Shattered Dreams [EDITING] - Chapter 49: Chapter 49

COREY'S POV:
I wake up all sweaty with Nadia sleeping peacefully with her head resting on my chest. She always looks so beautiful when she sleeps as it's the most at ease she ever looks. Her world stops spinning when she sleeps and her brain seems to forget that she is in pain.
I have a plan for what I want to do today and I need to start getting it all ready now before Nadia wakes up but I don't want to disturb her as she looks truly content. She has a little crease between her eyebrows as she dreams, making her look even more adorable as she dreams away.
I wonder what she is dreaming about.
I gently lift her head up with my hands so I can try and get out from under her and once I've managed to do so, I place a pillow under her head and gently place her head back down on it. I take my thumb and rub it between her eyebrows, erasing the crease that was formed there. Her skin is without wrinkles but in a few years time she will have very prominent frown lines because her face is always in a constant frown.
I pull the duvet back over her as I don't want her to get too cold as she is still naked from last night. I find my t-shirt that I wore yesterday and place it on the end of the bed for her to put on when she wakes up. I also find my shorts and slip them on because even though Nadia and I are home alone, I don't want to be walking around someone else's house naked when I have no idea when they will be back.
My stomach grumbles at me so I head downstairs and grab a packet of salt and vinegar crisps out of the cupboard then I get another one for good luck and eat those so I actually have some energy for the day.
Once I've finished I am still hungry but I make do as I have a lot of shit to do today. It is currently nine a.m so I will be safe from Nadia waking up for a good few hours yet, which hopefully gives me enough time to do everything. Yesterday I put a delivery through on Tesco with some food and supplies I need and that is due at eleven so in the meantime, I am going up to their attic in search of their Christmas decorations. I made sure to ask Willem where they were and get permission from him to put them up before doing anything as I wasn't about to make myself that much at home, even though I knew I could.
I want to make this time with Nadia even more special, especially after what happened between us last night and it will be nice for his mum and dad not to have to put them all up for a change, even if I do it all wrong..
I steal one of Willem's t-shirts that are in a pile in the laundry room and open the back door, letting Nadia's dog, Bella out, then head to the shed to find the ladder and bring it upstairs with me so I can get into the attic. I close the door behind me as Bella isn't wanting to come inside yet, she is too busy sniffing around in the garden. I was right in saying that the snow wouldn't set last night as only slush remains on the ground. Bella will be okay outside in this temperature, she has a coat of fur. Plus, she will scratch at the door when she decides she wants to come in.
I am a little terrified of ladders as I weigh quite a lot so it is always unsteady underneath me. It doesn't help that I have no one to hold it for me.
Once I make it up to the attic without falling off the ladder I send a quick text to my brother and sister asking if they could come and help me. They reply straight away, not seeming interested but once I explain it is for Nadia they said they will be here as soon as possible. If we have three pairs of hands it will be quicker than just having one.
I grab the boxes of decorations one by one and throw them down the ladder onto the landing and I'm grateful it doesn't make too much noise. I could wait until Ed and Lily get here but I am on a strict time limit as I have no idea when Nadia will actually be awake.
Once all the boxes are down I make my way back down the ladder. I had to leave the christmas tree up there because it will be too much to deal with on my own, so I'll have to wait for my brother's assistance on that one.
I leave the ladder there and make a move of moving the boxes downstairs. I have no idea what christmas decorations are supposed to look like hung up because my parents never bothered to put any up for us, not even when we were younger. I download pinterest because Nadia told me a while back that it's a good app to use to get inspiration pictures from. I search around the app, looking at pictures of Christmas decorations until I find the perfect one. I vaguely remember how the Marsh's decorate their house and the pictures I found look somewhat similar so I will go by these.
When I have finally relocated all the boxes downstairs the front door swings open and in walks my sister with our brother trailing behind her. "Your saviours are here." Lily announces, letting Bella in with her. She must've wandered around to the front and I'm thankful I remembered to shut the gate when I got here.
