Flames

Chapter 8: Christmas

Christmas night

"Hello," I answer my phone.

"You and your sister be ready in an hour," Sam's voice blasts through the phone.

"Why?" I ask, confused.

"Just, wear something warm. I'll see you in an hour," Sam replies before hanging up the phone.

I follow Sam's order and get ready. Lisa and I are done and ready to go in record time. Lisa can't stop rambling excitedly because she's happy we're going out. We're staying at mom's. In the morning, we had a big Christmas breakfast that included chocolate chip pancakes, scrambled eggs, fruits, and orange juice, and we opened presents. After that, mom had to go to work, so Lisa and I stayed in all day watching Christmas's movies and playing with her new toys. A knock on the door distracts me from my thoughts. Lisa saunters towards the door and opens it enthusiastically.

"Hi gorgeous," Sam greets Lisa sweetly, lifting her up to hug her.

"Are we going out?" Lisa asks him curiously. I walk towards them and kiss Sam on the cheek.

"Yes," he simply answers with a smile.

"Where are we going?" I ask, closing the door behind me.

"Wait and see," Sam answers grinning, knowing that I hate being kept in the dark about things.

"Can I drive?" I ask with a huge grin on my face.

"Absolutely not," he replies quickly while opening the door for Lisa to get in. "You scare me behind the wheel."

"Please?" I plead.

"No," he states firmly, kissing my cheek. "Maybe I'll let you drive later."

"Fine," I accept with a pretend sad face and get in the passenger's seat.

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"I'm not getting in there. I'll fall on my ass," I refuse. Sam brought us to an abandoned ice rink.

"It's fun," my little sister yells from the ice rink. It only took her a few falls to learn how to skate.

"It won't be much fun when I break my legs and can't walk," I tell them, exaggerating a bit.

"Dramatic much?" Sam mutters. I punch him lightly on the arm. "I'll help you, come on!"

"No," I refuse again, but he cradles me up to the ice rink. "Don't you dare," I warn him, but he puts me down anyway. My feet start slipping and before I get the chance to fall on my ass, I hold on tight to Sam's jacket.

"I'll kill you," I threaten jokingly.

"Save it for later," he jokes too. "Take my hand, I'll help you." I take his hand and slowly, he starts helping me skate. It takes a while before I get the hang of it, but after I do there's no getting me out of this rink. This is really fun, my sister was right.

"See? Not that hard," Sam states smilingly.

"Whatever."

Sam and Lisa start spinning and jumping; I just stick to the basics, let's not push my luck. After I get tired, I step out of the rink and go sit on a bench to take the skates off. A few minutes later, Sam joins me. We stare at my sister who stayed skating. Her joy brings a smile to my face.

"She's really mature for her age," Sam points out.

"Yes, she is. She's really great," I reply. "Thank you for bringing us here; she's really enjoying it."