Disclaimer: I do not own 7th Heaven, or anything affiliated with the WB. I also (sadly) have nothing to do with Brad Pitt.

A/N: Thanks for the reviews! I thank Camden-Kinkirk for pointing out my mistake in the last chapter, which has since been fixed. I really hope that you enjoy this next chapter.

In The Days Ahead

Chapter 4: Family Visits

It is December 25, Christmas Day. The kids are on break from school, and the entire family has been invited to spend Christmas at Annie and Eric's home.

Annie Camden walked into the kitchen and opened up her oven. She smiled as she was surrounded by a wonderful sweet smell: her honey-baked ham was done. Hands covered in oven-mits, she reached in and took dinner out. She placed it on the kitchen table amid the other dishes, like peas, corn, rolls, butter, and more. Eric walked over to the table and cut the ham nicely as Annie pulled out 30 plates, one for each of her children, children-in-law, grandchildren, and one for herself and Eric.

The house was full of noise. All the kids were in the back yard playing. The younger children were playing tag and hide and go seek, while Emily and Rachel played basketball at Mary's old hoop. The adults were socializing in the family room. The only ones who had not yet arrived were Sam and Hailey. Just as Annie thought of her son and daughter-in-law, the phone rang. She reached over and picked it up.

"Hello?" She asked warmly into the receiver. She was happy to her Sam's voice on the other end. "Hi sweet heart. Are you and Hailey still coming? Everyone got here at 3:30, and now it's almost half past four…oh. OK. How long do you think you'll be?…Ok. Yes that's probably a good idea; everyone's getting hungry. I'll be sure to save you some though for you to take home…I love you…bye." She hung up and sighed, turning to Eric. "That was Sam. Hailey had to go onto the set for a few hours this morning…it wasn't planned, but I guess they had to do it…Sam wasn't very clear. Anyway, they won't be here for another hour, so he said to eat with out them, and then I'm saving them some to take home."

"Oh, OK. Sounds good to me. I'm glad he called."

"Me too." Annie walked out to where the rest of the family was chatting and announced that dinner was about to be served. Everyone entered the dining room for the first time that night, and gasped. Annie had outdone herself. The nice china was on the table, over a beautiful table cloth, candles were lit, the room was decorated for Christmas, and dinner was on the table, smelling good even from under it's covers. Next to the adult table was a fold up table with plastic dishes that resembled glass (to make the kids still feel special). It had a few plug in candles on it with light bulbs that flickered for flames. Sean, Chloe, and Jack Camden, Kyle Ponce, Will, Luke, Maddy, and Liv Kinkirk, Ethan, and Charlie Camden, and Natalie and Amy Petrowski all took their places at the kid table. Emily and Rachel, being 16 and 13 respectively, got to sit with the adults at the adult table. Annie had already made up identical plates for each of the kids, with the exception of Liv, who was allergic to peas. She had put pie tins over each of the children's plates as covers. They each lifted their 'cover' and looked at the food with wide eyes and growling stomachs. The adults went around the table, each serving themselves from the food dishes around the table, and filling their cups with either water or milk, according to their liking. Annie went around the childrens' table and filled each of their cups with milk or water, depending on what they asked for. She made sure to have sippy cups of the drink of their choice for everyone under 6: Jack, Kyle, Liv and Amy. After everyone had their food and drink, they bowed their heads, and Eric said a blessing. As soon as he spoke the word "Amen", the table went wild with noise as everyone began to dig into their dinner.

"Oh, Annie!" Marie exclaimed. "This is just divine! You've truly outdone yourself!" Her husband, David, nodded his head in agreement.

"Yeah mom, this is wonderful!" "Yeah" and other agreements were muttered all around the table. Annie basked in the complements. If there was anything she loved to do, it was cook for her family.

"Thank you!" She said, once everyone had stopped. "I'm so glad that you like it!" She took a bite of her food and smiled to herself. It's not too bad, if I say so myself…she thought. When everyone was almost finished with their dessert, they heard the door open. Sam and Hailey stepped in and smiled at the family.

