“Hey Junior, what's up” Dimitri smiled and his little nephew and held his hand up for a high five to which Max jr clapped. “Becoming strong eh?” he carried him and placed him on his lap then ruffled his hair.
“Ice cream,” Junior said poking his chin.
“We would get you ice cream” Dimitri confirmed.
“Oh no, no.” Max came in from the kitchen and carrying a tray with canned coke and pepsi and placed it on the table in front of them then stood there giving his son questioning looks.
“No ice cream for you boy. I knew you and your mama sneaked ice cream in your room to eat so I won't see you both so you are on ice cream ban for a month” he told him and grabbed a coke then sat beside Dimitri.
Junior buried his face on Dimitri’s chest and whined.
“No whining boy, I have given my verdict,” said Max, and Dimitri just chuckled.
Junior turned to his dad and pouted giving him a puppy dog face.
Max looked at him and tapped his lips in thought then shook his head no, then Junior buried his head on Dimitri’s chest again.
“Good parenting dude” Dimitri nudges him and Max nods his head.
“Where is Caleb?”
“When I called earlier he said he would be here in a few minutes and I guess he is trying to put the twins in the car be-” he was interrupted by the front door opening and came in Caleb and Aiden who had baskets in both their hands.
“And here they are, don’t tell me you put the twins in any of those baskets,” Max asked standing to greet them.
“Too bad, I didn’t bring them. Had to leave them with Em, the girls are going out and they would need little companies so I left them” Caleb said to them.
“Oh, why? I was already looking forward to having the twins around” Dimitri said to him and he just shrugged and carried Junior.
“So much like his dad”
“Just more handsome,” Aiden said and brought out ice cream from one of the baskets “Who wants ice cre-” Max yanked it from him and put it on the table.
“No one should give him any more ice cream or even Sofia. I have been trying to keep them on diet but Sofia still finds her way of sneaking sugary foods so they munch on it”
Junior pouted and Max stuck his tongue at him, which earned him a tap on his head by Aiden who muttered ‘Bully’ to which he rolled his eyes.
“Don’t worry, I will tell Audriana to talk to her so she understands”
“Please,” he said and they all four went to sit on the couch and started talking about random things.
“Do the ladies know we are hanging out together? Like we aren’t going to buy the things they told us to get?” Aiden asked the three men and they just made sounds and brushed it off.
***
“It was so sweet of the boys to volunteer to get the remaining things we would need for the dinner and tomorrow,” Audriana said as they made their way to the food section of the store.
Sofia carried Annie with a baby carrier while Audriana took Alan who was playing with her necklace and would try to put her hair in his mouth but she would take it away from him before he got the chance to put it in his mouth.
“I bet they are having drinks and staying home,” Sofia said.
“Oh come on, they wouldn't dare do that. They volunteered so they should be able to do it”
“Okay, let's just trust them and concentrate on getting something for dinner.”
“Have you wrapped your gifts already?” Emily asked after they had finished shopping and were having lunch at a close-by restaurant.
“Yes, everyone will be glad for the gift I got them” Sofia gushed.
“Stop eating sugar and I have gotten gifts for everyone but I still don’t know what to give Dimitri for Christmas yet,” she said to them.
“Why? Just look for something that he would love and give it to him” Emily said.
“I want to give him something better, something that he would love so much, something beyond but can't really say what it is” she sighed and fed Alan and Annie her bread.
“Just be calm, what you’ll give him that would go a long way would come soon and you will be surprised just how happy it would make him” Sofia assured her.
“Okay, I do hope so”
They finished up, paid, and left the restaurant to go to the car so they can go to the Lorenzo’s mansion where they would be staying till the next day.
On their way there, they passed a pharmacy store and Audriana stopped then looked at it and a thought popped in her head.
She wasn’t too sure about it but her heart told her to go in and get it so wanting to listen to her heart she called them and told her she needed to get some sanitary products and would join them later then proceed to enter the store.
***
Kingsley, Donald, Dimitri, Caleb, Aiden, Max, and the kids were in the living room. The kids were playing and running around as they would and the men talked about many things, memories they shared, and all that sort.
Patricia, Moana, Sofia, Emily, and Audriana were in the kitchen almost done with the dinner and the work was so fast due to the many hands joining in the preparation.
They made a deal with the men that next Christmas eve dinner would be handled by them since the women are taking this year’s own to which they agreed.
“I think we are done already, lets start putting them in the dishing plates,” Patricia said and instructed them to where they would get the plates for them to put the food.
After about five minutes the table was set and they were all seated in their respective seats.
“Let's pray,” Donald said.
“I will lead it” Dimitri volunteered and they joined hands together along with the children.
“Father, we thank you. We thank you for life, for family, for business, for every good thing we enjoy from life, for being with us, protecting us through the dark times, and staying with us through the good times too, most especially thank you for giving us each other” he prayed and they chorused ‘Amen’.
He squeezed his wife's hand lightly when he said the last part and she smiled.
“Thank you for everything, and thank you for being the reason for these good tidings. Amen” he finished praying and they started eating.
They talked, joked, and remembered memories. It was a great evening and they enjoyed it to the fullest.
After dinner and they had packed all the places cleaned up and put the children to sleep they all retired to their respective rooms.
Dimitri was on the bed and reading a book. He was so into the book that he didn’t realize she was standing by the door and looking at him.
She went quickly to put the gift she suddenly came up with for Dimitri and came back up to sleep so they can be fully awake for the next day.
She was positive he would love the gift because it has been something he wanted for a long time. Tomorrow has to come so he con find out about it.
So she walked up to him and took the book from him then sat on his lap and he put his arms around her bringing her closer and kissing her nose.
“What’s up beautiful? Don’t say heaven” he said and she chuckled
“What will make your Christmas even better?” she asked him when she wrapped her arms around his neck.
He paused like he was in thought and sighed.
“I have all that makes my Christmas better” he replied and she smiled then rested the side of her head on his chest.
***
Christmas morning came by fast and they were woken up by the sound of talking and footsteps.
They were in the same positions they laid the previous night and they stood up, went to brush their teeth, and went downstairs to start the gift opening.
But before that, they switched on the TV and watched the Christmas service from the 'The Believing Christian Church' and were blessed by the sermon.
After that, they started exchanging gifts and Audriana looked at Dimitri to get his reaction to her gift. Just as she opened the camera app on her phone to record his reaction he opened it and froze.
Her hands were shaking a bit and her heart raced so fast.
What was going on in his mind? Did he like it? Was it something he expected? Was it the perfect gift for him for Christmas?
She couldn’t tell because he just sat there looking in the box she put his gift. She was going to grab the box and tell him she would give him something better when he looked at her.
The look he gave her answered all her questions and she smiled at him too.
He held her hand and brought her closer.
“Is… is it true?” she nods and he screamed and hugged her so tight.
All heads were turned to them and they wondered what could have made Dimitri scream like that.
“You know dude, you need to work more on your girly scream, they seem weak” Aiden said and the guys laughed.
“Thank you, thank you” he kept saying it over and over again and she just chuckled and rubbed his neck.
“Don’t thank me, I am glad you love it” she told him and leaned back from the hug.
Dimitri cleaned his eyes and showed everybody the box and they all screamed tell them congratulations and it even got merrier.
“Merry Christmas love” he kissed her forehead.
“Merry Christmas to you too Daddy,” she said to him and he chuckled and hugged her again.
********
Hey Guys!!!!
Merry Christmas to you all, I wish you the best and I pray this holiday season brings you more laughter, joy, and goodies. I hope you enjoy this Christmas chapter.
PS: this isn't a continuation of the book it is just a bonus chapter. See ya later. ;)