To Relatives With Love

My whole family gathered around our dinning room table. Even with all the leaves in it there was not enough room for everyone; the adults were at one table and the young adults where at another. Harry and Andrea along with some of my other cousin's children were at yet another table. Madness.

Erik was feeling out of place again. He had never been around so many people for so long before. True, there was nothing he needed to feel self conscious about; his face was no longer an issue. However, years of acting a certain way had left an imprint.

Still, he forced his nerves down and tried to ignore the need to run away and put on a smiling face. He held my hand and I led him to the dinning room. I was sitting just to the left of my dad, who was at the head of the table.

Erik sat next to me, and Leo next to him, and Andy next to him. My mother sat across from me, and Lily next to her and James next to her. However, Lily was not in her seat. She was busy taking food from the kitchen to the dinning room.

"Lily! Sit down…" My father called to her, "Your mother wants to say a prayer…"

My big fat Catholic mother had adopted this custom from my grandmother. She used to always say a prayer before dinner. However, that night it actually served my purposes. After everyone had quieted down my mother began to speak…and when she was done; I planned on making my announcement.

As my mother spoke, I glanced at Erik; he was staring intently at the mashed potatoes my sister had placed on the table. I smiled; the look on his face resembled the look on mine just before a store opened.

I reached out my hand and placed it over his under the table. I smiled slightly at him, giving him a meaningful look. He nodded; so this would be the moment when it would be announced, he thought. He took a deep breath. It was real; it was all real. He could still hardly believe his luck. Engaged…

My mother finished, I didn't even notice Lily had opened her mouth before I started talking,

"Um…before we all start talking again…" I began, everyone turned to look at me, "I have an announcement to make,"

"Oh my God…" My mother looked at me with wide shinning eyes and put her hand over her mouth,

I smiled and grabbed Erik's hand tighter. My eye began to tear up again as I spoke, "Erik and I are going to be married…"

There was a thunderous explosion in the house the likes of which had not been seen since Andy's eleventh grade chemistry experiment. Erik thought the commotion rivaled what had been caused the night of Don Juan.

My mother shirked and ran to my side. She threw her arms around, "My baby's getting married!"

She wasn't the only one. My whole family swooped in. Erik felt like he was caught in a whirl pool; people were hugging him, shaking his hand and congratulating him. He was so overcome he could hardly stammer out a thank you.

My mother grabbed my hand and I twisted the ring so she could see. There was a general intake of breath as the light caught the ring and Erik felt someone clap him on the shoulder.

We were hit with a barrage of questions;

"When is the wedding?"

"Where is it?"

"How did you get engaged? When did you get engaged!"

Erik and I had been forced to stand when we had been hit with the fallout of our announcement. I wrapped my arms around Erik's middle and rested my head against his shoulder.

"He only just asked me, we haven't really thought about all that yet," I was beaming ridiculously,

"Oh!" my mother was crying, "I know we don't know you very well Erik, but welcome to the family," she hugged us both again.

Welcome to the family, Erik thought. He looked around at all the smiling people who were staring at us; at him. For once, he knew that it had nothing to do with his face; these people where happy. They were welcoming him into their arms. This was his family. He searched the sea of faces; he did not know anyone really except for Andy and Leo but still, this was his family.

However he noticed one person was not smiling. Lily. True enough; on her face her lips were drawn back in a would be expression of happiness, but Erik knew it was false. He stared directly at her and she averted her eyes. With out a word she turned and retreated out to the kitchen.

Erik sighed. He knew what she was feeling; like an outcast in her own family. A feeling he was all to familiar with. However, he did not have much time to think about it. His new family would not let him.

Sitting down we faced the line of questions all over again,

"So when do you two plan on getting married?" My father asked me as he turned his nose up at some vegetable casserole Lily had made and passed the dish to me,

"I told you; we haven't really thought about all that yet," I took the casserole and passed it without taking any,

"Well think about it now," My mother said, her eyes were still filled with tears,

"Yes, Liv, Plan your whole wedding right now," Andy said sarcastically, she took the casserole and passed it,

"Have you thought about who you are going to have as bridesmaids?" One of my cousins asked me,"

At that moment Lily came back from the kitchen, just as her casserole reached the end of the table; untouched.

