A/N: Another update! WOOO! I have no real author's note for this one. Yeah...
Disclaimer: I do not own Degrassi or its characters. And there are some lines from NSYNC's song "Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays"
It's cold outside, there's snow on the ground, lights are everywhere, people are singing, and I'm giddy with joy. That's right! It's that time of year again. IT'S CHRISTMAS TIME! Now everyone sing with me. It's a wonderful feeling, feel the love in the room from the floor to the ceiling. It's the time of year, Christmas time is here. Christmas is my third favorite holiday. The first being my birthday of course because my birthday is an international holiday, seriously. My second favorite holiday is Beth and my anniversary, because in our world it's a holiday. The thing I love about Christmas is that I can be with my family and friends.
Fall semester of junior year was ok. Once again I earned A's and a couple of B's. Once again Alex beat me by earning all A's which totally isn't fair because she's good at science and I suck at science. The Alex-Sage relationship is still going strong. Although there was a small argument between them after Fashion Week because Alex wouldn't shut up about how much she dislikes Riley. So Sage pointed that out and yeah… This year we, Alex, Beth, and I, flew home for Thanksgiving though since we all had a week off and Alex and I really wanted to see Major since he's growing up so fast.
Paige's life has really changed since Fashion Week. People are really starting to know her name. I've seen her do a couple of interviews on Fashion Weekly, because now Alex and I watch that channel religiously just to see if they mention Paige. I know she and Riley have also gotten a tad bit closer but I don't have all the details on that… yet.
So right now I am at the Perez household. Beth and I are hanging out in here room. We're just talking about nothing, as always. The door is open because let's face it, even though I'm a girl there are still rules in this household.
"So what did you get me for Christmas?" I ask.
"Assuming I got you something," Beth says teasingly.
"Oh well if you didn't get me anything then I didn't get you anything," I tell her, playing along.
"Yeah ok Jordan Johnson. Everyone knows you love giving gifts. You give Simón a gift every year on Cinco de Mayo and Natalicio del Libertador."
"Hey Natalicio del Liberator is to celebrate the birth of Simón Bolivar, the man that help liberate Venezuela and the man who Simón is named after. Also I know Cinco de Mayo is a very important day as well."
"Do you even know what Cinco de Mayo is?"
"May 5th? The day we all celebrate how great tequila is?"
Beth laughs. "Wow, you're very lucky you're cute."
Knock, knock.
Beth and I look up at the doorway. Mr. Perez is standing there smiling at us.
"Lo siento for interrupting," he says. "Jordan, I was wondering if you'd be joining us for dinner."
"Oh, I can't," I tell him. "Big family night tonight at the Johnson household. But thank you anyway Mr. Perez."
"Maybe next time," he says and smiles.
Mr. Perez walks away, leaving Beth and I alone once again. I'm kind of bummed I can't stay for dinner now because Mrs. Perez is an amazing cook.
"Hey, can I ask you something?" I ask.
"Sure."
"How is it that your parents are so cool with us dating? I mean no offense but they're Hispanic, your dad is half Irish, and y'all are Catholic. Last time I checked those groups are exactly "yay gay"."
"Well you know how my father's parents are Mexican and Irish right?"
I nod my head because I know this fact very well.
"Well like I've said before my grandparents met in high school. It was the 1940s at this time and contrary to popular belief there was racial segregation in Canada. Well they went to Catholic school and although they went to the same school the school was very much so segregated. The racial segregation couldn't stop them from falling in love though. Of course they faced opposition because Abuelo's family was not ok with their oldest son dating a white Irish girl and Grandma Cathleen's family was definitely not ok with their daughter dating a Mexican. To make a long story short my father comes from two parents who face hardship because of who they were in love with and knows that you can't help who you fall in love with."
"Wow, so your grandparents were like the modern day Romeo and Juliet?"
"Yeah except lucky for us no one died."
"True." Beth and I share a loving kiss. "Well I'm glad your grandparents' hardships allowed us to be together with having to face the same discrimination."
"That's because you haven't met the rest of the family," Beth tells me. "They're not as accepting as Papi is."
