Strength Of The World

“Good mooooooooorning baaaaaaaabe.” Peyton sang to Zack on Christmas morning. “It’s Christmaaaaaaaaas!” “I know it’s Christmas, but I want to sleep. It’s like 6am.” He grumbled, trying to pull the covers over his head. “Zachary James.” She said sternly, pulling the covers back down, “I want you to open your presents! I’m so excited that I’ve managed to keep them a secret for this long! And besides, it’s after 7.” Zack opened one eye and looked up at his fiancée, sitting beside him in her Jack Skellington pajama pants and one of his old T-shirt’s with a huge smile on her face. “Okay, Okay. Fine. Let’s go open gifts.” He huffed, rolling out of bed and heading to the bathroom. “Yay!” She squealed, “I’ll go put some coffee on.” Peyton went downstairs and started a pot of coffee and set out a cup for Zack along with sugar and creamer. She turned on some Christmas songs and walked into the living room to look at their tree. There were tons of gifts underneath it, and she was a little sad that by this time tomorrow it would all be over and she would have to take down the decorations. “What do you look so sad for?” Zack asked, walking into the room and wrapping his arms around her waist. “This time tomorrow it’ll all be over, and it’ll be time to clean up this mess.” She told him, feeling stupid. “I’m being hormonal right now.” She said with an awkward laugh and turned to look at him. “Go get some coffee while I sort through these gifts.” She kissed his lips and sent him into the kitchen, while she sorted the gifts into four piles: one for Zack, one for her, one for their parents, and one for the Avenged family. Once she was finished with that, they set out opening their gifts. She got Zack some new clothes, a few pairs of shoes, and a new leather jacket. Zack bought her a ton of new makeup that she had been asking for. “You don’t even need that shit but I know you love it.” He told her with an eye roll. He also got her a new pair of gray Vans since she had worn a hole in her current pair, and a pair of Ray Ban aviators. “Thanks babe! I love them!” She told him, kissing his cheek. “Oh wait Zack, I think I forgot something in the garage.” “Wait did you forget?” He asked, slightly confused. “I think I left one of your presents in there, can you go look please?” She smiled sweetly from the couch. He gave her a suspicious look and headed to the garage, where there was a brand new Indian motorcycle in the middle of the room with a big red bow attached to it. “Peyton Elizabeth!” He shouted from the garage. “Yeah babe?” “You bought me a motorcycle?” He asked in disbelief. “It wasn’t me,” she shrugged, “I guess Santa thought you were a good boy this year.” He laughed and pulled her into a hug. “Thanks baby. It’s awesome.” “You’re welcome. You definitely deserve it.” She replied with a smile.

After they had cleaned up their Christmas morning mess it was time to get ready to head to their parents’ houses for gifts before having Christmas with their Avenged family that night. Peyton wanted to be comfortable for all the food she was going to eat today, so she settled on a pair of black leggings with an oversized cream sweater and a pair of black suede booties and kept her hair in its natural wavy state. They spent most of the morning with Zack’s parents, Peyton mostly playing with his niece and nephew, then spent lunchtime and early afternoon with her parents, with a surprise visit from Brian Sr and Suzy. After everyone exchanged gifts and Peyton and Zack took a Christmas nap in her dad’s favorite recliner, they headed over to Brian and Michelle’s house for Christmas with the Avenged family.

Jimmy and Leana were already there when they arrived. “MY PEANUT IS HERE! Merry Christmas!” He shouted, leaping off the couch and grabbing Peyton in a huge hug. “Hey Jim Jam! Merry Christmas!” She laughed, squeezing him tightly. “You look positively radiant! And my nephew is growing I see.” He said, patting her growing belly. “Are you trying to call me fat?” She asked with a laugh. “Nope. I think you’re beautiful!” The goofy man exclaimed. “There she is! Hey little sister!” Brian said, pulling Peyton into a hug. As soon as Brian started speaking, the baby started kicking like crazy. And he just so happened to kick Brian right in the crotch while he was hugging her. He quickly jumped backward and held his hands up, “What the fucking fuck was that?” He shouted, which made the baby kick even more. “That would be your nephew.” She stated, like it was the most obvious thing in the world. “Apparently he likes the sound of uncle Brian’s voice.” She grabbed his hand and placed it in the spot where the baby was kicking. “Jesus he’s doing fucking karate in there.” Brian laughed. Soon the rest of the group arrived, and everyone sat down in the Haners’ living room to exchange gifts. Brian and Michelle had bought Peyton a gift certificate for a prenatal massage, Val and Matt bought her a bottle of perfume and a pair of red Converse, Jimmy and Leana bought her more makeup and a purse she had shown Jimmy she wanted months ago, and Johnny and Lacey bought her a new kitchen mixer so she could bake. “Oh my god guys thank you so much! I love all of it!” She said excitedly. “Wait, There’s one more gift under here.” Brian said, pulling the box out from under the tree. “Oh! That’s for baby V.” Jimmy said, snatching it out of Brian’s hands and rushing over to Peyton. “I know he’s still cooking but I wanted to make sure that he knows how much uncle Jimbo loves and and always will.” Peyton slowly took the box from him and unwrapped the gift, everyone’s eyes on the package. She pulled off the lid and gasped at what she saw. Inside the box was a tiny leather jacket, and on the back there was a deathbat with the band’s logo around it. “Jimmy.” She whispered, tears filling her eyes. “I know it’ll be a while before he can wear it, but now he’ll always have a little piece of me wherever he goes.” He said softly. “I love it so much.” Peyton said, pulling her friend into a hug with tears running down her face. She held the jacket up for everyone to see, “Look how cute this thing is!” She said with a smile. “Hey! He’s gonna be one of the guys! That’s awesome Jim.” Matt said, slapping his friend’s back.

The group of friends sat around talking and laughing for hours. They reflected on memories from when they were younger, life on tour, and talked about the future. Before everyone left, Peyton stood up to get their attention, “I just wanted to tell you guys thank you. Thank you for being there for me through everything these past few months. I couldn’t have done it without you guys. I love all of you so so much, and I can’t wait for baby V to meet my nine most favorite people in the world.” She went to sit down, but was grabbed by nine sets of arms. “We love you too, Peanut.” Johnny said, kissing the side of her head. “We will never not be there.” Once everyone broke from the hug Peyton quickly wiped the tears from her eyes, thinking no one saw her. “You’re such a crybaby.” Val laughed. Soon the group all said their goodbyes to each other and went to their separate homes. As soon as they were home, Peyton changed into pajamas and climbed into bed with Zack. They laid together and watched their last Christmas movie of the season, completely happy with the way their lives were going right now, not knowing that three days later it was all going to come crashing down.

Notes