The Girl Next Door Chapter 24

On Christmas morning, Kate woke at 7:30am, to the pounding of little fists on her door. She went to the door, and told her cousins she’d be downstairs in a minute. Kate got ready to look presentable, and then went downstairs. When she saw Neal sitting at the counter in the kitchen, a coffee cup in his hand, she had to laugh.
“Rough morning, huh, Neal?” Kate asked, laughing.
“Shut up,” Neal told her, taking a sip of coffee. “How much did I drink last night?”
“Too much,” Kate told him. “But we had a blast, those guys are the best.”
To that, Neal nodded, and left the kitchen for the family room, so their mom could start making breakfast.
“Have fun last night Katie?” Sarah asked.
“Tons,” Kate told her mom. “They were all so much fun, and I got to meet Erik’s girlfriend, Cara, and she’s really nice.”
“That’s good sweetie. What time did you get back?” Sarah asked.
“Twelve fifty,” Kate told her.
“You got home a little before one last night?” Megan asked, stunned.
“Ya, so?” Kate asked, not seeing what the big deal was.
“You’re eighteen and still in high school. You shouldn’t be out that late!” Megan exclaimed.
Kate decided not to answer back, and left the kitchen with a mug of hot chocolate in her hands. She left her mom to deal with that one.
*****
After breakfast was cleaned up, everyone moved into the living room to open their presents. Her cousins were tearing the paper off their presents whenever it was their turn to open something, and everyone else just took their time. Kate got a gift card and jewelry from her aunt and uncle, and money from her relatives that weren’t there. She also got an Ohio State hoodie from Neal, and some clothes and DVDs (a couple of seasons of shows she loved) from her parents. But, her parents told her to save one particular present for last, and when she got to that one, she was very excited.
The box was big, and kind of heavy. When she opened it, she was so glad she left it for last.
“A Sidney Crosby jersey!” Kate squealed. “How’d you know I wanted one?”
“We could just tell,” her mom told her, smiling.
Kate, in addition to the one she just got, had a couple of other Penguins jerseys, but she only got them if it was a special occasion.
“Well, you’ve been doing so well at school,” her father began (Kate’s grades were better than ever, and they had always been good), “and you’ve been balancing everything so well, so we decided to get you this.”
“Thanks!” she jumped up to hug her parents, and when she hugged her mom, her mom told her to meet her out in the kitchen for a minute.
So, Kate took her jersey with her (she didn’t want her cousins to spill anything on it), and went into the kitchen.
“We couldn’t tell you this with your aunt or uncle around,” Sarah said.”Tell me what?” Kate asked.
“That’s not just any regular Sidney Crosby jersey,” she told Kate.
“Ya, it’s got the ‘A’ on it, that’s new,” Kate said, indicating the “A” on the jersey, which was for Sidney’s alternate captainship.
“Not just that,” Sarah said. “That’s the jersey he wore in his first game as alternate captain. Early last week, when he came to pick you up and you weren’t ready, we told him how we couldn’t find any of his jerseys anywhere, they were all sold out. He told us that he had been able to keep the jersey from that game, and he told us we could have it to give to you.”
“Really?” Kate asked.
“Yes, that’s why the jersey’s big,” Sarah indicated the size of the jersey, which was big, but not too big.
“Wow,” Kate said, grinning from ear to ear.
“Now you know,” Sarah said. “If we had told you out there, your dad’s family would have gone crazy.”