Jingle Bombs - Achmed the Dead Terrorist.
Simon POV
"So from this point onward, no more pranking."
As one might expect, the words of Kit fell in to complete silence, like a brick hitting water and sinking deep, deep down. All four of us sat with our mouths agape, unable to comprehend what he was saying. It was like asking for us to stop breathing, or chop off our own arms or something. It literally seemed impossible.
"But, but-" Tori began mumbling, and Lauren cut her off, anger visible in her eyes.
"No buts. This is our final decision. You all are just going to have to find a new way to entertain yourselves." I looked over and found Chloe on the verge of tears, looking as though she were considering how far a full-out temper tantrum could take her. Lauren noticed, and her face softened. She reached out a hand to Chloe, as if to comfort her, but she jerked out of her reach. She stood and sprinted to the door. She wrenched it open and disappeared behind it. All of us wanted to follow her, I could feel it, but no one seemed to be able to summon the energy to.
"You might wanna get her and calm her down before she 'accidentally' raises something to come after you both," Tori told them sassily, a bite in her voice. She too stood, and then proceeded to flip both of the adults off. They both gasped and outraged, began to object, but she was at the door and then outside it before they had the chance to call her back.
"And then there were 2," I muttered to myself, wondering which of us would leave first. Derek's face was stormy, and I got the feeling that he was gonna go first to find Chloe and then find a place to Change. Sighing, I placed a hand to my face, covering my eyes. A moment later, I felt the couch shift and Derek get up. I peeked through my hand to see what he said or did. He simply shook his head.
"You're really going to regret this," he told them both, tone devoid of the respect that he usually spoke to them with, not bothering to defer to the people who were about to make his life hell. He stomped to the door, and I could already picture his tail flicking back and forth agitatedly. He threw open the door and slammed it shut behind him, making the lone picture on the wall rattle like thunder. As he vacated the room, Kit and Lauren's attention turned to me, wondering what I was going to do next. I sighed heavily as I got to my feet.
"Well, there's nothing I can say that hasn't already been said. Don't expect any of us back for a while." Despite the fact that I could hear the beginnings of Lauren's protest that we be back by 8, I went to the door. As I opened it, I looked back rather sadly, noted the resigned, but pissed, faces of my guardians. I turned away and closed the door behind me.
Once the door slammed behind me, I sprinted down the hallway. My mind begged me to get the hell out of there, but I didn't want anyone to recognize me from my earlier exploit. I tugged my hat down lower on my face, and pulled the ends of my long sleeve shirt down to cover my hands.
Outside, I didn't hesitate at the crosswalk. I continued running a little ways down, and jay walked when there was a lull in traffic. Across the street, I took a couple turns, memorizing which ones I took so eventually I could get back to the motel.
I finally started walking and taking in my surroundings. I was in a nicer part of the city, which I appreciated as I continued making my way down the street. Respectable businesses lined the streets - no pawn shops or thrift stores as far as I could see.
I continued walking, not taking many turns, before I came across a large park. I decided to walk in there. I noted a small, man-made lake off to my right, and a small forest creating a barrier on the left. I headed towards the center, keeping to the path and heading towards a bench I saw.
I sat down on the bench and hunched over, putting my head in to my hands. It faced the lake, which reflected the early afternoon sun in all directions.
I tried as hard as I could not to think, and instead to enjoy the relative peace and quiet. Because God knew the retaliation for the pranking ban would be anything but quiet.
Lauren POV
I turned to Kit, a frown on my face. Simon had been the last of the group to walk out, as Kit had predicted they would.
"I don't like the idea of them being out all night, what with the Edison Group-" Kit cut me off with a hand held up.
"They'll be fine, they're big kids. But they need to understand that their pranking was just getting out of hand."
I frowned again, but didn't object. I sighed and sat down on the recently vacated couch. Kit sat next to me and leaned back.
"Well," he said, "on the bright side, Christmas is just around the corner." I nodded.
"Mmmhmm. Only a couple of days now. Really crept up on us this year." I sighed as I remembered previous Christmases with Chloe and her father. All the memories had a happy glow to them, seeming warm and cozy. Kit looked at me.
