31

"I can't believe that you left your Christmas shopping until the last minute." Maggie scolds me.

"This technically isn't the last minute." I tell her seeing that it's the day before Christmas eve.

"Well it's still pretty late to be shopping, don't you think?"

"Meh, it's better than doing it tomorrow." I point out.

"How did you manage to convince Lucas to let you come with me?" she asks. He feels that I shouldn't be walking in my 'condition' as he likes to call it.

"I didn't have to convince him, I told him I was going to the mall with you." I told her simply.

"And he was okay with that?" she asks me incredulously.

"Now I didn't say that, but he knows not to fight me because we al know who will win that fight. He's probably just gonna do some work and take Jake to the park anyways"

Maggie just chuckled but didn't respond. The cheery tune of Jingle Bell Rock was playing through the entire mall as Maggie and I walked around finishing up our Christmas shopping.

"So what do you think I should do about Lisa and John's presents?" we had been walking around for a while and I had already gotten pretty much everybody else's presents.

I got Lucas a instruction manual and some new Hugo Boss cologne along with seven new ties, one for everyday of the week. I bought Jake a new plush toy that's talks when you push the different buttons or squeeze it. I got Maggie a mug that says New York on it along with a hair dye kit. I was even able to get Brian a gift, a Bob the Builder mug and some cologne.

"Hmm, well I got John the box set of the Law & Order SVU TV show and I got Auntie Lisa a new tea set."

"How does that help me, exactly?" I don't understand how that's supposed to help me in any way, shape or form.

She was about to respond when her phone started ringing. "Oh Mel is calling."

She answers her phone as we enter the food court. As she talks I look around and try to figure out what to eat out of all the glorious options. Taco Bell, Burger King, Quiznos Sub, Popeyes, CiCi's Pizza or Nathan's.

This is such a hard decision. Soon enough I decide to have Nathan's, the mini corndogs are calling my name. Looking over I see Maggie is hanging up the phone, a sullen look on her face. "What's wrong?"

"Mel doesn't think she'll be able to come home for Christmas. There's supposed to be this big snow storm and all of the flights are already booked." she says.

"Won't this be the first Christmas she's spent away from home?" I ask curiously.

"Yeah, poor Aunt Lisa I know she's been looking forward to her coming down."

"She's already called and told everyone the news?"

"Yeah, she said she tried to call you but couldn't reach." I take my phone out of my purse only to realize that it's been on silent.

"Wow, what about connecting flights?" I ask.

"I don't know, there probably won't be that many seeing as most people only want to come here for New Years Eve and if they are coming down they're probably already here."

"Man, that really sucks." I say. We change the topic to something a little happier and get our food then continue shopping.

On our way to the parking lot Maggie turns to me.

"So, how's the whole pregnant thing working out for you?"

"Honestly it's not bad. There's obviously some things that I would rather not have like not being able to walk for long periods of time without sitting down or the back pains, but in the end it's all worth it." I respond smiling while rubbing my stomach.

"I'm really happy for you guys."

"Well we have you to thank for that actually, if I hadn't met you I don't know where I would be right now." I say starting to get a little emotional. "I never had the chance to thank you for that Maggie, how did you know I was talking about Lucas anyways?"

"I didn't but I was listening to your description and just decided to go for the long shot, and boy am I happy I did." she says smiling back at me.

"I'll see you at Christmas dinner in a few day right?" I ask walking towards where I parked the car.

"Definitely." she turns away and goes to her car.

"Oh, and bring your boyfriend I really want to meet him." I yell before she gets in.

"No promises, bye Jess." she says closing the door and backing out of the lot.

Waving goodbye I put my bags in the passenger seat and drive back to the apartment.

I take out my key to open the door only for it to be opened by Brian.

"Hey Brian! What are you doing here?" I put down the bags and gave him a hug, well as much as I could with my stomach in the way.

"Well Lucas and I haven't hung out in a while so I decided to drop by, I'm actually on my way out now though."

"Oh okay well it was nice seeing you, where's Lucas and Jake?"

