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Mistletoe.
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"Your father actually won't be home for Christmas," Mrs. Winston of 14th street tells her children.
"But-" little baby Sarah says, her eyes full of tears. Sarah begins to bawl, while her more mature, older brother Jake, looks out the window in disgust.
"Why is her never here on Christmas?" Jake asks his mom, anger filling his voice.
"Jake honey, he's protecting our country. You know he would be here if he could," Mrs. Winston tells her eldest child.
"Yeah, but why can't he be here. With us," Jake mumbles.
"Jake. I just answered that question. And if your going to act like a jerk about it, then you can go to your room," she says softly.
"Then I will," Jake says and marches straight up into his room. He slams the door, only to slide down the other side to cry. He knows that his dad is fighting for their freedom, but why couldn't he be here? With him and Sarah.
Sarah's too young to understand.
Jake stands up, wipes the tears from his face and pulls out the present from under his bed. This could've been the year, Jake thought as he stared down at the handmade card. Jake has been saving this for a special year when his dad could be home for him to see it. Sure, he could send it to him, but it wouldn't be the same. He couldn't see his expression when he read his heartfelt card written by his only son, 14 years old. Jake shoves the card under his bed again, tears already wetting his cheeks again.
Jake envied his little sister. After a while, she would stop crying and go back to whatever she was playing, not worrying about her father not being home for Christmas. For Jake, it was always in the back of his mind. Would he be home this year? Would this really be the year he'll be here? It always ended with the same answer: no.
Jake lay on his bed, looking up at the glow in the dark stars that were pressed up against his ceiling. Christmas Eve is tomorrow, and he really thought his dad was going to be home. But last night when his mom stayed awake for those long hours talking to who knows who, he knew that his father wasn't be home. He knew.
A knock came from Jake's bedroom door at six o' clock.
"It's open," Jake says, rolling over on his already messy bed.
"Momma says it's time for dinner," his little sister says softly, holding her stuffed bear.
"Tell her I'll be down in a minute," Jake says. He really wanted to tell Sarah that he wasn't coming, but he was starving. So, he decided to give up on being mad at his mom, and headed down for dinner.
"I'm glad to see that you made it, Honey," his mother says, serving the macaroni and cheese.
"No problemo," Jake mumbles, already digging into his mom's homemade mack n' cheese. His favorite.
"So, for Christmas Eve tomorrow, I was invited over to a colleague of mine's house for dinner tomorrow night and instead of staying with grandma, I thought we would go over there," Mrs. Winston tells her children.
"Yay! Yay! Yay!" Sarah squeals, skipping around the kitchen.
Of course Sarah's excited. Jake thought. She's always exited for things she doesn't know about. Like school.
"I promise it'll be fun, Jake. You'll enjoy it. They have a daughter your age," His mother says.
"So it's not even the same gender as me. Great," Jake mumbles.
"That's it. Young man, I have had enough of your attitude. Up to your room! Up!" His mother points to the stairs. Jake scrunches his face up, like a young boy, and runs up the stairs, slamming the door once more. Jake runs and hops onto his bed. Not even worrying about taking off his clothes and changing into pajamas.
/
"It's Christmas Eve!! Jake! Jake! Wake up! It's Christmas Eve!" Sarah pounces onto her older brother to wake him up.
"Stop!" Jake grumbles, swatting at his sister.
"Haha! You missed! Try to catch me!" Sarah jumps off of him and lands with a thud onto the ground.
Once his sister leaves the room, Jake gets out of bed in his clothes from yesterday.
"Mom! I'm taking a shower!" Jake yells downstairs. He grabs a fresh set of clothes and begins to run the shower to wake him up.
After his shower, Jake walks down the stairs to see his mother left food on the counter for him. A note was attached to the counter next to the food.
Jake,
Good morning sweetie! I hope you slept well, I had to go to work today. I'll be back before five.
Love you, mom.
Jake crumpled up the Post-it note and threw in in the trash.
Great. Now mom isn't even here. I have to take care of Sarah until five. Jake thought, sourly.
Jake quietly ate his breakfast and listened to his sister playing ponies or Barbies upstairs in her room. He looked at the presents and noticed that one was new. Quickly, he got up and checked the tag of the gift.
To: Jake
From: dad. Merry Christmas, buddy.
Jake couldn't understand. How did his dad give him a gift? He wasn't ever home. Jake got up from the tree and finished his breakfast, wondering about the gift.
/
"Jake! Sarah! Im home!" Jake heard his mother yell from downstairs. He quickly got off of his bed and raced downstairs. Eager to ask her the question that had been bugging him all day.
"Hey mom. Uh, I was wondering... How did dad get me a present from the Navy?" Jake asks.
"He sent it to me, and I wrapped it. Simple." Jake's mother smiled and sat down her work bag on the island in their kitchen. Jake nodded, but his mind was now on what was in the gift.
/
The car pulled into a driveway of a small house.
"And we're here. Now, let me remind you of your manners. Please, thank you..." Jake stopped listening to his mom. He knew his manners and he knew how to use them. Sarah was the one who needed a reminder.
The three walked up the brick steps while his mother rang the doorbell to the house. A girl around the age of Jake, answered the door.
"Hello ma'am. Welcome. I'm so glad you could make it tonight," the young girl says and opens the door for the three to walk inside.
"Why thank you, Hedi," Jake's mother says and they walk into the kitchen. Jake felt completely uncomfortable. There was no guys his age, they were all his mom's age. His sister had a little girl to play with while he got some girl named Hedi.
Jake felt a tap on his shoulder.
"Look up," he heard a voice say. Reluctantly, Jake looked up.
He had just walked under mistletoe. And so had that Hedi girl.
"It's the rules," Hedi mumbled. She seemed just as exited as Jake did about kissing a stranger. Her blonde hair hung in front of her face.
"Let's just get it over before someone notices," Jake says, quietly. Hedi nods and looks up at Jake. This wasn't his first kiss, nor hers. But they both didn't want to do it.
Jake pulled back Hedi's hair and bit his lip out of habit. He leaned in and kissed Hedi; and Hedi kissed back.
They both tried to think nothing of it, but for the rest of the night, it was the only thing on their minds. When the party ended, Hedi turned to Jake and smiled. And the only thing Jake thought was:
Thanks, mistletoe.