"I know that seeing as we're on the run and all, it doesn't seem like this year's Christmas can really be happy, but I think with a little effort it can be." Kit's words gave me an idea, and I didn't hesitate to tell him.
"True, and you know how we can make it happy for ourselves, in addition to punishing the kids?" At his head shake, I finished my idea.
"We can prank the kids ourselves!" I stood and my hands shot up in the air as a grin broke out on my face. "It'd be perfect! We get to laugh ourselves silly over their reactions, the kids are suitably punished, and everything is perfect!" My plan seemed foolproof, but Kit frowned.
"But wouldn't that just incite a wave of pranks against us, once the idea that pranking is good is reinforced by us?"
I deflated and sat back down.
"True."
"But," Kit said, a smile coming over his face, "not if we just act totally clueless while administering said prank. Then, the kids will still be punished, we still get our laughs, and the idea that pranking is bad is not reinforced!"
"You're a genius!" I exclaimed, hugging him. I quickly pulled back, blushing, as I realized what I had done. He looked down, turning red too, as I looked away.
Awkward…
"Anyways, what did you have in mind for the prank?" he asked a moment later. I seized the opportunity at a change of subject.
"Well, I do have lots of embarrassing photos of Chloe when she was younger…" I let my sentence trail off as Kit began grinning.
"Same with Derek and Simon. And no doubt I can find some of Tori in the Edison group files that I saved on my computer!"
"Perfect!" I exclaimed, hi-fiving him. "Let's get to work!"
Tori POV
We were going Christmas shopping. Yay.
Despite the fact that the stores would be cleaned out of anything good, all of us were still going to attempt to find something for everyone else. Because apparently…
"It's all in the holiday spirit!" Lauren chimed as she dumped an armful of clothes in to our already full shopping cart. I scowled and sighed huffily at this. She shot me a murderous look.
"Tori, we are Christmas shopping as a family, and you will enjoy it!" she told me, and I rolled my eyes. "Yeah, sure, fine, whatever," I muttered back, and she looked away.
"Derek, look at this!" Kit called excitedly, indicating a Star Wars play set that a 5 year old kid was enviously eyeing. Derek looked over, winced, and then said, "Yeah, cool dad…" in a tiny voice, trying not to hurt his feelings. Kit chuckled, shaking his head.
"But you used to love Star Wars! I have pictures of you when you were 4 years old, playing with your little Yoda action figure!" At this, he yanked out his wallet and fiddled around in it for a moment, finally procuring a small picture. He held it up for Derek to see, and then Simon peered over. He snickered as Derek's ears turned red.
"Manly, bro. Real manly. Just ruined your image." At Derek began sputtering, I looked over, interested by the fact that I had never before seen Derek flustered by anything.
The picture proved hilarious. It was indeed Derek, looking about 6, sitting on the floor, surrounded by toys. But on closer inspection, I realized that they were not only Star Wars action figures, but also… My Little Ponies?
Derek was holding in one hand a Yoda action figure, and in the other, a Pinkie Pie pony. His smile was huge as he attempted to make Yoda ride the pony. You had yourself a picture that we'd laugh at for years to come.
"Kit, put it away," Derek hissed, attempting to cover the photo with his hands, though it was much too late for that. I was already roaring with laughter, and this attracted the attention of Chloe. As she looked at it, I could almost hear her thinking, this is the guy who I'm dating? By now, we were causing quite a disruption in the aisle, what with the small horde of maniacally laughing people clogging the small walkway.
Finally, after looking lovingly at the picture, Kit put it back in his wallet, only to have another fall out.
"Oh, look Simon! It's one of you!" Simon peered over, and then turned beet red.
"No dad, gah, put it away!" I looked over at the same time Chloe and Derek did.
At first glance, it was one of those naked baby pictures, and I turned away, not wanting to see that. But as my companions began laughing, I looked over again.
It was Simon sitting on the floor, privates tastefully covered with a white blanket. But the funny part was how apparently, the photographer had confused him for a girl. At his side was a pink stuffed bunny rabbit. Simon was smiling openly at it, little baby mind doubtless overjoyed at seeing the epitome of fluffy-pinkness.
