Note: I do apologize for the lack of updates. Believe me, they weren't because of my own free will. My internet was gone for days… barely got it back right now. So, with the internet returned, so shall the updates. I do wonder about ya'll though, no reviews in a long time. Makes me sad… but, you get six chapters today.

Story-

Quatermaine Mansion, Interior-

Dillon was as shocked as anyone else to see that Jason of all people had returned to his ancestral home, the place that he didn't really like to be. Praying that there was a reason, Dillon ran behind Jason and crouched, "Please say you came to save me! Please, please, please!"

Jason rolled his eyes, "Get up, Dillon…"

"Are we leaving?"

"No," Jason didn't face his cousin, but since they were the only two people that were speaking, everyone else was busy gawking, who else could he have been speaking to? "We're staying… at least for a little while."

"He got to you, too, didn't he?" Dillon had a feeling that his dear best friend had managed to force the two most reluctant Quatermaine's back into the fold, if only for the night. "That's it… I'm returning his present."

"He'll apologize when he sees you," Jason walked away, hearing Dillon crouching behind him, trying to keep himself from being seen. "Dillon… if you don't stand up and actually enjoy yourself, I'm going to leave you here."

"Stay down, darling!" Tracy hollered. She liked the idea of Dillon being left with her. She liked it a lot. "I never thought I would say these words in my life, but for once, listen to Jason!"

Succumbing to the fact that he wasn't going to be leaving anytime soon, Dillon groaned and stood. For obvious reasons, the liquor looked quite appealing, but he didn't drink, nor did he want to start. Still, it was tempting. "You're my ride back home, I take it."

"I told him that I would take care of it," Jason moved away, finally seeing that Dillon wasn't going to follow him like some lost puppy dog.

"Who the hell are you talking about?" Tracy had heard enough of the cryptic code language. "You're talking about 'him' and 'he,' just say his name!"

"Somebody important to us," Dillon didn't want to drag poor Damian into the conversation directly. As long as she didn't know who it was, she wouldn't be able to make his life a living hell. "It doesn't concern you, mom."

"You're my child, anything that involves you concerns me…"

"Aside from tossing him out onto the streets," Monica had once again had her fill of Tracy. "You seemed to be so concerned with your son's wellbeing then."

"And how many of your sons live under this roof, Monica?" Tracy snapped back. "Oh, wait, I know the answer: none!"

"Don't start with me, Tracy…"

"What are you going to do? Choke me with a thermometer?"

"Enough!" Jason yelled, losing his temper, something that really only happened around the Quatermaine family, which was exactly why he tried to avoid the family on the whole. "I came here for a reason… and it wasn't because I wanted to watch you people do the same exact thing that made me want to leave the first time. We're all here for a simple reason, why don't we forget everything else that we're going through for just a few hours and remember exactly why we even tolerate each other."

"Jason's right, everyone," Emily had heard her brother's voice and had tried to get off the phone with Nikolas before it was too late, but it appeared that she didn't managed to do so in time. Still, he wasn't trying to walk out the door, there had to be something to be said about that. "If Grandmother were still alive today, she wouldn't let us squabble like this. We're here… all of us… because we all shared one very strong connection, our love of Lila Quatermaine. All of this screaming and belittling is only spitting on the memory of someone who deserves to be celebrated, not scorned. I came here to celebrate with my family, and come together with them after we lost the heart of that same family… but if we can't do something so simple as have a civil time together… then I don't know why any of us are even here."

"You're right, Emily," Monica hung her head low after a moment of long silence. She was doing something that Lila wouldn't have approved of. Even though Lila hated the way that the family tended to act all year round, she never stood for the usual Quatermaine antics around Christmas, it was a special time of the year for her. "We're being immature and foolish."

"But how can we help it?" Alan cusped his wife's hand. "We're Quatermaine's, it comes with the territory."

"I think, if only for a few hours, on this one night, for Grandmother, we could at least call a truce." Ned walked over to his little brother, the one who had really started the snowball effect, "We can give Lila one last Christmas present as a family. We all owe her that much. Wouldn't you agree, little brother?"

"Yeah…" Dillon looked at Ned, "I couldn't agree more. We should do this."

"When did this family turn into one big after school special?" Tracy asked, only to see each and every single person in the room looking at her like they were ready to silence her, for good. "What? I didn't say I wasn't going to go along with this little plan of yours. Watch… I'll prove it to you," Tracy took a bowl of candy canes and walked them over to Jason, "Would you like a candy cane, my dear nephew Jason?"

"I'll pass, thanks," Jason and everyone else in the room didn't buy Tracy's ruse, nor did they put any sort of level of sincerity on her, but they were all walking on eggshells, every single one of them.

"This is such a pleasant surprise," Emily walked over to her brother and gave him a big hug. "I didn't expect you to come back here."

"I have my reasons," he looked at Alan and Monica, Monica was holding back tears of joy. "How are you doing, Emily?"

"Well, I've had my rant for the day… so I think I'm good to go."

"Your rant was something that was needed, don't think otherwise," Jason looked down at her. "Lila would have been very proud of you if she heard you make that speech."

"She would have indeed," Edward and Justus came back into the room. They had also heard the arguing, and they were waiting for the fallout, but since it didn't appear to be something that was going to happen anytime soon, it was safe to come in. The doorbell rang, Edward turned into the hallway once more, "Alice, could you get the doorbell, please?"

