Lana climbed into bed after an exhausting day, wanting nothing more than to close her eyes and sleep. "I am done with my life.", she expressed, saying it with her face pressed into the pillow and her hair all over the place.
"I know, but I am pretty sure you don't wanna sleep in jeans.", Sean smirked but since Lana didn't move a single muscle he was almost certain that she didn't care at all about that. "Come on. That's not comfortable.", he said, turning her to face him. "Don't make me undress you like a child, Lana.", he warned.
"Or what?", She grinned mischievously with a certain sparkle in her eye.
"Otherwise I will make you sleep in the guest room.", he grinned
"You wouldn't.", Lana said shortly
"Don't try me.", he grinned before going down from the bed to change into his pajamas. "Oh yeah… I wanted to ask if you would like to tell my parents about us… I mean… not like you but we… together.", Sean asked, pulling his sweater over his head, well knowingly under the gaze of his girlfriend.
"Sure….we can do that.", she said and turned herself, so she could lay on her stomach to properly be able to watch Sean. "Is that scar from your motorcycle accident?", She asked when Sean pulled down his jeans that hid a long scar that seemed to have been a deep cut or something similar. Of course, Lana had seen it before but she never asked about it directly since he kind of tried to change the topic every time she had mentioned it in the past.
"Yeah… how do you know?", he asked with a frown. He couldn't remember telling Lana about his accident.
"Your mom… she told me some stories about you. For example, that you got punished because you stole a flower from someone else's garden to give it to your former crush in high school.", Lana chuckled slightly.
[A/N: Which is a true story]
"… that story… well… I guess I tried. She didn't go out with me in the end.", he said laughingly. "But yeah… that scar was from the accident. I am pretty lucky to still have that leg, to be honest.", he said. "Can we… sorry… could we not talk about it?", he asked politely with an apologizing look on his face. It surprised Lana that he wasn't willing to talk about it but it didn't matter to her what was holding him back. Might just be the unpleasant memories.
"Yeah… that's fine.", she said, finally standing up to grab the shirt of Sean that she was wearing as a pajama. "And what did the cart say? The one Santa gave to Leo… you finally opened it, right?", She asked but didn't get an answer, just another apologizing face from her boyfriend. "Sean!! Christmas is in literally three days. What if it's something we can't buy that easily?!? Open it. Now.", she demand.
"I will. Give me a second.", he said, grabbing for the letter on his nightstand. He sat down on the bed, opening it carefully to not rip anything that was inside. When he unfolded the paper his eyes came across just a few beautifully written words that melted his heart right where he was sitting. His eyes got watery, when he read the letters again and again, which made it sound even more special each time that he did so.
"Is… is it about his mom?", Lana asked softly as soon as she realized how much this piece of paper caught him by surprise. She slowly approached him, laying one hand on Sean's shoulder whilst her boyfriend folded the note in half, so she wouldn't be able to read it.
"Yeah…", he simply said, taking a deep breath. "In some way, it is about his mum…", he added, slipping his fingers carefully over the paper.
"Can… I read it?", She asked, unsure since he just did everything to hide the words from her. He did it in a soft and not suspicious way but she still recognized that he was not willing to show it to her.
"I…Not today, okay?", he smiled softly and put it back into his nightstand. Lana didn't really understand why he was so distant today, but she didn't question it since she knew more than anybody that she had those days too.
"Alright.", she answered, crawling into bed to lay down properly. "You think you can get what he wishes for till Christmas?", Lana mumbled into her pillow with closed eyes already.
"Yeah. I will manage.", Sean chuckled and turned off his light before pulling Lana into his arms. Falling asleep with her was a habit by now and he wouldn't want to change that anymore. "Night, darling.", he added, placing a kiss on her head, which made her smile.
"Night", she simply responded before falling asleep peacefully.
Since the kids were on holiday they didn't get up before 7 am, the usual time Amélie woke up at her age. When Lana heard the little girl babbling over the baby monitor, asking for Dada and mama it warmed her heart straight away. She got up with her messy hair and only in Sean's shirt and pants to get her little girl before returning with her to their bed. She had been quite easened her standards in ways of her appearance around the house.