"Oo, that makes me look forward to meeting the rest of your family," I tell her sarcastically.
"Once they meet you I know they'll love you as much as I do."
"I bet they will." I look at my cell phone to check the time. "I gotta go, it's time for the big family celebration."
I get off of Beth's bed and make my way to the front door.
"What exactly are you guys celebrating?" she asks once we reach the front door.
"I don't know exactly but I know there's cake involved so I'm there."
Beth laughs. "Of course you are. Call me later."
"Of course I will." Beth and I share a kiss. "Love you."
"Love you too. Now go get your cake."
Johnson Household:
If anyone ever tried to find out where I live they wouldn't have to try very hard. Let's just say that during the holiday season our electrify bill is through the room. There're lights all over the house, we have those scary moving reindeer lights, and for some reason we have a giant lit up menorah and kinara in the front yard. We're not Jewish and we don't celebrate Kwanzaa. It's quite ridiculous if you ask me. But when Brian flipped the switch to turn on the lights Major's face lit up as well. I must say that that was a great sight to see.
I enter my house and the smell of ginger bread cookies instantly hit my nose. This is exactly why I can't lose weight when I'm at home for the holidays, because my mother feels the need to bake ginger bread cookies all the time.
"Matisse come here," I hear my Grandma call out Major's actual name.
Yep, the grandparents are here this year which is actually pretty nice, except when Grandma complains about the cold. We told her to pack actual winter clothes. Not Florida winter clothes. Grandpa LOVES the snow. He also loves throwing snowballs at Grandma which doesn't make her too happy.
"Matisse," Grandma calls out Major's name again.
"Grandma I told you he won't answer to that," Alex says.
I walk into the living room to see the grandparents sitting on the couch and Major is standing in front of the Christmas tree staring at it. He's amazing by the lights, like REALLY amazed. Alex is sitting on the other couch.
"I'm going to call him by the name his parents gave him," Grandma says.
"A name that no one calls him by," Alex points out.
"Hush up Lexie. I'm going to prove you wrong. Matisse, Matisse come to Grandma."
No response. Alex and I start laughing.
"Hey Major," Alex calls out.
Major turns around and looks at Alex. Ha ha! Now Alex and I are laughing even harder. Major walks over to Alex and climbs up on her lap. Alex holds out her hand.
"High-five buddy," she says.
Major slaps Alex's hand. I look over at Grandma and she's just shaking his head.
"Just not right," she says.
Ding dong!
I walk to the door to answer it. I open the door and the family lawyer, Rodger Smith, is standing there. Weird for him to be here.
"Hey Mr. Smith," I greet him. "Come on In."
I move over to allow Mr. Smith to walk in.
"Thanks Jordan," he says. "It's freezing cold out there."
I'm nodding my head, agreeing with him. I take his coat and hang it on the coat hanger.
"What exactly are you doing here Mr. Smith?" I ask him. "Not that I'm not excited to see you. It's just last time I saw you I found out that I'm not getting my trust fund till I'm 25, as opposed to 21 when I was originally supposed to get it."
"Well I'm here with good news this time," Mr. Smith says. "Are your parents in the kitchen?"
"Yeah, they're in there. Just make sure you announce your presence first before you actually walk in there. There's mistletoe all over this house if you catch my drift."
"Yes Jordan, I catch your drift."
Mr. Smith walks to the kitchen and I go back into the living room. I sit down on the couch beside Alex, who's playing peek-a-boo with Major at the moment.
"Was that Mr. Smith at the door?" she asks.
"Yeah, I wonder why he's here."
"Maybe Mom and Dad are pushing the age you can get your trust fund to 30." Alex smirks.
"The only reason why it was pushed to 25 was so they could build up your trust fun," I tell her.
Alex sticks her tongue out at me. Oh great, now Major is sticking out his tongue as well. He's such a copy cat sometimes. Mom, Brian, and Mr. Smith walk into the living room. They're smiling which must mean that they're about to tell us something good.
"Well after about a year and a half of going through legality and tons of rules and laws we can finally make it official," Brian says.
"What are we exactly making official?" I ask.
