Alone at Christmas

24th December 2021

"Wake up Chloe, It is time to open your presents," the voice of her father echoed through her mind as her eyes flickered open with a smile on her face.

That smile was gone at the sight of the empty beds beside her. When the reality that she wasn't in her bedroom sunken in, her eyes filled with tears instead.

"This is for your good Chloe, staying with your friends will help you," her Maternal Aunt Laura told her when she was shipped off to the boarding school.

"Sorry Chloe, Your uncle's mother is sick, and we are celebrating Christmas with her and can't take you with us. " her Paternal Aunt Sara told her three days ago when she canceled her plans to pick her up for the holidays.

 Chloe didn't resent her remaining family for leaving her alone during the holidays. She understood their reasons. No one could want a sulking teen to ruin their Christmas.

But she can't help remembering the difference between her last year's Christmas. Waking up to open her presents was just the start of the day, and when she accidentally dropped one of her father's presents and it turned out to be meant for her mother. Chloe expected her father to be upset with her. Instead, he only claimed the gift was turned into art because of her and let her keep the broken tree ornament as a souvenir.

More than those gifts, it was the moments she spent with her parents that she misses the most today. Cooking with her dad early morning so mom could catch a break was a Christmas tradition that always ends up with them having less than ideal breakfast. But it gave her more time to see the side of her goofy dad than the serious lawyer.

All the memories she shared with her parents made it impossible to think of a Christmas without them. Chloe would give just about anything to have her parents back with her. One drunk driver was all it took to cost Chloe her family.

It has been six months since that day when she woke up to the world without her parents, six months to grieve and mourn their loss.

The pain didn't lessen with time but intensified each passing day. Every happy memory of her life had her parents, and at times it feels like she can never be happy again without them.

Christmas used to be her favorite time of the year. Now she felt like a Grinch instead as she sulked her way onto the breakfast room in the school.

*********************

Tiana liked waking up early it was the key to her effectiveness. She liked having a schedule, liked planning everything because she never wanted to be caught unaware again.

When she was ten years old, her parents got divorced. Her life as she knew was lost to her from that day. She was thrown from the place of a treasured child to a burden for her parents, The constant battle between them on who gets to care for her resulted in her being shipped off to this Boarding school. So they can forget her existence and move on.

Tiana was familiar with every corner of this school, first as a student and now as the warden. She liked her job and the school at times felt like her home because she didn't live anywhere else this long.

When she found the little craft room occupied by a student, she paused to check upon the occupant.

As she drew closer to the girl to enquire if there was any problem because it looked like she was crying, she recognized the student as Chloe Walker.

Tiana tends to keep track of the children under her care. So she was aware of Chloe Walker's loss. Tiana's first Christmas after her parent's separation was one of the hardest times in her life.

 Tiana's parents no longer wanted her, but Chloe's parents were lost to her. Tiana was aware of that, yet she felt a connection to the 13-year-old sitting alone.

"What are you making?" Tiana asked Chloe when she saw her working on something.

"Nothing, trying to fix this broken tree ornament. But I can't do it. It is too broken, " Chloe answered back, and it was only then Tiana saw the ornament in her hands.

Tiana loved crafts and liked fixing things up, so she offered her help. While it was true, the simple two turtle dove ornament was irreparable. Tiana managed to salvage the Ornament with one of the turtle doves that was intact.

"But this dove is all alone now," Chloe spoke up and burst into tears. Tiana knew it was more about Chloe than the ornament. But at times like this, there were no words that could help.

"I am sorry Chloe, I knew this would be hard on you, but it will get better with time. " Tiana answered back as she walked away. She felt a tinge of guilt for the lie she told the little girl because 24 years later, Tiana still didn't feel better.

*********************

Peter knew it was too late on the night to visit. But he feared that his courage might fail him if he postponed knocking on the door till tomorrow.

Isaac, the security guard opened the door and informed him that the school was closed for the holidays. It took Peter about 30 minutes to convince Isaac to let him inside.

 Isaac guided him to a big room filled with all kinds of Christmas decorations. As if it was a magical kingdom instead of the visiting room. He barely heard Isaac asking him to wait there, and he would fetch his sister for him.

His sister is technically his half-sister. Peter wasn't sure about his welcome as he would be practically a stranger considering he never met her in person.

When his mother had an affair with their father that resulted in him, his sister lost her parents to divorce.

