AllFreeNovel
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“I will be right back!”
“Yep, that was smooth,”I commented under my breath when my mum was directing another arm full of gifts to be placed under the… one, two, three, four, five… thesixth Christmas tree!
“Is it always like…?” he asked, making me interrupt quickly,
“No.”
“And does she always do…”
“No,” I replied again before my dad came up to embrace me, making me nearly choke on my laugh when he whispered,
“Gods, child, please save me.”
“Er… what’s with all the extra trees and well, extraeverything…? Dear Gods, are those life-sized Elves?” I asked as I took in more of my mother’s insanity. My father sighed, taking a step back and telling me,
“A store in the mall got closed down and were selling all their Christmas stock and then your mother got chatting to the woman…”
“Oh no, I can see where this is going,” I said, making him continue,
“Yes, well, she found out the store owner’s grandmother was sick and she needed the money for medical bills.”
“So, Mum bought the whole store!” I shrieked.
“No, she bought all the stock from thethree storesthe woman had, as two were also in Portland… she also bought the woman a dialysis machine.”
“Of course, she did,” I muttered, making my dad wince when he watched as Ragnar carried a seven-foot Nutcracker soldier into the room, now placing it at the side of the fireplace so it could match the other side were another already stood.
“Well, maybe that’s the last of it,” I said, patting his arm and making him sigh.
“The only rooms in the house that don’t have a damn tree in them are the bathrooms as I was finally able to draw the line,” my dad said, making Lucius stifle another laugh, pretending to clear his throat instead.
“I gather that’s why Afterlife has only one big tree in it this year.”
“Yes, thankfully logic won that argument, as anymore and there would have been no room left for actual people.” I laughed at this.
“Isn’t this great?!” Pip shouted as she entered the room with Adam, who, like the rest of the men, was also carrying something festive. This time I think it was a giant gingerbread man holding a wreath.
“Yes, it’s like Santa and his thousand elves all glitter vomited over the room,” I replied dryly, making Lucius laugh next to me as my father smirked. As for Pip, she was currently dressed like someone had decorated her like a Christmas tree as her whole dress was made of red and white striped tinsel and red baubles.
“Yeah, I know, right? I mean, this wasn’t even something you could buy, but was in one of the shop window displays… I mean, I have never seen your mum this crazy. I woke this morning thinking she had been snorting crushed up candy canes or something,” Pip said, and one look at my mum and I had to agree with her, as I watched as Takeshi took one step in the room, and then as if knowing his fate, turned around and promptly left it again.
“Lucky bastard… she didn’t see him,”Zagan muttered after coming to stand by us when he had finished doing my mother’s bidding.
“No, unfortunately what this is, is your mother trying to prove a point after I told her we wouldn’t have room for all this stuff,” my dad said, referring back to Pip’s comment about snorting candy canes.
“Really… this is Mum trying to prove a point?”
“Unfortunately, yes, and after she reminded me of my expensive car collecting hobby, to which the conversation somehow turned into me being called the Grinch. Something I now know is some strange furry green demon because, of course, we now have one here somewhere.” At this I couldn’t help but feel sorry for my dad, giving him another hug for good measure. A gesture he seemed pleased about as he patted my back and granted me a warm smile.
“I’m sure she will calm down soon… wait is that a… you know what, never mind,” I said, ignoring the pieces of a giant snowman Ragnar now seemed to be trying to juggle by carrying all three snowy balls at once.
“Yes, well, she stormed off muttering about how this year I was getting the ugly sweater… I swear, near thirty years together and I still don’t understand women,” my dad said, making me say,
“Aww, Dad… you know if you makes you feel any better, I made Lucius put up a tree with me in our living room.” Because yeah, once he agreed to Christmas, that was it, he was all in! Of course, this was helped when I bribed him with a bag of left-over icing that I started squirting down myself after making cookies and, well, it made for some sweet fun in the bedroom.
“How many trees?” my dad asked, making Lucius hold up a single finger, unable to help now looking smug. I rolled my eyes and said,
“Yeah, okay, so it was just the one.” To which Lucius added,