"Just walk right in, why don't you?" I shake my head at her with a small smile.
"Happily," She grins, looking at all the boxes of decorations clogging up the space on the floor. "Where do you want us to start?"
"Just follow these pictures on my phone as much as you can and Ed, I need your help getting the tree out of the attic." I inform them both and they get to work straight away. This is probably the most we have acted like a family and it's not even for us, it's for Nadia. I'm just glad that we get to do something like decorating for Christmas together as it's something we have never seemed to do before.
"Why can't I help you get the tree down? I'm just as capable as you both." Lily complains, taking the tinsel out of the box in a huff.
"Oh and you will be able to cope with the thousands of spiders and other bugs scurrying around up there?" Ed asks her and her face pales slightly.
"On second thoughts, I'll wait down here and decorate until the food gets here." She insists, causing myself and Ed to laugh.
"Not so capable now are you?" I say, leaving the room with Ed to go up into the attic again.
As Ed doesn't need to rest for the season as much as I do, he is the one who goes up the ladder whilst I wait at the bottom for him and the massive box. "So, how come you decided to do this for her?" Ed asks, his voice slightly muffled from being in the attic.
"I don't know. I just saw how excited she was about the snow last night and Willem said to me this morning that they might be back tomorrow, so I thought I'd make the last day we have alone together special." I tell my brother honestly.
I know that it is still only early December but it will be nice to experience a Christmas with Nadia as I do consider her my family. Plus, I don't mind having two Christmas dinners as they are always so good, especially if Ed is the one cooking them.
"Who would've thought you'd be a romantic at heart?' I can hear him laugh from up there. "Where is this tree anyway?"
"It's in the corner, in the white box."
"Ah, I've got it!" He grunts as he lifts up the box. "I'm going to bring it down, get ready."
"Ready." I confirm, with my arms in the air, ready to catch the box.
We get the box down, surprisingly with ease and take it downstairs, where we find Lily at the front door getting all the shopping in from the delivery man. "Fuck yes, I can finally eat."
"Get your hands off, that's for the christmas dinner." I tell him sternly and with a point of my finger.
"I hope you're not expecting me to cook it." Lily crosses her arms over her chest with a pout.
"No actually, I was hoping Ed would," I smile at him to try and persuade him to say yes. 'I'll let you stay to eat it if you do."
"Fine, you two hurry up with the decorating then we don't have all day." He begins collecting all the shopping and putting it where he needs it before starting on the vegetables.
Lily carries on working on the decorating and I go upstairs to check on Nadia once more. I don't want her to be lying in bed, in pain and unable to get up. I open her door a smidgen and see her still in the same position I left her in. Yesterday really must've taken it out of her.
I leave her be again and decide that's the last time I'll check on her until she wakes up. Lily is in the process of putting stockings on the fireplace and I pull the tree out of the box, thankful that it's a pop up tree so it doesn't require too much work.
The smell of Ed's cooking immediately invades my senses and my mouth begins to water and my stomach grumbles at the fact I've only had a couple of bags of crisps today.
Lily finishes up the living room by adding a tree reef with fairy lights over the door as you walk in and then putting a sign above the door frame that says 'merry christmas.' Once she's done with this, she begins to get the baubles out of the box but I shake my head at her. "I was thinking that this could be something the four of us could do together."
I add tinsel around the staircase and switch out their mats for the Christmas ones they had in the boxes and walk back into the living room. It looks gorgeous with all the red colours standing out. They have a red theme with their decorations and it contrasts great against the white walls and wooden floor.
Lily and I make our way towards the kitchen and place decorations, such as little santa and reindeer ornaments, throughout the hallway as we do. The food smells so good and Ed looks in his element as he cooks the food. In our household Ed is the one who cooks most of the meals, especially the big ones that come for christmas and birthdays and I have to say I don't mind him doing it because no matter how much I love to cook, Ed is the best cook in the family.
