Short Story Collections

Quite the Christmas

hahahah sorry it's been two weeks but hey, i did say not every Friday! even though its not even Friday anymore... oh well! :)also this story is really heckin long

We love when kids misspell things... most of the time. Enjoy?!

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Amelia POV (in December)

All I've been hearing for the past three months : "Mom I want a pony!!!!!"

And all I've been responding for the past three months: "no you don't, you want a horse, ponies are demonic. And we don't need another horse right now, the two we have are enough!"

Now of course, I pulled the classic way to get my daughter to quit asking me. I told her "to write a letter to Santa". And so, with a look of determination on her face, she stormed off to her room to write that letter.

The next two weeks passed by quicker than a Jackrabbit on a hare. And all of a sudden, it was December 24, 8pm.

"Okay, you need to go get ready for bed now alright, Nikki?"

"But mooooomm!" She complains

"No buts! Go get ready for bed I will be up there to tuck you in soon!" I point to the stairs. She trudges up and I can soon here the shower turn on. I turn my back to the stairs and start putting more presents under the tree. This year, I got her her own saddle so she can stop using mine that's about 5 sizes too big for her. I know what you're thinking: you put your seven year old daughter on a horse without constant supervision!? Yes, I do, she's been around horses since she came into me and my wife's lives, and she loves it! So who am I to doubt her? Uh her mother!? Yeah yeah whatever! I trust her!

Anyway, I was putting the presents under the tree with my wife, Sam, who placed Nikki's letter by the fireplace.

"What did she ask for this year?" Sam asks, looking over from the hearth.

"A pony" I reply simply, getting an understanding nod from my wife. After finishing up, she walked over to me, lifting me from the floor and linked her arm through mine as we headed to go tuck in our daughter.

Nikki was already half asleep by the time we finished reading to her "Twas the night before Christmas". So we both kissed her forehead and said goodnight as she protested that she wanted to stay up longer. Yet her eyes betrayed her as they closed slowly and she dozed off. Sam and I went back down the stairs and headed towards the bedroom.

After showering and checking one last time to make sure everything was under the tree and in the living room, I kissed Sam goodnight and fell asleep in her arms.

(In the morning; about 8:16)

The first thing I'm disturbed from sleep by is a shriek sounding like a bloody murder, followed by a loud thud. Nevertheless I look over to Sam who's already sitting up and looking around, wide eyed. We made a silent agreement and jumped out of bed together, briskly walking to Nikki's room.

Turns out, Nikki had just fallen out of bed, the scream was her waking up mid-fall and realizing she was falling; and the thud, well that's obvious. When Sam and I got there, we were greeted by a laughing, and on the floor, Nikki. Sam helped her up and wished her a happy christmas while I stood there shaking my head with a slight chuckle.

"Well Nik" I started "how about we go feed the horses and then we can start on presents?" she nodded eagerly and held her arms out to Sam, asking to be carried.

"Alright goof, but only down the stairs, then you're walking to the barn!" Sam agreed, sitting on the bed for our daughter to climb onto her back. We didn't bother changing out of our PJ's, who cared? I quickly stopped by the kitchen to pre-heat the oven and made my way to the back door, leaving my coat.Besides, being Texas, it was only sixty degrees outside. We slid on our boots and headed for the back door. The cool thing about our pasture/barn, is that it makes up our whole "backyard" with the barn about two hundred meters away from the house.