CYOA: The Wishlist - Chapter 3 (Story) (Patreon)

It was really her responsibility, as the older cousin, to set a good example, to be a leader... She was going to do that later, when she revealed the truth about Santa to Maddie, and, even though she didn't particularly want to, she was going to start now. 

"We should wait," she told Camelia. "You know Maddie will want to see what we got, and it'll be more fun for us all to find out at the same time."

"You're right," Camelia nodded, sounding almost as disappointed as she might have if it had been her idea to begin with to open the gifts early. "Ugh, I don't wanna wait!" 

Selina chuckled, watching the girl cross her arms and pout. She was tempted to tease her, to taunt her about Santa, but now that she was beginning to suspect that Camelia might actually think he was real, she thought it would be better to wait until Maddie was here for that, too, so the two of them could find solace in each other.

"Guess we might as well go back upstairs, then," Camelia sighed, looking away from the tree, gaze lingering longingly on the boxes underneath. "It is pretty, though, isn't it?"

"It is," Selina agreed. "Now, go on... I want to see you go first, so I know you're not just going to hang back and peek at stuff after I leave."

"Hey!" Camelia stuck her tongue out. "How do I know you're not going to do that?"

Selina smiled, the trip feeling, finally, like old times, back before she'd been so concerned with seeming mature, before she'd gone off to college. "I guess you don't," she shrugged mischievously. "Get out of here!" She chased Camelia out of the living room, the girl laughing, clamping her hands over her mouth to keep from waking their parents up.

They paused upstairs, outside Camelia's door, catching their breath and trying to quell their giggling fits. "D-Do you...?" Camelia asked bashfully. "D-Do you want to... hang out in my room? I-I mean, we're both up... I don't think I'm going to be able to get back to sleep..."

Selina had to admit, that did sound fun, a part of her eager to let this continue, to retreat further into the past... But she couldn't help herself. "Why?" she sneered. "Too excited about seeing what Santa brought you? Trust me, 'melia, when you get older, you'll learn to look forward to having the opportunity to sleep in more than opening a few presents."

Camelia glared at her, attitude rapidly shifting at Selina's condescending tone. "You're not that much older than me, you know," she pointed out.

"But you'd never know it, would you?" Selina gestured to herself, in her little black nightie, and Camelia, in her two-piece, red and white Christmas PJs, ones they both knew probably weren't far off from what Maddie was wearing right now, if the two hadn't picked them out together to begin with.

A darkness drifted over Camelia's face, then she spun, stomping into her room and closing the door, the invitation clearly revoked. Selina shrugged, trying not to let it show she was, in fact, a bit disappointed at that, though she wasn't sure who she was performing for, or why she should care. She didn't want to hang out with a baby like Camelia anyway... More than likely, she'd just want to play with dolls or something, and Selina was nostalgic enough for the old times to sink to that level.

Despite what she'd said to Camelia, it did take Selina a little while to fall back to sleep, visions of the tree, and those presents, dancing through her mind when she closed her eyes. Eventually, she did, however, waking up to the delicious scent of fresh cinnamon rolls wafting through the house, just like it did every Christmas morning in her aunt and uncle's house. 

She changed into some jeans and a cozy sweater and headed downstairs, finding the rest of the household sitting around the living room, eating, still in their pajamas and robes. "Look who's up!" her mother smiled. "Merry Christmas, Selina!"

"Merry Christmas," Selina replied, tactfully deciding not to point out that part of the reason she was there later was that she'd taken the time to get dressed, like a civilized person. "Merry Christmas, Camelia," she said specifically, chuckling to herself at the sight of the girl who had, earlier that morning, claimed to be nearly as mature as her, sitting there in her Christmas PJs, hands - and nose - covered in frosting from her cinnamon roll, mug of hot chocolate with tiny marshmallows floating around in it beside her.

"Merry Christmas," Camelia mumbled, squirming deeper into the sofa, blushing slightly.

"Merry Christmas, dear," Camelia's mother said. "Breakfast is in the kitchen!"

