Okay, here's the second to last chapter. Oh, and big news, yes the news I've been talking about but never telling you. I'm glad to announce (and stupid excited!) that I've been working with Kitten2010 on a collaboration project that is finish, and will be posted in the next couple of days. It's gonna be fantastic and I hope you all enjoy it. (I had a ton of fun writing it with her)
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Corey sat in bed, late into the day.
"Still in bed?" Eric walked into the room.
"No." Corey rolled over into the pillows.
"Oh really..." Eric set down the dirty shirt he was picking up.
"Oh yeah." Corey nodded, not removing his face from the pillow that muffled his voice. Eric chuckled and dropped the other dirty clothes he was holding. He crawled into the bed, lying himself gently on top of Corey. He kissed the back of his neck tenderly, holding himself up with his hands. Corey rolled over so he was face to face with Eric and kissed him.
"You know..." Eric said, rolling over and letting Corey rest against his chest, "Christmas is coming up, and I have some time off." Eric said.
"Really? That would be great! Do you have Christmas off?" Corey sat up.
"I do." Eric smiled at how excited Corey was getting.
"This is fantastic! We'll have a tree, and presents, and we can decorate the house ourselves, and we can have stockings, and I'll make Christmas dinner! What do you want for Christmas? Oh my God it's only a few weeks away and I haven't gone shopping! I don't know what I'm going to get you..." Corey rambled, he continued to talk for a minute longer before sighing and lying back down on Eric's chest with an excited smile. "This will be the best Christmas ever." He smiled into some far off world where Christmas had already reached them.
"Well... We're not doing a tree." Eric said.
"What?" Corey sat up. "But Master, it's one of the best parts about Christmas. Sitting in the living room with the fireplace burning and Christmas music playing, decorating the tree together..." Corey lost some of his smile.
"We're not doing decorations either." Eric said.
"What?" Corey had to stop himself from shouting. "But Master we-"
"And no stockings."
"Master!" Corey sat away from Eric, sitting on his heels with an adorable pout on his face.
"And no Christmas dinner." Eric added.
"What? How could you-.... You can't have Christmas without-.... Why cant we-.... Maybe just-..." Corey was silent, staring at his Master like he had grown a second head.
"We probably won't be having to many presents, either."
"Master... Why can't we have Christmas? It's my favorite holiday... I-"
"Corey, who am I?" Eric said. Corey sighed and looked down with a destroyed look on his face.
"My Master..."
"And who has final say in this house?"
"You..." Corey mumbled, head down.
"Good."
"But can't we just-"
"Corey. I've made my decision and that's final, you will respect that and trust that I know what's best for you and I." Eric said.
"Yes Sir..." Corey said, so meekly he could hardly hear it himself.
"Now, we will NOT be having an elaborate Christmas..." Eric paused and reached into the drawer on his nightstand, pulling something out. Corey refused to look up.
"Because, we will be going to Ireland to visit your family." Eric held up the two tickets to Ireland. Corey snapped his head up so fast he thought he would get whiplash. He took the tickets from Eric's hands slowly. He stared down at them in his lap quietly for a long time.
"Corey? Aren't you happy?" Corey looked up and saw the tears in his eyes.
"Master..." He choked on his tears. He reached out for the comfort Eric provided. Eric took him in his arms, confused.
"What is it?" Eric asked, rubbing Corey's back as he cried.
"Thank you so much, Eric." Corey said, using his Masters name purposely. "You have no idea how much this means to me." Corey sobbed. Eric smiled and pulled Corey away so he could wipe the tears from his face.
"It's been awhile since you've seen them, hasn't it?" Eric asked. Corey nodded, tears still falling from his eyes.
"Is this good enough to fulfill your Christmas needs?" Eric asked. Corey nodded with a smile quickly and hugged Eric again. "I'm glad you like it, Corey. I thought we could use a break from all the excitement around here."
"How long are we staying?" Corey asked, once the tears had gone.
"I planned for a week, I hope thats long enough. I wanted to spend actual Christmas day here, together." Eric stroked his leg.
"It's perfect. I love you, Master."
"I love you too, Corey. More than anything." Eric hugged Corey to his chest. He held the elated man in his arms, and smiled at the thought of getting to meet his lover's family.
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"This is beautiful, Corey." Eric looked out the window as they drove through the green fields of Ireland.
"It's been so long since I've been home. I didn't realize how much I missed it." Corey smiled. He looked so at home here. Eric loved the look on his face as he watched the green fields fly by.
"It's so much prettier in the summer." Corey looked up at the gray clouds of winter.
"I'm sure it is, we might have to plan a second trip." Eric smiled at him, brushing his fingers through his Pet's hair.
"Lets get through this one first." Corey laughed. They drove near the edge of the cliff that separated them from the roaring ocean.
"Look at that, it's so beautiful." Eric smiled. "How much farther?"
"Not long, ten minutes or so." Corey smiled. He pulled his turtleneck a bit further up his neck, catching Eric's eye.
"Don't you think you should tell them what happened, Pet?"
"No." Corey said quickly. He had asked Eric to buy him a few turtlenecks for the trip a few days ago. "I'm sorry Master, but it would darken the holiday. My family doesn't... Deal well with things like this." Corey looked up at Eric almost pleading him to understand.
