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A knock came on the door of The Wells Family Apartment. As soon as Hazel’s ears picked up on the noise, she immediately left her room as she ran across the apartment floor with a grin on her face.
It was the holidays, Hazel’s favorite time of the year. Her parents were both off of work. Do you know what else that means though? Antony was finally home for the holidays! She finally gets to see her big brother again! Yeah sure fall break was a couple of weeks ago, but it isn’t as long as Christmas break. She doesn’t get to spend as much time with him.
Her hand reached out to the doorknob and twisted it open. It revealed none other than Antony. He had a backpack across his shoulders and a suitcase in one of his hands for all of his things.
“Antony!” She cheered happily with a smile on her face, immediately hugging him.
“Hey! What’s up, Smallfry?” Antony laughed back with a smile on his face, hugging her back. He set the suitcase down that he was holding down so he could fully hug her.
Angela and Marcus walked up to the door once they heard the knock. Hazel pulled away from him so her parents could hug him as well.
“You got here right on time Ant. I just got done making cookies. Why don’t you bring your stuff to your room and come back here when you’re done?” Angela spoke with a smile.
“They’re really good!” Marcus said with his mouth full of cookies.
The family chuckled before Antony walked off to the room given to him by his parents with his stuff in hand. He looked up at the door before walking into the empty room. He looked around at all the boxes laid out and the bed bland and barren. He sighed and set his stuff down before flopping onto his bed. He looked up at the ceiling, as if thinking about something. Maybe it was him worrying about his finals, maybe it was him thinking of his family, maybe it was Dejah. Before he could give it much thought, the sound of his door creaking was picked up by his ears. He sat up to see what it was. A smile formed on his face as he saw his little sister peeking through his door.
“Hey Smallfry! What are you doing here?” He asked.
“Well, I remember mom and dad putting all of these boxes in your room and I thought I could help you! Since you’ve always helped me in the past. I also think you need it, seeing your stuff as well.” Hazel spoke, still not fully entering his room. She was a little scared he was going to say no.
“I would appreciate the help. Thank you.” Antony said with a soft smile on his face.
Hazel’s face lit up and she giggled, a grin forming on her face. She rushed into his room and started to help him unpack and unbox. Antony and her worked together to help get it all done. She helped fold his clothes to the best of his abilities, trying to remember what her mother taught her. Antony started putting his comic books and figures out on his shelves. It took both of them a little while to get done, but they finally did it. They stood back and looked over the room before high-fiving each other.
Before they could comment to each other about how well they did, their parents called them and they both walked out to go see what they were called for.
Marcus was carrying heavy boxes swaying a little bit. Antony immediately rushed to his side and helped him set them down. Hazel looked up at Angela who was lighting a peppermint scented candle.
“Mom, what’s going on?” Hazel asked with an eyebrow raised. She looked over at her dad, wondering if he was okay.
“Pumpkin you know it’s Christmas. I thought it was the perfect time to decorate, especially since Antony is home.” Angela looked over at her daughter with a smile.
Hazel’s eyes immediately widened with glee. She loved decorating for the holidays, especially with her family! It was so fun and she loved hanging out with them. Drinking hot chocolate while Christmas music from the TV played in the background. As Marcus set down the last box full of Christmas decorations, he walked into the kitchen and started making hot chocolate.
She walked over to the boxes and started opening them, looking into them as Antony peeked over her shoulder. He leaned down next to her as they went through it.
“Woah, it’s all of the homemade ornaments I made from when I was in elementary school. I assumed you threw these away when you guys moved.” Antony mumbled, taking them out of the box.
“Now why would we do that Ant? You know me and your dad loved all of the decorations you made.” Angela spoke back with a smile. Marcus let out an agreeing hum.
Hazel stood up and walked over to the long and narrow box. She leaned down to it and opened it up.
“Woah! It’s the Christmas tree! And a real one too! So that’s where you guys were there that day.” Hazel said, running her hands across the tree.
Marcus nodded as he walked up to his daughter, handing her the hot chocolate mug full of marshmallows and topped off with whipped cream. She drank from it, a small mustache forming on her face. He started retelling the story to his daughter (and greatly exaggerating it as she laughed along) as Antony helped his mom find the Christmas music channel.
Angela turned around to her husband and daughter as he finished his story. She smiled and spoke with a smirk on her face.
“Well, are you all ready for a Wells Family Christmas?”
Marcus and Hazel cheered as Antony sighed.
And with just a snap of a finger, they were off. Angela started putting the decorations all over the house as Antony helped and talked to her about his life at college. Marcus and Hazel started decorating the tree. Going from the bottom to the top, they filled all of the branches with ornaments. Some were pretty ones, some were ones with everyone’s interest, and some were ones Hazel and Antony had made at school. After Angela and Antony were done decorating around the house, they walked to the family and started a helping with them. Christmas music filled the background as the family bonded. Hazel loved and cherished moments like these. It was what Christmas was to her. Yeah sure, the gifts were nice but hanging out with her family is the best gift ever!
After hours, but what only felt like a few minutes to the joy-filled family, the whole apartment was decorated with Christmas. The smell of
peppermint and hot chocolate filled the air. Marcus put away the boxes and looked outside at the moon.
“It’s time to go to bed Hazelnut.” He said as he ruffled his daughter’s hair.
Hazel sighed sadly. She didn’t want the night to end! She wanted to keep spending time with her family. But she didn’t want to argue with her parents. She hugged her whole family goodnight and walked to her room before going to bed.
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The rest of Christmas break was filled with holiday cheer. The family watched Christmas movies, ate dinner together like they used to, went caroling, and so much more.
As the day of Christmas finally was upon them, Hazel immediately woke up as soon as the clock hit 7:00 AM. She rushed to each of her family’s rooms and woke them up. They were all in matching Christmas pajamas (due to the request of Angela). They all sat down around the tree and opened gifts. Hazel opened her gifts with excitement and smiled for her mother as she took photos of her with unwrapped gifts. It was crazy! It was like Santa knew her so well and knew what exactly she wanted! She watched as her big brother and parents opened their own, each getting exactly what they wanted.
As gift opening ended and they sat down for breakfast, Hazel looked outside the window and sighed fondly. She couldn’t have asked for a better Christmas.