My "Three Kings" of Christmas
Hey everyone! 😀 🎄 MERRY CHRISTMAS! 🎄 I am SO excited to share my 2022 Christmas story with y'all this year. 😊 I've been working tirelessly on it since October and it has been a real joy. It...
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Chapter 7
The next couple of days, Kai and I spent as much time as we could together. We did some shopping together, hit up the annual Winter Festival, played some video games - Mario Kart in particular - at his house, and went out to dinner both nights. Of course any chance we got to kiss in private, we did. My parents were so pleased with our relationship that they didn’t bother us at all which…kinda surprised me. My sister even called me to ask how things were going with my new “boyfriend,” since mom was clearly telling her ALL about it when I wasn’t around. Kai and I hadn’t officially announced ourselves as boyfriend and girlfriend yet, but it was sure heading in that direction. I wanted it to head in that direction. We did, however, live in two different cities, darn near 500 miles apart from each other so I wasn’t exactly looking forward to the conversation on how we were going to make that work, but I knew we would. Things were going really well between us.
Kai only had one emergency call interrupt our time together which wasn’t bad. It’s just something I was going to have to get used to if we decided to make a life together.
Also during that time, I spent some time with Amaya (which often included Aizen. Construction work was slow around the holidays.) We drew pictures together and I gave her some free graphic design tips. Mami then asked Amaya to help with some of the housecleaning - particularly pointing out her bedroom - so we decided to come up with a fun way to get it cleaned up. Any interactions I had with Aizen were generally pleasant, a very nice change from every moment I had with him before. If I didn’t know any better I would think he was feeling…happier. If I had any part to play in that, I was glad.
During the hour that Kai had to take the emergency call I previously mentioned, I emerged from the bathroom and into the kitchen to find Amaya begging her dad to do some video game karaoke with her. I hid a little behind the archway into the living room and listened.
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It was clearly obvious to me, by the look on Aizen’s face, that he really didn’t want to do it - or sing for that matter. But I was very proud of him for finally acceding to her begging.
As they looked through the song choices, most sounded completely foreign to Aizen, until he gasped at one of them and exclaimed, “Oh wow. They have the Foo Fighters music on here!?”
“Who’re they?” Amaya asked with a scrunched nose.
Aizen’s mouth flat-lined. “Amaya, you never cease to make me feel old…”
I chuckled.
“I don’t want to sing that one…,” Amaya groaned at her dad’s song choice.
“Amaya please,” Aizen asked, picking up the other microphone, “just allow me this.”
“Umm…ok,” the girl curiously consented and stepped back to watch.
Aizen positioned himself with the microphone, just before the music started to play.
“Everlong.” An iconic Foo Fighters song. I hadn’t heard it in years. Aizen had his eyes closed as he soaked in the familiar intro, gripping the microphone with both hands, just below his lips, like a professional singer.
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As soon as the beat picked up, he bobbed his head back and forth to it, eyes still closed and bangs flopping all around. I won’t lie…it was kinda hot. And when he started to sing, with a little huskiness in it, I might’ve rubbed at my collarbone a little bit. He was good! Fully immersing himself into the music, allowing it to take him back to the late 1990s and early 2000s. It was taking me back too.
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Just before the chorus, I motioned for Amaya to bring me the other microphone - while Aizen was distracted. Once the chorus came around, I ran into the room and started singing it right along with him. He turned in surprise at me, stopping his singing of course because his mouth had fallen, clearly impressed that I knew the song and pleasurably listened. I loved it. His jaw soon rose back up and his lips formed into a smile as he joined in the rest of the chorus with me.
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It was so much fun! I started dancing to the music and he danced a little too; both of us unable to stop grinning at each other the entire time. I could see Amaya’s bright expression from the corner of the room. The whole experience was truly…invigorating. A step back in time for sure.
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When the song ended, Amaya rapidly clapped and cheered as Aizen and I caught our breaths.
“Thank you,” he whispered to me.
"For what?" I asked him with a questionable look.
“...I needed that. More than I realized.”
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I smiled. “You’re welcome. That was really fun!”
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“You all having fun out here?” Kai asked, emerging from the den where he took the call. “It sounded great!”
I dunno why Aizen and I fumbled with the microphones in our hands when he walked in, like we got caught doing something bad.
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“I know that song…what is it again?” Kai asked.
“'Everlong,'” Aizen answered. “By the Foo Fighters.”
“Oh, right!” Then his brow furrowed in thought. “Wait, who are the Foo Fighters again?”
I answered before Aizen did. “Dave Grohl, the drummer from Nirvana, formed his own band…”
Aizen bounced his eyebrows at me, impressed again.
“That’s right, that’s right,” Kai exclaimed, kicking himself for not remembering, apparently. “Gosh I haven’t heard their music in forever. Excuse me for a sec, I need to get a drink.”
