Joseph Ford's Story

Joe watched as Emmie was consumed by her emotions. "Emmie wait-" He tried to say to her but she was already gone. "Damn it...." He cursed to himself. gettig up from the bed he grabbed his coat and went after her. As he was going down the flight of stairs He heard the back door open. Assuming it was her he checked it out. sure enough there was a trail of female foot prints in the snow leading away from the house. After following the trail for a short distance he found her in a small clearing with the photo album. Calmly coming up behind her he saw that she was shivering. Taking off his coat he put it around her shoulders and sat down next to her. "You know when my brother passed away..... I thought that was the end. I didn't eat, I didn't sleep. I felt alone. "

He looked at her." I guess what Im trying to say is... you're not alone...As long as I'm with you, you'll never be alone. " He looked at the picture of her and her mom. "I know I don't talk about Thomas that much but, Heres a picture." With that he pulled out his wallet and took a picture out, it was of him with his brother when he they were the ages 16 and 19. "This picture was taken after his first year of Seminary School. He was was dead three months later and I never got to say goodbye. After the funeral I had a hard time controlling my emotions,Thomas had always been there to make sure I made the right decision." His voice cracked a little bit. "It took a long time for me to figure out that Thomas would want me to move on and let go." Emmie knew that his brother was killed in the crossfire of a gang fight. But he never told her about his life right after it. "Im not saying it's time to let go. I just want you to know your not alone..." He said. He gave her a kiss on the cheek and put his arm around her.

Joe was surprised and kind of Dumb-founded by the words she said to him. Those feelings were quickly replaced with anger. He rarely ever talked about his brother because It was such a good damn touchy subject for him. When he thought they could bond through their experiences she spat in his face. For a second Joe didn't see the love of his life, he saw a spoiled little girl who was throwing a fit because life was getting tough. He understood that she was grieving he really did, but He was truly hurt by her words. Nothing he wanted to say would help at this point.

Using all of his ability to maintain his cool Joe stood up and put his coat back on. "Fine....." He said with unease. AS he began to walk back to the house he turned and looked at her once more. "Merry Christmas..." With that he made his way back up to the house and inside to the warmth. He took his coat off and set it on a nearby chair. He was gonna go lie down in their room and try to blow off some steam. Joe obviously had a bothered look on his face by the look on Kates Face when she saw him appear in the hallway. "Not knowing what to say He looked at her. "Hey" He muttered as he tried to slip past her.

Kate left Annie with a hopeful smile and hurried through the long hallway and downstairs. She found John in the kitchen and was pleasantly surprised to see that everything looked to be cooked perfectly. It smelled delicious and as she peered around at all of the steaming dishes, she was surprised at just how much food had been made. John had made a fuss over Westley's boyfriend coming so last minute but even with the unexpected guest, Kate guessed that they probably had enough food to double the amount of people who would be eating the meal.

He had explained to her that every year they would make two main dishes for the holiday: roasted turkey and filet mignon, because he and Rose could never agree on which to have. Rose insisted on having turkey, which her family had served for all of their Christmas dinners, but John preferred the red meat steaks, so they would eat the steak on Christmas Eve and the turkey on Christmas day. On top of the main dishes, there were tons of side dishes that reminded Kate of more of a Thanksgiving feast than a small, family Christmas Eve dinner. Although it seemed a bit excessive, Kate didn't think it was a problem and even if she did, she knew that it wasn't her place to change a family tradition, especially the year after Rose died.

"It smells great," she commented as she approached John from behind and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek.

"I know, it brings back memories," he said with a light chuckle. He was trying to keep the mood light, so rather than indulging in nostalgic thoughts, he turned to Kate. She was his future and he knew that Rose would want him to be happy and hopeful for the rest of his life.

"I'll bring everything out to the table. Will you call the kids down?" he asked, although he had already pulled the oven mits back on and began to carry the hot dishes into the dining room before she could respond.

Kate had no problem with it though and headed towards the bottom of the stairs. She stepped up a few before calling out, "Dinner's ready!". Hoping that it was loud enough for them all to hear, she made her way backstairs, turning away from the kitchen entrance and down the hall with the intentions of touching up her hair in the bathroom. However, as she passed the backdoor, she nearly ran into Emmie's boyfriend, Joe.

