WORD COUNT : 2.6k

Christmas hadn't been a big deal in the Webb household in years. The kids' father had stopped buying them gifts once he fell out of touch with their interests. Unsurprisingly, that had happened shortly after their mom died. Christmas Day had just become a day off of work for him, a day to actually sleep in.

But as they had with everything else, the Webb kids had formed their own traditions for the holidays. Their traditions almost always took place after night had fallen and their dad had retreated to his room for the evening. Their first Christmas in Hawkins was no different. As per tradition, Owen had spent most of the day with her nose stuck in a book that she had picked up from the library. Her book choice to put her in the holiday spirit this year was a copy of Pet Sematary.

"Let's open presents now," Law begged, drawing out the last word dramatically as he slouched against the doorframe to Owen's room. "I'm so tired of keeping all these secrets," he confessed with an over-the-top sigh. Owen glanced up at him from her bed with a quirk of her lips. She knew Law well enough to know that, while he may actually hate keeping gifts a secret, he's also just very curious about what he got this year.

"Okay, okay. Go get Gordon," Owen agreed, waving him out of her doorway before folding the current page of her book to save for later.

The only sign of Christmas in the Webb household was the less-than-impressive Christmas tree that Law had dragged out of storage. The tree was comparable to Charlie Brown's Christmas tree in a way, as only a couple plain ornaments hung from its branches. A single string of colorful lights wrapped around the entire tree, shedding a small amount of light over the living room.

A present for each sibling sat beneath the tree, each of them wrapped poorly. One of the presents was nearly covered in tape, while another was wrapped in birthday-themed wrapping paper, and the last still had slivers of the box peeking out from beneath the wrapping paper. Owen was shaken out of her admiration of the terrible wrapping by a knock at the front door. Her eyebrows furrowed confusedly, none of them expecting guests this late on Christmas Day. The fact that she was just in a huge t-shirt and oversized pajama pants didn't cross Owen's mind as she stood from the couch to answer the door.

The last person she expected to see on their doorstep was Frank Park. He was all bundled up in a huge coat, a knitted toboggan pulled over his ears, and snow-covered boots. His teeth were still openly chattering despite all of the layers, and his nose and cheeks were still dusted with a pink color from the nip of the air outside. Finally, Owen's eyes trailed down to the neatly gift-wrapped box that was being clutched against Frank's side with his non-broken, mitten-adorned hand.

"Uh... Hey, Frank," Owen greeted slowly. "Come on in," she offered, stepping out of the way so that he could get out of the cold. He gave her a toothy grin as he stepped in, making sure to slide his boots off at the door so he wouldn't track snow around their house. "I'm guessing you're here to see-"

"Law!" Frank exclaimed, interrupting Owen the moment his friend rounded the corner into the living room. The pink-haired girl turned around fast enough to see Law's face light up at his unexpected visitor.

"Frank! What're you doing here," Law beamed, coming over to wrap the other boy up in a hug that was made significantly more awkward by the full arm cast and gift box in the other arm. The two boys just chuckled in spite of the bumbling nature of the hug before Frank shoved the gift wrapped box into Law's possession instead. Owen took this interaction as her cue to wander over and drop onto the couch.

"I got you a Christmas gift a while back. I couldn't wait to give it to you at school," Frank admitted with this eager gleam in his eye.

"I... I didn't get you anything, though," Law said apologetically, the smile on his face faltering slightly. But Frank was quick to brush off his worries, his good hand coming up to wave dismissively.

"Don't worry. This was a surprise anyway," he reassured him, allowing the sudden tension in Law's shoulders to dissipate. "Open it, open it," Frank urged, that big smile never leaving his face.

Law hurried over to plop onto the couch, artlessly tearing into the wreath-patterned wrapping paper. The younger boy was already peeling the box open when Gordon finally graced everyone with his presence, trudging into the living room with his hair sticking up a million ways. Clearly, their dad wasn't the only one who had decided to spend most of his Christmas Day in bed.

"Oh my god, no way," Law crowed, hands diving into the box to pull out one of those fancy calculator watches and a Rubik's Cube. Owen's eyebrows shifted upwards, totally impressed by the absolutely perfect geeky gifts Frank had managed to find.

