Our Kiddo

Merry Christmas kiddo

When Evie woke up the next morning, Leah was already awake.

"Merry Christmas kiddo," she said when she saw that Evie's eyes were open.

"Merry Christmas Leah."

The pair chattered like excited children before a knocking on the door and Jacob's voice made them get up.

"Are you two getting up or what? We've got stockings," he said.

They got out of bed, Evie's plaits hanging loosely by her shoulders. Leah picked up her stocking and then handed Evie another one.

"For me?" Evie said. She hadn't been expecting anything.

"Yes sweetheart, for you," Amanda said as she entered the landing having heard her children were awake.

"Thank you," Evie said quietly.

They went downstairs after dragging David out of bed and sat around in the living room. Taking it in turns they all pulled one thing out of their stocking.

Bella was obviously included.

"Jacob don't eat Leah's chocolate coins, you have your own," Amanda told her son as he tried to sneakily steal his sisters food.

"Or Evie's," she added as he then tried to steal one of hers.

Doing their stockings was so much fun and they all laughed and chatted loudly. The Christmas spirit was high; something Evie had never experienced before.

"Let's get some breakfast, shall we?" David said as they all went to the kitchen.

The Christmas music was on and they all sung as they helped to make breakfast. Jacob was holding Bella's paws in his hands and dancing round the room. Evie and Leah had their arms wrapped round each other's shoulders and were swaying along to the song.

After they'd had breakfast and opened a few presents, the extended family began to arrive.

There was a lot of them packed into the house but it didn't feel crammed, it felt cosy.

Excited chatter rang round and Evie realised how cold and lonely her house had been. They never spoke like that. Playing football on the cage had been her escape.

A wave of sadness rushed over her and she quickly got up and left the room. There was a quiet corner that she hid herself in to take a few deep breaths. She heard footsteps approaching and prayed that the person carried on past.

"Are you alright sweetheart?" Amanda asked. Evie nodded but it was clear she was lying.

"Are you sure?" she asked. Evie bit her lip to stop herself from crying.

"I'm fine. You go and carry-on enjoying stuff," she managed to say.

"I'm not leaving you alone," Amanda said before wrapping her arms around her. This was the final push that sent her over the edge.

"I'm sorry," Evie said weakly as the tears poured down her face.

"Don't be sorry. Christmas can be very overwhelming."

"It's not that. It's just you're all such a happy family and I've never had anything like that. My family are the definition of dysfunctional," Evie cried as they moved over to sit on the stairs.

"I'm sorry. Every kid deserves a family," Amanda said as she let the little girl cry in her arms. Evie managed to calm herself down and together they went and re-joined everyone else.

"You alright?" Leah whispered, her face full of concern, as Evie came and sat on the floor next to her. Evie nodded, smiling gratefully at Amanda.

Christmas lunch. They all sat around the table, Evie sandwiched between Leah and Jacob.