Thomas Homestead 3 - Christmas Eve

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Kaela McIlvoy

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Kaela had laid down to go to sleep, but sleep never came. She rolled over in the bed and looked over at Morgan. It seemed she was asleep, which was good for Kaela. She quietly slipped out of the bed, grabbing a book from the floor and tip-toeing out of the room.

After creeping as quietly as she could down the hallway and the steps Kaela walked over to the couch and sat down, crossing her legs to sit Indian-style. With a sigh she cracked open her book to where her bookmark was, staring blankly at the page.

She tried to read, but her mind was too full. Staying with Kale had been so wonderful. His family was really nice, for the most part. And Kale liked her! He actually liked her and she liked him and she was so happy to be with him. But being here was also taking a tax on Kaela that she had not expected. Seeing Kale’s ma reminded Kaela of her own ma, who she would never see again. This was her first Christmas without her ma, and Kaela had abandoned her da and brother because she was tired of dealing with her ma’s death. Kale’s family had welcomed her, but she felt as though she didn’t really deserve it.

Kaela had not yet really grieved the loss of her ma. They had never been close, and losing her had made Kaela feel mostly guilt for not having spent more time with her when she had it.

Kaela blinked in surprised as she looked down at the book to see splotches on the open page. She was crying, and hadnt even noticed it. Now she could feel the tears trickling silently down her cheeks. Sniffling, Kaela closed the book and set it on the couch beside her, wrapping her arms around herself and just allowing herself to cry.

A sudden noise behind Kaela made her jump and she turned around to see what had made it. Her glistening eyes were wide with fear, not really wanting anyone to see her crying.
 
Kale had always been a light sleeper, the slightest sound or movement in the other room could easily wake him. Kale had woken by a sound at the end of the hallway creaking down the stairs, he figured that it was Mindy wanting to get a peek at her Christmas presents. He quietly slipped out of bed, not wanting to wake Lee or Roger, who knew what that could lead to? Kale scrounged around for a shirt and put it on quickly.

Slowly he creeped down the stairs, wanting to catch Mindy in action and scare her. But to his surprise there was someone other than Mindy sitting on the sofa, their back facing him. It was Kaela, he could tell by her height that it wasn't Morgan and definitely not Mindy. And she was crying?

Kale's heart sank, he slowly aproached Kaela not wanting to startle her or embarass her for catching her crying. He stood behind the sofa as she turned around to face him, his eyes were soft and he bit his lip. Kale was never really good with confronting people when they cried, he didn't really ever know what to do, "Kaela?" he said softly, "Are you okay?" Kale managed to say, trying not to be too loud.
 
Kaela frowned and looked away from Kale, ashamed of herself. She was sure he would change his opinion of her now that he saw her sitting in his living room crying on Christmas Eve. "I'm okay," she said softly, sniffling and wiping the tears away with her sleeve.
 
"No, Kaela you're not okay." Kale said as he walked around the sofa and took a seat next to her, "You're crying, what's wrong?" he asked her with a concerned look, hoping deep down inside that it wasn't anything that he had done.
 
Kaela looked up at Kale as he sat next to her, her eyes filling with tears once more. "I just...I feel so guilty. My first Christmas without my ma and I left my da and Finn alone with each other. My poor da is probably losing his mind. I mean, I know I would just be miserable there, watching him mope, but I still feel like I should be there. I don't know."

She bit her lip, trying to fight the tears but they streamed down her cheeks anyway. "I'm sorry," she whispered, knowing Kale must hate having to deal with her being all emotional and such.
 
Kale frowned, he didn't like to see her like this. "Ohh, Kaela..." he sighed and scooted closer to Kaela to hold her in a tight hug, "You shouldn't feel guilty. It's not your fault that you went away. All three of you are going through a tough time...the first couple of mothes are the toughest.." Kale said softly. As tears streamed down her face he bit the inside of his cheek, he was completely clueless on how to comfort her. Kale brushed his hand against her cheek to wipe off her tears, even though they kept on going.
 
Kaela wrapped her arms around Kale and hugged him back, grateful for his hugs. He had always said in his letters that he would hug her when he saw her, and she had imagined just how good it would feel, but that did not compare at all to the real thing. She sniffled and looked up at Kale, trying to stop her tears for him.