Cuddling with Amélie became a ritual when they had the time for that, so Sean and Lana could close their eyes for just some extra few minutes. Sometimes they were even that lucky that the girl was falling asleep again for another hour, which wasn't the case today.
Whilst Lana already closed her eyes again, Amélie decided to rearrange the woman's hair, putting all her curls over her face before wiping them out of her face again with her not so gentle little hands. She huffed out of frustration when Lana didn't show any reaction at all since she got bored sitting on the bed between her stepmother and dad. Amélie didn't understand why the woman was awake but fell back asleep the minute she hit the pillow.
"Dada up!", she demanded, trying to wake Sean since her attempts with Lana seemed hopeless. "Dada.", she repeated before sitting on her father to watch him closer but Sean just groaned and turned himself to the side, which made Amélie lose her balance and fall back between him and Lana.
The little girl babbled out of frustration, trying the same thing with Lana now. She sat straight on her tummy, leaning forward and held herself with her hands this time, which led Lana to winch out in pain since the girl basically rammed her hands into her boobs.
"Wohoho.", Lana exclaimed, opening her eyes widely. "Amé. That's a sensitive spot, baby.", she complained, picking her hands from her breasts. Her loud exhale made Sean open his eyes halfway, to see what his girlfriend was struggling with.
"You alright?", he asked in his raspy morning voice, still mumbling into his pillow.
"I'm fine. She just decided to put all her weight on my boobs. Not a very pleasant feeling.", Lana said strictly, which made Sean chuckle.
"Yeah...Tanya said the same thing when the kids were trying to wake her. They seem to always hit a sensitive spot at one point. Well… good morning anyway.", he smiled at her and his daughter, who was more than happy about the fact that someone was awake.
"I think I am going to change her. I can smell something unpleasant waiting for me.", he laughed and got up from his bed, followed by Amélie who wanted to walk by herself.
Lana on the other hand started her day with a shower before getting dressed. It was just then when she realized how much it had snowed again overnight, when she looked outside of the window. Since it had started snowing 4 days ago, it didn't really stop, which was great for the kids and annoying for the traffic but since Vancouver was used to that weather streets were most of the time free.
When Lana came downstairs she was greeted by a hungry Lola, who seemed to need some special attention this morning, so that's what she got. It ended up with Lana and Lola laying on the floor snuggling and kissing until it was time to get up since the woman could smell something nice coming from the kitchen.
"You're making waffles?", She asked with a grin, when she saw Sean who tried his best to find his way around the kitchen.
"Yap. You can sit down, Milady. I am almost ready to serve.", he said proudly.
"Well… thanks.", Lana grinned, filling up Lola's food bowl and water before taking a seat next to Amélie, who was waiting in her highchair. "Where are the boys?", Lana asked curiously since she could hear but not see them.
"They're searching for the elf on the shelf.", Sean smirked.
"Of course they do…", Lana laughed since she remembered that Sean had kind of hidden him the previous night. It wasn't as obvious as before, which kind of confused them at first. "What kind of recipe are you using for your waffles?", Lana asked curiously since she saw some mashed-up bananas.
"It's from a chef who is teaching a cooking class at my online school. I attended the class to learn something because I thought it's kind of unfair that you're cooking most of the time. I honestly feel bad about that… I felt the same way when Tanya was cooking all the time… so… I decided to change it.", he said.
"Sounds very honorable of you", she chuckled.
"Daddy! We found the elf on the shelf. He was hiding in the Christmas tree!", Leo exclaimed before recognizing Lana. "Morning Lana! You know what? We were searching for the elf on the shelf for ages.", he exclaimed whilst Flynn nodded in agreement. It really was an exciting thing for them to know that Santa's little helper went back to the north pole overnight to report their behavior to the old man.
"That's great. So you know what to do. Always behaving well.", she reminded them with a chuckle. To be honest they always did. They were well raised and the outbursts they had sometimes were totally normal for children.
They all had a nice breakfast made by Sean before they decided to go on a walk together to get out of the house for a bit but it clearly wasn't the best idea since the wind picked up halfway through, making them turn around earlier than expected. They were all frozen at the point when they made it back home, snuggling all together under some blankets with a mug of hot chocolate in their hands.
"That was an adventure. I suppose we should stay in today.", Lana said, looking outside at the violently blowing wind.