Upon Kai’s exit, Aizen leaned towards my ear and asked, “Guess you’re familiar with Nirvana too?”
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I had to play with him in my response. “Not really, they were a little before my time. Although…,” I leaned in slightly towards his ear as well, “...your singing back there sure looked and smelled a lot like teen spirit to me…,” I ended with a smirk, throwing up a hand gesture and spinning on my heel to join Kai in the kitchen.
I didn’t catch Aizen’s reaction to that, but I imagine it was one that involved his hands on his hips, head shaking, and giving off another impressed smile. Hee hee!
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Thank you big brother for your impressive collection of music that I always had the pleasure of listening to growing up.
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The next morning, Kai called to inform me that he had to attend an all day work related Zoom conference, much to his chagrin. It was so sweet how bad he felt about not being able to see me until evening. I assured him that it was fine, even though I was equally disappointed. Our time together during this Christmas break was running out.
“I’m sure my parents and I can find something to do to pass the time,” I told him with a smile.
“You’re so great,” he said in return. It made my heart swell and my cheeks blush. “Have fun with them, and I’ll call you as soon as the conference is done.”
“Thanks. And you have fun too.”
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“Always,” he said with a hint of sarcasm.
It made me chuckle.
After the call my parents practically ambushed me in the hallway asking all these questions about my relationship with Kai and where it was going and what our plans were for after the break. (Talk about the third degree!) I guess they couldn’t contain themselves any longer.
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It was all a bit…overwhelming to say the least. Especially since Kai and I hadn’t really talked about it yet.
In the middle of my stumbling replies the doorbell rang and my immediate thought was, Oh thank GOSH!
“I’ll get it!” I very happily offered and raced on over to the door. I had to catch my breath for a second before opening it.
“Oh. Hey Amaya,” I greeted. Aizen stood off to the side behind her, flashing me a smile.
“Hey Malai!” The girl bounced. “Are you busy today?”
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Uhh… I shot a glance at my parents and they just shrugged. “Not really. What’s up?”
“Daddy and I are gonna go to the Winter Festival since it’s going away soon and…I was wondering if you wanted to come too?”
Aizen and I met eyes again. “Sorry about this,” he apologized for them both. “I told her not to bother you because you’d already gone with Kai, but…she was insistent.”
I grinned, understanding fully. That’s Amaya. I looked back down at her with my hands on my knees and asked, “Well did you ask your daddy’s permission first because I wouldn’t want to get in the way of your daddy-daughter date.”
Aizen smiled.
“We went earlier together, before Christmas, and now I wanna go again,” she paused, while taking my hand, “with you.” Her eyes sparkled.
Aww! My heart melted. I couldn’t help holding my hand to it. Aizen’s smile at me was even brighter than before. It seemed he was ok with me tagging along. I clasped my other hand over Amaya’s and said, “Well in that case, I’d love to go with you.”
“Yay!”
“I just gotta get bundled up first.”
"Ok!"
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It was a little warmer outside on this day, 21 degrees (F). I know a lot of you wouldn’t consider that warm, but here in Maine when you’re usually getting single digits or below zero temps in the winter, 21 is warm.
I always loved the annual Winter Festival in Maplewood Falls. It didn’t have all the activities you would expect from a big city Festival, but it had the best ones, with that special added touch of small town hospitality. It’s a tradition to go every winter in our family, even though I’d skipped out on going the past few Christmases. I just wasn’t feeling it and wanted to get back to New York. But this year, as I said before, was different. Magical. Lovely.
I could certainly say the same about our time at the Festival, the moment the three of us stepped foot on the grounds. Amaya held my hand tightly and kept pulling me every which way towards each activity with glee. (It’s like she’d forgotten all about her dad.) Oh how sometimes I wish I could be as happy and carefree as a child again.
The first thing she wanted to do was face painting - well, after we made some epic snow angels on the most perfect spot of untouched snow.
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Face painting was always the first thing I wanted to do as a child at the festival too. Aizen kindly declined. That didn’t surprise me. Most guys don’t care to get their face painted.
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Amaya got some stars painted on her face...
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...while I went with a snowflake design.
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After that the three of us went ice skating.
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Amaya was a little pro at it! She showed off a few spins for me and while they were a little rough, she still had the makings of a professional ice skater within her and looked adorable doing it.
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Aizen kept whipping past me as we skated around and around the rink, like it was a race or something, giving off this smug grin every single time. If it had been possible to form a snowball on the rink I would’ve done so promptly so I could nail him in the face to smack off that smug grin the next time he passed me! I chuckled at the thought.
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At one point, we both held Amaya’s hands and swung her forwards and backwards in between us, giggles of pure joy coming out of her through puffs of visible breath. It took some serious skill to not slip and fall while doing that, for if one of us did, the other two would come crashing down as well.
