Disclaimer: This is purely fiction but based on the WB series 7th Heaven.
The WB and Spelling Television, unless you don't recognize them, own all
characters.
(NOTE: This will be my last chapter in this story; however, look for a sequel to this story coming soon. I have the storyline pretty close to being figured out. In the meantime, I'd love it if you guys checked out my other story "Complicated" about Robbie. Believe it or not, it's not too bad.) :o) Enjoy!
The Greatest Gift of All
Chapter 22
Happy New Year!
"Flight 830 will be arriving at gate C in five minutes; flight 830 will be arriving at gate C in five minutes," the airport loudspeaker announced for another flight that would be coming in soon.
Eric and Annie watched the crowd as his began to disperse. They were closely looking out for any sign of Lucy and Kevin. It was late evening on the 30th, and the couple was just getting home form their honeymoon in Hawaii.
"Look!" There they are!" Annie got excited and pointed toward the crowd in the distance. "Lucy!" she yelled out so that they would see her.
Lucy spotted her mother waving at them. "There's mom and dad," she told Kevin. They headed toward their parents.
"Hi, Mom, Dad," Lucy gave her mom and dad a hug.
"Welcome home, Luce," Eric greeted. "Glad to see you made it home in one piece."
"Told you I'd bring her back home safe," Kevin said as he hugged Annie.
"I want to hear all about your trip. Everything!" Annie said to her daughter.
"Mom, can we just go get our luggage and go home. I'm tired," Lucy admitted.
"Oh, yeah, sure. I'm sorry. You two must be exhausted. Let's get you guys home so you can relax," she smiled as they headed off toward the baggage claim. "But I expect to hear every detail of your honeymoon tomorrow," she added.
-----
Kevin and Lucy slept late New Years Eve morning, but got up in time for lunch. They headed down to the kitchen to join the rest of the family.
"Hey, you guys rested up?" Annie asked them as they sat down. Annie made them some sandwiches for lunch.
"Yeah, felt good sleeping late, didn't it, honey?" Kevin winked at Lucy.
"We haven't been able to sleep late since, well, before we were married."
"You didn't even get to sleep late in Hawaii?" Ruthie asked.
"Nope, we were pretty busy with all of our sightseeing trips. Most of them we had to start out early in the morning," Lucy told them.
"That stinks."
"Ruthie," Eric began. "You don't go to Hawaii to sleep till noon. I can't wait to hear about everything they saw," he smiled.
"Oh, Dad, you're gonna love it. I can't wait till you see the pictures. You're gonna want to take mom there."
"You think so, Lucy?" Annie perked up.
"Yeah," she laughed.
"Don't give your mother ideas, Lucy," he gently scolded.
"So, what are you waiting for?" Annie urged. "Do tell us everything?"
"No," Kevin told her.
"What?" she asked confused.
"Not yet," Kevin smiled. "Lucy and I are going to go out and get our film developed as soon as we're done with lunch at one of those 1 hour photos places."
"We're gonna make you wait until tonight to hear about our trip," she finished. "That way we'll have pictures to show you too."
Everyone groaned.
"I think we're going to have plenty of time to tell you everything. After all we'll all be up waiting for 2003 to get here anyway," Kevin explained logically. "Besides, we don't have time yet. I need to go call mom and Ben, and Lucy's going to have to call Mary and Matt. We promised we'd call them today."
-----
Later that evening after supper; Eric, Annie, Simon, Robbie, Ruthie, Sam, David, Kevin, and Lucy all gathered into the living room. Lucy grabbed the pictures and sat down.
"Now, are you guys going to tell us about your vacation?" Simon asked.
"Yes," Lucy said as she picked up one of the small packages and pulled out the first set of pictures.
"I'm assuming the flights were ok," Annie asked her daughter.
"The flights were fine; as long as I was drugged up," she added.
"And as long as she had nuts," Kevin finished.
"The trip home was a little bumpy the first couple hours though," Lucy admitted.