"Yeah… I think so too. We wanted to call my family anyway.", Sean reminded her before taking a sip of his cacao.
"Right. Forgot about that already. Could you maybe explain to me who is who? Just so I have a little overview?", She asked with an apologizing look "It's just… There are so many of you.", she laughed.
"Yeah I know… and I am afraid they will be all watching since they're coming together for Christmas. We could go one day if you want. It's actually quite nice….anyway… Ehm… yeah… so… you already met my mum and dad. Kathleen and Michael." he started
"They run a dancing school as you know, where even I had to dance before I escaped into acting.", Sean started and at this point, the kids already lost interest and went to play with some toys, except for Amélie, who was enjoying some sips of Lana's hot chocolate but was even more eager to grab the mini marshmallows from the mug to eat them.
"So my oldest Brother is called Michael as well. Michael Jr. If I am precise. He is married to Tarra and they have two teenage sons. Then comes Katie. She is like most of the time of her life single, really professional and career-oriented. No idea if she is dating right now or not. She doesn't have children. After this comes Ciaran, who is living in Spain with his girlfriend Collette. They are not married and have a son, you see girls are quite rare in our family. Then there was me and I guess I don't have to tell you my up-to-date status", he grinned. "Ehm… I have one little brother Darren, who is only one year younger than me, so he must be your age and he is married to Catherine. They have two sons as well and our little sister Ellie. She is a true sweetheart, a bit naive but that doesn't matter. She has two sons and one daughter. Makes in total 5 siblings and me the uncle of eight, with 7 of those being boys.", Sean laughed. "You can imagine how happy they all were when Amélie came. It was a change.", he grinned proudly.
"Riiight.", Lana said, since she was quite blown away by all the people in Sean's family and he did only talk about his siblings until now. "I… I already forgot the first three names to be honest, but I guess I will get used to it somehow.", she said, apologizing.
"Yeah sure. It's easier when you actually see them, you know. Maybe we could visit them after filming.", he said smilingly.
"Yeah… sure… I think that would be a good idea.", Lana assured him. "But for now I will be okay I guess.", she chuckled shyly when Sean got his tablet to have a bigger screen. Figuring out how to call his family via video call took him ages when he did it for the first time since everyone knows about Sean and his technology talent.
He set it up and placed it on the coffee table, so Lana and he would be seen by his family, before he pressed the call button. It took a while until someone picked up, it was Darren who was a complete goof, always saying stuff he didn't think through properly.
"Hey big brother!!", he greeted Sean, without even looking at the screen since he was walking with the tablet in his hands. "Hey, guys! It's Sean.", he called out and straight away a lot of faces gathered around him, whilst he placed the tablet down as well, to let everyone see. That was also the first time when he recognized Lana next to Sean with Amélie on her lap. "Ohu. Who's that next to you brother? She's hot.", he assured him, before Kathleen gave him a playful slap. "There are children in the house, Darren!", she reminded him, before having a closer look at the screen.
"It's Lana. Hey darling.", she grinned out and made her chuckle as well.
"Nice to see you again", Lana responded shortly since she was quite overwhelmed that more and more people joined on the other side of the tablet. She could feel straight away the strong family bond that held them together side by side. It was beautiful to see.
"How is it going in Vancouver?", Sean's mom asked nicely, joining Michael on the couch. Sean and Lana gave her a quick update, including Flynn and Leo who wanted to talk as soon as they realized that their family was on the screen and it was also the children in the end who spilled the tea.
"And do you know what, grandma???", Leo asked, extremely excited after talking about his birthday for a bit.
"What is it, sweetheart?", Kathleen laughed.
"Daddy loves Lana.", he whispered, which made Kath frown since she wasn't sure if she understood that right because some children were running around, making noises in the background.
"Sorry… Could you say that again, Leo? I didn't understand properly I think.", she said.
"Daddy loves Lana!", he said even louder, making her and Sean laugh in amusement. He literally screamed it out for everyone to know.
An exciting chatter began on the other end, with a lot of 'congratulations' in between even though Sean's two oldest siblings seemed quite irritated about that.
"I was wondering how long it would take them.", Kathleen confessed honestly, making Lana blush a little. "I am really happy for you two, welcome to the family, sweetheart. I can't wait to have you here… don't you have like a month off in the middle of filming? Maybe you could come to London for a week.", Kathleen proposed.
