I'll Be Home

9

The last thought both of them had was, "I am falling for you."

Florence sighed, while pacing in her parent's kitchen. Her mind was plagued with everything that she had just found out, she was so lost in her head that she did not hear her mum come in or see her waving her hand in front of her face.

She jolted out of her thoughts when Nora placed her hands on her shoulders and shook her.

"Huh? Mom?"

"You seem bothered, what's wrong honey?" Taking her daughter's hand, she guided her to sit on one of the chairs by the kitchen table.

"It's my ex-boyfriend Don."

"Ah, I remember that boy. You know your father and I never liked him, we just did not want to tell you anything because you looked so happy and you are an adult. Please tell me what's happening, maybe we can help."

Running her hands through her hair, she explained to her mom what happened when she broke it off with him, as well as on her first date with Dylan. Florence also mentioned that she asked her friend was a Private Investigator to look into Don. Her mom nodded and asked her what did they find.

"Well I just got off the phone with her and she told me something that I never expected. He's been money laundering through his company. This explains how he managed to fund his want for a lavish lifestyle, but apparently last month he got fired for harassing his boss's secretary. Meaning he no longer had access to the company and make it look like the money he was making was legitimate."

Placing her hand over her daughter's, she warns her not to just sit on this , to call the police and do it now. Grabbing her phone, she dials the New York Police Department and waits for someone to pick up.

"New York Police Department, this is Officer Holland speaking."

"Good morning officer, I'd like to report a crime anonymously."

"Okay ma'am, what is the crime?"

Florence proceeded to tell the policeman everything and that he's currently in NYC, but he is from Los Angeles. He then asks her if she knows where he currently is staying, she said she was not entirely sure, but she was ninety nine (99%) percent sure, he was at the Conrad Hotel.

Officer Holland informed her that they will arrest him and send him back to L.A for trial without mentioning her at all. After a few more words, she finally hung up the phone and slumped back into her chair, breathing a sigh of relief.

"I'm proud of you honey, you did the right thing."

"Thank you, mom."

It was now two o'clock (2:00 PM) in the afternoon and the Rode family had arrived for an afternoon of festive activities.

They were all gathered in the lounge playing a round of twister, with Eden being the person to call out the different colors. Soon it was only the three (3) children left on the mat. It seemed that Florence was going to win because she was the most flexible one of the three (3).

The two boys were struggling to stay in their positions and soon after, both of them went crashing down to the floor, signalling her win. Sliding down into a split, she threw her hands up and yelled, "Yay!"

Looking at her in that form, it made Dylan's blood rush down south and his pants felt too tight now. His girlfriend noticed and smirked, but decided not to be evil, sliding out of it. She got up and was immediately tackled by her brother.

"SHRIMP! I WANNA BAKE COOKIES! LET'S GO!"

"Get the fuck off of me."

Once he got off of her, she slapped Milo and said, "That hurt you, idiot." Which he quickly apologized and checked her for any injuries or bruises forming. Seeing nothing, he started shaking her and jumping, "LET'S MAKE CHRISTMAS COOKIES!!!"

Everyone watched the siblings interaction in amusement, even though they were adults, the two still acted like they did when they were kids. It made all of them happy to see it.

Nora claps to get everyone attention, she points in the direction of the kitchen and says, "Let's go bake some cookies!"

Both families went to sit down at the table, while Nora grabbed a notepad and a pen. Taking her seat, she went around asking all of them what type of cookies did they want to make.

Her husband wanted chocolate chip cookies, Milo wanted sugar cookies and Florence wanted the same as her father.

Turning to the Rode family, she looked at them questioningly, with her pen ready to write. Dylan wanted gingerbread cookies, Eden and Leo wanted peppermint chocolate cookies.

Gathering all the ingredients, the families separated into the groups of who wanted what type of cookies. They soon all got to work with mixing the batter, scooping it onto the trays or rolling it and cutting it, then placing it. One by one they went into one of the multiple ovens that the Green household had.

Once they were done, the cookies were taken out and placed on cooling racks. After a couple of hours, the two families had prepared icing, candies and chocolates for decoration.

The gingerbread men were made to look like Santa Claus or Christmas Elves. The sugar cookies were iced with royal icing and sprinkles were placed on them. The chocolate chip and peppermint chocolate cookies were left in their original form.

The night ended with all seven of them eating cookies, drinking hot chocolate or eggnog and binge watching Christmas films.

"This was the best night ever!"