I, of course, won the game through a mix of strategizing and pure luck. Mostly strategizing though. It took about four hours till I managed to kick Aimee out off the game, but after she'd been forced to mortgage all her property, even she realised there was no other path left for her to take other than bankruptcy.
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Okay, so I may be stretching the truth a little bit. Well, more than a little bit, considering the fact it was actually Tim who won the game. I know, surprising right? Though in my defence, I'll attribute his victory mainly to luck. He didn't even have the most amount of property on board, the rest of us playing just seemed to keep landing on his expensive property!

The delicious assortments of smells given of by the lunch being prepared didn't help matters either. Thanks to them, I spent a lot of my time mentally drooling either over the roasting chicken, or the spicy tang I assumed was courtesy of stew, or- well, you get the idea!

Knowing all this, you can't blame me for dashing into the dining room, much to the alarm of the other Monopoly players, when Max announced that the food was ready.

And what a sight awaited me! The entire dining table was covered in food, save for the spots where we all supposed to sit at. There seemed to be everything. From steaming golden potatoes, to a massive roast chicken, to steak - to sum it all up, it was like a mini-buffet!

Beside me, I heard Tim breath, "All this? Just for us?"

I smirked at him. "All this plus dessert!"

Tim looked about ready to pass out.

Max grinned at us from where he stood, still wearing an apron, on the opposite side of the table and spread his hands. "Dig in!"

Pierre's poked his grinning face through the kitchen door for a brief moment and added, "Bon appetit!"

I wasted no time in grabbing a plate and heading to my first stop, which was a dish that contained small slices of fried plantain. After piling a lot onto a plate, I sat it down near to my usual spot at the table, then grabbed another plate and began piling it with rice, which I lathered with curry before placing it near my other plate.

When I reached for another empty plate, Aimee asked, "Is there a time limit to how long the food lasts? Because if not, I don't know why someone here is acting like he's in a race against time!"

As I headed to the bowl containing shrimps, I replied without looking at her, "Believe me, you'd be better off grabbing what you want now. Don't let the amount of everything deceive you, certain things somehow finish really fast here."

"Oh don't listen to Angelo, he's just being dramatic."

"Really?" I briefly glanced at Annie. "I'm surprised your plate is still standing with the weight of all the different food you've put on it."

"Well my case is different, I just... happen to enjoy eating a lot of different foods at once!"

I rolled my eyes, then turned my attention back to the important task at hand - stacking my plate with as much pieces of chicken as I could!

It was only after I'd done that that I finally settled down, said a quick prayer, then dug into my food. When my taste buds met with the first item on my list, they danced with joy as the combination of salt and pepper came off the skin of the chicken placed in my mouth.

I hummed to myself as I relished in the taste, then said, "Max, I know I tell you this every year, but I have to say that the food tastes simply exquisite."

As he dished some rice into his plate, he beamed at me. "And I know I say this every year, but thanks!"

Annie paused ladling her second plate with food to ask, "Hold on, how come you bother to thank him for cooking every year, but never thank me for decorating?"

I grinned at Annie. "Well for one, Max doesn't ask for thanks."

"That's because you always give it to him!"

"Hmm, good point. Starting next year, I'd be sure to offer you your thanks as well."

"Why don't you just start this year?"

Letting my head fall back, I let out an exaggerated groan. "You're just never content, are you?"

That was the first of many arguments across that table. However, they were all done in relative good spirits. My personal favorite was when Aimee and Tim argued over ownership of the last piece of chicken on the table (the shriek Aimee gave when Tim yanked her back by her hair as she initially reached for the meat would probably forever be engraved in my memory).

Pierre brought in a large tray filled with different flavors of brownies after we'd finished eating, but by then we'd all eaten so much that even if the sight of food was sickening. It took a while before I could get up without feeling like I was going to tumble over, but when I could I suggested we all play some video game together.
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Actually, all I did was ask what we were doing next. It was Tim who suggested we play video games, though I suspect he only did so because he knew that was the only way he would be able to even touch one of my controllers as far Annie was involved.

We ended up all playing Smash Bros on my Nintendo Switch, mainly because that was one of the only games I had that could support so many players. It was fun however, and it even made Tim less timid (judging by the amount of curse words that left his lips anytime he made a mistake, a LOT less timid).

We took a short brownie break at around seven pm, which was about an hour after we'd all started playing. Then we were back at it, swerving and jumping as we all attempted to knock each other off the stage various times.

Honestly, I think that Christmas was the best I've had in a while. Don't get me wrong, past Christmases with just Annie and Max were pretty cool, but I always felt that there was something missing from it. However, that particular Christmas didn't feel like Aimee and Tim's presence brought that thing into it. It was more like they brought something new, which added more to the experience I'd come to expect over the years.

In other words, their presences didn't fill the void I felt my parent's death had left. But for the first Christmas in years, I didn't find myself dwelling on it so much.

That epiphany brought about a euphoric feeling in me, along with a realization of what I wanted - no, what needed to be done. So during the next break I excused myself from the room under the pretense of needing to use the bathroom, but secretly put on my coat and headed out the front door.

It was snowing then, not hard enough to discourage me from what I was about to do, but not soft enough for me to be unbothered by it. Shivering, I  pulled the neck of my coat over my nose, wincing at the icy sting of the snowflakes that fell on my bare hand.

Using the colorful flashes of the fairy lights and the lit Christmas decorations to guide myself, I trudged on through the snow. Past the main house, past the guest house. I didn't stop until I reached the back of the greenhouse and saw the two solitary objects standing behind it.

The air seemed to gain an unnatural chill as I realized that I wasn't alone after all. I kept my feet planted on the spot I stood in though, even as part of me screamed at them to send me racing back to the main house.

Taking a deep breath, I looked squarely at the near-translucent figures behind the gravestones before me. "Merry Christmas, Mother and Father. I've finally come to pay my respect."
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Disclaimer: These next few chapters are about to be reallyyyy intense. Like reallyyyy. Without revealing too much, let's just say that you're about to ride an emotional rollercoaster ;)

What'd you think of this chapter though? Leave your thoughts in comments, and don't forget to drop a vote if you enjoyed this.

Till next time!