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Christmas Eve.
God, did she hate this holiday.
She always hated it.
It was too cheerful, but it shouldn't be.
It shouldn't.
She couldn't wait until she could leave.
She couldn't wait to get the hell out of here.
The door opened.
"I bought the ornaments!" sang her aunt.
"Really? We can decorate the tree now?" asked Cari, her cousin.
"Yup!" said her aunt. She walked towards the stairs and stopped when she was in front of it.
"Decorating time." She bellowed. "Git down here and help!"
Zeff's uncle grudgingly eased himself off the sofa.
"It's just a goddamn tree..." he muttered as her aunt shot a glare at him.
Zeff sat down in front of the tree and stared out of the window.
It was snowing. It was cold.
Tonight.
She could finally leave tonight.
"Okay, here's the box!" Her aunt slammed a heavy box to the wooden floor.
"Won't that break the ornaments?" asked her uncle.
"Don't worry, that's what foam is for." Her aunt said dismissively.
She opened the box and immediately, Zeff's cousins jammed their hands into the box and pulled out their ornaments.
"Well, go on, Zeff. Pick your ornament."
Zeff reluctantly reached in and pulled a random ornament and got up to hang it up.
She had reached for a branch when she took a look at her ornament.
It was a puppy as white as snow.
She widened her eyes as the string slipped through her finger.
The ornament fell to the ground and shattered.
"I-I'm sorr-ry!" she said, feeling the words jumble across her dry tongue.
"Don't touch it!" Her aunt yelled. "Get a broom!" She yelled at Zeff's uncle.
He went to get the blasted broom and came back with a dustpan also.
Her aunt quickly dusted the shards of brittle ceramic into the dustpan.
"Well, that's alright, there's plenty more where that came from." She said when she was finished.
Zeff said nothing.
"Well, don't just stand there, start decorating."
Zeff silently obeyed.
That night, she sat by the tree and stared into the fire.
Soon.
She would depart soon.
She breathed a sigh. She was ready.
A clapping broke the silence.
She jolted out of her reverie as the parade came into the living room.
"Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you!" sang her aunt.
Zeff stared in confusion and puzzlement.
"Happy birthday dear Zeff, happy birthday to you." sang her cousins with equal gusto.
"It is your birthday, isn't it?" said her uncle.
"I...I think so...." Her last birthday party was when she was four. She never celebrated it again after that terrible incident. She considered the celebration for the day she was born too flashy and unimportant.
December 24...
Her body began to tremble slightly.
"Zeff, I'm so sorry for treating you invisibly." said her aunt.
"Well you see." said her cousin awkwardly. "It was kind of awkward for you to suddenly be in our family."
"It's your birthday. You never had a birthday cake, haven't you? For yourself, I mean."
"No." She lied. She did a long time ago, but she had forgotten the feeling she had felt at the time.
"I'm so sorry, Zeff." said her aunt. "I was so selfish to not even treat you like a family member. All I ever thought was myself. Today I looked at the calendar and saw that tomorrow was the anniversary of your mother's death. Suddenly, I remembered it was your birthday and I finally realized how much of a shock it was to have both of your parents gone. I was so selfish and so ashamed of myself. So I wanted to celebrate your birthday to make it up. Happy birthday."
Zeff stared at the family before her, all filled with love.