Most guys had a ball to represent masculinity or some shit. Not Simon. He had a pink bunny rabbit.
"Oh God Simon, this explains so much!" I yelled as I held on to the wall to keep from falling. My laughter rang out along with Chloe's and Derek's, as Simon yelled at Kit.
"That was a mistake! The photographer messed up-"
"No, the photographer got it exactly right," Derek told him, which drew another round of laughter. Simon, mortified, walked out of the aisle, face burning. Kit finally put the picture back in his wallet, and we were still chuckling as we finished in the store and paid for our purchases.
We walked out in to the main part of the mall, which was all decorated for the holidays. Cheery Christmas music blasted through the speakers, and we looked in to store windows for anything good.
"Let's go to Victoria's Secret," I told Chloe, grabbing her elbow and pulling her towards the store. She motioned to Lauren that we were leaving, and Lauren nodded with pursed, disapproving lips. We walked in to the store, leaving the others behind.
I looked around, sizing up bras, debating what to get. Chloe looked around and sighed.
"What?" I asked her, and she looked at me.
"I don't wear any of this stuff, Tori," she told me, and I sighed. Despite the fact that my skin still had a faint blue tinge to it from her oh so thoughtful prank, I couldn't help but feel sorry for her. I mean, her only living female relative was her aunt, and from what I could tell, she was the prudiest of all prudes.
"Chloe, it's time you did. No more baggy cotton undies for you. Time to become a big girl."
"I'm scared," she whispered as I took her hand and led her to the back. 15 pairs of panties and 5 bras later, Chloe's undergarment wardrobe had been updated, as it had very much needed to be.
"Merry Christmas," I told her, taking out my own debit card. She thanked me, and then turned away. As I completed my transaction, I heard her giggle. I turned around, and she was looking at negligees.
"Nothing to giggle at over there, sweetie," I told her, worrying a bit for her mental health. She shook her head.
"Nah, I was just imagining a pran-" Her eyes widened as she caught herself before she said the word.
"A what?" I asked deliberately as the cashier handed me my bags.
"A prank," she finished, grin spreading. I walked over and looked at the nightwear as she explained.
"What if we bought one of these, addressed it to Lauren, and put that it's from Kit?" she asked, and I laughed out loud.
"Their reactions will be priceless," I agreed, already going through the rack. "Find the skimpiest one you can," I told her, and she nodded, searching as well. Finally, our search yielded the best result.
"Found it!" Chloe exclaimed, holding up the sheerest piece of fabric on the rack. It was black, lacy, and not much else.
"Perfect," I told her, grabbing it. We went to the register and paid for it. At my excited look, the cashier leaned in as she wrapped it.
"Excited to try it on for Blondie over there?" she asked with a wink. As I caught her meaning, I did a double take back to Chloe, who was rocking back and forth on her heels, looking innocent. I suppressed a gag.
"Nope, don't swing that way," I squeaked, fighting to keep my lunch inside me. Shrugging easily, smiling slightly, the cashier handed me my bag. I walked back outside with Chloe tagging at my heels.
"What'd she say?" she asked me, and I found myself suddenly annoyed by her.
"Nothing," I snapped, and shoved the bag at her. I hiked the bags containing her Christmas gift from me higher on my arm and went to find the others.
Chloe POV
After Victoria's Secret with Tori, we caught up with the rest of them easily. They were just coming out of JC Penney, Lauren looking enthusiastic, and the rest looking dejected.
"What'd she do?" I whispered to Derek, who looked down at me.
"What didn't she do?" he asked sadly, not answering my question. Instead, he diverted me with another question.
"What's in the bag?" he asked, indicating the pink striped bag on my arm. I blushed, and played coy.
"Nothing," I told him, and let his imagination do the rest.
As we walked around, looking for other stores to hit up, we came across a mall Santa. Lauren exclaimed excitedly over him (did someone OD on Prozac this morning?). She forced us to wait in a long ass line to have our picture taken. Kit did not object.
"But why?" I asked for the hundredth time, not at all willing to go sit on some pervert's lap so Lauren can get her jollies.
