Under the First Mistletoe

Epilogue

Two weeks later…

"Merry Christmas!" Lizzie exclaimed as everyone held up his or her glass in a toast. There was a chorus of 'Merry Christmas' from the others. It was December 24th, the night before Christmas.. Sally and Spencer were back from their two-day honeymoon (they didn't want to spend Christmas honey-mooning without their family).

From Lizzie gathered, Sally and Spencer were planning on continuing their honeymoon after the holidays. The thought made her feel sad. Everyone was leaving after the holidays, going back to the separate lives that they lived. Looking around the house, she realized it wouldn't ring with noise until next Christmas, or maybe until the summer holidays.

But she realized with a sinking heart that her summer holidays would probably not as good as it was ten years ago, when the entire family would come home and they'd spend most of their time swimming at the lake and riding around the grounds.

Right now, she looked around the room and felt the Yuletide spirit washing over her like warm hot chocolate after a day out on the snow. They were having their usual family reunion – dinner, and afterwards, they were going to open their presents.

"Oh, cheer up, Liz," Sally said, walking over to her to give her a tight hug. "Merry Christmas!"

"I'm okay," Lizzie replied, smiling. "I'm okay."

Sally gave her an I-know-you-more-than-you-think look, but she didn't pursue the subject. She merely leaned over and whispered, "You'll be fine, Liz."

Lizzie sighed deeply, and felt her smile grow wider. Yup, she was going to be fine. Everything would change, but as they, life goes on. She would just have to learn to accept these changes and live with it.

"Elizabeth!" Matt hollered, engulfing Lizzie in a big bear hug. "How's my favorite younger sister?"

Lizzie laughed when Matt let her down. She gave him a wry smile. "You haven't called me 'Elizabeth' ever since the first grade!" she remarked, "And more so, I'm your only younger sister. How can I be your favorite?"

"Because you're cool, Lizzie, darling," Mark inserted, giving her a hug. "Merry Christmas!"

Lizzie eyed her brother dubiously. "Darling?"

Mark laughed. "Must be the Christmas spirit."

"Yeah," Lizzie agreed, laughing along with him, "It's a big change from being called 'butt-face' or 'snot-loser', you know."

Mark and Matt both guffawed. "Those were the days!"

Oh yeah, those were the days, Lizzie thought, watching as Mark and Matt mingled with the others. Sophia and Judith were also there, leaving the on the 26th to spend Christmas with their family.

"Merry Christmas, Lizzie!" Steph and Tanya both exclaimed, stepping up to her and giving her a hug.

It was Robbie's turn after. "Merry Christmas, Liz!"

Then came Spencer. "How's my favorite sister-in-law?" Spencer inquired with a wink. He hugged Lizzie, "Thanks for everything, Lizzie. Happy Christmas to you, I hope all your wishes come true."

"They already have," Lizzie answered when they both pulled apart.

Spencer grinned at her. "I should've known."

"Lizzie!" Luke exclaimed. "Merry Christmas!"

"My other end of the Daniels' line," John said, chuckling and bending down to give her a kiss on the forehead. "Merry Christmas!"

Lizzie smiled fondly at him. "And to you, big brother."

"Lizzie! You still haven't hugged me!" Becky demanded with a pout.