December 22, 2006
"Please let me open it, Nick. Pretty, pretty please?" Miley begged to Nick over the phone. She was in her room staring at her gift, wrapped up in gold paper and a pretty white bow tied on top. Nick just laughed at her.
"Not a chance, Miley. It's supposed to be for Christmas, not three days before Christmas," he explained to her, as he was looking at a box himself, wrapped in blue and silver. Of course he wanted to know what she had gotten him, but more importantly what she thought of his gift. Miley had also sent presents to Joe and Kevin, which they had gotten that day, as well.
"Come on!" she laughed.
"No! Now stop before you make me feel bad!" Nick joked. "What'd you get Kevin and Joe?"
"I can't tell you that!" she said.
"Why not? I won't say anything to them," he told her.
"No, because you are getting the same thing!" she said.
"But my box is bigger than theirs!" Nick whined.
"Because you have something else in yours," she playfully teased. "You'll never guess what it is!"
"Are we going to play a guessing game?" Nick asked.
"No! Because if you guess what it is and that is what it is, I'll feel really bad because I'd have to lie to you!"
"You think of everything, don't you?"
"Of course!"
"So you got me two gifts? I bet you feel bad, then, huh?" he joked with her.
"Why would I feel bad for getting you two gifts?" she asked.
"Because I got you three!" he laughed. He could hear her pouting on the other end.
"That's not fair!" she whined.
"It's totally fair. We agreed on one present and you send two!"
"But you sent three! That's very unfair!"
"I could take one of them back," Nick started to say.
"No take-backsies!" she called into the phone. They both just laughed.
They talked for awhile longer. They had been talking every day since he left, just like he promised her he would. They both couldn't wait to see each other again, but unfortunately, they still had about three weeks. But with the concerts that the brothers were playing over the next few weeks would wear them out and hopefully keep Nick's mind off of Miley for a short period of time. Miley, however, didn't have anything to do but sit at home and think about Nick and stare at that little gold box.
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December 25, 2006
"Wake up, wake up!" Noah called as she ran down the hall banging on all of the doors. Miley slowly woke up and she heard Noah open the door next to her room, which was Braison's.
Braison was a pretty heavy sleeper, so he didn't wake up until Noah came in and jumped on him. The next thing Miley heard was a body hitting the floor, and Braison yelling at Noah to stop jumping on his bed and get out. Miley laughed to herself, but she was thankful that Noah hadn't woken her up like that.
"Miley! Miley! Get up!" Noah yelled as she barged into Miley's room. It was now that Miley looked at the clock to see what time it was.
"Noah, honey, Mommy and Daddy won't be up for awhile now. And you know we aren't allowed to open presents until they make breakfast," Miley informed her little sister. Noah sighed and climbed into bed with Miley.
"Can I sleep here until we can open presents?" Noah asked. Miley couldn't help but smile.
"Yeah, come here. But hurry, you're letting all the cold air out of my covers," Miley said and held up the blanket for Noah to get under.
"Don't forget to wake me up," Noah said as she drifted off to sleep next to her older sister.
"I won't, I promise," Miley whispered as she closed her eyes. She knew it was about 9 in New Jersey. Nick was probably already up and opening presents. Too bad he'd have to wait until she was up to open their presents.
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"Get up!" Joe yelled at Nick, who was still in bed. "It's 10 o'clock! And Christmas! Get up!"
"Joe, it's not like we can open up presents yet anyway," Nick said.
"And why not?" Joe demanded.
"I don't know. We have all day. Just a few more minutes," Nick begged and curled himself up tighter into the covers. Joe then had a 'brilliant' idea, or at least what he would consider brilliant. Joe grabbed Nick, blankets and all, and threw him on the floor. Nick groaned at him.
"Now you're up. Come on!" Joe said as he shoved Nick a little.
"Fine, fine," Nick finally gave in and stood up. "Just let me change."
A few minutes later, Nick was in a hoodie and sweatpants.
"Don't you want to wear something nicer than that?" Joe asked, who was dressed in a blue lightweight sweater and jeans.
