17 BLACK

Chapter seven: Goodbyes and Hellos.

Reminder: The spelling and grammar is screwed up a lot because of how the characters speak.

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Chapter seven: Goodbyes and Hellos.

Date: December 25, 2013.

"Merry Christmas!" Ruth's loud voice woke everyone in the house up as she ran about, slamming on the doors. "Get up! Get up! I made breakfast!" Almost immediately, Caleb was jumping out of the bed, landing on the floor with a thump. "Wake up, V." He muttered as he stood back up, shaking his sister. "What d'ye want?" She asked groggily, rubbing her eyes and blindly moving her hand to the dresser next to the bed.

Grabbing her phone, Violet sat up a bit, fully opening her eyes to see her younger brother scrambling to put pants on. "Fer fuck's sake, Caleb, put yer pants on." Her brother squinted his eyes, a frown making its way on his face. "What the fuck do you think I'm trying to do?!" Violet just laughed and shook her head, slipping out of the bed and walking over to her suitcase.

"Get up, Violet, Caleb!" Momma Payne, as the siblings like to call her, yelled from outside of the door. "We'll be out in a minute." Violet called back. Quickly changing out of their pajamas and into nicer clothes, the two went straight to the dining room where the Payne family was waiting. "Sorr' for takin' so long," Violet apologized. "Caleb couldn't get 'is pants on."

Ruth choked on her orange juice as she heard Violet speak, the rest of the family laughing as Caleb blushed from embarrassment. "Yeah, yeah, laugh it up." Caleb rolled his eyes as they all continued laughing, ignoring him. "What a great way to start off the morning." Nicola joked after everyone had calmed down.

Caleb frowned, quickly sticking his tongue out at Nicola before turning back to the rest of the family. They all took each others hands with their own, signaling that they were about to pray. Violet and Caleb both sighed, sending each other looks before combining their hands with their neighbor's. In Violet's case, she held hands with Caleb and Nicola, and Caleb held hands with Violet and Ruth.

Liam took notice of the wary looks the two siblings sent to each other, immediately taking over the prayer before his parents could tap Violet or Caleb in. "Thank you God for this life you've granted each of us, the food you put on our plates, and the friends and family you've allowed us to love. Amen." When Liam looked up, he saw Violet nod instead of repeating the "amen" like the rest of them, including Caleb, did.

"Eat up!" His father demanded and no one hesitated to dig into their pancakes and eggs. "Are you sure you can't stay like Violet is?" Ruth murmured to Caleb, secretly hoping he'd accept her not-so-subtle request for him to stay. "As much as I'd love to stay here, I should probably see my family." Ruth nodded understandingly, still a bit upset that she couldn't spend more time with the boy she'd been crushing on for months.

"Speaking of," Caleb muttered as he checked his watch. "My flight's leaving in a couple hours, I should probably head up there." Thanking the Payne's for letting him stay the night and eat their food, Caleb headed back to Liam's room, where him and Violet had slept, to pack up his things.

Violet sighed, following her brother into the room. "You're really not coming home?" Caleb asked quietly, knowing Violet was in the room with him. "We have this discussion durin' ev'ry holiday, C, please don't try t'argue with m' 'bout this and jus' enjoy yer holiday with yer family." "They're your family too, Violet."

Shaking her head, Violet turned to leave the room. "I'm not goin' t'have this argument again, 'specially when we're guests at someone else's home. Jus', please call m'when ya get t'the airport and when ya get to their house." Caleb nodded silently, zipping up his suitcase before walking out of the room, Violet following as she closed the door behind them.