The Family Holiday Novels & Stories

"The older, powerful guy you're so in love with. You promised you'd tell me everything." Maya's face went from pale to ghostly. She looked at my father—just a split second, but I saw it. That desperate silent plea for him to save her. "Chloe," Dad said calmly. "If Maya wants to share her private life, she will. We're here to celebrate her career, not gossip." "But it's not gossip if it's family!" I laughed loud enough that nearby tables turned. "And Maya IS family. Isn't she? She's lived with us, works with us. She's basically a King at this point. Just doesn't have the ring yet."

He stayed quiet until we were almost home. "Are we really leaving?" he asked. "Yes." He looked out the window. "Then I'm not asking if Dad is coming anymore." I kept both hands on the wheel and said nothing. That night, I checked the documents again and packed our passports, cash, medication, and Nico's medical file into the same case. Two days were left.

“Okay. We can head there during the National Day holidays. However, you might only be able to see a few kids if we go back during that period. Since it’s summer vacation now, you’ll get to meet all my nephews and my niece if we decide to go there soon. “You can also meet my brothers and sisters-in-law. This is the period when most of my family members will be around. “After summer vacation, we’ll have to wait till New Year’s Day for this many people to gather again.” Not all the York family members would be at Wildridge Manor during other holidays. Some of them would be out traveling or meeting up with friends. After thinking about it, Rosalie said, “We can do next week. I’ll keep a few days

This isn’t the first holiday I get to spend with him and his family; I’m honestly grateful for his generous offers to host me more than once, because had it not been for him, I would have probably overdosed on those holidays. I wonder how it now feels like at my family’s house. I haven’t been there in so long. Are they happy? Is it still a warm place just like how it was when I was young? Do they miss me? Do I even cross their minds? I wonder if they miss having me the same way I miss spending time with them. There has been a time when we were actually a happy family. A family without any maliciousness or addiction. A family with normal fights. A loving family. “There’s something other than

“Since everyone’s here, we’ll proceed with the holiday plan.” Holiday? I glance at Liam. He looks confused too. “What plan?” he asks. “We’re all traveling together next week,” his father says. “A month. Family bonding.” My chest tightens. A month? All of us? No escape? Peter grins like a cat. “This will be fun,” he says. I know it won’t. My thoughts race. A whole month pretending. Acting like nothing. Sleeping near Liam but not touching. Hearing his voice but not being allowed to want him.

‘True, but once you’ve got the hang of it you can have endless improper ones.’ She giggled, then said, ‘Our first family holiday—’ ‘By the sea. Rock pools and sandcastles and paddling.’ ‘Toby will love it. And so will Harry Two.’ Then, ‘Our first Christmas together. Trimming the tree, buying presents—’ ‘Toby’s first day at school—’ ‘And before we know it he’ll be our first sulky teenager—’ ‘Producing our first grandchild—’ She laughed. ‘Okay, you win. I really don’t want to go any further than

a random dude asked. "Our name is Chaos and we aren't a mafia. We're a motherfucking family. We won't adhere to your bullshit mafia rules, we make our own. We are a family and are open to all. Join us if you choose. Our family is the strongest you will ever find." Blaise announced.

Whenever he put his mind to doing something, he very rarely failed. I still felt as if our family was being torn apart by this, but I felt it less these days. Fynn made sure that I got to see our children as much as possible and we even did an awful human thing and went on holiday as a family! None of us had ever seen the ocean and it was the most magical thing I had ever seen in my entire life. Things were going really well, which meant that trouble was usually right around the corner, but we were so happy that none of us even noticed.

"My mom and Richard are taking us on a family trip this weekend." Kenzie pulled back slightly to look at me. "This weekend? As in, this Friday?" "Yeah. We're going to the Maldives." "The Maldives?" Kenzie's eyebrows shot up. "That's amazing." "I guess." "You don't sound excited." I sighed. "It's just a lot. Family bonding and all that. You know how it is." Kenzie was quiet for a moment, then his hand found mine. "I'm going to miss you." "It's only two days."

"Why don't we talk about something else? I believe we have interesting topics." She rolled her eyes, clearly upset I was deviating from the topic. Not like I cared. "Let's start with the vacation. Do you think the kids are still interested?" "Of course, they are." Another eye roll. "Xyla has been rechecking her bags since yesterday." Hm. "I can imagine." First thing in the morning, the four of us would be leaving for Greece. It'd be our first vacation as a family. It's supposed to be for two weeks, but honestly, we might end up staying a month. This past year has been a lot—too many tumbles, heartaches, devastating discoveries.