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Post by Elliot Gates on Oct 20, 2012 3:02:25 GMT -5
Elliot smiled as his mother handed him the stocking full of her desperately-missed treats. As he munched on some peanut brittle, he was startled by Raine's reaction to his mother's gift. He peeked over the top of the box and neatly folded tissue paper to see what was in it. Shoes.. oh. Well, he had to admit that they did make her look even more sexy than before but he tried not to think about it by stuffing the rest of the candy into his mouth.
He felt like a six year old with the way had had part of the candy still sticking out from his lips, but he couldn't fit it all in without choking. (that sounds so dirty, i'm sorry.) He carefully unwrapped the gift from Landon like it was going to be a bomb or something. Why the hell would he think that? Inside, laid a leather jacket that he honestly wasn't expecting. Elliot quickly ate the rest of his treat and held it up for everyone to see and peeked under the sleeve at Landon and James. "I'm sorry, James, but I think you've just been replaced by your brother." He shrugged sarcastically and thanked Landon.
He realized that Raine hadn't opened any of his. The little box inside his shirt suddenly felt like a bag of rocks but he dug through until he saw the familiar wrapping jobs of his own uncrafted hand. He pulled out two for Raine, one for James, and little boxes to everyone else that he wasn't really 'close to'. Inside of Raine's bigger box had a penguin blanket, and inside the smaller had two baby penguin blankets. He couldn't wait to see James' reaction above all the others. Everyone else he had given mix tapes that he had customized personally, with the help of Raine.
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Post by Raine Gregory on Oct 20, 2012 3:27:42 GMT -5
Raine opened her blanket around the same time that Kathleen, her mom and Neil were opening their presents. Kathleen got a diamond bracelet that looked like it costed a small fortune, her mother got a new pearl necklace and Neil got a diamond watch. She loved the blankets! Really! She was nothing but pleased with the fact that Elliot had bought something for their babies but it was hard to not feel a tiny lump in her throat when she noticed that he didn't buy her something fancy like that or an engagement ring. She glanced back over to Harris and Melissa when his wife let out a loud happy squeal, "Oh my God! Harry! You're so sweet!" What had earned him that compliment? He had bought her the antique necklace that she had saw a couple of weeks ago. Aiden was the next to give his girlfriend something sweet and it was probably the nicest thing that could have happened on Christmas. Everything got quiet for a second and he got down on one knee with a little blue box, "Lyda Giselle Samson, I love you and you've made me the happiest man in the world and there's nothing that I would change about you... except your last name." He bit down on his bottom lip before she squealed a very loud 'yes' and pulled him up to hold him and kiss him.
Raine grabbed her blanket and got up on the couch so she could snuggle up to Elliot. She was stroking his arm gently and just looking at that rock now on Lyda's finger. What in the hell had miss-only-been-dating-a-year-and-a-half done that she hadn't? She was so much hotter than her! Why was Aiden ready for marriage when Elliot wasn't? She could wait a lifetime for him to be ready if that's what he needed. She wasn't going to pressure him into something that he wasn't ready for just because she was pregnant.
James was now looking at his present with wide eyes, "Oh my god! Challenge accepted! Babe, can I go play outside?" His wife looked at him like he was absolutely insane, "Honey! It's snowing outside! Why would you want to go play out there? And you haven't even had breakfast yet." She felt a lot like his mother at the moment and she didn't like that one bit.
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Post by Elliot Gates on Oct 20, 2012 3:46:55 GMT -5
Elliot was still holding on of the presents that he pulled from the tree. So far, he didn't think that Raine had seen it, even as she slid over and snuggled with him. What was he supposed to do now? He held one box in his hand, and still had the other little box in his sweater pocket. He didn't want to steal the light from Aiden and Lyda, he could't. He pinched his eyebrows together and looked at the floor before putting on a happy mask and pretending that he didn't feel so bad.
As their excitement grew over the newly engaged couple, Elliot tilted his head toward Raine and handed her the small red box from his hand. "Raine," He whispered, obviously not quiet enough because his mother looked over and shouted, "Ohhh! Oh, my! Two at once?" She exclaimed, seeing the box in his hand.
She was wrong. Inside, contained the key to Raine's bigger gift. He spoke up now that people were listening, and said, "I can't really give her part two yet.. It's a little big to carry or pack in the car." What an asshole way to put it! Good going. Elliot yelled at himself. But seriously, how the hell was he supposed to surprise her if he just tell her hey! I bought you a house! He whispered to Raine, "You're just going to have to trust me, okay?" He asked so that only she could hear it.