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After that we got some hot cocoa from the concession stand to warm up and sipped on it as we watched a few folks do some snowboarding. I remember watching the townsfolk build that giant half pipe. I was younger than Amaya at the time. Snowboarding seems like such a thing of the past now, but I love that they’ve kept it as a traditional Winter Festival activity in Maplewood Falls.
“Daddy are you gonna snowboard again?” Amaya asked. “You gotta show Malai!”
“Of course,” he replied, meeting my gaze with that smug grin of his again. I’m not sure why he kept doing that. Was he trying to impress me or something or was he...flirting with me?
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“Wait til you see him, Malai. He’s awesome!”
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“Oh I’m looking forward to it,” I said through a smirky grin at Aizen. If he happened to biff it out there, I was going to laugh so hard, but of course I wouldn’t if he broke a bone or anything. Heaven forbid.
Aizen was amazing at snowboarding. Better than Landon actually, who was one of the town pros, but I could never tell Landon that.
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I couldn’t take my eyes off him...and the fluid way he performed every move...
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Mainly because I wanted to be at the ready in case he made a nasty crash landing, okay. The last thing I’d ever want is for something bad to happen to Amaya’s daddy. She needs her daddy. Every girl does. Especially when their mommy is gone…
Of course Aizen walked off the half pipe unscathed, reigning supreme. He held out the board to me and breathlessly said, “Alright. Your turn.”
“No thank you,” I politely declined with a raised palm. “One crash landing that almost broke my ankle has kept me away from snowboarding for life.”
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“Oh,” he said with a grimace.
“Yeah…but I do enjoy watching others do it. You were pretty good out there, I must admit." I smirked. "I’m glad I didn’t have to call an ambulance on you…”
Was he blushing? Nah, I think his cheeks were just rosy from the cold and exertion.
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“Let’s have a snowball fight!” Amaya suggested. They had an area made up specifically for it, with painted concrete half walls to hide behind and everything.
“I dunno sweetie, the teams would be uneven,” I said to her, kinda hoping that it would get her to reconsider. I was cold.
“That’s ok! It will be us girls against daddy!” She grinned.
I looked back at Aizen and he shrugged. “I’m game.”
I just shook my head and sighed. “Alright. I guess we can ‘fight’ for a little bit.”
“Yay!” Amaya squealed, running over to the area.
Before joining her, Aizen stepped right up to my face, standing tall, and declared with confidence, “I’m gonna take you two down.”
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My mouth opened into a playful grin. “Careful, that other person is your daughter…”
“She’s used to it.”
I held back a chuckle, holding my game face. “Well how do you know I’m not the best snowballer in New York City?”
“You’re not.”
“Oh!” I huffed, still smiling. “Well I’ll show you, Mr. Know-it-all.”
“No you won’t,” he threw back with a smirk and went over to join Amaya.
I just shook my head as he did so thinking, Stinker!
Gosh he was being so playful today. A complete 180 from the gruff and grumpy guy I met on Christmas Eve. But I sure as heck wasn’t complaining. Not at all. I was rather liking it. I knew a better person resided within him somewhere and it was back. I hoped it was here to stay. I expressed a happy and relieved breath as I ran over to join him and Amaya.
Aizen’s snowballs sure packed a punch. He was much gentler in his tosses at Amaya, which was good. Although Amaya was going to town on him with her little snowballs. In fact, we both were!
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I think he was taken off guard by how well we were pummeling him...
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...because after a while he cried out, “Alright that’s it!” He stepped right over to me, swooped me up like I weighed nothing - I squealed in surprise when he did - and carried me over his shoulders. “I’m taking you out!”
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“Amaya! Save me!” I playfully cried.
“You let her go daddy!” Amaya demanded, throwing even more snowballs at him with her motor-arm.
“Never!” he played back, rushing me back over to his attack area. “She’s mine now.”
“No fair! I can’t beat both of you!”
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“Exactly!” He grinned, still carrying me, and swinging me around like his grand prize. (I had become a little dumbfounded by that point to say the least.)
It made Amaya all the more irritated.
Eventually, Aizen put me down. I think my kicking around so much, along with trying to dodge Amaya’s snowballs while carrying me, got to be too hard on him. I felt out of breath myself, mostly from laughing so hard.
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I still couldn’t believe he picked me up like that…
Soon Amaya tackled her dad to the snowy ground and started shoveling snow onto his face. I loved all the happy and playful noises I heard coming out of them both. Like they were having the time of their life. It’d probably been a while since they both felt this happy.
The three of us decided it was time to grab a bite to eat so back to the concession area we went. Along the way, Amaya informed us that she needed to use the bathroom. So while we waited for her, Aizen and I looked up at the giant decorated Christmas tree in the middle of the Festival area, admiring its beauty.