It had been the reason Peter never approached her before because he didn't know if she blamed him. His mother would blame him because his birth didn't change her lover's heart to marry her, and she was saddled with raising him.

His father only cared enough to provide basic child support because of the court orders and had no interest in his existence. The only time Peter dared to approach him was enough to know his father blamed him as well for his marriage falling apart.

Growing up Peter always felt unwanted by his parents. When he lost his mother two months ago, something in him snapped for attention or love. Especially during Christmas, and so here he was waiting for someone related to him and in a way hoping for a miracle of some sort that she wouldn't hate him too.

Peter felt nervous, and the grandly decorated room made everything more intense. He never got to celebrate Christmas as a kid, never had the chance to have a Christmas tree at home, never got gifts from Santa. So it was confusing to him that he felt like he was missing out on Christmas this year when he never actually celebrated it.

Maybe it had been his grief that made this Christmas difficult. He still held the small gift he brought his sister. For a moment, he considered leaving the gift under the tree and walking away. It was addressed to his sister, and he knew she would find it.

As he approached the tree to do so, he found out that he wasn't alone. A girl was hanging something on the tree and was finding it harder to reach the taller branches, and he approached her with an intent to help. But she screamed at the sight of him.

******************

Tiana had been surprised to hear she had a visitor. Some young man was all she got from Isaac. She wanted to see the visitor soon, but she felt like he would need some refreshments first after traveling in the gruesome weather.

With a plate of cookies and a pot of hot chocolate, Tiana made her way to the visiting room just in time to see Chloe scream.

It took Tiana a minute to gauge what exactly happened as Chloe tearfully admitted to sneaking out of her bed to hang the Christmas ornament on the tree.

While Tiana liked her rules and knew that it didn't allow students to decorate the tree, she understood Chloe's pain too. And if letting her do this helped her with the grief, she wouldn't stand in the way.

As the stranger who hadn't talked with her yet helped Chloe hang the ornament. Tiana poured both of them a cup of hot chocolate and waited till Chloe drank hers and left before asking the question she wanted to ask the stranger who looked familiar for some reason.

"Do I Know you ?" Tiana asked the stranger and was shocked to learn who he was when he answered.

All her life Tiana felt alone. The sudden arrival of a brother threw her out of the loop for a moment.

Sensing her silence as rejection Peter got up to leave, and it was only then she had been able to find the words that he needed to hear to make him stay.

"Don't go, Peter, Give me a moment to grasp that I have a brother who came to visit me. Just know this is quite a happy surprise," Tiana spoke up, and it made him stay for two more hours and leave with a promise to return tomorrow to Celebrate Christmas with her.

******************

25th December 2021

"Wake up Chloe. It is time to open your presents," the voice of her father echoed through her mind as her eyes flickered open yet again, but this time she knew it was just a dream.

Last night she braved into the visiting room to hang the ornament. She was glad that even when caught. She was allowed to let the ornament remain.

After breakfast, she went to the visiting room, because she wanted to see the ornament in daylight.

The visiting room was occupied. Chloe hesitated a moment, until she got the glimpse of one of the guests, and then she was running inside as fast as she could and straight into the arms of her Uncle Luke.

"Ah, Poppet. Happy Christmas, sorry we arrived a bit late to pick you up. Our car broke down on the way, and we had to stay the night till it got fixed. " her uncle spoke up, leaving her confused but also happy to see them.

" I thought no one was coming," Chloe spoke up as she tried hard not to cry at the realization that her family hadn't meant to leave her alone after all.

" Is that what you thought?. When Aunt Sara couldn't come to get you, we all talked and decided that you would spend Christmas with us instead. I thought our aunt would have told you, and she must have thought we did. " her Cousin Mark spoke up next making Chloe's heart fill with warmth and love for her family who traveled on Christmas for her.

It was way past daytime when Chloe reached her uncle's home, but her entire family had waited for her. Only then did they open up their gifts together. Chloe might need a new suitcase to carry all her gifts back to school after the holidays because she had one from every one of her family.

But more than those gifts, it was the reminder that she wasn't all alone in the world that made Chloe happier that day. Her parents might not have been with her in person that day, but the family they left behind stood by her to make her realize she wasn't alone.

P.S: " Happy New Year everyone. Hit the votes if you liked it and let me know your thoughts and feedback." 

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