The Tori Trilogy

by Alicia Danielle Voss-Guillén

  Joy agrees readily. Pony and rag doll in tow, she follows me across the carpet. We slip beneath my covers together, lying on our sides and sharing my pillow. It’s a bit of a crunch, two people in a twin bed, but we’re both on the small side, and it works. We talk for a long time, mostly about the baby, but also about our favorite Christmas memories and the wonderful time we had last night with our family and what kind of surprises we might find bulging from our stockings and tucked beneath the Christmas tree.

  I don’t remember falling asleep, but I guess we must have, because next thing I know, I hear Joey’s obnoxious voice.

  “Aw, isn’t that just the sweetest thing? Two bugs in a rug! Were you girls cold?”

  I open my eyes to bright light. The window shades have been opened, and outside a golden winter sun glints off a fresh white blanket of Christmas snow.

  Joey stands at the foot of my bed, where I’m curled up next to Joy. He wears a sarcastic smirk on his face a mile wide, his hair is gel-tousled, and he’s already dressed in his usual cold-weather get-up of jeans, a T-shirt, and a zippered hoodie. I sometimes forget that my older brothers are too cool to run downstairs in p.j.’s Christmas morning like they did when they were little.

  Joy sits up next to me. “We must have fallen asleep,” she murmurs, mirroring my thoughts.

  My brother snorts. “You two were out cold, that’s for sure. Now get outta bed. I wanna open presents!”

  “Greedy, greedy,” I yawn, slipping off the mattress. As I reach for my slipper socks, a question seizes me. “Joey!” I gasp. “Did Stephanie have the baby yet?”

  He shrugs. “Still no word from Andrew. Mom says labor can take forever.”

  “What time is it?” Joy wonders.

  “Eight-thirty-five,” says Joey. “Christmas is the one, single, solitary day of the year on which I don’t believe in sleeping late.”

  “That means it’s been four-and-a-half hours since they went to the hospital,” I say. “That baby’s got to be born soon!” My heart thumping wildly, I tug a sweatshirt over my p.j.’s and follow Joey and Joy into the hallway.

  Ebony darts after me, swishes around my ankles, and swiftly returns to my room. “What?” I call after her. “Is that your way of apologizing for being a brat last night?”

  She glances over her shoulder, then keeps on walking.

  “Okay, okay,” I relent. “Merry Christmas to you, too!”

  Mom, Dad, Nate, Ben, and Bella are already standing in the hallway. Uncle Javi, Aunt Leilani, and Ethan wait at the bottom of the staircase. Glancing around, I realize that Joy and Ethan and I are the only ones wearing p.j.’s. Oh, well. We all call “Merry Christmas!” to each other and descend upon the living room like a pack of wild dogs.

  First we unstuff stockings.

  “Santa found us!” exults Ethan, pulling a chocolate reindeer and a Beanie Baby from the top of his stocking.

  Bella exclaims over a six-pack of body shimmer. My brothers discover boring things like energy drinks and pocketknives. Joy and I both get shiny pink lip gloss, similar to Bella’s, and Webkinz! Mine is an octopus (one that I wanted) and Joy’s is a parrot.

  Mom brews coffee in the kitchen, and Dad pulls our Christmas-morning coffeecake out of the fridge and sets it on a tray with plates and knives and napkins. Uncle Javi and Aunt Leilani take pictures of their kids with Uncle Javi’s camera: Bella looking trendy and beautiful in her skinny jeans and makeup, Joy and Ethan cute and bedraggled with their messy hair and p.j.’s. They take pictures of me, too, but Nate, Ben, and Joey distance themselves.

  “Too early in the morning for pictures,” Nate says groggily. “I’ll pose for ya later.”

  “I’m counting on it,” Uncle Javi returns, dead-pan.

  We all crack up.

  When my parents return from the kitchen, it is time to get down to the serious business of...present-opening!

  From Mom and Dad, I get three more Webkinz, the pair of ice skates that I asked for, super-cute jeans with beading down the legs, two cute tops, slipper toe socks, a couple of books about acting and Hollywood, and a Pillow Pet shaped like a bumblebee. Nate gives me a bright-green winter hat made to look like a frog (I actually love it), Ben gives me tiny silver microphone earrings (perfect for the aspiring actress), and Joey gives me a new overnight bag that says “Rising Star” on it in bold glitter letters.

  “Joey!” I cry. “This is so cool!”

  He shrugs. “Well, I couldn’t not give you a gift, right?”

  I reach out and slug him.

  He erupts into laughter and wraps me in a very rare hug.

  From Joy and her family, I receive an adorable hoodie and another Webkinz! “Thank you!” I cry. “This is perfect!”

