Dear Future

Chapter Three

I wake up to a horrid sound filling my room. I turn my head and see that my alarm clock is practically screaming at me. I shut it off and stare up at the ceiling. It had been weeks since the situation at Granny's and everything is okay now. My parents have seemed to have forgotten what had happened and are now closer than ever.

A soft knock on the door interrupts my thoughts. It opens slowly and Alice walks in. She sits down on my bed and gives me a smile.

"Merry Christmas Eve, Hope."

I had forgotten about Christmas for a second. "You too."

She rubs the back of her neck with her hand. "Christmas hasn't been very merry, so far. Grandma woke me up at 6:30 to ask me if I wanted the green ornaments or blue. I don't even know how she got into the house. Kind of creepy, actually."

"Well, good to know Grandma's in the Christmas spirit," I say, laughing. She gives me a glare.

"She's always in a Christmas mood. Now, she just goes crazy."

It was true. My grandma had always loved Christmas time. When I asked her, she said it was because they had never been able to celebrate it properly before I was born. There had always been some sort of villain or crisis in Storybrooke at that time.

"Yeah, I guess you're right," I say.

"Now get up! Mom needs our help with the cookies and cinnamon rolls, which Grandma's requested we do this year," says Alice.

I nod and get up. She leaves my room to let me get dressed. After I'm done, I run down the stairs to see Mom kneading dough for sugar cookies. She stops to look up at me.

"Good morning, Hope."

"Morning Mom," I say, giving her a hug. When I pull away, I see some flour has gotten on my t-shirt. I look around the kitchen.

"Where's Dad?"

"He had to 'help David with something at the station'," she says, using air quotes. "But, I think he really went out to do some late Christmas shopping."

"Ok," I say, grabbing a bagel. I put some cream cheese on it and took a bite. Alice walks in and steals my bagel.

"Hey!" I yell. I tried to get it back, but she holds it high. "Give it back!"

"You can only have it if you can reach it," she says.

"Or," says Mom. "You can give it back to your sister and help make the frosting for the cookies. Violet's coming over soon too, so you can clean up."

"Fine," says Alice, handing me back my bagel. I grab it and eat it quickly so she can't steal it again.

I hear the front door open. Peering over, I see Dad and Henry laughing at something. Henry walks over to us.

"Good morning, my dear sisters," he says.

"Since when do you call us that?" I ask. He smiles and places his arms around our shoulders, which I realise has become a habit of his.

"Since we had to be nice to each other on Christmas."

"Well, Alice has already broken that rule."

"I've been nice," says Alice. I glare.

"If I recall, you stole and contaminated my bagel," I say.

"I took one bite. Plus, we're sisters, so it doesn't matter."

"Still, contamination."

"Guys, try to be nice to each other on the holidays. What if Grandma saw you fighting on Christmas," says Mom.