Disclaimer: I lay no claim to any person, place or thing mentioned in this story. Unless it's an OC, I don't own a damn thing.
December 20th, 2007- East Hampton, NY
Amy Dumas-Jones was always home for Christmas, regardless of where she was in the world or what she was currently doing with her life; the redheaded woman always came home for the holidays. It was one of the few traditions she would always honour, no matter what happened. And this year was no exception, though the circumstances were certainly different … this year, she had three of her co-workers with her and this year, her parents were overseas belatedly celebrating their anniversary. Amy, along with her older brother Tyson and her younger brother Allen, had volunteered to house sit while their parents were away; thus enabling the siblings to honour the tradition of being home for Christmas. Of course, this year was going to be different simply because their parents wouldn't be there, but this year would be different for another reason. Just like Amy had invited three of her co-workers, her brothers had invited a few friends of theirs to stay for the holidays; the three siblings having neglected to tell the other that there would be extra guests. All Amy did know at that point; was that her brothers would be arriving sometime during the afternoon.
Amy turned her attention back to her fiends, "my brothers won't be here for another two hours at least, so if you want a tour or something…"
Trish Stratus blinked, "I've known you for years and you never invited me here…"
Amy rolled her eyes a little, "that's because I don't really come home unless it's for Christmas, this year my parents are out of town so my brothers and I are house sitting."
Dawn Marie Psaltis cleared her throat, "not to be rude or anything Amy, but, you've never let on that your parents were rich."
The redheaded woman half shrugged, "And that's because they aren't, my family worked hard for their money and my parents just wanted to splurge a little bit … this house is really one of the few things they've ever splurged on."
Lisa Varon frowned in thought, "you had mentioned that your dad is an architect?"
"Yes, my grandfather started the business, my dad took over for him and my brothers work for him." Amy paused to seat herself in the living room, "my grandmother was a banker and my mom is a stock broker and obviously you three know what I do for a living."
"Self made success stories according to the local newspaper," Trish said with a grin, "our client list nearly tripled after that article was printed."
Dawn nodded shortly, "I had at least ten new people showing up for my Pilates class, five more for yoga. Lilian and Traci got a tonne of new clients too."
Lisa smirked, "and my brother always tried to say that running a holistic health centre wouldn't be profitable at all."
Amy grinned, "Well that's because we have all of the services that people want in one place. Plus, the location helps, all of those health nuts and new age people." Running a hand through her hair, she stood; "We should at least get settled before my brothers get here, all of the bedrooms are upstairs and the only three that are off limits are on the right hand side of the hallway. That's where my old room is and my brother's rooms."
Once Lisa, Dawn and Trish had chosen rooms and unpacked a little, Amy met them back downstairs in the living room; the redhead once again offering a tour of the house if they wanted it. And while they did decline the offer, Dawn and Lisa did go exploring on their own; Trish and Amy getting started with some of the decorations for the house. The two women were just starting on the garlands for the staircase, when the front door opened.
Amy temporarily abandoned the garland she was holding, "and that's probably one of my brothers. Although, they said they would be here after lunch, and it's not even noon yet."
As she walked into the foyer, the smile on her face died, the pleasant greeting disappearing from her mind; the redhead more than a little surprised to see her ex-boyfriend there.
"What are you doing here and how did you get in here?"
"You gave me a house key and I had forgotten that I had it until I got here." A beat passed, "I take it your brothers didn't tell you that I was going to be here?"
Amy frowned, "if I had known you were going to be here, then I wouldn't have come."
Jay Reso smiled dryly, "it's so nice to see you too, Amy."
The redhead crossed her arms over her chest, "I'm sure that's how you really feel, Jason; so tell me … which one of my brothers needs to die?"
The blond man rolled his eyes, "actually it would be Tyson, and he said it wouldn't be a problem if I spent the holidays with you."
"I'm sure," Amy said and then made a face, "well I guess since you're here, you should go pick out a room. You do remember where they are, don't you?"
"It's only been a little over a year since I was last here, yes I remember." He picked up his suitcase, "if your brother had bothered to tell me that you were going to be here? I wouldn't have come."