"Fine!" Nick yelled. When he reemerged from the bathroom, he had on dark colored jeans and a white and red long-sleeved shirt. "Better?" he asked his brother. Joe just nodded.
They made their way down the stairs. Denise was in the kitchen, finishing up breakfast for her boys. Kevin Sr. was setting up the video camera, like he did every year. Frankie and Kevin were on the floor playing Bob the Builder on the TV. There was a fire lit already, probably thanks to their father. The tree, which had been up for a good three weeks now, looked amazing with all of the presents underneath of it. Denise smiled as she saw her two middle children come down the stairs.
"Good morning, sleepy head. What took you so long?" she asked Nick.
"I don't know, I guess I just didn't get a whole lot of sleep last night," Nick said, yawning.
"He was thinking about Miley," Joe informed his mother.
"I was not!" Nick said and hit Joe on the arm.
"I hope you like it, Miley. I picked it out just for you, Miley, You're so beautiful, Miley," Joe said in a high pitched voice as he mimicked Nick and started making kissy faces.
"Whatever," Nick said and blew him off. "Merry Christmas, Mom," he said as he kissed her on the cheek and stuck a finger in the pancake batter.
"Classy, Nicholas. Merry Christmas to you, too," she replied.
"Let me do that, Mom. You go sit," he suggested as he came up behind her while she was flipping the pancake.
"Nick, you don't know how," she laughed.
"It can't be that hard, right?" he said. She sighed at the sweet gesture from her son. He always was the caring and thoughtful one.
"Okay, fine," she said and handed him the spatula. "But don't make them too big, and when it starts to bubble on top, that's when you flip it, and--"
"I've got it, now go sit down!" Nick said and took his spot over the stove. When all the batter was gone, he brought the plate over to the table where Denise was sitting. She laughed at the messy stack of pancakes. Some were burnt, some were still a little runny, and they were all different sized. But it was the thought that counted and she knew that.
"Breakfast is ready, boys," Denise called to the rest of them. Kevin and Frankie shot up and were the first to sit down at the table. Kevin Sr. was next, along with Joe. Denise had gotten up and brought the other plates, full of bacon, eggs, sausage, and biscuits over to the table.
They all joined hands and Kevin Jr. led the prayer.
"Lord, we thank you for everything you have given to us over the last year. The record deal and our first CD, our wonderful family, our health," Kevin said as he squeezed Nick's hand a little tighter, "this house and the one in California, and meeting all the wonderful people that we've met. Lord, we thank you for this food on the table right now and the ability to be together on this day. And Lord, we thank you and pray that you look out for us all the rest of our days. Amen," Kevin said and they all followed with an 'Amen'.
They all enjoyed an amazing breakfast together and laughed about how anxious Joe was to open gifts. It was finally time for them to gather under the tree and Frankie passed out all the gifts. Then they each took a turn opening one present at a time. Nick got some clothes and whatnot from his parents. Frankie gave Nick a picture frame with a picture of the two of them in it. Kevin and Joe had gotten Nick a new guitar that he had been wanting for awhile. The rest of the family got everything that they had asked for, including Joe who got his moon-boots.
Nick wondered when Miley would call and they could exchange gifts. He couldn't wait to see her face.
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A few hours after Noah had woken Miley up, they were both still sleeping. Trace came in to wake them up. He smiled when he walked in and saw his two youngest sisters sleeping together. He almost didn't want to wake them up, but he did anyway.
They got up, and after Noah yelled at Miley for not waking her up, they were all downstairs for breakfast, much like what happened at the Jonas household about 3 hours ago. They ate and then went to sit beneath the tree. Noah seemed to have more presents than anyone, so she opened up a few of her presents before anyone else.
They weren't as orderly as the Jonas family, but they did somewhat take turns opening their gifts. When all was said and done, Miley had lots of gift cards, some new boots, jeans, and shirts, a new guitar from her dad, and some jewelry. She was pretty content with what she had gotten.
