One shot - Random Stories I Come Up With

~That Christmas Day~

(T/W: mentions past death of a family member, cemetery, arguing, crying)

~Christmas~

The little girl runs down the hallway, yelling in glee, her face shimmering of excitement. She sees her sisters in the kitchen making their usual Christmas breakfast, it's nothing special really. Avocado toast, but it's still one of the little ones favourite part of the morning.

Her sister looks at her, "good morning," a smile on their face.

"Morning!" She chirps back, going to sit at the dining table, waiting for her food, kicking her legs back 'n' forth as she waits.

Their Dad walks out, "morning," he says without anything else, heading into the kitchen, pouring a cup of coffee (as a pot was already made) and then proceeding to walk back out to the dining room. He sits next to the younger girl.

"Well, you're in a jolly mood." The older sisters says sarcastically, already knowing why but continuing to avoid it. Her dad looks at her with a blank 'clearly-not-in-the-mood' kind of way.

He takes a sip of his coffee then places it down on the table, holding it firmly still with both hands, staring down into the mug then starting to speak. "If you ask me, you two are too jolly right now. Do you not know what day it is?" He says looking up to make eye contact with the older one.

Both the sisters go silent, remembering the previous year.. their mother. The older one sighs, "yes, I remember what day it is. But, it's also Christmas. It's.. a sad day for us. Considering last year's circumstances-"

" 'circumstances' " the Dad scoffs, "you act like you don't care about your own mother. Trying to stay happy today just because it's a holiday." He says, "ridiculous.."

"I loved mom so much!" The older sisters yells back defensively.

" 'Loved'." The dad says back.

The younger sisters stares at the table, now just thinking about the day of their mother, the day she drew her final breath, the exact moment it happened flashing in her mind. Her eyes starting to tear up as her dad and sister continue to argue, the arguing just making it worse.

The older ones look to her, realizing what they've done. "Sweetie, you can go to your room." The dad says trying to sound sympathetic even if he's in a bad mood (to say the least). The little one does so, not a word of it, just leaves while tears roll down her face.

"And that's why I tried to act jolly today." The older sister says, taking the plate of avocado toast she had put too much avocado on while she was focused on their argument and dropped it in front of him on the table. "Enjoy your food," she grabs the other plate of toast and goes to their sister's room.

Once they get to her sister's room she knocks on the door, hearing a muffled "come in." She opens the door, seeing her sister curled into a ball, tissues in a pile next to her while she sobs.

The older one walks in, closing the door being her, walking over to her sister, sitting down and handing her the plate, the little one giving a small nod of appreciation. The older sister then begins, "I'm sorry. I tried to keep it festive today."

"It's.. it's okay." The younger says, wiping her tears. "It's not yours or dad's fault."

".. yeah.. I'm still sorry, it'll be okay. I promise. I understand why Dad's so upset, to him he probably thinks I'm just avoiding the problem, which I..." she pauses "might be doing, but nonetheless I understand how he feels. But I really just wanted this day to be good for you, but not even 10 minutes into the morning and everyone's already upset. You were so happy when you first walked down the hall."

Small silence lears around the room, until the younger speaks, "I remembered what today was.." she begins to say, "I was just doing the same thing you were, pretending everything's okay so that you and Dad could enjoy today. That clearly didn't work very well..." More silence, the older staring at her. "Sorry.."

"No, no, don't apologize, you have nothing to be sorry for. I was just- well.. well for starters you shouldn't have to feel that way, though I'm also one to talk so.." they trail off, then start trying to collect their thoughts on what to say since the younger didn't respond with anything. She lets out a sigh, knowing the best thing to do it talk it out, "no one's been the same since mom died. But it seems we're trying to avoid it and dad is just not talking about it but we're all.. well.. damaged, to say the least. All three of us were there in the hospital with her. Me and you held either of her hands. Dad standing at the end of her hospital bed..." She trails off, her mind finishing but her words stop. She starts to sob silently. Afterall, she's been repressing most of this.

Her sister hugs her, crying as well, not saying anything. She hugs her back, they sit there for a while just holding each other.

Their embrace ends, "I know we couldn't really go all out for Christmas this year. Since dad's job. So, we don't get the tree or presents like most years. But, I know what I can give you." They put their hands behind their neck, taking off a necklace.

The younger looks at it, shocked, "but this is the one mom gave to you. The day before she.."

"I know, and I think you should have it." The younger shakes her head, declining.

"Dad kept her wedding ring. You have the necklace. I'd rather keep memories."

They sit there again, in silence, but calmed silence. A knock at the door, their Dad. "Come in."

He opens the door, looking to his daughters, the wedding ring in his hand, he fidgets with it as he walks in. "I'm sorry."

"It's not your fault, not any of our faults." The older says, standing up and walking over to their dad, hugging him. The younger gets up and joins. He hugs them both back.

"I know what we can do today, " the Dad says. "Come on, we're going on a small drive."

~

They arrive at a cemetery, the cemetery. The sisters can tell what he's doing, they get out of the car, heading to the grave of their mother. The dad stands in front of the grave, the daughters at the side of it. He begins to speak, "thank you my beautiful wife for giving me my two amazing daughters." He begins to say, staring at the gravestone. "Although today and last year have been.." he stops, trying to keep himself together, "have been hard.. it's time we accept things. We'll always love you. You brought us together. And because of me.. almost broke the rest of us apart but we fixed it." His daughters were a little upset that he proceeded to blame himself, but for now decide to let it slide.

Neither of them know what to add on, he basically said everything, they could being to say how much they miss her, but they just stood there. Not really wanting to say anything, mostly being frozen.

No more words were said. They all stood there in silence. Standing there for about another 10 minutes.

With no more words, their story comes to an end, the family begins a tradition of coming to her grave every Christmas though the following years they bring flowers and such things and gifts. They become closer, even as they all grow older.

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Word count: 1293

Wow, long time no see. This story was a LOT sadder then it was supposed to be. (If you spot spelling errors go ahead and tell me. Though I DON'T take criticism.) Also yes I know it's September and this is about Christmas, I just wanted to make this since my writing motivation came back. Well, with nothing more for me to really add I think. Have a good rest of your 24 hours. See ya later Kings, Queens, and Non-Binary in-between. Bai!

-Kade 😸