"Did you puke?" Ruthie asked.
"Ruthie?" Annie scolded.
"What, I was just wondering if she got airsick."
"No, I didn't." She turned to look at her husband. "Kevin was feeling a little nauseous, though."
"I was fine," he defended. "Ok, I was glad when we got out of the turbulence."
Lucy pulled out the first pictures and started passing them around. "These are pictures that I took as soon as we got off the plane in Honolulu."
"Oooh, the inside of the Honolulu airport. Very scenic," Robbie joked.
"They get better," Lucy said.
"Yeah, the pictures I took are better," Kevin chuckled. Lucy light smacked him in the arm, which only made him laugh harder. "Face it, Luce; you're not a photographer."
"Yeah, I know," she admitted. She passed around some more pictures. "Here are the pictures of the inn we stayed at. She showed them the pictures of the front entrance, the rainforest outside of the cottage, as well as pictures of the inside view of the cottage they had lived in for a few days.
"Wow, this is gorgeous," Annie admired the details of the room. They talked about the Volcano Inn and the "tree house" for a while longer before Lucy picked up the pictures from Hawaii Volcano National Park.
"This is Mt. Kilauea," Kevin passed the pictures around the circle one at a time, pointing out the different craters and domes and trails that they had caught on film.
"Did you bring us home some lava rocks from the volcano?" Robbie asked.
"We didn't touch them," Lucy said. "I wasn't going to have bad luck just because you wanted a souvenir," she told him. She then pulled out the pictures from the before sunrise tour of the volcano. "We weren't sure if these pictures would turn out," she began to explain. These were taken in the middle of the night, actually about 4 in the morning."
"You were up that early?" Simon asked incredulously.
"We had to be. Once you see these pictures you'll know why. They turned out really well." Kevin told him. "They're of the Mt. Kilauea lava lakes and flows right next to the ocean. It's an awesome sight in the middle of the night." Lucy handed them to her mother.
She gasped, "How close were you guys?" Kevin demonstrated the distance with his hands. "You were that close?"
They nodded. "Give or take a foot or two."
"Cool!" Simon and Robbie chimed in.
Kevin and Lucy went on for the next hour or so showing them the pictures of the waterfalls and the botanical garden, and even the beach that they went to the day before they returned home.
"Now that would be neat to go see that volcano sometime," Robbie admitted.
"Yeah," Simon and Ruthie both agreed.
"I think I'd prefer to see the waterfalls," Eric surmised.
"We actually thought that would be the part you'd like, Dad," Lucy told him.
"It sounds like you two had a great time," Annie said. She looked at her husband, "I wanna go."
Eric put his arm around her shoulders. "I know. Maybe someday when we're old and gray and the twins are finally out of the house, we'll be able to afford it," he smiled and kissed her forehead. "Or maybe you'll get lucky and we'll be able to afford it before then." Eric looked over at the clock. "It's only 11:30? Time sure goes by slow when you're dreaming of Hawaii," he joked.
"Perfect!" Lucy excitedly stood up and left the living room.
"Where's she going?" Eric asked Kevin.
"We left a bag of gifts that we brought home for everyone over by the back door," Kevin laughed.
Lucy came walking back in. "What did you get us?" Ruthie perked up.
"Hold your horses, Ruthie. We got everybody here something," she smiled at her little sister.
Lucy handed Kevin her mother's gift; he passed it along her Annie. "We got this for you, Mom. You don't actually have to use it or anything," he grinned.
She took the gift from his hands. It was a ceramic pineapple with a hook on it. "Oh, how cute," she looked at them. "What's it's supposed to be used for?" she asked.
"It's supposed to be a towel hook. You know, to hang towels on," Lucy explained. "Although, you could probably hang anything on it if you want - keys, Happy's leashes, dad's ties. . ."
"And this is for you, Dad," Kevin handed Eric his gift.
"Hey, it's a wooden pineapple with holes in it," he smiled. "Just what I always wanted." The others laughed.
