Chapter 272:

Sunday had been a total day of rest for the whole family after the events of the day before. Claire and Pierre hung around and visited and even had gone to Busch Gardens with them on Monday.

Debbie still wasn't feeling well and Jim didn't want to leave her alone so Seb rented a fifteen passenger van and along with their own children, they took Hannah and the boys as well to give Jim and Debbie their first real day alone since they had been back together.

David and Grace had followed in their rental car, adding to the help they had at the park, taking turns on rides and taking care of the children. Lisa, who was pregnant the last time they'd come was thrilled to get to go on some rides with Seb this time since they had so many willing babysitters with them.

The weather had been perfect. The summer heat was gone but it wasn't cold either. The park had been rather busy with all of the schools out for Christmas break but they had a wonderful time.

They had brought the double stroller that allowed Lauren to sit up in the front and look around and lie down when it was time for her nap and Jessica's infant seat had a spot to attach on the top so Lisa could see her.

Holly had a permanent smile on her face from the time she'd gotten up that morning, so thrilled to be made the center of attention all day. They had allowed her to open her gifts after breakfast and then they had left almost immediately after, wanting to get an early start on the day.

The cake issue had been solved when Seb had called the park the other day. They had offered to pick up a cake and have it served for them in the Land of the Dragons children's play area. That had worked out well especially with all of the mess being outside. As soon as they had finished eating their cake and were moving away, several of the park's resident birds swooped in to clean up the cake crumbs, leaving no trace of it behind when they were finished.

Then everyone got a surprise when they were invited to go behind the scenes and meet all of the animals who had a part in the Critter Castaway show. The show used rescued animals from all over the country. They had everything from dogs, cats and several different species of birds to a Binturong which is also known as an Asian Bearcat. The funniest thing about this animal was the odor it gave off. It smelled like popcorn.

They even got to meet the new 5 month old English Bulldog who wasn't actually in the show yet. He was still in training, learning the routine and getting used to the crowds of people and the noise that came with them. The children had been thrilled to sit and have the animals all coming over to them and each of the children had their turn petting the animals.

The ride home had been very quiet since most of the children fell asleep.

Lisa and Seb tucked Holly into bed together and Seb asked her if she'd had a good day.

"It was a very fun day Papa. Can we go there again another day?"

"Sure we will. Mama and Papa have fun there too."

"Jeremy and me never went to anywhere that was lots of fun like that."

"Well, we want to do lots of fun things with you. But for now, you need to get your rest. I love you Sweetheart. Happy Birthday."

"I love you too, Papa and I love you Mama."

"I love you." Lisa said as she kneeled down and kissed her forehead. "Sleep well"

*

Mary came down to sit with Seb and Lisa for a while before going to bed. In the morning, she would be leaving for her daughter's house for two weeks.

"Are you all packed and ready to go?" Lisa asked her.

"Yes, it was so quiet here today with no one to take care of but the dogs. I had no excuse not to have everything done. I'll miss having Christmas here with all of you."

"We'll miss you too, Mary but we understand. Your family misses you and I know that you miss them. You just have a great time with them and we'll be waiting for you to come home." Seb told her.

Mary nodded and after a bit more time chatting, she went to bed, hoping to get a good night's sleep before her trip in the morning.

*

The next day, Seb, along with Jeremy and Sammy, took Mary to the airport and the boys were happy to get to sit and watch the planes taking off and landing for a while.

While he was gone, Lisa had gotten an unexpected delivery. Simon, along with some of the other executives at Sony/BMG had gotten the children an early Christmas gift.

The men delivering had been given orders to get it completely set up and operational so the children could begin using it right away.

When Seb and the boys returned, he could hear some kind of machine running out in back of the house but had no idea what it could be. He knew it didn't sound like the lawn mower or any of Jim's other power tools.

He and the boys rounded the corner of the house to find all of their girls bundled up in coats, hats and gloves like it was freezing outside and indeed it was. They were jumping in piles of homemade snow being shot out of what looked like a cannon.

The three girls and Blake and Brandon were covered in white and it was all stuck in whatever hair was sticking out from under their hats. Their cheeks and noses were red from the cold.

"Papa, can we go jump in that stuff?" Sammy asked, having no idea what it was.

"That is snow Sammy. It is just like what falls out of the sky in the places on earth that get cold enough for snow. Instead of raining, the moisture turns into snowflakes like these. Only these are made by the machine instead."

Seb turned to Lisa and asked where it came from and she told him of the card that had been included in the delivery, wishing them all a very Happy Christmas from Simon and everyone at Sony/BMG.

"I asked the delivery men if this was a rental and they said no, that it had been purchased for us."

"We get to keep this?" Jeremy asked.

"Yes, son it looks that way." Seb answered.

Later that evening, they made a call to Simon and put the phone on the speaker so Simon could hear all of the excited children thanking him for their gift. Lisa told him that it had been a perfect gift and that they had had quite a time getting the children in the house tonight.

"I'm glad they are all enjoying it. I wanted them to have something they would all enjoy for a long time. Every child should get to have fun making snowmen and throwing snowballs at each other and since that is highly unlikely in Florida, I decided to help them out."