"Why don't you just use the same plan as the last time," Lily said, "Of course this time leave your fiancé leaving you out of it,"

My eyes stung. I couldn't believe Lily would say something so hurtful,

"Lily…" My mother said in a warning tone,

"What?" she said coldly, "Or am I the only one who remembers that Olivia has already been engaged once,"

I could handle a lot. I could take my boss yelling at me, and my old professor's criticism, I was a New Yorker for God's sake! But being reminded that a man I had loved had broken my heart once and ruined me right before I was going to do it all over again was too much. My eyes became bright but I still had my dignity. I refused to let the water slip from my eyes.

I stared at my sister. I did not blink or look away but I couldn't find my voice either. Erik watched as we glared at each other. He understood Lily; he knew that people lashed out against the ones they loved. But he was still angry with her; anyone who upset me was no friend of his.

"Lily, I think I smell something in the kitchen, let's go check on it," Lily's husband grumbled, standing and taking his wife by the arm and ushering her out into the kitchen. It was obvious that there was nothing in the kitchen that James smelled, but I was grateful that the man had done something useful at last.

Erik put his hand on my leg and squeezed reassuringly; I wished for a moment that my whole family could just disappear and I could be alone with him.

"What do you think about having the wedding this summer Olivia?" Erik asked me, desperately trying to restore the happy mood of several minutes before, "I would like to wait until my casts are off,"

"Yes," I said, and I winced as my voice broke slightly, "Yes, we can't get married while you still have those things on," I tried to force a laugh as I knew everyone was still watching me and waiting for the moment when I would break into a sobbing mess. I wanted to prove that I was alright.

"Oh I don't know," Leo said lightly, "White dress, white cast…"

The tension slowly subsided and the general chatter arose again. Talk of weddings, and other things, made me almost forget what Lily had said. There was a brief relapse of awkwardness as Lily and James returned to the table. However, like good guests, everyone pretended nothing had happened.

Other than the Lily's outburst, the dinner was enjoyable. Mostly we talked about marriage, and not just mine and Erik's, everyone had a story to share. Erik only half listened as my family chatted; he was thinking about our marriage to.

It was something he had always wanted; to be married, to be like everyone else. And now he was. It was all so new and different to him. His last proposal; his last love, had been a disaster. He had just wanted Christine to feel the same way about him as he felt about her. He had imagined them living happily ever after and he had thought it was possible to attain this dream.

But it wasn't, because Erik had learned that you can't make someone love you. That night, after it was all over and he had watched Christine leave, he had believed his heart was broken for good. There was nothing left to do; he didn't know love and he never would. No one would ever want to be with him. And then, something wonderful happened.

Erik had thanked New York City every night since he had met me. And now he was engaged. He had finally come out of the darkness. This time, there were no threats, no regrets, no question that his fiancé loved him. I loved him and he knew it.

This time there was no forced engagement; no forced marriage. Erik watched as I happily voiced my opinions about what I thought I would like for our wedding. I turned to him and asked him something. He agreed with whatever it was I said; he didn't care what I planned, it meant the world to him that I wanted to plan it.

He was staring at the ring on my finger and watched it flash as the candle light from the table caught it. I belonged to him, and he hadn't taken me or coerced me in any way. In fact, I had asked him to be mine forever.

It was too good to be true, but it was. It was announced, and all these people were welcoming him into the family. They were all happy; as people should be when there is going to be a marriage. Everything about this was different that when Erik had last tried to be a human being.

Erik came back to the conversation,

"I don't care, I liked it," Andy was saying,

"I know you did; but I have to have a white dress," I responded, I put my hand on Erik's knee, "Andy wore a blue dress at her wedding," Erik nodded, but again he was distracted. Though everyone else was chatting happily, Lily was not. She was playing with her food with downcast eyes. Erik sighed. It was a shame that in every family someone felt like they did not belong.

Dinner was over and people had begun to disperse. Left at the table were myself, Erik, Leo, Andy, my mother and father, and several other of my cousins.

"Erik, this ring is absolutely stunning," Andy was saying, she had taken me by the hand to get a closer look, "Where did you get it?"

"Tiffany's," he said, hoping he didn't sound to pompous as Lily had just returned to the room and was clearing away some of the remaining plates, "I picked it out months ago,"

"What were you waiting to ask her for then Erik?" Leo laughed, "Or did you want her to ask you?"

