25 Days of Insanity: Day Twenty-Five

Day Twenty-Five: That Christmas Feeling

At long last to everyone that dwelled in the town of Brussels, Christmas morning had finally arrived. It was a time of good cheer within the town; there was much less traffic throughout the town, since many adults had the day off, and most were either still at home in bed or were gathered around their Christmas trees, giving and receiving presents from those they loved.

The Baker house was no exception to this. The kids woke up early (though the two Davison boys had to be woken up by the others) and, after quickly making bowls of cereal, went to sit in the playroom where the Christmas tree was standing. Charlie and Kaycee wasted no time in inspecting the presents while they waited for Kaycee and Natalie's father to wake up; they would pick up whatever boxes were addressed to them and examine and shake them to try to figure out what could be inside.

They were stuck doing this for a whole hour before Mr. Baker finally came out and they all opened their presents. Once everyone had gotten all of their things and seemed to be admiring them, the father said he needed to call their grandpa to find out what time they should head over there and went back to his bedroom, shutting the door behind him.

"So," Natalie began quietly, fingering the chain of the necklace she had gotten from one of the Davison brothers, "have you, um, have you guys heard from—from your parents?" She tried not to sound too worried when she said this; though she knew she didn't do the best job when Fred gave a look of pity, but this didn't surprise her since she had already expressed her concern to him the night before too.

Charlie shrugged as he set down the new CD he had unwrapped a few minutes ago. "They sent us a text message earlier saying that Gramma showed up sooner than they thought she would; so they were catching an early flight back home."

His brother gave Natalie an apologetic look. "Yeah, they should be here pretty soon, actually. Since that was before your dad even came out here…"

Kaycee looked up from her stocking that she was searching through after hearing Fred's statement, her mouth hanging open. "What? You guys're leaving already? It feels like you guys just got here, you know?" She frowned before she looked back down at the stocking in her hands, and made a face at the lip-gloss she pulled out of it. The eight year old shrugged before tossing it over her shoulder and disregarding the little plastic bottle. She reached in again and pulled out a Reese's chocolate Christmas tree. She began unwrapping it as she said, "It'll be weird with you guys gone. Can't you stay an extra night?"

Fred gave a grin at the younger girl. "What, twenty-five days wasn't enough?"  He reached over and messed up her hair a bit as he said, "Besides, I think you can last without us. You're a big girl, after all."

Kaycee beamed at the fact the fourteen year old had declared her a big kid and Charlie smiled as well saying, "Plus, we'll still come over. Not as often as we're doing now, but still."

"Have—have you guys gotten all your stuff packed then?" Natalie wondered, attempting to sound nonchalant as she slid the charm on the necklace in her hands up and down the chain.

"No."

"Yes." Charlie and Fred answered at the same time, respectively before Fred added, "I packed Charlie's stuff already too."

The brunet looked to his brother in shock. "When'd you do that?"

Fred shrugged before he lay down on his back, folding his arms behind his head. "Last night, after I got in my pajamas." At the awestruck look on Charlie's face, the blond added, "I'd finished packing mine and I figured you'd forget anyway, and being the admittedly awesome brother that I am, I packed for you." Fred gave a smug smile at the end of his remark.

"Admittedly awesome?" Charlie repeated with a laugh. "Fred, I think you've been hanging around Xander too often. You're starting to brag like he does!"

"I'm sounding like Xander? Man, if that's not an insult then I don't know what is…"

Natalie brushed her hair all over one of her shoulders and began to put the necklace on while Kaycee giggled at the brothers' exchange. Shortly after the older girl had the gotten the clasp on the jewelry fastened, a soft melody came from a cell phone on the ground. All heads turned toward it as it persisted ringing, before Fred reached over to pick it up. He looked at the ID before he clicked the talk button, holding it up to his ear. "Hey, Mom." He paused. "You're almost here?"