She had no idea about the ring sitting inside the box that was hidden inside his jacket.
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Post by Raine Gregory on Oct 20, 2012 4:11:32 GMT -5
Raine gasped when she saw Elliot hand her a little box and she honestly thought that it was a ring. "Elliot... You're so..." She opened the small box and her heart sank into her stomach. She didn't want to show Elliot that she was disappointed because she knew how greedy that would seem so she tried to fake a smile then a laugh bu the laugh just turned into tears. She wiped her eyes and handed him the box before standing up and grabbing the leather jacket that Landon had got her. She was going to go outside and just get some air but it looked below freezing outside and definitely felt that way when she opened the door so she reluctantly headed back to the couch. She glanced over to Elliot and glared at him with a roll of her eyes.
Did she want to stay in here or risk being a pregsicle outside but be away from Elliot? It actually took some contemplation before she decided to put her boots back on because her fancy new shoes were far too nice to wear outside in what was currently a storm and stormed outside. Aiden, James and Landon watched her leave then glanced over to Elliot but they didn't go punch Elliot for obvious reasons. How were they suppose to get away with punching him when people were there?
Raine was freezing outside but she didn't care, seven years! She had put almost seven years into their relationship and he gives her a key? Was she being a greedy little baby who didn't get a ring? Yes but she was having his babies, giving up college and doing everything else that she could for him and he did this to her? How could he embarrass her like this? Was this payback for something that she had done to him in the past? Had she hurt him in someway that she didn't remember? She had gotten around the block before she realized how cold that it was. The sidewalk was slippery and iced over and this just wasn't the safest thing in the world for a pregnant woman to be doing but she didn't care. She was going to keep walking until she could look at Elliot without wanting to kick him in the face.
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Post by Elliot Gates on Oct 20, 2012 4:42:39 GMT -5
Elliot wasn't really sure what to say, so he didn't. He stayed still and let Raine walk outside. He ran his tongue over his teeth and huffed. Way to fuck this up, Elliot. He told himself. He didn't even notice the glares that her brothers were giving him at the moment. Elliot closed the box and set it on the couch next to him and quietly went upstairs. He felt like such a disappointing failure to Raine. He sat on the bed and pulled out the box from his pocket and opened it. He stared absentmindedly at all of the shiny diamonds and white gold that didn't even add up to how he saw Raine. He bit down on his bottom lip and closed and reopened the box several times.
Meanwhile, Evelyn had grabbed her coat from the closet and slipped on her snow boots to try and talk to Raine. Elliot's mom was the only one who knew about his plan that had just gone to shit, and she was determined to at least try and make it a little bit better. "Raine? Sweetie," She called out now that she had hurried to catch up to the young girl. "Sweetheart," she started, her breath a foggy cloud in front of her face, "Don't be mad at Elliot, he has so much resting on this." Had she said too much? Would Raine take that the wrong way? "Please, trust me when I say that you won't be feeling this way come this time tomorrow." She was genuinely trying to make her feel better without spilling any of Elliot's surprises.
Elliot had mustered up the little bit of go that he still had as he hid the ring back where he had it before in his bag, grabbed his heavy coat and went downstairs. He couldn't look at anyone in the living room as he passed, and kept his gaze on the ground until he stepped outside. The urge to smoke was overwhelming him, but he fought it in hopes that he could atleast do that right. He kicked the snow from the porch steps and sat down.
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Post by Raine Gregory on Oct 20, 2012 5:01:30 GMT -5
Raine was texting Dallas before his mom came to talk to her. She smiled weakly and hugged the older woman before saying something about how she was just tired. She stepped carefully back up to the porch where she saw Elliot and she glared at him. She was shaking so much from the cold that she couldn't even speak to him at first because her teeth chattering. So she just crossed her arms and glared at him like she wanted to destroy him.
How was she this cold? Well she was wearing a thin jacket and a thin shirt in a snowstorm where it was actually below freezing outside. Why didn't he love her? Well, she knew that he loved her but why didn't he love her enough to marry her? Or to not do something that would completely humiliate her in front of her family? Her grandmother was there and thought that her only granddaughter was going to get married! Nope, he was just doing it to be a douche! She sent a quick text message back to Dallas which was easier said than done when her fingers were turning numb from the cold which was actually probably not a good thing.