We all laughed; I hoped no one noticed that Erik and I exchanged a nervous look.

"So…now we are going to have two Frenchmen in the family; am I correct?" My father asked,

"Yes, sir, that is true," Erik responded,

My father laughed and waved a hand, "You don't have to call me 'sir' son, call me Dan; everyone else does; don't they Leo?"

"Yes sir," Leo said, raising his glass in my father's direction.

"Now, you are going to be staying in New York, aren't you? Your not taking our daughter off to Paris are you?" My mother asked Erik,

"Oh no, I would never want to leave New York," Erik spoke truthfully. Even though he had hardly spent a year in the city he felt like it was his only home.

"Are you another artist Erik?" My father asked him,

"Architect," Erik corrected,

"And singer, and organist," I added, "He has a lovely voice,"

"Oh? Why don't you sing for us!" My mother looked excitedly at him,

"Here is what I have to explain," I said turning to Erik, "My mother loves to sing, she is the one who got us all started when we were younger,"

"Maybe you would like to sing then?" Erik asked her,

"No!" Andy and I said at the same time,

"Once you get her started she never stops," I said, my eyes wide in fake alarm,

"I won't sing," My mother appeased us, "But someone should," she had had a lot of wine and she was in a silly mood,

"What do you say you and I entertain, Erik?" Leo, who had also had his fair share of drinks, "something French eh?"

Erik raised his eyebrows in a nonchalant expression, but inside his stomach was twisting. The last thing he needed now was for Leo to name some famous French song that he had never heard of, having been born 124 years too early. He did not need to be caught in his lie now, not when he was so close to happiness.

"Erik, do you play the piano?" My mother asked, "We have one in the living room…"

"Mom, leave him alone for God's sake," I sighed, "he's only got one good arm!"

"Come on Erik," Leo grabbed him by the shoulder, "Come on…"

Before Erik could say anything, he was following Leo into the living room. As we walked I grabbed Erik's hand and squeezed it. Thinking that in several moments he might be revealed, Erik took advantage of the precious moment and brought my hand to his lips.

Nervously Erik approached the piano. Leo noted nothing strange about Erik's mood as they sat at the piano bench. Leo thought for a moment. Then he laughed and muttered something in French to Erik.

Relief swept over him. Les Anges dans nos campagnes, or as it was known in English angles we have heard on high, was a song he knew. He remembered hearing it as a child; he remembered it being sung at parties he was not invited to. But he knew the words, and he knew the tune.

"Let me see," Erik rested his one hand on the piano keys, "It wont be very good…" with one hand he played the tune. True, it wasn't fast or as rich as he normally would have played, but it sounded good to me. And I recognized the tune, as did everyone else who was standing in the room.

"Alright on three," Erik said to Leo, laughing as his hand ran across the keys and thanking his luck for holding out again, "One, two, three,"

"Les anges dans nos campagnes, Ont entonné l'hymne des cieux, Et l'écho de nos montagnes, Redit ce chant mélodieux, Gloria in excelsis Déo!"

Erik's voice was undoubted the better or the two, however this was not two people trying to sing perfectly, it was two slightly inebriated people at a Christmas party. Thus, there was laughter in the sung words.

"Bergers, pour qui cette fete," they began the second verse, and then there was a pause as they both looked at each other laughing and shaking their heads, forgetting the next word, before Erik remembered,

"Quel"

And then they both sang together, "est l'object de tous ces chants? Quel vainqueur, Quelle conquete merite ces cris triomphant? Gloria in excelsis Deo! Gloria in excelsis Deo!"

Though he wasn't trying, Erik's voice still cast a spell on everyone who had stopped to listen. It didn't help any that he was singing in the beautiful French language. It seemed almost magical to me. I sat there and all other noise and thought fell away and I just concentrated on his voice. I was drifting off as they sang when a loud cry and I thud snapped me back to the here and now.

Erik stopped playing the piano and looked up. Everyone else's heads turned to see what the hell had happened. It seemed that Erik's voice had a major effect on everyone; including Lily's daughter Andrea. Apparently, she had been listening to his voice and not paying attention to what she was doing.

Wanting to inch closer to him, Andrea had stepped forward, caught her foot on a light cord running from the tree, become tangled, wavered for a moment, before falling backward into the immaculately decorated tree, affectively knocking it over. Bulbs crashed to the ground and broke and all the white lights flickered and then went dark.

