I quickly jumped out of the cab, handing him the cash to cover my fare. As soon as he had the money counted, he sped off down the icy streets to whatever his next stop would be. I waved my hand in the air, holding the present in the other. I wasn't sure what I was waving at, but it felt polite.

Walking up the steps to my childhood home, I let out the breath I had been holding. It swirled around my head in a cloud against the cold air. I wrapped my hand against the door softly, knowing the family would be expecting me. I glanced over the details of the wreath hung on the door before the handle turn and the door was opened. My sister stood in the warm glow beaming from ear to ear as she pulled me into a hug.

"I'm so glad you made it Sara." I smiled wrapping my arms around her in return. She pulled away ushering me into the house as she pulled the scarf from around my neck.

"Why are you dress so fancy?" She questions taking my jacket next. I dropped the present on the ground as it fell with a thud, freeing up my hand so I could slip it through my jacket. Sara quickly bent over grabbing the bag and placing it under the tree. I went to interject, before giving up as it wasn't that big of a deal.

"I just came from my work party, but that doesn't matter how are you?" I waved to her kids as they played with the boxes under the tree trying to guess what each one held.

"Oh is that girl you were talking about coming!" My mother waved as she held out a plate of home baked sugar cookies. I smiled taking one before giving her a hug as well.

"What girl?" Sara piped in trying to figure out what our mother was talking about. "Do you finally have a girlfriend?" She questions folding her arms across her chest. She shot me a look saying if I didn't tell her the truth, and fast, she was going to knock me out.

I threw my hands up in defense. "No...no...no" I quickly said switching between the two of them between each 'no'. "I haven't told her yet mother, it's not the right time." my mother's face fell as she put the cookies on the table.

"Oh..." she groaned plopping down on the couch. "I was so excited to meet her." She mumbled slapping her knee. My heart sank with my mothers reaction, but she wasn't the one I was worried about right now. I looked back at my sister, staring at me, waiting for my response.

"No, she is not my girlfriend and you don't need to worry about it." I poked her in the nose before taking a seat on the couch. I turned to my mother trying to change the topic.

"Where is dad?" I questioned ignoring Sara's death glares.

"He is finishing up with the Christmas trees, he will be home soon. You know how late he has to work this time of year." I nodded my head. I remembered he would work until almost midnight every night after the 20th of December. People were scatterbrained this time of year sometimes forgetting the most important part of Christmas, the tree. Besides the fact that it really was about being with family. I shook my head at nothing in particular just thoughts of families so focused on the presents.

"Oh Sara, he met a girl at work. He has been leaving her Christmas notes every day for the last however many days, he is planning on surprising her on Christmas Eve, he is hoping if everything goes well she will be at the family party." I've never wanted to smack my mother, and this didn't annoy me enough to make me want to, but this did come pretty close. I watched as Sara's eye begin to expand as she absorbed the knowledge into her brain. She was about to freak out and I had to do everything in my power to prepare for it. I grabbed my hat quickly pulling it over my ears, slamming my hands against them to hold out as much sound as possible.

"THAT IS THE BEST CHRISTMAS LOVE STORY I HAVE EVER HEARD." Sara screamed through the house so loud that I assumed the neighbors knew and their neighbors knew. I was thankful that I had covered my ears. My sister had always been the loudest one in the family and with excitement it only got worse.

"Yeah, okay we can get over it now." I griped pulling my hat back above my eyes. Sara beamed with excitement as she stood, her kids had dropped their gifts and they were just staring up at her like she was insane. I couldn't help but laugh, they should be used to this by now. Once the decided it was safe they went back to digging through the presents under the tree. I leaned forward grabbing Sara's hand to pull her down to my eye level.

"Promise you won't scream." I gave her the look of Satan, something you shouldn't be doing this time of year.

"Promise." She mumbled biting her lip to absorb her excitement.

"If you act normal and don't scream you can help me set up the date before she shows up. I'll need a womans touch." As soon as the words left my mouth, Sara looked like she was a rocket vibrating in her place ready to take off. She was going to explode with excitement. "You promised." I snapped pointing my finger at her before leaning back on the couch.

"Where do I need to be and what do I bring?" She tried her best to hide her excitement as she plopped down on the chair across from our mother.

"You've really started something." My mother chuckled her voice raspy as she headed back into the kitchen to whatever she was baking. I nodded my head fully aware of the mistake I had made. You couldn't include Sara in anything without her going overboard. I leaned forward in the seat once more before explaining to Sara what the plan had been. We exchanged ideas and made a game plan for the perfect way to announce the surprise.

My heart fluttered as I thought about how close it was actually getting. In less than 48 hours Amber would know, and after that everything was out of my control.