"My cows," I shouted as we drove by yet another farm along the interstate. On road trips, my family liked to play My Cows. Whenever you see cows, you shout, my cows and whoever says it first go the cows. When you drive by a cemetery, you call dead cows, and all the players except the on that said dead cows first loose all of their cows. Whoever has the most cows when you reach your destination wins.

Currently, it was my mom and I both half playing. My dad was too busy driving and talking with my grandma. My brother was taking up all of the backseats, either sleeping or watching videos on his phone. My mom was sitting next to me, getting some work done. I was watching The Mandalorian on my phone. I was so behind on the hype. With classes and finals, I wasn't able to join in on the hype. I knew that Baby Yoda was the best character, but I still wanted to follow the storyline.

"Dead cows," I shouted as we got off at our exit. There was a cemetery right off our exit.

Not even five minutes later, my mom says, "Dead cows." I looked out my window to see another cemetery as we actually reached the town we were going to.

"Dang it," I said. We both had no cows and were almost to our destination.

"I didn't even realize you still had cows."

"Well, I don't, now," I said. She laughed and started packing up her stuff. We were too close to our destination for her to continue working.

When we got to the house we were all meeting up at, we were the first ones to arrive. We walked in, took off our shoes, and went straight to the basement. We did the same thing every year. We always hung out in the basement, ate the same goodies before and after lunch. We always had chicken and noodles for lunch, my dad always riled up the kids, and then he annoyed his aunt with Frosty. The only things that changed were the number of people who showed up and quit using my chair. At least they still had chocolate milk to drink.

After lunch, we were all sitting around the basement, talking. We talked about everything from work to health to the missing family members to school. You know the basics: every family get together conversations that always happened.

"So Hailey," My aunt started to say. I groaned. She wouldn't let this go, would she? "You never did tell me how you met your boyfriend."

"Boyfriend?" Everyone said, staring at me. Someone kill me.

I groaned, "He isn't my boyfriend. He is just a friend that just happens to be a male."

"But you said he was cute."

"Wait, are we talking about the cute guy?" Sam asked.

"Yes."

"Can someone tell us what is going on?" My other uncle asked. The one from yesterday had to work, so he couldn't come. "Hailey has a boyfriend?"

"Like I said, he isn't my boyfriend. He is just a friend. We only met a few weeks ago."

"And how did you guys meet?" My aunt asked again. I knew that there was no chance of me getting out of this.

I sighed, "We kept literally running into one another. We first ran into each other as I was leaving my class, and he was entering his. Then I knocked him over accidentally while ice skating. I was with my roommates, and he was on a date. The next day at Walmart. Then after class again and we started talking and hanging out."

"What is he studying?" My uncle asked.

"Political science and history, pre-law."

"Ooo, a lawyer," Sam said,

I smacked her leg and said, "Quit encouraging them."

"It's not my fault. You didn't tell anyone about him."

"Because there was nothing to talk about. Even if there was, it is none of anyone's business, except Mom's."

"Knock it off," My mom said, ending our bickering. "You two know better."

"Sorry," I mumbled before laying my head on her leg. I was a huge momma's girl. She was my favorite human, and always would be.

After a day of spending time with the family, my brother and I climbed into Sam's car. I loved my grandma, but after a day of pretending to like people, I couldn't be in a car with her. All she did was talk even when there was nothing to talk about. I was drained socially, and I couldn't deal with her right now.

By the time we got home, I had finished The Mandalorian. I was now in my PJs and curled up on a recliner in the basement. My sister and I were watching The Knight Before Christmas. Somehow, we got into cheesy Christmas movies. Now, whenever Netflix releases a new one, we end up watching it together. The Christmas Prince Trilogy, The Princess Switch, and now The Knight Before Christmas. I guess it just kinda turned into a Christmas tradition.

"HOW CAN HE WORK FOR THE POLICE DEPARTMENT WITHOUT PAPERS?" Sam shouted. We were both on our way upstairs to annoy our brother to watch The Muppet Christmas Carol. He was the one that moved his PS4 from the basement to his room, and we needed Disney+.

"I don't know. They left a cliffhanger. Hopefully, they make a sequel with some answers," I said.

Once we got to my brother's room, my sister opened the door and said, "Hailey says you're the one with the device that has Disney+. We are going to watch The Muppets Christmas Carol." My brother groaned as we climbed onto his bed. I was sitting in the corner next to him while Sam laid at the end of the bed. It was a queen size so we could all kinda fit.

"When a cold wind blows, it chills you. Chills you to the bone. But there's nothing in nature that freezes your heart. Like years of being alone," The Muppets sang. Wow, what a great start to a kid's movie. "It paints you with indifference. Like a lady paints with rogue. And the worst of the worst. The most hated and cursed. Is the one that we call Scrooge. Unkind as any. And the wrath of many. This is that Ebenezer Scrooge."

"This song's just like the Grinch," I said. My siblings just shushed me instead.

"There goes Mr. Heartless. There goes Mr. Cruel. He never gives. He only takes. He let this hunger rule. If bein' mean's a way of life. He'll practice and rehearse. And all that is paying off. 'Cause Scrooge is getting worse. Every day, in every way, Scrooge is getting worse. They finished singing. We dove into the world of Michale Caine being Ebenezer Scrooge and a bunch of creepy ghosts.

After that, we finished our short movie night by watching The Lion King. Sam was disappointed to find out that it wasn't the version where Zazu sings the morning report. After that, we got kicked out of the room so my brother could play video games.