"It's a toothpick holder," Lucy explained. "You're always asking for toothpicks."
"Oh, it's great. Maybe I can keep it on my desk in my office. Thanks!"
Simon was next. Lucy pulled out a piece of clothing and handed it to him. "It's a Hawaiian shirt," he unfolded it and held it up. "I've always wanted one of these." It was one of those shirts with palm trees and beaches all over it. "Cecilia's gonna love it."
"Oh, before we forget, we brought everyone home a leis," Kevin passed out the colorful Hawaiian floral necklaces and everyone put them on.
"Ruthie, we got you one of those Hawaii type hats the ladies wear," she pulled out a straw hat that she knew Ruthie would like.
"Thanks, Lucy, Kevin," she smiled and put it on. "How do I look?" she asked.
"Hawaiian," Lucy smiled at her sister.
"Robbie, we were going to get you a hula skirt, but we didn't know what size you would wear," he grinned.
"Awww, I wanted one of those," Robbie kidded.
"So we bought you this Hawaiian backpack instead; you know since you're still in school, we thought it would come in handy," Kevin handed Robbie the backpack.
"Hey, this is neat. I needed a new one anyway. That black one I've got has holes in it. Thanks you two."
"That leaves Sam and David," Lucy looked over at the twins who had fallen asleep on the living room floor. "But they're a little busy right now," she smiled. "We got them Hawaiian print pajamas - red for David and blue for Sam." She unfolded them to show her parents.
"Oh, those are so cute," Annie took them from Lucy. "The boys will love them."
Just then the living room clock struck 12.
"It's midnight!" Ruthie said.
"Goodbye 2002 - hello 2003!" Eric added. "Here's to a brand new year," Eric leaned over and kissed Annie.
"Here's to the three of us keeping this a trouble-free year," Ruthie went over and gave Simon and Robbie each a kiss on the cheek.
"Here's to our first new year together as husband and wife," Lucy said softly as Kevin leaned over to kiss his wife.
THE END! (For now)
Stayed tuned for a sequel to "The Greatest Gift Of All"!
(NOTE: This will be my last chapter in this story; however, look for a sequel to this story coming soon. I have the storyline pretty close to being figured out. In the meantime, I'd love it if you guys checked out my other story "Complicated" about Robbie. Believe it or not, it's not too bad.) :o) Enjoy!
The Greatest Gift of All
Chapter 22
Happy New Year!
"Flight 830 will be arriving at gate C in five minutes; flight 830 will be arriving at gate C in five minutes," the airport loudspeaker announced for another flight that would be coming in soon.
Eric and Annie watched the crowd as his began to disperse. They were closely looking out for any sign of Lucy and Kevin. It was late evening on the 30th, and the couple was just getting home form their honeymoon in Hawaii.
"Look!" There they are!" Annie got excited and pointed toward the crowd in the distance. "Lucy!" she yelled out so that they would see her.
Lucy spotted her mother waving at them. "There's mom and dad," she told Kevin. They headed toward their parents.
"Hi, Mom, Dad," Lucy gave her mom and dad a hug.
"Welcome home, Luce," Eric greeted. "Glad to see you made it home in one piece."
"Told you I'd bring her back home safe," Kevin said as he hugged Annie.
"I want to hear all about your trip. Everything!" Annie said to her daughter.
"Mom, can we just go get our luggage and go home. I'm tired," Lucy admitted.
"Oh, yeah, sure. I'm sorry. You two must be exhausted. Let's get you guys home so you can relax," she smiled as they headed off toward the baggage claim. "But I expect to hear every detail of your honeymoon tomorrow," she added.
-----
Kevin and Lucy slept late New Years Eve morning, but got up in time for lunch. They headed down to the kitchen to join the rest of the family.
"Hey, you guys rested up?" Annie asked them as they sat down. Annie made them some sandwiches for lunch.
"Yeah, felt good sleeping late, didn't it, honey?" Kevin winked at Lucy.