"Being here has been both amazing and kind of...bittersweet. Seeing you ma and how great she is reminds me so much of my ma, and that I'll never see her again. She'll never cook breakfast for me again. I'll never bake Christmas sweets with her again. She's gone. It hasn't really hit before, but she's really gone. I'll never see her again."

Despite her best efforts the tears began to fall down Kaela's cheeks again and she laid her head on Kale's shoulder, very grateful for his presence there.
 
Kale kept Kaela in his arms, not knowing really what else to do. He didn't want to accidentally make things worse by saying something stupid like he did a lot of the time when someone was having a hard time. Kale listened as Kaela told him about her Ma, it made him feel really bad. Yeah, he didn't have a Da, but luckily that happened when he was a little younger. If he would have lost his Ma at this age he would be a blubbering idiot.

Kale sighed and stared at Kaela, he had to think before he spoke so he was silent for a minute or two before speaking up. "I know that this is really un-original thing to say, but your Ma is in a better place, she's not sick or suffering." he told her, "Your Ma loved you a lot. Would she want to see you like this now?" Kale asked, his voice still low. He continued to mop up her tears by brushing them off of her cheeks as they streamed down, "It's good to let it out.." he said brushing the falling pieces of hair out of her face and looking into her eyes.
 
Kaela hugged Kale tight, the feeling of his arms around her very comforting. She listened to his words and looked up at him, smiling weakly. "I guess she wouldn't want me to be sad on Christmas Eve. And especially in front of you. I can't believe you'll never get to meet her. She would have really liked you I think." The tears were beginning to dry now and Kale brushed some of her hair from her face she realized her hair was down, and probably not very attractive. Kaela bit her lower lip and looked up at Kale, wondering what he was thinking about.
 
"From everything that you say about her I can only assume that she was a great person and an awesome Ma." Kale told Kaela, hugging her tightly and releasing her. He was just relieved that she seemed to feel better, at least she had stopped crying, he wasn't sure how much more of that he could take before he would have to leave. Kale tried to be as comforting as possible in situations as sensitive as these, he really did try. Kale grabbed a hold of Kaela's hand and held in it his, he played with her fingers while he spoke, "I wish you could have met my Da, he was great too." he said trying his best to force a smile.
 
Kaela's smile strengthened slightly and she looked up at Kale. She giggled softly when he started playing with her fingers. "Oh yeah?" she asked in response to his comment about his da. "What was he like?" She hoped this would not be too sensitive a subject for Kale, but she was very curious.
 
Kale kissed Kaela on the forehead softly when she giggled. When she had asked about his da he bit lip and had to think about him for a second, a mental image of his father popped into his memory, "Honestly, I really don't remember him as much as I used to. I was 9 when he passed away, I vagueley remember him always working." he said quietly, feeling comfortable enough to talk about this stuff with Kaela. He was happy to have her around. "I just remember him being really silly, everyone fought to sit next to him at the dinner table every night and wanted to be in his prescence, period." Kale shook his head and let a small laugh escape him. He looked at Kaela, "Did your ma work a lot?" he inquired, hoping that it wasn't too soon to ask about her.
 
Kaela blushed slightly when Kaela kissed her forehead. She listened intently to his explanation of his da, unable to imagine what it must have been like for him to have lost him. Kaela knew she would not be able to handle losing her da, especially now.

"No, my ma was a primary school teacher. She was home a lot of the time when I was, and all summer. To be honest I got kind of sick of her always being around. She always wanted to do stuff with me, and it got on my nerves." Kaela frowned at the memory and looked down. She couldn't believe she had been so dumb to take her ma for granted.
 
Kale nodded at Kaela, recalling that she had told him about being a teacher in the past, "That's just how life seems to work unfortunately.." he told Kaela with a sigh, adjusting her fingers to be intertwined with his. Kale continued, We just don't seem to appreciate what we have when we have it.." he yawned widely, it was true that was what everyone did. It was just a part of being human. Kale watched as Kaela's head went down, "It's okay though Kaela...it's not your fault. That was completely out of your control." he told her softly, still trying not to wake the others upstairs.
 
