Lexi
The friends we have as children shape us. Some of them we keep forever, some of them we lose along the way... but all of them leave something behind... or in his case, take something as they leave.
Mason Jennings held my heart in his hands at...
TW: REFERENCE TO DEATH OF A FAMILY MEMBER - EMOTIONAL CONTENT
As always, it'll be signposted with bold writing when the song should be played :)
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Christmas Eve was always more magical to me that Christmas Day itself, at least when my Mom was alive. After she was gone, it felt as though the magic died with her.
I did my best to keep it alive for Heather. I'd get her a small tree for her room and decorate it with the ornaments I kept hidden in the bottom of my wardrobe. Derrick kept the attic locked so I had to improvise with most of the decorations.
I'd bake cookies with her on a night when Derrick went out, cleaning the kitchen thoroughly afterwards to remove any evidence of fun in the house.
My step-father hadn't celebrated anything other than his son's birthday since my mother's passing. He saved his drunken nights for when Jason wasn't around though I know his son knew how he behaved having been hit a few times himself. Perhaps that's why he never helped me - he was grateful it wasn't him.
On Christmas Day I would take Heather to Marlene's Diner in town for roast turkey and stuffing subs followed by apple pie and ice cream, our mother's favourite dessert. We'd always ordered the pie from there and its taste never failed to make me feel close to her.
I couldn't get to any of our hidden Christmas decorations this year but Sam's Mom more than made up for it.
She has an ornament for each of her children on the tree, painted and decorated by them as kids. Mason made one on the first Christmas he spent with Sam's family 5 years ago and it sits proudly among the others.
Caroline saw my sister admiring them and insisted we make our own. I tried to protest, telling her it wasn't necessary and her children belonged on the tree but she wouldn't accept it.
So here I am, on Christmas Eve, surrounded by cookies I didn't have to hide and in front a tree that stands proudly in the living room as I place my finished ornament on it.
Arms wrap around my waist and I sink back into their owner's chest, sighing softly as his scent envelopes me.
"Hi." I whisper.
"Hey." Mason replies.
"So what do you think?"
Mason kisses my cheek, "It's perfect."
I painted the star shaped ornament lilac and wrote my name in gold glitter across it. The remainder of the space was covered with my favourite flower, giant daises in white and the odd few hockey pucks to match part of Mason's design and symbolise the sport I am returning to.
Heather's rests next to mine, a bright yellow with bubbling test tubes and silver stars across it. I'm glad she's never lost her love of science but I am happy that she no longer sets my things on fire through doing 'experiments'.
