I don’t even know what time it is, but it’s still dark outside.
Dad said I could have my phone back this morning. He even gave it to me for a couple of hours last night so I could check my messages, but I’ve never been allowed to sleep with it in my room, so I can’t even check what time it is.
“Shh,” Olly reminds me just before we creep out the door with Portia behind us. She’s holding Harley’s hand, who looks like a little zombie with her messed-up hair and half-open eyes.
I snicker and get pulled along by my brother.
We creep downstairs, and I spot the time on the microwave when we walk past the kitchen.
It’s 5:45 in the morning. Seriously?
Ugh!
“Oh, wow!” Olly exclaims way too loudly, then slaps a hand over his mouth while Portia jumps beside him, opening her mouth as if cheering but not letting any noise comes out.
The tree looks amazing. The fairy lights wrapped around it must have been twinkling throughout the night, and presents are exploding from under the tree.
Portia and Olly break into a happy dance as Harley flops against my leg.
I pick her up and walk to the couch, nestling her onto my lap, where she drifts back off to sleep against my shoulder.
Lucky duck.
I rest my cheek on the top of her head, and my eyes are just fluttering closed again when Seb jumps down the stairs with a loud crash and runs into the living room.
“Presents! Christmas!” he yells, and we all shush him.
“Don’t wake the parents,” Portia warns him.
“Why not?” He scratches the top of his scarecrow hair. “The sooner they’re up, the sooner we can get on with it.”
I snort and shake my head. “Or the sooner they tell us off for being up too early and send us back to bed.”
“Oh.” Seb bites his lips together and bobs his head, but the hyperactive kid can’t stay still for long and is soon pretending to be a ninja with Olly while Portia inspects the gifts.
“How do you spell Sebastian?” Portia asks.
“S-E-B,” he whisper-yells before jumping off the couch and trying to land like Spider-Man with one arm up and one leg stretched out.
“I found your present,” Portia tells him excitedly.
“Let me see!” Running over, he looks about ready to careen into the tree.
“Slow down,” I bite out. “And don’t touch any of those presents. You guys know the rules.”
They both kind of whine at me, but I stand my ground and then have to repeat myself another fifty million times as all of the other kids arrive in the living room. Ugh. The joys of being the oldest.
Thankfully, Dom helps me out when he gets down and even posts himself as a bodyguard next to the tree so Kendall and Seb keep their sticky little fingers away.
Olly makes a daring attempt and gets tickle-tortured by his older brothers until he starts yelling, “I’m gonna pee!”
They jump away from him, because it’s been known to happen. The kid laughs so hard sometimes he wets his pants.Jeez. I really hope he grows out of that one fast. It’s so embarrassing.
“Well, who needs an alarm clock when children exist?” Dad walks into the room, looking like he could use another couple of hours.
“I’ve been trying to keep them quiet,” I tell him when he walks toward me.
“You did good.” Leaning down, he kisses the top of my head, then hands me my phone.