Everyone stared opened mouthed as she lay on her back, struggling as she tried to free herself from the tree. We were all so stunned no one moved to help her. Harry was the first to act; he began to laugh. We all soon followed his example; it was quite funny.

Leo moved to her and extended a hand, pulling the poor girl out of the tree, "Are you alright?" he asked her kindly,

"Yes, I'm fine," she muttered, and when we all saw her embarrassment we stopped laughing,

"It's alright," I assured her, standing up and motioning for her to come and sit down, "It didn't hurt anything,"

Erik stood, even though his leg made this painful, and helped Leo right the tree. It had come out of the stand and splashed water on some of the surrounding presents. Leo moved them away and inspected the stand while Erik held the tree up.

Other members of my family began to move in; some moved the presents away further from the tree and examined them, rescuing them before the water did too much damage. Others swarmed around Andrea, regaling her with their own mortification stories to try and cheer her up.

"Do you need any help darling?" I asked as I went over and stood next to Erik,

"No, I'm fine," he spoke though I knew it must not have been easy to hold up that tree,

"WHAT HAPPENED?" a loud voice made everyone turn; Lily had come into the room and taken one look at the mess the tree had made; the wet presents and the broken glass, before she became livid,

"It was nothing Lily," Andy said calmly, "Just an accident,"

"Who did this?" she shrieked, "Look at this mess! Oh my God…" She looked down at some of the glass bulbs which had broken and picked up a blue piece, "This was grandma's bulb! It was an antique! An heirloom! It's irreplaceable!"

Behind me Andrea shifted uncomfortably in the face of her mother's wrath,

"Who did this!" Lily demanded again,

No one said a word and she rounded on Andrea, "You…" she said slowly, knowing her daughters slight lack of grace,

"I did it,"

We all stared because everyone knew Erik was not responsible, even though he had said he was,

"I tripped, because of my leg," he indicated his cast, "I'm very sorry," He couldn't help it; in Lily he saw a hint of himself and of his mother; disappointed in her child. He remembered as a child wishing someone would protect him from his mother's ridicule. And what did it matter to him if Lily was angry with him?

"I spent hours making that tree look perfect," Lily said, fighting to control her anger, "I-I…" she sputtered, then looked distressed at the surrounding mess. "I have to…" she shook her head and left the room. James sighed and followed her.

"Thank you," Andrea said in a quiet voice as she passed Erik, then retreated to some other part of the house.

"Ready Erik?" Leo said in a low voice, "Lift…" With my help and Leo's guidance we put the tree back in the stand. Leo tightened the screws and made sure the tree was secure before Erik and I let go.

"The lights can probably be fixed…" Erik said, wishing to ignore all the stares of people who were wondering why he had taking the fall for knocking over the Christmas tree. Truly he was fascinated by electricity, and very interested to see if he could fix them. On further inspection he realized this was unnecessary,

"Oh…they just came unplugged…" Erik could not reach the plug with his leg in a cast, so one of my aunts quickly bent down and pushed the plug back into the socket.

"I'll go and get the dustpan," My mother hurried out to the kitchen, returning moments later with a pan and broom and begun to sweep up the broken glass,

"Some of it may be salvageable," My mother said as she eyes the broken pieces, "It could be glued back together…I don't know why Lily made such a fuss,"

Erik moved away from the tree and I wrapped my arms around him, telling him he had done a good thing without having to actually tell him. Again conversation eventually resumed and Erik went back to the piano. Even though it was hard to play with only one hand and the tunes did not sound as good as he would have like, he missed playing. And he was in an environment which was as good as heaven to him.

I sat beside him on the piano bench; half of my family was gathered around. What Erik and Leo had started had now turned into a group affair. We would start a Christmas carol, and when we had sung all the words we knew, someone else would yell out another title and it would start all over again. Erik was enjoying himself more than he had ever thought possible.

I was enjoying myself as well, but there was still something that was tugging at the back of my mind and cramping my good time.

Lily had planted a little weed of doubt and anxiety in my head. It had twisted through every part of my subconscious and now threatened to crack my mind. I had been through all this before; I had been in love and engaged and it had ruined me. I couldn't have that happen again. I didn't think I could handle it. I had to talk to Erik.