"We'll see mom. I think we will be at comic con one weekend and I am pretty sure Lana wants to see her family as well before starting filming again.", Sean said, trying to calm his mother's enthusiasm a little.
"But if it works with the timing, I would love to.", Lana smiled politely, adjusting Amélies position on her lap since she was not comfortable that way, before talking about general topics like Christmas and their life in Vancouver.
When the call ended, Lana sank backward into the pillows of the couch. "That went… well I guess. Even though I was not sure if the two people on the left were happy about it.", she confessed.
"Michael and Katie? They are just skeptical, don't worry. Everyone will love you when they meet you in person.", Sean grinned before leaning in to kiss her softly.
"Dada no.", Amélie complained, pushing his head away from Lana. She clearly had enough of them, so she wiggled out of Lana's arms and walked away to her toys, ignoring the two adults on the sofa. Flynn and Leo had gone back to their rooms just when the call got too boring for them, which means Sean had now full access to Lana's lips. With one remaining eye on Amélie, who wasn't looking in their direction, he began to deepen the kiss just slightly, sending shivers through Lana's body instantly.
"Tonight.", the woman said with a grin, when Sean stopped and he nodded in agreement. "Alright. Let's make some lunch. Think we still have some broccoli left. Let's make some self-made sweet potato fries with it. What do you think?", Lana asked and stood up from the sofa, pulling Sean with her as well.
"Sounds very lovely to me, but does that go together?", he asked
"Well, I would make it like cheesy broccoli. Not completely plain, you know. That will go together and it's easy for everyone to eat. Are you joining me in the kitchen?", She asked and Sean nodded, taking Amélie with him.
Whilst the little girl was playing in her high chair, Lana and Sean prepared the potatoes. Since they had an air fryer it was pretty easy to toss them all in the compartment for cooking.
Whilst the fries were air-frying Lana made the broccoli and Sean had a look at the boys since they were asking for him until lunch was ready to be served. Lana pulled out the kid's plates, which had different compartments on them to separate the food properly. She placed down the fries and cut them for Amélie in half so they could cool down quicker, before giving them some broccoli along with cut breadsticks to dip them into the cheese sauce. The last two compartments were filled up with some plain yogurt with honey for dessert and fruits.
"Lunch is ready!", she yelled up the stairs, hearing three pairs of feet running down soon after she called for them. Everyone took a seat and Leo began to investigate his food straight away.
"That looks yummy. What's that on the yogurt?", he asked curiously, whilst beginning with the cheesy broccoli.
"It's honey.", Lana informed him, making him look a bit confused and disgusted.
"I don't like honey….", he said, pulling a face. "Why is it on there?", he asked.
"Well, I like it. You mix it together with the yogurt and put some fruits in it as well. Do you remember when I made sweet potatoes for the first time? You thought you wouldn't like it but in the end, you did… So do you think you can at least try the yogurt?", Lana questioned, keeping an eye on Amélie, who was enjoying the fries with a sweet smile on her face. It was great for her to eat since she could use her fingers easily, which made it less frustrating for her, even though she liked trying to eat with her spoon sometimes.
"Well… yeah I will try.", Leo said, nodding. "But will you eat it if I don't like it?", he asked.
"Yeah, I can do that. No worries.", Lana chuckled. It wasn't necessary for her in the end since Leo did like it mixed up with the fruit and even asked to have it for breakfast the next day.
It made Lana proud to have taught the kids to always try before judging food they don't know. To be honest they weren't picky eaters at all. They just do not trust new things on their plates very much but most of the time they end up eating them. It was rewarding seeing them enjoying it since Lana had been cooking most of the time for just herself or her and Trish before being with Sean. Sharing her recipes with a whole family was something that made her very much proud and happy.
The days passed within no time, leaving Sean quite uneasy since one package still had not arrived on the evening of the 24th. He was looking outside the window like a child, waiting in hope that the postman was just late because of the weather circumstances and the number of packages.
When Lana came down the stairs after finally getting Amélie to sleep for the second time this evening, Sean was letting out a deep sigh. "It's not arriving on time.", he breathed out. "I should have thought earlier about Christmas. Tanya would have had every present right on time.", he said out loud even though he was telling it more to himself.
