Calum: A Christmas Tale

Part Two: Fort

"We'll be going now," I smiled at the lady standing in front of us.

I had to run and make a quick grocery before picking Harry up at Mrs. Hemmings, who happens to have a son studying at Harry's school, too. She agreed to bring him home after school where I'd pick him up after mine. Her older son is my older brother's best friend, too. We're sort of a family friend, so it was okay for her. And we're really grateful to their family.

I continued, "thank you for taking care of Harry."

"I'll see you on Monday, Auntie," Harry said cheerfully before we waved back at her and started our way home. He held on my hand as he happily skip every two steps to catch up with my walking. And no, it's not because I have super long legs that he have to skip. It's more like I actually have small steps but fast - if you get what I mean. I know, I know, I'm a little bit weird. He continued, "can you make cupcakes again? Auntie and I enjoyed them."

"Would you like to help me bake, then?" I asked smiling, wiggling my eyebrows which made him giggle.

"I'll help!" He said happily, stopping on tracks and jumped up and down in excitement.

"Okay, okay," I laughed, as we begun to walk again. "Lucky you, I got some flour and eggs before picking you up."

"Is mom going to be home this weekend?" He asked. And all of a sudden, there were sadness in his voice.

We barely see our Mom these days. After our Dad died last year and after mourning for months, she eventually just got over it - in a way that I don't think she really is, if you know what I mean - and busied herself at work. It's like she's taking every shift at the hospital just to get away from the reality.

It's not a big of a deal for me that she's working her ass off; somehow, I understand her. Losing someone you love is not that easy. I love them both, but Dad is my best friend. He was the one I always run to whenever I'm scared or I need help. I remember how he would always make a fort in the living room when he comes home for the weekend, and we'd stay there watching movies after movies till we fall asleep. I remember how I cried during our mother's day celebration at school because Mom got caught up in an emergency at the hospital and couldn't make it; Dad was there - he even made the whole crowd laugh when he pretended to be a woman and put on a wig.

He's just the best, and I love him so much.

But he's just gone now, you know. He's never coming back. All I have now are memories.

We used to say Harry will be fine, he's still young. But, it was also hard on him. We couldn't even tell him at first what really happened to Dad without sugar-coating it. And, now, he's missing our Mom as well.

"I'll ask," I sighed, stopping in front of our house. I looked at him, bending a bit to meet his eyes in eye level, as I ruffled his hair; "But, hey, buddy, big bro is coming home tonight. I'm sure he got loads of stories to tell you."

"Okay," he smiled weakly.

"And maybe we can ask him to have a sleepover. What'cha say we make a fort in the living room?" I grinned, as we made our way to the front door. I pulled the key from my pocket and unlocked the door.

"Let's watch Transformers!" He said happily, forgetting about earlier, as he ran inside the room and up the stairs. From his room, he shouted; "can I go to Zandro's after I change? We'll just play for a bit."

"Okay," I called back, setting my school bag and a shopping bag at the kitchen counter. I quickly tied my hair in a bun - no, not the cute one but a bun that says "I'm busy, go away bun" - and put on an apron to start preparing our dinner. Since our brother is coming home, Mom asked me to make an extra effort tonight. Though his school is just half an hour away, he barely goes home. He took a part time job few months after Dad died to help with the expenses since, like he said, there's still three of us studying and he wanted to help our Mom. You can say that my brother is a bit mature for his age. He also has a band. I don't know what he plays but I heard they get some gigs from time to time. So, with that, he usually stays with one of his friends who's also in their band.

Zandro's house is just across the street, so I let Harry go on his own, making him promise to come back in a couple of hours. I also happened to get a glimpse of a moving truck outside. We got a new neighbour who's moving in today and I heard one of their kids is the same age as me. It's not that I don't wanna know and be friends with her or him, it's more of I don't want anyone from school to see me when I'm home.

I don't know, I guess they might be disappointed in me for looking different and stuff.

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A/N: And we're back. I'll edit this once I'm completely done with the book. But in the meantime, let's see where this on the spot writing will get us.

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