The soft murmur of the television filled the Den as Tom, Lucy, Bryan, Sonia, Lucas, and Amy lounged on the plush couches. A familiar warmth lingered in the air, the kind that cos from being surrounded by loved ones.
The screen flickered with vibrant images, but no one seed particularly invested in the show as they were all too busy talking about other things to focus on it.
Suddenly, the sound of voices echoed down the hall. "Anybody ho?" Desmond's rich baritone voice carried into the room.
They all exchanged a look as everyone scrambled to their feet and they hurried out to welco their parents, with Bryan and Sonia behind.
In the entryway, Desmond, Evelyn, Andrew and Janet stood, their presence comforting. The mont their children appeared, the house buzzed with life.
"Oh, there you all are!" Evelyn exclaid, her smile wide as she opened her arms.
The next few minutes were a blur of laughter, hugs, and overlapping chatter as they all embraced and greeted each other.
"I've missed seeing you all," Evelyn said, and then pulled Sonia into her embrace again. "Oh, Sony, you look so lovely," Evelyn said, stepping back to take a good look at her daughter-in- law.
Sonia's cheeks turned pink, and she giggled softly. "I'm so glad that you're here now. I hope you don't plan to leave until Ryso arrives, right?"
Evelyn grinned, her eyes twinkling. "Of course! You have nothing to worry about. I wouldn't miss it for the world. I'm here to stay, my dear. We're welcoming my first grandchild together," Evelyn assured her.
Sonia leaned into Evelyn's embrace again, her heart swelling with happiness.
anwhile, Andrew turned to Bryan with a nod of approval. "You're doing a good job, Bryan. Sonia looks happy and healthy. Well done."
"Thank you," Bryan said, though he couldn't help but chuckle when Sonia giggled like a teenager under Andrew's praise.
"Yes. Sonia looks well taken care of. Well done," Desmond said with approval.
"Amy, how are you doing?" Janet asked, looking at Amy with a fond smile, and Evelyn's gaze shifted to Lucas and Amy.
"You're Lucas' girlfriend. I've heard so much about you from Janet. It's nice to finally et you. Lucas, you have no idea how happy I am to see you this way," Evelyn said with a wide smile.
"I'm happy that you're seeing this way too," Lucas said, and Evelyn laughed, her joy infectious.
Lucy, who had been standing quietly beside Tom after the initial hugs, finally caught Evelyn's attention again. "My darling," Evelyn said, stepping forward to clasp her hands, "you've done a beautiful job with this place. I love what you've done. The house feels so festive. I saw the decorations outside, and this tree, it's so beautiful. The lights- it's all perfect." Evelyn said, and Lucy bead.
"Thank you! I'm glad you love it. Tom and I worked on it together." She glanced at him with a soft smile.
Tom slid an arm around her waist. "Yes, we did it together," he said proudly.
Bryan groaned, rolling his eyes. "You didn't have to touch her or hold her this way to say it. We got it already. You're always trying to act like you're the most romantic guy in the room. You're so annoying," Bryan said grudgingly, and laughter erupted in the room.
"I have no idea why you're so jealous. Sony is standing right beside you, hold her if you want to," Tom teased.
Before Bryan could respond, Evelyn held up a hand, her smile indulgent. "You two, enough. Let's save the banter for later."
Desmond's gaze scanned the group. "It's good to see that everyone is doing well. Why is Jade not here?" Desmond asked curiously.
"She and Harry are having their couple counseling session today, but she said they would co over after they're done," Lucy explained, and Desmond nodded approvingly.
"That's good. I'm so proud of Jade and Harry for putting in the effort. Counseling is so important," he said, while Evelyn's gaze lingered on Lucy, and her smile widened.
She was pleased to see that Lucy was taking her place by Tom's side and handling things well with the family.
"So, are you both going to say it now or should I? I'm bursting to say it," Lucy asked with a wide smile looking from Lucas to Amy as the conversations shifted and their parents started heading for the stairs.
Lucas rolled his eyes, "Shouldn't we let everyone settle down first?" He asked, though his grin betrayed his amusent.
and Amy giggled nudging Lucas to go ahead.
"What do you want to tell us?" Janet and Andrew asked in unison.
