Amber’s gentle refrain of “Joy to the World” came to a halt as Rion’s fingers fumbled over the keyboard. Rion ducked down, embarrassed at his mistake.

“One more time! You can do it!” Amber cheered.

“It’s… It’s hard with an audience,” Rion said, hunching over the keys, flexing his fingers self-consciously.

Noa sat next to the Christmas tree, curled up with his sketchbook. He’d given up drawing to watch Rion and Amber as they tried to work out Christmas carols with Rion’s keyboard. He was having trouble playing today.

Rion could play any song perfectly, but the second people were watching him or singing along, his fingers tripped over the keys and his face would get all hot and flushed. Noa asked him about it once and he said he felt self-conscious when other people were watching.

Noa didn’t bother him at all though, and he was very pleased about it. He could sit next to Rion while he played on the big piano at his house and Rion could play flawlessly.

Noa liked watching him play, liked watching Rion’s fingers dance across the keys, liked watching his eyes move across the music sheets. There was something beautiful about it that Noa didn’t have words for.

“You’re so good, Rion,” Amber assured him. “If we practice, you could play when we do carols at Christmas. It’ll be fun!”

“Maybe…” Rion said. “But what if I mess up?”

“No one will notice,” Amber assured him. “It’s just us and the Warrens and you and your dad. No one will care if you make a mistake.”

“If you don’t want to play, we can just sing,” Noa said.

“Oh, shush,” Amber said, sticking out her tongue at him. “You never sing. You just mumble the lyrics under your breath.”

“Because I suck at singing,” Noa said, sticking his tongue out right back at her.

Honestly, he preferred to listen to Amber sing. She was really good. It reminded him of when his mom used to sing when he was really little.

“You’d be good at it if you’d actually try,” Amber began. Then she yelped as Peter bolted into the room, skidding to a stop next to her. “Peter! Why! You almost knocked me over!”

“We got Christmas mail!” he announced. “Mom has stuff upstairs! I saw!”

“What? Really?” Amber said, perking up. “Oh, are there presents? They’re supposed to be wrapping everything. We shouldn’t look–”

“You’re not even a little curious?” Peter huffed before turning to grin at Noa. “I think there was something from your Aunt Keiko, Noa.”

“What?” Noa said, immediately on his feet. “Really? Is there anything from Father?”

“Uh…” Peter said, wide eyed and taken aback. “I don’t…know…?”

Noa felt a mix of hope and anxiety. He wanted there to be something from his father, but nothing had come the previous years. Or no one had given him anything. Sometimes he wasn’t sure if his father wasn’t writing or if he wasn’t allowed to send anything.

But he wanted something. He wanted anything. And if there was something from his aunt… That was still good. Sometimes she had news about his father. Her letters were how Noa knew what had happened with the court case and the sentencing.

“Okay,” Amber sighed. “I guess we should go check with Mom. But no trying to sneak a peek at any presents.”

“I won’t,” Peter said right away. “I’m not a little kid.”

“Could’ve fooled me,” Amber told him. “Hey, you’ve got something on your sweater.”

She pointed, sticking her finger right out to the center of Peter’s chest. He looked down and she raised her hand quickly, flicking his nose.

“Argh! Hey!” Peter protested.

“Gotcha!” Amber said before heading out of the room first.

“You can’t call me a kid and then do something stupid like that!” Peter called after her, hot on her tail.

Noa wanted to hurry and follow them but he waited for Rion, who got up and came over last.

“Do you think your dad might have sent something?” Rion asked. “Can he send anything? Since he’s in jail…”

“I don’t know,” Noa said. “Sometimes Aunt Keiko says something. Aunt Elaine will know.”

“Hey,” Rion said. “One second.”

Noa turned and Rion pulled him into a hug. Noa immediately hugged him back, pulling him close. He smelled like the hot chocolate they’d had earlier and he was warm in Noa’s arms.

Noa immediately felt a whole lot better.

“There,” Rion said, pulling back. Noa reluctantly let him go and Rion smiled at him. “Even if you don’t get anything from your dad, we can still have a great Christmas together. Right?”

“Yeah,” Noa said.

“What’s taking you guys?” Amber said, popping her head back into the room. “Is everything okay?”

“Yeah,” Noa said. “Sorry.”

“Slowpokes!” Peter called.

Noa and Rion followed Amber out of the room and upstairs to where his Aunt and Uncle’s bedroom was. They were supposed to be wrapping presents to put under the tree. The door was open and there was a stack of wrapped gifts on the bed that Uncle Charlie was sorting out.

“Peter said you got Christmas mail,” Amber said to Aunt Elaine when they came in.

“We did,” she said, going through some things on the dresser. “I picked it up the other day but I haven’t gone through everything yet.”

“Who’d we get mail from?” Amber said.

“Did we get any presents?” Peter asked, flopping down next to his dad on the bed.

“Yes,” Uncle Charlie said. “But you aren’t opening anything until Christmas.”

“But if they came in the mail doesn’t that mean we can open them now?” Peter said. “Please?”

“It’s only a few more days,” Aunt Elaine said.

“I can’t wait!” Peter said, stretching out, throwing his hands out. “I hope we got more games!”

“Is there anything from Father?” Noa asked his aunt.

He could see his uncle look up and even his aunt froze for a moment.

“No… I’m sorry, Noa,” Aunt Elaine said. “But I did get some things from your Aunt Keiko. We’ll look at those at Christmas. She also wrote us a letter.”

She pulled an envelope out of the pile of different cards and handed it to Noa. He took it and held it close.

“She got you some presents too,” Aunt Elaine added. “But you can open those at Christmas. Okay?”