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“They’ve been lighting this same tree every year at the start of the Festival for as long as I can remember,” I told Aizen in a soft voice, snowflakes beginning to fall all around us. “There’s something so special about it. Like every other giant lighted tree I’ve encountered in my life has paled in comparison to it, even though they were so much bigger and more elegant, with hundreds more lights and decorations on them.” I shook my head with a sigh. “But they were never this tree…”
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After a few seconds of silence, Aizen turned his gaze to me and simply said, “Some pieces of our hometown always stay with us. Reminding us of where we came from.”
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I turned my head to meet his gaze and we exchanged warm smiles before looking back up at the tree.
Lost in the nostalgia, I shifted the foot I was putting my body weight on and I don’t know how exactly it happened, but there must’ve been some hidden sheet of ice underneath the snow because I ended up slipping and falling, instinctively grabbing the first thing I could to help break my fall. Aizen.
“Hey! What the!?” he cried as I squealed, “Ahh!”
There was a loud crunching sound in the snow as our bodies hit the ground. “Ow,” the two of us groaned, me flat on my back and Aizen on his stomach.
“What was that all about?” he asked, lifting his head and spitting out some snow from his mouth.
“I dunno! I was falling so I had to grab something!”
“Couldn’t you have grabbed something else!?”
“No! You were the closest thing nearby,” I laughed, relieved to hear he was laughing too.
I closed my eyes for a moment, hoping I hadn’t almost broken a bone (again) and at that same time, Aizen propped himself up onto his elbow getting ready to stand up. But instead he hovered over me a bit. My heart skipped a beat when I opened my eyes and found him so close, his hair draping over his eyes as he gazed down upon me.
The look on his face. It was similar to some of the looks Kai had been giving me recently. I could feel my cheeks heating up. And the funny thing was…I didn’t feel at all disturbed by his closeness. It felt kinda...nice.
“This is the funnest time out I’ve had in a long time,” he deeply expressed to me. “Thanks for joining us.”
I smiled and nodded in a, “you’re welcome,” fashion.
His expression then softened. “I’m happy for my brother. He’s a really lucky guy…snagging a catch like you.”
Surprised to hear such words, I thought, Wow, is this actually Aizen talking? My heart skipped a beat.
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He slid forward a little more, to where I could feel his warm breath beating down upon my neck, still gazing deeply into my eyes. “Although right now,” he said barely above a whisper, “I’m kinda wishing…ever since that moment we first met…I hadn’t been so cautious about you. So…cold and so...closed off...”
My heart lurched while still holding his gaze, then it started pounding, forming perspiration on my brow. “What are you saying?” I asked him through a nervous breath.
Struggling to answer, he almost shook his head. But instead, he stroked my chin for a moment with his thumb, leaned in further and–
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“Are you guys kissing!?” Amaya cried out with a gaping smile.
Both of our heads swung in her direction.
“No,” Aizen simply answered.
“Nothing happened,” I replied like a bumbling idiot.
We immediately stumbled up onto our feet and dusted the snow off ourselves while saying,
“I slipped and…”
“She pulled me down…”
“And he was just making sure I was ok…”
“I wanted to make sure she was ok…”
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The smirk on Amaya’s face told me she wasn’t exactly buying our flubbed responses, but accepted them anyway.
“But yeah she’s fine,” Aizen concluded with, scratching at the back of his head, trying not to look at me too directly.
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“Yes, thank you Aizen,” I acknowledged, heaving a sigh, then turned to Amaya while resting my hands on my knees. “So hey sweetie, I actually have to go…” My heart was still pounding and my emotions were reeling. I had to get the heck out of this place.
The poor little girl’s face fell, and I didn’t see that Aizen’s had as well.
“Why?” she sadly asked.
I hated to tell a white lie but, “There’s something important that I forgot I needed to do…”
“Oh, like check on Uncle Kai?”
Why did that question have to hurt so much? “Yeah." I swallowed. "That too…” Tears began to weigh on my eyelids.
“Ok…,” she accepted somberly, lowering her head.
“I’m really sorry,” I consoled with a choke in my voice. My hands were shaking and this giant weight on my chest was making it hard to breathe. Even my vision was blurring. “I’ll - I’ll see you two later,” I said in departure, not even looking at Aizen, and sprinted for home; forgetting that he drove all three of us over there.
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What just happened? What is happening? This CAN’T be happening! I sobbed as I ran. The icy cold air freezing my escaped tears to my cheeks.
