Chapter 34- I'll Be Home For Christmas

The day before Christmas Eve dawned bright and earlier. Too early for some. It was hard for everyone to get to sleep the night before, for today was the day they all went their separate ways for Christmas. Cara and Patrick had flown home to Georgia yesterday, wishing everyone a Merry Christmas and threatened to hurt anyone that did anything to hurt themselves before her wedding. Pete and Andrew had spent the night at the girls place, making flying home easier. Casie still didn't know for a fact that Andrew was getting to go home with her; and that kept her on edge. Leila couldn't say anything to comfort her without getting her head snapped off.

Leila groaned and rolled over to find Pete gone. With a frown on her face, she sat up and looked around for him. He wasn't there. She listened for running water, perhaps he was in the shower; nothing. Pouting, she rolled over, reaching for her clothes. As her hands touched her pants, Pete opened the door carrying a tray of food for her.

"Pete! What are you doing?" Leila gasped, letting the covers rest around her stomach, glad she had choose to put her shirt on first.

"Making you breakfast in bed!" Pete said cheerfully. "We have a long day ahead of us. Andrew and I got up early to make breakfast for you girls. Eat!"

Leila did what she was told obediently. Looking around at the food, she saw a plate of bacon, a couple of biscuits, scrambled eggs and a glass of orange juice. She took a bit of biscuit, and sat it back down.

"What's wrong with the biscuit?" Pete asked, pouting his bottom lip out.

She giggled. "It's nothing to do with you. I love it, it's good. But I'm spoiled on my Nannie's biscuits. Nothing really compares to them; but this is really good."

Pete knew what she was talking about, but still had his lip pouting out. Leila put down her piece of bacon, and pulled Pete toward her. After carefully setting the food down on the side table, Leila pulled covers over their heads; not quite ready to get up.

Across the hall, Casie was enjoying her food that Andrew had made for her.

"This was really sweet of you Andrew! Thanks!" She leaned over and kissed him softly. Andrew smiled at her, getting closer.

"Nothing's too good for my girl…" Andrew murmured, running his face along her jaw, his nose skimming her cheek.

"Mmm," was all Casie could say, as her hands ran through the hair at the nape of his neck.

Andrew pushed her back into her pillows, leaning over her. She pushed her empty plate out of the way with her foot, running a hand around his neck to his jaw. Slowly, she pulled his lips up to hers and he met them with urgency. A few minutes later, Andrew pulled away smiling at her.

"We should get ready, if we want to make our plane."

Groaning, Casie rolled out of bed and into the shower. Once she was done, she trudged down the stairs and saw her friends in the living room. Pete and Leila were already ready, and snuggled on the couch. Leila flashed her a worried look, and ducked her head into Pete's neck. She looked around for Andrew and heard the sound of dishes clinking in the sink. Rounding the corner, she found Andrew still in his pajamas.

"Andrew, what aren't you dressed? We're going to be late…" Casie said, watching his back stiffen at the sound of her voice. Andrew didn't answer her. Slowly, he turned to her, keeping his eyes on the floor. Casie knew what was wrong with him in an instant. "You're not coming with me, are you?"

Andrew forced his eyes to look at Casie, and shook his head. Casie stood there, letting the news wash over her. And she found that she was oddly calm. She just nodded.

"I'm sor—" Andrew began, but Casie held up a hand.

"Don't. I don't want to hear it," Casie spit out, a bit of angry bubbling to the surface. "You go to work, and have fun. While you're at, why don't you give your full attention to work, and not both with me anymore!"

Casie turned on her heel, facing Pete and Leila. "Are you ready?"

Leila nodded and shot for her seat. Pete was at her heels, carrying the entire luggage to her car. Andrew reached out to touch Casie's shoulder, but she jerked from him. She glared at him, and stalked out the door. Leila was right behind her but Pete lagged behind.

"Dude, you're being a total ass, you know that right?" Pete fumed. "Look at how much pain she's in. She snaps at everyone, and I can see her cringe whenever I touch Leila!"

"My job…" Andrew mumbled out.

"Is not more important than Christmas to Casie. If you know what's good for you, you'll hope of the faster plane and beat us there!" Pete exclaimed, grabbing his shoulders, shaking him.

