"If at any point you want to go..." Amelia begins.
"I know, I'll let you know," I reply, leaning my head down to kiss the top of her head. I push open the little gate and Amelia opens the front door for us. The room inside becomes silent when we enter as Amelia and I take off our coats and shoes. Instantly my mum hugs me tight around my waist, forcing me into a long tight hug.
"I'm sorry sweetheart, I'm so sorry. I got too caught up in the Christmas spirit and I thought it would be wonderful if you two could repair your relationship. But I know it's going to take a lot more than that, I'm sorry baby," she mumbles quietly so only I can hear. I can tell she's been panicking since we left, I nod my head and rub her back. Looking up, I can see that Jen and Steven have also left following their son's departure. Good, I'm glad that only the good ones are left.
"It's alright mum, I'm sorry too," I apologize, throwing out my thought process from earlier. I'd rather just squash it for now and move on. With that, my mum releases her grip on me and moves to Amelia, holding her tightly and mumbling to her.
"Thank you for bringing my boy home," Amelia nods her head and leans into the hug, holding my mum nearly as tightly as my mum is holding her.
"We thought charades might be a bad idea, so Christmas films in front of the fire?" Bianca perks up, sensing that the tension has been lifted. Before I can answer, Amelia nods enthusiastically. I wonder if she'll talk through these movies like she does when she and I watch movies together. It's not often that we do just sit and watch stuff together, sometimes we get distracted and don't quite make it through the whole movie.
"Sure," I shrug as everyone suddenly springs into action. Will and Evie stayed until I came back, but decided to go home once they knew I was alright. Soon the rest of us all squeeze into the living room in front of the fireplace, watching the opening credits of The Holiday as Bianca and my mum argue about whether or not it's a Christmas movie. I don't care, as Amelia mumbles to me that it's one of her favourite movies. Christmas movie or not, I'm down to figure out why she loves it.
Amelia sits down on one end of the couch and I squeeze in beside her, so that her legs are dangling over my legs. Bianca and Briella sit beside me while mum and Bryan both settle into armchairs. The movie's actually pretty good, I don't know if I would classify it as a Christmas movie because I don't really like Christmas movies and this one was actually enjoyable. Amelia huddles a cup of tea against her chest as she watches, her hand absentmindedly running through my hair. Occasionally I can see her taking a quick scan of the room and smiling to herself before turning her attention back to the TV.