Modern Day Santa Claus

MDSC [22]

Chapter 22

For the first time in years, the house of the Gonzales family is brimming with laughter and music on the day of Christmas Eve. A large Christmas tree that has never seen the light of day in ages was standing in the middle of the living room decorated with a large star on top. There were presents adorning the bottom of the tree from each of the family members.

Ever since Jae's dad was out of the picture, they only ever celebrated Christmas with just the three of them. But now, they have a lovely little addition to their family, albeit only temporary. Sam decided to spend the rest of the night in the home of the Gonzales.

Truth be told, Jae had been bearing the guilt of hurting a young man's feelings. She was smiling all throughout the family gathering but her conscience kept pulling her down. Once the clock struck midnight, Pauline, Jae's mother, bid them goodnight and went to bed.

The house had quietened down since the height of the celebration slowly dwindled. The lights were out. The music was turned off. Adams, Jae's brother had now receded into the living room and planned to drink the wine he had bought earlier with the turkey but it was nowhere to be found. In the end, he fell asleep on the couch as the rush and fatigue tired him out.

Jae was now in the kitchen, putting the leftovers into containers before organizing them inside the fridge. Sam kept her company.

"Did Skye leave through the front door?" he asked in the middle of the silence. "I never noticed."

Jae paused at the mention of Skye's name. She glanced at the gold-chained bracelet she wore with the dress and sighed heavily. "Yeah, he did," she answered absent-mindedly. Jae never imagined that her third Christmas with Skye would end up like this. She always thought he was going to be the reason why she'd excitedly wait for Christmas to come.

Sam noticed Jae's reaction. He didn't push further that he didn't see Skye pass through the living room before exiting the front door. "Do you want to rest? You look tired."

Jae gave Sam a smile as he headed towards her with the rest of the containers in his arms. "Thanks, Sam. Don't worry, I got it. After this, I'm going upstairs and sleeping early tonight." As if on cue, Jae yawned before continuing stacking up the containers. Their refrigerator was small but it held up all of their Christmas leftovers. Once Jae could entirely close the fridge's door, she stretched her arms.

"Do you want coffee?" Jae asked while walking towards the stove.

"I thought you were going to sleep?" Sam mused. He followed behind.

"For you, idiot. If you're tired, you can sleep in Adams' room. He's not using it anyway, he's already passed out." She gestured towards the living room. Her eyes shone as she remembered something. "Wait here, I bought you something." She dashed towards the living room, grabbing the present she bought for Sam before running back towards the kitchen.

Sam's eyes glazed over as Jae handed her a flat but wide box in a green gift-wrapper. "This is for me?" he confirmed, surprise etched all over his face. It has been a while since anyone bothered enough to buy him something.

"Yeah. Hope you like it." Jae grinned. "Open it."

Sam neatly peeled off the wrapper. After taking off the wrapper, he popped off the lid of the box and was greeted by a thick, black cloth. He pulled it out, letting the cloth unravel itself. It was a scarf. A soft, thick scarf at that. He ran his fingers through it until he reached both ends. Stitched at one side with a small print was "From Jae, your friend forever."

He turned his attention towards Jae, who was now looking down at the ground with embarrassment all over her face. "I know, it sounds corny as hell. But black suits you." Without a warning, Sam took a step closer and wrapped his arms around Jae. Funny, he never thought he could even like someone again after what he did to Jerry and his mom. He still felt an overwhelming sense of self-loathing but it died down ever since Jae caused a riot into his life.