Chapter 13.

Christmas day at Eddy and Nazz's was not a place Kevin ever thought he'd see himself. Being anywhere near Eddy and spending time with him was not where he thought he'd see himself either. Still, he knew that a large group of his friends made it an effort to spend the holiday's together, and since Eddy and Nazz were a couple, it combined the cul-de-sac into one large event.

Well, that and Eddy and Ed were Double Dee's best friends. Of course he had to go.

Packing up the presents into a sled, Eddward quickly bundled his child as warmly as he could. He then quickly pulled on his own, grabbed Thomas' hand and locked the front door once he was sure everyone was ready. He gave Kevin a quick glance and a small smile. The trio began their crunchy walk across the street. Kevin could see the others arriving and bid them a good morning along with Eddward who wished everyone a Merry Christmas.

Seems that today, Kevin was going to meet everyone again for the first time in ages. Nazz answered the door. Immediately they were greeted with warmth and love, and hugs from her. She helped unbundle Thomas and took him, walking away. Kevin raised an eyebrow, laughing. That girl loved that little boy and cared very little for anyone else. Eddy shook his head, looking to his best friend. He nodded to Kevin. Nice.

"Merry Christmas, Eddy!" Edd exclaimed. He gave his friend some presents and quickly moved out of the way as children burst their way into the room and threw everything they were wearing to keep them warm on the ground. Kevin quickly dodged two red-headed kids who nearly bowled him over and made a B-line for the couch to grab the remote and change the channel. They were stopped, however, when their Uncle Ed quickly grabbed them and held them upside down to get them to stop bickering.

"BOYS!" Sarah, Ed's little sister, walked in right behind Kevin who finally took a safe step towards Edd into the dining room. He could hear the woman stomping into the living room to scold them and then her brother for being rough with them. He stared at Edd and Edd laughed.

"Sarah's boys are a bit rough," he stated.

"You don't say?" Kevin shook his head. "Who else is coming?"

"Everyone," said Nazz, sitting Thomas in a highchair and giving him a Christmas Cookie. He was pleased and sat, content to be eating his cookie. His curiosity was peaked when the boys shrieked in the other room. Nazz flinched, laughing. "When everyone gets here, I'll introduce everyone you don't know, deal?"

"Yeah… I think I'm ready. Can your house even handle that many people?"

"Yes. I'm a fantastic host," she said with a wink. "And we do this every year." She pat his shoulder. "There's breakfast in the kitchen, along with hot drinks and cold ones. Eddy!" She left Kevin's side then, looking for her boyfriend. Eddward had gone to make sure Thomas was alright before stumbling into the living room where he was grabbed onto by Jonny who dragged him over to ask him about a thousand questions about something Kevin didn't understand.

This was nuts! Finally, everyone had arrived with Rolf being the last one. Nazz called attention to all who joined each other in the living room. Kevin stood by the entrance and watched the crowd. Eddward sat on the sofa on the other side of the room. Nazz grinned.

"Alright guys, in case you didn't notice, Kevin's back!"

"Uh, only until I sell my dad's house," he quickly affirmed. She waved a hand at him and continued.

"And since he's back temporarily, he needs to be introduced to everyone he doesn't know! So we'll start with Sarah and her family before she kills them. Those are her boys, Kevin. The oldest is Jacob, he's 5. The other is Matthew, and he's 4." Oh, so close to Tommy's age, nice. "That's her husband, Daniel." Nice looking guy. Also a redhead. That explains the kids. Kevin nodded a hello. "Next is Jimmy's daughter. That's Ophelia. She's also 5." No spouse though? He didn't even have a wedding band on his finger. Best not press this. Nazz continued on anyway.

Kevin learned that Rolf had three kids, quite a bit older than the kids in the room. They were his wife's kids: Rupert was 16, Arnold was 13 and Victor was 10. The eldest was at work, or so he claimed. Rolf's wife would be arriving shortly with the other two. Jonny was single, but highly involved with his work. Ed was single, technically, but he was seeing a nice young lady. Nothing serious. Eddy was with Nazz, Edd was a widow, Kevin was also single. That looked like everyone who was here.

Sarah's boys were growing all the more impatient. Finally, with a roll of his eyes, Eddy motioned towards the tree that was full of gifts and the boys tore into it with Jimmy's daughter gracefully walking to the tree and immediately taking no shit from any of them. She scolded both and told them what was what and made them hand out gifts to others before finding their own. It was a rather amusing spectacle and the adults witnessing it laughed quite a bit. Jimmy was embarrassed. "O-Ophelia," he said softly, trying to scold her. She spun on him and looked at him curiously.

"Oh no, she's fine!" Nazz said with a laugh. She was setting Thomas down so he could find and open presents too. Eventually, Jacob and Matthew found gifts that didn't belong to them. With Jacob's help, they were able to mostly make out which gifts went to who. As presents were dealt out, Rolf's wife appeared with her youngest boys. Kevin smiled and shook her hand, and each of the boys. It was a bigger disaster once the 13 and 10 year old arrived. Too many people - Kevin had to find a way out of the madness. Luckily, Edd rescued him from the noise and brought him into the dining room once more.

He was laughing. Kevin felt embarrassed. "Is it that noticeable that I don't know how to deal with these situations?"

"Yes," Edd laughed, grinning so wide that the gap in his teeth was visible. Kevin's heart skipped a beat then. "But I think you're doing rather well, Kevin." He pat the others shoulder and peered in to find his child. Kevin stood on the outside of the crowd and watched this group of friends, what they've grown into, and how close they'd gotten over the years… without him. Kevin's stomach sank. He'd left all of this behind to pursue his dreams, which were by all means not selfish. They were, however, terribly lonely and his heart ached with all of the memories he'd missed in the past six years. When a gift was thrust into his hands, he snapped back to reality and looked surprised at Thomas handing it to him. The handwriting was crude, so it was definitely not Edd's. Who…?

"That's from me, Kevin!" came Ed's voice, a small laugh rumbling from the big oaf. Kevin gave him a curious look and opened the gift. He laughed a bit and shook his head. "I thought you'd like that."

"Jawbreakers, nice. I haven't had one of these since I was a kid. Thanks, Ed."

The festivities went on, nearly all of the gifts being open, except for one. Thomas found it in the tree; a small gift wrapped with a pretty gold bow. He toddled it over to her and she thanked him. The card on the box made her smile.

"To Nazz from Santa, huh? Gee, I wonder what it is that Santa brought me-" she paused, the box in her hand opened to reveal a beautiful ring with a small inset of diamonds. Her eyes grew wide and she only looked up when Eddy cleared his throat. He was in front of her, down on one knee. She didn't even let him finish his question before she threw herself on him and they hit the ground together. "Yes you idiot!"

A round of applause echoed around the room and Kevin felt a twinge of jealously spring up in his heart. Not because he had feelings for Nazz, but because he realized that was what he wanted. With Edd… and he missed that chance once before. Someone else had that joy instead. His jaw clenched.

"Are you alright Kevin?" Eddward whispered to him.

"Yeah," he lied. "Yeah I'm fine."