Two Thousand Miles Away

Chapter 11

Ella

The Christmas season passed in a blur of present shopping, decoration, Hallmark movies, baking, and a lot of cooking.

Which is what I was doing now. It's Christmas Eve and our family would be at our house in seven hours. It was eleven now but I'd started cooking at nine. Grayson, though he was still not talking to me, was decorating some last minute cookies for Santa tonight. Mike was still asleep. Dad was picking up a last minute gift.

"Hey people," Mike said as he walked into the kitchen wearing sweatpants and an old t-shirt. He picked up a cookie and began to eat it.

"Hey," Grayson complained, "I worked hard on that."

I laughed and said, "And you didn't even bite off the head first. Way to make that gingerbread suffer."

Mike patted my little brother's head. Then he walked over to me, still eating that cookie. "How can I help?"

"I need someone to make the potatoes."

Mike moved to the counter and started to make our family's favorite cheesy potatoes. After a few more hours we had all the food in the oven. It was time to get ready.

Mike put on an ugly Christmas sweater and helped Grayson put on a sweater of his own. Even though they were both dorks, they looked nice. I then sent Grayson to set the dining room table. I still had to get dressed.

I put on a nice pair of jeans and a red sweater. I put my hair up in a ponytail then curled it. I topped it off with a red ribbon. Before going downstairs I grabbed my phone and texted Jacob and Ben Merry Christmas eve.

By the time I was downstairs my grandparents were here along with my aunt and uncle. They brought my spoiled 7 year old cousin. My grandma walked over to me. "Ella!" she exclaimed. Gram grabbed my shoulders and gave me a look. "You look as amazing as ever."

We sat and ate appetizers for about an hour. Grayson and Marie - my cousin - were busy sorting the gifts into piles. Right as Grayson ran over to grab a cookie, my uncle said, "So I heard you're going to Boulder?"

Grayson dropped the cookie back onto the plate and left. "Yep, just got accepted."

My uncle hit my shoulder. "Good for you, kid. I remember way back when you set your eyes on that."

I smiled, feeling really proud of myself. The timer on the oven went off. I pulled out the turkey. My dad grabbed the other food. We set it down on the table. The table was filled with cheesy potatoes, apple and cherry pie, 2 kinds of stuffing, turkey, and a small honey glazed ham for my Grandpa and me. We both thought turkey was gross.

After we were stuffed to the brim with food my brother and cousin started to beg to open their gifts. My grandparents pretended to protest but gave in after a minute.

That was when we ended up sitting in a circle next to our assigned gifts. We tore into the gifts. Mike got clothes. I got a bunch of stuff for college. Marie and Grayson got a boatload of toys. The adults would do gifts after the kids fell asleep.

Marie was already trying to open the box of her new Barbie doll when Dad said, "Wait. I have one more gift for the west family." He motioned for Mike to help him.

A few seconds later they came in with a big box that was wrapped in blue snowflakes. Grayson clapped his hands in excitement. Dad set it down in front of us and Mike sat beside me. Grayson reached to unwrap it but my Grandpa said to wait. He grabbed his camera and started to record. As this was all happening I swear I saw the box moving.

My dad said to open it. Grayson rushed to open it and when the paper fell away it revealed a dog - a brown labradoodle. "Oh my gosh!" Grayson screamed. He ran over to my dad and threw him in a hug. "Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!"

I opened the cage and the dog jumped on my lap and started to lick me. I pulled her - yes, I checked her gender - into a hug. "Hey Baby," I said, half sad. I've always wanted a dog and my dad got one right before I had to leave.

Mike patted her head. "What should we call you," he asked the puppy.

"We should call her Butter," Grayson offered. We both shot him down. Mike then offered the name Rocky. We all agreed on that name.

My Grandma went over to pet Rocky when we all heard a piercing scream.

We looked at Marie. "Why do they get a dog?" she complained, stomping her feet. "I wanna dog!"

My aunt tried to calm her down by saying, "Sweetie you already have two kitties."

This just made Marie more upset. "Cats are stupid! I want a dog! Give! Me! A! Dog!"

I rolled my eyes and turned back to Rocky. My grandparents were trying to reprimand Marie for the next ten minutes but she wasn't going to budge. A person can't fix a spoiled child once the damage was done.

"We should go," my uncle said, admitting defeat. He picked up Marie by the waist and threw her over his shoulder. As they left, she was still kicking and screaming.

A few hours later my grandparents had left and Grayson was in bed. Mike and dad were doing the dishes. This was our deal - I cook and they clean. I was lying on the living room floor with Rocky sleeping on my belly. The Grinch was on tv but I wasn't really watching it. I was looking out the window at the buildings around us.

My phone, which was next to me on the ground, beeped. I picked it up, hoping it was Ben. He hadn't texted me all day. I know it was a lot to expect from a high school relationship but I wanted a boyfriend that would be able to meet my family and celebrate Christmas with us.

Once my phone lit up I saw a message from Jacob, not Ben. I sighed.

Ella,

Merry Christmas eve. Do you celebrate Christmas on Christmas or now. What did you get?

Jacob,

I smiled to myself and I felt my heart go warm. I snapped a picture of Rocky and sent it with Got a new West family member. Her name is Rocky.

Ella

Jacob

I've always found that even though Maddie and I don't believe in Santa anymore, Christmas still seems magical. My family wouldn't get together until a week after Christmas so it would just be the four of us.

Today, being Christmas morning, I woke up to the smell of my mom making waffles. We would have a buffet of sorts: fresh fruit, powdered sugar, and other things that go on waffles.

The conversation throughout breakfast was simple and easy. When Mom was glancing longingly at the coffee maker I realized that this was our last Christmas as a four person family.

When we opened our presents, I found a lot of clothes and some new football gear. Maddie got a new phone. She was extremely happy until she saw what my dad got my mom. A double stroller, a fancy diaper bag, and a bunch of baby clothes.

I looked back at my sister. She didn't realize how hard it was for my parents to have these kids. She was hurting them.

And I honestly thought some of the clothes were funny.