Mr. Smith pulls out a set of papers out of his briefcase. "I have in my hands the papers to make the adoption of Alexandra Deanna Nuñez official," he says in smile.
No way! I forgot about the whole adoption process. I've just been calling Alex my sister for the past year and a half ever since Mom and Brian asked me how I would feel about them adopting her. This is quite a celebration indeed, cake is sooo appropriate for this moment. I look at Alex and if you looked up the word 'happiness' up in the dictionary then you would see Alex's face next to it.
"So what do you say Alex?" Brian asks with a grin on his face. "You ready to officially become a Johnson?"
Alex places Major on my lap and stands up.
"I'd love to become part of your family," she says happily. "But I do have one request."
"Go ahead."
"I've grown up my whole life being Alex Nuñez and to be honest I can't imagine not being Alex Nuñez. So I was wondering if I could keep Nuñez but still have Johnson as part of my name."
Brian and Mom are smiling and nodding their heads. Mr. Smith pulls out a new packet of papers from his briefcase.
"We had another set of forms ready in case you wanted to keep Nuñez," Brian says.
My dad is very smart man, yes he is.
"Once you sign these papers your name will officially be changed to Alexandra Deanna Johnson Nuñez," Mr. Smith tells us.
"I think I can live with that," Alex says.
We all go into the kitchen, including Grandma and Grandpa. Mr. Rodger sets the papers down on the kitchen island. Mr. Smith hands Alex a fancy pen.
"Once you sign the papers there'll be no turning back," I warn her.
"I think I'm ready."
Mr. Smith points to where Alex has to sign. Then he flips to another page where she once again has to sing. The Mom and Brian sign the parts they have to sign. Mr. Smith pulls out a stamp and stamps the papers.
"Congratulations!" he yells. "You're officially a Johnson."
Everyone is cheering. Major is clapping his hands, not because he knows what's going on but because everyone else is cheering. Alex is looking at me with a smile on her face and her arms open.
"Give your big sister a hug," she says.
"Oh lord, I hope you don't plan on referring to yourself as my big sister for the rest of our lives," I tell her.
"Hmm, possibly."
We laugh and share a hug.
"Time for cake!" Brian announces.
"Cake!" I yell. I love me some cake.
Christmas:
Ever since I was little I've always been the first one to wake up on Christmas morning. There's the excitement in the air that wakes me up bright and early. It's 7am right now which means it's time to open presents. I'm creeping into Major's room first right now. I turn on the light.
"Hi," Major greets me. He's standing up in his crib right now smiling at me.
"Major, I think the Christmas spirit woke you up like it woke me up," I tell him.
He has his arms stretched out in front of him which means he wants me to pick him up. I pick him up and take him out of his crib.
"Let's go wake everyone up," I tell him.
Major and I go to Alex's room. I set Major down on Alex's stomach.
"Major, say hi," I whisper to him.
"Hi!" Major says.
I see Alex stirring. Her eyes are blinking open.
"Good morning sleeping beauty," I greet her happily with a huge grin on my face.
"I thought once you turned 20 you would stop waking people up early on Christmas," she grumbles.
"I might be 20 but Major is only one."
"Don't use our brother as your scapegoat." Alex turns her attention. "Hi Major."
Alex starts tickling him and now he's laughing his little baby laugh. His laugh is so cute and contagious. Alex picks Major up off her stomach and is now carrying him.
"Come on, let's go wake everyone else up," she says.
"Yay!"
Later:
Christmas, what a sweet sweet holiday. Everyone racked up this year. I got a new electrical guitar, a Gibson CS-336 and a new effects pedal. Brian got Mom the complete set of New Edition records. We all got Brian something Dolphins and Lakers related. Mom and Brian bought Alex brand new state of the art noise cancellation headphones. They look REALLY nice. I got Alex a new effects petal for her bass and she got me the new Demi Lovato cd. Do not judge me. Grandparents gave us money of course. As for Major, he got some new toys, including a toy cell phone.
