"Yeah, Alex, just a second," Faith said from Dan's kitchen, cooking a salty stirfry. She grabbed a small box of candy canes on the edge of the coutner and walked into the living room, where she saw her children putting up their Christmas tree. "Ready?" Faith threw the box up at Alex, who barely caught it with both of her hands wrapped around it.
"Thank, Mom." Alex opened the box and put a few candy canes around the tree. "Dame, put these on the backside of the tree," she said, looking down from the chair she was standing on. She tossed the box to her brother, who was standing a few feet away from the tree at the windows facing the back porch, and hit him on the shoulder.
"Ach, bitch..." Daimian said as he picked the box off of the carpeted floor. Alex rolled her eyes and finished placing the remaining canes she had left in her hand. The two put the candy canes all around the plastic tree until the box was completly empty.
Dan came out of his room to the bright lights in his living room flashing a brilliant glow. "Wow, you guys put that up fast, huh," he said, slightly shielding his eyes from his forehead. The siblings nodded and continued setting up the tree with a masive box of ornimants. Dan turned to Faith, who was still working on the stirfry. "How's the food coming along," he said as he pecked her head.
"It's going alright. I got this going and some tea on the kettle that should be boiling-" Faith waited a moment before the kettle started to squeal, "-now."
"Not bad, young lady. And I guess the table's all set?"
"That was their job, actually," Faith said as she pointed in the living room.
Dan peered in to see the coffee table still stuffed with his bills and various papers. "Oh, yeah. I see." Picking up the bills, he sighed and looked back in the kitchen. "I think I'll actually clean the table for tonight." After he finished, he saw Faith's hand gave a thumbs up from the door frame. The old man gathered the stacks of paper and put them on an end table in the corner of the room. Motioning to the siblings, he brought chairs from the other room for everyone to sit at the round table.
"Dinner's ready," Faith called out as she brought the steaming pot from the kitchen. The others brought plates from the cabinet above the sink and gathered around the table, each of them seated around each other. The family sat together in a fine circle, taking servings of the rice and chicken with a large spoon and shoving it on their plates. The four of them chatted and laughed about the spirits of the holidays and the plans that they were going to make.
"Oh, we should probably call Dad in a bit, shouldn't we," Daimian asked the crowd. "Or should we do that on one of the actual Christmas days?"
"I don't know, it would be sweet to call him on the actual holiday. Have everyone there for it and make it more of a surprise," Faith said as she pointed her fork at her son.
"Yeah, might as well wait a week to build the suspense," Alex said as she poked at her plate.
"As for the day itself," Dan shifted the topic, "what if all of us got together to see the trees in the park. Have you guys seen them yet? I hear they're gorgious." The rest of the family nodded as he smiled at them. "It's a date, then. Now, how about we get some rest tonight? If ya'll want to stay here tonight, we got plenty of space."
"Thanks Dan, but I think we had plans tonight," Faith shamefully shook her head. "I was going to hang out with some of my other friends tonight and I think Alex has some work too."
"And Daimian?"
"Sorry, Dan," Daimian shrugged. "I still gotta do some Christmas shopping before everything gets taken off the shelves."
"Oh, alright," Dan said, slumping in his seat a bit. With that, they finished dinner and got ready to leave.
As he was putting his plate away, Daimian noticed the stack of bills on the end table and read the top one disclosing the ownership of the cafe. In a slight panic, he read further, scowling as he did. He put it down and continued getting ready with everyone else. The four of them got to the door and hugged Dan goodbye. "It's always great to see you, Dan," Alex said into the man's shoulder.
"Of course, dear," Dan said as the young woman let him go. "And thanks for all of your help with the tree. Saves me the hastle of trying to get it up myself."
"No problem, Dan," Daimian said with a thumbs-up. The three waved Dan goodbye as they left the door in a line, making their way to each other's cars. Dan watched from the front door as they pulled out of the driveway, the bitter cold of the night biting his face.
Later that night, Daimian sat on his bed, thinking about the bills on Dan's table. Quickly, he took out his suit and put it on, placing a large jacket over it. As he stepped out the door, he called out to his mother, "GOING TO THE STORE, I LOVE YOU!"
"I LOVE YOU TOO," Faith called from another room. "BE SAFE!"
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