"Changing Jakes diaper." he chuckles a bit.

"Oh, well I'll see you at Christmas dinner right?"

"Of course, I'll see you then." he closes the door and I pick up the bags and put them in one of the cabinets in the laundry room. I walk out and see Lucas walking down the stairs with Jake curled up on his side.

"Welcome back." he says giving me a kiss on the lips.

"Oh please I wasn't gone that long." I rebuttal as we take a seat on the couch and put Jake on his play mat.

"Any time away from you is to long." he says giving me another kiss.

We sat in silence for a while before I decided to break it.

"Remember a while ago when I told you about my dad and how we were really close before he left my mom and started his own family."

"Yeah, why what's wrong?"

"He called me, a few days ago and said that he wanted to see me this Christmas."

"Well, do you want to see him?" he asks as I rest my head on his shoulder.

"Yeah of course I want to see him, he's my dad you know, but I just don't know I haven't seen him in almost five years what if he isn't the same dad that I knew and if he comes so does his new family and I'm not sure if I'm ready for that."

"Well you've met them before." he tried to reason.

"Yeah I last saw them when I was nineteen, there daughter was like four and their son was almost two they probably don't even remember me."

"Jess, I know it's hard okay. I know I really do but do you really want to let a little bit of fear rule over this decision? You could see your dad and make things better between you guys, don't pass up the chance of a lifetime some people in your position would kill to see their dad, I know I would. I'll let you think about it." he plants a kiss on my temple and gets up to feed and change Jake before putting him to bed.

"Thanks. Can I ask you a question? I ask Lucas when he comes back into the living room with two plats of food.

"Sure."

"What happened to your dad?" I ask him softly and see him tense a little. "You don't have to answer if you don't want to."

"You told me about yours so it's only fair. He died when I was fifteen, he was driving home from work one night when it was raining hard and the roads were slippery. He lost control of the car and drove right off the road. It was really hard for a while especially on my mom, for about a year she was in a depression, until she met John at least. He was an angel in disguise for our family I think he saved my mom in so many ways and I'm so grateful."

I wrapped my arms around him in a tight embrace, "You are so strong."

We finished our dinner talking about random subject then made our way upstairs to bed.

"You go ahead, I need to do something really quick." I told Lucas.

"Okay, don't take to long." I nodded my head as he went into our bedroom. I took out my phone and dialed a number.

After a few seconds of ringing they finally picked up."

"Jess?"

"Hey dad."

*****

"So how does Christmas with your mom usually work?" I ask as Lucas puts our suitcases and gifts in the trunk and I gave Jake a toy to play with for the drive to his parents house.

"Well we go over on Christmas Eve, like we are now, and we just stay for Christmas and celebrate as a family. It's like the dinners we always have but you get to meet my older sister, Liz, and her two kids and husband." he said getting into the drivers seat, starting the car.

"They're already there?"

"They live pretty far so the come up early and leave usually after New Years."

"Well that sounds like fun, having everyone close to you around this time of year."

We sat in a comfortably silence with Jake making random noises in the back, before Lucas' phone vibrated from where he left it in the cup holder.

"Can you check and see who that is for me please?"

"Sure." I reach over and look at the lock screen to see who texted him.

"Who is it?"

"It's Brian. He says he cant make it because his girlfriend wanted him to meet her family, I didn't even know he had a girlfriend."

"Yeah he's been talking about her for a while, says they're getting pretty serious."

"Well that's too bad, I was looking forward to seeing him again."

Lucas drove the rest of the way to Lisa's house in a comfortable silence as Jake made random babbles in the back seat.

When we reached Lisa's house there was already on van in the driveway, which I'm assuming is Lucas' sister Liz. Lucas parked the car on the driveway, behind his sister's and took the key out of the ignition. I took Jake out of his seat and walked up to the door while Lucas got our stuff out of the trunk.

John opened the door when I knocked and Lisa came barrelling behind him. She hugged Jake and I while ushering me inside and taking him out of my arms.