"We haven't been able to sleep late since, well, before we were married."
"You didn't even get to sleep late in Hawaii?" Ruthie asked.
"Nope, we were pretty busy with all of our sightseeing trips. Most of them we had to start out early in the morning," Lucy told them.
"That stinks."
"Ruthie," Eric began. "You don't go to Hawaii to sleep till noon. I can't wait to hear about everything they saw," he smiled.
"Oh, Dad, you're gonna love it. I can't wait till you see the pictures. You're gonna want to take mom there."
"You think so, Lucy?" Annie perked up.
"Yeah," she laughed.
"Don't give your mother ideas, Lucy," he gently scolded.
"So, what are you waiting for?" Annie urged. "Do tell us everything?"
"No," Kevin told her.
"What?" she asked confused.
"Not yet," Kevin smiled. "Lucy and I are going to go out and get our film developed as soon as we're done with lunch at one of those 1 hour photos places."
"We're gonna make you wait until tonight to hear about our trip," she finished. "That way we'll have pictures to show you too."
Everyone groaned.
"I think we're going to have plenty of time to tell you everything. After all we'll all be up waiting for 2003 to get here anyway," Kevin explained logically. "Besides, we don't have time yet. I need to go call mom and Ben, and Lucy's going to have to call Mary and Matt. We promised we'd call them today."
-----
Later that evening after supper; Eric, Annie, Simon, Robbie, Ruthie, Sam, David, Kevin, and Lucy all gathered into the living room. Lucy grabbed the pictures and sat down.
"Now, are you guys going to tell us about your vacation?" Simon asked.
"Yes," Lucy said as she picked up one of the small packages and pulled out the first set of pictures.
"I'm assuming the flights were ok," Annie asked her daughter.
"The flights were fine; as long as I was drugged up," she added.
"And as long as she had nuts," Kevin finished.
"The trip home was a little bumpy the first couple hours though," Lucy admitted.
"Did you puke?" Ruthie asked.
"Ruthie?" Annie scolded.
"What, I was just wondering if she got airsick."
"No, I didn't." She turned to look at her husband. "Kevin was feeling a little nauseous, though."
"I was fine," he defended. "Ok, I was glad when we got out of the turbulence."
Lucy pulled out the first pictures and started passing them around. "These are pictures that I took as soon as we got off the plane in Honolulu."
"Oooh, the inside of the Honolulu airport. Very scenic," Robbie joked.
"They get better," Lucy said.
"Yeah, the pictures I took are better," Kevin chuckled. Lucy light smacked him in the arm, which only made him laugh harder. "Face it, Luce; you're not a photographer."
"Yeah, I know," she admitted. She passed around some more pictures. "Here are the pictures of the inn we stayed at. She showed them the pictures of the front entrance, the rainforest outside of the cottage, as well as pictures of the inside view of the cottage they had lived in for a few days.
"Wow, this is gorgeous," Annie admired the details of the room. They talked about the Volcano Inn and the "tree house" for a while longer before Lucy picked up the pictures from Hawaii Volcano National Park.
"This is Mt. Kilauea," Kevin passed the pictures around the circle one at a time, pointing out the different craters and domes and trails that they had caught on film.
"Did you bring us home some lava rocks from the volcano?" Robbie asked.
"We didn't touch them," Lucy said. "I wasn't going to have bad luck just because you wanted a souvenir," she told him. She then pulled out the pictures from the before sunrise tour of the volcano. "We weren't sure if these pictures would turn out," she began to explain. These were taken in the middle of the night, actually about 4 in the morning."
"You were up that early?" Simon asked incredulously.
"We had to be. Once you see these pictures you'll know why. They turned out really well." Kevin told him. "They're of the Mt. Kilauea lava lakes and flows right next to the ocean. It's an awesome sight in the middle of the night." Lucy handed them to her mother.
She gasped, "How close were you guys?" Kevin demonstrated the distance with his hands. "You were that close?"
They nodded. "Give or take a foot or two."