“Okay,” Noa said.

“Oh, is it more cool stuff from Japan?” Peter asked, perking up.

“We’ll find out on Christmas,” Amber said. “What’s with you? You’re so hyper.”

“I think it’s all the hot chocolate and candy,” Uncle Charlie said.

“I’m not hyper,” Peter said, springing to his feet.

“Why don’t you help me take these and get them under the tree,” Uncle Charlie said, grabbing several presents and gift bags.

“Okay,” Peter said. “Can I take mine down? Gimme mine!”

Noa wanted to slink away and read the letter from his aunt. He already knew what it probably said. She usually wished him well, told him about his cousins and that kind of thing. It was simple, straightforward. She would usually include something in Japanese but Noa could barely read any kana and he understood even less.

But he liked that she was trying to keep in contact with him. And it was even better when she’d give him news about his father. Any news was something he treasured.

“Are you going to read it?” Rion asked.

“Maybe later,” Noa said. “I’m going to put it in my room.”

He wanted to spend time with Rion and everyone else. He was worried that if he read it, he’d get emotional. He didn’t want to get teary eyed in front of everyone.

“Okay,” Rion said and then turned to Uncle Charlie. “Can I help take presents down too?”

“Sure, Rion. Thanks for the help,” Uncle Charlie said. “Take these ones here. They’re Noa’s.”

Noa slipped out of the room and went down the hall. He slipped into his bedroom and put the letter in his nightstand.

He would read it tonight, when he was in bed. Then if he cried, no one would know or see. And maybe he wouldn’t. Maybe he would be happy and excited, but…

Noa didn’t always know what he would feel when it came to his family. Everything was confusing.

He came out of his bedroom and found the others all bringing presents downstairs. He followed them, taking some gift bags out of his uncle’s hands.

They arranged everything under the tree. Now it was really looking like Christmas, with all the presents sorted and piled up under the tree.

“Rion, did you want to keep practicing?” Amber asked, once everything was set up. “You’ve got “Jingle Bells” down pretty good.”

“I don’t know,” Rion said. “I think I want a break.”

“Now it’s game time,” Peter said, coming over to give Rion a nudge. “Right? Games? That’s more fun than playing the piano.”

“It’s a keyboard,” Rion said. “And it’s not that playing isn’t fun. I just… I don’t know if I want to play at Christmas if I’m going to keep messing up.”

“You don’t have to if you don’t want to,” Aunt Elaine told him.

“Yeah, it’s just for fun,” Amber added.

“I know,” Rion said.

But looked uncomfortable, self-conscious. Noa stepped over to him and reached out, taking Rion’s hand in his.

“I really like it when you play,” he said, swinging his arm for emphasis. “And I really like it when Amber sings. You sound good together.”

Rion blinked and then blushed, pulling away from Noa. Peter let out a laugh.

“Rion’s piano playing is waaay better than Amber’s singing,” Peter said. “She sounds like a whiny cat!”

“I do not,” Amber said, elbowing him.

“Do too,” Peter said, elbowing her back.

“Okay, someone better cut Peter off. He’s had too much sugar,” Amber said with a roll of her eyes. “Time to put away the Christmas treats and candies.”

“That’s probably a good idea,” Uncle Charlie said. “We want to save some for later.”

“Nooo! I haven’t even had that much!” Peter said.

“You’ve had at least two Nanaimo bars,” Amber said.

“But they’re so good, though! Rion had three!”

“Rion isn’t bouncing off the walls.”

Aunt Elaine went and began picking up the treats off the coffee table to put them away. Meanwhile, Uncle Charlie stepped over to Noa and Rion.

“Hey, Rion,” he said. “Your Dad’s not home until nine, right?”

“Yeah, that’s right.”

“Are you sure you didn’t want to sleep over?” Uncle Charlie asked. “We don’t mind. I could leave a message for your dad.”

“But it’s so close to Christmas,” Rion said. “I don’t know… Wouldn’t I be in the way?”

“You could sleep in my room,” Noa said. “I don’t mind.”

Maybe it would be easier to go over his aunt’s letter with Rion there with him. He shared everything with him. It would be okay.

“Or we could get out the sleeping bags and you kids could sleep in the living room, by the Christmas tree,” Uncle Charlie suggested. “It would be fun. You wouldn’t be in the way, Rion.”

“Um… Well, maybe,” Rion said.

“Just think about it,” Uncle Charlie said. “If not, I’ll drive you home at nine, okay?”

“Okay. Thanks, Mr. Murphy.”

“No problem, kiddo.”

“You should stay,” Noa said to Rion once Uncle Charlie walked away. “We could work on the comic tomorrow morning. It’ll be fun.”

“Are you sure?” Rion said. “I mean, it’s you and your family. I feel kinda…weird. Like I’m not supposed to be here. It’s the holidays.”

“You’re my best friend. That’s the same as family, isn’t it?” Noa said. “Or…do you have other family that you want to go and see with your dad?”

“Not really…” Rion said. “Sometimes we see my uncle. He’s cool. He plays the piano like Mom used to. But he’s in an orchestra.”

“He must be really good then,” Noa said. “Is that what you want to do? When you grow up?”

Rion made a face. “I don’t think so. I like playing the piano. It reminds me of Mom. But I don’t think I’d want to do it for a lot of people. It seems scary.”

“Well, you’re really good at it,” Noa told him. “Really, really good. I think your mom would be really proud.”

Rion looked at him, blinked, and then his whole face went red.

“Oh… I… Thanks, Noa,” he said, obviously flustered.

Noa giggled. “Why are you thanking me? It’s true.”