"That we are engaged," Amy said excitedly as she raised her hand to show them her ring. "Oh, my god!" Janet exclaid happily as she pulled Amy into another hug, "Welco to the family, Amy," Janet said, while Andrew slapped Lucas on the back with approval.
"If it were soone else, I'd worry that you're both going too fast, but it's Amy, and we all know she's an angel," Andrew said as he embraced Amy.
"Okay. It's good to be welcod with such pleasant news. Why don't we freshen up and then we can all celebrate?" Evelyn suggested.
"We've celebrated already," Amy said, and Evelyn exchanged an amused look with Janet.
"We weren't part of that celebration and one celebration is never enough," Janet said, and Evelyn nodded.
"Exactly. Let's go in and you, Amy, will tell us all about the proposal, let's see if Lucas did a good job or if we are going to ask him to redo it," Evelyn said, and Amy laughed, feeling very welcod and at ho.
She had been sort of worried about eting Evelyn and Desmond but she could see that she didn't have to worry so much. It seed like the entire family were pretty accommodating
and easy going.
"I hope you brought us gifts from your travels?" Lucy asked Evelyn as they all made their way upstairs, while Tom, Lucas, and Bryan followed behind with the bags and luggage.
"Of course. We got sothing for everyone," Evelyn assured her, "speaking about gifts, please leave the red bag in the Den," Evelyn called to Lucas, who was carrying the red bag which contained the gifts she had gotten them.
After their parents freshened up a short while later, they all gathered at the dining for dinner, and Tom brought out so of his expensive bottles of wine to celebrate Lucas' and Amy's engagent again.
As they ate, Evelyn and Desmond entertained them with the tales from their trips and the various culture shock they experienced in all the places they visited.
"Why don't you both co with us on our next trip? It would be fun to travel with you two," Evelyn suggested.
"I think that's a good idea. You both deserve a vacation," Lucas said, and Lucy nodded in
agreent.
"I agree. You should travel," Lucy said and Janet rolled her eyes, not seeing any need to remind Lucy and Lucas in front of everyone that they weren't as rich as the Hanks and couldn't
afford such trips.
Thankfully, neither Janet nor Andrew had to respond as Jade and Harry joined them, "Daddy!" Jade called happily as she ran towards her father's seat, and Desmond bead a happy smile
as he pushed away from the table to embrace her. "How's my princess doing?" He asked, and she smiled happily.
"I'm fine. I missed you," she said, pulling back to look him over, "you got a bit darker. More like tanned. Have you been spending more ti outdoors?" She asked, and Desmond
chuckled.
"Yeah. Your Mom won't let stay indoors in peace," he said, before looking at Harry.
"How are you doing, Harry," he asked with a pleasant smile.
"I'm fine, Desmond. It's good to see you again. I'm sorry we got here a bit late..." "You don't have to apologize. I'm sure you ca as soon as you can," Desmond assured her.
Harry and Jade joined them at the table, and as they were served, Evelyn looked at them, "Lucy ntioned you went for couple counseling. How has it been so far?"
Jade exchanged a look with Harry, "It has been... enlightening," Jade said, and Harry nodded
in agreent.
"I highly recomnd that everyone attends these sessions. You know, most religious organizations hold such programs for intending couples. I think it's really nice," Harry said,
and Desmond nodded.
"Yeah. Eve and I signed up for it before marriage. I recomnd it too," he said, and Tom
nodded.
"I recomnd it too," Tom joked and they all laughed, from there, they drifted to other
topics.
After dinner they all retired to the Den and Evelyn opened the bag containing the gifts for
every one.
She brought jewelries, hair accessories, makeup, and scarves for the ladies which they happily received and shared amongst themselves, and for the guys she bought shirts and ties and
belts.
"It feels like Christmas already," Sonia said as they all chattered happily, grateful for the
gifts.
"Talking about Christmas, how's the plan for the party coming along?" Evelyn asked, and Lucy smiled brightly.
"It's all coming along perfectly," Lucy said, looking forward to the next couple of days when she would finally pop the question to Tom.
"I can't wait," Sonia said as she exchanged a knowing look with Harry, and Bryan smirked
when he caught the exchange, glad that he wasn't in the dark about Tom's plans as Sonia
thought.
"I can't wait either," Lucas said, with a grin.
Christmas Eve promised to be interesting, and he was looking forward to it.
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