"Santa came! Santa came!!" The shriek didn't wake me up. I'd been up all night.

'Maybe if I do everything good today, Christmas will finally stop!' I thought. I hopped out of bed before hurriedly tidying up the room and gently waking my brothers.

I jumped down the stairs and spruced up the living room before helping my mom finish the French Toast. After breakfast, I ran upstairs and pulled out Avery's necklace from underneath my mattress. I had been ready to keep it hidden again, but if this perfect day thing was going to be done, it had to go all the way. I tucked it under the tree just in time, as my family filed into the living room.

We opened presents *again* and my little sister wished *again* that Christmas would come again. *damn that word*

I insisted that my mom relax while I did all the breakfast dishes and cleaned up the kitchen. And let me tell you, that is QUITE a job with 9 people in the family, including 2 SMALL kids, 2 kids, 3 teenagers, and 2 parents.

Forgetting the snow, I cleaned up the entire house. Think vacuuming every single room, washing every window, dustbusting every couch, ripping all the sheets off the bed, washing them, and replacing them, dusting all the tables, and virtually every other possible way there is to clean a room.

I finally fell into bed after Christmas dinner, utterly exhausted, but sure Christmas was finally over.