She couldn't wait to give Nick her gift! But she had to wait until Kevin and Joe called. They said they had something for her, and her whole family, but that she'd have to wait until they called before she talked to Nick. She was skeptical, but she convinced herself that they knew what they were doing.
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A few hours later, putting the Jonas household at around 5 o'clock, the family was gathered around the piano, singing Christmas songs. It had always been a tradition with their family, since they were so musically inclined. They sang all the traditional ones, Rudolph, Deck the Halls, Silent Night, and more. Then the boys started singing the songs that they had written. A Hippopotamus for Christmas was always Frankie's favorite. Suddenly, Joe got up and said he had to go to the bathroom.
He went upstairs and shut the bathroom door and pulled out his phone and dialed Miley's number. She answered right away.
"Hello?" she answered.
"Hey, it's Joe. Merry Christmas," he whispered.
"Merry Christmas to you. Why are you whispering?" she laughed.
"Because Nick doesn't know I'm talking to you. This is a surprise. He doesn't know about it," Joe whispered.
"Know about what?" Miley asked, confused.
"I need you to take your laptop down to your living room and make sure your whole family can see the screen. I'll send you a webcam request. Just accept it, but don't say anything until after he's done," Joe explained.
"Done with what?" Miley asked, getting up to go upstairs and get her computer.
"You'll see," Joe said. "I gotta go. Just make sure you accept the request."
"Okay, see you in a little bit," Miley said and hung up. She carried her laptop back downstairs and set it up on the coffee table. She called her whole family into the living room and told them to get around the computer. She sat directly in front of it on the floor, with Braison on one side, and Brandi on the other. Billy Ray and Tish were behind them on the couch, Noah sitting on her father's lap and Trace was standing behind his mom, sort of leaning down so he could see the screen.
"So what are we waiting for?" Braison asked.
"I have no idea. But I don't want to just sit around here and wait for whatever it is we are waiting for!" Miley said, getting impatient.
"You don't have to wait much longer, then," Brandi pointed out as Miley saw the flashing request button on her screen. She clicked it and when the picture came up, she saw Joe.
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Joe had his laptop facing him. Joe looked at Miley and waved, but quickly put a finger over his lips to make sure she'd be quiet. She waved back and mimicked his gesture. Joe looked over to Kevin and gave him a thumbs up.
"Hey Nick, sing A Christmas Prayer," Kevin asked.
"No, come on, I'll sing it later," Nick said, playing a few notes on the piano.
"Nick, please sing it!" Frankie said. He was in on the plan as well.
"Fine," Nick said and started playing the melody. Joe looked back down at his laptop and waved to Miley again. Then he turned the computer around so it was facing Nick; that way, Miley and her family could see him and hear him. Nick was already too into the song to realize what Joe was up to.
Nick was at the piano, and Joe was sitting on the couch with Kevin. Kevin Sr. was working the video camera, Frankie was on the floor surrounded by his new toys and Denise was sitting on the piano stool with Nick, facing the opposite way. She waved at the laptop quickly. Miley smiled and waved back. Then Nick started to sing.
"Every year at Christmas, all I can see; pictures of the things I want, around the tree. But this year's a little different, I'm not thinkin' of myself; so my prayer for this Christmas, is for somebody else. So I pray joy, to the world; peace for every boy and girl," Nick sang. His voice reached each corner of the room, as well as Joe's computer speakers. Denise put a hand on his back as he continued with the song.
Miley and her family watched intently, as well as the Jonas family as Nick sang the next verse and the chorus again.
"Joy to the world; peace for every boy and girl," Nick softly sang and finished up the song. He heard applause from his family, but he also heard some distorted claps and even a few whistles. He whipped around and saw Joe smiling with his laptop pointing to Nick. He could see Miley and her family on the screen. They were all clapping for him. Nick's eyes got huge and he turned bright red.
"There's nothing to be embarrassed about, Nick," Denise whispered to him. "They loved it."
Then Nick smiled. He waved and the camera and bashfully looked down at the ground.
