Something Infinite

Chapter 45

Harry's POV

Christmas Eve was my favourite day of the year, apart from Christmas itself. It was tradition for us to all wear our Christmas jumpers mum had picked out, get the house ready for the celebrations tomorrow, and walk around the neighbourhood, looking at all the lit up houses.

I'd been doing this since I was a child. When my parents split, mum wanted us to know we were still a family, regardless of the missing family member, so Christmas time was when she tried her hardest to make Gemma and I feel special.

When you're a child, Santa was this magical man who somehow always knew exactly what to get you, making the long wait to get that shiny new bike worth it. When I grew up, and learnt that magical man was in fact a woman, one who spent an entire pay check to make our Christmas perfect, it's when I realised my mum would do anything to make my sister and I happy.

It wasn't the things that were important, it was the fact she tried so hard to bring a smile to our faces, spending every pound she had on us, rather than herself.

When I started earning my own money, I started giving back to her, like she did me. Even though she always tried to decline my offer of money, I never took no for an answer. I wanted to thank her for all those years she spent making sure Gemma and I were taken care of, so making sure she lived the life she deserved, was the least I could do.

I wanted my daughter to feel the way my mum made me feel as a child, so I wanted to make Christmas as special to her as it was to me. I wanted her to understand the importance of family, and look forward to this day as not only the day you get presents, but a day the whole family got together under the same roof.

That's what I loved most about Christmas. No matter how busy we all were with our own lives, Christmas was the one day where we could all rely on each other to just be there, no question about it. It was the one holiday we never missed together, and I intended to keep the tradition alive through my own family.

The house smelt of mum's short bread cooking in the oven, mixed with the burning firewood in the lounge, while Christmas carols echoed through the rooms filled with the most important people to me, doing something in preparation for tomorrow.

Mum never set the tree up until Christmas Eve, she thought it got everyone into the Christmas spirit for the next day, so that had become one of our traditions too. I loved decorating it with my sister, it was one of the few activities we actually did together as adults, since we had such different interests.

She was usually in charge of making the popcorn rope, since she had the patience for it and I didn't. She was sitting on the couch with Angus, watching him attempt to make one, failing miserably. She laughed at him, while he grew increasingly frustrated that his popcorn would not stay on the thread.

"What's the bet he's going to throw the rope on the floor, and walk off because your sister is making fun of him," Jen laughed beside me, watching on at the comedy show in front of us.

"What do I get if I win?" I asked her with a grin, hoping my prize would be the usual treat I got when winning a bet.

"My ice cream," she winked with a smile, making me laugh at the analogy from the day we got here.

"And if you win?"

"Then I get your ice cream, either way we're both winning," she shrugged.

"Someone can't stay away from me for too long, I thought you had a bloody situation on your hands?"

"I was lying," she admitted. "Can you really blame a girl for wanting you?" She leant in closely, talking at a volume only I could hear.

"I do have that amazing ability to charm you," I played along.