"Because you'll look cute! Oh, Chloe, you used to love sitting on Santa's lap and telling him what you want for Christmas! Look at this picture!" She too took out her wallet and fished out a picture from God knows how long ago. She held it up for me to see, and I flinched.
"Lauren, I don't look at all happy to see Santa! Why do you even have this picture?"
It was an old picture of me sitting on a mall Santa's lap when I was about 5. I do not look cute in it. In fact, I'm screaming my head off and I look like I'm trying to give myself a stroke. And it's working.
Derek leaned over, and I yelled, "Don't look!" Of course, as expected, that just made him even me interested. He took it from Lauren and inspected it. Then he began choking on laughter that he tried to hide. Simon snagged it from his hand as I began berating him.
"It's not funny! I was terrified! He sounded weird and smelled like garlic and I didn't wanna go in the first place!" He burst out in to full scale laughing as Simon commented on it.
"Chloe, you look constipated or something. I didn't even know mouths could stretch that big!" My shriek was muffled as I went to snatch the thing away from him, but he passed it to Tori before I could reach it.
And so my picture was passed around our group, and kept them laughing as we edged closer to the front. Finally, it was our turn, and as the adults ushered us all up to go sit with Santa, the grins disappeared.
Simon and Derek backed up, leaving the girls to go first. Rolling her eyes, Tori pushed me ahead. I took a step forward, looking at Santa in all his enormous red glory. Really, it was just a normal teenager, trying to earn a couple extra bucks, but I saw the old, nasty-smelling Santa from my memory. I skittered forward and sat on the very edge of his knee. He smiled at me, but my mind painted a leer over his grin.
"What do you want for Christmas this year, little girl?" he asked jovially, and all I could see was the other Santa. Be brave, I tried to think to myself, but it didn't work. As he leaned a bit closer for the picture, my skin crawled. I imagined the scent of garlic. Oh God.
The picture came out with me a slight blur, dashing out of the chair, eyes screwed shut, mouth open in a scream, hands stretched straight out in front of me as Santa smiled all alone in the chair. One for the yearbook, alright.
"Save me!" I cried, and skidded right in to Derek, who caught me. The Santa was looking confused, head cocked to the side as he tried to figure out why I had run. Shaking, I hid my face in Derek's sweatshirt.
Tori went next, and when she sat on his lap, she liked what she saw. Her feline smile proved that. When he gave her the customary "What do you want for Christmas?" line, she smiled sexily. She leaned down and whispered something in his ear, and he turned bright red. He was still blushing in the picture, and Tori was smiling like the cat who'd gotten the canary. She slid off him as he smiled at her, and she winked back.
Next, to kill the mood, came Derek. He stomped over, looking back to Kit, who nodded.
Sighing resignedly, Derek stood next to the Santa. Kit shook his head, and pointed to the Santa, who looked terrified. The Santa shook his head, but Kit pretended not to notice. He smiled widely as Derek perched on the edge of Santa's knee, holding all his own weight, looking murderous. Several girls standing in line giggled at him, and he gritted his teeth as the picture was taken.
Simon was last. Despite his obvious sexuality confusion (AN: What? What sexuality confusion? Simon's not confused, no way! Why would you suggest that?), Simon definitely did not look pleased at having to sit on the lap of someone his own age and gender. For that matter, neither did the other guy. Simon's halfhearted smile and general attitude proved that. A shame though, that he wasn't playing the other way, if only for the camera.
"Do a group picture!" Lauren called, hoisting up her camera. We all looked at each other in disbelief, but she insisted. The guys stood on the side of Santa's chair, I perched on one arm, and Tori reclaimed her seat on his lap. Lauren held up the camera, smiling, and shot the picture. I hopped off as quickly as I could, and the guys walked away. But Tori stayed where she was.
"Tori come on- Tori! Wha-" I gasped, shocked, as I noticed where her face was: glued to Santa's. Cue the gasps of the soccer moms in line. I walked forward and grabbed her arm, and she reluctantly came away.
"Bye," she murmured to Santa, who smiled in response.
