The entire Wakelin family braced themselves for what was about to happen.

Krista Burns, Juliette's best friend since childhood, was about to come over. It was Friday evening and the stove was hot and ready for a veggie stir fry.

Lenny was busy chopping up sticks of cucumber and carrot. She had already made a spicy dipping sauce for the raw veggies with miso paste, gochujang, maple syrup, soy sauce and a little water.

Juliette was radiating pure joy. She loved her best friend immensely, and she wanted her to receive the warmest of welcomes. She was busy washing and chopping a large amount of veggies for the stir fry to feed seven hungry mouths--Tyler and his daughter, Grace, who had a startling appetite for her age, especially for vegetables, were joining them for dinner as well. Broccoli, kale, carrot, red onion, orange bell pepper, zucchini, mushrooms, and yellow squash made for a pleasing mix of colors beneath her happy eyes.

"Taste this, Jude, is it any good?" Len asked her brother and motioned to the Asian dipping sauce on the counter. He was getting some water from the fridge.

"Um," he dipped his finger in, "Yeah. Good."

"Too spicy?"

"Nope. Good."

"Thanks, caveman."

Jude grunted and then walked back into the living room to watch television.

Uncle Andy had just come out of the shower. He had put on an old shirt and loose-fitting jeans. On Fridays he did not mind closing up the shop a little later than usual to service those unfortunate vehicles that had certain woes that needed immediate attention before Monday morning. Jude or Juliette would then pick Len up from school on the days that Andy was not able to.

There was a knock on the door and a squeal could be heard from outside.

Andy quickly rustled his hair with his towel, set it around his neck, and opened the door.

"Well, hello there, buttercup!" he playfully proclaimed. He got down on his haunches and opened his arms out to little Grace for a big bear hug. She was more than willing to oblige and melted into his arms.

"An-deeeee!" Grace squealed. Tyler had selected her little yellow summer dress with the straps that tied on top on her shoulders. Her dirty blonde and curly hair was fastened in two piggy tails and the small poof of hair on each side of her head was so adorable it gave Andy a pang in his heart.

"You look beautiful, honey," he said.

"Tank-voo!" Grace was well aware of her charms, even if she was only two years old. She put her small hands on Andy's face. "Eeee! Scrah-cheeee!"

"Oh, yeah, Uncle Andy needs to shave," he lamented.

"Kiss-kiss?"

He smiled and kissed her on the cheek. She turned and stretched out her hands to her daddy and demanded, "Pick up! Pick up!"

Tyler swooped her into his arms and brought her into the house with him. The dark navy work clothes he wore the majority of the time really did nothing to accentuate his looks. This evening, though, he wore a red t-shirt with three buttons at the collar and a pair of dark-wash jeans and bright blue athletic shoes. The short sleeves of his shirt clung tightly to his upper arms.

"Hey, man." He nodded at Andy with a smile. "Thanks for having us over. I brought some cupcakes. Gracie helped me. And tell Lenny and Juliette they can eat 'em, too, alright? I used vegan butter, banana, and almond milk. That stuff ain't bad at all, man. Ever since I found out Gracie has that sensitivity to dairy I've been playing around with some new recipes. Hope ya'll like 'em."

"Thanks, Ty, they look great." Andy took the large rectangular container of cupcakes from Tyler and walked back into the kitchen to see what he could do to help the girls with dinner.

Jude was sitting on the couch, with his phone in is hands. He smiled when he saw Gracie walk toward him with a huge smile on her face. He knew exactly what she wanted to do.

"Is it okay if we..." Jude motioned to his smartphone.

Tyler had since forgiven and forgotten Jude's treatment of him the other day. The two young men were definitely at different points in their lives, but they each understood that the other had to walk his own path in life.

They often tested and angered each other unintentionally. Though they did not hang out much outside of work, they were quite good friends. They were actually each other's only peer which they talked to on a regular basis.

Jude picked Grace up and set her on his lap. He opened up an application on his phone and she began to swipe and tap at the screen, eyes wide with wonderment.

Tyler leaned over and placed a kiss on her head. "Only for a little while, okay, baby?"

"Yes, Da-da!"

The fragrance of onion, garlic, soy sauce and sesame oil soon hung in the air.

"Something smells good! Dang!" Tyler shouted toward the kitchen with his hand on his abdomen.

Juliette turned the timer off and removed the pan of rice from the burner to let it steam some more without being on the heat. She would always sneak in at least a third part brown rice into the white rice to add more nutrition. Lenny noticed it before and appreciated it.

Jude could hear the car come up their driveway first. He gave Grace a little kiss on her cheek and put his phone on the coffee table. Tyler and the rest of the family came into the living room and stood, waiting. Juliette was about to burst with excitement. She smoothed her long tresses with her hands and tapped her foot on the carpet.

With a loud bang of the screen door, Krista entered the room.

"Wakelins!" She boomed, "Gimmie some love!"

