I wake up with Ricky by my side.

It's our chiasmas tradition to spend Christmas eve and Christmas

together, 24/7. He is already dressed in his Christmas sweater and has a hat on. my parents are also up
and their voices travel down shouting” come on down then already”. I jump out of bed and playfully hit
Ricky. “hey! What's that for.” I roll my eyes and head downstairs.

Downstairs breakfast is laid out and the Christmas tree towering over us. For some weird reason I don’t
feel excited. And I'm pretty sure Ricky noticed it too. Yea there it is the questioning look. I ignore it and
jump into the delicious meal. Ricky's parents the Bowen’s would be here soon. And then we would start
giving pre-Christmas gifts, and then decorate the house, n then get ready for a party, and enjoy the
evening. That’s usually how the Salazars and the Bowens spend their Christmas. But I want something
different.

Once we are back at Ricky's house, I tell him” hey I have a crazy idea...do u want to spend Christmas in
the orphanage? We could sing carols for them, give gifts, make cookies and have loads of fun!” there is a
moment of silence, and I don’t know what to expect. Will he agree or not. Knowing Ricky, I think I have
an idea that he would need some convincing. I immediately jump into action and say” just imagine the
smiles on their face, the joy we could give them.” our hands our touching now and I can feel his
uneasiness. I look right at him with hope, and he gives in.

I am so excited right now, and jump into action right away. Get money from my savings, when I feel a
hand on my shoulder stopping me. “u will have to ask our parents. And the probably won't allow us to
spend Christmas eve in a dingy orphanage.” Ricky reminds me. “oh, I'm sure they will let us, it is a good
cause after all” I reassure myself. I head downstairs where our parents are drinking and laughing, I
directly head into the question. “mom, can Ricky and I spend Christmas eve with the orphanage kids. It
would be absolutely lovely” I can immediately see the look of horror on both our dad’s faces. This was
going downhill pretty fast. My dad says” Absolutely not, do you know how filthy those kids are, and they
have no manners” I try to defend them but it just ends with my dad disappointed in me. I tread up the
staircase into Ricky's room, and I'm sure he heard the argument and is secretly happy. To my surprise he
hugs me and whispers “don’t worry we can always lie and sneak out. They won't even realize.” my face
pulls a face and I stand straight, brush my sweater as if I mean business. Ricky shouts” hey mum, Nini
and I are heading over to Ashley's place, see ya later”. After our parents agreeing we gather our money
and get out the window. For the first time I realize how much Ricky helped me even though he didn’t
want to go. “you are such a sweet friend but we have no plan of action” I inform him. He sighs, pulls out
his phone and searches up the nearest store.

We walk down the street and are soon emerged in a crowd full of jolly families and friends buying last
minute gifts. We open the door and the small ring marks our entrance into an overcrowded toy store.
It's like a battle. People running around, too much noise covering the Christmas songs and I'm already
losing Ricky. In the nest hour we gather around 30 gifts, bill them and head out. I search up the nearest
orphanage which is unfortunately 27kms away. We walk into a bus stand and while Ricky looks at the
time table I text the orphanage about our appearance. We board the bus heading outside the city.
About 15 mins into the ride there is a huge bang! My hand immediately goes on Ricky's and I squeeze it.
I get up and ask "what happened, is the bus ok to head on?” the bus driver tries to reassure me and
everyone else” yes everything is fine don’t panic it was just a burst tire and we are stuck in the snow. I
am going to call the HQ and will inform all of you shortly”. I slump back in my chair and look at Ricky and
cry out” just perfect, this had to happen”. Ricky answers by leading me out of the bus and says” but just
see where we landed.” it's perfect the snow covering the trees, the fresh breeze and the clear sky with
the sun gleaming down at us. Perfect stop to have lunch. His mention of lunch makes my stomach
rumble and we start laughing. We start walking towards the orphanage, every step making us closer to
bringing smiles on kids' faces.

About 30 mins later a gust of wind makes us stumble and I. look at the sky. It looked like a storm was
incoming. I shudder and pull my jacket tighter. A couple of minutes later it starts snowing and I know for
sure a blizzard is on its way. And I am right snow falls all around us, engulfing us. It's very hard to see and
we lose our footing and tumble down the road into some sort of ditch. I hear Ricky muttering worst
Christmas ever. I recall the last hour and see how I have ruined Ricky's Christmas, how I dragged him
into this mess. I look at him and apologies” Ricky I am so sorry I didn’t mean to ruin your Christmas. I just
thought it would be a good idea to do something good for these kids who don’t have a family to care for
them. But that didn’t mean I drag you away from yours” he doesn’t reply though I see the nod of his
head and can see he accepted my apology. "it's ok Nini I know you didn’t mean to hurt me and you
didn’t cause this disaster.” I smile and try to look for a way out of this mess. The only way it to climb out.
So, I push myself out and Ricky follows me I give him my hand and help him up. We brush ourselves and
head into what we think is the correct direction. And about 25 minutes later we see light. Hurriedly we
walk into civilizations direction and I can't believe my eyes when I see the board. It’s the orphanage! We
actually made it! I hug Ricky and laugh out of victory. I can see him smile too and we hold hands take our
bag of gifts and head inside. We see all the kids engrossed in a Christmas story and when we enter all
the eyes turn towards us. Right now. At this very moment I want to capture the moment they all realize
what's happening and burst into smiles and chatter.

We get several hugs and thankyous. We give gifts to each child and are singing carols. It’s the best thing
that’s happened today and I love it. I turn around to see Ricky who is singing along with me and I can't
help grinning wide. His voice is lovely and he is so sweet with the kids. “NINI” was that my name? I turn
around and see my dad. My smile turns into anxiety as our parents walk behind my dad with stern looks
on their face. My dad starts shouting at me and Ricky tries defending me saying how it was his idea but I
see it isn't working. Then one of the kid’s say "why are you scolding her? We are so glad she is here we
got gifs after so many years” there Is a moment of silence and I don’t know what to make of it. My gaze
meets Ricky's and soon there is a chorus of kids voices agreeing and my mom starts smiling. She walks
towards me, ruffles my hair and says” I'm so proud of you”. That is what I've waited to hear for so long. I
finally get it. This evening is perfect. And night even better our family is here. We dance away and
exchange gifts. In the end Ricky pulls me to the corner and says” you are the perfect friend and I couldn’t
ask for anything more than to be here in this moment with you” my stomach is now a flurry of
butterflies as I reply “aww how am I supposed to beat that! You are the perfect person and the sweetest
friend. And I can promise you u will never lose me”
And like that we had the best Christmas EVER!