Just Take A Risk

This Changes Everything

It wasn't until about two weeks later that Allison got the guts to say something to her parents. It was a Friday night and they had decided to have a family dinner at the insistence of Jensen and Marie. They were having one of her father's favorite meals, roast beef, mashed potatoes and gravy and mixed vegetables.

It was definitely a pleasant evening and there was an air of excitement. Her brothers were telling some of their favorites jokes; they were quickly become a pair of pranksters. Her sister, who was out with her friends more and more, was catching her mother up with the latest high school gossip. Jen and Marie were speaking with her father about the producer who they might be signing with.

Allison herself was content to just listen. She liked to just take in the moment sometimes. It was another thing that Harry had taught her; to enjoy the moment. It was during one of her moments of anxiety and he had gently taken her by the shoulder and turned her towards the window of the library where she could see the sunset.

"Allison, sometimes you have to just stop and enjoy the moment." He said in her ear, making her shiver slightly, "You need to take a moment and cherish it because you may never get a moment like this again. You will never know what can happen ten minutes from now. So enjoy what you have before it's gone."

Since then she had tried her hardest to make sure that she took time to enjoy her favorite moments. It had made her anxiety slowly vanish. She found it harder and harder to be anxious about small things because she had moments that she could always look back on.

Someone cleared their throat causing her to look up. She saw that Jensen was standing up and holding a glass. Apparently he wanted to make a toast.

"I just wanted to say that I love that we can all be here together. I – we have an announcement to make."

Marie stood with a bright smile on her face. Allison had an idea as to what their announcement was.

"We're going to have a baby."

Instant noise; Emily gasped happily and rushed over to hug her daughter-in-law. Thomas gently clapped a hand on Jensen's shoulder and smiled in pride. Allison couldn't help but smile at her brother. She knew that they had wanted to start a family for a while.

After a moment, the excitement calmed somewhat and Emily said, "Jensen, Marie...Did Allison tell you that she was going to go to UCLA this semester?"

Jensen raised his eyebrows in surprise but smiled anyway. "Allison that's great. I know that you've always wanted to go to UCLA."

It was in that moment that Allison knew it was now or never. She turned to her father, "Well...actually, I have wanted to talk to you about that." She took a deep breath "I have been doing a lot of thinking and I would like to go back to Kingston, if its okay. I have made friends and connections there and I kinda fell in love with it. I thought UCLA was what I wanted but...I guess my goals have changed since then."

The table was silent for a moment and her father was giving her that look again. It was the same look he gave her when she told him that she wanted to go to UCLA.

However, this time, after a moment, he smiled at her. "I don't see why not. You have done well there and if that is what you want, then our deal is still the same."

Allison smiled brightly and leaned over to hug her father. "Thank you, dad."

"So you're not moving to LA then." Jensen said with a frown. "I don't know if I should be insulted or relieved." He then gave her a smile and wink to show that he was joking. However, there was another look in his eye; a look that told her that he knew there was more to the story.