"Show them the last thing," Frank blurted, finally sliding off his huge coat and taking a seat beside his friend on the couch. Law's eyes widened to an almost comical extent before he pulled out a folded up white t-shirt from the bottom of the box. All Owen and Gordon could see were the plain back of the shirt and the black cuffs around the sleeves and neck, while Law's jaw hung open as he admired the design on the front.

"Turn it around! We wanna see it, too," Owen pressed with a grin. Law spun the shirt around to the rest of the group, displaying the iconic Amazing Spiderman design. Of course, Frank would know about Law's obsession with the superhero. Owen only got a semi-good look at the shirt before it was being dramatically clutched to Law's chest.

"These are some of the best gifts I've ever gotten," Law declared with this dreamy look on his face as he admired his newest treasures. Honestly, that statement was probably not too far off if you really looked into the history of Law's gifts over the years.

"Yeah, no kidding. You kinda fucked us over, Frankie. You should've let us go first," Gordon joked, ducking down to pluck the rest of the gifts from under the tree. He nonchalantly dropped each present into the lap of the respective owner before he sat criss crossed on the floor with his own gift. In no particular order, each of the Webb kids began unraveling their gifts.

"How did you guys find this," Law gaped, pulling out a copy of the Spiderman #50 comic. He already began flipping through the pages, eyes devouring every illustration at rapid speed.

"A little bit of Christmas magic and a lucky day at the thrift store," Owen chuckled, delighted at his reaction. He didn't even look up for her mildly sarcastic answer, already fixated on every word in the comic. She thought Frank had completely knocked them out of the park with presents that year. But as it turns out, Law will still get excited about anything Spiderman-related, no matter how much of the superhero's merchandise he receives.

"You guys know me too well," Gordon muttered, smirking and shaking his head. He tipped the open box upside down, allowing for three packs of his favorite cigarettes to tumble into his lap. "Thank you, guys. So much," he breathed, clutching the cigarettes to his chest and pretending to wipe at a non-existent tear.

Owen was the last to open her gift, finally tugging it open to reveal a dark, olive green messenger bag. A tender smile tore across her lips at the sight. Nothing could quite top the genuine joy of being given a perfect gift that you never had to ask for. Confirmation that the people who love you, really know you.

"Do you like it?" Law's voice forced her to look up from the bag in her hands. A cautiously hopeful look sat in the darkness of his eyes, just waiting for her approval.

"I love it. Seriously. Thank you, guys," she assured them, making intentional eye contact with both of her brothers.

"We actually have a little something else for you, too..." Gordon trailed off, pushing himself out of his position on the floor. This caused Owen's eyebrows to knit together as she watched him hurry out of the room.

"You guys really didn't need to get me anything else," she insisted, racking her brain for any idea of what else they could have possibly gotten her. Owen swiftly studied Gordon as he re-entered the room, his hands tucked suspiciously behind his back.

"Yeah, yeah. We know," Gordon muttered, eyes rolling skyward as he nodded, "Now, close your eyes and stick your hands out." Owen gave him a playfully wary look before following his directions, her eyes squeezing shut and palms outstretched. Seconds later, she felt something light, but oddly shaped, drop into her grasp. Her fingers blindly felt around on the gift, just feeling an unidentifiable collection of various ridges and dents.

"Can I look now," Owen asked, still unable to form any idea of what this surprise Christmas gift was. She heard Gordon let out an approving hum, which had her eyes opening instantly. Thankfully, the dim lighting in the room allowed for her eyes to adjust right away. There, in the palm of her hand, sat a lone, metal keychain with no keys attached. The keychain was heart-shaped, with a picture of a rainbow amidst the clouds on the front. But most notably, the name 'Betsy' was engraved amongst the clouds, which made Owen's head tilt perplexedly. "Okay, I don't want to sound ungrateful... but who is Betsy?"

"I have no idea who Betsy is, but I found that keychain at the thrift store when we got Law's comic book. And it reminded me of when you dabbled in grand theft auto and left my car stranded on the Wheelers' cul-de-sac," Gordon reminded her, which had her chuckling rather sheepishly. To be fair, when she left Gordon's car at the Wheelers' that morning, she didn't think that her friend's house getting invaded by government agents was on the docket for the day.

