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" 𝐦𝐲 𝐨𝐧𝐥𝐲 𝐠𝐢𝐟𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐲𝐞𝐚𝐫 𝐢𝐬 𝐲𝐨𝐮 "
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𝐂𝐡𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐦𝐚𝐬 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐄𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐞'𝐬 𝐟𝐚𝐯𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐞 𝐡𝐨𝐥𝐢𝐝𝐚𝐲. Coming up in second and third place was thanksgiving and Halloween. Of course, Europeans didn't celebrate thanksgiving and Halloween was far from over, so Christmas Eve was exceptionally exciting.
The snow hadn't stopped since the week before and the city of London was still alive regardless of the weather. Ines and Estelle had gone Christmas shopping and got decorations. Estelle was happy to see that her mother had come back around and was spending time with her. It was miracle to her. Of course, she didn't appreciate her mother leaving her alone.
Nevertheless, she was joyful of her return.
They had sent over gifts to family and friends to Florida. Although she wasn't able to ship a British boyfriend to her friends, Estelle hoped they would be happy with the souvenirs and aesthetic polaroids of London she bought.
But there was something sweet about putting her old promise ring back in a box and shipping it back to Clearwater.
Ines had seen the box being sent with some other gifts and thought to herself how strong she was. Now she had to deal with a new boy.
Ines had been adamant about meeting Estelle's "boyfriend" ever since she saw a photo of them together on her phone. It was one that Lively took of the two that first day in the snow when she had to drop of Estelle. Louis was carrying her on his back and she was kissing his cheek.
Little to say about Ines' reaction, but she was certainly pissed about it. Estelle had to quickly explain that Louis was her friend before and they had just recently gotten together and she may have lied about knowing he'd be there at Lively's.
So, when Mrs. Partridge invited the Blankley's to a Christmas Eve dinner, Estelle had no choice but to accept. Her mother wouldn't allow her to say no.
It was December 24th and the clock read six o'clock when Louis had finished getting ready for dinner. He was in a white button shirt and dress pants. He fiddled with the collar, attempting to look proper for Estelle's mother. Louis was well aware that Estelle's mother was her only parent in her life, so he needed her approval above everything.
" Stop overthinking, Lou." Will entered the room with Wright on his tail.
" Oh, but I can. I'm meeting her mother. She can make or break the relationship if she likes me or not."
" She'll like you." Wright sat on Louis' bed. " Okay? And if she doesn't, you and Estelle can be in a forbidden romance like the ones that Will reads about. Nothing wrong with that."
" You're not helping." Will turned to Wright in a monotone voice.
" Boy! Come and assist me in the kitchen!" Will's mother was heard calling out the three boys.
The three went to help in the kitchen while Millie, Issie, Lively and Flora finished decorating the tree and living room. The house was decorated from top to bottom in white and blue theme. The fire place was burning while smooth music was playing through a speaker.
Possibly ten to fifteen minutes passed when there was knock on the door. Issie opened it and was greeted by Estelle and her mother. Estelle was wearing a green knit sweater and Ines had long sleeve red shirt on.
" It's a pleasure to meet you, Miss, Blankley and it's great to see you again, Estelle." Issie greeted.
" A pleasure to meet you, Issie. Estelle had told me so much about you all."
Mrs. and Mr. Partridge greeted Ines along with Lively, Flora, Will and Wright's parents. Ines was rather impressed with the group of friends her daughter had made, especially since she was an extrovert at moments and attracted many types of people. Ines made a mental note to be thankful that her friends were not the bad kind.
And soon, she was met with Mr. Louis Partridge, the one she wanted to meet the most. He was a tall, but slim boy with brown hair. He seemed to be a put together, but he was more than clearly nervous. He shook Ines' hand, somewhat stuttering his greeting. Ines kept a stone cold face, effectively scaring the shit out of him.
" Mom, you're scaring him." Estelle mumbled while shaking her head. " C'mon, Lou."
She grabbed his hand and pulled him to the table. He kept tugging on his collar.
" She didn't completely dislike me. Correct?"
" Give it an hour. She'll love you." She kissed his cheek before fixing his messed up collar. " Don't worry about it or overthink it."
" Okay, I'll try." He took a deep breath. " But is my shirt too tacky? I can change it."
" My goodness."
Dinner went by smoothly. No awkward pauses or silence in between conversation. In fact, Estelle smiled to herself when she noticed her mother being less hostile towards Louis. Obviously, she had relying things to worry about, but Estelle's happiness was all that mattered.
After dinner, Louis was (somewhat) forced into playing piano for everyone. Millie sat next to him while he played piano in the corner of the house. Everyone else leaned on the wall while listening. After jingle bells, Wright had the delight of reminding everyone what they had done for their talent show a few years.
" No, please, no." Will sighed and tried to exit the room. " I want to forget that."
" But I have a tape." Lively bragged. " They "mean girl-ed" the whole show."
" No please!" Will begged. " I can't relive that."
" But we can!"
Lively went on to put on a recording of Wright, Louis and Will dancing and "acting out" the mean girls jingle bell scene. They had the dresses, hats, everything. Estelle could hardly breathe and Wright went on a rant about how many times they rehearsed it.
" And Lou nearly chickened out, but he fell into the Regina George role." Wright sighed. " That's just the actor in him."
They were all full and sipping on hot chocolate or tea while watching " The Grinch Who Stole Christmas" by nine. It was over watched, especially by Estelle and Flora, but it was always a goody. Estelle cuddle up next to Louis, who's head was resting on her shoulder as they hands held each other.
" Do you think she liked me?"
Estelle chuckled, " Yes. She definitely thinks your a good match. She would have told me by now if she didn't like you. I also think you won her after the whole Regina George video. She loves the movie."
He let out a sigh, " Thank goodness for "Mean Girls", then. If she hated me, I didn't what I'd do."
" Well it's like you said, I'd be Juliet."
— ☆*: .｡. ⋄▽⋄ .｡.:*☆—
nova speaks - Winter is my favorite time of year next to Autumn. And I just have to say that 3k reads on this story is so honoring to have. Thank you all! This chapter is a shorter one/ filler chapter with the whole big family coming together. And the next chapter with be bitter sweet because it is the last one before the epilogue. Jeez it's so sad and amazing at the same time. See you all next time!
