The months leading up to Christmas were filled with hours of workouts, many attempts to work the tangles out of my wet hair, and afternoons spent on the phone with my manager. There was no chill in the air with one day left before Christmas Eve, but the kids running around the beach betrayed the holiday excitement in the air.

I was out on the back deck working on my balance with a Bosu ball when movement down the beach caught my eye. Will was running through the sand in his board shorts, a broad grin on his face. Noah was trailing behind him, jogging at a slower pace and laughing at his brother.

"Hey Riv," Will said breathlessly, scooping me up into the air seconds after I stepped down from the Bosu ball. I giggled and kissed his cheek, wrapping my hands around his back tightly. Will set me down before slinging an arm around my shoulders to face his brother. I waved at Noah, who nodded in return.

Noah had been home from school for a few days, but the other boys had to stay at school for a few extra practice sessions. Evan hadn't even appeared yet, but I assumed that he was probably taking his sweet time packing up.

"Want to go surfing?" Noah asked. I nodded and glanced in the direction of my boards, but one look at Will changed that plan. He already looked a shade paler, even in the blazing sunlight.

"Never mind, I'm sorry Will," Noah backtracked quickly, "Spikeball?"

"We only have three people," I noted.

Noah rolled his eyes, tumbling back onto the sand in defeat. A car door slammed on the other side of the house, causing him to perk up. "No way, Evan is finally home."

"What has he even been doing this whole time?" I asked while following them around the house. Sure enough, Evan was just opening up the trunk of his navy Toyota to reveal a pile of suitcases.

Will smirked and cupped a hand over his mouth to whisper, "Trying to get girls, probably."

Evan raised his eyebrows at Noah, who was running straight towards him. In one quick dance, Noah had slammed the trunk closed and was pushing Evan through the grass to the beach.

"I need to unpack, what are you doing Noah?" Evan asked, glancing back at his car.

Will was grinning and sprinted around them with the Spikeball net in hand. Evan rolled his eyes at the Sanders boys, but assumed his position around the net. "What are the teams?"

"You get your sister," Noah claimed.

This really got Evan fired up. "I have to be her partner every time!" He groaned, covering his face with his hands.

"As much as I would love to be Riv's partner," Will started in a tone that made it clear that he did not, in fact, want to be my partner, "tradition is tradition, and it is always Sanders versus Lancers."

"I don't understand why no one ever wants to be my partner," I complained. It was like I was five again, and the boys never wanted me on their team then either.

"It's because you suck at Spikeball," Will said with a straight face before he launched the ball at the net. Evan volleyed it to me, and I proceeded to hit the ball behind me. Evan rolled his eyes in defeat and I couldn't help but laugh.

"Fair enough."

△▽△

Christmas was one of the few holidays that our families spent apart. My parents, Evan and I would always celebrate together in the morning before eating an afternoon meal and facetiming relatives on the mainland in the evening.

On Christmas Eve though, we all joined together in the back pews of the church for the service. I wore a dark green sundress for the occasion, even though the air was slightly cooler at night. Will sat on one side and Evan was on the other, and we stood together to sing the Christmas carols. The pastor preached his abbreviated sermon, maintaining the attention of even the smallest kids as he told the story of Mary and Joseph taking the long trip to Bethlehem. Finally, we reached my favorite part of the service.

The opening notes of Silent Night filled the air as the congregation rose to their feet. The ceiling lights were dimmed and the warm glow of candlelight spread slowly from the front of the room to the final pews. Will turned from receiving a flame from his brother to touch his own candle to mine. In turn, I passed the light on to Evan. By the end, every person in the room held their own candle in front of them, casting a warm glow onto each person's face. The lyrics of Silent Night were spoken in an imperfect but full-bodied harmony.

The moment always felt like perfect peace. Everything wordly was forgotten, and all eyes were turned to Heaven. Everyone around me was singing, even the boys who often seemed to be embarrassed by the idea of singing where everyone could hear them.

Eventually, the song ended and we excited the doors of the church following the final prayer. Will inserted himself between my dad and I in the parking lot, his eyes sparkling with Christmas excitement. My dad pretended to trip and push him out of the way, but Will just dodged him and stepped back in next to me.

"Meet me on the beach in an hour?" He asked quietly.

I returned the smile as a rush of butterflies swept through my stomach. His present had been wrapped for days, but I wasn't sure when I would give it to him because Christmas day was usually reserved for family. "Sounds good."

"She better be home by midnight," my dad interjected firmly.

Will nodded seriously, although a small smirk was peeking through. "Of course, sir."

My dad failed to suppress his smiled at that, giving him a light cuff on the back of the head in an attempt to maintain his serious attitude. There was no fooling anyone- Noah and Will were second sons to my father, and they knew it.

"See you there, Will," I called as he ran to catch up with his family and jump into the car. He offered a salute out of the open window before they drove off into the night.

Thirty minutes later I was trudging through the soft sand towards the palm trees in between our houses. Noah was peeking out of their back door, protectively watching Will as he took his first steps onto the beach. There was a moment during the Spikeball game earlier when Will dove hard onto the sand to keep the ball in the air, and Noah froze for a moment. He was so prepared to run to his little brother and help him up that he disregarded the ball that was still in the air. Will didn't even notice his stutter as he got up with a face full of sand, and was much more concerned about the point that they had just lost.

It had been evident during the baseball games too- Noah bounced his knee nervously every time a ball came anywhere near Will. To his face, I knew that Noah did his best to act like the big brother who was always forcing the younger to keep up with him. However, Noah had not been able to return to the previous nature of his relationship with Will the way Evan had. There again, the accident changed everything; Will would forever be the brother that he needed to protect from all bodily harm.

When Will was within a few steps of me, Noah removed himself from the window. "Merry Christmas," Will said, his grin glowing in the partly cloudy moonlight.

I gripped his present behind my back, "Merry Christmas. Are you ready for your present?"

A flash of horor crossed his face. "You got me a present?"

I blushed, slightly embarrassed to be the only one who had gotten anything. Maybe I was taking this too seriously. "I mean, yeah, but it's fine that you didn't get me anything..."

He nodded and I brought the small box out from behind my back. "I don't know if this is really your thing, but I thought that it would look nice, so," I trailed off again.

Will lifted the lid carefully and stared for a second before lifting it up into his hand. The black spinel chain sparkled in the moonlight, and he inspected it closely. "It's beautiful," he said slowly, "and it's gonna look sick with my uniform. Can you put it on for me?"

"It might be a little too dark," I giggled, "but I'll do my best."

I stood on my tiptoes and fumbled a few times before fastening it around his neck. It wasn't too long or short enough to look like a choker; it hit right below his collarbone. He rolled his ringers over the beads. "Thanks Riv, I love it. Every baseball player needs a nice chain if they're ever going to be any good."

For a second, the thought crossed my mind to rip it right off. Selfishly, I didn't want him to be good, I just wanted him to to be with me. But a moment later the thought was gone as he reached into his back pocket. "You didn't really think that I forgot, did you?"

Of course he didn't. Will handed me another small box, and I opened it to reveal a gold chain with a small, slightly imperfect pearl in the middle. "Forged by the sea, just like you," Will said with small smile.

"I love it," I handed it back to him, and he stepped behind me. Gently moving my hair to the side, he expertly clasped it around my neck. It was a short chain, leaving the pearl up near my neck and visible over any neckline.

"Great minds think alike or something, huh?" Will murmured, coming back in front of me. He traced my collarbone under the necklace and then my jawline, looking at me lovingly. "Merry Christmas, Riv."