doesn't really go with what I'm--" I tried to think of an excuse. But he was already taking the necklace out of the box.

"It's just a necklace. It doesn't have to go with what you're wearing--" he paused when he saw Ethan's necklace around my neck. "What's that?" he asked.

"It's uh...the present Ethan gave me..." I replied weakly. I saw his eyes narrow in the mirror.

"It doesn't look very well made," he said.

"That's because he made it himself," I defended.

"Well take it off and put mine on. It looks a lot better than that thing," Austin said. I turned around and held his hand.

"No. I'm keeping it on," I said firmly. He narrowed his eyes at me.

"Are you kidding me? This is Tiffany," he said, brandishing the gift in my face.

"And this," I said, indicating Ethan's necklace, "was handmade by my best friend," I finished. "I'll wear your necklace when I feel like being a show-off," I added. He glared at me. We heard a knock at the door again.

"We'll finish talking about this later," he hissed, opening the door. We never got a chance to. During lunch, we acted like nothing was wrong, but I knew that he was extremely angry at me. I didn't care at that point, though. I would choose Ethan's present over Austin's a million times over. It meant a lot more to me than some expensive piece of jewelry.

                                                                           ~~~~~~~~~~~~

"He is so materialistic," I told Ethan. We were getting ready for dinner that night. "I mean really, I don't care about brand names. For me, it's always the thought that gets put into it," I said. Ethan shrugged.

"Don't let him spoil your night. Just have fun. Think about it later," he advised. I looked at him from the mirror and sighed.

"You're right," I said. I stood up straighter. "Can you zip me up?" I asked him, sucking in my stomach. He stood behind me to zip up my dress. I was acutely aware of his warm breath on my neck. I felt myself blush when his fingers accidentally brushed my bare skin. What the hell? Where was that coming from?

He stood behind me for a moment after he had zipped up my dress. We both looked at each other in the reflection of the mirror. Ethan was at least a head taller than me. He had a broad, muscular, chest; the true build of a soccer player. He had a little scruff on his chin that I always liked. It's why he reminded me of a puppy. 

I glanced at his eyes. He was watching me, too, his expression unreadable. What was he thinking?

I snapped my fingers.

"Earth to Toto," I said, trying to break the sudden uncomfortable silence that fell over us. He blinked and smiled at me. "What were you thinking about?" I asked him. He shook his head.

"Nothing, I just...I was thinking about how much we've grown up," he said slowly. I had a feeling he made that up, but I didn't push him to tell me.

"We should get downstairs or we'll be late," I suggested. He nodded. "Wait!" I cried, holding up my necklace to him. He shook his head and clasped it for me, his fingers shaking slightly. I turned around and fixed his tie and then we went downstairs.

"Took you long enough," Kay said. I pinched her nose and she swatted my hand.

"Let's go. If we wait any longer, your grandmother will be serving us for dinner," Dad muttered. We laughed and followed him to the car.

Dinner was pretty uneventful. We just talked a lot about random things. Grandma and Grandpa had postponed their trip to Bermuda. They were going to go during New Year's. They offered us to come with them and after some convincing, Dad agreed. Makayla was super excited about this.

"Oh my God! Bermuda! I can't wait to tell everyone!" she cried.

Besides that bit of excitement, dinner went along as it usually did. After dinner, Grandma put some Christmas music on and we discussed plans for Bermuda.

"So we will be leaving the morning of the 30th. We plan on staying until the 3rd," Grandma said.

"That gives us about five days," Grandpa said.

"That's fine with me. I have to be back at work on the 4th," Dad said.

"And school starts on the 5th for me," Makayla said.

"We're good to stay until the 10th," I said, pointing at me and Ethan.

"Well, we should all come back together. So the 3rd is good," Grandpa said. We nodded in agreement. We left my grandparent's house feeling excited about the coming trip.

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A/N: Sorry I took longer than usual to post. It was a long part to write. Next one will be the trip to Bermuda!!!

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XOXO