Sealed with a Kiss ✔

Chapter Eleven | Sealed with a Kiss

Christmas Day is always either secluded or hectic at my house. Oddly, I prefer both and have no favourite, quiet Christmases are always lovely with their calm cosiness but chaotic Christmases have some mad feeling of togetherness which I absolutely love.

The Christmas of 2012 at the Parkes household is somewhat a cross between the both. We aren't inviting as much family as we usually would have done, nor are only a handful of people coming. A couple of uncle and aunts and their children and grandparents take up most of the invite list, and though it'll be a quieter Christmas, it shouldn't be any less fun.

The past couple of hours have been occupied with greeting everyone and finally, at early afternoon, everyone is here, including really creepy cousin Billy. The fact he's my distant cousin seems to be a favourite of his to mention every time he sees me. A terrified part of me prays to God he doesn't hope to pursue some action under the mistletoe with me this Christmas. Every year he's been coming closer to making a move and every year I've bee coming nearer to throwing up Dad's carefully cooked Christmas turkey.

"So, have your freckles always been so... stunning?" Billy asks, leaning against the counter. We're both in the kitchen, where he just 'happened to find me' pouring myself a glass of Coke. I try hard to not just throw the fizzy drink at his face.

"I have no idea," I mumble back, deciding that taking a sip of the drink will go more smoothly.

"They're just really..." Billy's sentence drifts off as he shoves his horn-rimmed glasses further up his nose before choosing to lean in, planting a hand far too near my  backside. Oh god. Billy searches for the right word, his own freckled nose crinkling as he does so. I can't understand how he puts off the fact we're related so easily, we both have the exact same shade of dark red hair.

Billy doesn't find the right word to describe my apparently sexy freckles; instead his attention is diverted to a bottle of olive oil beside him. He grabs it suddenly, giggling as he reads its label.

"What?" I ask, narrowing my eyes.

He shoves the bottle toward me. "It says extra-virgin," Billy says before suppressing a loud snort of laughter. "Sounds like this oil hasn't had much action!" I don't bother hiding my annoyance at the idiot's childishness and choose to just leave, stalking off into the living room quickly so that he can't follow me.

There, I'm not greeted by a much better situation. Uncle Geoff, the notorious drunk among our family, and Aunt Shirley, equally notorious for being a bit batty, have taken centre stage in the room, they're situated right in the middle, dancing manically to some version of Jingle Bell Rock with all the kids dancing around at their feet with them.

"Oi, look up there!" Uncle Geoff suddenly yells. We all look up together to see some mistletoe I'd hung up on the ceiling. Aunt Shirley laughs giddily as her behind's clutched by Uncle Geoff before he declares, "Let's have some of that!" He then snogs her right in front of all the little kids. They squeal in disgust.

I groan as I look away, embarrassed by the antics of the middle-aged couple. Behind my shoulder, I hear a familiar, rumbling laugh and turn to see Granddad shaking his head at Geoff and Shirley who've started dancing again.

"They've always enjoyed some Christmas fun," Granddad says, laughing as he watches Evie struggle to keep up with the bizarre dance moves Aunt Madge has instigated.

"Haven't they?" Another voice asks and Granddad and I turn to see Uncle Clint standing a little way away. Uncle Clint is someone we usually don't see at all, never mind during Christmas, due to his hectic schedule. Mum jokes about resenting his job as an archaeologist but I can tell she gets upset about not seeing her brother as much as she'd like to.