December 1993

Christmastime rolled around and like they did every year, my grandparents came down for the week of Christmas. They were coming from a city way out in Germany, so they had to take a flight down. These were my grandparents from my Dad's side, so they weren't so bad. They actually liked me. My grandparents from my Mum's side, however, were awful to me.

When my grandparents arrived at our place, Mum, Dad, and Daisy went to greet them. I had some chores to finish up on, so I wasn't able to make it out to see them. It kind of upset me, but I was used to it. Luckily I didn’t have to go out to see them because my grandmother came and found me instead.

"She's got you working again, huh?" Grammy sighed as she saw me. "Even near Christmas?"

I shrugged. "I'm used to it."

"Well, do you need help?" She smiled. "I'll gladly help you out. And don't worry about your mother. She knows better than to flip out at me."

"Oh, if you don't mind." I laughed. Mum didn't dare go against Grammy. It was actually really relieving.

Grammy helped me finish up, and then we went to the living room to join everyone else. Mum gave me a glare when she saw Grammy with me, but didn't say anything. Grampy saw me, and had me come over to him and give him a hug. He was always happy to see me. After the hug, I went to go sit next to Daisy on the couch, and Grammy sat next to me.

"Well!" Grammy said as she looked at both Daisy and I. "Now that we are all together, I have something for you two sweethearts."

Grammy pulled out two small gifts that were wrapped in a bright dotted wrapping paper. Daisy's eyes lit up immediately, and we all laughed at that. It was adorable when her eyes lit up like that.

"Here you two go." Grammy grinned. She handed us each a gift, and we both happily took it. Daisy got into her gift within record time and discovered she got a board game. I opened mine to see a small box of chocolates. I was so happy to receive them. I hardly got nice chocolate, but my grandparents made sure I got some of the nicest Belgium chocolate every year for Christmas. I always hid it in my room so Mum couldn’t find it and take it from me.

"Thank you!!" Both Daisy and I said in unity. We got off the couch, and went to the floor to open up the board game Daisy got and try to figure it out. I kept my chocolates close to me and made sure they were protected. I could feel Mum glaring at me. She didn't like it when Grammy or Grampy gave me new stuff. But, there was nothing she could do but watch.

Christmas day came, and Daisy and I were hyped. With Grammy and Grampy around, I knew Christmas was going to be enjoyable. Normally, I only got a gift or two from Mum and Dad, and they were school related, and cheap. Daisy usually got the fun stuff. However, she usually shared her stuff with me. Then there was Grammy and Grampy who almost always spoiled the two of us. But despite it being Christmas, I was almost always given a lot of chores, and left out of the family activities.

Once everyone was up, we had a huge family breakfast. Grammy stood up for me, and let me eat with everyone instead of doing chores like Mum tried to make me do right before the meal. Mum wanted me to keep busy, but with Grammy and Grampy around, I was safe, and she couldn't touch me.

After breakfast, it was time to open gifts. Daisy was super happy about getting a bunch of fun stuff. I got some more chocolate from Grammy which was amazing. I would definitely be adding that to my other box of chocolates. I also got some journals from Mum and Dad for school which I suppose were handy.

We spent the morning enjoying whatever we acquired from under the tree, and talking to each other. Before we knew it, it was time to start dinner. Mum had me help out her and Grammy with supper. Grammy fought with her on that, but this was the one argument Grammy couldn't win. So, like usual, I was put on vegetable chopping duty.

While we were making supper, my grandparents from my mother's side arrived. To make it less confusing when everyone was over, Dad's side was our Grammy and Grampy, whilst mum's side was Gran and Gramps. Usually for Christmas dinner, both sides of the family came down. It was nice seeing the family, but also very rough on me because of how Mum's side of the family hated me. So much so, they hardly even acknowledged me when they came over. And that day was no different.

"Emilia! It's good to see you!" Gran said as she pushed by me in the kitchen.

"You two, Mum." Mum smiled. " The trip down here went ok?"

"Yep. Your Dad was a tad cranky because I had to wake him from his nap, but that was my only issue."

"That's Dad for you." Mum laughed.

"Do you need any help with dinnerr?"

"Nope. I got my helper." Mum said as she looked at my grandmother, completely ignoring me. "Dinner will be finished soon anyways."

"Alright." Gran said. "Where's my little Daisy? I haven't had the chance to see her yet."

"She's in the living room playing with her toys. She's such a sweet little angel."

"She really is. Unlike some people I know." I felt two sets of eyes glaring at me. Nervously, I scooted over a couple steps, and bumped into Grammy. Grammy wrapped her arm around me.

"Leave him alone." Grammy protected me. "Kevin's a sweet kid, but you guys just won't give him a chance."

"I don't get what you see in him." Gran scoffed before going off to the living room to see Daisy.

"Try not to piss her off this year." Mum sighed. "It's better to keep her in a good mood."

Last year, Grammy had royally pissed Gran off by standing up for me. It caused Christmas dinner to end in disaster, and everyone had a very foul mood. The problem with Mum’s side of the family was that they all had tempers and very strong opinions. And they weren’t afraid to get really heated about them either.

"I'm not letting her bully Kevin. It's bad enough you do it." Grammy stated.

"Yes well, I'm not my mother. You know how she is."

"You're close enough." Grammy muttered before going back to helping with dinner. Thankfully though, Grammy did get the point, and when dinner did come, she kept quiet whenever Gran or Gramps said something nasty about me.

Overall, that Christmas went very well. With Grammy and Grampy over, it definitely made things better. When they left however, things went right back to normal, and I was back to doing my load of chores daily.