As the song and entertainment portion of the night ended, I turned to him, "Do you want to see my old room?" I asked,

"I'd love to,"

I took his hand and led him out of the living room, thorough the kitchen and up the stairs, "Here we are," I said as we reached the second door on the left. I pulled it open and switched on the lights.

It was a simple room; I had shared it with Andy for a few years when we were younger, and then again when she had been in college and her room had been turned into storage. There were still two beds in it and the walls were still the light blue color they had been when we were younger.

"Nice," Erik said simply as he stepped inside looked around. I shut the door and he turned to face me, his eyebrows raised,

"Olivia…?" he looked questioningly at me and I could not blame him. I had led him up to my room and shut the door…

"I have to talk to you Erik,"

The wry smile left his face immediately and was replaced by concern, "What is wrong?" he was confused; had he done something wrong? He silently cursed himself for thinking this was all going well.

"It's…" I began slowly, "Well, sit down," I motioned to the bed and Erik quickly seated himself on the edge of my old bed, looking up at me concerned, "It's about what Lily said," I began,

"About the bulb?" Erik asked, and even though I was upset he still made me laugh,

"No, not the bulb Erik," I shook my head and I suddenly realized my eyes were wet again. Knowing he could make me laugh even when I was distress made everything worse, "It was about what she said about…my first engagement," I stopped,

"What about it Olivia?" He asked gently,

"I…I'm afraid," I admitted,

"Of what?" Erik's voice was hardly above a whisper as he gently coxed me to speak,

"Of what happened last time…" A tear fell from my eye as I remembered. I had gone to Mark's apartment and found it empty and his things gone. He had called me later that day. I still remembered, "The wedding is off…I don't love you," and then he had hung up.

"I can't…" I shook my head and looked into his eyes, "Erik if you ever left me…" I felt my whole body shake as I remembered the feeling of complete emptiness that had come with the going of my last fiancé and I knew it would be a thousand times worse if Erik ever left me. When Mark had left it had felt like my soul had been ripped away. I knew if Erik did the same thing I would have nothing left to live off of.

I buried my head in my hands and shook uncontrollably. I tried to take a breath and calm myself, but it was no use. I did not even notice it at first, but suddenly I was not shaking so badly and I felt warmer. I realized that a pair of arms had wrapped themselves around me; holding me so tightly I trembled less. I cried into his chest as he stroked my hair, trying desperately to make me stop crying.

"I would never Olivia," he murmured, "Never leave you," It had not even occurred to him that I would worry that he might leave. His life had been spent begging people to stay with him just a moment longer. Finally someone wanted to be with him, and he would never give that up. "I love you too much," he lightly kissed the top of my head.

"I-I trust you," I stammered, "I know you are a good man and you wouldn't just leave me…but it scares me,"

Erik's blood suddenly ran cold. I trusted him. I shouldn't, he thought. Not when he was keeping the secret of the century from me. But I had nothing to fear as far him leaving…he would stay as long as I wanted him.

"I swear to you Olivia, you are stuck with me for the rest of your life," He desperately wanted to see me smile and he got his wish as I looked up at him and laughed through my tears,

I took a deep, steadying breath and circled my arms around Erik's neck, "I just can't wait until we are married," I nestled my head against his chest.

"We don't have to wait," Erik said, his hand rested gently on the back of my head while his other arm was wrapped around me, "We can get married the moment we get back in the city,"

I thought about it for a moment but the idea of a city hall wedding was enough to make me want to wait.

Erik laughed before I answered, "Don't worry; I would not deny you the big white dress and the big party," he moved his hand from behind my head and lifted my chin with his thumb and forefinger so my eyes looked directly into his, "And I would not deny you the groom either,"

I nodded and offered him a small smile before I buried my face in his chest again. For a long time he just held me and we stood in silence. Then a thought popped into my head,

"Erik,"

"Yes my love?"

"What you did for Andrea, that was very kind of you,"

Erik sighed, "I didn't think it was worth it for her mother to be angry with her," I nodded. In my head, I thought Erik would be a wonderful father.

Eventually we left my room. The present portion of the night begun and we all ooed and ahhed as people opened their gifts. Erik and I decided that we would exchange most of our gifts when we returned to New York, but we did give each other some things.