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No. NO! I cried as I thought about poor, sweet Kai. I shouldn’t be having these feelings…No…
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??? ;)
A/N: I wanted to end this chapter with a song. It's not exactly a Christmas song, but more a wintery one. And so beautiful and fitting to the last scene. <3 Listen and enjoy.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=91_WXo5KVWg
Also if you are unfamiliar with the Foo Fighters "Everlong" song, which I imagine most of you wouldn't be :p , here it is:
(If you're like me, you'll be singing along. :smirk: )
*I'm not exactly sure which day I'll be releasing the next chapter, either the 22nd or the 23rd, depending on how much I'm able to get done first for Christmas in real life. ? Thank you as always for your patience. <3
The next couple of days, Kai and I spent as much time as we could together. We did some shopping together, hit up the annual Winter Festival, played some video games - Mario Kart in particular - at his house, and went out to dinner both nights. Of course any chance we got to kiss in private, we did. My parents were so pleased with our relationship that they didn’t bother us at all which…kinda surprised me. My sister even called me to ask how things were going with my new “boyfriend,” since mom was clearly telling her ALL about it when I wasn’t around. Kai and I hadn’t officially announced ourselves as boyfriend and girlfriend yet, but it was sure heading in that direction. I wanted it to head in that direction. We did, however, live in two different cities, darn near 500 miles apart from each other so I wasn’t exactly looking forward to the conversation on how we were going to make that work, but I knew we would. Things were going really well between us.
Kai only had one emergency call interrupt our time together which wasn’t bad. It’s just something I was going to have to get used to if we decided to make a life together.
Also during that time, I spent some time with Amaya (which often included Aizen. Construction work was slow around the holidays.) We drew pictures together and I gave her some free graphic design tips. Mami then asked Amaya to help with some of the housecleaning - particularly pointing out her bedroom - so we decided to come up with a fun way to get it cleaned up. Any interactions I had with Aizen were generally pleasant, a very nice change from every moment I had with him before. If I didn’t know any better I would think he was feeling…happier. If I had any part to play in that, I was glad.
During the hour that Kai had to take the emergency call I previously mentioned, I emerged from the bathroom and into the kitchen to find Amaya begging her dad to do some video game karaoke with her. I hid a little behind the archway into the living room and listened.
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It was clearly obvious to me, by the look on Aizen’s face, that he really didn’t want to do it - or sing for that matter. But I was very proud of him for finally acceding to her begging.
As they looked through the song choices, most sounded completely foreign to Aizen, until he gasped at one of them and exclaimed, “Oh wow. They have the Foo Fighters music on here!?”
“Who’re they?” Amaya asked with a scrunched nose.
Aizen’s mouth flat-lined. “Amaya, you never cease to make me feel old…”
I chuckled.
“I don’t want to sing that one…,” Amaya groaned at her dad’s song choice.
“Amaya please,” Aizen asked, picking up the other microphone, “just allow me this.”
“Umm…ok,” the girl curiously consented and stepped back to watch.
Aizen positioned himself with the microphone, just before the music started to play.
“Everlong.” An iconic Foo Fighters song. I hadn’t heard it in years. Aizen had his eyes closed as he soaked in the familiar intro, gripping the microphone with both hands, just below his lips, like a professional singer.
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As soon as the beat picked up, he bobbed his head back and forth to it, eyes still closed and bangs flopping all around. I won’t lie…it was kinda hot. And when he started to sing, with a little huskiness in it, I might’ve rubbed at my collarbone a little bit. He was good! Fully immersing himself into the music, allowing it to take him back to the late 1990s and early 2000s. It was taking me back too.
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Just before the chorus, I motioned for Amaya to bring me the other microphone - while Aizen was distracted. Once the chorus came around, I ran into the room and started singing it right along with him. He turned in surprise at me, stopping his singing of course because his mouth had fallen, clearly impressed that I knew the song and pleasurably listened. I loved it. His jaw soon rose back up and his lips formed into a smile as he joined in the rest of the chorus with me.
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It was so much fun! I started dancing to the music and he danced a little too; both of us unable to stop grinning at each other the entire time. I could see Amaya’s bright expression from the corner of the room. The whole experience was truly…invigorating. A step back in time for sure.
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When the song ended, Amaya rapidly clapped and cheered as Aizen and I caught our breaths.
“Thank you,” he whispered to me.
"For what?" I asked him with a questionable look.
“...I needed that. More than I realized.”
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I smiled. “You’re welcome. That was really fun!”
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“You all having fun out here?” Kai asked, emerging from the den where he took the call. “It sounded great!”
I dunno why Aizen and I fumbled with the microphones in our hands when he walked in, like we got caught doing something bad.
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“I know that song…what is it again?” Kai asked.
“'Everlong,'” Aizen answered. “By the Foo Fighters.”
“Oh, right!” Then his brow furrowed in thought. “Wait, who are the Foo Fighters again?”
I answered before Aizen did. “Dave Grohl, the drummer from Nirvana, formed his own band…”
Aizen bounced his eyebrows at me, impressed again.
“That’s right, that’s right,” Kai exclaimed, kicking himself for not remembering, apparently. “Gosh I haven’t heard their music in forever. Excuse me for a sec, I need to get a drink.”
Upon Kai’s exit, Aizen leaned towards my ear and asked, “Guess you’re familiar with Nirvana too?”
