The Sixth Child

Chapter 16

"Do you have to go? Can't you at least stay for Christmas Eve?" Kailey whined, lightly holding on to Mika's wrist to stop her.

"I'm sorry, I really have to go. My mum was sad enough that you were staying, if I did too I think she'd throw a fit," Mika said gently, removing Kailey's hand.

Kailey frowned at her, still trying to think of ways to get her to stay. This was the first Christmas that she'd be properly celebrating and, whilst it was great that she was getting to celebrate with Luka and her brothers, she also wanted to celebrate with Mika. Sure, she'd technically spent last year with her but that hardly counted considering she had spent most of the day up in her room, barely able to leave her bed.

"I still don't understand why you can't just invite your parents over here for Christmas, it's not like we're short on space,"

"Kailey, we talked about this. Stop pestering Mika," James said, appearing almost out of nowhere.

"But if she leaves now she won't even be here to put up decorations, she's leaving ages before Christmas," She whined again, sounding more like a petulant child than the teenager that she was supposed to be.

"I have to leave now Kailey, I think if my mum has to wait even a minute longer she'll combust. I can't do that to her," Mika laughed softly, especially as Kailey pouted. "Come on, I gotta go, stop with the sad face,"

Kailey did no such thing.

"But I don't want you to leave. Plus this means you can't spend your first Christmas with a boyfriend with said boyfriend,"

"If he's Ok with that then you should be too, Kailey. Now please stop, it's already hard enough to leave and you're only making it harder," Mika frowned, silently pleading with Kailey to listen to her.

She considered her options: either keep pestering Mika or be a nice sister and actually let her go. Considering how miserable Mika looked, it would be horrible to not choose the latter option...

"Fine. But you have to promise to call, Ok?" She said reluctantly, making Mika sigh in relief.

She pulled Kailey in for a quick hug, waving goodbye to James before rushing out the door, having already said her goodbyes to everyone else beforehand. Of course, she had already said goodbye to Kailey as well but she had chosen to be a pest and continue bothering Mika. It really was a wonder that Mika still loved her...

"If it makes you feel any better, we were planning on putting up the tree today..." James said, placing a gentle hand on Kailey's shoulder.

Kailey immediately perked up, grinning over at her brother as if he had just told her she won a million dollars. He shook his head at her grin but she could see the small smile on his own face that he was trying to hide.

"Hey, has she left yet?" Sam asked, appearing at the top of the stairs.

He didn't need to specify for Kailey to understand who he meant and she nodded, noting how his face fell a little bit at her response. Honestly, she felt bad for him. He couldn't spend Christmas- a holiday dedicated to family, significant others included- with the love of his life. Sure, he had all his brothers and his sister there with him but it wasn't the same. Hell, Kailey knew that she wouldn't be as happy as she were now if she didn't have Luka with her, or if they weren't together...

"You Ok?" She asked, her expression caught between a wince and a cringe.

He nodded silently, staring dismally down the stairs.

"I'll go get the tree," He murmured after a moment, leaving without another word.

Kailey turned to James, seeing him sharing her expression.