When they awake in the morning it looks like about a foot of snow had fallen. The men go out to shovel the drive while the women prepare breakfast. Aisling asks Debra if she surprise is ready for Christmas Day. She nods. Salali is curious so they take her up stairs to show her. "You know that Aisling has never really allowed anyone in the attic. Well I found a trunk with a large letter M on it. When I opened it look what was inside. "
There in front of the window is a deep blue satin dress with white lace and pearls on the cuffs and neckline. Debra pulls a small box from the trunk a pair of marching shoes are inside. There is a sapphire headband with a matching necklace with earrings. Salali smiles at how beautiful it is. Looking at them she knows they are up to something.
"Salali since there isn"t time to get a wedding license what do you think of a hand fasting for Moll and Inola . I know that they are adults and it"s not unusual for couples to live together. I just feel that it would be special for them to have something for just us to celebrate their union. I know they were very careful in the other time. Moll even made herself appear as an old woman to try to keep distance between them. I don"t want either of them to have any regrets. What do you think?" Salali sees the anxiety in Aisling"s face. She hugs her thinking to herself that her new sister has too big of a heart. Debra pulls out a brooks brothers suit from another trunk. Hoping it will fit Inola . They decide to gift wrap them as part of their Christmas gifts in two days. Salali is curious about a large white trunk in the corner.
"Aisling what"s in this trunk?" Aisling looks at her. It"s odd that she never noticed it before .
"I don"t know I"ve never noticed it before. " she walks over and looks at the lock on it. Looking at Debra wondering what type of lock it is. It doesn"t have a key, but it"s locked. They hear everyone arriving for the day"s festivities so they decide to head down stairs. To the girls surprise Randy arrived at the same time as most of the family did. The two brothers met him in the drive. They want to know exactly what his intentions are with their sister. Sam greets him and leaves the three of them alone.
Yona puts his arm around Rand"s shoulder and the three of them go for a walk.
Yona being the oldest decides to ask the pertinent questions first .
"So I"m Yona Salali"s oldest brother. I need to know a few things. First do you have a steady job in order to take care of my sister?What are your goals in life and do you love my sister?"
Randy looks at them he pulls out his phone and logs into his bank account. Handing his phone to Yona .
"I own a music store and play in a band. I have a masters in music and teach cla.s.ses at the university. I love your sister but we decided to take things slow bothof our families are on the traditional side. We want both sides to get to know each other . She thinks having one crazy fast paced romance in the family is enough. I have been friends with Aisling most of my life and she will tell you I don"t treat women casually. Just like Aisling I do not think that having a casual relationship before marriage is acceptable. When and if Salali and I decide that our relationship is going in that direction. I will ask her to marry me immediately. Now if I have answered your question I would like to go get my girlfriend so that we can go Christmas shopping together." He turns back to look at the two of them. They are just staring at him with their mouths hanging open. With a smile he goes to find Salali. When he enters the house he sees the older kids building gingerbread houses while the middle ones are mixing the cookies. Going over he hugs his dearest friend. Aisling yelps in surprise and kisses his cheek. Astila walks in just in time to witness this . Salali goes and stands in front of him reminding him that Aisling is like that with all of her oldest friends. Astila looks at her and laughs.
" I know that I was just going to tease him a little. Remember I met him at girls night out. Too bad Yona won"t get to see her like that. He would love watching her play that way. He has only gotten to see her be serious and sick. Also having Uktena take her a few days ago didn"t help. I"m not sure what he thinks of her. " Salali can hear the sadness in his voice thinking their brother doesn"t like her. That will have to change. She grabs Randy and off they go. Leaving the madness for some alone time just the two of them.
John meets them as they are getting in the car. He looks at Randy motioning for him to help him. He is pulling out a bunch of bags from the trunk .
"Salali can you get the door for us we are going in through the front. The kitchen will be impossible to get through right now. When they get inside he thanks Randy and reminds him to bring his parents tomorrow night. They slip out again before anyone else can stop them.