Pete left the house, slamming the door behind him. Andrew slumped on the counter, groaning. He wanted nothing more than to be with Casie on Christmas, but his job was calling him, keeping him in Chicago. He picked up his phone from the counter, and found the name he was looking for.

oo

The plane finally bounced to landing in Birmingham. Casie had been seated behind Leila and Pete. Leila kept throwing her glances, but quit when she was getting death stares in return. Their plane was running late. About thirty minutes late. Leila had called her mom to tell her that they were running late and to not worry about rushing. Her mother was taking Casie by her mother's on the way home; it wasn't that much out of the way.

While waiting for the okay to exit the plane, Leila turned to Pete.

"Okay, so some last minutes questions about my family. Speak up and slow in front of my grandmother. Don't mention anything you don't want to go into a lot about in front of Marie. Kristi's easily tricked, so feel free to tease; not mean though, or I would have to kick your butt. I know you don't care too much about football, but you know enough about Alabama football from me to hold a conversation with my daddy or brother. Don't tell any dirty jokes in front of Shirley and Debbie. Don't get your feelings hurt if Brian doesn't say much to you, he's an ass. My aunt will flirt with you, but it's only in good fun. If you start to get too confused, come get me. Don't mention anything in front of Clay about something being broken, unless you want to spend hours watching him try to fix it. Now, don't get upset at this last part. But the whole time you're at my Nannie's, wear long sleeves. You know I couldn't careless what they saw about your tattoos, but I don't want to have to start yelling at everyone to leave you alone and start a family war on Christmas, okay?"

Pete just sat there, smiling slightly, nodding along; filing all the information away for future use.

"They are going to tease you relentlessly about your "Yankee" accent, but just go with it. They even tease me about mine." And Pete burst out laughing.

"You? But you sound completely southern to me…" He chuckled.

"Right, but I'm nothing compared to them. It's all kinds a crazy down therre," Leila giggled, using her thick country accent that made Pete laugh harder. She could tame her accent from time to time, but she could also choose when to let it loose and be as thick as honey.

"Anything else I should be on my toes about?"

"Well, not yet. We are spending the night with my parent's tonight, and tomorrow, and then heading up to Nannie's on Christmas. Oh, and know, no matter how much they tease you, I'm getting ten times as worse."

"Why?" Pete asked, curious.

Leila blushed a light shade of pink. "You're the only boy I have ever brought home."

Pete couldn't help but smile at that knowledge. It made him feel good.

"What kind of teasing?"

"The tabloids will seem tame compared to my family."

Pete faked a grimace and a shiver, trying to suppress a smile. He stood up and got their bags together and headed off the plane.

After finding their luggage, Leila spotted her mother and rushed to her. Once she got up to her, she whispered a warning to not mention Andrew. Pete and Casie finally caught up with Leila, and Pete hugged her mother.

"Nice to see you again Mrs. Grint," he said, kissing her cheek.

Leila's mother was shorter than her, but Pete could see the resemblance. They had the same green eyes covered by a pair of gold-rimmed glasses. She had dark brown hair that fell to her shoulders.

"Now, that have I told you… It's Lisa," she said, laughing.

"Where's daddy?" Leila asked, looking around for him.

"He's waiting for us in the car. Well, it's nice to see you Casie, but I'm sure your mother wants more, so let's go," Lisa giggled and led the way to the car.

Leila's father was taller than her. She obviously got her height from her father, but not all of it. He had green eyes as well, but they were lighter than Leila's, also hidden behind glasses. His hair was a light brown and so was his moustache and short beard. Pete and Mr. Grint loaded the entire luggage into the back.

"Thanks, Mr. Grint," Pete said, closing the hatch.

"Mr. Grint was my father. I'm Mike," he said with a smile.

"Mike," Pete repeated, smiling too.

The ride to Casie's mom wasn't as awkward as Leila had planned. Pete sat in the middle, to Leila's amusement, and Casie was on the opposite side, staring out of the window. When Lisa pulled off the interstate and drawing even closer to Casie's moms, she began fidgeting in her seat. Leila got the impression that she had not told anyone that Andrew was not coming. Lisa pulled into Casie's mother's house and Leila got out helping with her luggage.