She opened her mouth to reply to that, only to stop when her friends entered the foyer; Amy sighing before she gestured towards the blond man. "Dawn, Lisa and Trish, this is Jay Reso. Jay, this is Dawn Psaltis, Lisa Varon and Trish Stratus, co workers of mine."
Jay offered a polite smile to the three, "if you don't mind, I'm just going to unpack and wait for Tyson to get here, I think I need to have a word with him."
Dawn glanced at the spot where Jay had been standing and then sent a curious look to Amy, "why does his name sound so familiar?"
Amy gritted her teeth, "because I've mentioned him before, Dawn."
The brunette woman blinked, "is he that Jay?"
"Yes, he's that Jay … he's my ex-boyfriend. We were together for a few years, split up and I haven't seen him since."
Trish arched an eyebrow, "so why is here now?"
Amy smiled wryly, "because he works with my brothers and my older brother decided it would be a great idea to invite him along for the holidays." Shaking her head, she headed back towards the staircase, "if you three would excuse me … I'm going to find a blunt object to greet my brother with, he should be here soon."
The trio of women blinked as Amy practically stormed out of the foyer, the redhead returning when the front door opened again … this time though, it was her two brothers with more guests for the holidays. Jay returning downstairs as the introductions were made, Tyson narrowly avoiding his sister's wrath.
Tyson pushed his younger brother in front of him, using Allen as a human shield. "Can I at least introduce my friends before you kill me?"
Amy glared, "if your friends work with both of you, then only one of you needs to be alive to make the introductions."
Tyson shrugged, "technically yes, but that doesn't mean I'm about to take any chances." The bald man glanced back to the two blond men standing behind him; "Ames … that's Chris Irvine and Adam Copeland. The irate redhead is my baby sister Amy."
The redhead stuck out her tongue at her older brother and then gestured to her friends, "Dawn, Lisa and Trish, meet my brothers Tyson and Allen; Ty and A.J, these are my co-workers Lisa Varon, Dawn Psaltis and Trish Stratus."
A.J wormed his way out of his older brother's death grip. "Sis, did you make lunch yet? I'm starving."
Amy's anger melted away almost instantly, the redhead wrapping up her younger brother for a hug. "We'll go make lunch together, that way you can help me poison Ty's food and then after lunch we have to get the outside decorations up."
Adam scratched the back of his neck, "is your sister always like that?"
Tyson shook his head, "no … Ames is just mad at me because—"
"Because you forgot to tell her that you invited me?" Jay suggested, a sour look on his face. "If I didn't still have a house key, she probably would have locked me out of the house."
"Hold on a second," Adam smirked suddenly at the shorter blond man, "she's that Amy?"
Chris smirked as well, "this is going to be a fun holiday, all of us in this one house until Christmas?"
Jay rolled his eyes, "Tyson, I need to talk to you. Now."
Tyson inwardly sighed, "Fine, fine … I'll talk to you first, then get yelled at by Amy later."
Dawn and Trish exchanged a look, the brunette then glancing towards the kitchen and the now closed living room doors. "So, Jay and Amy used to date, Tyson thought it was a good idea … and now we're all here together for the holidays."
The blond woman smiled, "and if you're thinking what I'm thinking then we have to go get details out of Amy and find a lot of mistletoe."
Lisa shook her head at the two well meaning women, "I really don't think that's such a good idea. It's the holidays, we might as well try to enjoy it not make a match making scheme out of it."
Dawn waved it off without a care, "oh come on, it'll be fun, Lisa. Where's your sense of Christmas spirit?"
The taller woman snorted softly, "Yeah because she looked so thrilled to see him here. I really don't think it's a good idea." A beat passed, "and I must have forgotten to pack my Christmas spirit, sorry but count me out."
While Lisa chatted with Chris and Adam, Dawn and Trish formed their plans; Jay and Tyson continued to talk, Amy and A.J still in the kitchen making lunch. Suffice it to say, the atmosphere wasn't exactly festive or warm but it was still the holiday season… Amy still determined to make the most out of the upcoming week.
