"Laila," I say, tapping her shoulder lightly."It's time to get ready."

I pull the blanket off of her.

"We have to get ready to go to grandparent's house," I tell her."And guess what, Santa will be there too."

She then sits up with a cheerful smile on her face and says,"Really? I can't wait!"

"Then get ready, okay."

"Okay, Mommy!" She says with exhilaration.

I walk out of Laila's room and head to my son's room. I knock on the door and then open it. He is sitting at his gaming computer playing video games.

"August," I call out his name.

He didn't hear me. I walk over to him. He takes off his headphones.

"Get ready, we're going to grandparent's house," I tell him.

"Okay, just a few more minutes," he replies.

"Gust, get off the game and get ready now," I demanded.

"Fine."

He gets off the game and vexes. I close his door and make my way downstairs to pack snacks and sandwiches for the lengthy drive.

"Alright Britt, everything's finally packed," my husband Matt says, tiredly.

He sits the bags down and exhales loudly.

"Were the bags that heavy?" I ask, giggling a little."We're only staying with my parents for two nights."

"Well, with the amount of things you want to bring it's as if we're staying for a week," he jokes."For instance, why do you need to bring a hair straightener?"

"Never question a woman and her needs," I comment.

Breaking the calmness, August madly storms downstairs with his bag. He drops it on the couch and rests beside it.

"I'm gonna go see if Lai needs help," Matt says.

"Okay," I respond.

Matt jogs up stairs.

"Gust, can you help me take the bags to the car?"

"Sure."

We bring the bags outside and pack them in the trunk. Laila and Matt soon come out.

"Perfect timing," I say, while grabbing her bag.

I place it delicately in the trunk and shut it.

"Anyone need to get something before I lock the door?" Matt asks.

"Yeah, Dad," August says, while running to the front door."I have to get my Nintendo Switch."

"That thing's gonna be the death of you," Matt says, jokingly.

I place Laila in her car seat and buckle her seat belt. She's so excited, she's kicking her little legs on the back of the seat in front of her. I close the door and get in the front passenger seat.

"Alright, let's go," Matt says, while August and him get in the car.

"Seat belts on everyone," I voice.

Matt starts the car and pulls off.

"How long is the drive again?" He questions.

"Six hours," I answer.

In two hours of the drive the kids fall asleep. I peer out the window at the pastel grey sky.

"Can you pass me a sandwich, Honey?"

"Sure," I say, reaching in the lunch bag."Here's a PB and J."

"Thanks."

I let out a yawn.

"Someone seems tired," Matt states.

"Kinda, but I don't want to leave you up alone," I speak.

"As long as I've got the GPS, I'm fine."

"Okay," I say, as I rest my head on the door.

My eyes begin to doze off.

I wake up to the feeling of Laila kicking my seat. I look out the window and see we're at a gas pump. Matt is pumping gas. I step out of the car to stretch.

"How long have we been driving?" I query.

"Uh, three hours," he replies.

"I'll drive the rest of the way there," I volunteer.

"Okay, I could use a break."

I drive the rest of the way there. A light snow begins as we get closer to where my parents live.

"It may be a snowy christmas," I observe.

"Yay!" Laila says, enthusiastically.

I park in their driveway and say,"We're here."

A white blanket covered every piece of the ground except the sidewalk. Matt grabs most of the bags.

"Gus, put the game away and help take the rest of the bags in the house," I command.

He sucks his teeth and grabs the bags. I hold Laila's hand as we near the house.

"I haven't seen you in awhile," my mom says, greeting us at the door.

"Grandma!" Laila says, happily, as she hugs her.

"Matt and your Dad are putting the bags in your rooms," she tells me.

"Okay."

I flop down on the couch.

"Y'all are just in time, because the party's in an hour."

"I have to do my hair quickly," I speak.

I head upstairs to our room to get prepared.

Family and friends begin arriving at the party close to six o'clock. Everyone's chatting and catching up with each other.

"Merry Christmas, it was nice talking to you," I say to a friend as we end our conversation.

I head to my mom who's in the kitchen preparing the food. I help her place the food on the table.

"Mom, when is Santa arriving?" I ask.

"Your Dad called him to come over now, he's gonna enter through the back door," she responds.

"Okay. Who's Santa again?"

"Sammy C., your Father's friend, he volunteered to be Santa," my mom answers.

"Lai's very eager to meet Santa," I say.

My mom chuckles and comments,"I bet she is."

I announce to everyone that the food's ready. The parents help their kids make their plates. And then the adults fill their plates. Everyone chats while eating. We all wind down after eating a lot of food, so my dad calls his friend so he can prepare himself to come in.

My dad walks back in the room and announces,"Everyone, since the party's almost over, my wife and I decided to end it with a little surprise."

