Chapter 616 Whether We Can Have a Good New Year Depends Entirely on You
It had been three years, and seeing everyone again stirred up a whirlwind of emotions.
Tommy had just gotten out of prison today. Honestly, facing so many people at once made him feel pretty awkward, but it was something he had to do.
"Still as handsome as ever, Tommy hasn't changed a bit," Cormac was the first to speak when he saw Tommy.
"Three years isn't that long. If anything, my Tommy's only gotten more handsome," Gillian chimed in.
Cormac was speechless; he shouldn't have said that in front of Gillian.
"Mr. Knight, Mr. Nash, Mrs. Knight, Mrs. Nash, hello," Tommy greeted everyone politely.
"No need to be so formal, we're all family here," Alaric said to Tommy. "Come in and have a seat."
"Okay," Tommy replied. Once inside, he seemed a bit uneasy, as if he was debating whether to take off his shoes. Alaric noticed and said, "I told you, no need for formalities. Just come in and sit down."
"Thank you, Mr. Knight," Tommy said quickly.
"Gillian considers me her brother, and my kids call her aunt. If you're going to be with her, you need to follow our customs," Alaric corrected him.
Follow their customs?
Tommy was taken aback but managed to say, "Alaric," after a moment.
Alaric smiled lightly and said, "You're still 29, not even 30 yet. It's a great age."
He patted Tommy on the shoulder and encouraged him, "You can start over. It's never too late. Keep going!"
"Thank you, Alaric."
"Have a seat. We'll eat together in a bit."
Seeing Alaric head to the kitchen and Cormac busy as well, Tommy offered, "Can I help too?"
"Sure."
So, the three men went to the kitchen, while the three women chatted enthusiastically in the living room, and the kids played together, their laughter filling the house.
After cooking, the three men brought the dishes to the table, and everyone took their seats. Ethan quickly called out to Evelyn, "Evelyn, sit next to me."
"Okay!" Evelyn immediately went over to sit beside Ethan.
Once everyone was seated, Gillian looked at the spread of dishes, her mouth watering.
"Let me guess," Gillian said, pointing to a few dishes. "These must be made by my Tommy. I'm going to try them first."
After tasting all the dishes, she proudly declared, "Sorry, Alaric, Cormac, but your cooking still needs some work."
Alaric and Cormac didn't respond, not bothering to argue.
"Today is mainly to celebrate Tommy's release," Alaric said.
"Yes, such a happy occasion calls for a drink," Cormac added.
"You guys can drink, but my Tommy can't. He doesn't handle alcohol well," Gillian quickly interjected.
"No way, he's the guest of honor today. We have to get him drunk," Cormac insisted.
"I can't," Tommy apologized. "I have an early flight tomorrow. If I drink tonight, I'll miss it."
"You have a flight tomorrow morning?"
"Yes, first to see my dad, then to Country M to apologize to Josep," Gillian explained.
"You're going to apologize?" Cormac asked.
"Yeah, to Mr. Emberlyn and Josep. I need to make things right," Tommy said.
"Better wear something thick, just in case you get a beating," Cormac joked.
"Come on, he won't get beaten. My dad won't hit him, and Josep should have calmed down after three years," Gillian said.
"That's not a given," Cormac replied. "It's mainly you two," he pointed at Alaric, "you were too much."
"Exactly, I've said before you two are ungrateful," Harry added. "Mr. Watkins had bad luck running into ungrateful people like you. It's a miracle he didn't sue you for fraud and defamation."
Tommy suddenly felt a lot of pressure, unsure of what to do.
"Listen to me," Cormac advised. "When you see them, just apologize and cry, saying you were wrong."
"Cormac, can you stop giving bad advice?" Alaric said.
"How is that bad advice? Old people are soft-hearted. This might not work on Josep, but it will on Mr. Emberlyn. His daughter loves you; no father would cut ties with his daughter. Trust me."
"Okay," Tommy replied, taking the advice.
"This New Year, whether we can get Mr. Emberlyn and Josep to Arizona City depends on you," Cormac said.
Tommy felt even more pressure.
"This New Year will be at my place," Alaric said. "Caspian will be back, and if we can get Mr. Emberlyn and Josep, we'll be complete. Oh, and Aurora, when is she coming back?"
Aurora had scored in the top three in the state on her SATs and got into the best medical school in the country.
"She's in the student council, and they have activities during the winter break, but she'll be back before New Year," Cormac replied.
"That's good."
"Then our family will be complete!" Elisa said excitedly. "Look at us, an uncle and an aunt with no blood relation."
"Does it matter if there's no blood relation?" Harry, who had the most to say on this topic, replied. "My two sisters are my blood relatives, but I'd rather have picked someone else."
"Evelyn, grow up quickly so we can escape this unreliable second brother. I'm tired of his complaints," Elisa said to Evelyn.
"Okay, I'll grow up fast!" Evelyn said excitedly. "When I grow up, I'll marry Ethan!"
Hearing this, Alaric almost spat out the water he was drinking.
"Evelyn, do you even know what it means to get married? Kids shouldn't say such things," Alaric reminded her.
"Elisa said it. She said that's how it works in those family dramas on TV. You marry the person you like, and I like Ethan."
Alaric gave Elisa a helpless look. "Elisa, can you watch fewer of those shows?"
Elisa's love for those dramas hadn't changed over the years.
"Got it, Daddy," Elisa quickly admitted.
"Tommy and Gillian have an early flight tomorrow, so let's just eat tonight and save the drinking for New Year," Alaric said.
"Fine, I'll save my appetite for New Year," Cormac said, then turned to Tommy. "Tommy, follow my advice. Good luck. Whether we have a good New Year depends on you."
"Okay, I'll do my best!" Tommy replied.
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