"let this promise in me start-"
angelica stood on eliza's new bed, flanked on either side by her sisters. the bed was surrounded by boxes, many overflowing with clothes and the like, and none of them unpacked.
"-like an anthem in my heart!"
despite all that, the sisters were belting out the words to one of their favorite songs. angelica held a hair brush as a microphone, giggling as she belted out the words to the final song from the greatest showman.
"from now on, from now on!"
in a burst of excitement, eliza leaped from the bed, almost landing on a box of clothes. her sisters collapsed on the bed, their singing overtaken by fits of giggling. it didn't matter if the youngest of them was already twenty-one, they always had the best times together.
suddenly the song was picked up again.
"from now on, from now on,"
thomas burst through the door and slid to his knees, dramatically finishing the song.
"home again!"
the sisters let out cheers, eliza clapping from her spot on the floor. thomas stood and took a bow, then turned the volume down on eliza's phone.
"getting a lot of unpacking done, girls?" thomas cocked an accusing eyebrow at them, but his smirk told them he was teasing.
eliza clapped a hand to her chest in mock outrage. "only as much as you, tommy," she replied, sticking her nose in the air as her sisters giggled.
"come on, james made dinner," thomas muttered, shaking his head in mock exasperation. "what are we going to do with you girls?" he sighed.
"you sound like pop!" peggy laughed, elbowing her oldest sister. "doesn't he, angel?"
angelica let out a laugh. "he does!"
thomas rolled his eyes, walking back out of the room, but it wasn't long before he had stuck his head back in. "oh, lizzy, darling, we have something for you. just, so you know." he ducked back out of the room before eliza could see his blush and before he had a chance to see hers. that did not, however, stop her sisters from noticing.
"ooh," peggy giggled. "i wonder what they've got?"
angelica laughed. "i think our little lizzy has a crush on thomas!"
"i do not!"
eliza's sisters collapsed into fits of giggles. "mhm, sure..." peggy nodded, only holding back laughter for a moment.
"it's true! it's just..." eliza bit her lip. what was it, exactly? "i don't want to take so much from them is all."
angelica pursed her lips. "well, it certainly seems like they're willing to offer it. besides, if you won't take it, i will." she flashed a grin at her sister.
peggy scoffed. "if lizzy won't take it, i'm going to. mister fancy-pants frenchman buys you anything you could ever want. it's my turn to be spoiled."
eliza rolled her eyes. "do not have this argument again, please," she muttered, causing both of her sisters to whirl around to face her.
"'this argument'?" angelica repeated. "what do you mean 'this argument'?"
"'gilbert is worse than hercules because it's long-distance' 'well hercules is worse because he's an actual working man'," eliza mimicked her sisters. "can we just agree that all boys suck for some reason or another? some more than others," she added, thinking of alexander.
at that, both of her sisters sobered up. "sorry, 'liza," peggy murmured, sliding to the floor. she wrapped an arm around her sister, but eliza quickly shrugged it off, burying any rising feelings brought up by the thought of alexander.
"come on, thomas said dinner's ready." eliza stood, offering a hand to peggy and leaning her head against angelica's shoulder. "and it's probably not macaroni, since jemmy was the one cooking."
· · ·
eliza was right- dinner had, instead of macaroni, been ramen and grilled cheese; apparently the men of the house were incapable of actual cooking. after teasing james, they had all eaten quickly.
as soon as peggy finished (eliza was pretty sure that she had inhaled the noodles) she looked expectantly at their hosts.
it took them a few minutes. thomas kept glancing at peggy, then down at his food, and james seemed completely oblivious to the look peggy was giving him. at one point, thomas cleared his throat awkwardly, causing eliza to throw a glance his way. when she noticed the look her sister was giving him, she stifled a giggle. "she wants to know what your surprise is," eliza translated with a giggle.
"oh!" thomas flushed deep red. "right. i almost forgot."
he elbowed james, who snapped out of whatever daydream he had been buried in. "what?"
thomas rolled his eyes and muttered something to him. james's eyes widened, and he stood up quickly. "right! i'll, uh, i'll be right back."
for some reason, an awkward silence fell over the table. the room hadn't exactly been booming before, but now they were all just waiting for james to return. it was like that almost-uncomfortable, tense silence while you're waiting for someone to open a gift that you're not one hundred percent sure they'll like.
thankfully, james didn't take long. he soon returned, now with an envelope in his hand. eliza's sisters moved their chairs closer to hers in anticipation, while james and thomas sat on the edges of their chairs, looking nervous. james carefully laid the envelope in the center of the table.
peggy nudged eliza, and she reached out to grab it, being deliberately slow just to aggravate her sisters.
finally, angelica broke. "just open it already!" she groaned, getting a laugh from eliza and lightening the tense mood considerably.
fingers under the flap of the envelope, eliza paused. "just so you know, whatever this is... it doesn't matter enough that i would hate you two," she tried to comfort james and thomas. "just so you know that. i'm extremely grateful to both of you, and i'm never good at gift-giving, so i'll understand if it's not perfect. but i have no doubt that it will be." she tilted her chin, giving them a soft smile.
james seemed to relax a bit, but thomas seemed tenser, if anything. "just remember that this was all james's idea. if you don't like it. if you do... it was my idea."
eliza laughed as she pulled the envelope the rest of the way open and pulled out three pieces of paper.
"we're going to france!?"