Juliette and Lenny ran over to her and the girls stood in a long and tight embrace. The boys just looked at each other. Only women, it seemed, had this freedom to so lovingly and physically show their love for their friends and family in such an over-the-top kind of way. If someone were watching them, they could detect amusement in their eyes, though.

After the very long and gushy hug, the girls let go of each other and Krista dropped her large woven bag onto the floor. She was wearing a long, flowy tangerine maxi dress with a sea green mandala pattern all over it. Multiple strands of beads were laid upon her chest, and her hair fell past her shoulders in a waterfall of colors at the ends--platinum blonde, lavender, shell pink, and ocean blue. Lenny smiled. She always thought she looked like a mermaid that was only visiting the land for a short time, and she had to make the most of it.

Krista's energy was fierce and humble, radiant and mild.

"Ugh, I missed you all so much!" She walked over to give Andy a hug. She smiled at Jude, which he returned with a smile as well. "Hey, Tyler," she said, smacking his upper arm, "Oooo. You've been hitting the gym a lot more, huh?"

"Yeah, a little." Tyler ever so slightly flexed his muscles as he crossed his arms in front of his chest.

"You're not foolin' anyone, dude!" Krista snickered, stepped back, and then crouched down in front of her bag.

"Gracie! Honey! I brought everyone gifts from my travels, sweetie, and I want to give you yours first!"

Grace loved Krista, just as everyone else did, only no matter how many times she had met and been around her, Krista's personality was like a gust of tropical wind--exotic and strong. It always took her child mind a few moments to warm up to this force of nature before her.

She let go of her daddy's leg and titled her head and gave the prettiest of smiles.

"This is for you!" Krista set her mouth into an "O" shape and handed Grace a handmade stuffed elephant, stitched with bright orange thread and made from brightly colored pieces of fabric. "Are elephants still your favorite?"

"MMM HMM!" Grace snatched the animal from Krista's fingers and brought it, tightly, to her chest. She then loosened her hold, brought the animal to her face and kissed its upturned trunk.

"This little elephant is from Bali. She was made by a girl almost as beautiful as you are."

Tyler got down on his knees and whispered to Grace, "Baby girl, say 'thank you'."

Gracie beamed and yelled, "Tank vooooo oooo!"

Krista gave the elated toddler a hug and then rummaged in her bag again.

"Juliette!"

She handed her best friend a long piece of fabric with the intermixing colors of the pinks and blues in the sky when the sun sets. Juliette brought her hand to her lips.

"It's a dress, with a low back, and it's gorgeous. I tried it on--you're gonna love it. It'll look so good on you!" She could not resist giving her a deep wink.

"Krista! Thank you!" Juls admired the dress as she hung it before her eyes with her arms out-stretched and her fingers holding the thin, delicate straps.

"Lenny!"

Lenny bit her bottom lip and took a step toward Krista. She was happy to see what she had brought her. Krista took out something resembling the shape of a book and wrapped up in a plastic bag. She took it out of the bag and handed it to Lenny.

"What do you think?"

Lenny opened her mouth in wonder and looked at the journal. It had a bright yellow binding and its pages were edged in silver. The thick and strong cover was light brown and there were intricate patterns of leaves and flowers stamped on it in black, silver, and a shiny, jewel-like, purple.

"This is so awesome! Thank you, Krissy!"

"Aww, no problem, Lenny. It was hard to chose just one for ya, but I could only take so much with me."

She then took out two bottle openers from her bag. They were both wooden and carved with subtle designs. The first was washed with a blue paint, and had the image of a fisherman on it, throwing his net out onto the sea. The other was washed in orange and had an image of a seahorse on it. She gave the blue one to Andy and the orange one to Tyler.

Both men smiled and ran their fingers over their thoughtful gifts as Krista got out the last present from her bag. No one noticed that Jude had not looked at his phone once since Krista walked through the front door.

As everyone else huddled around Grace and admired their gifts, Krista stepped toward Jude with his gift in her hands. It had taken her a little time to unwrap it from the tissue paper and bubble wrap surrounding it. She reached her arm out and gave it to him.

"Here ya go," she said. "It reminded me of you."

It was a glass catch-all. Nothing extraordinary about a bowl meant to be left out as decoration, really, but this one was different. The glass-blower had somehow infused tiny specks of yellow, lime green, and ocean blue into the see-through black glass. He held the catch-all in his hands and turned it slowly as his eyes worked over all the details.

"Thank you," he muttered. His rich brown eyes flickered up to look at her green ones for only a second.

Krista looked at his face for a moment and then onto his hands and said, "Maybe you could put somethin' you love in there."

~~~~~~~~~~

A/N: Dear Reader, (I love you!)

You know those people in real life that just captivate you. They just exude life and love? That's Krista.

What do you think of her?

How about the gifts she gave everyone?

Anything surprise or delight you in this chapter?

Let me know and gimmie a vote/comment if you love to travel or want to some day...Where would you like to go most?

Thanks for reading!! This chapter was a lot of fun to write!

XO,
Leanne