She had never wanted to steal his jacket more in her entire life than she did at this very moment. She just wanted to be warm! Why was she being so stubborn? She wasn't just risking her own health anymore, she had two little human beings depending on her and she wasn't even thinking about them right now. She was being selfish by staying out there in the cold like that. She was still freezing so it was hard to talk but she managed a sentence though it was broken up by her heavy breathing. "What..... Did... I.... Do.... To... Deserve..... that?"
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Post by Elliot Gates on Oct 20, 2012 12:58:54 GMT -5
Elliot's mother walked inside, giving Elliot an apologetic half-grin. She tried at least. Elliot didn't understand why after seven years that she wouldn't trust him to do something amazing. She knew how he worked! He had a stubbornly creative way of doing things, she knew this. So why was she being so dramatic about this?
She also knew that if he were to propose, he wouldn't just hand her the box and be like here. He wasn't an asshole that she just made him out to be. No, in his mind, this is how the gifts were going to go. He'd give her the little things first, then the key to the house, and then as she was confused about why the hell she was getting a key instead of a ring, he would nervously get down onto his knee and pull the black box from his sweater pocket. And that was his plan.
He didn't look at Raine when she was talking to him, which always meant that he wasn't really wanting to talk. After a short moment, he replied, "You didn't do anything but overreact." He started, watching the snow flakes fall and melt on his boots. Elliot sighed before looking up to her, "I don't you that you that you just have to trust me and you couldn't do that?" He leaned his head against the railing.
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Post by Raine Gregory on Oct 20, 2012 13:20:54 GMT -5
Overreact? Overreact?!? Raine was looking at him like he was insane now! "Overreacted? How am I supposed to feel, Elliot? How is it suppose to make me feel when everyone sees you give me a box and it's not a ring? A key to our apartment? Really? It's not about the presents, it's about the fact that you didn't even try! You just.... do you know how horrible I feel right now? How I am blaming myself because you obviously can't see a marriage with me? Maybe my dad was right and I shouldn't have acted like a wife when I was just a girlfriend but I honestly thought that it wouldn't be a problem. I thought that you could have me and sex and everything else and still want to get married but why would you?"
She wiped her eyes with the back of her hand before crossing her arms once again. "You.... How dare you turn this into me not trusting you? I love you and you know that but what you did was horrible! You just made me think that I was going to be the happiest person in the world and then you just took it away! You don't even care how you made me feel because you want to be right and fine! Whatever! I overreacted. I don't even care. I think I'm going to just get James to give me a ride back to /my/ apartment." She wasn't even looking at Elliot.
"Why would you do this to me? After yesterday and everyone's reactions to a baby out of wedlock? Why would you want to hurt me on Christmas? This is my favorite holiday and I'm spending it crying in the cold and arguing with my boyfriend. You just don't get it and I don't know if it's because you don't care enough or because you thought I would enjoy it." She was heartbroken! Why? Because she was wondering if his commitment issues were going to destroy them. What if she couldn't wait?
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Post by Elliot Gates on Oct 20, 2012 13:43:34 GMT -5
Elliot pursed his lips and swallowed hard. He thought about blurting out all of his plans, he couldn't take seeing her so hurt. "I.." No. He wasn't going to ruin Plan B just to make her feel better. He just sat and listened to everything the had to say. He clenched his jaw and couldn't make himself look at her. The cold, bitter air seemed to be having no effect on him because his body was rather numb.
And then she mentioned leaving. If she left, everything would go to shit! She couldn't leave! He flickered his eyes up to her, pleading, "Raine, you can't leave." He said with a sad tone, he could feel a lump growing in the throat and knew that his voice would start cracking soon if he didn't get a grip on himself. Elliot looked away and cleared his throat. "Please, just stay here." He asked as he stood up. She had won and he didn't even care. He wasn't about to tear them apart because he was too damn thick-headed to know when to stop.
She looked like he was about to freeze to death, and he had just realized it. What an asshole! He took his thick coat off, the icy winter air instantly sending a chill down his spine, and wrapped it around her shoulders. "I'm a dick." He admitted, looking at the ground again. "I'll understand if you want to go back, but I'm just asking you not to." Elliot huffed and took her frozen hand in his which were much warmer since they had been in his coat pockets. "I have something so big planned, but I can't tell you because it's a surprise.. The key? That was part one. A simple progression to what else I have for you."
