"We're here!" Mia exclaimed. "I made the bourbon balls!" Noelle closed the door behind them. Mia was so proud of herself.
"Hey, did you get done today?" Leonardo asked taking Noelle in his arms.
"I still have half of one side to go. I'm just going to finish it before 10:00 tomorrow." Noelle said. "So, what needs done here?" Noelle asked not letting Leonardo out of her arms.
"Just a few things, not much. You want some chicken? Edward fried it, he's good at it." Leonardo said.
"That does sound good and I'm hungry." Noelle said.
"Nolan will be here soon and you get to meet Laura tonight!" Edward said to Mia.
"You'll like Laura, she's sweet. A little shy but sweet." Leonardo told Noelle.
"I brought the rest of the bourbon that didn't go into the recipe." Mia said with her arms wrapped around Edward's shoulders.
"It's true, she did. I couldn't stop her." Noelle said. Leonardo handed her a plate of chicken.
"That smells so good." Noelle said. The door opened and Nolan walked in. He never bothered knocking at Edward's house…come to think of it, he never bothered knocking at most places he went.
"Here, we are again! Another New Year's Eve at Edward's. Another bottle of spiced rum, courtesy of myself. How is everyone?" Nolan asked. "Oh my god…I don't remember your name. I'm miserably sorry. I just remember how I would have easily picked you out of a crowd because you're not at all hard to look at." Nolan said not even slightly remembering Noelle's name.
"That's alright. It's Noelle." Noelle reminded him.
"Thank you! I would have never thought of that." Nolan said. "What's with the chicken?"
"Do you want some? I made lots of it!" Edward said getting out another plate.
"Sure, why not." Nolan said. Just then Noelle realized she was still wearing her coat.
"Will you hold this? I'm going to go put my coat in Edward's closet." Noelle handed over her plate to Leonardo. He decided he might as well eat some of it.
"Things must be going well for you. You're comfortable enough to eat her chicken. That's like…light years ahead of what I last witnessed with you." Nolan said. Leonardo shook his head yes, he couldn't answer him right now. Edward's chicken was the best!
"Please tell me that you're going to get drunk enough that you starting confessing everything like you did last year. Because I know, this year you will have some excellent stuff to tell." Nolan said. Leonardo threw the chicken bones in the bag beside the stove.
"You can pretty much count on that NOT happening." Leonardo said. Nolan shook his head as he too tried Edward's chicken.
"Well aren't you just no fun. I love asking you incredibly sensitive and invasive questions when you're drunk and I had so many planned." Nolan said.
"Well, you're going to have to babysit Edward instead because I know how much I can have before I start answering anything anybody asks me." Leonardo told him. Noelle had returned at this point. "Here's your plate…I kind of ate part of it." Noelle smiled.
"That's okay I can probably talk Mia out of some more since she's closest to the stove.
"Yes you can! Here…" Mia didn't hesitate grabbing the plate away from Noelle and filling it up again.
"Come on, let's take this in there." Nolan said directing everyone to Edward's living room. It was a good idea. Sothe and Micaiah were always late to things like this so it was likely Laura would show up next.
"I see you have apple cider." Nolan said.
"Yes! And you're not supposed to spike it!" Edward said….yeah that was completely convincing. Nolan smiled.
"Edward, when have I ever done such a thing?" Nolan asked. Edward didn't answer him. Instead there was a knock at the door.
"I bet that's Laura!" Edward exclaimed letting go of Mia's hand and hurrying for the door. "Hi Laura!" Edward hugged her. It had been a long time since anyone had seen Laura.
"Hi Edward!" Laura stepped inside excitedly.
"Laura! You have to meet my girlfriend!" Edward said as softly as he could. Laura's eyes grew wide.
"You have a girlfriend!? Edward!" Laura said shocked. She smiled all over and slapped Edward's arm. Edward smiled.
"I do, come and meet her!" Edward said leading Laura behind the couch.
"Hi Laura, it's nice to see you." Nolan greeted her.
"This is Mia!" Edward said wrapping his arms around her, kissing her cheek.