As he concludes speaking, the guest of honor walks cheerfully in the room.

"Ho, ho, ho. Merry Christmas!" Santa voices, gleefully.

"Santa!" Laila exclaims, the other kids soon chiming in.

He's carrying a sack on his back, which I suppose is filled with toys. Santa sits down, then each child sits on his lap and tells him what they want for Christmas. He reaches in his sack and gives a toy to each child.

"Gust, you wanna go talk to Santa?" I question him.

"No, I think I'll pass," he answers, dryly.

Laila skips towards us.

"Look, Santa gave me a teddy bear."

"Wow, it's so cute," I say.

Santa stands up and states,"Everyone, I have to get going back to the North Pole."

We all say,"Bye Santa," as he departures.

"Ho, ho, ho. Merry Christmas," he speaks.

I tell some family and friends goodbye as they get ready to leave.

"Happy holidays. Thanks for coming," my mom says, gaily to everyone as they exit through the front door.

She closes the door and sighs.

"The party was really fun, but now I'm really tired," she states."I'm gonna clean up then go to bed."

"We should get ready for bed too, since we had a long day," I agree.

I assist my mom and dad clean up the mess from the party, then we shut the lights off and went to our rooms to get ready for bed. After taking a shower and brushing my teeth, I go to my kid's room.

"Hey guys, good night," I say."Let's get some sleep for Christmas tomorrow."

"But Mom, I want to stay up and play on my switch," August argues.

"No, you can get on it tomorrow."

"Fine," he says, madly."First, I have to share a bed with Laila, and now I can't stay up and play my game."

"Don't argue with me," I say."And you will only have to share a bed with Lai, for one more night."

He sighs then tosses the blanket over him furiously, facing away from me.

"Good night, Mommy," Lai says, softly.

I respond,"Good night," as I tuck her in.

"This is gonna be the worst Christmas ever," he voices silently, but I can still hear him.

I look towards him and couldn't say anything because I feel bad. Instead I cut the light off and closed the door.

I'm sleeping peacefully until I feel a hand lightly tapping my shoulder. I open my drowsy eyes to see Laila.

"What is it Lai, did you have a bad dream?"

"No, I went to the bathroom, and then I saw Santa downstairs."

"What do you mean, you saw Santa downstairs?" I say, growing concerned.

My tired eyes grow awake, and I rise from bed. I tell Laila to stay in the room while I go out into the hall. I tip toe leisurely to the rail. I glance down at the living room, the Christmas tree lights shining. I can see someone dressed as Santa.

They're stuffing the presents in a sack. I gather up the courage to confront the person and scare them away. But now I'm cowering in fear as I see three other people enter the room. They have masks on that resemble an elf, but more creepy looking. And they all are carrying different weapons.

In a low whisper I can hear Santa say,"Check upstairs."

As they make their way to the stairs, I panic.

"Mommy, did you see him?" Laila says, behind me.

The masked figures see her and begin running up the stairs. I grab her and quickly get to their room. I can hear one of them yelp,"Come back or I'll kill you."

I slam the door shut and lock it.

"Mom, what's wrong?" August questions.

He tosses his game aside pretending he wasn't on it.

Bang! Bang!

The intruders viciously knock on the door, and yell,"Open up, we know you're in there."

August helps me barricade the door.

"What's going on out here?" Matt says."Who are y'all, what are y'all doing in this house?"

I go to the door, wanting to open it and save Matt but I can't. Hearing the masked figures beat up Matt sends shivers down my spine. The loud thuds and his whimpering makes me feel sorry. Laila begins crying as she covers her ears. I run to the window and hitch it up.

The cold air invites me. My parent's room was only two windows over, but to get there we would have to walk over the snowy, miniature roof. I signal to them to come here.

"We're gonna make our way, from the window, to your grandparent's room."

I steady myself on the porch roof then grab August's hand, helping him out of the room.

"Come here, Lai," I say, growing impatient.

She shakes her head.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

The intruders continuously pound on the door. Laila rushes towards me. We scoot to my parent's window, the freezing air makes us tremble. I bang frantically on the window since they're deep sleepers. The blinds open a bit.

I signal to open the window. The blinds fly up, and it reveals my dad's worried expression. He pulls up the window and aids the kids make their way in the room. As I enter, a loud crash sounds from the kids room. They kick the door down.

"Come out,don't hide!" One of the masked figures yell.

I scramble faster in the room, dad closes the window.

"What was that?" My mom asks.

She's sitting up on their bed confused.

I run to the door and lock it, including the one that connects to their bathroom.

"What's going on? Why were you on the roof?" My dad also asks.

Out of breath, I say,"These people broke into the house, there's four of them."

Dad grabs his phone from his nightstand to call the police.

"There's no reception," he states."It must be from the snow storm."