"That was great!" he heard Miley say to him. He looked up at the screen and saw her smiling. "Merry Christmas, Nick," she said, looking directly at him. Then she heard Joe clear his throat. "And the rest of the Jonas family!" she added.
"Merry Christmas to you, too," Nick said, "to all of you."
"You've got quite a voice on you, don't you Nick," Tish asked.
"I try," he said, getting a little embarrassed again. Frankie plopped down on Kevin's lap and Joe turned the computer screen around.
"Merry Christmas from the Jonas boys, Miley," Joe said as he and Kevin waved to her. Frankie blew her a kiss. She blew him one back.
"Better watch out, Nick might get jealous," Kevin laughed, and so did everyone else, except Nick. Not that he was jealous, but he was still in shock that Miley had watched him. That her whole family had just watched him. He grabbed Joe's laptop from him and looked at her.
"I'll call you in a little bit, okay?" he asked her.
"Okay," she said, smiling and getting excited about being able to talk to just him.
She signed off and so did Joe.
"Not cool, Joe," Nick said as he slugged his brother in the arm.
"Hey! It was Kevin's idea!" Joe said. Nick looked at Kevin and got ready to hit him as well.
"It wasn't me!" Kevin spoke up, "it was Frankie!" and pointed at the littlest Jonas. Frankie just smiled.
"You! You thought of this?" Nick asked in a loud voice, but with a smile on his face.
"Yes and it was so funny to see the look on your face!" Frankie said.
"Funny? You think it was funny, huh?" Nick asked as he picked his little brother up and lightly threw him on the floor and started to tickle him. "Is it funny now? Is it?"
"Nick! Stop!" Frankie yelled as he was laughing in hysterics. Nick stood up and brought Frankie up with him.
"How come I got punched and he got tickled?" Joe asked, rubbing his arm.
"Because you're an idiot," Nick said, laughing. "And I'm not going to punch Frankie."
For awhile longer the Jonas family just hung out, around the piano and played around with a few ideas for songs. Denise broke out the cookies soon after and after they had all pigged out on all the Christmas food they could until dinner later that night, Nick went up to his room to call Miley. He pulled the gift out from his desk drawer and set it next to his computer as he logged into AIM and pulled out his phone.
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The Cyrus family did the same thing pretty much for the rest of the afternoon. Miley, Brandi, Trace, and Billy Ray all got their guitars out, with Tish on piano and they sang Christmas songs and Noah put on a little fashion show with all the new clothes she had gotten. She even made Braison dress up in some of his new stuff. He was a pretty tough kid when he wanted to be, but he was a sucker when his sisters wanted him to do something.
Miley was anxious for Nick's call and kept checking her phone to make sure she wouldn't miss his call. In the middle of Frosty the Snowman, Miley's phone went off. She got up and went to her phone, but it was just Emily. She wanted to wish Miley's family a Merry Christmas and tell Miley she would meet up with her tomorrow.
A few minutes later, Nick did call. Finally! Miley excused herself from her family and ran up to her bedroom.
"Okay, I'm at my computer. Let me bring up my webcam," Miley said into her phone. A few seconds later, Miley could see Nick and he could see her. They turned up their volumes and hung up their phones.
"Merry Christmas, again," Nick said to her.
"Merry Christmas to you, again," Miley laughed.
"So who's going to go first?" Nick asked.
"You should," Miley said.
"How about you do," Nick suggested, "since you have 3 and I only have 2," he exaggerated being upset.
"Oh shut it. I'll go first I guess, but only 1!" Miley said. She opened up the box and saw 2 boxes inside. "Hey! I thought I got three gifts!" she said and looked at the camera. Nick just laughed.
"Fine. I actually have a present here for you. Put the box down," he said and turned to the side and grabbed his guitar. Miley just smiled at him.
"These are the best gifts!" Miley exclaimed and got excited.
