Raj To The Max

Chapter 28

It was Christmas morning, and I woke up in my cozy pajamas ready to open whatever gifts were under the table waiting for me. Yeah, I know I'm not Christian, but my family celebrates Christmas because it's mega fun.

Asifa, Nisha, Shruti, and I did a randomized secret Santa, and contacted each other's family members to secretly send in gifts that we'd open on Christmas morning. I had no idea who gave me a gift, but I got randomly assigned Asifa for Secret Santa. I know she enjoys weightlifting, so I got her a Weightlifter Pusheen and some rainbow looms, because why the hell not?

We also gave some gifts to Riyaj, too. Even though Riyaj and I kinda sorta became friends again, Things were kind of... weird with him. Even though he's still close with Nisha, Asifa, and Shruti, he kinda sorta... ejected himself out of our friend group. That's why he wasn't really a part of our secret santa thing. It sucks, but... I didn't know what to do about that besides trying to include him in the best way I knew how.

Anyways, as for Max, before I was about to leave Russia, I ordered a jumbo ube butterfly Squishmallow for him on my Amazon account, and got it sent to Max's house. I put it in a large box and I wrote, "OPEN ON CHRISTMAS" and left him a sappy love note in my best Russian possible. (Google Translate, don't fail me now.) My heart fluttered at the gift he told me to open on Christmas day.

I walked into the living room, blinking against the soft glow of lights on the tree. Mythu was already there, wearing fuzzy socks and a hoodie that screamed, I'm too cool to care, but I care. Appa was setting down a tray of steaming hot cocoa mochas, a far cry from our usual morning filter coffee. I could smell the chocolate and cinnamon wafting through the air.

"Raj, come on, da!" Mythu said, motioning me to sit down. Amma was already seated with a Santa hat tilted on her head, grinning ear to ear.

"Who wants to go first?" Appa asked, clapping his hands. His energy was contagious.

"Me!" I said, like a five-year-old, grabbing the first gift labeled with my name. It was wrapped in blue paper with cute cartoon elephants on it. I gingerly opened it, not wanting to injure the cute elephants.

Inside was a personalized sketchbook and a set of dual-tip markers. "From me," Amma said, beaming as I hugged her. "Inoticed you've been doodling more lately."

"You're not bad either," Mythu added with a sly smile.

I hugged them both. "Thanks, guys. This is awesome."

My parents and sister then opened their gifts. I got Mythu a bunch of plant-your-own-succulent cats, I got Amma a dot mandala rock kit, and I got Appa a dye-your-own-hair kit, as he's always wanted to dye his own hair. They were absolutely over the moon. And my parents and sister got each other some wonderful random shit as well, and other stuff for me too.

The joy was infectious as we traded gifts, sipping our cocoa mochas. For once, the house felt... peaceful. Like nothing could go wrong, even if the world outside wasn't perfect.

Finally, it was time for Secret Santa. My heart raced a bit as I opened the package wrapped in metallic pink paper. It was from Shruti. Inside was a nail kit—everything I'd need from base coat to top coat to a bunch of polish shades and even tiny gemstones.

I froze for a moment. Appa had always been... traditional. I didn't know how he'd feel about me receiving something like this. I glanced at him nervously.

Appa gave me a slight nod, his expression unreadable but calm. It felt like permission. Like acceptance.

Tears pricked the corners of my eyes. I put the box down and hugged him tightly. "Thanks, Appa," I whispered, my voice cracking a bit.

He patted my back awkwardly but affectionately. "Go on, da. Open the rest."

I wiped my eyes and grabbed the final gift, the one I'd been waiting for. The tag read From Maxim Zakharov. My hands shook slightly as I tore into it. Inside was a soft, oversized hoodie in my favorite shade of teal. On it, in delicate embroidered letters, were the words, Home is wherever you are.

Beneath the hoodie was a small card. I opened it to find Max's handwriting, messy but heartfelt: Raj, eight months feels like forever, but we've got forever to look forward to. Every day I'm not with you, I miss you like crazy. You're my home. Merry Christmas, babushka.

You're my home. I clutched the hoodie to my chest, trying not to cry in front of my family again. Mythu, of course, was smirking at me.

"Max knows how to pick 'em, huh?" she teased. "Oooooooh, Max and Raj, sitting in a tree-"

I laughed, shaking my head. "Shut up, Akka."

As I sat there, surrounded by warmth, laughter, and love, I couldn't help but think about how far things had come. A year ago, life felt like chaos, like I was just stumbling from one disaster to another. Now, it felt... right. Not perfect, but right.

It was unbelievable how much life changed in the last few months. Life used to be... pretty monotonous. I liked some parts of my life, like I loved hanging out with my friends and working at the Amaze Salon and all. But my life was quite repetitive, and... boring, to be honest. My parents forced me to go on a foreign exchange trip to Russia for four months. At first, I was so angry at them. I couldn't deal with not spending half of the last year of school with my best friends. But now... I can barely even imagine my life right now if it weren't for the Yakutsk trip.

I slipped on the cozy, soft, warm hoodie (sure to become my favorite hoodie ever), feeling like I was wrapped in Max's arms, even though he was thousands of miles away. And as I sat there, sipping cocoa with my family, I thought: How did my life get this way?

In the best way possible.