F | I'll stand by you (One Chicago)

Chapter Twenty-Two

It's Christmas Eve. Kelly, Stella and Emily are putting up the Christmas tree when there's a knock at the door. 'I'll get it.' Emily smiles.

'She's a lot happier now.' Stella whispers to Kelly.

'Maybe it's just the time of year.' Kelly shrugs. 'But I agree. I think these bastards getting arrested has created some sort of closure for her.'

Emily opens the door to Benny. 'You must be Emily.' Benny grins.

'And you must be Benny and Katie.' Emily grins back as she lets them in. As they walk in, Stella grabs her coat and holdall.

'I better get to my family.' Stella says. 'Have a good Christmas.' Everyone nods and says the same to her before she leaves.  Kelly puts the finishing touches on the tree and joins Benny, Katie and Emily.

'Emily, this is Benjamin, my father, but everyone calls him Benny.' Kelly introduces Emily to Benny and they shake hands. 'And this is Katie, my half-sister.' Instead of shaking her hand, Katie hugs her.

'Woah.' Emily laughs. Katie then pulls away from her.

'Welcome to the family!' Katie smiles.

For the rest of the afternoon, they all talk. Benny and Katie getting to know Emily a little bit better. Kelly looks at the time and nudges Emily. 'You might want to get ready. It's half four.' He tells her. She nods, gets up and walks into her room to get ready. 'Herrmann is having a family Christmas party and he's asked her to provide entertainment.'

'What's she doing?' Katie asks.

'Singing.' Kelly responds. 'Herrmann hired a band but being a tight ass, he didn't want to hire a singer so he just asked Emily to do it.' He continues. 'She also plays some instruments. Piano, Keyboard and acoustic and electric guitar.'

'Impressive!' Katie smiles. 'We'll come.'

'That's the whole idea.' Kelly laughs.

Half an hour later, Emily returns wearing a red, glittery gown and some red glittery heels to match. She's straightened her hair and has got a festive make-up look. 'How can you get ready and look that perfect in half an hour?' Katie gasps in astonishment.

'Practice.' Emily grins. 'Being in school productions and having to change clothes between scenes meaning having to get ready and look flawless within minutes.'

'We better get going, Herrmann will be wondering where we are.' Kelly says. They all stand up and leave.

~

When they walk into Molly's, people are starting to arrive. 'I'll bring a drink over to you.' Kelly tells Emily. 'What would you like?'

'Soda, please.' Emily replies. She then walks over to the corner where the band are sitting, talking. 'Hey.'

'Hey.' The drummer smiles. 'What we doing first?'

'We'll do Fairytale of New York first but we'll wait for more people to start arriving.' Emily replies. She then looks over to a table where Lee Henry is sitting with his younger siblings. She smiles and walks over to them. 'Aren't you supposed to be causing some trouble?' She smiles at the younger Herrmanns.

'Don't encourage them!' Lee Henry laughs. 'You look stunning Emily.'

'Thanks.' Emily blushes. 'I better get back to the band. Liven this place up a bit.'

~

A few hours go by, all the younger children have been taken home by their parents. Lee Henry has stayed to help Herrmann clear up once the party is done. It gets to the end of the party. Emily does one more song, but this time, without the band. She nudges the pianist out of the way and moves the keyboard forward. She repositions the microphone, pulls over a stool and sits down. Everyone looks at her and she begins to sing.

'Have yourself a merry little Christmas,
Let your heart be light
From now on,
our troubles will be out of sight

Have yourself a merry little Christmas,
Make the Yule-tide gay,
From now on, 
our troubles will be miles away.

Here we are as in olden days,
Happy golden days of yore.
Faithful friends who are dear to us
Gather near to us once more.

Through the years 
We all will be together,
If the Fates allow
Hang a shining star upon the highest bough.
And have yourself A merry little Christmas now.'

Once she's finished everybody claps. Herrmann then makes a little speech, thanking everyone for coming. One by one everyone starts to leave. Emily and Lee-Henry help the band pack up before they start helping Herrmann, Otis and Gabby clean up. Kelly, Benny and Katie had left and Herrmann had said he'd drop Emily home. It's 11pm and Molly's is back to it's usual state. Otis, Herrmann, Gabby, Lee Henry and Emily walk out of Molly's.

'Have a good Christmas guys.' Gabby smiles. She then hugs each one of them. They all exchange hugs and part ways.

Herrmann pulls up in front of Kelly's apartment building. 'I'm going walk Emily to her door.' Lee Henry tells his father.

'Don't be too long.' Herrmann replies. Lee Henry and Emily get out and walk to the apartment door.

'You didn't have to walk me up.' Emily shakes her head.

'I know.' Lee Henry nods. 'I just wanted to make sure you got up here safe.' They then hug. 'Have a good Christmas Em.'

'You too.' Emily nods, they then part. They gaze into each other eyes for a few minutes. 'Erm, I better get inside.' Emily says, breaking the silence.

'Yeah, I better get back down to my dad.' Lee Henry laughs gently. 'See ya.'

'Bye.' Emily whispers. She then watches as Lee Henry walks away. She gets her keys out of her clutch and opens the door. When she walks in, Benny, Katie and Kelly are sitting on the sofa. Kelly and Benny drinking beer and Katie drinking wine.

'Everything OK?' Kelly asks, noticing she looks distracted.

'Yeah.' Emily smiles.  'I'm just tired. I'm gonna go to bed.' She walks over to Kelly and hugs him.

'Goodnight.' Kelly, Benny and Katie say together.

'Night.' Emily replies. She then walks back to her room and gets ready for bed. When she's ready for bed, she turns her lamp on and turns the main light on. She then gets into bed. She thinks about the moment she had with Lee Henry. She shakes it out of her mind, turns her lamp off and goes to sleep.