Chapter 33:

Beckinsile's Point of View

"I love you, Oliver Marshall..."

"I'm glad because I love you too, Beckinsile Williams." Oliver murmurs and smiles as he lets me go.

He slips into his car and I run up to my front door. I groan because I see Gabe, Grandpa and my dad standing in the doorway.

"You people have no sense of decency!" I shout and push past them.

"C'mon, Becks; don't be mad..." Gabe tries to catch up but I walk faster.

"A stupid smirk and an annoying phrase won't get you guys out of this one..." I glare at him and walk into the living room where my mom and Gran are seated, reading and knitting. "Those idiots were spying on me and Oliver, Mom..." I huff and take a seat on the couch.

"Are you referring to your brothers, father and grandfather?" My mom glances up from her book and gives me a knowing look.

"I don't get any privacy around here," I cross my arms and give Gabe a death glare.

Grandpa, dad and Nate come in behind him.

"If it makes you feel any better that was a very passionate performance you had back there with Oliver." Gabe and the other boys applaud.

"Boys, how many times to I have to tell you to stop spying? It's wrong and George, spying on your own daughter? I'm disappointed..." My mother scolds.

"This is exactly what I'd expect out of my husband but that doesn't make it any less wrong...Give the poor girl and her boyfriend some privacy; she already has to spend most of her time around you fools..." My Grandmother grins and pats my thigh.

"Thank you; finally someone understands..." I wrap my arms around my grandmother and smirk at Gabe, who just rolls his eyes. "What should their punishment be?"

"Beckinsile, it's Christmas time; shouldn't you be in a forgiving spirit?" My mother has an amused look on her face.

"Let me think about that..." I make a fake thinking face and then respond. "Nope, I used up all my forgiveness the last time Gabe and Nate spied on me."

"Very well..." Gran sighs and then grins. "We should make them dress up like elves and go around the neighborhood singing Christmas carols."

"I love it..." I say with lots of enthusiasm and throw my arms around Gran.

"I had a feeling you would." She grins at the matching horrified looks on all the boys' faces. "Oh, you all know you deserve this..."

"I think I have some elf costumes down in the basement." My mom smirks and goes to get them.

~~~~~

"I was going to use these for our Christmas card but they work just as well for punishing naughty people..." My mom says as Gabe, Nate and Dad stand in the living room after being forced into the elf costumes.

"Well, I guess I'm off the hook since you don't have another costume..." Grandpa says and tries to leave the room.

"Nonsense, you're the conductor, Ernest." Gran wraps a green and red scarf around his neck and puts an elf hat on his head. "Picture time..."

"No," They all shout at the same time.

"Oh yes; this is the other part of your punishment...This is the best punishment; one that never ends..." I smirk because I've twisted my brother's words against them.

"Very funny; I'm guessing you're keeping those pics for blackmail?" Gabe sighs.

"Yeah," I grin and pull out my phone.

"Cruel, but well played, Becks..." Gabe gives me a little bow as the girls begin snapping pics.

"Time to go caroling," Gran sings and grabs her car keys. "Don't even think about running off because we're going to drive around to make sure that you go caroling."

"You're so mean, Grandma." Nate pouts.

"I'm not mean; I'm building character." Grandma pats Nate on the shoulder and pushes the group towards the door.

~~~~~

"And a partridge in a pear tree..." The boys finish singing in a very off-key voice as the neighbor in the door applauds.

I catch a glimpse of the person and what I see makes me smirk a little; Victoria is standing in the doorway with a grin on her face. She winks at me as she closes the door.

"You've got to be kidding me," Gabe glares.

"About what, Gabriel?" I smile innocently.

"You never told me that your boyfriend's older sister is Victoria Marshall..." Gabe crosses his arms and clenches his fists.

"I expected you to make that connection on your own since Oliver has been on your soccer team since freshman year and Victoria shares the same last name as him..." I shrug and try to hold back my laughter.

"I thought it was a coincidence..." Gabe mumbles.

"Yeah, sure..." I laugh as Nate stalks over to my side.

"Are you happy now? You embarrassed us in front of a hot girl...Don't you have anything to say for yourself?" Nate's cheeks are flushed with embarrassment and his mouth is turned down.

"In the future, don't spy and you won't suffer the consequences..." I give them a 'what can you do' smirk. "Oh, and that hot girl would be on my side since she's my boyfriend's sister and she has two brothers of her own..."

"Can we please be done?" Nate whines.

"How many houses have they done, Gran?" I ask in a sing-song tone.

"Five, Becky..." Gran smirks and cranks up the heat in the car.

"I guess that's enough," The boys make a move to get in the car but Gran locks the doors to her minivan. "What are we not going to do anymore?"

"Spy," The boys say in unison.

"I'm glad that you've learned your lesson; now hop in the car before we make walk home in those costumes." Gran unlocks the car and as soon as everyone's buckled in, she drives back towards our house.

We get home and the boys walk through the door first to warm up and change except Gabe. He stays back and pulls me off to the side so Mom and Gran can go to the kitchen to prepare dinner.

"Becks, I'm really sorry we spied on you..."

"Thanks, Gabe."

"I want you to know something..." He says and stares at the ground.

"What?" I ask in a happy tone.

"I know a lot about love but never have I seen a guy treat a girl the way Oliver treats you. He doesn't act like he owns and he doesn't act like he's using you; he treats you as an equal and I think it's refreshing. He really does love you and I'm glad that he's treating you right..." Gabe pulls me into a hug and I wrap my arms around him.

"Thank you, Gabe...despite what you think; you are a great guy..." I whisper as he lets go of me.

~~~~~

It's Christmas Eve now and I'm helping my mom wrap last minute gifts. The boys are out playing football in the yard and it amazes me that Grandpa can move the way he does despite his age.

I laugh as Grandma brings in some hot chocolate and turns up the Christmas carols that are blasting from the stereo. I add a red bow to Oliver's gift and set it off to the side with the other finished gifts.

"Hot chocolate all around..." Gran sings and hands me a steaming mug.

I take a sip and it warms me immediately. I grab a gift from the pile of unwrapped ones and begin to wrap it.

"So, is Oliver's family coming tomorrow night?" Mom asks as she ties some ribbon around a long package.

"He called last night and said that his family would love to come. I told them to come around seven..."

"Good, that's about when Aunt Helena and her family will arrive too so that should be good." Mom murmurs and continues to wrap gifts.

"So, we'll have a full house tomorrow night?" Gran laughs and takes a sip from her mug.

"I guess so," I say, completely focused on the gift I'm wrapping.

"I love big Christmas dinners; it reminds me of my childhood. I had twelve older siblings so Christmas was always a big affair even if it was only our family." Gran reminisces and then sighs a little.

"That sounds awful..." I say with a surprised expression. "How did you handle twelve siblings? I can barely handle two..."

"I had eight brothers and four sisters so you've got nothing to complain about..." Gran smirks and ruffles my hair.

"How did you survive?"

"I didn't let the boys get to me..." Gran crosses her arms and gives me a knowing look.

"So, you're saying that if I ignore them they'll stop annoying me?" I sigh heavily and stare into her eyes.

"Oh sweetheart, they'll never stop annoying you...You just can't let every little thing get to you..." Gran pinches my cheeks as I wrap the last gift.

"I guess it's worth a try..."

"That's my girl; more hot chocolate anyone?"