December 24th [COMPLETED]

7. New Year's

A/N: This chapter takes place after chapter 4 in Dec 24th, after George and Felix have been reunited. The timeline here might a little bit different but I hope it all makes sense.

From what George could hear, she was the only person awake. With her boots in one hand and her coat and beanie in the other, she prayed a silent prayer that her socked feet would carry her down the creaking stairs and over the warped floorboards to the front door without waking up anyone else.

Well, she hoped at least one person would notice her early morning exit. But, as luck would have it, that one particular person was already awake when George hit the first floor of the Brooklyn townhouse she had been calling home for the last week. Felix was in the middle returning from the bathroom and starting his climb back into his sleeping bag set in the midst of a sea of sleeping bags that crowded the family room floor.

George sent out a low whistle to get his attention and to keep from waking the hoard of boy cousins currently passed out on the floor of Felix's rental home. Felix turned, his eyes barely opened. He stopped his attempts to head back to sleep and instead grabbed a pair of socks, his shoes, and a jacket to go with his sweats.

"Coffee run?" he asked when he met George at the front door. George nodded. Felix accepted her mission with another yawn and a quick wipe at his eyes to erase some of the sleep still hanging on. The bitter wind that raced to meet them did the trick and he was alert enough to take George's arm and smile down at her as they headed down their little quiet stretch of Brooklyn.

The quiet street was a welcomed change of pace. George had spent Christmas Eve and then Christmas morning with her family. Vivian and Lily were stopping through the city to grab a few things and then were off on their annual trip to wherever they went down in the Bahamas. Julien was on his way to Paris to meet up with Tyler and extended an invitation to George, once again, over their fancy dinner at a low-lit restaurant Christmas Eve night. George again refused. She was looking forward to Christmas in New York. Especially this year.

The Rojos family and company (family, cousins, friends old enough to be considered, and everyone else in between) opened their arms wide the minute George stepped foot in the house Felix had rented. George had seen the apartment where Felix had grown up. There was no way that little two-bedroom apartment over the family restaurant would have held everyone who showed up between Christmas Day and New Year's Eve.

Cousins upon cousins arrived in droves and each came bearing presents, food, and lots of energy. And George was welcomed right into the fold. It helped that Miriam Rojos was a fierce supporter of her relationship with Felix and no one dared cross the matriarch.

There were nonstop games and movies and outings and dinners and more food than George had thought possible. It was the best time she had ever had over the holidays. Gone were the melancholy memories of some life she had never actually lived but had always expected to. Gone were the feelings of loss for a family that had never been that close to begin with. Before her was a family ready and waiting to make her one of them and she dove head first.

Felix was the one who discovered the rooftop garden that looked out over the neighborhood and the bridge and city lights beyond. As it had been freezing most days that week, no one else bothered the two of them when they went up there and there was the only place George and Felix had time to say hi, catch up, and talk about things coming in the New Year. As soon as they returned, George was dragged one way with all the girl cousins, Felix the other with the boy cousins pulling him into another round of video games.

With the whole of the Park Slope neighborhood at their disposal, George and Felix might as well have the whole to themselves as it was only just the two of them. Finally.