Fated (A Chris Evans Series)

Quiet on the Set, Please

By the time December rolled around, pre-production was almost done. Denise had a few things to finalize before the shoot could start, and seeing as the shoot was schedule right after the New Year- she had a fairly busy December. She worked up until the 21st, and apologized to Chris the entire time because of how much she was missing. It didn't help her conscience that Chris had declined his family's invitation for the annual Disney World trip in Florida. He said it was because Jack was still a baby, but she knew it was because of her work schedule. This was the second time Chris had to pull out of the annual trip, the first time being last year when she was pregnant. She felt so bad she begged him to go and have fun, assuring him that she, Jack, and Dodger would be fine because her parents were more than happy to drive down and stay for the week. Chris laughed in her face, calling her "ridiculous" for suggesting it. He told her he appreciated the notion, but he wasn't going anywhere without his wife and baby.

Despite how busy Denise was, she still had time with her family. She managed a Saturday as well as her usual Sundays where they would go run some Christmas associated errands: tree decorating, gift wrapping, visiting Santa's Village at their local mall, baking of Christmas cookies, and holiday card photographs. And after the 21st, they had her undivided attention. They all watched Christmas movies, drank hot cocoa, roasted marshmallows outside over the fire pit, dressed in matching Christmas pajamas, and just spent time together as a family.

On the morning of Christmas Eve, they headed down to Denise's parents' place with plans to stay until Boxing Day. Denise was excited for Christmas as it was her favorite holiday, but she was more excited to see her older brother. He'd recently got engaged to the amazing Erica Hudson, the girl he'd been with for almost three years now; three years in January actually. The pressure had been on for him since she got engaged to Chris, it further increased when she had Jack. Whenever she and Chris had Donovan and Erica over for dinner, he'd complain about how much pressure their mom was putting on them to get married and have kids. She was hoping her first child would have a child of his own before her second had her second, though Chris and Denise assured her it was going to be awhile before that happened. Whatever pushed him to finally proposed, Denise was glad because Erica was as perfect for him as Chris was for her. They were yet to set a wedding date, but at least she had a ring on her finger.

New Year's came and went as quickly as Thanksgiving and Christmas had. Chris and Denise actually had a good New Year's, leaving Jack and Dodger with her parents so they could go to the Downey's. They had a big New Year's bash that majority of the Marvel cast and their partners attended, minus a few familiar faces who already had plans: Sebastian and Luca, Chris and Elsa, and Paul and Julie. Denise was hoping to see Sebastian and Luca, and were devastated when she heard they were sticking with the plan to fly out to LA when Jack turned one. It made sense, even she and Chris didn't want to fly with Jack unless they really had to. Not only was it a huge job to fly with a baby, they didn't think frequent flights were good for babies and their immune systems. It wasn't long now, Jack was turning one in March meaning Chris and Denise were finally going to meet their godson. Likewise, Sebastian and Luca were finally going to meet theirs. As eager as Denise was for that to happen, she didn't really have time to fixate on it as it was now the 15th of January and she was two weeks into her shoot.

Denise's main cast consisted of four people, and a dog as adorable as Dodger. Most of them were new to the industry like she was, so they made for a good, compromising team. Her leads were all a few years older than her, but they remained respectful and open minded to her direction. While it was because they were all genuinely nice people who saw her small production as an opportunity rather than a chore, it was also because they were fans. They were all fans of Chris, that was pointless to mention. But the girls were actually fans of her work, having followed her on Tumblr when she was still active and reading what was still there despite her leave. They couldn't believe she was finally doing what she had said she would do, and that she actually married the celebrity she wrote about.