Three

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by eliseekp

by eliseekp

Anna

(A/N: yes, another Anna chapter. I promise to do another character pov next, I'm just in a Anna mood)

"Christmaschristmaschristmas!" Seany chants as I answer the phone.

"Merry Christmas, lil bro. Did my presents come in the mail?" I say, adjusting my phone to the other ear. I couldn't make it home for Christmas this year, but that doesn't mean I can't spoil my baby brother.

"Yeah! That Millennium Falcon was badass."

"Hey, don't talk like that!" I scold. Potty-mouthed little turd.

"Sorry," Sean whispers into the phone.

"You better take good care of those gifts. I broke the bank for those bad boys. Is mom in the room with you?" I switch ears again.

"Nah. I'll tell her you say hi, though."

"Okay. I love you baby brother! Bye," I coo into the phone.

"I love you Anna! Bye." Click. I smile to myself and pull up tumblr on my phone. Sean remembered the time difference this year, last year he called at 5 am. Talk about a rude awakening. Nothing's more startling than the sound of the Star Wars theme blaring at full blast in the middle of the night. My roommate wasn't too happy with me for that one.

I've got three parties to go to. Etienne and I are going to his mom's for brunch, then we are going to our friends' place, and ending out the day at Nathan and Andy's. It's about 9 o'clock, which is surprising to me considering I have an eleven year old brother and it's Christmas morning. I've got about an hour and a half before I have to catch a train.

After showering and getting ready, I call Etienne and tell him I'll take the 10:30 train. I start packing my bag for tonight. My laptop, my chargers, my extra set of clothes, presents, and my regular purse are all ready for the busiest day of the year.

When 10:20 hits, I start walking to the train station with no hands to spare. I get on the train and head over to his mom's apartment.

~~~

Brunch was fantastic. If there was anyone who couldn't be a better mother in-law or at cooking Christmas brunch, it was Etienne's mom. She is a radiant ball of sunshine that no one could help from loving. We left later than we thought, so we had a little less time at Lena and Mark's party. Etienne knows Lena from a Berkeley, a journalism major with her sights on MSNBC, and Mark is her boyfriend who baristas at my favorite coffee shop. He knows more about Lola and I than I know about Lola and I. We are loud talkers.

The uber driver — overwhelmingly the scariest uber driver I've ever met — pulls up to the Nolan household just in time. The pastel house glows warmly from the light all over and in the house. Festive music plays as we knock on the front door.

I love this house more than anything. It's gorgeous and quite large, the epitome of everything fairytale I've ever read as a child. Andy answers the door and invites us in with a hello.

"Hey, Anna and St. Clair are here!" He yells happily. Lola's jumps up to greet us and Cricket ruffles Etienne's hair much to his dismay. Lindsay and her new boyfriend, Michael, are plopped on a love seat and Norah sits atop a precarious stool with a big mug of tea across from Nathan.

"Anna Oliphant, don't you look dashing today!" Lola says as she squeezes me close in a hug. I'm wearing a Christmas sweater she made for me.

"Thanks! It was made my the best." I laugh as she guides me to the buffet in the kitchen. "Holy shit, I'm gonna have to go to the gym after this one." The Nolan's have not failed at baking and cooking the largest assortment of foods imaginable.

"Yeah, I have the sweatpants ready home." Etienne says behind us with Cricket.

"I feel bad for Lola. She wore her favorite 'I Ate Too Much' outfit for thanksgiving," Cricket smirks.

"Well, I think I'm about to break that New Years resolution." A few hours pass of beer and wine and sugar cookies before we start talking of New Years resolutions again. It's just that kind of season.

"What's your New Years resolution?" Nathan asks.

"Mine's to find a way to pull off stripper boots. I'm not getting any taller." Etienne jokes. Everyone laughs. Lola finds it so funny she starts crying and her face turns red. "What?"

"It's just — they won't work on you!" Lola gasps through her laughs.

"What about you Anna?"

"To live long enough so I can say 'Merry Christmas, you filthy animal' in a husky old man voice naturally."

And of course, everyone looks at me and yells, "Merry Christmas, you filthy animal!" Oh, Christmas.

Merry Christmas and happy holidays for everyone! This chapter is a little short because I only wrote it today but it just felt right. I am really happy and grateful because I got TABONOF, all three of Stephanie's books (finally), a Parks and Recreation t-shirt, etcetera. I hope you guys are having a great Christmas or winter break or whatever you have going on! ;)

Love you guys,
elise