It's the afternoon now and we're all just chillin. Well actually Alex and I are in the music room jamming out. We're working on a new song. Hopefully as Major gets older he'll learn the drums and we can be a family band, but a COOL family band.
"That was a sick bass line," I tell Alex.
"Yeah the new pedal does wonders," she responds.
"I must say that the music world better look out for you two," someone says.
Alex and I turn our head to the doorway. Hey, Paige is here! Alex and I set our instruments down in their individual stands. I hug Paige first and then her and Alex hug.
"Merry Christmas," she says.
"Merry Christmas!" Alex and I say at the same time.
"I brought you two some gifts."
Paige reaches into the bag she's carrying. She pulls out a small square shape box and hands it to me. I open the box and inside is a guitar pick and it looks like someone tried to sign it.
"A signed guitar pick?" I ask.
"Yes, but guess who signed it," Paige says.
"Who?"
"Benji Madden."
Oh my God. My jaw literally just dropped and I know my eyes are as wide as fuck.
"No way!" I say is disbelief. "You got Benji Madden of Good Charlotte to sign this? How the hell were you able to do that?"
"Well I ran into Nichole Riche at a fashion show and I mentioned how you were a big fan of her boyfriend's band and she was able to get Joel to get Benji to sign a pick."
"Oh my God, best present ever! Thank you!" I wrap my arms around Paige and hug her. Well more like I'm squeezing the life out of her right now.
"Hon, I-can't-breathe," Paige says.
I let her go. "My bad," I apologize.
Paige reaches into her bag and pulls out a rectangular box, bigger than mine. She gives the box to Alex.
"Now Lexie you're harder to shop for but I hope you like what I got you," Paige says. "Kevin and Jason came up with the idea."
Alex opens the box and pulls out a black sleeve shirt. She's reading the front of the shirt and smiles. Alex turns the shirt around so I can read it. In white print it says: 'Yes, I'm the Acid Tongue Raven Haired Beauty from the Wrong Side of the Tracks.'
"I love it Paige, thank you," Alex says. "I also got you something."
"We got you something," I correct.
Alex hands Paige the gift bag that's been sitting on the desk. Paige pulls out a pink short sleeve shirt. She reads the writing on the front of the shirt and laughs. The writing says, "Yes, I'm THE Paige Michalchuk'.
"Guys, it's great," she says smiling.
"Yeah, we thought so too."
"Well gift exchange was fun but I have something exciting to tell you."
"Oo do tell," I say.
"Well I've been hired to be the Costume Designer for an upcoming movie," Paige says excitedly.
"Oh my God, no way!" I exclaim.
"That's great news Paige!" Alex exclaims.
"Yeah, Riley was able to get me the job because she's the PA and the director and studio looked at some of my sketches and were impressed with my stuff. I leave next month for Vancouver."
"What's the movie?" I ask.
"Henry the eighth."
"As in King Henry the eighth of England?" Alex asks.
I turn and look at Alex with my eyebrow raised. "You know who King Henry is?" I ask surprised.
"I did get an A in World History," she points out.
"Alright Ms. Straight A's." I turn my attention back to Paige. "Paige that's AMAZING news. How long will you be in Vancouver?"
Paige shrugs her shoulders. "I don't know," she answers. "I have to do pre-production which could take up to three months and then there's the filming itself but at least I'll still be in Canada. I'll be closer to home now."
"Well I am very excited for you Paige," I tell her. I hug her.
"Me too," Alex says. Alex and Paige share a hug.
"Well I have to go," Paige says. "More gifts to hand out. But I will talk to you to later. Bye!"
Paige leaves the band room and I hear her leaving the house. I turn to look at Alex. Her face isn't screaming excitement or joy right now.
"What's up your butt?" I ask.
"Paige is going to be on a movie how set with Riley for God knows how long," she says. "People hook up on movie sets."
I'm shaking my head at her. "You gotta get over this," I tell her.
"All I'm saying is that Paige needs to be careful because when she's not looking that's when Riley and her British army will pounce on her." Alex is nodding her head.
Did she really just say "pounce"? All I can do is shake my head. I say that if Paige wants to hook up with Riley then hook up with her. But then again, what do I know?