"Bye," he told her.
"Yeah, bye is right," I told Tori, who looked at me as if noticing me for the first time.
"Hmmm?" she asked me.
"That's not what Santa does," I told her, and she pouted.
"Yes it is," she told me.
"Sure, fine, whatever."
Derek POV
When we finally got back to the hotel room, after an exhausting afternoon shopping at the mall, all I wanted to do was haul ass in to bed and sleep for days. No, of course I couldn't do that, silly me.
"We're making cookies!" Lauren announced, setting her bags on the bed. I sighed.
"We don't have an-"
"I bought a little oven on clearance! I got a cookbook and ingredients too!" Lauren exclaimed.
"Good God, she thought of everything," I muttered to myself. As she got the baking ingredients out, she turned to Chloe.
"Hon, can you get the oven out? It's in a box over there," she said. Chloe nodded and got it out. It was big enough to fit a tray of cookies in, but small enough to barely be deemed "portable." She put it on the counter and plugged it in. Lauren dragged out a mixing bowl, half priced, and set it on the table. She and Chloe unpacked the rest of the ingredients, and then Tori was called to help. As they flipped through the recipes, they hit a flaw.
"Oh, I forgot the cocoa powder! Derek, can you please run to the store and pick up some cocoa powder?" I had nearly fallen asleep in my chair when Lauren yelled that to me. Grunting, I stood. I checked that my wallet was still on me, grabbed a room key, and went out. My father and Simon were nowhere to be found.
I walked to the store and found what she was looking for. I ran it through the self-checkout and bagged it. I walked back to the room slower, not really wanting to go back in the crazed atmosphere that Lauren was creating. Dusk was falling, and Christmas lights were starting to come on. Houses and businesses glowed with florescent lights, and some even had little scenes set up in their front yards. I passed by one who was running a CD with Christmas music, which floated out over their yard and in to the street.
"It's the most wonderful time of the year," warbled some voices out of the stereo, and I couldn't help but agree. All the lights, people coming home to their families, having fun…
I sighed to myself and walked in to the parking lot of the motel. Up the stairs, down the hall, reach the door, key in the slot, and…
Laughter. Cheer. Playfulness. I couldn't help but smile, feeling a little sentimental. I suddenly felt grateful for my family, however mismatched and dysfunctional we could be at times. Family - they really do know how to make you feel loved and whatnot.
I looked at the scene, all of them sitting at the table, laughing, talking, pouring over something on the table. I walked over and looked at it, and the warm, fuzzy feeling disappeared.
They were looking at my baby pictures.
"What the hell?" I yelled, and they all turned to look at me. Their shocked expressions lasted only a moment before they all started cracking up. I looked down at the photo album, and cringed at the photos on the table.
"Aw, come on, why are you looking at those?" I pleaded, and then looked at Kit. He shrugged and smiled at me, and turned back to the pictures. I snatched it off the table.
"Get back to making cookies. Here's your cocoa." I shoved the bag at Lauren and retreated in to the bedroom part of the room. There, I went in to the closet and shoved the book at the very bottom of my suitcase. Stupid father, having those stupid photos laying around…
I decided to sit on the bed and stew for a while. But the stewing didn't last long. Chloe came in a moment later, still chuckling a little. She sat next to me and looked at me.
"I need your help with something," she told me, and I sighed.
"What is it?" I asked. She fidgeted nervously, and bit her lip.
"Well, I'd be asking you to break the pranking ban," she whispered, and I smiled.
"Okay, I'm in. What do you need?"
"A prank involving cookies," she declared. I snorted.
"That's easy." I described the explosive cookie prank to her, and she giggled.
"Perfect! So just switch baking soda with baking powder in the lemon drizzled cookies?"
"Yup. Instant bang," I promised. She smiled and kissed me.
"Thank you, Derek."
"Anytime."
Simon POV
Later, after dinner, the girls announced that there would be cookies for dessert. Omnomnom.
Lauren set down a platter of chocolate chip cookies, from which each of us sampled. We all nodded approvingly in turn. Next came Tori. She had a bunch of sugar cookies. Lauren looked on proudly, at least until she saw how Tori had decorated them. A skull and crossbones made from purple and black sprinkles was imprinted on each cookie. Finally came Chloe.
