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| 34 | New Traditions |

Janie and Josie ran up to wake us up bright and early at 8:00 the next morning, jumping onto the bed until we told them we would get up with them. We ended up sitting up at the top of the stairs with the girls before they let them trample into the living room to start opening presents.

We'd finished opening everything and cleaning up the mess the girls had made with the wrapping paper about an hour and a half later and Liam and I were on the couch watching the girls play with their gifts they'd gotten while my mom made breakfast for when the family came over for brunch at 10:00.

We were heading out from Waterford to Toronto to see Liam's family at around noon so we could make it there for dinner. Josie and Janie were going to be devastated that we had to leave, but we figured we'd bribe them with something to make them less pathetically sad as they sat out at the window watching us leave.

It was Christmas tradition to have chocolate chip waffles and a big breakfast with my grandparents and uncle and one set of cousins that were my age. My uncle and his wife had gotten divorced when we were all in middle school and he usually got them Christmas morning and we'd all spend the afternoon together before they went to their mom's that night.

"Alright, we've got the bags in the car and we can leave everything else here until we get back," I remarked as we made our way to the front door before we left.

"When are you coming back Livvy?" Josie asked.

"New Year's Day," I replied, "We're going to have dinner with Liam's mom and dad and then we're going to see his grandma for a few days."

"Okay," she sighed.

"But we'll go skating when we get back, we'll go to Aladine and we can skate and you can see Penelope," Liam said, "Sound good?" 

"Yeah," she smiled.

"We really have to go now," he laughed, "See you in a few days girls."

"Bye," they pouted as we walked out the front door.

"They're good at the guilt trips," he laughed as we pulled out of the driveway.

"Very good," I laughed.

"Want to stop for coffee? Tim's is open today," he asked.

"Yeah," I replied, "I'm going to need it if I want to stay awake all the way there. We went to bed at like midnight and the girls woke us up at 8."

"We could get coffee now or wait till we go through the border and get good Timmy's?" he asked.

"Or we could get small coffees now and get bigger ones when we get to Canada," I laughed, "I'm going to need it."

"Alright, alright," he laughed, "More coffee for us then."

Liam's parents had moved from a town an hour outside of Toronto to the actual city, his mom had gotten a job at the hospital in the heart of Toronto that required her to be in the city every day so they had gotten a townhouse in Toronto the summer prior.

We had thought about spending New Year's Eve in the city, but I wasn't quite sure if I was ready for that kind of thing yet with that many people in one place like that again. Instead, his parents got tickets to the Leafs game that night so we would be home by midnight.

I was still on edge when we went to places like Walmart or the mall or downtown for dinner. I didn't like the crowd, I felt like everyone was looking at me and, even worse, I would sometimes spot a total stranger and think it was Sebastian and I would freak out and tell Liam that I wanted to go home.

Some days I felt like I had made a lot of progress, I didn't have nightmares anymore, I could kiss Liam and not have my mind wander off and end up remembering every detail of what happened in Sebastian's kitchen.

The last few days had been good days, I think it was because it was nearly impossible for me to not be happy at Christmas time when I was surrounded by my family. Liam knew it too, the girls always put me in a good mood and made me feel better. They were so sweet and they had absolutely no idea what had happened to me other than I had gotten hurt. It broke my heart that someday they'd have to find out what had happened to me.

I managed to stay awake for the entire five-hour drive into Toronto, we stopped for coffee twice and that was probably the only reason I managed to not nod off on the ride there.

"Here we are," Liam remarked as we pulled up to the house outside of town.

"It's beautiful," I remarked as we both got out of the car and grabbed our bags from the backseat.

"It's huge," he replied, "But that means Grandma can stay if she wants to and doesn't have to get shoved into my old room."

"And you don't get put out on the couch," I laughed.

"Yeah that was annoying," he laughed, "It is weird though, I mean, I have a room here it's just not my room like it was before at the old place."

"Understandable," I replied as we walked up the sidewalk to the front door.

"There they are!" Mrs. Simpson smiled as she opened up the door, "I heard you park and saw you walking up, let me help you guys with your bags."

"Thanks, Mom," Liam smiled, handing her his duffel bag, "I think we've got everything else, the box is the biggest thing. Where do you want us and our shit?"

"The box can go in the living room by the tree and your bags can go up to your room," she replied.

"Alright, this way Liv," he said, setting the box down at the bottom of the grand staircase that came down into the living room and led us up to a hallway on the second level, "And here's my room," he added, opening the third door on the right.

"And you still have those damn Habs posters," I laughed as we set our bags down in his room.

"Can't let those things go," he laughed.

"Some things never change," I smiled.

"And I like that some of those things never change," Mrs. Simpson smiled as she walked in the room, "Dinner will be ready in forty-five minutes or so if you guys want to change or shower or anything."

"I definitely should shower," I replied, "And change out of my pajamas."

"Hey, it's Christmas, you're supposed to hang out in pajamas all day," she smiled, "If you both need to shower I can push it another hour."

"That would be great," I replied, "But we'll hurry anyway, I don't want to delay everything," I laughed.

"Take all the time you need, it's just us and Grandma, Mike went to go get her a few minutes ago," she replied, "I'll be downstairs, everything you guys should need is in the bathroom."

"Alright, time to shower," I yawned as I grabbed a change of clothes and my shower bag from my suitcase, "Where's the bathroom?"

"I'll show you," he replied, leading me out of his room and down the hall to the left, "Here we go, there are towels in the cabinet," he remarked, opening the cabinet door and grabbing two towels for me.

"Thanks," I replied, setting my shower bag on the counter and tossing my clothes on the floor before taking the towels from him before he grabbed my hand in his and pulled me in, "You going to let me shower?"

"Maybe," he smiled, kissing my cheek, "Or-" he began to say, that stupid twinkle in his eye that I knew all too well.

"No," I laughed, "You're showering all on your own, I'm not having sex with you in your parents' bathroom. We're too old for that," I laughed.

"Can we be stupid college kids again just for a little while?" he grinned, leaning in and kissing my neck right under my ear.

"Nope," I grinned, "Out of here loverboy," I laughed as I pushed him out the door

"Alright, alright, I guess I can wait till we get home," he laughed as I shut the door in his face.

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