From Erik I received gorgeous diamond earrings and a dress I had been absolutely drooling over. From me Erik got a new shirt, and the original blueprints of one of the first skyscrapers ever built in New York City…and a really big kiss from me for the earrings.

Slowly people began to leave, but not before congratulating Erik and I and saying things like, "See you at the wedding!"

Before we knew it, it was very late and the only people who were left were my mother and father, Andy and Leo, James, Lily and their two kids, and me and Erik. For about an hour we all sat and talked; though Lily hardly said a word. In fact, she spent most of her time cleaning up the stray glasses and bits of wrapping paper left by the party guests.

"Well, I hate to say it, but we should be going," Andy said at last, "Our flight is the day after tomorrow and we still need to pack, and to do that we need sleep," she smiled,

"We should go to," I said, turning to Erik, "It's getting late,"

"Oh I hate to see you girls go…and you two as well," she nodded to Erik and Leo,

"I know mom," Andy and I embraced her,

"Do you have everything? Do you need anything? Can't you stay a bit longer?" my mother asked all these things in rapid fire,

As we put on our coats and gathered our things we said; yes, no, and no. Leo opened the door and press the button to start the car so it would warm up; but as he looked outside he cursed under his breath,

"What is it?" Erik asked, moving next to him so he could see what Leo was looking at, "God…" he murmured,

Outside was a complete blizzard; the snow was falling rapidly and the wind blew fiercely. On the ground a foot of snow lay, and in some places the wind had blown it into drifts, partly revealing the ground below which shown in a glimmering icy glair; reflecting the Christmas lights on some of the houses around us.

"Honey, come look at his," Erik called to me and I was at his side in a step,

"Oh damn," I said under my breath as everyone else gathered to look as well,

"Oh you can't drive in this!" My mother said firmly, "You have to stay here!"

I hated to agree with her, "I think she might be right," I admitted.

Erik moved away from the door and took off his coat; he had been in one car accident due to bad weather, and he did not want to risk his life or mine in a treacherous ride home.

"I guess we are staying than," Andy sounded as unexcited about this prospect as I was,

"Oh wonderful!" My mother had never looked so happy in her life, "I have clean towels…and the kids can sleep on the pullout couch…and it will be a tight squeeze but I think you can all fit in Olivia's old room," Mine was the only room which had survived my parents redecorating craze.

"It will be just like when you were kids!" My mother was absolutely ecstatic.

And this was why, some time later, Erik found himself in the bathroom upstairs using a barrowed toothbrush and wearing an old barrowed T shirt and ill fitting pajama pants. Erik, Leo, and James were all given old clothes of my father's. They were slightly uncomfortable, but they were better than sleeping in their clothes.

Erik walked back to my room where we were discussing how the sleeping arrangements would go. My room had two beds and then ample floor space. We were inflating the air mattress.

"Well I think Erik should get a bed, because of his cast," Andy said as Erik hobbled into the room,

"No, it's alright," Erik said, "I'll be fine wherever,"

"No, it's the bed for you," Andy said firmly, "Besides, it is Olivia's bed," she turned to Lily, "Rock, paper, scissors for who gets the other bed?" I swear, seeing everyone in old clothes we had left here over the years and being back in my old bedroom with my sisters it was like being a teenager all over again.

Erik watched with fascination as the two of them balled one of their fists and said, "One two three shoot,"

"Ha! Paper covers rock!" Andy exclaimed, jumping up and down, "We get a bed," she turned to her husband and hugged him. Lily grumbled something and headed off to her air mattress.

Five minutes later, we were all tucked into bed and we switched off the lights. However, even as I nestled against Erik's body, desiring his warmth in the cold bed, I no longer felt tired. The situation was oddly exciting; Andy and I, back in the same room again.

"Olivia?" I heard her whisper just as I was going to whisper her name,

"Yeah?" suddenly I was a kid again,

"Are you awake?"

"Yeah" I started to giggle. Next to me Erik, who was extremely tired, groaned and opened his eyes.

"This is just like it used to be! It's weird!" Andy whispered, and she started to laugh as well; just remembering all the things we used to do and talk about in that room was enough to send us both into a fit of giggles.