  Joy returns my hug, and Aunt Leilani beams. “I checked the size of the hoodie with your mom,” she tells me, “so it should fit.”

  My brothers and cousins are just as happy with their gifts as I am. Like me, they get just what they wanted, and everyone loves the presents I give them: a bracelet for Mom, aftershave for Dad, hemp-cord necklaces for Nate, Ben, and Joey, and chocolate coffee-stirrers (the ones I made at my class party) with a Christmas-wreath mug for Uncle Javi and Aunt Leilani.

  Originally, that was all I planned to give to Uncle Javi’s family (along with, of course, the gifts that Mom and Dad bought for my cousins). But after hitting it off with them, I decided to do more. I hitched a ride to Walgreens with Nate, where I bought a new eye shadow palette for Bella, an action figure for Ethan, and rhinestone barrettes for Joy and her beautiful hair.

  We all sit, content, in a sea of rumpled wrapping paper, still nibbling on coffeecake, the adults sipping now-cold coffee. We are talking and laughing, lounging and enjoying, when suddenly, Mom’s cell phone rings.

  At once, we jolt to attention, staring at her.

  She fumbles in the pocket of her sweater, pulls out the phone, says “Hello?”

  Within moments, her eyes are full and shiny, tears of happiness leaking onto her cheeks. “That’s wonderful!” she cries. “Absolutely wonderful! Oh, Andrew, honey, I’m so happy for you both. What a merry Christmas! Yes, absolutely, we’ll be over at the hospital later. Here, let me pass you to Dad.” Ecstatically happy, she shoves her cell phone at him.

  “Andrew!” Dad exclaims, by way of greeting.

  “Mom!” I pounce on her. “What did Andrew say? Is it a girl...or a boy?” I’m shaking so hard, I can barely see straight.

  Joy squeezes my hand encouragingly.

  Mom gives a mysterious smile, but says nothing.

  “C’mon, Susan,” probes Uncle Javi. “What did he say?”

  “Yeah, what did he say?” echoes Joey.

  “You’ve got to tell us!” adds Ben.

  “Niece or nephew?” asks Nate, eyes round and intent.

  “I’m dying to know!” Bella squeals.

  “You’ll know soon enough,” smiles Aunt Leilani.

  Even Ethan gets in on it. “Boy or girl?” he cries.

  Grinning broadly, Dad extends the phone to me. “Andrew wants to talk to Tori first,” he says.

  I gasp, my hand flying to my throat. “Me?” Heart pounding in my ears, I press the receiver to the side of my face. “Hello?” I say. My voice trembles badly. The whole room seems to tilt.

  “Merry Christmas, Aunt Tori,” comes my oldest brother’s friendly voice. Aunt! I’m an aunt!

  “M-Merry Christmas, Andrew,” I stammer. My knees weaken and buckle. I drop onto the couch.

  “I just wanted to tell you,” he says, pride and happiness clear in his tone, “that at nine-thirty-eight this morning, your Christmas wish came true. Stephanie and I have a beautiful daughter, and you, little sister, have a brand-new niece.”

  A niece? A niece? The word seems to swim in the air, circling my mind but not quite sinking in. “A-A niece?” I gasp.

  And suddenly, it all comes clear. A niece. Not a nephew, but a niece. My niece! “Oh, Andrew!” I breathe. Gazing around the living room, I see that
every eye in the family is on me. “Oh, Andrew!” My throat stings, and my own eyes grow warm and wet. “Now,” I say, swallowing a knot of emotion, “I’ve got everything I could ever want.”

  On the other end of the line, my brother laughs, and there are tears in his voice, as well. “Aren’t you going to ask what we named her?”

  “Wh-What did you name her?” I rasp.

  Mom scoots across the carpet and takes my free hand.

  “Her first name is Noelle,” Andrew says, “because she was born on Christmas Day.”

  “And her middle name?” I ask, my voice still shaky.

  “Can you guess?”

  I shake my head, forgetting that he can’t see me, then say, “No.” Emotions churn inside me, and I clutch the cell phone so hard that my knuckles turn red.

  “She’s Noelle Victoria,” Andrew whispers, “after the beautiful aunt who wanted her so badly.”

  Never before in my entire life have I burst into tears of happiness. Today, I break that record. I cry so hard that Mom has to take the phone from me, and next thing I know, I’m surrounded by family: hugging, loving, wonderful family, from Dad right down to little Ethan.

  Joy squeezes my hand once again. “You got snow for Christmas,” she says, “and all the presents you asked for, and a brand-new niece on top of it! What could be better?”

  I stare at my cousin, tears streaming down my face. All I can think is that Abuelita was right, after all. This is, by far, the most wonderful Christmas of my whole, entire life--a Christmas I will never forget.