Baby It's Cold Outside

All I Want for Christmas is You

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!!!! It's taken me forever to finish this and it's still utter shit but I wanted to post in because it's CHRISTMAS!

How has your day been? Please leave comments telling me all about your holiday season because I'd love to hear about it! And for all who don't celebrate it, what've you done this season? I'd love to hear about all the things you've celebrated or done or how final exams went or whatever!

Anyway, hope you enjoy :D

xx, julia

The moment Rose woke up, she wanted immediately to fall back asleep. She struggled to drag her eyes open, fighting the urge to pull the duvet over her head and never emerge again. As her eyes adjusted to the darkness of her room, she was suddenly overcome with a feeling of dread. No longer was it exhaustion keeping her in bed, but fear preventing her from leaving it.

It was not necessarily that Rose had a busy day ahead of her—no, she did not work today, so besides the nativity play tonight, she'd not any plans. But nonetheless the day weighed down upon her heavily, causing her heart rate to speed up and her breathing to hitch. She danced on the brink of...something. She could feel herself edging closer with every deep breath she drew—drawing in so much oxygen with every inhale that she could feel her lungs expanding, pressing against her chest. She thought that, perhaps, if she drew large enough breaths her lungs might rupture, her shirt bursting open at the seams with a soft pop! and her heart would leap from the cavity between her ribs into her hands and she'd feel it thumping faintly against her fingers—the most vital of her organs reduced to a rhythmic song before her eyes and she'd watch as the tempo changed, a drastic ritardando echoed by the slowing of her breaths and she'd feel—

"Mum?" Juniper's eyes were wide and her tone hesitant as she stood carefully in the doorway. A rucksack was slung over one of her shoulders, the left side of her body slouching slightly under the weight. Junie wore her body like a coat two sizes too big; her shoulders were broad and she'd not quite come into her breasts, her stomach and cheeks still held a pinch of fat. "I – are you alright?"

Rose's daughter may have only been eight but she'd long since developed a keen intuitiveness that rivalled that of Rose's own. "Yes," she replied finally, much to the dismay of her sceptic daughter. Juniper's hesitance was not unwarranted as this answer had proven to be invalid in the past but Rose meant it today.

She pulled herself slowly out of her bed, not bothering to change before crossing the room to pull her child in for a hug. Junie's arms pressed gently into Rose's back as she placed a soft kiss on the mane of auburn curls. Junie's father had been an Irish man with the brightest red hair Rose had ever seen. But the fiery colour had been subdued in the next generation, leaving Juniper with hair the colour of an autumn sunset. Her eyes, though, were the exact shade of green of the man Rose had once been madly in love with. Each time Rose looked at her daughter, she saw Finn—his eyes, his hair, his smile. Rose's impact could be found only in her daughter's skin: a brilliant ebony—where Rose's charcoal complexion met Finn's ghostly pale one.

From her wardrobe, Rose pulled a large red jumper and slipped into it. "Come on, darling." She took Junie by the hand. "You've eaten, yes?" Juniper glanced at the toast in her hand before glancing back at Rose. "Right. Good, love. Then, let's go?"

Rose had only to slip on her shoes before following her daughter out of the flat. Since Junie's been in school, Rose had always walked her to the bus. On only three accounts within the past three years had Rose failed to accompany her daughter. It was a silent reassurance to Junie; as long as Rose was able to walk her the few metres to the large, red bus, she would be okay. As typical, Rose kissed Junie's forehead once more. "Have a good day, darling. I love you."