"We made angels in the snow too, Mr. Simon." Sammy told him.

"Sammy I am so happy that you had fun. Have your Papa and Mama send us some pictures of all of you playing out there."

"Okay I will." Sammy answered.

Seb asked Lisa if she would mind if he spoke to Simon in private for a few minutes, so she ushered the children out of the office and shut the door.

*

Once the children were settled for the night and the house was quiet, Seb got himself and Lisa a late night snack and brought it up to their suite where she was getting Jessica to bed.

He had a Christmas gift for the family that he hoped Lisa would like. He had been working on the details for a couple of weeks. Now it was down to the wire and he would have to tell her.

After he held Jessica and kissed her goodnight, he placed her on her side in the cradle and covered her with the light blanket. He ran his hand through her soft hair and smiled down at her as she curled up and yawned. She was such a good baby, requiring only the basic care but she was already such a joy, now beginning to smile and respond to everyone in the family when she heard their voices or saw a familiar face.

Sometimes the children fought over who's turn it was to help with the baby, each one wanting to be the one to hold her and burp her after Lisa fed her. Holly had even gotten good at changing a wet diaper. She had no competition there. None of the others wanted to help with that chore, except for Kayti who wanted to try and they did help her but she would get bored and run off halfway through the change and leave Jessica lying there with a naked bottom.

Seb had their little snack all set up and when Lisa came out of the bathroom with her hair let down and her brush making the long strokes to brush it out, he took the brush and continued the chore, although he didn't look on it as a chore. He enjoyed it.

"Baby, sit down here for a minute. I have something to tell you. It's about the family Christmas gift."

"What? I knew you have been up to something. There's been a lot of whipering going on when all of the others have been here." she said with a grin.

"I hope you're gong to think it's a good idea. It's going to change our Christmas plans."

"Okay, so what is it?" The curiosity was killing her as he stumbled around the subject.

"I want to take the family home to Paris for Christmas."

He waited as he saw her mouth drop open but she didn't say anything at first and he couldn't tell if she was happy or upset that he'd gone and made these major plans without discussing them with her.

"Listen, we don't have to go. I know we had all our plans around having our first Christmas here in the house. I just thought that in a few weeks I'll be gone for work and the tour will be starting and it will be a long time before we can do anything this big with the whole family."

Finally Seb got his answer. She threw herself into his arms and hugged him so tight he couldn't breathe.

"Seb it was a fabulous idea. I've been wanting to go back to our house there and didn't know when we would be able to go. We didn't have much time to spend there. And to be able to bring all of the children there too will be fantastic. Does Maman know we're coming?"

"Yes, this is why she wasn't coming here for Christmas." He said with a grin.

"Oh you guys are really sneaky." She said and poked him in the ribs. "We'll just have to tell everyone else. I hope Mom and Dad won't be too upset."

"They aren't. They also thought it was a great idea." He said as his grin kept getting bigger.

"Am I the only one who didn't know about this plan of yours?"

"You and the children, yes. We'll have an early Christmas with the family this Saturday then we'll fly out on Sunday the twenty first and we'll come home on January fourth, which will give Jeremy and Holly a few days to settle back in before going back to school. And then the week after we get back, it will be time for me to head out as we begin rehearsals for the tour."

"That's almost two weeks in Paris. Seb this will be wonderful. Oh Boy, I'll never get to sleep now. I have so much to think about, deciding what to pack, what we'll need and what we could just get there."

"Seb grasped her around her waist as she stood up to go get started packing."

"Baby, we have plenty of time. Mom and Debbie will help us get packed. I've been planning this for a while. We've got a lot worked out already. Now the children won't be able to be as spread out as they are here. The girls will all be in one room except for Jessica who will still be with us and Sammy and Jeremy will share a room."

"What about Amelia, she can't leave the country yet?"

"I know and I spoke to Brenda and she has made arrangements that Amelia will be able to stay with Carlos and Vicki while we're gone and you know that they are thrilled to have her with them all that time and for Christmas."

"Wow, you've thought of everything, haven't you?"

"I hope so, at least the important things. But honestly, I've had a lot of help with this. Mom has called me with several things she thought I might need to handle. Maman, Aunt Cecilia and Adrienne are helping on that end to get the house stocked with food, cleaning and getting the bedrooms ready. Pierre is going to make sure to have a large enough vehicle for all of us when we arrive at the airport. Now, let's forget about all of this for tonight. We can get at it full force tomorrow."

"Do you really expect me to turn my brain off right now and sleep after you tell me I'm going back to Paris?"

"Well, I wasn't actually thinking of sleep right now. I was thinking of something else that just might take your mind off of Paris for awhile."

Seb pulled her tightly against him, leaving her no doubt what was on his mind. She smiled up at him and began to slowly unbutton his shirt and kissed his chest as she opened the shirt wider and wider as the buttons were released.

He stood there trying to be patient as she explored the wide expanse of his chest but he wasn't doing very well. He finally stopped her long enough to completely remove his shirt and jeans and helped her to remove her clothes, guiding her to their bed where he succeeded in taking her mind off of Paris for quite some time.