"Sam! Hailey!" Annie got up and rushed over to her son and daughter-in-law, hugging them each warmly. "I've missed you so much!" She told them, having not seen them in 4, almost 5 months. Hailey was currently working in a film. She had her biggest role yet, as the main character's sister, who appeared many times. She was very excited, as was the rest of the family, and no one could wait to see the movie once it came out. Hailey was also ecstatic to be working with her favorite actor, Brad Pitt. It was a dream come true!

"Hi everyone!" Sam said. Hailey repeated what her husband had said. "How was dinner?" He asked with a laugh.

"It was great!" Emily answered. "So, Hailey! How's the movie going?" At age 16, Emily was completely enamored with the thought of having a "movie-star aunt". Though she wasn't exactly a "star" yet, Hailey was certainly on her way.

"It's going really well, actually. That's why we were late. For those of you who didn't know, we're about half way done with the shooting of 'Jamestown." She said of her film. "I got called in this morning by the director. Apparently, the scene he thought we had finished with yesterday still didn't look right after all, so he wanted to re-shoot!"

"Oh! So, what's "Jamestown" about?" Asked 13-year-old Rachel.

"Well, it's about a woman who just moved into a mansion…"

"All by herself?" Asked Maddy, interrupting.

"Yes, all by herself. Some weird things start happening, and she thinks that it's haunted, and…oh, I can't give it all away! Just trust me, it's pretty cool. I can't wait for you to see it!

"Yeah me either!" Both Rachel and Emily said, then laughed because of their synchronization. Everyone finished quickly then the entire family moved into the family room, where the Christmas tree stood tall, decorated with lights and tons of ornaments. Presents were stacked high underneath the tree. The triplets, along with Ethan and Charlie, took the liberty of passing out everyone's presents. Lucy and Kevin helped them, making sure that they were giving them to the right people. After they were all passed out, the opening frenzy began. Everyone got many cool things, and the kids were all antsy to play with their new toys. As Emily opened her last present, which was from Hailey, she let out a squeal of delight and ran over to her aunt, hugging her and thanking her profusely.

"What is it?" Much of the family asked in unison, curious as to what could excite Emily so much. She hadn't acted like this since she got her "Susie sings a lot" doll back on her 6th birthday.

"Brad Pitt's autograph!!" She cried, jumping up and down. She held it up for everyone to see. "Emily, have a great Christmas! It has been a lot of fun working with your Aunt lately. I hope you enjoy Jamestown once it's out. Peace, BRAD PITT!!" She read aloud. Every one oohed and ahhed over Emily's new found pride and joy. Hailey laughed when she saw the hurt look on Rachel's face.

"Rachel sweetie! Open you're last present from me…you might be happy…" She hinted. Rachel gasped, remembering about her last present. She opened it up quickly, and too began to jump up and down, also having received an autograph from her aunt's co-star.

"Thank you thank you thank you!" She squealed, hugging her aunt tightly. Emily did the same again.

"You two are more than welcome!" She said. "I brought frames to fit those too for ya. I have them in Uncle Sam and my car. I'll go get them for you after we all pack up our stuff, OK? The girls agreed.

Everyone began making trips to their car, loading up the presents. After they were finally finished, and Emily and Rachel had their frames, the family began to say their good-byes. Everyone left, with the exception of Sam and Hailey, as it was a three-hour drive back home, and already 11 o'clock. Annie had Matt's old room all ready for them. Sam, Hailey, Annie, and Eric stayed up until 2 o'clock AM, catching up about everything going on in their lives. They finally stopped talking when they saw that Hailey had fallen asleep on her husband's shoulder, exhausted after a day of shooting and driving. He woke her long enough to say goodnight to Mr. And Mrs. Camden Sr., then he walked with her upstairs to their room. After getting their teeth brushed and pajamas on, the light went out, and they were both fast asleep. Annie and Eric walked past the room their son and daughter-in-law were sleeping in. Annie smiled.

"It's nice to have them here." She said. Annie nodded and kissed his wife on the head.

"It is." He agreed. "It is." With that, they walked into their own room, and after getting ready for bed, their light too shut off, and the house was silent.

A/N: Please review!