"At Christmas time there's just one thing I want," Nick sang slowly (A/N: way more slowly than the actual song). "It tops 'em all; it's better than eggnog. It's cold outside, my boots are full of snow. But I'm just hoping for some mistletoe." He paused and looked up at Miley. She raised an eyebrow at him. He blew her a quick kiss and she pretended like she caught it and placed it on her cheek.
"Very cute, Jonas," Miley said.
"Oh, I'm not done," Nick said. Then he started to sing again "You can take these presents, underneath my tree. You can take this awesome scarf my grandma made for me. You can take these boxes, tie 'em up with string; 'cause all I want for Christmas is the girl of my dreams," he sang. "Fa la la la la, la la la la," he added and laughed. Miley laughed as well.
"Bravo, bravo," she clapped.
"Well, thank you, thank you," Nick replied and took a small bow as he put his guitar down. "Okay, so that was present number one, let's move on."
"What? Are you kidding me? You tell me that I'm the girl of your dreams, and you want some mistletoe and that's it? You're not going to talk about it?" Miley said, pretending to be upset.
"Who said you were the girl of my dreams? I could have written that about someone else you know, Miss Conceited," he said.
"Nicholas Jonas, it's very rude to tell a girl all those things only to find out they weren't true," she replied, crossing her arms and stuck her nose up in the air.
"Don't you dare think I could have written that for someone else. Not a chance," he told her and she smiled.
"That's what I thought. Okay, now you get to open one gift from me!" she said.
"No, you get to go again, since you didn't really have to open that last one."
"Not fair, Nick."
"Too bad. Open it, Miley."
"Fine," she said and asked him which box she should open first.
"The smaller one," he told her, so she did.
"What's this?" she softly asked as she pulled out a piece of notebook paper that was folded many times over.
"Sometimes I have trouble saying what I really mean. Songs are a great outlet, but there's only so much I can put into a song, so I wrote you something," Nick told her. Miley opened it up and saw his scratchy handwriting all the way down the page and she started to read it to herself.
Miley,
I know this seems kind of lame, but I just wanted you to know how much you mean to me. I could sit here and write you songs all day and still not get it all out, so I'm going to try now.
When I met you, I had no idea how big of an impact you would have on my life. I was never an unhappy person, but I'm certainly much happier now that you are in my life. I know that we don't get to see each other as much as we would like, and even though I'm moving closer, we're still both going to be really busy. I just want to let you know that I'm always here for you, even if I'm in New York and you're in LA or half way around the world.
I didn't think I'd be able to tell a girl about my diabetes, at least for a long time, but when you walked in that day and saw me, I didn't have much of a choice. I should have told you earlier, but I was so afraid you would think that I was a baby. I'm really glad I told you and that you support me. It means more than you can ever know to have someone in my life that I'm not related to that knows about it and is okay with it.
I really don't think you realize what you've done to me. You've made me into some kind of love-sick puppy all the time. Don't get me wrong, I'm certainly not complaining. You have changed me in ways that I never thought were possible, especially at this age. We are so young and have so much ahead of us, but I know that I'll always be able to count of you to be there for me, and you know it totally works both ways. You and I work so well together. We get each other, we respect each other, and we have so much fun together.
I know that you said that we should just stay friends for right now. While it hurts to know that's how you feel, I do understand. I mean, we both have a lot going on, and I would always feel like I wasn't paying enough attention to you and you deserve more than that. So much more.
I guess what I'm trying to get out is that I care about you so much, Miley. You are the first thing on my mind when I wake up and the last thing I think about before I go to sleep. I know how corny that sounds, but it's true. You're a huge part of my life now and I can't imagine you not being in it. Merry Christmas, Miley. I hope it's a good one.
Love,
Nick
Miley looked up at him and had tears in her eyes. He, however, had a smile that faded when he saw her eyes. He was terrified that he had scared her and that things would never be the same between them again. She saw the desperation in his eyes and smiled slowly at him.
"I love it," she said, wiping her cheek.
"Really?" he asked.
"Really," she replied. "Thank you."
"Merry Christmas, Miley," he told her.
"How many times are we going to say that today?" Miley asked him, giggling.