"Oh, I'm so sorry," she said with a soft smile. "I thought you and Emmie were upstairs, but dinner's ready," she continued, her gaze shifting to the door behind him. "Is Emmie... out there?" she asked, confused about why he had been outside, especially alone. By the expression on his face, she could tell that he was upset or that at least something wasn't right. She took a step past him and squinted through the glass door, barely making out the silhouette of someone sitting on the lawn on the other side of the yard. "Would you let her know that dinner is ready, hon?" she said, smiling again although it was probably more of a concerned one than a genuine one. Again, since she had just met Joe, she didn't feel like it was her place to pry into whatever was going on between him and Emmie and for the most part, Kate just assumed that Emmie was overwhelmed with being back home without her other.

Allie was....shocked to see Annie walked into her room. And without knocking mind you. She gave a smile hoping that her sister just wanted to chat but the words that came out of her mouth just caused Allie to sigh in slight disappointment. Oh well. Can't be bothered. No one should go without a present on Christmas anyway. 'Sure Annie. We can share them.' Her face broke into a grin. 'But you need to know what they are first. That way you won't be suprised to what we give them.'

As her sister settled on her bed Allie began to grab the presents from her closet. She picked up two boxes that were about the size of her fist. Both were wrapped neatly in bright red paper. 'These,' Allie placed them on the bed. 'Are for Dad and Kate. I got Kate some earing and Dad a watch.' Truthful she didn't know what to get for the couple. Because of her being born female she never spent much time with her dad so unfortunately her gift didn't posse any deep meaning. It was the same with Kate but Allie was sure she'd look great in the golden earrings.

Next she grabbed the biggest box which was going to Mia. 'I got Mia some survival backpack for when she goes hiking. She likes that stuff, I'm sure.' With the biggest out of the way Allie began to toss Michael's to the bed. 'Michael was hard...I just got him a football.' She shrugged. Allie knew he liked watching the games so it was really the only thing she could think of.

She brought out the next with a smile. 'Here we have West's.' It was the second largest gift and the heaviest. Allie sat it on the ground next to the bed with a groan. 'West got a butt load of romance novels. Collectors edition was what the guy at the book store told me.'

All that was left where two small boxes and three cards. She held up one bright pink box. 'This is for you Annie so you don't get to know this yet.' Setting the pink box on the dresser she sat on the bed and held the the remaining gifts. The last box was golden and had a white bow. 'This is Emmie's. It's a necklace with a rose on it. I thought it would be poetic with her and mom being so close and all.' At least she hoped it wouldn't send her sister into a fit. It was painful for her even to buy it but in Allies opinion it's better not to hold in your sorrow. With those out of the way she held up the three cards. 'For our darling siblings lovers. Because I don't really know them they get giftcards. Christmas may not be about gifts but no one should go without one.'

Feeling rather confident her her gifts Allie stood just as Kate's voice rang down the hall. 'Oh. Dinners ready.' Allie knew this dinner would be awkward. Prehaps a little sad even but Allie was determined to keep it peaceful. It fell upon her to do so. 'Come on Annie.' She offered a hand to her sister. 'Lets go.'

Annie was relieved when Allie agreed to share the gifts with her, although she pretty much expected that response. Her sister was nice, probably too nice for her own good, and when it came down to it, Allie was a lot more flexible than Annie and seemed to do what she could to avoid problems and tension. It benefited Annie but sometimes she really did feel bad for being bratty to Allie. It wasn't her sister's fault that she was so involved in her theater stuff that she didn't always have time to hang out, and for the past few months, Annie had put in even less effort than Allie did in keeping a relationship between them. Even though she stopped caring, when it came down to it, it seemed like Allie did still care about her. It was nice, but didn't stop Annie from being, well... herself.

She listened as Allie described the first few gifts but when she stated that one of the pink boxes was for her, her attention was instantly directed at the box. She quickly hopped off of the bed and to the dresser where the small box sat. Annie picked it up, nodding in a distracted manner as Allie explained what the rest of the gifts are, and rattled the box in her hands, trying to figure out what was in it. She gave up after a few seconds and gently set the box back down before returning over to Allie.