Selina, straight away, poured herself a cup of coffee, and, even though the cinnamon rolls made her mouth water, she fixed herself a slice of toast instead, responsibly announcing, when her aunt asked her if she didn't see the rolls, "I'm sure there will be plenty of desserts later on today. I can wait for those."

"If you say so," her aunt told her skeptically. "Well, they'll be there if you change your mind."

"I won't," Selina smirked. "You can have mine, 'melia."

Their parents were surprised to hear their decision to wait on the presents - and Selina was surprised that Camelia didn't reverse course - but they went along with it. Selina half expected Camelia to stay in her pajamas until the rest of the family started to arrive, so she could open gifts in them; the girl did, eventually, vanish upstairs to put on another childish holiday dress, which didn't seem much different, in the end.

Selina was somewhat questioning her choice as she saw how full the living room was getting, how big their audience would be as they exchanged presents. It didn't feel quite as mature, knowing how many people would be watching, although she was still certain Maddie would appreciate being there to share Camelia's excitement. It helped that their parents would have their own gifts, too, so she wouldn't be the oldest one doing it. 

As soon as Maddie arrived, she and Camelia were squealing and hopping up and down in their holiday dresses - both the same shade of red - and tights, very much two little girls in comparison to the calm, collected Selina, waiting for the right moment to show them her video of eating Santa's cookies.

"Whoa!" Maddie gawked at the tree when she saw it. "There's so many presents! Didn't you open any?"

"Nope," Selina responded, jumping in so Camelia couldn't take credit for her idea. "We wanted to wait for you."

With so many more people in the living room, and Camelia's parents bustling in and out to finish getting everything ready for the big family meal, it was far more chaotic than usual, and more of a free-for-all, people ripping into paper wherever they could, rather than attempting to take turns. Selina, Camelia, and Maddie huddled around their pile of presents, Selina stalling as long as she could stand, as if she was trying to prove she could, despite how long she had already waited.

"This one!" Maddie declared, picking out a box from Camelia's stack for her to open first. "This one's from Santa, so I bet it's extra good!"

"I bet so," Selina joined in. "Go on, Camelia, let's see what it is."

It didn't take much to convince her. She hungrily tore open the paper, tossing it aside, opening up the box to reveal a red dress, not too dissimilar to the one she was wearing at the moment... At least, in color and fabric. "Uh-oh, looks like Santa made a mistake," she poked. "You'd think someone who was always watching you would get you something you didn't already have."

"Maybe he got mixed up," Maddie said, picking up the discarded paper to look at the tag. "Maybe it's for you, since you didn't bring any Christmas dresses, so you..."

Selina's nose wrinkled. "No, thank you. I wouldn't be caught dead in..."

The words stuck in her throat as Camelia lifted the dress out of the box, and it became abundantly clear that it was not a copy of what she was currently wearing, or anything that Selina had ever seen the girl in. The color made it appear festive regardless, but it was a dress Selina would be happy to wear any time of year, with its sexy plunging neckline and short skirt. The kind of thing that, when asked what was on her wishlist the night before, she had considered, and that made her blush to recall how vehemently she'd just claimed she didn't like it.

"Wow," Maddie breathed. "You'd look so pretty in that!"

"Y-You think so?" Camelia smiled softly, staring at it. 

"Of course!" Maddie nodded. "Why else would Santa have given it to you?"

Selina felt a pang of jealousy, which finally propelled her to pick up the first of her boxes, marked, embarrassingly, as coming from Santa. "Let's see what this is," she announced, carefully turning it over in her hands, peeling each piece of tape open one at a time, then setting the paper aside neatly, and taking the lid off the box to reveal a dress of her own. "I guess Santa wanted us to be twins," she sniffed, annoyed at the thought of matching her cousin, but excited, having seen Camelia's. Their parents had clearly collaborated - she suspected the dress Maddie was wearing had come from 'Santa', too - and she wasn't going to cooperate in their blatant attempt to get some cutesy photo of the three of them, though she wouldn't mind going to a club or something in it when she was back at school.

That lasted only until she took the dress out of the box, and, immediately, her opinion changed. "M-Maybe you're right," she stuffed it back inside, face burning. "M-Maybe he did get mixed up..." She winced, realizing she had played into their Santa delusion.

