Finding love abroad

It's Christmas

"KIARA ...KIARA WAKE UP IT'S CHRISTMAS," Ryder shouts in my ear, effectively waking me up.

I get up so fast that I fall out of my bed with a loud thud, and I groan.

"Ugh, I am up, I am up." I say, rubbing my butt.

When my eyes adjust to the bright light, I see Ryder jumping on my bed shouting, "It's Christmas.",

"I am gonna wake up Reed," he shouts and runs out of my room.

I really don't know where he gets his energy from. That kid's hyperactive even without sugar. I glance at my clock and see it's five minutes past seven. That's early.

I hear a loud 'It's Christmas', which is followed by a loud thud. Looks like Reed fell out of bed too.

I go out to see an energetic Ryder pulling a sleepy Reed, who is rubbing his butt out of the room. I chuckle at the scene. While Ryder wakes everybody up, I quickly brush my teeth and comb my hair.

I go downstairs to see Reed and Ryder sitting around the Christmas tree with presents. I look back to see Raven and Blake enter the room.

"Merry Christmas, guys." Ryder wishes everyone. Greetings are shared and, Ryder goes first to open his present.

"Ok, this is from mom and dad." Ryder informs and opens a lego set. His eyes widen, and he lets out a squeal and hugs his parents.

Next, he opens the one from Reed. He gets a smartwatch and a mug with a picture of his whole family. They look joyful in the picture. Reed is carrying Ryder and, Raven's arm is around the boys while Blake's arm is around everyone, and Ella is sitting in-between Reed's legs. They have huge smiles on their face.

Next, Ryder opens my present. When he sees the new Xbox, his hands go to his mouth. He runs to me and throws himself at me. I lose my balance and fall back with Ryder on top of me. I put my arm around to hug him and laugh at his reaction. He lets me go, and I sit back up.

"Kiara, why did you buy such an expensive gift?" Raven scolds me with a small smile, "now, he is gonna sit in his room all day and play."

"Don't worry, Raven. I will make sure he doesn't spend too much time on it." I say to Raven winking at Ryder.

"I wanted this for a really long time thankyou Kiara." Ryder tells with a smile.

"Don't be too happy buddy, you are so going down when we play." I tell him with a smirk. He chuckles, shaking his head in disagreement.

Next, Reed opens his presents. He gets a new and latest iPhone from his parents. Ryder gifts him a scrapbook filled with happy memories and a tie-dye shirt that he made. Finally, some boy accessories that includes a bracelet with his name. Then, he opens my present. When he sees the gift, he smiles and looks at me. I got him air pods since his one seems to be repaired. And also a G-shock watch.

"How did you know I wanted one of these?" he asks me, surprised.

"I came to your room the other day, and you were struggling with your earphones trying to repair them with duct tape. So I thought they might be broken and got you wireless ones." I chuckle at the memory. Everyone chuckles with me, and Reed goes red with embarrassment.

"Thank you, Kiara." he nods at me with a smile. I smile back.

Next, Raven opens her presents. She gets cruise tickets from Blake for a beautiful new Year's eve dinner, and Ryder gives her a necklace with her name, which is written in his handwriting. Reed gives her two pillows. One, with a picture of her and Blake and another with him, Ryder, and Ella. When Raven opens my present, she finds the dress and takes it in her hand. She sees the extra cloth on the dress, which I altered to fit her size.

"Kiara, how.. but it was not my size... I don't know how you did it." She comes and hugs me, and she tells everyone how much she wanted this dress but could not buy since it was a size smaller.

"Thank you, Kiara. I wanted it so bad." I smile.

Blake opens his presents. Raven gifts him a massage chair and, Ryder gives him a speaker. Reed gives him a Gucci belt. He got a G-shock watch and a Gucci belt from me which he wanted for so long that he wouldn't stop talking about it.

Next, I get an envelope from Blake and Raven. I open it and find the picture of a cute baby Siberian husky. I look up to see them holding a big gift box. I excitedly open it and find the same baby husky inside. Looking at me with her big blue eyes.

"When you first saw Ella, you told me that you loved dogs, but you could not keep one because of your mom's allergies. So we thought, why not get you a dog." Raven smiles.

I hug both of them tightly, whispering "Thank you." over and over again. I take the baby husky in my hands. She is purely white. She licks me, and I pet her behind her ear.

"You can name her Kiara. She is yours, after all."

"What should I name you?" I ask the husky, and she looks at me with her huge blue eyes.

"Aerial, you will be called Aerial." she licks me once again, telling me she likes it.

"It's a beautiful name, Kiara," Blake tells me. I give Aerial to Ryder, who starts playing with her.

Reed, gives me a pair of roller skates since I love to skate and a new helmet. So, I can ride on the motorcycle with him. Ryder gives me a bracelet with my name written in his handwriting, just like Ravens and also a collection of horror movie CDs.

Ella also gets a new dog bed, lots of toys and treats. Aerial refuses to leave Ella alone, following her wherever she goes.

After the gift session, we all get ready to have lunch in a grand restaurant. I wear a light red sleeveless gown that reaches my thigh and pair it with a cute black sweater and stocking since it will be cold. I slightly curl my hair and apply mascara and lip gloss.

We all get ready, and I see Raven wearing a beautiful red satin embroidery dress that reaches her knee.

I see all the boys in similar suits with different colours.

We all have a great lunch and go to church. We pray and reach home just to get a facetime call from Keith.

"Kia, Merry Christmas, baby sister." Keith greets me.

"Merry Christmas, Kei. So, how was your Christmas?" I ask him.

"Nothing special. I went to visit mom and dad, and I got gifts from my friends."

This is our third Christmas without them. I miss them so much. We would wake up early, attend church and come home to a feast. The rest of the day we spend talking. I feel tears pool in my eyes.

"Kia, you there? what happened?" I hear Keith's worried voice.

"Nothing. What were you saying?"

"You look, beautiful baby sis," he tells me with a smile. I smile back

"I miss you, Kei."

"I miss you too, sis. Anyway, I am spending time with your friends today. We are going for dinner." Keith is pretty close to my friends. I met both of them when I was in kindergarten. It was a funny story about how we met. We grew up together.

"Be careful. Those are my friends, no funny business." I threaten him with a smile.

"Don't worry. We are just going for dinner," Kei informs me with a smirk

"Yeah, go enjoy yourself." I tell him and cut the call.

Aerial is sitting on my lap, playing with my squishy. I spend the rest of the day playing with Reed and Ryder on his Xbox and watching Christmas movies.

I suddenly think about Andrew, who is spending Christmas alone today. I am thankful for this family. Even though I lost my parents' I did not feel alone. I was happy. I didn't think much about my parents today, even though I miss them.

For the first time in a long time, I go to bed happy and with a smile on my face. It is one of the best Christmas of my life. A unique one.