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I had to play with him in my response. “Not really, they were a little before my time. Although…,” I leaned in slightly towards his ear as well, “...your singing back there sure looked and smelled a lot like teen spirit to me…,” I ended with a smirk, throwing up a hand gesture and spinning on my heel to join Kai in the kitchen.
I didn’t catch Aizen’s reaction to that, but I imagine it was one that involved his hands on his hips, head shaking, and giving off another impressed smile. Hee hee!
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Thank you big brother for your impressive collection of music that I always had the pleasure of listening to growing up.
The next morning, Kai called to inform me that he had to attend an all day work related Zoom conference, much to his chagrin. It was so sweet how bad he felt about not being able to see me until evening. I assured him that it was fine, even though I was equally disappointed. Our time together during this Christmas break was running out.
“I’m sure my parents and I can find something to do to pass the time,” I told him with a smile.
“You’re so great,” he said in return. It made my heart swell and my cheeks blush. “Have fun with them, and I’ll call you as soon as the conference is done.”
“Thanks. And you have fun too.”
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“Always,” he said with a hint of sarcasm.
It made me chuckle.
After the call my parents practically ambushed me in the hallway asking all these questions about my relationship with Kai and where it was going and what our plans were for after the break. (Talk about the third degree!) I guess they couldn’t contain themselves any longer.
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It was all a bit…overwhelming to say the least. Especially since Kai and I hadn’t really talked about it yet.
In the middle of my stumbling replies the doorbell rang and my immediate thought was, Oh thank GOSH!
“I’ll get it!” I very happily offered and raced on over to the door. I had to catch my breath for a second before opening it.
“Oh. Hey Amaya,” I greeted. Aizen stood off to the side behind her, flashing me a smile.
“Hey Malai!” The girl bounced. “Are you busy today?”
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Uhh… I shot a glance at my parents and they just shrugged. “Not really. What’s up?”
“Daddy and I are gonna go to the Winter Festival since it’s going away soon and…I was wondering if you wanted to come too?”
Aizen and I met eyes again. “Sorry about this,” he apologized for them both. “I told her not to bother you because you’d already gone with Kai, but…she was insistent.”
I grinned, understanding fully. That’s Amaya. I looked back down at her with my hands on my knees and asked, “Well did you ask your daddy’s permission first because I wouldn’t want to get in the way of your daddy-daughter date.”
Aizen smiled.
“We went earlier together, before Christmas, and now I wanna go again,” she paused, while taking my hand, “with you.” Her eyes sparkled.
Aww! My heart melted. I couldn’t help holding my hand to it. Aizen’s smile at me was even brighter than before. It seemed he was ok with me tagging along. I clasped my other hand over Amaya’s and said, “Well in that case, I’d love to go with you.”
“Yay!”
“I just gotta get bundled up first.”
"Ok!"
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It was a little warmer outside on this day, 21 degrees (F). I know a lot of you wouldn’t consider that warm, but here in Maine when you’re usually getting single digits or below zero temps in the winter, 21 is warm.
I always loved the annual Winter Festival in Maplewood Falls. It didn’t have all the activities you would expect from a big city Festival, but it had the best ones, with that special added touch of small town hospitality. It’s a tradition to go every winter in our family, even though I’d skipped out on going the past few Christmases. I just wasn’t feeling it and wanted to get back to New York. But this year, as I said before, was different. Magical. Lovely.
I could certainly say the same about our time at the Festival, the moment the three of us stepped foot on the grounds. Amaya held my hand tightly and kept pulling me every which way towards each activity with glee. (It’s like she’d forgotten all about her dad.) Oh how sometimes I wish I could be as happy and carefree as a child again.
The first thing she wanted to do was face painting - well, after we made some epic snow angels on the most perfect spot of untouched snow.
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Face painting was always the first thing I wanted to do as a child at the festival too. Aizen kindly declined. That didn’t surprise me. Most guys don’t care to get their face painted.
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Amaya got some stars painted on her face...
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...while I went with a snowflake design.
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After that the three of us went ice skating.
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Amaya was a little pro at it! She showed off a few spins for me and while they were a little rough, she still had the makings of a professional ice skater within her and looked adorable doing it.
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Aizen kept whipping past me as we skated around and around the rink, like it was a race or something, giving off this smug grin every single time. If it had been possible to form a snowball on the rink I would’ve done so promptly so I could nail him in the face to smack off that smug grin the next time he passed me! I chuckled at the thought.
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At one point, we both held Amaya’s hands and swung her forwards and backwards in between us, giggles of pure joy coming out of her through puffs of visible breath. It took some serious skill to not slip and fall while doing that, for if one of us did, the other two would come crashing down as well.
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After that we got some hot cocoa from the concession stand to warm up and sipped on it as we watched a few folks do some snowboarding. I remember watching the townsfolk build that giant half pipe. I was younger than Amaya at the time. Snowboarding seems like such a thing of the past now, but I love that they’ve kept it as a traditional Winter Festival activity in Maplewood Falls.
