Butterflies {Corey Crawford}

Santa

Squeak, Squeak, Squeak.

I wake up to the bed springs squeaking, which makes me giggle as I remember last night. But then I realize the bed is actually shaking. Panicking, I open my eyes. I see Corey and Trev, jumping on the bed beside me. I laugh and roll my eyes, watching as they notice I'm awake.

"It's Christmas!" Trevor shouts and I smile.

"And you guys are how old, again?" I question, making the both of them chuckle. I sit up and the both of them hop off the bed, Trev running from our room.

"So the plan is, presents and then breakfast. And you and I are going on a date tonight." Corey tells me as I yawn.

"Oh are we? That sounds nice." I tease and he just nods. I finally wake up fully and grab my glasses off the side table. I stand up from the bed and Corey just looks at me.

"Well cmon Slowpoke, I wanna see what Santa brought me." I say and he rolls his eyes

"It's funny you said that, my mom writes 'from Santa' on all the presents." He sighs and I laugh. I grab his hand and pull him up off the bed. We race down the stairs and see everyone in the living room sitting by the tree. Sylvia smiles when she sees us. She hops up and quickly pulls me into a hug. She grins as she sits back down in her seat. I look around the room and am in awe of it's warmth. The fire is lit, it's heat softly emanating towards us. The tree is covered in crisp, white lots, tens of ornaments hanging from the branches. Many of them are hockey related, of course. Snowman decorations are scattered along the mantle along with four stockings hanging from the edge.

"Oh-" Corey's dad says, "I forgot something." He stands up, setting his coffee mug down before hobbling out of the room. I can hear him mumbling as he turns the corner coming back. He has his hands behind his back, clearly holding something. He whistles as he makes his way over to the mantle where the stockings are hung. He swiftly hangs one more and I gasp quietly. My name is carefully written across the top in gold paint. The white edges are slightly brighter than the others' and I can tell its brand new.

"Thank you." I say, looking at Trevor and Sylvia. They both nod, huge smiles on their faces.

"Okay let's go!" Trev chimes in, already sitting on the floor in front of the presents. I swear he's six. Corey and I sit beside him and begin tearing the paper off boxes.

I get mostly baby things, which is fine by me because it's really expensive. Trevor got me and Corey matching Hawks ugly Christmas sweaters and I put mine on right away. There are two boxes left, one from me and one from Corey that are for each other. I insist that Corey opens his first, and of course he doesn't hesitate. He rips the candy cane patterned paper off the small box. He reads "Rolex" on the top and narrows his eyes at me.

"Tell me you didn't." He says and I shrug, a smile on my face. He sighs and opens the box. He removes the paper and freezes when he sees the watch. It's a rich gold color, with a black band around the face of the clock. It has three little clocks on the inside that are for God knows what. But, honestly, it's one of the nicest watches I have ever seen. He complains to me almost everyday about how he wants a watch and that he hates looking at his phone for the time. He puts the watch on immediately and tries to hold back his smile. It shines in the light as he flicks his wrist around.

"That's so pretty Cor." Sylvia says and he just nods.

"Thank you." He says, looking at me. I've never heard anything more genuine than those two words he said.

"You're welcome." I say. All of a sudden he jumps up.

"I have to get your present." Corey smirks and he runs out of the room. And I mean he runs. He takes a while and I start to wonder what he's doing. Then I hear something sliding along the wood floor. Corey has a huge box that he's pushing across the floor. He is being extremely careful with it which makes me even more nervous. I stand up and slowly approach him. The box is almost as big as me and, reluctantly, I reach and take the lid off. I jump when I see something staring back a me. An all black German Shepard is calmly sitting in the box. At first I think it's Spooky but I realize he's asleep next to Trevor on the couch.

"You- what?" I ask, seriously confused.

"It's a dog, Evelyn." Corey answers slowly and I roll my eyes.

"Thanks, Genius. I know it's a dog. You got me a dog?" I question and he nods.

"He dropped out of the doggy police academy. He's fully trained. Now you'll never have to be alone even when I'm away." He explains. The dog jumps out of the box and circles around me, wagging his tail.

"Does he have a name?" I ask, playing with the red bow around the dog's neck."

"Her name is Fifty." He answers and I laugh

"You're kidding." I say and he shakes his head.

"The guy told me they don't name the dogs they give them numbers. It was just a coincidence that her name is Fifty. You can change it if you want." He chuckles. I run over and hug him, almost knocking him down as I jump on top of him.

"I love it thank you." I answer, his chest vibrating as he laughs.

"Take her bow off and look at her collar." Corey whispers and I look up at him, narrowing my eyes. I slowly let go of him and kneel down on the floor. I call Fifty over and she comes, licking my face and sitting directly in front of me. I untie the giant red bow and let it fall to the ground. She's wearing a Hawks collar, of freaking course, but there's a golden chain also hanging from her neck. I jump when I hear a bang in the kitchen. I look and see everyone else has left the room to start getting ready for breakfast, so it's just me and Corey right now. I look back at the chain and recognize the little cross hanging on it. It's my Dad's. He used to wear it all the time, I don't think I ever saw him without it, except when he got sick.

"Corey," I whisper. I carefully remove the chain from Fifty and just hold it, staring at it.

"I remember you told me you lost it. I asked your mom about it and she let me search her house. I guess you put it somewhere when you had a seizure, it was shoved inside a book on the bookshelf in the dining room." He explains

"What book was it? Do you remember?" I question and he sighs, scrunching his face as he thinks.

"I think it was 'The Great Gatsby.'" He answers and I shake my head, laughing a little. I put the chain around my neck, shivering when the metal touches my skin.

"That was his favorite book, that must be why I put it there." I say. I pet Fifty and stand again. I hug Corey and he kisses the top of my head.

"Thank you. For everything." I sigh

"I love you."

"I love you too." I grin. He yawns and pats me on the arm.

"We should start getting ready, we have a big day ahead of us!" Corey exclaims and I giggle, following him and Fifty up the stairs. I watch as the two of them hurry into Corey's room. They both look incredibly happy, which makes me happy.

Our little family is coming together.