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Post by Raine Gregory on Oct 20, 2012 14:14:30 GMT -5
Raine was about to walk inside to ask James for a ride back to her place when Elliot put his jacket over his shoulder and take her hand, "If you're a dick then I'm a baby. I overreacted because I thought for one second that you were ready for marriage but I can't make you propose just because I'm ready and a stupid ring isn't worth giving up almost seven years of happiness." Was she still disappointed that he hadn't proposed? Yep. Did she believe that this was going to be some fabulous day that she told the children about? Hell no but he didn't need to know any of that. He just needed to think that she was overjoyed over his present even if it made no sense and was slightly insulting. She smiled weakly to try and convince him that she was totally okay before giving him a small kiss on the cheek, "Should we go inside?"
She was about to open the door when she realized that Elliot probably deserved some sort of warning as to what was likely going to happen the second that he walked inside the house. Landon had punched him just for having sex with her and getting her pregnant when she was totally happy about both, what was he going to do when Elliot had made her cry on Christmas day and she looked close to freezing when she walked in? She stepped in and her family was smiling at her with obvious concern in their eyes. Landon pulled her in for a hug and pecked the top of her head before glaring at Elliot much like the rest of her brothers were currently doing. "Asshole." He hissed suddenly as he reached his hand into his pocket, "Fucking Kathleen! Did you have to take my knife? I was only going to stab him a little bit!"
Her dear sweet grandmother was glancing from Elliot to Raine with a frown on her face. "Awe dears..." She was worried that they were going to break up because of this! She didn't want that so she pulled Raine away from Landon and pushed her next to Elliot before speaking to both of them in a soft soothing tone, "You two might think right now that this is the biggest fight that you will ever have and that you don't want to wait around for him to be 'ready'." She was looking at only Raine now, "And that you've given so much up for him but he can't give you the one thing that you want but it'll happen. I was married for fifty-four years before my husband, Marvin passed away last June. It's horrible to lose someone that you love and it's even worse to give up on something that you want because you aren't patient enough to wait for it." She kissed Raine on the forehead before walking back into the kitchen to make some cookies to try and kill the tension. James was looking at Raine and Elliot with an un-amused expression, "You're a douche bag and do you know who wouldn't make you cry on Christmas, Raine? Dallas Kennedy because he is a kind and gentle man!"
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Post by Elliot Gates on Oct 20, 2012 15:30:03 GMT -5
Elliot nodded as they headed back inside. He saw everyone but his parents. He didn't hear them either so they probably went upstairs out out back. The first one he looked at was Landon, who had suddenly reached into his pocket to come up empty handed. Still, Elliot jumped back against the door, now weary of him and anything he would be capable of. What id Kathleen hadn't taken his knife from his pocket?
He heard a majority of what her grandmother was saying after he had gotten out of his defensive stage. He loved her grandma, her words really sunk into the void that he had been feeling. Elliot smiled sweetly to her as she walked into the kitchen. He sighed and started to cautiously make his way to the stairs. That's when James made his comment about Dallas. It took every ounce of him not to just walk up to James and knock his teeth in. Elliot would love to just take his pint up aggression out on anyone of her brothers that decided to be cross with him, but he wouldn't for Raine's sake. Instead he walked up to James, intimidatingly so, and spoke in a low voice so not many could hear. "I'd love very much to kick your teeth in, but I won't because I'm more civil than that. And what kind of influence would that be on D.J, hm?" Elliot hadn't passed up his stern look until he headed back up the stairs and into the room his parents were staying in.
His mom was there, which probably meant that his dad was outside smoking. As unfortunate as that was, seeing he could really use his dad's advice, he figured his mom was just as helpful. He sat on the edge of the bed and let out a frustrated sigh. "I'm sorry I haven't spent that much time with you guys." "Oh, that's rubbish, you've had a lot going on with Raine." His mother fixed a piece of his hair that had fallen out of place. "This is been an interesting visit, I must say." He looked up to her as she sat beside him. His expression screaming for her not to talk about it.
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Post by Raine Gregory on Oct 20, 2012 15:51:46 GMT -5
Raine's eyes widened to little saucers when Elliot actually sort of stood up to James like that! She had been expecting him to punch him and she was honestly relieved that he had decided against it because that would only make things more intense and more dramatic. She sighed in slight irritation when he walked upstairs like that. She was about to follow him into the guest bedroom when she decided to head into her old bedroom instead and pack up their things so everything was all ready. She even went downstairs and grabbed presents that they hadn't opened up yet so she could pack them up. She just wanted to go home to their nice warm apartment and go lay down and maybe cry over the fact that she wasn't an engaged woman!
