Avery looked at him, then at me, then back at him, before she blurted out everything. âMickey made me do it!â
Of course, that didnât end well. Now, my brother was mad at me and I was mad at my best friend. Sigh. This is all just too much work.
Later that night, Max came up to me and said, âI wonder does Santa know youâre forging his name on stuff?â
âLeave me alone, Max,â I said. I needed to get my mind right on how I was going to enjoy Christmas all by myself.
My brother let out a long sigh. âFine. You know what? How about we see for ourselves.â
I sat up. âWhat does that mean?â
He shrugged. âWeâll stay up all night long on Christmas Eve. If Santa is real, weâll see for ourselves. If he is, Iâll take your chores for a week. If he isnât, youâll take mine.â
That made me smile. âDeal.â We shook on it and I was ready to prove himwrong.
I had been really sad because I kept thinking, today it was Santa, tomorrow, my brother wouldnât want to hang out with me. Heâd find different things he liked, different friends and weâd no longer be the M and M twins.
My mom once said being a twin isnât just on one person, itâs on both and thatâs what makes you unique. But still I knew if my twin and I grew apart, I would miss him so much.
But now, Iâd get him back. Heâd see Santa was real, and weâd stay close. It would be a perfect present!
Christmas Eve came and I could barely keep my excitement down. It was just seven oâclock, but I had my new PJs on, my hair was flopping in a big ponytail on top of my head and weâd just finished making cookies. Max was even in the Christmas spirit, helping me and Mom with the cookies. Every time I brought up Santa, he just gave me a âweâll seeâ look.
Yes, we would soon see!
We begged Mom to let us sleep in the game room, next to the huge, stinky fireplace. At first, she said no, but then my dad came home and convinced her to let us stay. So we snuggled in our sleeping bags and waited. And waited. We laughed. We told jokes. And then, when the clock on the wall struck midnight, I started thinking, maybe, I could just rest my eyes like Max was doing over there.Heâd said he was going to rest them just for a minute. Since I was his twin, I needed to do the same.
The next thing I knew, I heard Mom call out from the living room, âGuess daddy and I will just have to open these presents ourselves!â
I jumped up. The clock now said 7:36 am. Aww man!
âMax! Wake up! Itâs Christmas!â I yelled, shaking him.
âHuh?â he said, yawning.
âItâs Christmas. And we missed Santa.â
That made him sit up. He was just about to say something when we both noticed the piece of paper on the coffee table in front of us. I picked it up first and started reading out loud.
Dear My Little M and M Twins,
Thatâs it! All that crazy fighting doesnât make me happy. And itâs during the holidays. Miss Mickey, I shouldâve put you on the naughty list for lying and causing all that trouble but Iâm a nice person (and those cookies were good, mail me some). But since I know you have a good heart, Iâm going to let it slide. This time. But just so you know, youâre never going to get what you want for the wrong reasons. Mickey, if Max said he didnât believe in me, that was on him, but youcanât force something that doesnât go. Life is like a puzzle. If itâs the wrong piece you canât force it in.
And for you Max, itâs okay if you donât believe in me anymore, Iâm still going to bring you gifts because I know you have a good heart and care about people.
Both of you need to realize though, that this holiday isnât about me and the gifts I can bring. Itâs about the gifts you bring. Not stuff, but gifts of love, time, things from the heart.
Frankie Blue
john thompson
Alaina Stanford
Alexandra Ivy, Laura Wright
C.W. Gortner
Helena Newbury
Jessica Jarman
Shanna Clayton
Barbara Elsborg
James Howard Kunstler