after ice skating for a bit, we began walking around the park that was littered with booths and set ups of holiday festivities from gingerbread house building to writing a letter to santa.
as soon as i saw the booth for painting ornaments, i turned to the two girls beside me and shawn slightly behind them. "would anyone care to paint an ornament with me?"
the girls and shawn obliged as we showed the booth runner our wristbands and proceeded to sit at one of the picnic tables, awaiting our bulbs.
"what are you gonna paint on yours?" shawn asks me as he plays with a ribbon laying on the table.
"i don't know, i was thinking maybe rudolph? since they have these little fuzzy things i can use for his antlers," i replied as i analyzed the crafts on the table. "or just be super basic and do a snowman. you?" i looked up to meet his gaze.
"i was thinking i'm going to be super basic and do a snowman." we both laugh as the booth runner sets down four clear bulbs. we said our thank you's and proceeded to paint.
there was only silence amongst shawn and i, as cameron and aaliyah were busy whispering up a storm across from us with a mix of the christmas music playing throughout the park.
i watched as shawn seemed to finish painting his snowman with little snowflakes falling on his ornament. i nudged his bicep a little. "are you finished with yours?"
"yup!" he proudly holds his up showing me. "what do you think?"
"very, very cute," i replied, trying to suppress my smile at how cute he also looked.
"thank you, thank you. picasso was found jobless." as soon as shawn said that, the whole table erupted with snorts and laughter. "thank you, i'll be here all night."
"oh, you're real proud of that one, huh?" i asked, trying not to laugh. he nods his head in response. "alright, there, shawn da vinci, can you hold this still so i can glue it's antlers?" he complies, holding the ornament up as i glued.
i could sense our sisters talking amongst themselves again. when i finished glueing, i looked up to see aaliyah taking pictures. if it was cam, i would've beat her, but aaliyah gets a pass for not being related.
shawn notices too as he soon excitedly takes out his phone. "ooo, yeah, come on let's take a picture!"
i sighed as i looked at cameron who was already wearing a shit eating grin.
—
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
—
"that's what i've been looking like and none of you said a thing?" i acted offended as i tucked the pieces of my hair. "don't post that! we can take better ones later," i say to shawn.
"aw, come on, mills, you look adorable!" he says to me as he looks at the photo again. "but fine if you say so. i'll just keep it for myself." he smiles as he locks his phone and puts it back in his pocket.
"okay, weirdo," i said, attempting to shrug off my blush.
shawn and i eyed each other until aaliyah cleated her throat, causing the both of us to look in their direction. "can we grab something to eat now?" cameron nodded in agreement.
"yeah, sure. what are we all feeling?" shawn asks. "pizza?"
* * *
soon enough, we walked to a pizza place near the park and shared a large half cheese, half pepperoni pizza. shawn also ordered a thing of poutine that i would occasionally sneak and grab a fry from. however, i wouldn't be able to call it sneaking now as shawn had noticed and instead placed it in between us to share.
"so," i perk up, catching everyone's attention. "cam and i bought the ready to bake sugar cookies as per tradition. are you free to come over tomorrow?" i mainly directed towards aaliyah, leaving shawn pouting.
"oh, did you want to do that tomorrow?" cam asks. "because nat is flying out soon to her dads' for christmas and we wanted to spend as much time together before she leaves."
"why don't you invite her over then? the more the merrier," i attempted to bargain.
she eyes me before replying, "because it's a date night and i want alone time with my girlfriend."
aaliyah nods her head and replied sadly, "yeah and i'm sorry, mills. i also already made plans with my best friends tomorrow."
i look between her and aaliyah. you've got to be kidding. what younger siblings have more plans than their older siblings.
"but, i mean, shawn, you're not doing anything right? you can accompany millie and just save us some cookies," aaliyah persists with her eyebrows raised.
"huh—well, i—" he fumbles over his words.
"it's okay if you have something to do." i avoided eye contact with him, mainly because i knew if i met eyes with him, my face will annoyingly redden again from embarrassment. "we can always postpone our bake fest."
"shawn!" aaliyah pushes for him to answer.
"i'm most definitely free tomorrow if you still want to do it," shawn sputters out.
cameron frantically nods towards him. "of course she does! right, mei?"
i breathe out softly as i nodded. "mhm."
"great! then that's all settled." cam pretends to wipe fake sweat off her forehead. "don't forget to save us cookies for real though."
* * *
the drive home was filled with christmas tunes playing on the radio and not much talking, except for the occasion obligatory loud sing-a-longs.
pulling up into my driveway, cameron says her farewells as she gets out of the car first.
i unbuckle my seatbelt and turn towards shawn before i get out. "uh, just text me whenever you can come over."
shawn shook his head and smiled. "will do. have a nice night, mills."
i returned the smile. "goodnight, shawn." turning back to aaliyah say the same to her before i climbed out.