We continue decorating the kitchen with Christmas placemats and stickers to put on the cupboards. We are pretty much done so we collect all the empty boxes and put them back in storage in the attic. The smell of food lingers all throughout the house and it's making me even more hungry as the hours tick on.
Lily and I join Ed in the kitchen and sit on the breakfast stools as he tends to his cooking, both of us stealing a few of the already cooked bits off the plates. "Anything we can do to help?" I ask and he turns around in a pink apron and we can't help but laugh at him. "Suits you."
"Doesn't it and you can help me by not eating all the food I'm cooking." He moans, slapping both of our hands away when we try and get some more to keep us going.
"But I'm hungry," I complain. "I need more food than you guys, I play hockey."
"You can have more food than us but you're still going to have to wait for it like the rest of us. Make yourself useful and wake Nadia up, she needs to eat something." Ed bites back, pointing towards the door.
"Oh my god, wait!" Lily practically shouts, running out of the room. Ed and I turn to eachother, mouthing 'what the fuck?' She comes rushing back in with a small jumper in her hand.
"I don't think that'll fit me, Lil." I inform her in all seriousness.
"It's not for you, dumbass it's for Bella." She says, putting the jumper on the dog and she seemingly doesn't mind having it on her like most dogs would.
"Can I go upstairs now?" I ask her and she nods, putting Bella into my arms. "Prepare a pitcher of lemonade for when she comes down please, it's her favourite drink and she will be thirsty."
I go to Nadia's room and she is still fast asleep. I place Bella down on her floor and just watch as she jumps up onto Nadia's bed, stirring her awake. She coughs when she opens her eyes and I rush to give her the water on her bedside table as her throat is dry from how long she slept and the scabs from the operation won't be helping.
"Thanks," She croakes out, taking a big gulp whilst looking me up and down. "What's with all the glitter? Did you raid my mothers wardrobe again?"
"Very funny." I deadpan.
When Willem and I were much younger we decided it would be fun to play dress up and raided his mothers closet and we were prancing around the house in our short skirts and dresses and we thought we were home alone but it turns out we weren't safe. We were caught in the middle of doing our own catwalk show by Nadia and both of her parents and Willem and I haven't heard the end of it ever since.
"No seriously, what have you been doing? And since when could you cook? It smells delicious." She sighs longingly and I can hear her stomach growl from here.
"Feel well enough to come downstairs?" I ask her and she nods. "Well come on then."
I hold my hand out and she takes it, allowing me to pull her out of bed. I place my t-shirt that I left on the bed in her hand and she puts it on long with some shorts. She takes my hand again and she guides me to the bathroom, where she brushes her teeth and gives me a gentle kiss on the lips. We haven't discussed what happened between us last night but we both know that it's something we want to happen again if we can ever get around to it.
I look at her, silently questioning if she is ready to make her way downstairs and she nods, taking my hand and leading the way once more. When she registers that there are decorations on the stairs and throughout the hallway she pauses her step, but I usher her along to the living room so she can see that before saying what she wants to say.
We walk in and she takes in the room silently before turning around and wrapping her arms around my neck, pulling me in for a hug. I sense a shift in the way Nadia and I are with each other now that we have opened ourselves up to each other fully. We are almost more intimate with each other now, not feeling too afraid to shower each other with little bits of affection now and then.
"Did you do all this? It looks lovely," She asks me and I nod at her with a wide smile. "You forgot to do the tree."
"I felt like I needed your help for that," I respond, pulling her into my arms once more. "There's a christmas dinner cooking that's practically ready so you better be hungry.
"Of course I am," She looks up at me and gives me a kiss before putting her head back into my chest. "Thank you for this."
I hear a small sniffle come from where she is tucked in my chest and I lift her chin up so she looks at me.
"Penny for your thoughts?" I question her, reaching into my pocket for a penny and holding it out to her.
"I just know you've never experienced a real christmas before so I'm just happy we get to experience this together." She admits, hugging me tighter.