"Please don't bite my head off, but it's going to be okay," Leila whispered as the walked to the door.

Casie stopped dead to look at her. At first, Leila thought she was going to get it, but Casie just crumpled and nodded.

"I know."

Casie opened the door, and led the way inside. Pete watched on from the car. Casie's family was sitting around the living. Her mother, Jo, her sister, Andi and her children Addie and Colton, with her fiancé James, her brother Brandon with his boyfriend Daniel were all surrounded the coffee table, playing a board game that Addie had brought from her house. After all the "hellos" Casie turned to hug Leila goodbye, but her mother stopped her by speaking up.

"We were all excited about Andrew coming back," she said with a smile. Leila felt Casie cringe next to her.

"Well, Gam, about that…" Casie started, stammering through an excuse. "He had to… to…." Casie trailed off at the looks she was getting from her family. She heard Leila gasp softly and she turned slowly to see what had surprised her. What she saw made her eyes bug, and her jaw fall to the floor.

Andrew was standing in the kitchen, but the refrigerator.

"Andrew?" Casie said, barely above a whisper.

"Gotta go!" Leila piped up. "Have a Merry Christmas!" Leila said to the family, waving them good-bye. "And I'll see you in a week!" And she gave Casie and hug, winked at Andrew, and flew from the house, with giggles from Casie's family following her.

Pete looked up to see Leila running from the house. She threw open the door, and hopped in, giggling. Pete moved over, watching her with a small smile playing at his lips.

"What are you running from Lei?" Mike asked, chuckling softly.

But Leila was still staring at Pete.

"Your brother is amazing!" she gushed.

Now Pete was confused. Why on earth would she say that about someone who was going to work on Christmas?

"And how is that?"

"He's in there! He came after all!" Leila said, letting her giggles flow freely now.

Pete blanched. And as the news finally sunk in, a smile grew wide, and he was proud of his brother.

"I knew he would find a way to make this right."

oo

The next morning, Casie lay awake on the air mattress in the living room, with Andrew at her side. She was hardly able to look at anything else since she arrived home. One thing that she was not capable of removing was her permanent smile. During dinner, Andrew explained how he got here faster than she did. He said it only took five minutes after she left that he knew what he had to do, so he called Patrick and made the arrangements and he was hopped on the fastest flight to Birmingham and took a cab. He had only been there for fifteen minutes when she arrived with Leila. Casie rolled to her side, and Andrew was staring at her. Leaning over, she kissed him softly. His hands found her face, pulling her closer.

Someone cleared their throat and Casie looked up to see her mother watching them from the kitchen. Smiling, she stood up and changed clothes, knowing that the ritual was for today. It was Christmas Eve, and the Depp family had their own tradition for this day. Once Casie was dressed she went to the TV and popped "National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation" and helped Andrew roll up the air-mattress and when straight to the kitchen to help her mother. When Andrew asked what he could do, Jo just said nothing, and to get out of their way and watch the movie. When the movie cycled around for the second time, Andrew could smell wonderfulness wafting toward him. Around the third cycle, dinner was ready, and everyone was back in the living room. Addie and Colton were bouncing up and down in their seats, wanting to open their presents; but they had to wait till everyone got finished eating. Andrew noticed that Jo was eating extra slow, probably trying to torture the kids.

Soon everyone was done, and the movie was playing for a fourth time, and Casie, he and the kids were sitting on the floor, James had claimed a dinning room table chair, and everyone else was on the couch. Addie chirped in that she was in charge of handing out the gifts, and she went straight for hers. After her mother chided her, she started handing out everyone else's gifts. Andrew found it funny that the only gifts the kids were allowed to open first were their clothes. He sniggered every time.

Addie handed Gam a small blue box, saying that it was from Andrew. Jo gave him a look that clearly said "you didn't have to get me anything", but he waved it off. She opened the box and saw a pair of dangling pink earrings. She thanked him again, and hugged his neck. Addie and Colton had gifts from Andrew as well. He told them that it was clothes, and they grimaced as they opened them; but it turned out that it wasn't clothes. For Addie, it was massive make-up kit with twenty shades of lip gloss, eye shadow, and blush along with make-up remover. She through her arms around his neck, and making him promise her he would let her put make-up on him. Colton had received a complicated Hot Wheels racing track. I told Colton he would help him put it together tomorrow.

