Grayson and I |Grayson Dolan|

46: the personalised present

Grayson handed me a red wrapped box and i opened it slowly with everyone watching. it was quite awkward but i got through it okay.

the ribbon came off easily with one small tug and then i lifted up the lid to the box to reveal to tickets.

two tickets for a flight to be exact.

"Gray..." i said looking at him and smiling,

"yeah?" he asked innocently,

"Paris?" i asked him as i read the small printed writing on the tickets,

"Paris with moi," he said in a fake accent,

"oh my goodness!" i exclaimed and wrapped my arms around his neck in a tight embrace,

"i take it you like them," he said with a laugh in his tone causing a few members of his family to snigger at his remark,

"like them, i love them Gray," i said pulling away and kissing him lightly.

"good to hear," he said back to me with a smile.

i handed him his gifts which were a personalised Rubix Cube with an image where the colours would be. i also got him a dark blue Apple watch because i remember him admiring the exact one with the silver face back in Birmingham when we went shopping briefly.

everyone else opened their gifts and Ethan kindly got me a few bits and pieces for when i go to Paris such as a map book and a scarf because we were going in March for our anniversary when it was going to be pretty cold.

his parents and his sister got me a small present which was really really kind of them and everything was fine.

his cousins came round soon after the gift exchanging and they were given their gifts. Grayson and I picked out their ones in England as i needed some help that he was happy to provide with choosing gifts.

i was introduced to everyone as soon as they arrived and everyone was extremely kind to me.

his male cousin said that i was the first British person he'd ever met and he was very talkative unlike lots of children i had ever met in my life.

"you should meet my cousins, they would sit there silent for the entire time," i said to him with a laugh,

"looks like i can add that to my agenda," he said looking at me in the eye with a kindness,

"yes you will," i said back to him giving away the same look,

"also, i need to meet your dad. remember?" he said to me as the look faded away because his aunt was looking at us strange,

"oh, yeah. but he'll probably never make the time so i wouldn't stress it," i said brushing the topic off,

"what if i already got him to make time," he said to me as his voice went a bit high pitch,

"Are you kidding me?" I said in denial,

"I'm just making ideas in my head..." he said cheekily.

"If you do get him to, let me know" I said to him,

"sounds like a plan then," i said and then walked over to Ethan who was on the floor with his cousin,

"yeah," i heard Grayson sigh from the back and i could tell that he knew i was a bit annoyed about it,

"you okay?" Ethan asked me,

"uh huh," i said as i sat down on the chair,

"are you sure? you just had a pretty heated talk with Gray and he's doing that thing where he stands on his own when he's stressed," he said as he directed his gaze over to Grayson,

"just a talk about my dad but it's Christmas so i don't want to make a scene," i said looking down at my hands,

"come on Ava, talk to him," Ethan said as he pointed over at the lone wolf at the back of the room.

"fine," i huffed and walked back over to him,

"i'm sorry Grayson," i said as i cupped the side of his face with my hand,

"everything's fine," he said brushing my hand off,

"no, it's not. i'm sorry for getting annoyed at you for contacting my dad. it was wrong of me to get annoyed at you," i said as my hand dropped,

"i'm sorry for trying to get through to him," Grayson said as he grabbed my hand and held it gently,

"you had every right to," i said to him and he pulled me i for a quick kiss,

"seriously guys," Ethan called with a jokey tone and then he caused all eyes to fall onto us facing each other,

Grayson shot him a look which made Ethan pull a triumphant face at the two of us causing me to shake my head and smile at the situation.

"okay everyone, food is served,"  Grayson's mum shouted and everyone gathered around the table for the best thing about Christmas; the food.

everything tasted really great and if it made me want to reserve the plate of roast beef for myself  because it was so delicious.

when everything was eaten, the whole group of us settled onto the soft seats and just talked and watched a themed movie with everyone.

"Grayson," his mum whisper called him, "can you, Ava and Ethan take the younger ones into the games room and watch a movie?" his mum asked kindly even through it was more of an order than a request,

"yeah sure," he said and gathered up his cousins and lead all of us into the other room,

"so guys, what do you want to watch?" he asked the younger kids as Ethan pulled out a few Christmas movies from a shelf full of endless classic films.

"that one!" the boy pointed out and everyone agreed with a round of nods and yeses.

Ethan put the movie in the player and they all settled on the bean bags that i laid out at the front so us three were not bombarded with small children.

Grayson sat in the middle and curled up beside him as he wrapped an arm around me. Ethan was at the other side of him and kept poking him throughout the movie causing me to laugh and causing Grayson to get pretty annoyed at hims brother.

eventually, everything was calm and all of us, including the children were sat there enjoying Elf.

definitely a great Christmas.