The Fire Inside

Kova

Kova woke up the next morning to a bright, snowy ground and a gray sky. She felt light lips press against the top of her forehead.

"Good morning, my love." Camille brushed the hair from her daughter's face. "It's still early, you can go back to sleep if you'd like."

"Okay." She turned away from the window and snuggled into her bed.

There were about three moments of silence before the door burst open, startling Kova enough to make her sit up in her bed. Thomas and Dylan burst through the door with Finnick walking slowly behind them, rubbing the sleep away from his eyes. "Mom, Mom get up!"

"Ugh," Camille groaned and pressed her head on the pillow while pulling Kova down with her. Her daughter giggled. "It's too early for this."

"Momma, it's Christmas! We need to get up and open presents!" Dylan pounced on the bed, causing his mother to grunt.

"Five more minutes." She pressed her pillow to her face.

Thomas ripped it off. "No, now!"

"Manners, Thomas," Finnic scolded in a light tone.

"Now, please, Mom?" Thomas corrected his wording.

She sighed. "Alright, alright." Camille rubbed Kova's arm through her polyester nightshirt. "Come on darling, let's go open your presents."

Kova rested her head on her chin. "I kinda forgot about that part."

Damien came trudging into the room. "According to the little ones, it's the best part of Christmas."

"Well of course it is," Dylan insisted. "We get a bunch of new things."

"You always get new things. You just like that they're all wrapped to look all nice."

"Yeah, okay. I'll agree with that," he admitted, resulting in an eruption of laughter from the family.

"Okay, let's get up now." Camille pushed herself out of bed and Kova followed shortly, slipping fluffy slippers on her feet.

Finnick came to Kova's side of the bed and pulled her up, brushing her hair back before slipping a headband on. "Good morning. Are you excited?"

"Mhm," she nodded animatedly.

He smiled. "Good, let's get going then. There's going to be a lot of gifts since all of your cousins will be here with their family." He took her hand as they all made their way out of her room and down the steps to the main floor.

He wasn't lying. When they reached the main floor with the four trees, there was barely any room to take a step. Presents of all different shapes and sizes littered the hardwood floor. There were red, green, yellow, blue, and white bags and boxes wrapped in beautiful wrapping paper. All Kova could say is "wow."

"You like it?" Camille stood behind her.

"It's wonderful."

Dylan giggled. "I know right." He and Thomas bounded towards the center, the rug area without any gifts. "Which one should I open first?"

"Not so fast there, bud," Finnick stopped him. "Your cousins are arriving now, let them at least get through the door first."

"I'm here, I'm here, I'm here!" Rosella ran through the door, followed quickly by George. "Can we open presents now?"

Finnick laughed. "Almost. We're still waiting for-"

"Why's it always so early," Sophia groaned. Miles bounced up and down behind her. "It's just presents."

"It's not just presents." The aunts and uncles arrived, in perfect timing with the grandparents. "It's about being together. Which, by the way, Camille, too early. You scheduled it too early this year."