N O T I C E D

Chapter 30: Christmas and new year nerves.

-WRITTEN-: 18th November 2022

-PUBLISHED-: 5th December 2022.

All the gifts lay under the tree as my mum told me to go get dressed. Everyone was coming over for Christmas. The Rodriguez family, the Martins, Dawn's family and Jacob and Charles were invited. Their parents had been given an invitation as well just to be considerate and nice but they declined as they were overseas.

Robby had been invited as well, he had messaged me to let me know that he'd arrive by 4pm with his parents. My parents had been in touch with the Martins as Mr. Martin had offered to bring some of his famous homemade Christmas fruit cake. I could just taste the cake from here.

"Ma, I'm going to go shower," I said and headed upstairs. I picked out my clothes: some white pants and a black top with sunflowers. The outfit was cute as I paired it up with a jacket. The jacket wasn't mine, but I forgot who it belonged to.

Theodore, Willy boy, was invited with his parents. Mr. and Mrs. Lawrence seemed to be happy that Theo and I were still in contact.

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The room was filled with greetings of 'Merry Christmas' as hugs went around. "Evie bug, the cookies," Dad motioned to the kitchen as I nodded. I was making some cookies; I had made some blue cookies as I knew Theodore and Charles would want some blue cookies. The cookies were heaven on earth.

"The cookie platter is in here," Dad took it out as I opened the oven and took out the pan. "Oh, shit, it's hot!" I pulled my hand away and put the pan back in the oven as I walked to the sink. I switched the tap on and placed my hand in the water as I let the cold water tried to soothe the pain. I heard my dad chuckle as he opened a few cupboards, I switched the tap off as he took a step towards me and grabbed my hand.

"You okay, Evie bug?" I nodded as he applied some cream on my hands. "Anti-burn cream," He said as I watched him. This was the man that had decided to be my father, to play the part because of the love and affection he felt for my mother and I, the man that had given everything just to have me as his daughter.

A man that had shown me the love I deserved, Mr. Sebastian Prince. "Thank you, Papa," I said the words that had been meaning to come out for days, I'd never called him 'Papa' it was always 'Dad'. Never 'Papa'.

It wasn't because of Kartik Jones but because of the fear in my heart of giving someone that position in my life. . . but as the years passed and a lot of contemplating these past few days, I knew that Sebastian Prince was my father, Dad and Papa, he deserved all three titles.

He nodded and cleared his throat before giving me an awkward smile. I gave him a thumbs up as he walked into the living room. "Hey," My eyes snapped towards Kaleb as my heart flipped and butterflies fluttered in my stomach.

"Hi," I whispered as we walked towards each other. We stopped midway as a silence filled between us. "You look nice," He said as I assessed his Christmas outfit. He was wearing a red shirt and black pants, the shirt clung to his figure and his hair was in a middle part and seemed to be recently cut.

"You clean up nicely," I teased as he nodded. "I-i uh, I meant to s-say you look beautiful" My cheeks grew hot as another voice spoke up. "Mistletoe," Kaleb and I looked up to see the mistletoe right above us.

I averted my gaze from him and looked around, my eyes met my dads who gave me a teasing smile. I looked away from him and instantly locked eyes with Jacob who gave me a mocking kissy face, I rolled my eyes at him. "Um," Kaleb shifted from foot to foot as we locked eyes. "It's tradition," He said as I gave him a teasing smile. "Looking for an excuse to kiss me Rodriguez?" I leaned closer to him as our noses touched. "Always, Prince" He leaned closer before closing the gap between us with his lips.

I started to pull away as his hand went to my waist, pulling me closer. The kiss was soft and gentle, it was everything I wanted it to be and shared with the right person. We pulled away as I heard cheers and teasing, I hid my head in Kaleb's chest as he laughed.

"I'm so glad you pulled that prank on Jacob," He said as I remembered how the prank started everything.

"Me too," He used his hand to tilt my head up as I was looking directly at him, his eyes went to my lips as I licked them. "Can I?" I nodded as we kissed again.

It was in this moment that I realized everything would work out, life would be filled with challenges and ups and downs, but it'll be worth it because I had these people with me.

THE END.