By the end of the night, the kids and Casie had a massive pile of trash next to them. Casie's was bigger, because everyone was throwing their trash at her, calling her "trash girl". Daniel seemed to be having the most fun with it, taking Brandon's trash from him and tossing it at Casie, hitting her in the face and head. Andi started gathering up her gifts, saying it was time to head home. Andi only lived two houses down from her mother, and felt safe walking home in the dark.

"Can I stay with Casie? Please!" Addie cried.

"Well, what about Santa Claus?" Andi reminded her.

"He can bring my presents here!"

"It's fine with me, but just so you know that Gammy won't allow Santa Claus in her house. He tracks in dirt and little pests. And the smell from the reindeer makes her living room smell."

The kids went without a fight then. Casie threw away the trash, as Andrew got the air-mattress ready. As they piled into bed, Casie snuggled up next to Andrew, resting her head on his chest.

"Wait, I forgot to give you my Christmas present." Andrew went to roll over.

Casie clung to him. "You are my Christmas present," she complained.

Andrew chuckled and handed Casie a card. She took it and opened it, and a piece of paper fell out of it. She picked it up and examined it. It was just a cut out of a laptop computer.

"Um, thanks?" Casie said, confused.

Andrew shook with silent laughter. "Look at the picture!"

Casie looked at it again, and saw the computer and something clicked. She gasped.

"You didn't?! You got me a laptop?"

"Yeah. I heard you complaining that you didn't have one, so I got you one."

Casie pressed her lips hard to his. They stayed embraced like that for a while.

"Thanks for making this one of the best Christmas's Andrew," Casie mumbled sleepily.

"I love you," was all he said.

"Me too," Casie said and she was asleep.

oo

Across town, Leila and Pete were falling asleep in her bedroom at her parent's.

"Hey Leila?" Pete whispered.

"Mmm?" she moaned out.

"Do your parent's really like me?"

Leila giggled. "Of course they do. You don't see my family cleaning his gun or sharpening his knife do you?"

"Would he really do that?" Pete gulped.

"My father may look like a bear, but he's more along the lines of a golden retriever. He wouldn't harm anyone that hasn't harmed something of his first. They love you. Now go to sleep, I want my presents!"

Pete chuckled and tightened his grip on her, falling asleep soon after. Before either of them knew it, the sun was shining in their eyes. Leila turned in his arms, groaning. Once she realized where she was, she leaned back into Pete's chest. But once she realized what day it was, she jumped out of bed and ran to the living room. Pete laughed at her, imagining that this is how she reacted when she was younger and ran down this very hall. He tried to picture her shorter with shorter hair, that still looking like a haystack in the morning. Pete reached the living room and Leila wasn't there, but her father was. He could hear her trying to wake her mother up. He sat down on the couch looking at his presents he had slipped under the tree last night, without Leila knowing.

Leila came back in, dragging her mother behind her. Mike laughed at her. The first thing Lisa did, was turn the TV on, and put it on "A Christmas Carol", the old version. Leila threw herself on the floor and dug into the presents. Her brother came out soon, flopping down on the couch next Pete. Leila was handing out gifts to everyone. Pete had gotten everyone a gift. For her mother, he had gotten her a signed copy of Paula Dean's, her favorite cook, new cookbook. Lisa screamed and hugged Pete's throat. For Mike, he had gotten a painting of famous moment in Alabama history. Leila was really impressed with that one. And for Ben, he had gotten him a really fancy power tool.

Once all the gifts were given, and Mike had fixed breakfast, everyone got to ride to Leila's Nannies. Mike, Lisa and Ben took their gold Explorer and Leila convinced Pete to let her drive his black Volvo.

"Besides, you don't know where we're going and I'm not following Mama, she drives too slowly!" Leila complained.

The drive was long but comfortable. Leila had the radio playing Christmas songs, and she was singing along to every one. When the Alvin and the Chipmunks song, "I want a hula hoop", came on, Leila blared the radio, and swayed back and forth.

