My Xmas Story

It's that time of the year again, Christmas. The little children running around, Shining Lights, and the sound of Christmas Jingles filled the air.

The only thing that makes me happy is the thought of eating my best food-Jollof Rice- in a more delicious and mouth-watering manner and this made me wake up with so much Vigour and happiness.

The annoying part of this wonderful celebration is the number of dishes I had to wash for my family members as it's my Dad custom to invite family and friends over on Special Occasions.

As I approached the living room, I heard a familiar voice, My Aunt...Jeez. She can be annoying, complaining about every single thing and nothing is ever enough but regardless she is family after all but like the good girl I am, I greeted her with so much smile hiding my disgust behind my cute dimples, "Ekaaro ma" - I said in my language meaning "Good morning ma".

On a normal day, I would have taken coffee and a few loaves of Bread for Breakfast but this is Christmas, No food until the main dish is ready, We were ready to Starve ourselves just for that meal and the noise of the chicken crying out for help made me jump for so much Joy and I decided to say hello to my mother who has been up since 5 am just for this yearly occasion, as I moved towards her, I saw an unfamiliar face, "Who is this again" - I grumbled. But as I knelt to greet mom, I saw this boy, his eyes were fixed on slaughtering the poor animal, sweats dripping down his face as his white round neck shirt clung to his body with the 6 packs visible, would have mistaken him to be an angel if not for his Dark Skin. This whole time, It never occurred to me that I was still on my knees until I heard echoes of my name..."Alice"..."Alice"... I was in awe when a knock from my mother landed on my head to bring me back to earth. I stood up immediately, gained my composure and approached him, and introduced myself, "My name is Alice and welcome to our home"- I said- the Smile on his lips was contagious and I smiled back and left before It start to get awkward again.

I went back in and started the day's work, washing the dishes, the one thing I hate the most but my gaze were fixed on my new-found crush or should I say Infatuation and I continued to scrub and wash like the plates had Bloodstains on them because I wasn't concentrating. Our eyes met multiple times as I pretended to be focused on what I was doing, he excused himself from the guests and came over, "Hey" - I heard a deep and Hoarse voice and Shivers ran through my spine and I started stammering, "How are you?" He chuckled and told me to calm down. We started talking about my School, Course, and everything about me, I was just spilling. He introduced himself as "Adedamola" - What a nice name I replied but my mind immediately replied me " The typical Yoruba Demon"

We did most of the house chores together, Yes, even the most annoying part of Christmas in my home became fun to me and I was glad, he came around but my mum ruined the fun when she called me to serve the guests as my best food was ready and I used the opportunity to ask about him from my mum because I wanted to know about this family friend with so much Joy, my lips widened broadly but I received the biggest shock when mum told my mum said, "He was your aunt's Son". My Jaw dropped as I tried to process this new information. "What the Actual f*ck". I was so sad Adedamola was my First Cousin because I was daydreaming already about how I was going to know him more, in fact, getting married to my crush but when reality Struck me, I just hoped it was all was a dream, But the reverberation of my name and when mother's hands slapped my cheek has its way of resetting my brain, I knew I just had to shrug it over. But all in all, My Christmas was so much fun for the first time in a long time.