Mosdenea

Chapter 17--Christmas Gifts That Match Are Cooler Than You'd Think

Our stay in Michigan blended in together. Every day the guys and I would wake up and head to town. Between doing chores for my family or going for ice cream, it was hard to differentiate on what to do. Ashley would occasionally meet up with us. Sometimes we would make the effort to distance ourselves so that she and Olly would spend more time together. They are an absolutely adorable couple.

Eventually, Christmas Eve rolled around sooner than I had expected. I guess having Aaron and Pierce here actually made the holiday's go by faster. We ended up having to go into the city to buy Aaron a coat because his leather jacket and new beanie was not enough to protect him from the icy winds. He still hates the cold. I mean, sure maybe he's not freezing as much as he did when he first arrived, but he still hates it with a burning passion.

Our Christmas Eve dinner was a lot better than Thanksgiving. Sure, we didn't have as much food as we do for Thanksgiving, but it was a dinner where we all got to sit around and laugh. Pierce told stories of his adventures while Aaron simply laughed along with everyone else—he'd already heard all the stories but I appreciated the gesture.

After dinner, we gathered around the Christmas tree beside the front door. It's tradition in my family that the youngest gets to light up the tree and place the star at the top. So everyone watched as James—who's taller—placed the star at the top of the tree and I plugged in the lights. The tree illuminated instantly—the small ornaments reflecting the LED lights. We all took one last glance at all the presents aligned at the foot of the pine and smiled.

With Pierce and Aaron here, the amount of gifts looked even more amazing. My family is big enough as it is but even just adding two more people seemed to make somewhat of a difference. I wasn't sure if my brothers had gotten Pierce or Aaron any presents, but I had. And I'm not sure if they got my brothers anything. It's not like they know each other very well.

"Alright," My mother said after we had all finished eating our traditional Christmas Eve cookies. She waved her hands causing all of us to get up from the sofas and floor we were sitting on in the living room. "Everyone to bed. Sleep so we can open the presents tomorrow."

I couldn't contain my smile, Pierce and I both making our way to my room. My brothers ahead of us, tired from the day they just had. I stopped at the bottom of the stairs when Aaron grabbed my hand. No one seemed to notice or pay attention—they were too busy going to their rooms or fazed from exhaustion.

Aaron gave me a grin, his eyes radiating with sadness. "Goodnight Birdie," He said quietly.

I smiled softly, feeling my own self becoming tired. But Aaron's hand with mine still managed to warm my insides. "Goodnight Aaron."

"Merry Christmas." He said causing me to smile even more. I turned around to head up the stairs when he asked, "No Christmas kiss?"

I turned to face him, a cocky expression on my face. "There's no mistletoe."

"Then you could make it my Christmas miracle." He said with a grin.

"There's no such thing," I said chuckling.

Aaron raised an eyebrow, tilting his head with an amused expression on his face. "What?" He asked. "No such thing as miracles?"

I nodded, "It's the same thing as luck."

"I disagree." He took a step back, our hands still holding each other.

"Oh really?" I smirked. "Why's that?"

He gave me such a toe-curling smile that seemed to combine with his smirk and cocky attitude. I wasn't sure if he was about to mean what he said or if he was going to be kidding around. It looked like I had just opened a door of opportunity for him to say something. As dense as honey his words spoke sweetly by saying, "You were my miracle."