Chapter 5

Lily was wrapped tight in Travis' arms, trying not to shiver. Tears of happiness were running down her cheeks, as well as those belonging to Mrs. Strong and Mrs. Randell. From inside the apartment Lily could hear someone popping open a bottle of Champaign, and the clinking of glasses. When Travis put her down Lily held her hand out so she could see the ring again. It was gorgeous. After about 10 minutes, she went inside because she was cold. She and Travis joined everyone else in the Living Room to celebrate.
Mrs. Strong and Mrs. Randell were sharing stories about Lily and Travis' childhood, and talking about how nice the wedding would be. It was before long that Travis and Lily bid everyone goodnight, as it was late and they felt they had had enough excitement for one night, and now they deserved a little alone time.
As soon as they were within the privacy of their own bedroom Lily wrapped her arms around Travis, kissing him passionately. "That was the sweetest most thoughtful gift I have ever gotten for Christmas. No Christmas will ever be able to top this one," Lily whispered, she wrested her head on Travis' shoulder for a minute, then ventured into their closet to change into her pajamas. When she came back out Travis was already in bed waiting for her.
Lily got into bed with Travis and snuggled up to him. She nestled herself against him. For a few moments they just sat in silence enjoying each other company. Then Travis spoke, "I just want you to know that I don't intend to be one of those grooms that just dumps all the wedding responsibilities on their bride to be, and then just shows up the day of. This is our wedding and I want it to be just as much mine as yours."
Lily looked up at him, kissing him gently on the lips, and then whispering in his ear, "and you thought I would let you get away with any less?" Travis laughed. "But we can start talking about the wedding tomorrow, I just want to have this time to ourselves, because its not like we get a lot of time like this when our families are here." She snuggled up to Travis again, and was soon fast asleep in his arms. Without waking Lily, Travis turned out the light, and was soon fast asleep as well.
When Lily woke the next morning, the first thing she saw was her engagement ring, and until that moment it hadn't really sunk in. She just stared at her newest and most prized possession; it glittered from the morning light that was streaming through the window. She rolled over to wake Travis, only to find that the duvet was peeled back, and he was no where in sight. She put her hand on the spot where Travis usually lay. It was cold. She got up and put her robe on. She first went into the living room, but no one was in there yet. She could hear voices coming from the kitchen soo she headed there. In the kitchen were, Parker, Simone, her mom, and Mrs. Strong.
"Have any of you seen Travis? He normally wakes me to tell me when he leaves in the morning and I can't find him." Lily looked questioningly at them.
Lily's mom was the first to laugh. "When I got up, I came into the kitchen to start breakfast. Travis was the only one up, and on account that most of the time you guys eat take out, or easy meals, there was syrup for the pancakes or cream for the coffee, so I sent Travis out to get some. But I'll give you this; your concern for him is very touching." And she went back to pouring the batter into pans on the stove. Just as Lily turned to go sit in the living room where she could now here Robbie and Ray, Travis walked into the kitchen with a bag of groceries.
"Here you go Mrs. Rand…Lily you're up, sorry I didn't tell you where I was going, but when I got up this morning I didn't think I would be going out, and when your mom asked me to go get a few things from the store, I thought I would be back before you were up. Otherwise I would have …" Lily silenced him with a light kiss on the lips.
"That's ok, my mom already filled me in, I was just a little worried that something had happened to you." Lily laughed a little, and then dragged Travis out of the kitchen. If her mom wanted to cook for their massive entourage then so be it. Lily and Travis joined Robbie and Ray in the living room where they were watching Christmas movies on TV.
"Good Morning Sunshine." Lily said jokingly sitting down next to Ray. For a while the four sat on the couch watching movies in their pajamas, in silence. But then Lily's mom came in announcing breakfast in a manner that made it clear that if anyone had still been asleep they better be up now.
Everyone piled into the huge dining room. Spread out on the table was plates of pancakes: blueberry, strawberry and plain. As well as fresh fruit, sausages, bacon, juice, syrup and butter. Everyone took their seats, and were soo busy eating that they sat in silence. After about 10 minutes, Travis caught Lily's eye, and then shifted his gaze to Mrs. Randell. She was shifting on her chair, and looking around. Lily and Travis had both wondered why no one had cornered them about a wedding yet, but they knew that if Mrs. Randall's behavior was any sign, she wasn't going to be able to wait much longer.
But she was able to wait longer than Travis and Lily had expected, it wasn't until everyone was almost finished breakfast that she finally said something, "So have you guys thought at all about a wedding?" Anyone would have thought that being so young, she would have been telling them to wait and have a long engagement, but she was exactly opposite. As were the rest of the parents, they were all sitting on the edge of their seats, waiting for the slightest bit of information.
Lily and Travis looked at each other and laughed, "We were waiting to see how long you could keep yourself composed without asking. But no, we haven't thought about anything yet. We know for sure that we want to have a summer wedding, and that it be late in summer so that we can do the majority of the planning after school lets out. But we aren't sure how many summers from now that's going to be." They looked at each other and smiled.