All three siblings were looking forward to nighttime finally arriving again, even if it wouldn’t necessarily hold the excuse of ‘opening presents’ this time. They could improvise. They were good at that.
By the time extended family had all vacated the house, the sibs were exhausted. It had been a busy day, and they hadn’t had nearly enough sleep.
Still, they sat with their parents and spent some time opening actual presents from under the tree. It all went pretty casual and fun until Molly gave Jade and Jax a pair of scarves she’d knitted them.
“Oh wow, you made these?” Jade asked.
“Mmhm! I’ve been learning,” Molly said proudly. “They aren’t even bad. And I’m gonna get better.”
“They’re really nice,” Jax said. “And I didn’t even think you were gonna get me anything,” he said with a faint teasing glint in his eye.
Their mom, without realizing it, made his offhand comment quite a retroactively dangerous one. “Don’t tell me you didn’t get your baby sister anything,” she said.
Jax froze and tried to formulate a response that didn’t hint at what, in fact, Molly’s presents had consisted of. He really hadn’t thought this part through.
“Uh… well….”
“It’s…” Jade volunteered, trailing off without being any help at all.
Molly only giggled as her brother and sister struggled not give anything away, without seeming heartless on Christmas. It truly wasn’t that big a deal, and they were only being teased, but in their sleep-deprived states her sibs weren’t playing it off so smoothly.
“Silly Mom,” Molly said. She swiped a pair of discarded bows from some wrapping on the floor. She placed one each on Jax and Jade’s heads. “They’re my presents this year.”
So saying, Molly collapsed with dramatic flair across her siblings’ laps and stretched out happy and content.
“You play a dangerous game, li’l sis,” Jax murmured so low no one else could hear.
Molly grinned beatifically and closed her eyes, just enjoying the moment. There was no danger. She’d made a calculated comment to get a reaction from her sibs and parents, but very different ones in each case.
Their Mom was only too happy. “Just when I think you all are going to grow out of being just the cutest little things….” She rushed out of the room. “Let me get my camera.”
“Just you wait ’til we get you alone tonight,” Jade whispered in the same hushed tones as Jax had used.
Molly’s smile grew wider.
The click of a camera announced their mom’s return, and a photo being taken to commemorate the scene of three loving siblings. And despite some grumblings for show, all three were happy to have the picture taken. It would make a good memory.
Another picture was taken later on of much the same pose, only with Jade and Jax asleep and leaning on each other. Molly was still on their laps and pretending to be asleep. She’d been pretending for a while, all through her brother and sister sneaking inappropriate feels of her when they had the chance.
She knew she really would be in trouble when their mom and dad went to bed that night. She’d get all ganged up on, no doubt about it. Just the thought made her all warm inside, and more than a little wet. It was, indeed, a wonderful Christmas.