She set her platter down on the table, and then invited each person to drizzle some lemon icing on their cookie. Each person took a cookie and did as she said. Then, the cookies began popping.
"What the hell?" Tori exclaimed as her cookie jumped out of her hand. She flinched hugely, and fell backwards in to Lauren. Lauren squealed as she did this, and then jumped a foot in the air as her own cookie exploded. I looked down at my own cookie, and then shouted as it committed suicide via fall to its death. All eyes flew to Chloe.
"Oh, I'm so sorry, I don't know what happened!" she sobbed, and Lauren put an arm around her.
"It's okay, sweetie. It happens." Before Tori could ask what other times it "happens," Kit cleared his throat.
"Well, seeing as Christmas is the day after tomorrow, I think we should get started on wrapping, eh?" Everyone nodded, thinking about whose gifts they had to wrap. But Kit wasn't done.
"And I know, seeing as we're in a motel room, that we can't get a Christmas tree, as it's just too impractical to take with us." Everybody sighed audibly, saddened by the thought of a Christmas without a tree.
As we all departed to work on wrapping gifts, I realized that I had no wrapping paper. I walked over to ask Derek for some, and he generously provided me with a roll he'd bought.
"Thanks a ton, bro." I went back to my pile of presents. I grabbed the first box. It held a basketball for Derek, because I knew he missed how we used to play together all the time. I grabbed some wrapping paper and unrolled some of it on the floor. I set the box in the center and cut a square of paper. I attempted to fold the edges up and over, but they wouldn't reach any way I tried. I huffed in frustration. I looked across the room, where Tori was wrapping in the corner. Kit, Lauren, and Chloe were in the other room.
Tori's pile of wrapped presents was huge and perfect. All the edges were creased perfectly, and the paper was smooth on all sides. I looked back to my present, whose paper was crinkled and ill-fitting. Sighing, I cut a larger piece of paper. I wasn't gonna swallow my pride and ask her for help. I could do bad all by myself.
When I woke up the next morning, I immediately sat up. It was Christmas Eve. I checked the clock and discovered that it was 10. The others were already up.
Lauren was organizing a Christmas dinner with the girls and Kit. Derek was AWOL. I slunk out the door, and no one noticed. I went out and bought one last present for someone I'd forgotten about yesterday. Or rather, someone whose gift I couldn't buy yesterday.
When I came back inside, I discovered the group peering at something on the table. I figured it was a cookbook, until I heard their laughter.
"Oh, look at this one! He looks totally stoned!" Tori's voice was audible above all others, thick with amusement. I peered over her shoulder and saw what they were looking at.
"Hey! Quit looking at my baby pictures!" Chloe looked up.
"Aw, but Simon, you looked so cute!" she protested, and I shouted in frustration.
"No! Stop it!" I reached down and grabbed the album and hugged it to my chest.
"Kit, why'd you drag this out?" I asked him. He shrugged.
"Lauren asked to see them, because she asked what we did for Christmas before. I figured pictures were the best way to show her. Sorry if you're embarrassed." But he didn't look sorry at all. I huffed and turned my back on him.
I went in to my room and buried the photo album underneath everything in my suitcase, praying that it would never see the light of day again.
As the day wore on, people began putting all their presents in the corner of the room. I added mine to the pile too, putting my last gift carefully inside a bag. Couldn't have it getting smashed.
At around 8 o' clock, Kit dropped a bombshell.
"We're going caroling!" he announced to general groans. He shook a mock stern finger at us.
"No buts. We're going and that's final."
And so it was. We marched around town, going to houses and ringing their doorbells. When they answered, we immediately burst in to song. Some people smiled, some looked like they were thinking, how long is this going to take?, and some people just didn't answer.
Derek was carrying the bass in the back, while Kit and I took baritone. Lauren and Tori sang duet on the alto, and Chloe sang the soprano melody. Despite the fact that on occasion, Tori changed the words around to not-so-polite ones, or that Kit mumbled some songs, not knowing the words, or that it was actually really cold outside, and we were probably killing some people's heating bills, we actually had fun. We were smiling most of the time, happy to be together and singing annoying the crap out of strangers. I enjoyed myself.
