The rest of the week went by uneventfully; my grandma had somehow recovered and is staying in the hospital for a few more days to fully heal and then she would be released to go back home, where all of her children said they’d take turns looking after her for awhile. My dad stayed back in California for the next couple weeks to be closer to his family, so when our plane landed in Baltimore, it was just my mom, Chase, Jasey, and I exiting the plane.
We arrived home a day earlier than we originally planned, and I decided not to tell the guys or Kara yet so I could surprise them later today. We headed over to luggage and I quickly grabbed my suitcase I originally brought with me then picked up the second suitcase I borrowed off of my uncle so I could keep the Christmas presents in it. Jasey begged me over and over to tell her what I got Chase and my friends, but I refused to tell her since I knew she was horrible at keeping secrets. As soon as we got in our car, I pulled my phone out to text Kara.
To: Kara (:
Hey girly! I miss you sooo much!! Anyways, what’s up?
It wasn’t even a minute later when I received a reply:
From: Kara (:
I miss you too! I’m hanging out with all the guys at Jack’s house…oh yea, he’s throwing a party for New Year’s…you’ll be back then right?
I sighed happily then typed out a message to send her:
To: Kara (:
Sounds like fun…I’m just hanging out with my uncle, boring as hell :P yea I’ll be back by then
I waited a few minutes and she hadn’t replied back, so I put my phone back in my purse before jumping up and down impatiently in my seat as I anxiously awaited to arrive at my house so I can get ready and surprise my friends by going to Jack’s house.
“Calm down, Kay,” Chase joked and I just smiled at him.
“I’m excited to finally see my friends again!” I exclaimed and everyone in the car laughed, even my mom.
After what seemed like several hours, but was only probably twenty minutes, we got to the house and I jumped out of the car as soon as mom stopped it before waiting for her to open the trunk. I bounced from one foot to the other impatiently before my mom finally opened up the trunk. I grabbed my suitcases before skipping happily up the walkway while wheeling the suitcases behind me. After unlocking the door with my spare key, I bounded up the steps and quickly unpacked before going back downstairs while taking the steps two at a time.
“Hey mom, can I go to Jack’s house?” I asked her as she was in the living room watching something on the TV.
“Sure. Are you walking?” she asked with her eyebrows furrowed when she turned around and saw me in my winter coat, gloves, and Uggs.
“Yeah, it’s only a couple minute walk from here,” I explained and she nodded before I walked out of the living room and went outside into the cold Maryland air.
“Oh I missed this so much!” I exclaimed to myself as I breathed in deeply and let the cold air fill my lungs before I started my walk to where Jack’s house was located.
After about five minutes of walking, I finally made it to his home and walked up the driveway with a huge smile on my face. I knocked on his door and heard several complaints of not wanting to get up from everyone before hearing them all tell Jack to get the door and I giggled while waiting as patiently as I could before Jack finally opened the door.
“Surprise!” I told him as his eyes widened before he engulfed me in a huge hug that lifted me off the ground. “Let me down, Jack! I can’t breathe!” I managed to choke out while laughing before I heard everyone walk into the room in confusion as Jack let go of me. “Surprise guys!” I said louder and Kara squealed before running up to me and hugging me.
“I missed you so much, Kaylie!” she exclaimed loudly and I laughed before she let go of me and I went around hugging everyone else.

“I thought you weren’t getting back until tomorrow?” Rian asked around ten minutes later while we were all sitting in Jack’s living room.
“Originally, yeah, but then my mom decided to order plane tickets for today, so here I am,” I said while laughing.
“So you were lying about being with your uncle?” Kara exclaimed with mock hurt.
“Well obviously, it’s kinda impossible to be with my uncle in California and then, not even an hour and a half later, be here in Maryland. I just said that so I could surprise you guys,” I explained while Jack wrapped me in another huge hug as he was sitting beside me.
“Jesus Jack, you’re going to end up strangling me by the end of the day if you don’t stop hugging me so tightly,” I joked once he let go of me; this was the third time in the past ten minutes he’s hugged me so tightly that it was almost impossible to breathe.
“How’s your grandma, Kay?” Zack asked and I couldn’t help but smile.
“She got better; it’s weird, the doctors said she probably wouldn’t make it, but she got started recovering the other day and is going home in a couple days. My dad decided to stay in California for a couple weeks though so he, along with his brothers and sisters, can look after her,” I explained.
“That’s awesome, Kaylie! Well other than the part about your dad staying there for a while,” Alex said and I couldn’t help but laugh before leaning into him since he was sitting on the other side of me. He chuckled before wrapping his arms around my waist tightly and pulling me closer to him while everyone else tried not to smile or snicker while I rested my feet up on Jack’s lap.

“I feel so un-festive compared to you guys! We don’t even have a tree up this year,” I exclaimed the next day when we walked into Rian’s house and I saw the huge tree in the living room, and they all gave me surprised looks.
“Seriously?” Jack asked shocked and I nodded.
“Yeah, we’ve been too busy to even bother with it, besides my family doesn’t really celebrate much. My parents always go to a co-worker’s Christmas party and Chase and Jasey go to their friends’ houses while I stay at home watching Christmas movies all day,” I admitted and Jack just shook his head before grabbing my hand and dragging me back out the door. “Where are we going Jack?” I asked cautiously.
“We’re going to decorate your house, silly,” he said with a shrug like it was no big deal and I just shook my head before following him out the house with everyone behind us before we all walked across the street to my house.
“Do you even have anything, Kay?” Rian asked.
“Um yeah, upstairs I think,” I said before jogging up the stairs and into the spare room we had converted into a storage area when I heard someone behind me and I turned around to see Alex standing there.
“Do you need any help?” he asked and I smiled gratefully.
“Yeah, here’s what we have,” I said while pointing at the large box that had our tree from last year and a couple other boxes that had ornaments in it. He grabbed two of the boxes and I grabbed the other one before we started walking back downstairs.
“Where’s the tree?” Jack whined once he saw that Alex and I came downstairs with only three small boxes of ornaments.
“We’re working on it, Jack, it’s still upstairs,” I said laughing while setting down the box I was holding and walking back up the steps and into the spare room with Alex following behind me. He picked up one side of the box while I picked up the other and we started back down the stairs more slowly this time. Once we put the box down in the living room where everyone was waiting, Jack jumped up excitedly before opening up the box that had the tree started setting it up before we all followed suit, laughing and joking while we put up and decorated the tree. I could already tell this is going to be the best Christmas I’ve ever had.