"Are you getting all emotional on me again, Nadia?" I joke and she pushes me away with a roll of her eyes.
"Piss off," She laughs. "I'm hungry."
"Let's go eat then." I guide her through the door.
"We should invite Ed and Lily." She suggests as we are walking towards the kitchen.
"I am one step ahead of you." I grin and she looks at me questioningly before walking into the kitchen, where she spots Ed and Lily sitting at the table waiting for us.
"Oh my god, hi guys," Nadia greets them both before sitting down and I take the seat next to her and she immediately tucks into her food earning a laugh from all of us. "What? I'm hungry."
"I didn't say anything." Ed holds his hands up in innocence before starting to eat his own food.
"Oh wait, I got you this." Lily announces with a mouth full of food. She stands up and walks out only to walk back in the kitchen a few moments later with a piece of paper in her hand. She places it on the table next to Nadia's plate and we can see it's a picture of a glass of lemonade.
"Thank you?" Nadia almost questions, looking just as confused as Ed and I. "What's this for?"
"Corey told me to get you a picture of lemonade, he says you like it." Lily answers and narrows her eyes at Ed when he bursts out laughing.
"A pitcher of lemonade, Lil, not a picture." I inform her, tapping her on the shoulder as she retakes her seat next to me in a grump.
"I watched her do that and I would've saved her the embarrassment but it was too funny to not let her share with everyone else," Ed tells us, waving his fork in front of him as he speaks. "At least you're good at skating, Lil."
I stand up and look in the fridge to fix up a jug of lemonade for the table, only to spot one has already been made and it's sitting in the fridge. "Ed?"
"Yeah, I made one already," He confirms. "Now can we all sit down and eat? I didn't go into all this effort of making it just for it all to go cold."
I bring the lemonade to the table and sit down happy to finally be able to sit down and enjoy my food.
The food is lovely and we all keep up conversation as we eat, not really talking about anything meaningful but it is still nice. As much as I would love to spend this time with just Nadia, I am grateful that my siblings are here with us. I just wish Natalie would be able to be here with us.
As Nadia is still eating and I've finished, I place my hand on her thigh and rub it gently to tell her that she is doing really well with socialising as I know how hard it is for her.
"Thank you for making all of this, Ed, it was truly delicious," Nadia smiles at my brother before looking towards Lily. "And thank you for decorating the house, it looks lovely."
I see my sister blush slightly at the comment and I choose not to say anything about my involvement with decorating because I don't want to take the shine off of my sister.
"We better get going and leave you guys to it," Ed blurts out, smacking his knees before he stands up. "Corey, can I trust you to take care of putting all the dishes in the dishwasher and cleaning up?"
"Yes."
"No, don't go," Nadia complains. "We still have a tree to decorate."
"Please can we stay?" Lily asks Ed and he nods his head in agreement.
"I just need to tell Will I'll be late to his house."
"Why don't you invite him?" Nadia offers with a small smile and my heart swells at how inclusive she is of my family. "The more the merrier, right?"
Ed mouths a quick thank you and gets his phone out of his pocket and leaves the room to call his boyfriend. Will doesn't live too far away so he should be here in no time so whilst he is driving here we can all clean up the mess in the kitchen. If the Marsh's do come home early I don't want them coming back to an unclean house as it was my job to keep everything in check.
Nadia moves to take her bowl to the dishwasher but I push her shoulders back down, not allowing her to use her energy until we decorate the tree because at least that is something enjoyable. I kiss her on the top of her head before going to clean everything up.
Lily helps me with cleaning whilst Nadia sits with her head resting on the dining table, listening to the background noise of christmas music.
Ed comes back in and stands next to me just as I'm closing the door to the dishwasher. "I can see how happy she makes you, it's nice to see brother."
"Thank you." I reply, looking over to Nadia as she is laughing at something my sister is showing her on her phone.
There's a knock at the door and Ed claps his hands together in excitement. "Shall we decorate this tree then?"