ᴍᴀᴛᴛ ᴀɴᴅ ɪ sᴛᴏᴏᴅ ᴀᴛ ᴛʜᴇ ʜᴇᴀᴅ ᴏғ ᴛʜᴇ ᴛᴀʙʟᴇ ᴡɪᴛʜ ᴏᴜʀ ɢʟᴀssᴇs ʀᴀɪsᴇᴅ. "Well, it took us long enough, but we finally got here!" Matt said with a laugh. I had to roll my eyes at him but a smile graced my face.

     "Well, you were in the Persecutor's office all day doing paperwork," I told him.

     He playfully elbowed me in the side. "Not true, Andy let me leave early. I spent all day trying to find out where you sent the horde that is your family."

     "They're yours too, Matthew," I shot back.

     "Hmm, I guess that's true."

     "Ahem," my father coughed. "What about the speech?"

     "Ah, yes! The Christmas speech that is mandatory in all goddamn Christmas stories," I muttered. Then I cleared my throat and raised my glasses a little higher. "This year is coming to a close and another Christmas has come and gone," I began in a bored tone. The table chuckled at the fact that I was, once again, giving a speech that I felt no need to. If we were going to go down the list, this was time twenty-three out of... well, I'm not sure how many. Matt rolled his eyes.

     It may have been roughly a decade of knowing him and being with him, but he is still the personable one. "And we thank you all for joining us, right, Ella?"

     "This isn't the day I told Morris to move politely, but yes. Thank you all for coming to our Christmas party. I mean it. As for the food, thank you all for your help. We all know of my lack of prowess in the kitchen if it does not include a coffee maker," I stopped as the others laughed. Would we all admit that I had gotten better? Definitely. But, as a joke in our rather big, dysfunctional family, we would rather pretend that I would burn down the house if left unattended in a kitchen. "So, since you all worked so hard on this meal and speeches are what Jo and Dylan are best at on New Year's, let's eat!" The still-unnamed-Doberman barked in agreement as the kids started serving themselves first.

     I went to reprimand them, having been raised and thus raising both of my children better than that. Matt stopped me by squeezing my shoulder in a silent way of saying, "Hey, it's Christmas. Let them do it this once." I only went along because of his smile. He loved those kids and, on any other day, he would probably agree with me but it was Christmas.

     Madeline and Diana stood up and grinned. "To the hosts!" They shouted at the same time and raised a glass of a coquito-eggnog mix.

     "¡FELIZ NAVIDAD!" Sam exclaimed as she stood and raised her glass.

     "BUON NATALE!" Jo and Dylan chimed in.

     "MERRY CHRISTMAS!" My mom and Dad and in-laws raised their third respective glasses of eggnog.

     Matt and I finally raised our glasses as well. I let out a small yawn and raised an eyebrow, "Can we eat la comida ahora?" I asked. More laughter generated throughout the room. I giggled along with my friends until there was a knock on the door. I stood to get the door when it squeaked open. Two words filled the silent room, "I'm back!"

     We all turned to face the doorway to find the youngest adult of our clan leaning against the wall. "NIC!" Jo and I exclaimed as we jumped up and hugged our sister.

     "For fuck's sake, calm the hell down before I —"

     "LANGUAGE, AUNTIE NIC!" Lila and Nico yelled at the same time.

     "We don't care!" The two of us told her at the same time. We squeezed Nic tightly before finally deciding to let her go.

     "I missed you guys too."

     "I thought you could only come to New Year's Eve!" I exclaimed.

     "I thought you couldn't come because you were in Rome learning to bake pastries!" Jo added with a sharp edge to her voice.

     "Matt helped me out with that," Nic answered somewhat bashfully. Which put me off slightly because, in all our years of living, my sister had never been bashful. Exact opposite a matter of fact. She was loud, direct, and in your face. I sent a grateful smile to my husband who only just winked.

     For a brief moment in time, I was sent back to high school and clocking back in from break. Almost everyone had left and I needed to be the lone cashier on that side of the front end. Instead, I stayed to talk to Matt and our friends, but I knew I'd stay forever if I didn't leave soon. He called me back without a second thought. With a wink and a plan, I stayed.

     I think that was when I knew I would do anything within reason for this boy.

     But, I shook free from the memory as quickly as it came on. Tears may have leaked from my eyes, but that didn't matter. My family was here in front of me. And, for a brief second, as I let Jo and Nic into the dining room first, I caught a glimpse of my grandparents. They smiled at me and nodded.

    I let a tear fall before wiping my eyes and walking inside.

     "Now let's actually eat!"

     "You got that right, Ella," Matt agreed. He already had some food on his plate and the dog followed him about with its tail wagging. I sat down next to my husband and glanced at every member of my family. Madeline, Sam, and Diana all sat together and spoke of their adventures around the world. Mom, Dad, and Mr and Mrs Evans all talked about how their lives were going in not-really-but-sort-of retirement. Lila, Nico, Jo, Dylan, and Nic all went on listing names for the nameless dog. Said dog preferred to seat itself over by Matt and I and expecting pieces food to drop.

    This was my family.

     And, I loved them all... no matter our insanity.

     ["Ella, are you going to tell them where everyone is now?"]

     ["Let's save that for the next chapter, Matt."]

     ["It won't be much of a chapter then. It'll just be a list of where everyone is."]

     ["I know. But it would work better as it's own thing."]

     ["You're sure?"]

     ["When are you going to learn to trust me on these things?"]

     ["When will you learn to stop self-deprecating?"]

     ["Toché."]