...and saw his little sister lying next to him, just waking up. Perhaps Suzie got scared in the night and came into Luke's room, and when she laid down on the bed she had not seen that she was doing so over Luke's arm under the blanket. After waking Suzie and sending her off downstairs, Luke went to change and get ready for the day--he planned to do some more fusing today, as did his dad and friends. Fortunately for all of them, today was the first day of Christmas break--no school!
But this Thursday began just as any other, so as to avoid arousing suspicion from Luke's mother Alisa. When Luke got downstairs, his father Ethan had already prepared breakfast, and the two had finished by the time Alisa had come downstairs. She had eaten already, and was dressed for a meeting at work that day. While she was gone, Ethan would drop Suzie off at one of her friends' for a playdate, which would allow Luke and Ethan to put up the Christmas tree themselves--unless they got a bit "distracted"...
They got right to work setting up the tree, and even got most of the ornaments and lights on the tree in less than an hour. Luke decided to get the suit ready for when some of his friends came over, likely to fuse again. When found out that the suit wasn't where he left it in the living room, he asked his dad.
"Oh, I put it up in my closet," Ethan said.
"Why did you do that?" Luke asked. "Did Mom see it?"
"No, she was in the bathroom," Ethan replied, "so I snuck it in and hid it in my clothes before I even heard her flush the toilet."
"Clever," Luke said.
In a while, the tree was set up, which meant it was time for some of the other decorations. Ethan set up their creche next to the fireplace, while Luke began wrapping garlands around the railing and the tops of the walls. Wreathes were hung in the windows, and the stockings were hung by the chimney with care. Ethan hung the outside lights by himself--he was experienced in this job. Luke just hung around inside, and he was able to go visit some of his friends if he wanted to.