While John went outside to help Lucas with our suitcases and the presents, Lisa brought me into the kitchen where a woman with blonde hair was sitting.

"Liz darling, this is Jessica, Lucas' fiancée."

"Hi, nice to meet you." she gave me a tight smile glancing at my stomach and looked back at Lisa. "Where's Lucas?"

"He's outside with John, bringing their stuff in." she said bouncing Jake on her lap.

We sat in an uncomfortable silence before a man with curly dark hair and brown eyes walked into the kitchen with two boys sitting on his feet as he walked, one with brown eyes and blonde hair and the other blue eyes and dark brown hair.

"Hey, I'm Sean." he held out a hand for me to shake. I introduced myself after shaking his hand and got a much warmer response than from his wife.

"These are the boys, Cameron," he pointed to the one with brown hair and blue eyes, "and this is Danny." he said pointing to the one with blonde hair and brown eyes.

They both gave a cute smile before running back to wherever they came from with Sean. A few minutes later Lucas and John walked in, Lucas giving Sean a man hug before coming and giving me a kiss.

"Hey Liz." he smiles and gives her a kiss on the cheek.

"Hey there baby brother, why didn't you tell me you were engaged and having a baby and already have a baby."

"Well I kind of assumed that mom told you." he said sheepishly.

"Well nobody told me, anything."

Before anyone could say anything to try and ease the tension Liz created, there was a knock at the door. As quick as I could, I went to open the door to get out of that uncomfortable situation. Opening the door I saw one of the most shocking things I've ever seen.

I cleared my throat to let the couple know that the door has been opened. I hear Lucas call my name from the kitchen asking who's at the door.

"It's Maggie, and her boyfriend."

"Great now I can finally meet and threaten the boy who swept my cousin off her feet." I can hear his quick footsteps coming from the kitchen.

"So who is he-" his voice falter when he realizes who's at the door with Maggie.

"Brian?"

"Hey man, small world huh." he tries to lighten the mood.

"Can I just ask how you guys have never met while, Brian's your best friend and Maggie's your cousin?"

"I met Brian after Maggie left hen we were kids."

"Well, Brian you get to spend Christmas with us." I smile.

We all walk into the kitchen and Lisa smiles and gives Jake to John so she can hug Maggie and Brian when she sees them.

"Brian, It's so good to see you! I thought you were spending this Christmas with your girlfriend though?"

"I am." he simply replies.

"Well where's your girlfriend then, I want to meet the lucky lady." she smiles. She realizes it's Maggie when he puts his arm on her shoulder and leans into him.

"Oh, well, congratulations dear. I'm happy for you." she gives them both hugs again.

When everyone starts asking them questions about their relationship and how they met, I look around and notice Lucas sitting on a nearby chair looking concentrated.

"What are you thinking about?" I ask putting my arms around his neck, sitting on his lap.

"I don't know how I'm supposed to feel right now."

"With Maggie and Brian?"

"Yeah. Brian's my best friend and I'm so happy that he's in a committed relationship, but then again, Maggie's my cousin, I'm like the brother she never had and I feel obligated to hate every guy she dates even though I haven't seen her in years."

"Well Maggie's your cousin and Brian's your best friend. I don't think that there's anything to really think about."

"I guess not, but I am going to give him the whole 'you break her heart, I break your face' speech."

"Whatever you say mister tough man." I say sarcastically.

"No seriously, you don't ant to see me fight, because let me tell you I can do some real damage." he says poking me in the side.

"You're one of the people who say 'if you think this is bad you should see the other guy' aren't you."

"No, of course not." he scoffs. Shaking my head I get off his lap to let him go over and talk to Brian.

While they're talking Maggie comes to talk to me.

"Is Lucas mad?" she ask wringing her fingers together.

"No he's fine. No need for you to worry."

"Thank God. Sorry I didn't tell you about him."

"It's really no problem, not my business anyways. As long as your happy." I smile at her.

Later in the evening we eat dinner in the dining room then head off to our respective rooms and sleep, in preparation for Christmas tomorrow morning.