"Hey… it's alright. That's not your fault. It was supposed to arrive yesterday.", Lana said, placing a hand on his back. "What is missing?", She asked but didn't get any answer since a car pulled up in the driveway. The postman. Sean jumped up from his spot at the window, literally running to the door to take the parcel from the guy that usually brought all their packages.
He came back into the living room with a huge smile on his face, opening the box as fast as he could just to be assured that it was the right thing.
"Thank God.", he led out, when he held the Box with the doll in his hands.
"A doll?", Lana chuckled. "Why did you make such a big deal out of it?", Lana asked curiously.
"Since I know that Leo really really wanted to have one for himself….he wanted a boy and he wanted clothes with superheroes on them. So that's what I got. It was sooo hard to find since most of the clothing for dolls is completely pink.", he confessed and Lana agreed.
"I didn't know that he wanted a doll.", Lana chuckled and looked at how happy Sean was to fulfill his wish. "Normally he is all about superheroes and cowboys, no?", She asked.
"Well… yeah… he… Ehm… you know some older kids laughed at him once because he was playing with dolls. It wasn't too long ago… actually like the week after therapy. And that got stuck in his mind. He stopped playing with dolls afterward. But I can still see that he wants to… so I got him his own. It wasn't on his list… but I hope he will love it anyway.", Sean explained.
"That's so sweet, Sean. I really hope that he will not be afraid of playing with it. It is so annoying how stereotypes can turn into bullying.", Lana said frustrated. "There shouldn't be a separation.", she sighed.
"Yeah, I know. I think it's even worse for boys than it is for girls. Less people complain about a girl who is playing with a car than about a boy who is playing with a doll. I just don't get it. They are kids, they want to play. Just leave them alone. I don't have any problem with the fact that my son is playing with a doll. Why would I?", Sean said, which Lana agreed to.
"Could you do me one last favor and wrap it up for me? You know I am crap at that.", Sean said, making Lana laugh. She gladly took it, sitting down on the floor next to all the other boxes she prepared in the last few minutes before Amélie decided to wake up again.
Sean placed all the presents underneath the tree in the meantime, before tidying up the leftover of the wrapping paper and decorating stuff. Lana helped him get everything ready after finishing the one package and like that the living room was all ready for the kids to arrive the next morning.
Lana and Sean were thrilled about their work, when they finally got to see the result of their decorating hour. It looked like a little Christmas paradise. A lot of lights lit up the room in a beautiful warm yellowish color, making the baubles on the tree reflect some of the rays of the lights. Softly played music was audible in the background, giving the atmosphere the last touch. Every Christmas Sock above the chimney they had was filled up with little presents and sweets, whilst the presents shimmered in the different colors of the wrapping paper. Next to the tree stood their main gifts, which were too big to be wrapped. It was a long sled for the kids to fit on together. Since they don't have snow in LA they never needed one before but for the time in Vancouver, it would be much more fun to go on walks with it instead of the stroller. In addition to that, they saw some kids going down a small hill in one of the parks, something they would definitely try as well.
"It looks really pretty.", Lana grinned proudly, standing all wrapped up in Sean's arms to look at their work. "But one thing is missing.", she grinned and went to the kitchen before coming back with some flour and Sean's winter boots.
He frowned when he saw her. "What are you going to do?", He asked laughingly but Lana didn't answer, just showed him her mission. She put some of the flour on a plate before dipping the sole of Sean's shoe into it to leave white steps from the chimney to the Christmas tree and back.
"Just some extra touch.", she said with a cute grin, cleaning off the shoe and vanishing every evidence of her doing that.
"You're really something else when it comes to Christmas.", Sean chuckled when she was joining him again, before taking her in his arms. He smiled dreamily down at her, locking his eyes with hers before giving Lana a sweet kiss. The woman softly closed her eyes, grinning within the kiss since the moment couldn't be any more perfect.
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A/N: the next chapter is going to be the last one to end this story before I will continue with a sequel that is going to pick up right after Christmas.
I got a question though:
I am writing currently on Lana and Sean visiting his parents and siblings.
Do you have any requests during that visit? Conversations or whatsoever because otherwise I would just skip most of it. 🙊😅