Meant For You

fourteen.

Nola Scott

In my almost nineteen years of life, there has never been a morning that excites me more than Christmas morning. One of my earliest memories is opening presents I had been wanting all year on Christmas morning. My parents love going all out for us.

My childhood home is dressed to the nines in Christmas decor, inside and out. You could say mom is always in the Christmas spirit as she starts decorating the house when November hits. She'll have my dad hanging up the huge wreath in front of our house the day after Halloween. As smitten as he is, dad will have up any decoration my mom asks for the day she asks for it.

And by December our house looks like the North Pole. Minus the snow.

Christmas also happens to be my favorite time of the year because it's the only time my whole family is together. On this day, no one's missing. Even those who usually are. We all have our own busy lives but on the 24th and 25th, every single of us is present. That's all I could ask for.

Waking up bright and early by routine, I slipped on my slippers and made my way over to my parent's room. The house was still surprisingly quiet at this time. Tiptoeing down the stairs, I walked the long hall toward my parent's room. I knocked twice, not even giving them time to let me in. Their light was on and they both sat up, backs against their massive headboard. "Merry Christmas Eve!"

I throw myself at their feet on the bed. "You're not who we expected to be in here first," Dad says. Yeah, me either. I figured Kiersten or Foster would be in here nagging my parents to make their way over to the Christmas tree. They've been teasing for weeks that this Christmas - in relation to gifts - may be the best.

Sure I'd love a couple of shiny, new things. I'm not spoiled but some would say I am since my dad doesn't know how to say no to me. The only thing I care about these days is seeing my brothers and sister happy. I took matters into my own hands and got everyone a gift this year as well. Kayce and I went Christmas shopping together about a week ago to get the rest of our sibling's gifts.

I'm more excited to see them open up the gifts I got them than for me to open up my own. I think I did quite well this year. "We'll see who bursts through that door next," I say and just like I gave them ammunition, heavy footsteps filled the hallway. "Here we go," mom mumbles as we all turned our heads toward the door. "Merry Christmas folks!!"

Brooks.

My craziest sibling walks in with a huge smile on his face and two small gifts in his hand. He towers over me, wrapping his arm around my neck with his free hand and squeezing. Even though he just turned fifteen last month, he was about 5'10 which was way taller than me. The tall gene passed right over me and went straight to my brothers.

I pat his arm for him to let go and he does. "Mother, father."
Brooks extends his arms out over me and hands our parents a box each. The wrapping is horrendous which tells me he did it on his own. "For us?" Mom questions. Both of my parents share the same confused expression as they look at each other shortly. "Yes ma'am," Brooks drawls, that huge grin still on his face.

I turn my head and look up at him. He waggles his brows at me before nudging mom and dad to open the gifts they hold. Mom and dad take the messy paper off the box and open them up. I raise my chin to try and get a look at what's in the box since both their eyes widen. They both pull there things out at the same time. "Plane tickets to Paris?" Mom says. My mouth gapes open as I stare back at my brother. "What's this?" Dad asks, unfolding his papers.

"That's an itinerary for the trip. I've got it all planned out for you. Hotel, things to do, the whole shabang!" Brooks replies. "I've been saving up from my allowance and a couple of bets I made. Merry Christmas, birth givers." Oh my God. Mom stares at him in disbelief and this is one of the first times I've seen dad speechless. "Brooks-" mom starts but stops short.