Epilogue - Tess's Secret: A McGregor Christmas

Chapter 3

Dinner was held in the opposite of silence. It was so loud, Tess' headache from the day before was starting to brew again. It wasn't that she wasn't having fun. Quite the opposite. She was having a blast. It was so enjoyable to watch everyone talk at the same time and about different topics.

But, her favorite was watching her father talk with Cole. They were having an in depth conversation about Katana swords and Samurai. It was probably a safe bet her father bought a sword for Cole.

The rest of her children were actually behaving too. It was probably because they were so enthralled with the company. Tess looked around her dining room table. It was so heartwarming to see her family. There was only one person missing. Her mother.

Every year she thought about her around this time. She didn't know why she couldn't let things go. She even tried to find her. It wasn't as hard as she thought it would be. It took her a few weeks to gain the courage to write her a letter once she found her address.

It wasn't a complete shock when the letter came back to her with a return to sender note on it. Her father told her not to send the letter in the first place. At first she wished she would have listened to him. But then she was glad she did. At least she knew for certain where she stood.

Zane's mother stepped into her place nicely filling the void Tess felt for so many years. She smiled over at Evelyn who gave her a wink from across the table. The woman was so full of love and so accepting. Right off the bat too. Evelyn embraced her and Cole like it was the most natural thing in the world. In actuality, Zane's entire family did. They also embraced her father too.

Tess felt truly blessed for everything she had amassed. And it was all because she opened the phone book and pointed at an ad at random. It was the best thing she could have ever done.

"I'm so full, I feel like I'm gonna barf," Robert moaned.

"Robert, that's not polite," Evelyn frowned.

"Yes, son, have some class," Shane rolled his eyes.

"Dad, I have class."

"No, you don't. Your brother has class."

Robert's mouth dropped open. "Dad, Zane doesn't have any class. He slammed the door on Brian's face and called him a douchebag!"

"I did no such thing, dad. I would never do that to someone I don't know. Honestly, Robert," Zane tsked, piercing Brian with a look that dared him to say something.

"Honestly. Robert, you really do need to be more like your brother."

"But...,"

"That's enough boys," Evelyn warned. "Tess, now I understand you didn't just invite us over for this lovely Christmas Eve dinner," she winked again.

"Why do you keep winking at Tess, mom?" Zane asked.

"I don't know what you mean."

Zane scrunched his forehead, then leaned into Tess. "Does she know?"

Tess shrugged.

"She knows? She knew before I knew? What the hell?"

"What? What does she know?" Robert asked, fearful of being left out.

"I can't believe mom knew before I knew?"

"What's the big deal, big guy? Settle down," Karrie rolled her eyes. "Not even I knew till a little while ago."

"Oh, yeah, me too," Marlie agreed.

Zane's eyes would have popped out of his head if it weren't for his eyelids. Tess started to giggle.