The other three exchanged saddened looks at this news, Fred meanwhile nodded, continuing his phone call. "Yeah. Yeah, we're ready to go.—Ye-yes, Mom we got everything packed…well, yeah, okay I got everything packed," he admitted. "No, Mr. Baker's—well, he's busy, I think. Christmas preparations or something… Okay. Yeah, we'll head out in a minute. See you in a bit.—Yeah, love you too.—Bye." He pulled the phone away from his ear and hung up before looking at the others.

There was a silence. "So, you guys should…you should probably get going now, huh?" Natalie asked. The two only nodded and everyone got to their feet.

Despite being the only one lying down, Fred was the first one up and, after doing so, jabbed a thumb over his shoulder. "I'll go grab our bags and, uh, meet you guys by the door," with that said, he turned around and quickly went into the living room, on his way to the room he and his brother had been staying in.

The others, after getting to their feet as well, shared a somewhat uneasy look with one another before they too went into the living room. Kaycee ran forward to catch up with Charlie and hugged him from the side while Natalie lagged behind. "Thanks for staying with us, Charlie," she said, smiling up at him.

Charlie gave his own smile, ruffling her hair. "No, thank you guys for putting up with us for so long." Kaycee laughed as she tried to push his hand away, saying something about how her hair was already messed up enough.

Natalie hung back behind them, hugging her arms. Though she had felt better the night before, after expressing her worry to Fred, now that they were actually leaving her fret was coming back. It wasn't as though she thought they weren't going to see one another again—she did, obviously—but she was just sad that they wouldn't see each other as often; spending nearly a whole month under the same roof tended to do that, after all.

"Hey, Nat!" She stopped and took a few steps back, looking back down the hallway. Fred's head was sticking out the doorway of the guest room. He jerked his head slightly, wondering, "Think you could come help me?"

"Oh, yeah. Sure, definitely," she mumbled quickly coming over and grabbing one of their bags and Charlie's backpack. The boy walked past her back into the hall on his way to the front door and she followed shortly after. Kaycee and Charlie were already by the door, the eight year old sitting on the back of the couch so she wouldn't be in the way of the others. Her older sister handed the bag and backpack to the younger Davison brother and Charlie gave a smile and appreciative nod in return. "So you guys're sure you have everything?"

"Pretty sure. Even if we don't, you could always just call and tell us," Fred pointed out as he readjusted the backpack slung over his shoulder. "Then, we'll just, y'know, come over and get whatever we forgot."

Natalie laughed, adding, "Yeah, that's true…" A honk could be heard from outside and after a brief glance at the door, she smiled and took a step forward, giving Fred a hug. "It was nice having you guys over here."

"I'm just glad you guys could deal with us for so long," Fred remarked. Then he let go and went over to give Kaycee a brief hug as well.

Natalie, however, hesitated, her cheeks turning red, before she gave Charlie a hug; which, to her surprise, lasted quite a bit longer than she thought it would. "It was nice being able to spend so much time with you," Charlie said, only causing the girl's cheeks to flush a little more and give a nod in reply. Once the hug broke, Charlie mused, "Hey, maybe we could all get together for New Years too!"

Kaycee clapped her hands at that idea. "Ooh, that'd be fun!"

Another honk was heard. "Okay, guys. See you later," Charlie and Fred shouted while the latter opened the door.

Charlie seemed to glance at the ceiling for a moment before he leaned over and gave his friend a kiss on the cheek. Her face became bright red before the brothers made their way out the door, the blond teenager chuckling under his breath. Natalie looked above her, where the boy had looked a moment before, and expected to see mistletoe…but there was none. "Ch-Charlie, th-there wasn't any mistletoe," she shouted to him.

"Yeah, I know! Just thought it'd be a nice way to say thanks!" Natalie didn't think it was possible but her face became even warmer at his response. "Talk to you guys in a while…!" He waved before he got into the car. Kaycee got down from the couch and joined her sister in the doorway so they could wave before the Davisons drove away.

"I'm glad they came over," Kaycee said after they had left and Natalie closed the door again.

"Yeah…" her older sister gave a small grin while she touched her cheek. "Me too."