"Hi, hi…it's nice to meet you!" Laura said reaching for Mia's hand. "And who do we have here?" Laura asked regarding Noelle. Laura's eyes sparkled. She looked at Edward for an answer.
"Well, Laura…why don't you ask Leonardo." Edward said stepping behind Leonardo flicking him in the head. It was Edward's way of telling Leonardo to introduce Noelle to Laura as his girlfriend. He could do this, the hard part was over.
"Laura…this…is…my girlfriend…Noelle." Maybe it didn't come out as fluently as it should have, but he had said it; with an arm around her, he said it. Noelle's face lit up.
"Sheesh! Have I missed it all or what!?" Laura said. "It's nice to meet you." Laura leaned in toward Noelle but still spoke loud enough for Leonardo and Mia to hear her. "You are going to be the biggest disappointment of so many women." Noelle could have said something clever, but she had just met this woman so she kept her mouth shut. "Where is Sothe and Micaiah?" Laura asked.
"Late again, as usual. They are late like every year." Nolan said.
"They'll be here soon. They are never that late." Edward said.
"I'm going to get things started without them." Nolan said getting up and heading back to the kitchen. Leave it to Nolan to start this night right. Edward didn't even offer to help him, Nolan could handle it.
"Edward, which cabinet are your glasses in?" Nolan wondered.
"The one on the right." Edward answered him. Nolan made the horrible mistake of tasting one the bourbon balls. "Oh my god! Who made these bourbon balls….these are horrible!"
"I made them!" Mia said excitedly.
"Sweetheart…I think you left something out, these are wretched." Nolan said honestly. Noelle laughed with Mia.
"You better be glad you're pretty. I told you it looked like you left something out." Noelle told her. Nolan brought one of these less than tasty treats over to Noelle so she could try it. The look on her face said it all.
"Mia! What did you do?" she couldn't help but laugh at Mia.
"Here, let me try it, it can't be that bad." Leonardo said taking the uneaten portion from Noelle. Leonardo shook his head.
"Okay, so…we'll just throw those out and pretend like Mia never made them." Leonardo said putting the rest of it on the table in front of him.
"Do you think it's because I doubled the bourbon in the recipe?" Mia asked innocently. She wasn't at all shy about sitting on Edward's lap.
"You doubled the bourbon!? That's exactly why. If you doubled the bourbon you should have doubled the sugar. Next time we'll just have you make your chocolate candy." Noelle said still laughing at her.
"Hey! I can do that!" Mia said happily.
"So, are you staying in town tonight? How did you manage to get a room at the inn on New Year's Eve?" Laura asked Mia.
"No, I'm staying with her." Mia said pointing to Noelle.
"Hey everyone, sorry we're late Micaiah was….ooooh Nolan's at it already." Sothe said just barging through the door.
"Sothe! You are just in time for me to hand you this glass!" Nolan said greeting him with a hug.
"Hi! Laura! You could make it!" Micaiah hadn't seen Laura in quite a while so this was a perfect time to catch up with her.
"Sothe! You can help me." Nolan said wanting Sothe in the kitchen with him.
"Ooooh…did Edward fry chicken?" Sothe noticed the pan on the stove. "Edward! Can I have some of this chicken?"
"Yeah! Sure! Don't eat the bourbon balls!" Edward warned him. Mia laughed again.
"Well, him saying that makes me want one." Sothe said.
"No, Edward isn't messing with you, man. You do NOT want one of those things. What the…you finished that drink already? You're supposed to be helping me fix these." Nolan said.
"Don't worry Nolan…I will help you by fixing me another drink…oh and something for my BEAUTIFUL wife." Sothe said.
"You haven't even been drinking and you're already…Sothe-ish." Nolan said not really knowing what word to put there.
"Hey, it's nice to see you again!" Micaiah said greeting Noelle. Mia thought this was the perfect time to swoop in and let Micaiah know that three weeks ago she let Noelle know far too much information.
"Yeah, Micaiah. You remember Noelle….you know, she's a seamstress…here…in Nevassa? She helped you…clean up…at the dinner you hosted?" Oh Mia, it was too bad Micaiah was a little naïve and that went right over her head.
"Of course I remember!" Micaiah said thinking nothing of what Mia just said. Here's to the night…