Game Over: Life's Over

Christmas Presents

Hey, everyone! I'm sorry it took so long for me to get a chapter out. My writer's block has been STRONG these last few months. I made this chapter long for you all so enjoy!

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Not being my baby self for Christmas was difficult. I knew I would have enjoyed Christmas if I felt and acted more like a baby than my usual self. But it wasn't like I could control which version of myself I was.

It was still nice regardless. Theo and Eric got me lots of presents and we enjoyed a big breakfast before we started our drive to meet Mom.

I fell asleep on the drive there. I was so tired from waking up early to open presents. I was trying to hold off on my nap until we were on the road so I wasn't missing any fun. I knew no one would be mad at me for sleeping but I wanted to enjoy my time with everyone for the holiday.

Mom was already waiting for us when we pulled into the usual parking lot. She was bundled up with a jacket and gloves on, standing outside her car.

We pulled up beside her and Theo got out of the car. Eric left the car running to combat the cold.

Theo opened my door and started unbuckling me. When he picked me up from my seat, I clung to him, the cold infiltrating my sweatshirt.

"Baby, your mommy's here," Theo said.

"I'm not a baby," I mumbled.

Theo chuckled. "I know. I'm sorry. But I thought you'd be excited to see your mom."

"I'm too cold to be excited."

Mom opened the car door for Theo to put me inside. Thankfully, Mom left the car running so it was warm inside.

I slipped my hands through the sleeves of my sweatshirt so they could get warm. "I hate that I can't wear a jacket. It's too cold to be this underdressed."

"You can still wear a jacket, you just can't wear it when you're in the car."

I sighed heavily.

"Bye, Jake. Have fun with your mom." Theo backed out of the car and shut the door.

The three of them spoke for a few minutes before Mom got into the driver's seat.

She turned around to look at me. "Merry Christmas, sweetheart."

I smiled at her. "Merry Christmas."

"Did you get lots of presents?"

I nodded.

"So you must've been good then. Santa doesn't come if you're bad."

I rolled my eyes. "Mom, I know Santa's not real. I'm not a baby."

"Then I don't know how all your presents got to my house."

"Nice try."

She smiled and turned back around, putting the car into drive. "I'm just trying to make Christmas fun for you. Cheer up, baby."

"Christmas is already fun, even without Santa."

"That's the fun of being little at Christmas. All that magic is still there."

"Please, don't start crying. If I'm not crying, then you can't cry."

"I'm not going to start crying. I just wish you'd let me have a little fun. I didn't do much with you growing up so now I get a second chance to be a better mom. I don't want to mess it up and miss something."

"At this rate, you'll have the rest of my life to do stuff like this with me," I mumbled. "Don't go overboard now. You'll run out of ideas in a year or two."