Merry Ex-Mas by Victoria Christopher Murray

Author:Victoria Christopher Murray [Murray, Victoria Christopher]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Fiction, African American, General, Christian, Romance
ISBN: 9781939481153
Google: 2CnonQEACAAJ
Amazon: 1939481155
Publisher: LDA
Published: 2013-11-05T00:00:00+00:00

MY CHRISTMAS, YOUR CHRISTMAS, THIS CHRISTMAS

KENDALL LEIGH STEWART

Chapter 9

I stared into my coffee and watched the stream circle up to me. My eyes were bleary from my lack of sleep, and it took a tremendous effort for me to even lift my head. When I did, my eyes focused on the old-fashioned apple-shaped clock that had been hanging over the sink since I was a kid.

The hands on the clock had long ago rusted, but still the clock ticked and told the time: It was just about ten minutes to six.

Christmas morning had arrived.

It was almost as if I couldn't look away from the clock. And as I stared, I remembered. And as I remembered, I couldn't help but smile…

"Ssssh," I whispered to my little sister. "We can't wake them up yet, Sabrina. Not until six."

"Why not?" Sabrina whined. "Santa Claus left a long time ago. See," she picked up the saucer where our father had left three chocolate chip cookies the night before. Sabrina wouldn't go to bed until Santa's snacks had been set out. "And Santa put the glass in the sink, too. See," Sabrina said, pointing.

"Dang, that Santa sure is messy," I said picking up the glass. "Next time, he should wash it."

Sabrina shook her head. "He couldn't. He didn't have time because he had to take the reindeer all around the world."

I laughed and wondered if I'd been that gullible when I was five. I couldn't remember when I'd stop believing in Santa Claus, but whenever it was, now that I was twelve, I knew the whole truth. But I loved my baby sister too much to spoil it for her.

"Can we wake up Mama and Daddy now?"

Sabrina's whisper came out so loud, I put my hand over her mouth to quiet her down. "Sssh....we just have ten more minutes. It's almost six."

We tiptoed back to our bedroom, and I climbed into my bed. But right across from me, Sabrina sat on the edge of hers. "Is it time yet?" That was the question she asked me for the next nine minutes.

Finally, I nodded and Sabrina jumped up and dashed out of the room before I could even get my feet to hit the floor.

"Mama! Daddy! Santa came," Sabrina shouted as she ran down the hall. "You have to come and see!"

I had to shake my head a little to drag myself back to the present. The happiness that I'd felt on that Christmas morning and on the many Christmases that followed was supposed to last forever.

But the first sign that my forever was going to be short-lived was when my mother passed away five years later. And then after what happened with me, Sabrina and Anthony, Christmas became a holiday that was no longer to be celebrated with family. In fact, I spent most Christmases alone—though no one knew that. I always told my father that I was spending the holiday with friends. But in actuality, Christmas was just another workday for me.

Now though, with what my father told me the other day, this was a new Christmas; this was his Christmas.

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