A/N: Another week, another chapter. And I know it's April but here is a Christmas chapter.
Chapter 20:
"Shhhhh, don't wake up Mummy and Daddy or Auntie Chris" Laura whispered hoarsely as she and her brothers crept downstairs to see what Santa had brought them.
"You're the one talking loudly Laura" James snapped
Humphrey barked happily as Matthew let Humphrey out of the laundry "Shhhhh" the three of them whispered as the demonstrative puppy bounded happily around his three young masters.
"Let's get our stockings" Matthew suggested and his brother and sister nodded excitedly as they all crept into the living room.
Up in their parent's room, Lilly and Scotty lay awake listening to their children telling each other to be quiet. Lilly chuckled and pillowed her head on Scotty's chest "I suppose we should get up and make the kids breakfast before Christmas mass" He pressed a kiss to the top of her head.
"I guess so" Lilly replied
The couple got out of bed, grabbed their bathrobes and headed down the stairs to check on the triplets.
They had gotten to bed a little after midnight, after making sure that Santa Claus had laid out all of the triplet's presents. Scotty was in serious need of a cup of coffee so Scotty headed straight for the coffee machine while Lilly went to check that her children weren't making a nuisance of themselves.
She found her sister was already sitting on the couch already "they didn't wake you did they" Lilly asked as she sat down beside her sister.
Chris smiled and shook her head "I was already awake when I heard them come into the living room I thought I'd make sure they didn't get into too much trouble"
Lilly chuckled "you can catch up on some sleep while we are at church if you want"
Chris frowned slightly "oh, I was kinda hoping to come with you guys if that's alright"
Lilly was really surprised by her sister's response, they'd never gone to church much as children but when she started dating Scotty it became part of her life, and she never would have thought her sister would have wanted to come.
"Sure if you want, you'd have to drive yourself though we have no room in the sedan. Guess we are gonna have to get a bigger car now though" Lilly replied almost as an after though as she rubbed her swollen belly. Scotty emerged from the kitchen, a large mug of coffee in his hands. Lilly couldn't but help but feel a little jealous as her husband drank his coffee. When she had gotten pregnant again she had to switch to decaf and it wasn't the same at all.
She sighed when Scotty handed her a peppermint tea but managed to smile at him warmly "Thanks baby"
He kissed her cheek "you're welcome"
"Daddy can we open our presents now?" Laura asked, holding up a parcel.
Scotty chuckled "you can open one now and the rest after church alright"
Laura nodded and the triplets each looked for one of the biggest presents with their names on it to open.
It had taken Lilly and Scotty a few weeks to decide what to get for each of their children, each wanted so many different things. Matthew, being a huge sports fan wanted a new baseball mitt as his hand had grown and his old one no longer fit right. James wanted a telescope as they'd been learning about the solar system at school and he'd been absolutely fascinated by it all. Lastly Laura wanted the new Barbie dream house that Scotty joked was bigger than his first apartment. They tried hard not to over indulge them, but with the new baby coming, both Lilly and Scotty knew that most of their free time and attention would be spent with the new baby so, spoiling them rotten just this once wouldn't hurt.
"Awesome" Matthew exclaimed "this is exactly the type of glove that the Phillies use, thanks Mum, thanks Dad"
"That's alright sweetie" Lilly replied warmly
"Cool" James exclaimed as he tore open the wrapping from his brand new telescope "can we set it up in our room?"
Scotty grinned "Sure buddy, we can set it up tonight"
Laura was last she always liked to unwrap her present's neatly and not just tear into them. Lilly watched her daughter's face lit up when she saw what her parents had gotten her "Thanks Daddy, thanks Mummy" Laura cried as she ran over to give them a hug "it's just like the one I saw on television"
"You're welcome Princesa" Scotty replied as he kissed her cheek "now hurry up and get ready for church while I cook some pancakes"
The kids grabbed their presents and hurried up the stairs to get ready for Christmas mass. Lilly sighed "I suppose I should go have a shower too" she said as she stood up.
"What about your present" Scotty replied with a smile as he reached under the tree and pulled out a small box "I think you should get to open one now too"
Lilly took it from him and smiled "Scotty, I thought we weren't going to get each other gifts this year"
Scotty shrugged "I couldn't help myself"
Lilly chuckled "well good cause neither could I. Chris can you hand me that gift bag over there?"
"Sure Lil" Chris answered as she reached under the tree to give her sister the large bag for her brother in law.
"Oh and that red one is for you" Lilly added "you might as well open it now"
"Oh Lil, you didn't have to get me anything"
Lilly smiled "it's from all of us, the triplets helped pick it out for you"
Chris was speechless as she took a seat back down on the couch she never thought that her sister would buy her something for Christmas, not that she wasn't grateful for it.
