A Bump On The Road (Jaden Smith Fanfic) (Wattys 2015)

Chapter 44: Christmas Insobriety

Jaden's POV -

"Jingle bells! Jingle bells! Jingle all the way! Oh what fun it is to wake up Jaden early today!" . A familiar voice sang loudly in my ears as my bed constantly moved in-sync with the tune. I refused to open up my eyes because I knew that the day light would just blind me dramatically, so I squinted a little and saw Willow hovering over me and jumping on the edge of my bed. When I realised that she was just trying to be an annoying fucking little sister, I placed my pillow over my head to cover my ears.

"Jaden! Wake up, it's Christmas morning for crying out loud" She said but I still wouldn't budge. "I will get the a cup of cold water, J".

"You wouldn't," I muffled into my bed and I suddenly couldn't feel the movements of Willow fidgeting on my bed and heard the tap from my bathroom running, so I hastily got out. "Okay, okay, I'm up!".

"Good, now hurry up because we all want to open our presents already" She joyfully said before rushing out of my room.

Now that I'm almost 19, Christmas just doesn't really give me the same excitement as it used too. I still love being with my family and having Christmas dinner, but the whole vibe just doesn't make me wake up earlier than usual to rush downstairs and open all the presents, or wear the crazy Christmas jumper that my grandma got me last year.

But I'll always remember the Christmas when I was 14 and my family spent it with Stella's, Jordyn's and Moises and Mateo's families. That was the year when I started realising how in love I was with Stella. Then near the end of the night, she gave me a kiss under the mistletoe and I officially set that as the best Christmas ever. It's crazy how things have changed because this Christmas, Stella's not even speaking to me.

I finally walked downstairs wearing basketball shorts and no shirt to find my parents and Willow sitting in the kitchen, and our chef making Christmas tree-shaped pancakes.

"Merry Christmas everyone," I announced.

"Merry Christmas" They all replied and I sat down beside my Mom, before our chef placed a plate of pancakes in front of me.

"Thank you" I said and immediately took a big bite out of the food. "So plan for today?".

"Well, cousins, aunties, uncles, grandmas, grandpas, both sides in fact; this Christmas is going to be slightly bigger than usual" Dad informed, while intensely reading through the newspaper in one hand and sipping his coffee in the other.

"Wow. Anxiety levels have just been raised to the max" I mentioned while picking at the pancakes on my plate.

"It won't be that bad Jaden, what are you so worried about?" Mom asked me.

"The amount of criticism that I'm going to get. This is going to be the first time that our family have come together since I found out that Stella's having my baby. They've probably already got a stack of judgement lined up" I complained and thought about how the Christmas dinner will go. Everyone sat beside one another, having to all be involved in the same conversation. And the same topic. Oh great.

Willow got up with her plate and scruffed up my hair on the way. "You're honestly over exaggerating, Jaden".

"Exactly son, I think you becoming a father is the last thing on everyone's minds on Christmas day" Dad reassured and shot me a quick smile.

My Mom hooked her arms around my neck as she stood behind me and kissed the top of my head. "It'll be fine honey. Just enjoy Christmas and hurry up with your breakfast so we can open presents. Okay?"

"Okay," I agreed and continued to eat my food with today's possible events going through my mind.

***