A Legacy of Hope

Chapter Six

Isaac's POV
I woke up early Christmas morning, and it was still silent. I climbed out of bed, making sure mom, dad, and Skylar where still on bed, and headed for the kitchen. When I got downstairs, Hannah was already flipping chocolate chip pancakes and frying bacon. I chuckled quietly.

"You just had to, didn't you?" I whispered to her, smiling. Dad had gotten home yesterday, and she was glad for that.
"Well, yeah. We normally are the ones to make them, so I figured I'd do it again this year. I think he and mom are enjoying being home together." Her smile was the same happy smile, but I couldn't understand how. She had been given a diagnosis that meant she might not make it to next Christmas, and she was acting like nothing had changed. I still didn't get it, but I shrugged it off, and started working on the coffee for mom and dad, and our hot cocoa. We set the table, and did the usual. See, mom and dad said that on Christmas morning, if they're not up by 9:45, we may use Christmas music to wake them up. Hannah slipped a CD in, and turned it to a track, fast forwarding to one part, turned it up all the way, and played it.
Jingle bells, Batman smells, Robin laid an egg. The Batmobile lost a wheel, and the Joker does ballet! Dad's Jingle Bells. We heard him start singing along with it, and we just cracked up. He came downstairs, grinning, and mom came behind him, laughing. We all sat down at the table, and dad prayed. Thankfully, no one brought up the elephant at the table- Hannah's newly discovered cancer. Everything seemed perfectly normal, but I almost couldn't celebrate knowing that next year, I might be doing the Christmas breakfast alone. Everyone, mom and dad include, were still in our pajamas. Mom had on blue pajamas with penguins, Dad, yellow with Batman logos, Sky, red with monkeys, Hannah, purple with frogs, and I had green with basketballs. The tree had a fairly large pile of presents under it, and we all gathered around it to start opening them. Hannah was the one running around passing out presents, and mom and dad took pictures.

"Alright, alright. Calm down, or these are going into the attic til next year!" Dad said, and everyone calmed down pretty quickly.
"Thank you. Hope, who gets to open the first present?" She smiled, tossing a small box to Hannah, who turned beet red. She opened it, slipping the necklace on. It was a glass locket with a silver anchor on the front, and a removable picture of her, dad and Ben on the inside. She gave dad a DVD- two seasons of the original Batman tv show, mom, a necklace with all five of our birthstones. I got a Batman comic book, and Skylar got a Francesca Battestelli CD. I got Hannah a copy of Henry's fairy tales book from the tv show Once Upon A Time. Right after she opened that, the phone rang. Hannah shot up, grabbing it from the sofa beside me, and I gave her a look, but she just stuck her tongue out at me.

"Hello? Hi! Merry Christmas! Do what? Ok, I'll ask. Yeah. Well, Joel, Moriah and all of them are coming over. Yeah. Hang on, lemme ask." She put her hand over the phone.
"Mom, could Luke, Courtney, Grace, Jude and Phoenix come over in about an hour?" Mom chuckled.
"If they don't mind us all still in our pajamas! Joel and the others will be here in about an hour as well." Hannah pumped a fist and relayed the message.
"Alright, well, see you then! Bye." She hung up, sitting back down.
"They said they'll finish breakfast, and then they'll be over as soon as everyone has shoes. They said they'll be in pajamas as well. Grace and Jude gave everyone fuzzy pajamas, so Luke said they'll wear them today." We all laughed at that, and then we continued with presents. I gave Skylar a Laura Story CD, dad, another Batman DVD, and mom got the first DVD of The Lord of the Rings, and it was the extended edition.

"So, why did you both get me the Batman?" We looked at each other, grinning.
"You like Batman!!" We said, in unison. Twin thing, I guess. Skylar gave Hannah the last book in the Harry Potter series, The Deathly Hallows, along with a pendant that had a quote from the book about lights. I got one of dad's original cds, and he got the LEGO Batman Wii game. Mom got the second Lord of the Rings DVD. Mom and dad had several other things for us, but the highlight for Hannah was the guitar she got. She picked it up, tuned it, and started singing one of dad's songs.

There's a place that you're safe, that I want you to see.
I don't care if it hurts, crash into me.
Let tomorrow clear the smoke.

There's a spark in your heart
That's all you need.
Let me be your trail of gasoline.
Don't let the fire get too low.

When you're tired of faith,
And searching for a sign.

I'll be the light,
When there's nothing but night.
Till now you've had to feel your way
Through the honest lies of yesterday.

I'll guide you in,
No matter how long you've been
Lost in love and all alone.
A million miles away from home.
When your dawn refuses to fight
I'll be the light.

Circle in like a plane when you're ready to land.
The runway signals in my hands,
Through the clouds of your denial.

I remember the you that you were then.
I remember the days that would never end.
Can you remember how to smile?

When you're out of faith,
I'll give you some of mine.

I'll be the light,
When there's nothing but night.
Till now you've had to feel your way
Through the honest lies of yesterday.
I'll guide you in.
No matter how long you've been,
Lost in love and all alone,
A million miles away from home.
And when your dawn refuses to fight,
I'll be the light.

You can count on me,
Open your eyes, and you will see.

I'll be the light,
When there's nothing but night.
Till now you've had to feel your way
I'll guide you in,
No matter how long you've been,
Lost in love and all alone.
A million miles away from home,
And when your dawn refuses to fight,
And when your dawn refuses to fight,
I'll be the light.

I'll be the light.

Author's note- Hello Messengers! Thank you for waiting so long! So sorry this took so long! Hope you like it, though. This book is also dedicated to the author who gave me the inspiration for it, @Genna_Binner. Go check out her books, I'll Be the Light, and Our Time is Now. If you wanna make her even happier, follow her! Love you guys!