"Thanks Lil, thanks Scotty"
"No problem" Scotty replied as he opened his present for Lilly and the kids, whatever it was it felt kind of heavy. Maybe they gotten him as book, he did like to read the occasional novel. But his jaw dropped when as he tore open the wrapping paper and discovered the new IPad, something he'd wanted ever since Mike had shown off his.
"Oh Querida, this is fantastic. Thank you" He leaned over and kissed his wife's cheek "I can't wait to play with it"
Lilly giggled at the child like excitement that was oozing out of her husband and she grinned "you're welcome I know you were drooling over Mike's"
Scotty chuckled "open yours now" he encouraged.
Lilly opened her present and knew instantly that her wonderful husband and kids had gotten her jewellery again, but her breath caught in her throat as she opened the small package. It was a delicate gold necklace with a heart shaped locket attached to it. "Oh Scotty, this must have been expensive"
Scotty shook his head "no, not really I spoke to my cousin Jorge, the jeweller. He got me a great deal, open the locket"
Lilly lifted it out of the box and carefully opened it up, inside was a small picture of Scotty and the triplets, all of them grinning up at her. "This is beautiful Scotty, thank you I adore it"
"You're welcome"
Chris sighed and as she watched the love flowing between her brother in law and sister and was so happy for the pair of them. It was then that she realised that she had yet to open her present. So shocked that her sister had actually brought her something that she'd almost forgotten that it was in her lap. She turned it over and carefully opened the wrapping paper.
It was a small leather bound photo album and as she started to flip through it, she discovered that Lilly had gathered together a few photos from when she and Lilly were kids. As it got further into the book, Chris realised Lilly had included photos from her and Scotty's weddings and the triplets various birthdays.
"Oh guys this is fantastic" Chris replied breathlessly
"I thought you'd like it"
"I got you something Lil" Chris added, suddenly "you wanna open it now?" Chris asked her sister.
"Oh Chris you didn't need to get me anything" Lilly protested
Chris smiled "I'll be right back" she got up and hurried out of the room.
Chris returned a few moments later and handed Lilly a small package exchanging a smile with Scotty before taking a seat back on the couch. Lilly tore open the paper, revealing a small green velvet box.
"Chris, what did you do?"
"Just open it and find out"
Lilly sighed and opened the box.
"Oh my God" Lilly replied as she saw what Chris had gotten her.
Chris merely grinned "do you like it?"
"Like it, I love it I can't believe you remembered"
Lilly had very few fond memories as a child but one of them was of her paternal Grandmother Amelia. Her Grandmother used to look after her while Ellen and Paul were at work and would spoil her rotten. One of her Grandmother's favourite possessions was a small gold brooch that her own mother had given her on the day she had gotten married.
It was an antique even then, a gorgeously stunning 1820's vinaigrette brooch with cannetille gold work. It was shaped like a pansy with three pear shaped natural amethysts and two citrines as petals surrounding a centered petite emerald. Every time Lilly would stay with her Grandmother, she'd spend hours staring at it, running her little fingers over the delicate filigree.
When Lilly was 9 her Grandmother died suddenly of a heart attack, and in her will she bequeathed the brooch to her. Lilly vowed then and there to look after it, promising herself that one day she'd pass it on to her own daughter.
One month later, she'd come home from school and discovered that the brooch was missing. At first she thought that Chris had taken it but then her mother told her in a drunken slur that she pawned the brooch in order to pay the back rent that they owed. Lilly was crushed; the one precious thing that she owned, her last link to her beloved Grandmother was gone, never to be seen again.
Lilly looked down at the gold brooch in the velvet box that Chris had given her, tears welling up behind her eyes.
"Oh Chris, it looks exactly like Nanna's brooch"
Chris smiled "I know how much you loved it Lil, when I was packing up my apartment in New York I found a picture of you and Nanna together holding the brooch and I thought that it would be so great if I could find it again for you, but I knew that would be next to impossible. When I told Scotty about it he suggested that I talk to his cousin Jorge about making a replica for you. So that's what I did"
Lilly was absolutely speechless as she stared down at the brooch, feeling the tears welling up behind her blue eyes.
"This is beautiful, I can't believe you did this"
"I remembered that it made you happy, I guess I wanted to give it to you so you truly knew how much I appreciated you forgiving me and giving me a place to stay"
Lilly pulled her sister into a tight hug, pressing a kiss to the side of her head "thank you"
"You're welcome Lil"
Scotty smiled warmly at his wife, less than three months ago Lil wouldn't have even wanted to talk about her sister and now they were hugging each other. He decided to leave them in peace and headed upstairs to take a shower.
A/n: I wanted a sweet moment between Lilly and Chris, I figured that Lilly should at least have a few happy memories of her childhood.