"Would you two be quiet?" Lily demanded angrily from the floor,

"Ok," we both whispered, but then two minutes later we both burst out again,

"Really! That is enough!" Lily cried, "You two always do this! You don't care what I say…"

To our surprise we heard her voice break and she started to cry,

"Lily," Andy's voice was full of concern, "What's wrong?"

She didn't say anything for awhile but we heard her crying, "Lily? What's wrong?" Andy asked again,

"It's you two! You always do this!" she sounded hysterical, "You don't care what I say or what I think; you two just do what ever you want and leave me out!"

Andy turned on the light by her bed, "We don't do that Lily,"

"Yes! Yes you do! Ever since we were kids you've done it!" She retorted, "You two always get to be the center of attention and you leave me in the dark!"

"Lily…" Andy was sympathetic toward her, but I found it hard to be so after what she had said to me earlier that night,

"What?" she snapped, "You know I'm right don't you? Just look at tonight…all the attention was on you two in you're stupid show! No one even mentioned that I sewed the costumes for all the plays! And all mom ever talks about is how much she wants to see Olivia and Andy! She doesn't even care that I am here all the time!" it seemed that Lily had been building all these grievances for years and was finally releasing them.

"Lily," Andy started again,

"No! I'm not done!" Lily yelled, "I'm sick of no one appreciating what I do! All the praise goes to Olivia and Andy because they have high profile careers and they moved away from home; no one cares that I have made a family! That I'm the one with children!"

"That's not true Lily," Andy said in a low voice, "I'm sorry you feel this way Lily, but let me just tell you…I think everything you do is amazing…especially the kids! I could never do that,"

I knew it was my turn to say something but I couldn't think of anything. I was still mad at Lily. However, Erik nudged me and I knew I had to do something.

"Lily…" I spoke before I really knew what I was going to say,

"Don't Olivia…I owe you and apology," Lily took a steadying breath, "I never should have said what I did before; Erik seems like a wonderful man," She paused and shook her head, whipping her eyes, "And I know…I know he didn't knock over the tree, Andrea told me,"

"It's alright," I said, "I'm sorry we seem to upset you so much; but believe me I had no idea; I didn't know you thought you were left out; I just thought…"

"You thought that I never wanted to be the star of the show? Or the cosmopolitan carrier woman?" she laughed mirthlessly, "But my dreams never seemed to matter," her voice trembled again,

"Oh Lily!" Andy got out of her bed and went to the air mattress, sitting on it and embracing her. Thinking this was the right thing to do I went and joined my sisters. We told Lily that we loved her, and then we were proud of her and that we knew mother and father were too. Unfortunately, the old air mattress had reached its limit; we heard a big pop and then the whole thing began to deflate.

"Oh my God…" James shook his head in disbelief,

The somber mood disappeared immediately. My sisters and I began to laugh as all the lights were switched back on in order for Erik and Leo to see what had happened.

"Honey? What's funny?" Erik asked me,

"We…the…it's deflated!" I laughed, still embracing my sisters,

"Now where are we going to sleep?" James seemed more angry than amused; the three of us looked at each other.

Ten minutes later, the two mattresses lay side by side on the floor. All six of us were uncomfortably huddled together in the two beds.

"So we all agree?" James said, "We never speak of this again?"

"Yes," we all muttered, but not a moment later I began to laugh,

"What?" Lily asked, and her voice sounded much happier than it had before; ridiculous situations can have that affect on people,

"We are going to be talking about this for years!" I laughed. It really was too funny. But there was no other choice. It was either that or make Lily and James sleep on the floor. The kids already had the couch, and there was simply no other place for them to sleep.

None of us slept much that night; we were too nervous about what might happen if we were to dose off and then end up rolling over on some else's spouse. We stayed up most of the night listening to the roaring wind outside and telling stories about our childhood. Even if we hadn't all been in the same mega bed I would have still felt more close to them all than I ever had.

Hours before dawn we all slept at last. When Andrea and Harry burst into the room in the morning they were rewarded with the hilarious sight of all of us.

All and all it was a good Christmas, Erik thought as he woke the next day. He had gotten a new shirt, some old blueprints, a fiancé, and a family.

This chapter is written in loving memory of my uncle Jim and the part inspiration and namesake of the character Leo; John Spencer who played Leo on The West Wing who both recently left this world for the next.

Good night sweet prince, and flights of angels sing thee to thy rest