"That's my favorite Christmas song," Leila commented when it was over. And something came to her mind. "What's your favorite song?"

And as if on cue, "You're a mean one, Mr. Grinch", came on and Pete laughed. Leila assumed that this was it, and she laughed, muttering something about "That figures." Pete noticed when they left the Interstate that they were in the deep country. He bit his lip, forcing the comment that was dying to come to stay put.

"Go ahead! Say what you want! Probably nothing I have never heard before. But I still love it here, and no one will change my mind!" she fumed quietly. Pete just chuckled.

Fifteen minutes later, they were pulling up in front of a light red-bricked house that had a lot of cars in the yard. On the back side of the house were a garage and a red wood, screened in porch. Pete looked around him. Behind the house was a grand stretch of land. Leila had said that they lived on a farm, but this was nothing compared to what he was expecting. The land stretched out in front of him, interrupted only by a big pond. Two steel barns stood just inside the fence and a shed with a tractor and assumingly tools were just outside the fence, right by the gate. A few cows grazed the grass, not looking up to see the new comers.

Leila noticed his attention and added, "There are two other parts to the pasture that you can't see from here. I'll take you out there one day while were here if you want me too…" Leila shut the car off and turned to Pete.

"You remember everything I told you the other day? About the teasing and how to handle yourself?" Leila asked, looking him over.

Pete was starting to feel nervous. And he knew that he shouldn't, but Leila kept building her family up to be some kind of Spanish Inquisition.

"Yes. Be loud and slow in front of your Nannie. No tattoos—" he began but Leila piped in.

"Oh, and by the way, Nannie does NOT know about my tattoo, so don't breathe a word!

Pete nodded and continued. "No tattoos. Clay's technology intolerant, Marie's extremely nosey. Tease Kristi, talk about Alabama football. Nothing dirty with Shirley and Debbie, Brian's an ass. And Vikki like to flirt. Anything else?"

Leila smiled at him. "Just relax and have fun. It's going to be fine." She leaned over and kissed him softly and sighed, opening the car door. Pete popped the trunk and they got out their gifts and Leila's cheesecake she made the day before, and headed for the house. Pete followed closely behind her, and she went into the garage and opened the back door.

The door led into the kitchen. People were talking loudly and laughing and walking around the house. Pete recognized a few from pictures that Leila had shone him, but he was still confused on names.

"Well, there she is! Lei finally decided to grace us with her presence!" Pete looked to see a woman with bright blonde hair smiling at them.

"Oh hush, Vikki," Leila said, laughing, putting the cheesecake in the frig. She turned around took the presents from Pete and walked into the living room. Pete followed behind her. His eyes grazed over a massive tree with presents jutting out all around it. Pete watched the lights twinkle at him. He turned his attention to the TV, which was playing "A Christmas Story". When Leila's hands were free, she took Pete's hand and led him back to the kitchen. To the right of the kitchen was a large dining room table, with a red table cloth, and gold placemats. There were many people all hovering around in the kitchen. Pete took them all in, waiting on Leila to make introductions.

"Pete, this is my family," Leila motioned around. "My Aunt Vikki, and her kids, my cousins Marie and Kristi," and she pointed out a short blonde haired girl smiling and a taller darker blonde haired girl next to her. "And Marie's husband, Clay," the man named Clay held his hand out and Pete had to suppress a laughs he was exactly was Leila had described him. "And her daughter is around here somewhere… I told you about Gracie. That's Billy, Kristi's boyfriend," and the guy standing next to Kristi waved. "This is my Nannie, just call her Nannie," Leila said, pointing at a shorter light browned hair woman with glasses buttering the rolls. "This is my Aunt Shirley and her daughter, my cousin, Debbie," and two taller women, one with blonde hair and the other with darker hair waved back at him, "And Debbie's brother Brian," and the tallest in the room, just nodded his way.

"Where's Mike and Lisa?" Vikki asked looking around.

"Oh, they're on their way." Leila walked to the living room to sit down on the golden couch with deep green and red patterns on it, pulling Pete with her. Kristi followed behind them and sat in a deep red recliner. Marie took the other blue recliner and looked at Pete.

"So, Pete… What do you do for a living?" she arched an eyebrow.