"Oh, let's see it, Lina!" Selina jumped, having almost forgotten they weren't alone, watching helplessly as her grandmother bent over, holding the dress up for everyone to see. "How precious!"

It matched Camelia's dress in color, but the style was a million miles away, in the wrong direction. Camelia's wouldn't have looked out of place on the runway; Selina's, on the other hand, was more suited for a daycare. The skirt was still quite short, even more than Camelia's, yet, because of how big and floofy it was, as opposed to the sleek slinkiness of Camelia's, which included a slit almost scandalously high up the side of the leg, it read completely different, and the neckline didn't help with that, either, sure to leave not even a hint of cleavage visible.

'Y-Yeah," Selina stammered, not wanting to argue with her grandmother, and anxious to hide the dress from view, taking it from her, hoping the rest of her family hadn't seen, shoving it back into the box, her heart thumping from humiliation and anger. What had her parents been thinking, buying her something like that?! "I-It's great..."

She was so desperate to wipe away the memory of that, she went straight into her next gift, not waiting to let Camelia open another of hers. Her patient unwrapping technique shifted, becoming more frantic, caring less about seeming mature and more about giving everyone else anything else to look at, to associate with her.

What came out of this box, however, was somehow worse. The white fabric was familiar to her, though she couldn't quite place it at first, not until she'd unfolded it, held it up, saw that it was a pair of white, cotton tights, the kind she hadn't worn in years.

"I used to have a pair like that!" Maddie giggled, Selina not realizing why, exactly, until she turned them around, saw the rows of ruffles across the back, amplifying the childishness of them exponentially.

"I think every little girl does," their grandmother said, taking them from Selina before she could hide them. "Rosa, look at these! Do you remember when you had tights like these? You were so cute! These are Selina's!"

Selina groaned, squirming in place, wanting to burrow into the floor, wishing, now, that she hadn't lobbied to wait on their presents, if this was what they were, watching helplessly as the thick, white tights were passed around and cooed over.

She was almost scared to see what else she'd been given, and increasingly furious at her parents for doing this to her. "Wh-What else did you get?" she asked Camelia, sitting back to observe and quietly seethe as the immature brat opened up box after box of designer clothes, pants and tops and heels, all things Selina would have killed for, that she knew she'd look incredible in.

It was after a pair of tall, strappy heels that Maddie pointed out, "You haven't done any in a while, 'melia! What's in this?"

Sulking, Selina complied, opening up the box, finding a pair of shiny, black Mary Janes inside, looking especially flat and babyish in comparison to the shoes Camelia had just gotten.

"Well, isn't that nice?" their grandmother smiled. "It looks like Santa got you a whole new outfit!"

"Yeah," Selina glowered across the room at her mother, who was busy opening her own presents. "I guess so." Why would her parents have done this to her?! Were they trying to teach her some sort of sick lesson?! 

"Looks alike there's only one more from Santa!" Maddie declared, pushing the large box Selina had seen Camelia sighing over that morning towards her. At this point, Selina didn't know what to expect, just wanted to get this over with, sincerely regretting not doing this in the relative privacy before everyone else arrived. 

The box really did feel odd, almost compressing under her hands as she ripped the paper off, giving off a faint rustling sound, the source of which became very obvious very quickly. "Oh, my God!" she gasped, desperately snatching the strip of paper she'd thrown aside back up, attempting to stretch it over the hole she'd made.

"Is it that good?" Maddie's eyes lit up. "Lemme see!"

"Maddie, no!" Selina shook her head, unable to stop her younger cousin in time to keep her from sliding her fingers into the gap in the paper and rip, revealing to the whole room what was inside.

It was a package of diapers. ThiCk, bulky, white diapers, covered in a festive, if infantile, print of chunky Christmas trees, snowflakes, and reindeer. Selina whimpered, shrinking back, hearing the titters from around the room as relatives glanced over, saw what she'd gotten for Christmas.

"Th-They're not mine!" she announced loudly, pushing them away with her foot, not even wanting to touch them with her hands again.

