Expectations || Completed but unedited

{Epilogue}

Querencia
a place from which one's strength is drawn, where one feels at home; the place where you are your most authentic self

"I fucking love Christmas!" Willow squealed as we hauled in the Christmas boxes from the garage. "The lights, the food, the decorations, the food..."

"Hmm, hm." I set my box down on the sofa and pulled my phone out my back pocket when it started buzzing.

Bumblebae: Because you two can't hear
Bumblebae: Open the door, please
Bumblebae: I have food

"Okay, your Christmas music was too loud." I showed Willow Gabe's texts. "I'll let him in, and you start on the tree."

"He brought us food?" Willow didn't listen to me and followed me to the door with Christmas music still playing from her phone. "I love him."

"The best boyfriend." I opened the door and smiled at Gabe, who was struggling with the four boxes in his arms. "How did you manage to text me?"

"Siri." He answered as I took some of the boxes off him. "She does work sometimes."

"How much can I have without it being noticeable?" Willow closed the door behind us.

"I don't know." Gabe shrugged as we set the boxes on the counter. "Mom packed them, not me."

"You would've destroyed them somehow." Willow immanently opened a box and drooled. "Gingerbread cookies, yes."

I shook my shook as my sister dug into the cookies and forgot about the real task at hand. "Come on, Gabe. You're helping me decorate the tree."

"You haven't finished decorating the tree?" Gabe feigned surprise at this. We usually spend the first of December decorating for Christmas, but since Ariel wasn't coming in until today, we postponed. "What?"

"Shut up and get to work." I dragged him over to where the boxes were, and we started pulling out ornaments.

Just as we finished putting up our second little sleeve ornaments each, the front door opened, and Papa was telling Ariel how Dad was still at school finishing up some stuff before he could go on Winter Break. Willow waved since her mouth was full of gingerbread, and Gabe and I merely offered a distracted, "Hey."

"Okay, well, then I'll see if they have an opening today for an interview," Ariel said, setting her stuff next to Willow. "They're only an hour, so I should get there pretty soon if they do."

"For a new job?" I asked her, perking up att interview.

She hummed and nodded then stole the cookie Willow was holding. "Excuse you," Willow grumbled and brushed crumbs off her T-shirt. "I wish my job paid me."

"Your paycheck is how you're in college." Papa reminded her.

"I know." Willow groaned and came over to us and stole the ornament Gabe was about to put on the tree. "The orange and reds are mine."

"Well, you weren't here," Gabe told her but gave over the rest of his sleeve to her.

"You can help me." I handed him a purple one. "Ari! Come put up the greens and blues!"

This is how we decorate in the Quincey-Jacobs household by our favorite colors. Anything orange or red goes to Willow, greens, and blues for Ariel, yellow and purple are mine, Dad gets white, and any metallic things go to Papa. Everything else is settling via rock, paper, scissors.

"Papa!" I called out to him before he could go to his room. "Can Gabe sleepover since his Mom's got a hot date tonight?"

"I said she's meeting up with an old friend." Gabe laughed and placed another ornament on the tree. "Not that she has a hot date. Are you trying to imply my Mom isn't coming home tonight?"

"Details." I waved him off and waited for Papa's answer.

"So, two of the three Howards are getting laid tonight." Willow shook with laughter as she dug around for more of her ornaments. "Can Aurora sleepover too? We stop them from doing anything if you want."

"Seriously?" Gabe and I asked her in unison, making Ariel and Papa laugh.

"At least I don't try to stop you from getting it." Ariel shrugged and took the sleeve of green and blue ornaments from Willow.

"Of course I come home to this," Dad said dryly as he walked through the door. "I'm going to bed. Too tired for this shit."

"Okay, love you," Ariel yelled the last part out to be heard over the bedroom door getting shut.

"I imagined that too tired being said with a trademark." I waved my index finger in front of my eyes.

Gabe started laughing silently and wiggled his index finger. "This is how we indicate the trademark symbol when talking."

"Oh my God, take the foreplay to the bedroom." Willow smacked the back of both of our heads.

"Also, learn better foreplay," Ariel added.

"Gabe and Aurora can sleepover because you're all trustworthily adults." Papa winced and shook his head repeatedly.

"I sense a but..." Willow squinted at him.

"Just stop talking about sex and foreplay." He looked up at the ceiling. "It's supposed to be a wholesome time of year."

That made us laugh. Like Willow and Ariel would stop teasing Gabe and me about sex.

*****

"Okay! We're done." I whispered to Gabe when there weren't any purple or yellow decorations left in the boxes. "Wanna go watch a movie?"

"Are you asking if I wanna Netflix and Chill?" Gabe grinned and followed me to my room.

"No." I looked over my shoulder at him. "I don't have Netflix on my laptop."

"Too bad." He grabbed my hand and laced our fingers together.

It would've been sweet if he hadn't done this right as we got to my room and I saw that I forgot to hid his Christmas presents. So I dropped his hand and slammed my bedroom door in his face.

"You forgot to hid my Christmas presents, didn't you?" He asked through the door as I scrambled to hide the presents in spots where he wouldn't find them. Especially the It remake DVD.

"No." I lied and shoved the last of the presents in my nightstand's bottom drawer. "I left... a bra out."

"Soph, I've seen you in a bra." I rolled my eyes at his statement and let him in.

"Shut up." I closed the door behind him and sat on my bed while he grabbed my laptop out of my school bag. "What are we watching?"

"Well, I was gonna suggest a bad horror movie from Netflix, but you don't have it." He sat next to me and opened up my downloads. "But I did download It during our Halloween marathon."

"No." I pressed my face to the neck and groaned. "Why did I let you pick?"

"Don't worry." I could hear him smiling, which made me smile. "We can make out during the scary parts."

I reached behind me for a pillow and smacked him with the one I grabbed.

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This is the end! Bittersweet because I like this story but so happy with how it turned out!

Thank you to everyone who's read this!

Hope you enjoyed and that you stick around to read my next story Little Ray of Freaking Sunshine which is around 5 chapters outlined 😊

-Brianna