The Way You See Me

Back home. (29)

"All night you waited for morning, all morning / for afternoon, all afternoon for night; / and still the longing sings."- Ruth Stone

Today is the day my mom finally comes home! And just in time for Christmas.

"No! Mom it's okay just sit down" i said as I help her down.

"Stella, hun it's okay I want to help" she says.

I shake my head no, "remember what the doctor said, you need to get lots of rest" i said.

She groans in a frustrated way but i don't care.

"We got it. The boys and I will decorate the tree while the girls set up the lights" i said trying to relax her.

She sighs, "okay fine! But if you guys need help, I will gladly help you" she says leaning back against the couch.

I nod my head and begin helping the boys with the tree.

It's so last minute to decorate, mostly because we've been at the hospital with my mom.

And haven't really been here at the house enough to decorate.

But it's still early and we'll have enough time to decorate everything.

Tomorrow is Christmas Eve, and we'll bake cookies and do any last minute shopping.

Actually we should be doing that today, maybe I'll go after decorations.

We spent two hours setting up the tree and the lights.

Everything was feeling perfect! So perfect.

This whole moment, my life, my friends.

After we finish I gather everyone in the living room. "Okay guys! Now that we have finished, we're heading to the mall for last minute shopping!"

Everyone nods and starts getting ready to leave, aunt Jules stays with mom to keep her company or in case she needs anything.

"We'll be back soon" i said giving my mom a hug.

She gives me a kiss "take your time sweetheart" she says letting me go.

I nod and we all leave, Ethan and i along with Blake and Violet squeeze into the back.

I sit next to Ethan and Violet making us in the middle of the boys.

Noah plays Taylor swift.

He knows how much we love her, and I know he secretly does too even if he doesn't want to admit it.

It only takes us 20 minutes to get there, once we do get there we all go our separate ways.

I walk around some stores, I already got presents for everyone except Ethan.

I wanted to save him for last because I want it to be special, I'm not sure what to get him though.

I want to get him a necklace with my initials but I feel like that's too girly for him, so that's out.

Maybe i could get him a ring with my initial, rings aren't too girly plus he already wears a few rings.

I decided then that I'd find him a ring with my initials, but also look for something else.

I keep looking around for his present, eventually I went into a jewelry shop.

It looked pretty expensive but I know it'll be worth it.

I look at the big box countertop filled with jewelry, in there I see a sliver ring.

Believe it or not but I see one with the letter S in a blue color.

This is a sign that it's meant to be us.

I ended up buying it, at three I meet everyone at the food court.

"Hey guys" i greet them as I go next to Ethan.

"Hey! Did you all find something?" Evelyn asks.

"Yes, I did and so did Noah" Blake says as him and Noah hold up bags from stores.

"Yeah, surprisingly" Violet says as she opens her bag to look into it.

Ethan hides his bags behind him, but i don't say anything.

"I bought us all matching pjs for tomorrow, also are you guys spending the night" i ask them.

They all nod their heads yes.

"Okay perfect! We can open our presents in the morning and then you guys can spend some time with your families later"

"We can also wear our matching pjs tonight!" I said excitedly, i pull one out.

The boys groan when they see a pink color and little Santa's on them.

The girls especially Evelyn squeals in excitement along with me.

"These are so cute!" Evelyn says.

I nod, "I know right!" I said excitedly.

"And you had to get pink even for us?!?" Ethan asks groaning.

I turn to him, "oh hush, you guys will love it." I said pinching his cheeks.

He slaps my hand away, "whatever" he mumbles with a small smile on his face.

We spend some more time walking around the mall, it honestly doesn't feel like Christmas Eve.

The shops aren't close like we thought it would be, maybe it doesn't feel like Christmas Eve to them either.

We finally get home.

"We should change into our pjs and watch Christmas movies!" Violet says excitedly.

"And we can make hot chocolate" i said adding to it.

The rest of the group agree, we all change into our new outfits.

After I change I head to my moms room to check on her.

"Hey mom how are you guys" i ask, aunt jules and mom are in bed laying down watching tv.

"Hi honey! I'm good, we're just watching a movie." She says pointing to the tv.

I give them a hug, "I'm just making sure your okay!" I said as I pull away.

She nods, "thank you honey"

"She's okay stells" aunt Jules says squeezing my hand in a comforting way.

I nod, "thank you so much for everything aunt Jules, i love you so much both of you"

"And we love you back" mom said.

I walk out to find the boys in the living room setting up the tv to watch movies in their pink Santa pjs.

I smile and secretly take a picture of them.

I know they'll hate me for this but I post them on instagram, i laugh quietly to myself and get into the kitchen before they see me.

I walk into the kitchen to see my girls making the hot chocolate while chatting.

"Hey girls" i said as I walk to them, they smile back at me.

We chat while making the chocolate, all in our matching clothes.

Today was a good day, I felt good being with my friends again.

Once we were done making the drink we head to the living room.

We grabbed pillows and blankets and sat down anywhere, Ethan and I sat down next to each other.

I put my legs over his, I always do that's my love language.

I think this moment would be my favorite one.