Beautiful Tragedy ✔️

twenty-three;

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Christmas is a quiet affair for the Pontti household, but something tells me that it didn't used to be. We exchange gifts and have a light brunch in the afternoon once everyone is at the house and awake, but the majority of the conversations around me are brisk and polite. I can't help but feel that I'm intruding on their regular traditions.

"Are you alright, Mabel honey?" Josephine asks.

I'm sitting at the island counter doodling in a fresh sketch book when she suddenly pops into the kitchen. She's the spitting image of what I assume my mother would look like now if she were still alive. Slender but still toned, dirty-blonde hair that lightens with time spent in the sun, and eyes that mirror my own soft, sea foam green color.

I clear my throat audibly. "Huh? Yeah, I'm okay. Why?"

"You just seem awfully quiet. Were your presents okay? Did you like them?"

"Of course." I give her an enthusiastic nod. "Thank you so much. You all have done so much for me already, you didn't have to—"

She cuts me off by placing a tender hand on my shoulder, a warm smile crinkling the outer edges of her green eyes. "We've talked about this honey. You're family, and this is what families do for each other."

I turn on my stool to wrap an arm around her slim waist, hugging her close into my side. "Thanks Auntie Jo."

Her lips brush my forehead, and I'm suddenly overwhelmed with the urge to cry. My own blood has never shown me this much affection before.

"There's something you should know," she murmurs, pulling back to read my face. "Dwaine contacted me last week."

My blood runs cold.

"He's looking for you, Mabel."

Please no. Not him.

She brushes the hair from my face, tucking it behind my ear. "He's getting married."

I stiffen in my seat, my fingernails digging harshly into the meat of my palms.

Of course he's starting a new family.