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P3 - Chapter Twenty-eight

December 25th, 2020:

~Part two~

"OK, people! Rise and shine! Up, up, up!"

"It is way too early for this," Qibli mumbled from beside me as Kinkajou continued her shouting. It's Christmas, I thought with a little excitement as I shifted my position.

"Shut... UP!" Anemone yelled from the other room loud enough to wake up just about everyone in the house.

"The Christmas breakfast is ready!" Kinkajou shouted in response. She barged into the room Qibli and I were sleeping in and ripped the blanket off of us. "Wake up, lovebirds! It's a new day! We get to open presents! Wake UP."

She turned and ran out of our room to go harass other innocent people. Qibli groaned, pulling me closer and burying his head into the crevasse of my neck.

"Too... early," he murmured sleepily. I pulled away from him and grasped his arm, dragging him up into a sitting position.

"Good morning, Qibli," I laughed.

"Morning, babe," he responded half-heartedly, barely awake. I felt a weird tug at my heart at the nickname "babe". It was the first time Qibli ever called me that, although I doubted he was even in the right state of mind at the moment.

"Remind me to never sleep at Kinkajou's place ever again," Winter said tiredly, mostly to himself, as he walked past our room. "This is ridiculous." I stumbled out of bed, yawning as I staggered into the hallway.

I took a right toward the bathroom and bumped into Turtle also heading for the bathroom.

"Oh, sorry," I apologized. "You can go in."

"Ladies first," he insisted, backing away. "I have to go wake up Anemone anyway." He turned and walked down the hallway before I could argue any longer. I shrugged before walking into the bathroom.

Busy day, I thought to myself as I looked for my toothbrush. First Christmas in my new school with my new friends. Not exactly how I expected it, though. For starters, I expected my parents to still be together with my mom not comatose in the hospital. Also, a boyfriend? How did I manage that?

I busily brushed my teeth, hearing the clatter from outside the bathroom. Kinkajou yelling, Anemone yelling back, Turtle trying to calm them down, and at one point I heard Glory threatening to kill all of them, and then Grandeur reprimanding her.

Once I finished brushing my teeth and washing my hair, I walked out of the bathroom toward the kitchen. Everyone was now awake, including Glory's pet cat, Silver, who was meowing dangerously.

"FINALLY," Anemone yelled, shoving past me for the bathroom. "I need to pee! What took you so long?" Her yelling was muffled as the bathroom door slammed shut.

"Sorry about her," Tamarin apologized from her place at the kitchen table. "She a bit... grumpy in the mornings. Especially if she didn't get all ten hours of sleep she apparently needs."

"She's been worse," Turtle offered before turning to Kinkajou. "So, exactly what was all that yelling for anyway?"

"Only the Christmas breakfast!" Kinkajou cried excitedly. "My mom helped me out with it. Everybody sit. I will serve you all." She excitedly whirled around to go get something. I found a spot at the table between Qibli and Deathbringer.

I glanced at Glory to make sure she was out of earshot and leaned in close to Deathbringer to whisper, "Did you do it?"

Deathbringer winced. "Nope," he whispered back. "She was really busy and I was too nervous. At this point, I don't think I'll ever have the guts to ask her."