"As many times as it takes for this to be your best Christmas ever," he said intensely.
"Then you could have stopped saying it after the first time," she told him. They looked at each other for a few more minutes, giggling and laughing. "Okay, now it's your turn!"
"Okay, which one?" he asked her, looking at the two gifts in the box.
"The flat one," she replied.
"Did you get me a CD?" he asked.
"Sort of," she said. He paused. "Just open it, Nick!"
"Okay, okay," Nick said as he opened the gift. It was a CD, personalized, with his name on it and a big 'Merry Christmas' on it. "What's this?"
"What do you think it is!" she laughed.
"Well I guess it's a CD?" he questioned, turning it over.
"Duh!" she said.
"Do I need to play it?" Nick asked.
"Not right now. Later," Miley told him.
"What's on it?" he asked.
"You'll just have to see," she said with a raised eyebrow. He gave her a pouty face and she caved. "Fine, I know it sounds conceited, but they are songs that I wrote."
"Cool," he said
"About you," she told him. He looked up at her and smiled.
"Thank you," he said.
"You're welcome," Miley said.
"Okay, now it's your turn again," Nick told her.
"Fine!" she said and picked up her last gift. She pulled the bow off of it and stuck it in her hair. He told her how beautiful she looked and she just laughed. She unwrapped the gift and when she saw the box, she almost died.
"You've got to be kidding me," she deadpanned.
"Do you, umm, do you not like it? You haven't even seen it, Miley," Nick said, getting worried.
"I'm sorry, that's not it," she smiled as she apologized. She opened the box up to see a beautiful silver Movado watch with a light blue background plate. She smiled again as she put it on and it fit perfectly. "I love it, too. Almost more than your note. Thank you so much, Nick."
"You are so very welcome," he told her. "I had a really hard time finding anything for you, and when I saw it, I just knew it was perfect."
"It is perfect."
"And I wasn't sure what your favorite color was, but I knew that your room was that color blue, so I knew that you at least liked it," he said.
"Yeah, it is-- wait! How do you know what color my room is?" she asked, a little shocked.
"You're in your room right now and I can see the walls, Miley."
"Oh, right," she laughed and he joined in. "Okay, now for the last one! Your turn!"
"Alright, what do we have here?" he asked to himself as he took the bow off the last box and put it on his head as well. Miley gave him a little cat call and he pretended to model it. After that was over with, he took the wrapping paper off of the box. "You're not serious?" he asked as he smiled widely, as did Miley. "How did this happen?"
He looked down at the box and to his amazement, it looked quite familiar. As he opened it, he found a wide-banded silver Movado watch with a dark blue background plate. He put it on and it fit perfectly as well. They knew each other so well that they had basically gotten each other the same gift. How amazing was that?
"Thank you," Nick laughed at the camera. They were both cracking up at the sheer irony of the whole thing. "I really do love it."
"I'm glad. Merry Christmas, Nick."
"Merry Christmas, Miley."
They talked for awhile longer and told each other what they had gotten, what they had been doing all day, and how they decided on their gifts for each other. After about an hour and a half, Noah came upstairs looking for Miley. Miley told Nick 'Merry Christmas' one last time and told him she'd see him soon.
"Not soon enough," he told her before she signed off of the computer.
Miley went back downstairs with Noah to find most of her family napping. She decided that was a great idea and look a spot on the opposite side of the couch from Trace.
"Merry, merry Christmas," she whispered to herself as she drifted off to sleep. What an amazing Christmas it really had been. One she wasn't going to forget anytime soon.
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Thanks so much for reading guys! Okay, I know, how corny was it for them to get each other the same thing, but I just had to do it! Shoot me for loving Niley fluff! Also, if you guys haven't heard Nick singing A Christmas Prayer, you should really do that on YouTube or something. It was when he was doing the solo thing and it's SO cute!!
I'm so sorry I didn't reply to all of your reviews this chapter…I kind of ran out of time, but you guys are such great reviewers! Keep 'em coming, please! I love them!