"Hello?" Pt. 2

December 24th 2016

"Sophie, where are you hiding?"

"I'm not hiding."

"Well, you're not visible, so you're hiding."

"I'm made myself scarce, that's all."

"Yes, but to where have you made yourself scarce?"

"Aside from the weird syntax, I've relocated to the cosy."

"The cosy? Where the hell is that?"

"The living room of our house on the estate."

"Oh. Is there room for one more?"

"That depends."

"On?"

"Do you bring wine and chocolates with you?"

"You're on a wine and chocolate ban until after the wedding, Soph."

"I'm not."

"That's what you said yesterday."

"Well, yesterday I wasn't losing the will to live! Honestly, between my mother and your grandmother, I think I've totally gone off Christmas."

"Joining Jimmy on the Ebenezer Grinch team, huh?"

"It's Ebenezer Scrooge, Daniel, not Grinch."

"It's an amalgamation of names, seeing as we couldn't agree on which character your dad is."

"I thought we decided that he was neither."

"Whatever. Can I come to the cosy and hide with you, please?"

"Do you bring wine and chocolates with you?"

"I can do, yeah."

"Ok, but just so you know, Dad, Lucas, Emma, Adam, Charlotte, Samuel, and Fletch are here, too."

"Evie, Alistair and the boys?"

"Maybe."

"You're all over there?"

"Yes."

"And no one thought to tell me that you were all running off to hide?"

"Someone needed to referee between Connie and Camille. You drew the short straw."

"I don't recall straws being drawn."

"We drew for you in absentia."

"Fix!"

"You cannot prove that."

"Probably not, but that doesn't mean it's not true."

"Speculation."

"I'm on my way over, Soph."

"Ok, but if Connie or Camille catch you, you're going to have to take one for the team."

"..."

"Daniel?"

"Ok, one for the team."

"Brilliant. Now, how good are you at remembering the words to Christmas carols?"

"Ok, I suppose."

"And are you good at karaoke?"

"Um, yes?"

"In hat case, you're on my team!"

"Team?"

"Samuel found his old karaoke machine and now we're having a carol-oke."

"Karaoke but with carols, right?"

"Bingo, baby."

"Who else is on your team?"

"Dad, Lucas, Emma, Charlotte and Finn."

"And on the other team?"

"Adam, Samuel, Fletch, Alistair and Ewan."

"To make the numbers even, shouldn't I be on Samuel's team?"

"No, you can be on my team and we can get Emma to go on their team."

"Why Emma?"

"She's tone deaf and she's terrible at remembering lyrics."

"Haha, ok. See you in five minutes."

"See you soon, baboon."