Kaela smiled when Kale intertwined their fingers, giving his hand a gentle squeeze. She looked up at him. "Thank you, Kale, for being here for me. I don't know what I would have done without you, what I would do without you now. You always know how to make me feel better." She leaned up and gave him a soft kiss on the lips, closing her eyes as she did so.
 
Kale kissed Kaela back eagerly, he cupped her face and lingered close afterward. He thought about what his ma would do if she caught them on the couch, he had to grin to hold back a laugh of the idea. "You're welcome Kaela. That's what I'm here for." he told her, his tone sincere. "I really care about you and don't ever want to see you upset." Kale smiled at Kaela and squeezed her hand that was laced with his.
 
Kaela loved the feeling of Kale's hand on her face when they kissed. She smiled brightly up at him as they released from the kiss, blinking her eyes open. "I really care about you too Kale. I'm so glad I have you." She squeezed his hand back and gave a quiet giggle.
 
Kale smiled at Kaela when they parted from the kiss, he just couldn't get enough of her. He yawned again, still feeling sleepy from being up so late. Or was it early? It didn't matter anymore. Kale rested his head on Kaela's even though she was much shorter than he was, which made him look a bit awkward on the sofa. "Are you excited to be returning to school?" he asked her softly, the answer was already obvious but he wanted to move on from the sensitve subjects.
 
Kaela perked up at Kale's question. "Most definitely. It's going to be weird, being a year behind, but that means I'll have classes with you. I can help you with your homework and make sure you don't fail. Hey, how did you do in your classes last term?"
 
"I think it'll be cool having you in classes now. Maybe not as cool for you as it is for me because you're with younger people now, but it'll definitely be a change.." Kale smiled, he wondered how she felt about being a grade behind her friends when she was returning. He placed his arm around her shoulders and stretched his long legs out on the coffee table in front of him comfortably, letting yet another yawn loose. When she asked about his grades he held his breath and bit his lip, "Well, I did better than I expected...even though I got a T in Transfiguration because I never went, same with History of Magic." he said, remembering what she had said in one of her letters about not confessing bad grades to a Ravenclaw. "I'm hoping that Professor London will allow me to make up Transfiguration next semester though, I was going to ask her about it when we returned." Kale trailed off, hoping that she wouldn't think he was a complete idiot because he had his head in the clouds all semester. "What class are you looking forward to the most?" he inquired, "It's been a long time!" Kale laughed quietly, unsure of what she would say.
 
Kaela's mouth dropped open when Kale said he got Ts in two of his classes. "Kale!" she exclaimed quietly. "That's not good! I think Professor London might let you retake it though. The Ravenclaw schedule got changed and I have to go take private lessons from her. I'm sure she wouldn't mind you retaking it with me.

"I think the class I'm most looking forward to is Transfigurations actually. The only classes I'm taking are Transifgurations, Herbology, and Astronomy."
 
Kale blinked slowly and shook his head, "I know, I knoooow!" he replied quietly while rolling his eyes. "That would be really helpful, I'll ask her." Kale smiled, he started to play with her fingers again. It was something he didn't realize he was actually doing it. "Oh, that means we'll have Herbology together. I actually really like that class, Professor Rambolt has always been my favorite Professor." he said looking at her hands and bringing himself to look back up to her face. Kale heard an unidenifiable thump from upstairs and he looked at Kaela, "I think we should probably head back to bed." he said, afraid that they were going to wake someone up from their talking, even though they were being quiet.
 
Kaela smiled as Kale began playing with her fingers again, liking the feeling. "Yeah, Professor Rambolt is pretty cool." Kaela yawned and was glad when Kale had suggested going back to bed. "Bed sounds good. I think I might actually be able to sleep now. Thanks again." She gave Kale another tight hug before standing from the couch, making sure to pick up her book from the floor.
 
Kale nodded at Kaela, happy that she agreed with the idea. He felt like his eyes weren't going to stay open any longer. "Do you think you'll be okay?" he asked Kaela with a weak smile, gesturing for her to lead the way up the stairs where he would follow behind her.
 
Kaela smiled gently. "Yeah, I'll be fine, thanks to you." She got up on her tippy toes and gave him a soft kiss before turning and walking slowly and quietly up the stairs.
 
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