"Alright, Pet. I won't say anything if you don't." He reached over to Corey and stroked his lover's hair.
"You never told me, how big IS your family?" Eric asked, looking out the window. Corey turned to look at him, smiling with a wicked grin.
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"Corey! How you been little brother?" A large red haired man came out from the house before them.
"Keith!" Corey hugged the man who had to be at least five or six inches taller than Corey's 5'7"." Keith lifted Corey into the air and hugged him tightly, until Eric began to worry Corey couldn't breathe.
"Guys, he's here!" Keith turned around and shouted behind him, into the open door of the home.
"Corey?" A small, also redheaded, woman stepped out of the house and ran up to Corey, hugging him tightly.
"Imogen!" Corey hugged her. She was actually shorter than Corey and couldn't have been more than 5' 4".
Another woman walked out of the house. She was the same height as Corey, her red hair reaching down to her waist. She was thin and hugged Corey tightly.
"Da, I missed you!" He hugged his, what Eric assumed was, his sister.
"You don't call, you don't write!" She punched him in the arm. An older man walked out from the house, followed by a short woman in a dress and two more members of the family.
"Dad." Corey was crying now and hugged his father. Eric stood by, glad to see Corey so happy.
"It's been too damn long, son." Corey's father was pushed aside by the short round woman with the same hair color as Corey.
"Move it yah fool, let me hug my baby." She was crying just as hard as Corey and squeezed him with a grip that could crush a watermelon.
"Hi, mum."
"Hi? Hi?! It's been four years and all you can say is hi?!" She smacked him on the back of the head. "The nerve of it. All this time living in America and you forget your family." Another woman, closer to Corey's age, put her hands on her hips and pouted. She was only a few inches shorter than Corey, but much much heavier. She was bubbly and happy and her short hair bounced as she walked.
"I could never forget you, Liann." He smiled and hugged her too. She moved to let the others hug him, but not before swinging her foot behind her and kicking Corey in the ass.
"Hey, Corey." The final brother said.
"Hey, Liam." Corey smiled, but didn't move to hug the man who stood just as high as Eric.
"Are you going to introduce us?" Corey's mother smacked him in the back of the head again.
"Of course, mum." Corey blushed and smiled at Eric.
"Eric this is my family. This is my mum," Corey stood by his mother.
"Sharon." She smiled and pushed aside his hand, giving Eric a gut squishing hug.
"My dad," Corey moved to stand by his father.
"Wilson, but call me Teddy bear." He shook his hand, and then gave Eric a hug, not quite as powerful as his wifes.
"My brother, Keith." Corey put his hands on his brothers shoulders.
"Hey." Eric noticed he had no accent, at least not nearly as strong as Corey's other family members. Eric shook his hand and smiled.
"My Sisters, Amanda, Liann, and Imogen." Corey stood between his sisters who he wrapped his arms around.
"Hi." They smiled warmly and shook his hand.
"My other brother, Liam." Corey made no move to step away from his sisters.
"Hello." Liam nodded in Eric's direction but made no move to hug him or shake his hand. He had the thickest accent of them all.
"Wow, big family." Eric smiled.
"I still have four more brothers and sisters." Corey smiled. Eric went pale.
"Oh God I'm never going to remember all of these names." He gave a weak smile, and was pushed into the old house by many hands and feet.
"So what is that?" Eric asked. "Nine? Nine brothers and sisters?" He asked, astonished.
"Yep. And theres still aunts, uncles, cousins, and friends of the family-"
"Who are really just family." Amanda chimed in.
"To account for." Corey smiled and pushed her. She nudged him back and he pushed her harder, pushing her against their mother who was bustling around the small kitchen.
"Children." She warned.
"Da started it."
"Corey started it." They spoke at the same time.
"Da?" Eric raised an eyebrow. Corey was about to speak when Amanda shoved him out of the way.
"When he was little he couldn't pronounce my name, it always just came out Da."
"It stuck." Corey shrugged. Eric nodded.
"So, how do you two know each other?" Amanda asked, flipping her hair and leaning against a table seductively. Eric glanced at Corey who nodded.
"We're dating." Eric smiled. Amanda's face dropped and she wrinkled her nose.
"Well thats no fun." She pouted and stuck her tongue out at Eric. Eric laughed and Corey reached out for his hand.
"Where's Danny and Renee?" Corey asked.
"They're upstairs." Teddy bear spoke.
"More of your siblings?" Eric asked.
"Yeah, there's Danny, Renee, Bree, and Reilly left." Corey smiled.
"We're easy to remember. Amanda is tall and skinny with long hair, I'm shorter and got a lot of chub to spare, Danny has the goatee, Renee smells like to much perfume, Teddy bear doesn't like to talk, Liam is an asshole-"
"Hey." Liam looked up from where he was zoning out.
"Keith is the size of a car, Momma smacks us a lot, Bree has the scar on her chin from when Corey threw a brick at her, and Reilly is all serious-like." Liann counted on her fingers as she spoke.
"You forgot someone." Corey said.
"Did I?" She began counting again.
"That was only ten, there's eleven of us here now." Corey picked at a piece of meat his mother was cooking.