“Daddy are you gonna snowboard again?” Amaya asked. “You gotta show Malai!”
“Of course,” he replied, meeting my gaze with that smug grin of his again. I’m not sure why he kept doing that. Was he trying to impress me or something or was he...flirting with me?
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“Wait til you see him, Malai. He’s awesome!”
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“Oh I’m looking forward to it,” I said through a smirky grin at Aizen. If he happened to biff it out there, I was going to laugh so hard, but of course I wouldn’t if he broke a bone or anything. Heaven forbid.
Aizen was amazing at snowboarding. Better than Landon actually, who was one of the town pros, but I could never tell Landon that.
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I couldn’t take my eyes off him...and the fluid way he performed every move...
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Mainly because I wanted to be at the ready in case he made a nasty crash landing, okay. The last thing I’d ever want is for something bad to happen to Amaya’s daddy. She needs her daddy. Every girl does. Especially when their mommy is gone…
Of course Aizen walked off the half pipe unscathed, reigning supreme. He held out the board to me and breathlessly said, “Alright. Your turn.”
“No thank you,” I politely declined with a raised palm. “One crash landing that almost broke my ankle has kept me away from snowboarding for life.”
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“Oh,” he said with a grimace.
“Yeah…but I do enjoy watching others do it. You were pretty good out there, I must admit." I smirked. "I’m glad I didn’t have to call an ambulance on you…”
Was he blushing? Nah, I think his cheeks were just rosy from the cold and exertion.
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“Let’s have a snowball fight!” Amaya suggested. They had an area made up specifically for it, with painted concrete half walls to hide behind and everything.
“I dunno sweetie, the teams would be uneven,” I said to her, kinda hoping that it would get her to reconsider. I was cold.
“That’s ok! It will be us girls against daddy!” She grinned.
I looked back at Aizen and he shrugged. “I’m game.”
I just shook my head and sighed. “Alright. I guess we can ‘fight’ for a little bit.”
“Yay!” Amaya squealed, running over to the area.
Before joining her, Aizen stepped right up to my face, standing tall, and declared with confidence, “I’m gonna take you two down.”
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My mouth opened into a playful grin. “Careful, that other person is your daughter…”
“She’s used to it.”
I held back a chuckle, holding my game face. “Well how do you know I’m not the best snowballer in New York City?”
“You’re not.”
“Oh!” I huffed, still smiling. “Well I’ll show you, Mr. Know-it-all.”
“No you won’t,” he threw back with a smirk and went over to join Amaya.
I just shook my head as he did so thinking, Stinker!
Gosh he was being so playful today. A complete 180 from the gruff and grumpy guy I met on Christmas Eve. But I sure as heck wasn’t complaining. Not at all. I was rather liking it. I knew a better person resided within him somewhere and it was back. I hoped it was here to stay. I expressed a happy and relieved breath as I ran over to join him and Amaya.
Aizen’s snowballs sure packed a punch. He was much gentler in his tosses at Amaya, which was good. Although Amaya was going to town on him with her little snowballs. In fact, we both were!
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I think he was taken off guard by how well we were pummeling him...
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...because after a while he cried out, “Alright that’s it!” He stepped right over to me, swooped me up like I weighed nothing - I squealed in surprise when he did - and carried me over his shoulders. “I’m taking you out!”
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“Amaya! Save me!” I playfully cried.
“You let her go daddy!” Amaya demanded, throwing even more snowballs at him with her motor-arm.
“Never!” he played back, rushing me back over to his attack area. “She’s mine now.”
“No fair! I can’t beat both of you!”
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“Exactly!” He grinned, still carrying me, and swinging me around like his grand prize. (I had become a little dumbfounded by that point to say the least.)
It made Amaya all the more irritated.
Eventually, Aizen put me down. I think my kicking around so much, along with trying to dodge Amaya’s snowballs while carrying me, got to be too hard on him. I felt out of breath myself, mostly from laughing so hard.
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I still couldn’t believe he picked me up like that…
Soon Amaya tackled her dad to the snowy ground and started shoveling snow onto his face. I loved all the happy and playful noises I heard coming out of them both. Like they were having the time of their life. It’d probably been a while since they both felt this happy.
The three of us decided it was time to grab a bite to eat so back to the concession area we went. Along the way, Amaya informed us that she needed to use the bathroom. So while we waited for her, Aizen and I looked up at the giant decorated Christmas tree in the middle of the Festival area, admiring its beauty.
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“They’ve been lighting this same tree every year at the start of the Festival for as long as I can remember,” I told Aizen in a soft voice, snowflakes beginning to fall all around us. “There’s something so special about it. Like every other giant lighted tree I’ve encountered in my life has paled in comparison to it, even though they were so much bigger and more elegant, with hundreds more lights and decorations on them.” I shook my head with a sigh. “But they were never this tree…”
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After a few seconds of silence, Aizen turned his gaze to me and simply said, “Some pieces of our hometown always stay with us. Reminding us of where we came from.”
