26 Jan 2025, 23:55
Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas
Sage opened her eyes to sunlight. A sunny Christmas, grand. She could hear Kora squealing and running around downstairs, probably already hyper due to sugar. Sage sat up, adjusted the socket of her prosthetic, and joined her family downstairs. A family that lacked Christopher.
“Morning, sleepy head.” Cassie was tucked up in an armchair, stirring her cup of coffee. Her flannel pajamas from Christmas Eve had been replaced by a wool cardigan. “I know we aren’t big on the whole Christmas endeavor, but I got you and Kora each something. Kora already gave me her present, sorry you weren’t here when I opened it, but she was very insistent on me opening it.”
Sage joined Kora by the tree. “Yeah, it’s alright. I guess I was just a bit tired from my trip to London. And everything.”
Kora was ready to explode with energy. “Can we open now? Can we?”
Cassie laughed and waved her hand for them to begin, nodding to the two packages under the tree. Kora grinned and shrieked maniacally while she opened, but Sage’s looked to be more of a gift certificate.
“I’ve arranged for you to be fitted for a water prosthetic. I know there’s spells for waterproofing things, but those can wear through and I wanted you to be all set. The appointment is this afternoon, and you should have it before you get back to Hogwarts; I made sure it was at the top of the doctor’s list.”
Sage clutched the paper and smiled. How many times had she been awkward about swimming because she hadn’t wanted to remove her regular prosthetic? How many times had she gone inside early because of rain and her own leg wasn’t water-proof? A running blade, a walking prosthetic, and now a water-proof limb. She really had all she needed.
Kora had torn through all her wrapping paper and her new lilac jumper adorned her. As much as Sage loved her sister, these two gifts were nowhere close to being the same.
But, in Sage’s opinion, her own gift was exactly what she needed.
