Winter [Completed]

TWENTY ONE

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December 24th
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"You can't go back and change the beginning, but you can start where you are and change the ending."

—C.S Lewis

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Ethan POV

"Okay, get ready!" Imani smiles excitedly as she rushes over to her phone on the counter and sets the picture timer.

Her long braids swing wildly as she makes her way back over to me in her oversized sweatshirt and short shorts. She comes to a sliding stop in her fuzzy socks, and I crouch down, bracing myself for impact.

"Hurry up," I say, laughing when she can't jump on my back in time. I'm able to grab only one of her legs and Imani throws up a hasty peace sign as the camera snaps the photo.

I laugh, dropping her back to the ground. "You're so slow."

Imani flips her braids to one side and suppresses a smile as she places a hand on her hip. "And you're too tall."

I raise my brow incredulously. "Okay, that's never been a problem for me before." I place my hand to my chin in mock contemplation. "Yeah, no. The problem isn't my height it's yours, babe." I pat her head with a smug smile, immediately regretting in when she punches me swiftly in my gut.

"Okay, we're gonna do this one more time." Imani says, completely ignoring me doubled over in pain. "And this time, I'm gonna need you to get really low."

Recovering, I run a hand through my hair and pull up my sweatpants. "Why are we doing this again?"

Imani stops fidgeting with her phone and glares back at me. "Babe, I told you, I need a cute pic of us for Christmas!"

"But it's not even Christmas, it's Christmas Eve."

"Ethan, please stop being difficult," she pouts, turning back to frown at me. I grin, loving her cute, annoyed face.

Walking over to her, I place my hands on her shoulders and massage them softly. "Imani," I say, turning her to face me. "Relax. As long as you're in the picture, it'll be cute." I lean over and kiss her forehead and her angry face melts as she smiles up at me.

"Okay, let's just try this one more time and if it doesn't work, we'll do something else. Deal?"

I nod, backing into place. "Deal."

"Okay, perfect." Imani smiles over her shoulder at me. "Five seconds..." she says as she sets up the camera. "Ready, go!"

I crouch down low to the ground and she jogs over and jumps onto my back. I grunt when she lands on my back with a heavy thud, and my face immediately pales when I stand.

Imani's laughter is loud as she bends in front of me and grips my face with an amused expression. "Oh my gosh, Ethan," she says between laughs, "did you just fart?"

Heat immediately rises to my face and cheeks as I laugh meekly. "Sorry."

She's still laughing when I drop her to the ground, and she rests against me trying to suppress her laughter. "No Ethan, it's okay, really it is..." She breaks out into laughter again and I roll my eyes.