Back home, Lauren made everybody a glass of hot cocoa, and we sat around drinking and relaxing. Soon enough, it was time for bed, and we were all ushered out of the room. Derek and Chloe went off in some corner (doubtless where the sprig of mistletoe was hanging), Tori went off in her direction, and I changed in to pajamas.
As I climbed in to bed, I thought about how Santa would be visiting us tonight. I grinned in anticipation, and I couldn't wait to see what he brought me. I knew that everyone was exchanging gifts the next day, all bought by each other, but there would also be Santa's gifts. I really hoped he brought me what I wanted.
I soon drifted off to sleep, beyond excited for the coming morning.
Chloe POV
As I awoke the next morning, I heard rustling next to me. I looked over at Tori on her bed, and discovered the source of the rustling. She turned over and caught my eye.
"What time is it?" she asked quietly, and I checked the clock.
"6. You wanna go?" She nodded, and we left our beds. I put on my slippers, and she her robe. We crept in to the guys room, and discovered that Derek and Simon were already up and sitting on the couch. We grinned at each other, and headed to the corner.
"Wait," Simon murmured as we neared the enormous pile.
"What?" we all asked him, anxious to open our presents.
"Shouldn't we wake up Kit and Lauren first?" he asked, and we sighed resignedly.
"Guess we should. Chloe, get Lauren, I'll get Kit," Derek told me, and I did as I was told. In the next room, I woke up Lauren by shaking her shoulder gently.
"Aunt Lauren, wake up. It's Christmas!" I was unable to keep the smile off my face, and when she finally opened her eyes, I grinned even wider. I handed her robe to her and we walked back over together. Kit was just waking up as we walked in.
"Can we open our presents now?" we chorused, and smiling at each other, the adults agreed. We tore in to the pile, excited 5 year old little kids once again. We handed each other bags that had the corresponding names on them, and searched desperately for our own names. When the pile was finally sorted, we all began opening presents. Kit had his camera and photographed our faces as we saw what was inside.
"Yes! The collector's edition of the Saw series! Thank you, Aunt Lauren!" I exclaimed, getting up to hug her.
"Nice, Simon! I've been wanting to play basketball again forever!" Derek fist pounded Simon as he tore away the paper for a square box.
"Chloe, this is great! Thanks so much!" Tori smiled widely at me as she unwrapped her makeup kit with all her favorite brands.
"Lauren, thank you! I love this color!" Kit said, holding up a navy blue dress shirt. She smiled back at him.
Soon enough, all the presents had been opened except for one. Lauren smiled as she was handed one last bag. Then she noticed the label.
"To Lauren, from Kit," she read off the pink striped bag. Kit's eyebrows creased in confusion as he realized that he hadn't gotten her that. He opened his mouth to say something as she pulled it out. She gasped as the lacy black negligee was uncovered.
All four of us kids started laughing as she got up and slapped Kit across the face with it. He protested, saying that he had no idea where that had come from. She didn't listen, but continued slapping him. He got up and backed across the room, hands held in front of him, trying to reason with her.
"Merry Christmas, everyone," I said, sighing, as I leaned back in to Derek. And what a merry Christmas it was.
Credits to:
Suzi1811, for the embarrassing pictures idea. Great job, girlie :D
Elf, the movie, for the negligee idea. Hilarious movie XD
Drake & Josh Christmas movie for the Santa idea. A freaking awesome movie.
Suite Life of Zach and Cody, for the exploding cookie idea. Funny episode XD
Myself, for everything else. ^-^
Hehe, Derek being all mushy gushy over his family. Awww :3
Yes, Simon still believes in Santa. Hey - you stop believing, and you stop receiving.
Thank you everyone for all the support I've received. Seriously. Now you all go out and have a merry Christmas! And if you don't celebrate Christmas, have a happy Hanukah, or a joyful Kwanza, etc. HAPPY HOLIDAYS!
Over and out, people :D