She was just dragging the bags along the carpet because they were too heavy for her to lift. "Ugh." She groaned finally as she reached the guest bedroom and just sort of sat down on the floor with a defeated expression, "Can we just go home? I'm tired and sick and I don't want to be here when everyone else gets here." Deep down, she didn't want to hear everyone saying how happy that they were for Aiden now that he was engaged and how beautiful that their wedding was going to be because she wasn't going to be able to have her own wedding for a long long time and she knew the conversation would somehow end up centered around when she would get married especially since she was pregnant with twins.
She was just exhausted and done with all of the drama that had happened this weekend. It felt like she and Elliot had been arguing more than ever these days. She was more short tempered with him than she'd ever been before, more fragile to him not understanding her every crazy emotion and she couldn't really blame him for not wanting to marry her when she was acting so insane.
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Post by Elliot Gates on Oct 20, 2012 16:16:39 GMT -5
Evelyn took her son in for a hug about the time that his dad came back in. "You could cut a mountain with all the tension in this house. He sat down on the opposite side of Elliot who he thought looked miserable. "You know, your mother and I went through something very similar to this when we were pregnant with Eric." The thought of his vile brother made him cringe as he sat up. "We weren't married, her parents hated me, not saying Raine's hate you or anything. But anyways," Robert paused and looked at his wife. "But I loved her, and I showed her family that things were going to be okay. Eventually, I think they warmed up to the idea that we were going to be together no matter what."
Elliot smiled at the floor and got the same warm feeling that Raine's grandmother had given him. "Things will be okay." Elliot replied just as Raine came shuffling in with their things. He looked at her with a mixture of happy, confused, and a relieved expression when she asked if they could leave. They could leave, but it wouldn't be back to his apartment. He didn't live there anymore. He didn't have the rights to sign off Raine's apartment, but his was completely out of his name and probably had a new attendant already living in it.
Elliot pulled himself off the bed and joined Raine on the floor. He didn't care if she didn't want to feel his touch right now so he pulled both of her hands in his and spoke like there was no one listening. "I'm sorry this weekend took a turn for the worst, love." He ran his thumb over her smooth skin. "We can go home if that's what you want." He leaned over to give her a simple, but long kiss on her forehead. "I love you. You know that right?"
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Post by Raine Gregory on Oct 20, 2012 16:33:10 GMT -5
Raine was relieved to say the least when Elliot said that they could go home because all that she wanted to do was go home and see her dogs and forget that this whole awful weekend had ever even happened. "I got the rest of our gifts from downstairs and we can go whenever we want. I think that James and Kathleen already left, too since all of D.J's stuff is gone." It wasn't too unusual for some of them to leave on Christmas morning to spend it with their own families and do their own things. "He and Kathleen usually leave early though so they can spend some time with her family, too." She didn't want Elliot to think that they'd left because of what he'd said or anything.
She nuzzled her head into his neck and let out a small sigh. She knew that leaving meant that she actually had to get up but it was comforting to just sit there with her boyfriend and relax for a couple of minutes after the horrible weekend that she'd had. "I know.. I love you too by the way even if... even if you know." She was still disappointed over her present but at least now she had a fancy new key to their apartment? Or did he mean it in the 'you have the key to my heart' way? That could be kind of cute, she supposed.
She finally stood up with a heavy sigh and fixed her pants, "Mr. and Mrs. Gates, you guys can stay with us if you'd like. We don't have a spare bedroom so you guys can just take our room and we'll take the couch or something." She didn't want them to be uncomfortable especially considering how they must have felt during this visit! She had her hands rested over her stomach which actually didn't look very big thankfully. She was still wearing Elliot's jacket so she was just happy because it smelled just like him and it was like a hug without him having to touch her.
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Post by Elliot Gates on Oct 20, 2012 17:18:27 GMT -5
A twinge of excitement sparked back up at the thought of them going to their new home. He stood and looked to his parents who were already packing their things. Wow, they must have really wanted to see how this was going to play out! Elliot smiled over to them, knowing that they knew the day was about to turn around.
Elliot helped, and by helped I mean he got the heavy things and loaded them into the car. Thank God he had a large trunk because with their bags, his parents bags, the gifts and Elliot's old acoustic guitar that his dad had brought with them. He would be using that later on.
He went back inside and hugged everyone goodbye, except Landon. He just gave him a nervous little wave. He also apologized for making such a mess out of their Christmas, especially to her grandma.
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