"I hope you got me something expensive," she commented seriously, although she offered her sister a small smile. When Kate's voice rang out, stating that dinner was ready, Annie could feel her heartbeat speed up a bit. She didn't know why she was nervous. It would be sad to be sitting around the table without her mother on one end, but Annie didn't even think that her mother being gone was what was bothering her. It was more so that everything was changing and now, as she headed downstairs with Allie, that sudden realization was hitting harder than ever. Her family life had changed so quickly. In a matter of a few years, her four older siblings had moved out and started their own lives, her mother had died and now her father had a new girlfriend. It was scary to think that in a few months, it was possible that Allie might move off to college or to a big city to pursue her artistic dreams, and she would be all alone in the house.

When they got downstairs, Annie gently pulled away from Allie and hurried into the dining room, only to find that they were the first ones down. She saw Kate and Joe hovering by the back door and pushed past them, only shouting "I'll go tell West and Marco to come in!" when she was halfway out the door already. Luckily, the snow hadn't managed to form much of a heavy layer on the ground so Annie didn't hesitate to walk through the light coating in her nice boots. One of the pluses of living in an oceanfront home was that there was never quite as much snowfall as the inland areas got. However, the exposed parts of her legs did feel the sting of the cold wind and she hurried towards the guest cottage. Halfway there though, she spotted Emmie seated in the grass. It was a strange sight, but then Annie realized that that was probably why Joe and Kate were standing by the back door.

"Emmie?" Annie said, approaching her sister cautiously. "Dinner's ready..." she offered, standing over her sister. She could tell that Emmie was sad but Annie didn't know what to say. She wasn't very good at comforting people, especially not her estranged sister who was ten years older than her. "Were you crying?" was the best she could offer as she looked down at her with a confused, yet concerned expression.

Annie realized that she had probably startled Emmie when she quickly scrambled to her feet and tried to compose herself. It was apparent from her tear-stained face and sniffles that her sister had been crying but when Emmie shook her head no, Annie decided not to press the subject. She thought that it would probably be more embarrassing for Emmie if she continued to pry into whatever was bothering her, trying to figure out what was wrong, even if her intentions were good.

She assumed that something with Joe and her relationship was the cause of the distress but she then noticed that Emmie was clutching a family photo album. That hinted that the more likely cause of her sorrow was their late mother but still, Annie didn't know what to say or do. She felt like it would be too awkward to hug Emmie or ask if she wanted to talk about it, so she was glad when Emmie responded to her original comment about dinner being ready.

"I came out to tell West and his boyfriend," she started, addressing Emmie's original question about why she was out here. "It was just me and Allie in there," she then added, informing her sister that at least before she came out, none of their other siblings had come down yet. "Will you just text West to tell him to come in?" she then said, deciding that she no longer felt like walking all the way to the guest cottage. Her new phone was still upstairs, mainly because it was charging but also because Annie knew John wouldn't take well to her texting during one of their few family dinners.

She took a few steps towards the house, hoping that Emmie was following before glancing over at her sister. She felt like she had to say something. "Did you and your boyfriend break up?" It would be rude to just pretend that Emmie's feelings didn't exist, but like most of Annie's comments, this one didn't come out as sympathetic or helpful as she wanted it to.

Allie had been lost in memories when a voice spoke up behind her. She jumped slightly and turned. 'Oh. Hey Mai.' Of all her siblings Mia was definitely the most interesting. At least to Allie. Her attitude just left Allie feeling good. 'I'm doing good I guess. Best anyone could be right now.' Allie noted the black olives near her sister and smiled. Her sister never seemed to change.

'What about you? How are you doing?' She tried her best to sound intrigued and pulled up a chair. 'We haven't seen each other in a while.' Truly it was a bit awkward. The only siblings Allie had talked to today were Annie and West. And she'd see Annie everyday so that wasn't weird and West was just so easy to talk to. Allie also was very good at talking to people. She had to be since she was working in theatre.

Still she had to try. Allie couldn't help but imagine her mother watching them right now. No doubt she'd want them to all get along. While waiting for her sister to answer the door opened and Emmie walked in. Allie sent her a smile though her oldest sibling looked a bit....strange. she couldn't put her finger on it. Decoding to figure it out later she turned back to Mai and awaited her answer.