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I turned my head to meet his gaze and we exchanged warm smiles before looking back up at the tree.
Lost in the nostalgia, I shifted the foot I was putting my body weight on and I don’t know how exactly it happened, but there must’ve been some hidden sheet of ice underneath the snow because I ended up slipping and falling, instinctively grabbing the first thing I could to help break my fall. Aizen.
“Hey! What the!?” he cried as I squealed, “Ahh!”
There was a loud crunching sound in the snow as our bodies hit the ground. “Ow,” the two of us groaned, me flat on my back and Aizen on his stomach.
“What was that all about?” he asked, lifting his head and spitting out some snow from his mouth.
“I dunno! I was falling so I had to grab something!”
“Couldn’t you have grabbed something else!?”
“No! You were the closest thing nearby,” I laughed, relieved to hear he was laughing too.
I closed my eyes for a moment, hoping I hadn’t almost broken a bone (again) and at that same time, Aizen propped himself up onto his elbow getting ready to stand up. But instead he hovered over me a bit. My heart skipped a beat when I opened my eyes and found him so close, his hair draping over his eyes as he gazed down upon me.
The look on his face. It was similar to some of the looks Kai had been giving me recently. I could feel my cheeks heating up. And the funny thing was…I didn’t feel at all disturbed by his closeness. It felt kinda...nice.
“This is the funnest time out I’ve had in a long time,” he deeply expressed to me. “Thanks for joining us.”
I smiled and nodded in a, “you’re welcome,” fashion.
His expression then softened. “I’m happy for my brother. He’s a really lucky guy…snagging a catch like you.”
Surprised to hear such words, I thought, Wow, is this actually Aizen talking? My heart skipped a beat.
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He slid forward a little more, to where I could feel his warm breath beating down upon my neck, still gazing deeply into my eyes. “Although right now,” he said barely above a whisper, “I’m kinda wishing…ever since that moment we first met…I hadn’t been so cautious about you. So…cold and so...closed off...”
My heart lurched while still holding his gaze, then it started pounding, forming perspiration on my brow. “What are you saying?” I asked him through a nervous breath.
Struggling to answer, he almost shook his head. But instead, he stroked my chin for a moment with his thumb, leaned in further and–
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“Are you guys kissing!?” Amaya cried out with a gaping smile.
Both of our heads swung in her direction.
“No,” Aizen simply answered.
“Nothing happened,” I replied like a bumbling idiot.
We immediately stumbled up onto our feet and dusted the snow off ourselves while saying,
“I slipped and…”
“She pulled me down…”
“And he was just making sure I was ok…”
“I wanted to make sure she was ok…”
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The smirk on Amaya’s face told me she wasn’t exactly buying our flubbed responses, but accepted them anyway.
“But yeah she’s fine,” Aizen concluded with, scratching at the back of his head, trying not to look at me too directly.
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“Yes, thank you Aizen,” I acknowledged, heaving a sigh, then turned to Amaya while resting my hands on my knees. “So hey sweetie, I actually have to go…” My heart was still pounding and my emotions were reeling. I had to get the heck out of this place.
The poor little girl’s face fell, and I didn’t see that Aizen’s had as well.
“Why?” she sadly asked.
I hated to tell a white lie but, “There’s something important that I forgot I needed to do…”
“Oh, like check on Uncle Kai?”
Why did that question have to hurt so much? “Yeah." I swallowed. "That too…” Tears began to weigh on my eyelids.
“Ok…,” she accepted somberly, lowering her head.
“I’m really sorry,” I consoled with a choke in my voice. My hands were shaking and this giant weight on my chest was making it hard to breathe. Even my vision was blurring. “I’ll - I’ll see you two later,” I said in departure, not even looking at Aizen, and sprinted for home; forgetting that he drove all three of us over there.
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What just happened? What is happening? This CAN’T be happening! I sobbed as I ran. The icy cold air freezing my escaped tears to my cheeks.
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No. NO! I cried as I thought about poor, sweet Kai. I shouldn’t be having these feelings…No…
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??? ;)
A/N: I wanted to end this chapter with a song. It's not exactly a Christmas song, but more a wintery one. And so beautiful and fitting to the last scene. <3 Listen and enjoy.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=91_WXo5KVWg
Also if you are unfamiliar with the Foo Fighters "Everlong" song, which I imagine most of you wouldn't be :p , here it is:
(If you're like me, you'll be singing along. :smirk: )
Spoiler
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-1itAgQs-KA
*I'm not exactly sure which day I'll be releasing the next chapter, either the 22nd or the 23rd, depending on how much I'm able to get done first for Christmas in real life. ? Thank you as always for your patience. <3
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