Pete looked at Leila incredulously. Leila shrugged and whispered, "She wouldn't have known your band anyway." Pete sighed and turned back to Marie.

"I'm in a band."

"Oh, really? Have I heard of them?" Marie asked, smiling.

"Probably not." And Pete laughed.

"Well, how much money do you make?" She wasn't going to give up.

"Marie! You don't ask someone that, it's rude," Leila said, glaring at Marie. Marie just looked back at Pete, stilling wanting an answer.

"Enough to live comfortably." Pete smirked at his inside joke. Leila heard Kristi bite back a snigger. Pete did too, and he looked at her, both brows raised.

"She knows," Leila whispered softly.

There was a loud commotion from the bathroom, and a little girl about two feet tall, came streaking out of the hallway. The little girl had bright blue eyes and golden hair. Pete had seen many pictures of this girl to know that she was little Gracie. She slipped on the hardwood floors, trying to a halt upon seeing the occupants of the couch. Her eyes lit up, and she giggled and ran at Leila.

"Wee Wee!" she screamed. Leila laughed and scooped her up in her arms.

"Hey Gracie Babe! How's my little nut?"

"I'm not nut! Don't call me that either! I Na Na's 'ove bunny!" she screamed at Leila, and Leila just laughed harder.

"I thought I told you, babe, that being my nut was a good thing!" Leila laughed and tickled Gracie.

"'Top it Wee Wee!" and she wiggled free and ran to Marie for protection. Pete just laughed at them. Gracie was just as cute as Leila had described her.

"'Wee Wee'?" Pete asked a slight smirk on his face.

"Well, my nickname is 'Lee Lee', and I'm Aunt Lee Lee to her, and she can't say 'L's right yet, so I'm 'Wee Wee'. I used to be just 'Ee Ee'!"

"And Na Na's 'ove bunny?"

Leila laughed. "That's what Nannie calls her, her little 'Love Bunny'. And she gets so mad if you call her a nut or a jabberbox. Gracie, come here. I want to show you somebody."

Pete watched as Gracie ran back to Leila, and climbed in her lap. Marie got up and went to help in the kitchen. Gracie looked up at Pete and smiled. Then her eyes popped out and she looked back at Leila, and pointed at Pete.

"Pete Wentz!" Gracie squealed, and Pete's head snapped down to look at her. "Fall Out Boiy!"

"How'd she know?" he asked in amazement. Leila just turned a bright shade of pink and looked away from Pete. Pete nudged her arm.

"I kinda told her about you, and taught her how to saw 'Fall Out Boy', and to say your name and what you looked like. I had no clue she would remember…" Leila trailed off.

Gracie climbed over Leila and went to Pete, and kissed his cheek. Pete just sat there, still stunned. Leila, trying to recover from her recent bout of embarrassment, turned to Gracie.

"Hey! Those are my kisses! Pete doesn't get any of my kisses!" Leila complained, pulling her back.

Gracie screamed out and wiggled free again. Leila smiled at Gracie, who just took off crying for her "Na Na".

There was another loud round of greetings from the kitchen and Leila knew her parent's were here. Lisa took her presents to the tree and Mike greeted everyone. Not that much longer, people were being called into the kitchen for dinner. Kristi asked to say blessing and everyone bowed their head as Kristi thanked God for family, food and love. Everyone murmured "Amen" and headed for the food. Pete looked at the bar and saw an array of food laid out. From chicken to ham, to dressing to green beans. He followed behind Leila, filling his plate with suggestions from Leila. She told him to go sit at the table, and she would him a sweet tea. He was about to object, but thought better of it. He never liked sweet tea, but if Leila wanted him to try it again, he would. He sat down with his and Leila's plates, and he saw her weaving through her family with two glasses of tea. She sat his glass down and took her spot next to him. Pete picked up his glass and took a sip.

"Oh my gosh! I forgot you don't like sweet tea! Why didn't you say anything? Do you want something else?" Leila fretted.

Pete shook his head. "No. This is really good. I never tasted anything like."

Leila smiled at him, and patted his hand. "It's because Nannie made it."

Mike, Vikki, Kristi, and Billy sat with us at the table. Everyone else sat around the bar or in the living room.