"Don't tell me you guys ordered pizza again," Dillon had been to several Quatermaine thanksgivings, but he figured that there was at least a time when they could have a festive meal.

"Of course not, Dillon," Edward walked closer, "we only do that at Thanksgiving. Jason," Edward always beamed proudly whenever Jason was in the room, and he didn't know why, he was still very upset that Jason had chosen to leave the family like he did. "Welcome home, son…"

"Th…" Jason stopped himself. He was about to say 'this isn't my home' but he knew that it would be in poor taste and it wouldn't honor the memory of the woman that he was supposed to be honoring. "Thank you, Edward."

"Alice!" Edward called out once more, "Who was at the door?"

"You only get one guess." At the sound of the voice, Ned fell into a state of disbelief. She walked into the doorway, "And if you get it wrong, Edward, then I'm going to be very offended."

"Who let you in?" Tracy saw Lois. She wasn't happy. She never thought that Lois was good enough for her elder son, and she never would.

"I did," Alice walked in, "but she didn't come alone…"

The family watched as a younger girl stood next to her mother. She was looking at the faces, the only ones that she really knew were her father and her grandmother, who she had never met but had seen a few pictures of. It didn't matter. Like most children of divorce, Brook was just happy to be around her father again.

Ned didn't run, but he didn't exactly walk, it was more like floating in euphoria, over to his daughter. "Princess…"

"Hi, dad," Brook Lynn Ashton hugged her father for the first time in years. They had so much distance that was placed between them, but in that moment, none of it mattered.

Lois smiled, "I should be offended that I didn't get the first hug…"

"Why should you get any hugs at all?" Tracy countered. "You left my husband."

"Let's not get into that right now, shall we, my dear former mother in law?" Lois gave Tracy a cold glare, but knew that it wasn't going to intimidate her. "Because if we do, we'll see that you're not blameless in that."

"Lois… while it's always good to see you, why did you come?"

"You only get better looking with age, Alan," she smiled, but turned to look at Monica, "don't worry about it, Monica. I'm not looking to steal your husband away from you." The smile turned to something a little less festive. "I heard about Lila's death while I was touring with one of my groups across Europe. By the time I found out, the funeral was already over with. I'm sorry… all of you, I'm truly sorry for the loss that this family has endured because of Lila's passing." Ned was looking at her, holding his daughter's hand. She knew how much Lila meant to Ned, and she did wish that she could have at least tried to help him through his grief. "But… the tour is over now, we just wrapped up a few days ago, and I decided that I would come back here. I know all… well, most of you, but my daughter doesn't, and you're all her family. I always thought that I would have more time to keep Brookie alone to myself… but I was selfish, and because I was so selfish, she didn't ever get to know a woman that she had every right to know, a woman that I know loved Brook as much as anyone could."

"What is she wearing?" Tracy saw the attire on her granddaughter. "Why do you let her wear clothes that make her look half naked?"

"Because this is what people wear in this day and age, granny," Brook spoke up against Tracy, something that she had been advised not to, but she didn't see anything that she needed to be afraid of. "We can't all have grown up in the 40s like you."

"Oh, I like her," Dillon snickered, holding back an uproarious laughter.

"Hush, darling… if I were truly growing up in the 40s, you wouldn't even be alive right now."

"Is that who that is?" Lois asked, walking over to Dillon, "Little Dillon Quatermaine…" Lois knew that Tracy had another child, but it had been a long time. "Look at you…" she pinched his cheeks.

"Don't draw blood out with those things!" Dillon pulled away. Lois' nails were something else, something scary. He rubbed his cheeks, feeling the lingering effects of the pinch.

"Brookie, come meet your Uncle Dillon!"

"I can see him, ma," Brook saw Dillon. "Hey."

"Forgive her," Lois said smugly. "I tried to teach her manners…"

"How could you teach anyone manners?" Tracy scoffed. "You're from Benson Hurst!"

"I'll have you know that plenty of good people have come from that place!"

"Like who? Sonny Corinthos, maybe?" Tracy had already forgotten the vow that they made, but at the same time, Lois wasn't family, not anymore. "My poor granddaughter probably doesn't even get the benefit of public education! I knew that I should have done something to make sure that Ned got custody."

"Hey, old maid, step off your soapbox," Brook, who didn't always get along with her mother, wasn't going to let anyone badmouth her, either. "My ma does the best job that she can and always has. She's helped me through a lot… have you done the same for your kids? Last I remember, you shipped my dad off to some private school so that he wouldn't be a burden on you when he was growing up. Where the hell do you get off telling anyone how to be a parent?"

"Brook!" Lois pulled at her daughter's arm, "I told you… no matter what these people say, they're still your family, and you should respect them regardless. You do not speak to your grandmother like that. You leave such things to me."

"Why'd we even come here?" Brook asked.

"For her," Lois pointed to a picture of Lila that was in the room. "Lila loved you, Brook, we're here to pay respects to a loving woman."

Brook saw the picture of the lady. She remembered Lila, although it was only a vague memory at best. She remembered being held in Lila's arms… and her voice. Without apologizing to Tracy, since she figured she had done nothing wrong, Brook faced the other Quatermaine's, "Sorry about that… it's really nice to see all of you. I don't remember many of you… or any, really, but maybe we can change that."

Dillon and Jason collectively felt a burden lifted from their shoulders. At least they weren't the center of attention any longer.