seven souls seven sins

chapter 68: winter wonderland

Chase's pov:

"Higher!" Vincent shouts as I hoist Nat into the air. "Higher!" He repeats as she successfully places the star on the Christmas tree. I gently carry her down and we step back to admire the classic 9ft pine tree that makes a reappearance every year. "Good job Amor." I high-five her.

"Well what are you waiting for? We have 7 boxes of ornaments to put up." Adrien begins handing us heavy cardboard boxes.

"Let's get to work." Xavier begins unpacking the seasonal decorations. "I'll work on the lights." Leo untangles the huge bundles of string lights. "I'll hang up the wreaths." Vincent gathers a handful of them in his hand and starts with the front door. As we all get to work assembling a winter wonderland, Xander sits down on the couch admiring our hard work from afar.

"The stockings aren't gonna hang themselves up." I hand Xander a box full of our annual stockings.

"Oh cmon, Christmas exams were just yesterday. Can a man get some rest on Christmas Eve?" Xander groans and starts to put up our Stockings. "He does have a point, I can't believe people in Brazil set out all their decorations on Christmas Eve. Back in England, people would put the tree up at least 2 weeks prior." Nat informs us as she hangs up ornaments on the first few metres.

"Don't they leave carrots, cookies and milk infront of the fireplace too?" Leo jokes.

"Hey! The carrots are to feed the reindeers whilst the milk and cookies are for Santa Claus." Nat pouts. "Santa Claus? Here in Brazil we call him good ol' Saint Nick." I explain our culture. "Do Seb and Flynn call him Santa too?" Xavier asks and helps Leo with the lights.

"They call him Father Christmas, but they're back home by now anyways." Tash's smile falters at the mention of her best friends.

"Will they be back for New Years?" I ask trying to cheer her up. "Hopefully, they haven't booked their return flights yet." She says with a glum smile. "It's my first Christmas without them in a long time." She looks down to her palms. I immediately notice her discomfort. "Don't worry irmãzinha, with us it won't feel any different." I assure her.

"You sure? Because this is the first Christmas that I'm spending in shorts." She points down to her Hollister plaid pyjama briefs.

"Was it different back in the U.K?" I ask trying to get her distracted from Seb and Flynn's absence, even though I know the answer. "Back there if felt more magical you know? We had snow days and advent calendars, ooh and not forgetting the school carol service." She reminisces her past years in London.

"Here it feels so different, most people I know are going to celebrate on the beach. THE BEACH." She exaggerates.

"I know it feels off but it's quite a blast when you're with the right people." I refer to us. "Speaking of us, a little help here." Xavier hops towards us as he's tangled in led lights. "Seriously Leo?" I arch a brow at him whilst he laughs his ass off in the corner. Nat untangles him and looks over towards Xander.

She gets up, walking towards the stockings.

"My stocking looks so small compared to all of yours." She points towards the rest of ours. "Oh yeah, yours is the OG from when you were seven." Xander elucidates, referring to the last Christmas that she was with us. I still have the picture from Christmas day, everyone looked so happy back then.