"Cool!" Simon and Robbie chimed in.
Kevin and Lucy went on for the next hour or so showing them the pictures of the waterfalls and the botanical garden, and even the beach that they went to the day before they returned home.
"Now that would be neat to go see that volcano sometime," Robbie admitted.
"Yeah," Simon and Ruthie both agreed.
"I think I'd prefer to see the waterfalls," Eric surmised.
"We actually thought that would be the part you'd like, Dad," Lucy told him.
"It sounds like you two had a great time," Annie said. She looked at her husband, "I wanna go."
Eric put his arm around her shoulders. "I know. Maybe someday when we're old and gray and the twins are finally out of the house, we'll be able to afford it," he smiled and kissed her forehead. "Or maybe you'll get lucky and we'll be able to afford it before then." Eric looked over at the clock. "It's only 11:30? Time sure goes by slow when you're dreaming of Hawaii," he joked.
"Perfect!" Lucy excitedly stood up and left the living room.
"Where's she going?" Eric asked Kevin.
"We left a bag of gifts that we brought home for everyone over by the back door," Kevin laughed.
Lucy came walking back in. "What did you get us?" Ruthie perked up.
"Hold your horses, Ruthie. We got everybody here something," she smiled at her little sister.
Lucy handed Kevin her mother's gift; he passed it along her Annie. "We got this for you, Mom. You don't actually have to use it or anything," he grinned.
She took the gift from his hands. It was a ceramic pineapple with a hook on it. "Oh, how cute," she looked at them. "What's it's supposed to be used for?" she asked.
"It's supposed to be a towel hook. You know, to hang towels on," Lucy explained. "Although, you could probably hang anything on it if you want - keys, Happy's leashes, dad's ties. . ."
"And this is for you, Dad," Kevin handed Eric his gift.
"Hey, it's a wooden pineapple with holes in it," he smiled. "Just what I always wanted." The others laughed.
"It's a toothpick holder," Lucy explained. "You're always asking for toothpicks."
"Oh, it's great. Maybe I can keep it on my desk in my office. Thanks!"
Simon was next. Lucy pulled out a piece of clothing and handed it to him. "It's a Hawaiian shirt," he unfolded it and held it up. "I've always wanted one of these." It was one of those shirts with palm trees and beaches all over it. "Cecilia's gonna love it."
"Oh, before we forget, we brought everyone home a leis," Kevin passed out the colorful Hawaiian floral necklaces and everyone put them on.
"Ruthie, we got you one of those Hawaii type hats the ladies wear," she pulled out a straw hat that she knew Ruthie would like.
"Thanks, Lucy, Kevin," she smiled and put it on. "How do I look?" she asked.
"Hawaiian," Lucy smiled at her sister.
"Robbie, we were going to get you a hula skirt, but we didn't know what size you would wear," he grinned.
"Awww, I wanted one of those," Robbie kidded.
"So we bought you this Hawaiian backpack instead; you know since you're still in school, we thought it would come in handy," Kevin handed Robbie the backpack.
"Hey, this is neat. I needed a new one anyway. That black one I've got has holes in it. Thanks you two."
"That leaves Sam and David," Lucy looked over at the twins who had fallen asleep on the living room floor. "But they're a little busy right now," she smiled. "We got them Hawaiian print pajamas - red for David and blue for Sam." She unfolded them to show her parents.
"Oh, those are so cute," Annie took them from Lucy. "The boys will love them."
Just then the living room clock struck 12.
"It's midnight!" Ruthie said.
"Goodbye 2002 - hello 2003!" Eric added. "Here's to a brand new year," Eric leaned over and kissed Annie.
"Here's to the three of us keeping this a trouble-free year," Ruthie went over and gave Simon and Robbie each a kiss on the cheek.
"Here's to our first new year together as husband and wife," Lucy said softly as Kevin leaned over to kiss his wife.
THE END! (For now)
Stayed tuned for a sequel to "The Greatest Gift Of All"!