"I vaguely remember that," Owen shrugged, just thanking her lucky stars that they were able to get the car back completely intact. "So... You wanted to get me a keychain to remind everyone that I made a bad decision with your car that one time," she asked, for clarification. The three boys snickered at her comment before Gordon shook his head at her.

"No, I wanted to get you a keychain to hang on the keys to our car," the older boy quipped. But his comment just confused Owen even more.

"Our car?"

"Figured we could share it. If that would prevent you from sneaking into my room while I'm asleep and stealing the keys," Gordon teased her with a smirk. His ribbing about Owen's bad choices didn't even stop her from squealing and jumping from the couch to sling her arms around his shoulders tightly. There were so many 'thank yous' and so much force behind the hug that Gordon was nearly thrown off balance before he reciprocated with a couple pats on her back. "Alright, alright. Enough with the hugging, okay? I've got a Betsy keychain to add to the key ring," he chuckled, accepting the keychain as Owen gladly handed it over.

The rest of the night was filled with the group fully appreciating their Christmas gifts. Owen switched everything over from her backpack to the new messenger bag while Gordon risked frostbite on the front porch as he smoked one of his favorite cigarettes. Meanwhile, Law got his ass kicked by a Rubik's Cube. Gordon and Owen even signed the blue plaster of Frank's cast at some point – the only two names on the entire thing besides Law's and Frank's mom.

It wasn't until much later that Gordon swiftly sat up in his chair, almost as if he had been struck with a live wire. The sudden energy from the boy who had, up until this point, been slouched dangerously low in his seat drew everyone's attention.

"What? What is it?" Law wondered excitedly, watching with bated breath as Gordon zoomed from the living room, back down the hallway to his bedroom. Gordon emerged with a small leather-bound booklet in hand, bearing yet another surprise for the day.

"Well, what the hell is this? You've got, like, a million surprises today," Owen marveled, shaking her head in disbelief.

"I know, right? Don't expect anything for your birthday next year," Gordon joked, shoving the book into Owen's hands. "Open it," he nodded, seeing the question in his sister's eyes. Still reeling from the last surprise gift he had given her, Owen slowly opened to the first page in the book.

She immediately recognized her own face, small and pudgy, captured on film. It seemed to be her first day of school, as she was donning a little sundress. While she was alive, their mom made sure to dress the three of them in their Sunday best for the first day. She would always give them some long speech about first impressions while she got them dressed for the day. However, the message behind her words fell on deaf ears, as the kids were usually half asleep the entire way to school.

Owen flipped the page, seeing a picture of all three of them this time. They were all covered from head-to-toe in mud, water droplets sliding from their hair. Owen distinctly remembered that day, when their mom didn't insist that they come inside during a summer rain shower. Instead, the three kids splashed around in every muddy puddle they could find, not even thinking about the rain soaking through their clothes as they played. Their mom had snapped the picture from inside the kitchen as the kids waited patiently on the back porch to come inside for dinner.

"Where did you find this," Owen murmured, in total disbelief. She continued to flip through every page, trying to find the image in her memory with every picture that she saw.

"When we were moving, this photo album was in one of the boxes of mom's stuff. I didn't know that she even had all of these pictures collected like this," Gordon shrugged, leaning over Owen's shoulders to examine the photos with her. The four of them looked at each picture fondly, seeing their childhood through their mother's eyes.

Owen was genuinely sad when she had to turn over the last page, but still felt thankful that their mom had filled every single page with a picture. As her eyes met the last picture, her tender smile slowly congealed into a look of alarmed confusion. Owen's fingers trembled as she pulled the photo from its plastic display, turning it over in hopes of seeing a description. As diligent as ever, their mom had written in perfect cursive:

First photo of our little Owen - 1971

Just as she had with the first photo, Owen had recognized her own face as soon as she saw the picture. Although, she was much younger in this last photo. Unlike in every picture once she had been adopted, she was staring unnervingly at the camera, jaw tense despite her young age. However, this deeply angry look on her face was the least surprising part of what she saw. It was her hair cut that made her heart sink into the chasm of her stomach. There, captured in black and white film, was a very young Owen sitting on her bed in the adoption center with a totally unmistakable buzz cut.

Oh fuck.