"So Pete," Vikki said, "My bed's awfully cold at night. Now, I'm not looking for a relationship… just sex!"

Pete felt Leila grimace next to him, and heard Vikki laugh at her reaction.

"Well, that's up to Leila. It she doesn't mind, and then just tell when and where," Pete said without skipping a beat. The whole table burst out laughing and Leila smiled at him. Kristi looked up at Pete.

"You wouldn't really sleep with my Moma, would you? And cheat on Lei?" she gaped at him.

Pete squeezed Leila's hand. "It's not cheating if she says its okay." And the table erupted again. "No, I wouldn't," and Kristi laughed in along with the joke.

The dinner went slowly, and Pete ate until he was stuffed. Now he knew exactly what Leila meant when she said what a good cook her Nannie was. The dressing was like nothing he has ever tasted. Finally, after Gracie begged everyone to open presents, they all filed into the living room. Pete and Lisa took the love seat, which looked exactly like the bigger sofa and Leila, Kristi and Gracie were in the floor. Everyone else brought a chair with them, or piled in the couch. Leila handed Gracie presents for everyone else, and she took them to their proper owner. Then Leila started giving Gracie her presents. Pete laughed as she ripped and tore at the paper. What was even funnier was when Gracie couldn't get the tape to rip, Leila or Kristi would help. When Leila handed Gracie Pete's present, Gracie took it and ran to Pete.

"Open it!" she ordered and Pete did what he was told. Leila snickered at him, and how Gracie was bossing him around. "Here you go cutie." And he handed her a baby doll that talked, ate and messed its pants. Gracie cooed over it. She ran around the room, showing anyone that would pay attention to her. When she found it messed its diaper, she took it to the bathroom and placed her on the training pot. Leila giggled at his gift and continued to pass around gifts.

Some of her family actually bought Pete something. It was never anything big; they didn't know what he would like. But by the end of the night, he had a couple of new shirts and a gift card. He tried to protest his gifts, but they weren't having it. After all the gifts were opened, people dispersed from the living room and went back to talking. Gracie was playing with her toys, and Kristi, Billy, Clay, Pete and Leila were in Kristi and Lei's old bedroom. Around nine, Marie came looking for Clay, saying that they were going home. Gracie had begged to spend the night, and Marie was letting her. But it wasn't until ten that everyone was gone, and Nannie was falling asleep in her chair. Leila climbed into the bed, pulling herself closer to Pete.

"I had a really great time tonight," Pete said, "it wasn't as bad as you made it out to be.

"But it was it was nice to be prepared right?" she murmured.

"That's true," Pete agreed, "but I didn't get to give you your present."

Leila giggled. "Me neither."

They got out of bed and searched their bags for each other's gifts. They climbed back into bed, and Leila tossed her gift to him, "You first!" Pete chuckled and unwrapped his gift. Tossing the paper to the side the opened the box. It was silver bracelet, very plain to the eye. It was just a smooth ring of a bracelet. Pete pulled it closer to his face, examining it. On the inside, there was an engraving. It read "Can I Lay In Your Bed All Day?". He smiled at her and put it on. He chuckled again, and Leila looked up at him.

"What?"

"Just open your present." And he placed hers in her waiting palm. Leila slowly unwrapped the paper, and fingered the small velvet box. Slowly, she pinched the lid and pried it open. Inside lay a silver locket. She gasped and carefully removed it from the box.

"It's beautiful!" she whispered.

"Open it."

"She slipped her finger nail under the clasp and popped it open. It was hard to in the dim light, but graved there, in small script writing was "Wear Me Like A Locket". Now, she knew why he was laughing. It was because of the similarity of their gifts. She sat up and pulled him up with her. Pulling her hair out of the way with on hand, she handed him the locket.

"Put it on me," she breathed. He hooked the necklace on her, and she let her hair fall down. Pete wrapped his arms around her waist and laid back down with her.

"Merry Christmas, Lei," Pete whispered in her ear. "I love you."

"I love you more," she teased before slipping off into sleep, her hand still on her locket.

-Note from the Author-

Thanks for reading! Hope you enjoyed it! The next chapter will be called "White Wedding"… hehe… these are very literal chapters titles, aren't they?