Half of My Heart ✔️

42 | down memory lane

"Scar, what the fuck are you doing?" Archer asks, barging into the kitchen. I put down the fifth cookie that I've started eating this morning, wiping the crumbs off my face before turning to him.

"Uh," I mumble with a mouth still full of cookie, "nothing?"

"I'm not talking about the cookies, fatass," Archer says, walking up to me with urgency in his eyes. "Where's your fucking Santa hat? It's Christmas morning."

I roll my eyes, looking down at my Christmas day attire. "I'm already wearing a Christmas onesie. What more do you want from me?" I ask, staring at his matching Christmas onesie to make a point. He picked these out for the whole family to wear, yet he still has the nerve to heckle me about a hat?

"You need to complete the look," Archer insists as if the world will implode if I'm not wearing a Santa hat in the next thirty seconds. Before I can protest, he shoves a Santa hat onto my head, inhales two cookies, then stuffs another in his mouth before leaving.

I wash down my mouthful of cookies with a glass of milk and follow him out to the living room, where the rest of the family is already sitting around the Christmas Tree. As I take a seat next to Dani on the couch, I watch as Archer forces a Santa hat onto her head, mumbling something about no one ever listening to him in this house.

Dani puts up a good fight but eventually gives in. Even she can't resist the Christmas spirit, and she doesn't try to hide the genuine smile on her face. Seeing it lifts my mood even more, and the sock from yesterday hardly even crosses my mind.

"Merry Christmas," Mom says happily, grabbing a blanket and laying it over herself and Dad.

Dad drapes an arm behind her on the loveseat. "Merry Christmas," he says. He turns to Mom. "How many Christmases have we spent together now?"

Mom shakes her head. "Too many to count," she says. "We're getting old."

Dad chuckles and places a kiss on the side of Mom's head. "No, I'm getting old. You look better every year, baby."

"Enough of that from you two," Archer says, sitting on the rug near the Christmas tree. "We're opening presents now."

"Great," I say. "Dani, you better appreciate this." I stand up and reach under the tree for my gift for Dani, but as I kneel down, Archer knocks me off balance with his foot.

"Only the elf can pass out presents, you idiot," he says. Then he plucks off his Santa hat and replaces it with a red and green elf hat, complete with a little bell at the top. "I'm the elf right now, obviously."

"Obviously," I mimic, pulling myself off the ground. I look toward my parents, who just watched this scene unfold. "Are you gonna do anything about your son?" I ask, gesturing at Archer.

Dad shrugs. "Only the elf can pass out presents, Scar," he says. "I don't make the rules."

"Yes, you do," I remind him, sitting back next to Dani. "You made that rule when we were kids."

"Then you should know it by now," Dad says, flashing me a grin identical to the one Archer gave me when he put on the elf hat. Then he looks at Archer. "But the elf could stand to be a bit nicer."

"The elf knows no rules. He follows no authority. He answers to no one," Archer says, flexing his arms. I hear the entire room roll their eyes at his theatrics.