Fated (A Chris Evans Series)

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By Christmas, Chris had wrapped and was settling back into hiatus mode despite the offers he had awaiting his consideration. His press tour went swimmingly as his film turned out fantastically, obtaining several nominations and great reviews. The couple was even invited to the BFI London Film Festival in October where they stole the show. With Chris in a three-piece suit by Dolce & Gabanna and Denise in a chiffon gown by Jason Wu; they looked fetching in emerald and black. They were even awarded the title of 'Best Dressed Couple' in several fashion articles covering the festival, and favored as 'Hollywood's Favorite Couple' by fans on social media. It became a whole thing, especially after a Twitter joke-war broke out between Chris Evans and Ryan Reynolds. Ryan accused Chris and Denise for stealing the spotlight from him and his wife, Blake Lively, and it quickly took over the internet as a hilarious meme.

Amongst the honored guests were Sebastian Stan and Luca Safford, who'd also been invited. Though Chris had only seen them a couple weeks before- while he was promoting his film in New York, a solid amount of time had passed since they were all together. The urge to have a bender while they were, and not in the presence of their children was amid them. However, before they even begun to paint the town red, Sebastian and Luca disclosed news that disrupted those plans. As it turned out, the glow Luca had wasn't due to the magnificent work of a makeup artist, but the fact that she and Sebastian were expecting their second child. They'd found out while Chris was in New York, but kept it a secret until they were all in London together to share the news. Upon hearing that their best friends were expecting their second child, they realized the decision to have their own second child soon was the right one.

Denise had a similarly productive few months. She spent a lot of time with her son and her husband's family, getting to know Boston while short listing preschools for Jack. She started writing again, brainstorming ideas for a new script. She spoke with her brother and future sister-in-law about the length of their engagement and not-so-subtly pushed them towards the idea of getting married in June of 2023. She browsed dozens of home magazines and catalogs, and spent hours scrolling through Pinterest and WeHeartIt for interior ideas. She FaceTimed her mother every other day, and in-between, organized lunches and shopping trips with her mother-in-law so they could discuss ways to turn their house into a home. By the end of September, that was exactly what their house became; a cozy, warm, aesthetically pleasing home. And by the time Christmas rolled around, they were so settled into their new place that no one would've believed that they'd only been living there for a few months.

Christmas was a big holiday for Chris and Denise, it was the one holiday they truly indulged themselves in. With their time freed from work obligations, they were able to deck out their entire house. Chris even did the typical suburban dad thing and strung up lights on the roof, hoping their house would fit in with the rest of the houses in the neighborhood.

They loved Christmas so much that their Christmas Eve started at 7:30AM with cinnamon pancakes, homemade cocoa topped with whipped cream and little marshmallows, and 'Mickey's Once Upon a Christmas'. At 10AM, Chris gathered all the presents so they were ready to be tucked under the tree at midnight, while Denise distracted their two year old with the task of helping her bake sugar cookies and gingerbread. At 12:18PM, they tried to assemble a gingerbread house. At 12:22PM, Chris dropped one side of the roof which Dodger devoured in seconds. And at 12:24PM, the project was abandoned and they started picking at the candy decoration. It was about the same every year, Denise had been with Chris for almost six years and not once had they successfully assembled a gingerbread house. It actually would've been a stray away from tradition if a gingerbread house was successfully made.

Another tradition was to spend Christmas Eve at Lisa's place, at least when it was her turn to have them for the holidays. Chris and Denise agreed- after the spending the first set of holidays apart- to spend it alternately with each of their families. This year, however, an exception was made to spend Thanksgiving, Christmas, and the New Year in Boston as they'd just moved states. While they could afford to return to California, they didn't want to confuse Jack with the constant traveling. They'd planned to make up for it next year, opting to FaceTime this year.