"Yeah, they are!" Maddie corrected her. "Look, here's the tag! To Lina, from Santa!"

"Santa isn't real!" Selina blurted out, almost without thinking, less to fulfill her plan, and more as a defense against these terrible presents. 

The adults around her fell silent, aghast, Selina too humiliated to smugly inform them of how Maddie was more than old enough to know the truth - and Camelia even more-so - the way she'd intended to. Maddie, for her part, barely blinked. "Don't be silly," she replied. "Of course he is! And he's always watching, even when you're asleep, so he knows exactly what you need. And he must know something about you..."

The laughter that came from their audience may have been more of a release of tension, a relieved response to Maddie not melting down, but, in her current state, Selina was having a hard time convincing herself it could be aimed anywhere other than at her, and the diapers. "No, he doesn't!" she whined. "I-I don't need those!"

"Santa is very wise," Camelia spoke up. "Look what else he gave you! Sorry, I misread the tag and thought it was mine..." 

Selina squealed in horror as Camelia held up a large, pink pacifier, redoubling the sounds of amusement from the rest of the family. "No, it's not!" Selina growled, snatching the box away, only to see that the tag did, indeed, have her name on it. "Well, I don't need it!" she huffed. "I don't want it!"

"Selina!" her mother scolded from across the room. "You're acting like a spoiled brat!"

"No, I'm not!" Selina slammed her hands down on the floor, crinkling discarded wrapping paper beneath them. "I can't believe you...!"

"She got a very nice outfit, too," Selina's grandmother said, Selina blushing, uncertain if the woman had seen the diapers or not.

"Well, go on," her mom urged. "Go try it on."

"Didn't you get some new clothes, too?" Camelia's mother asked, drying her hands on her apron. "You, too."

"Mooom!" Selina groaned. 

"Right now, young lady," her father snapped.

Selina nibbled her bottom lip, looking down at the awful, babyish outfit laid out before her. They couldn't be serious, could they?! And yet... If they'd given it to her, and brought it all this way for her to open, they had to mean it... But why?! Why would they do this to her?!

The only real alternative she could think of was... Well, what if it wasn't from them after all? The tag did say it was from Santa... But that was ridiculous! She wasn't a baby, no matter what the clothes she'd just opened made it look like! She didn't believe in Santa!

"I-I don't even know how..." she sniffed.

"I'm sure 'melia will help you," her mother told her. "Go on, you two."

Selina glanced enviously at the sexy, red dress Camelia had gotten, the matching heels... That was what she deserved, not this infantile abomination! It definitely suited her better, too, just like this childish dress would better suit Camelia's immature sense of fashion.

In fact... Other than the diapers, this dress seemed like something - as second-hand embarrassing as it was to think about a relative of hers being into - that Camelia might like... And, honestly, even the diapers weren't totally out of the question when it came to that. Camelia still acted like such a little kid, despite being barely younger than Selina... Was it possible she was THAT much of a baby?!

Thinking of it that way, it felt like there had been a mistake, like whoever had wrapped the presents had mixed up the wishlists of the two girls, and given them each others' gifts. Or... Camelia had beaten her down to the tree, and Selina had seen her messing with the presents. Could she have known what they were, and switched the tags? Had she been down there alone long enough to pull that off?

If that was the case, she almost admired Camelia for her guts, for daring to do something so cruel... Except, of course, that it had led to that mortifying show as they opened presents in front of everyone... Camelia had been awfully hesitant to get into them early, as if she wanted to guarantee Selina would be seen by at least their parents... But that may have just been because she didn't want Santa to get mad at her.

Selina's head was swimming as she gathered up her gifts, trying to drape the dress and tights over the package of diapers to hide them as she took them upstairs, trudging up alongside Camelia. If her cousin really was behind this whole thing, she probably wouldn't let her off this easily, but Selina had no idea if that was what had happened or not. And she was running out of time to decide, as Camelia's bedroom door loomed larger and larger in front of them, along with the threat of spending her Christmas dressed like a toddler.

Should Selina try to switch clothes with Camelia?

Yes

No

And who gave her the outfit in the first place?

Her parents

Camelia

Santa