My advice for life: dance and sing your song while the party is still on. ~Rasheed Ogunlaru

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On Christmas Eve, it's tradition for all of us to help with the baking of several desserts. Normally, we all pick one thing to make; I usually go for brownies with white chocolate chunks. It's a bit boring for Christmas but you just can't go wrong with them. My mum also does the chicken by stuffing it and seasoning it before placing it in the fridge to allow the flavour to soak in.

On top of that, we have a lot of our family coming over to stay the night. It just makes sense since they're travelling all the way from London. We have my aunties and uncles, my 5 cousins and my grandmas and grandpa. Including us that makes 18 people in one house. I'm not really sure my mum fully thought about this but luckily, we have enough space for them. Anyway, they should be arriving any minute now since its almost four. My mum plans to have a Christmas Eve party which also involves Rolo's family and Abel's since he's my boyfriend. This is going to make one busy house.

"Boys! Get your butt down here and help me make sure everything is set up!" My mum yells.

"How come you didn't call Keziah!" Marcel yells back.

"Don't question me Marcel! Just get down here."

I hear multiple steps rushing down the stairs to meet my mum.

I'm currently in my room finishing getting ready. I've decided to go for a red skater dress that cinches at the waist with a sweetheart neckline and thick straps. I've paired it with silver hoop earrings and silver heels. For my makeup, I've gone relatively simple with my usual stuff but with a silver shimmery eyeshadow and a golden glow highlight that accentuates my cheekbones. My plan is to make Abel speechless since I haven't seen him since his birthday. I have to make it clear what he's missed.

Despite not seeing him, we've talked everyday and not once have I got bored. I don't think I'd ever get bored if I'm honest.

Once I'm ready, I head downstairs to find everyone hanging up last minute decorations and placing a few of the homemade desserts and food out on the counter.

"You look lovely dear!" My mum says while hugging me.

"It's only because she wants to impress Abel." Points out Marcel.

"If Abel is coming, does that mean Tristan and Tatiana are too?" Asks Nolan.

For once, I can actually say yes to the boy.

"Yes, they are." I respond.

"Finally!" Nolan pumps his little arms in the air and smiles so brightly at what I said.

"Omari, that means Zane is coming too. Try and actually talk to him this time yeah?"

Omari simply nods at me and goes back to whatever he's doing on his phone.

My dad then walks into the room whistling away, "Hello family! Who's ready to party!" He hollers in excitement.

This causes shouts of happiness to echo throughout the room from all of us.

All of a sudden, the sound of the door bell ringing alerts us to the arrival of our family members. In an instant, many many faces appear around the corner.

"Keziah!" My youngest cousin Zola who is 4-years-old runs straight into my arms for me to lift her up. I tickle her stomach in response resulting in several giggles escaping. She's pretty small for a 4-year-old but she still has time to grow. Her hair is pulled back into two afro puffs showing how long her hair has grown. On her wrists are the never-ending number of bracelets that she basically never takes off; she claims that it makes her more mature and who am I to disagree?

"I missed you little one." I say to her.

She wraps her arms around my neck and kisses my cheek, "I missed you too Kez."

I put her down and go and greet the rest of my family. This part takes a while since everyone wants to have a quick catch up.

"I hear you finally got yourself a young man." My grandma says as she walks up to me.

Instantly, I'm surrounded by all my aunties and uncles and my other grandma and grandpa.

"Your mother says he's a handsome boy you know." My other grandma says.

"Is he coming tonight?" My aunty asks.

"I should hope so, what better time to meet the family?" Other aunty says.

"He better have some manners." My uncle speaks up.

"A boy with no manners is not something you want Keziah." My other uncle adds.

"At least she's no longer single." My grandad says before chuckling.

I have not had a chance to get a word in here as you can tell meaning I've been listening to them talk away at me. That's the problem with having so many relatives.

"Okay, stop crowding my daughter everyone. You'll be meeting him soon enough." At this, they all disperse while talking about my unknown boyfriend.

Finally, I'm able to breathe for a second. Unfortunately, this doesn't last for very long since my cousin Nikita wraps me up in a tight hug. Unlike me, Nikita is tall and slim with legs that stretch on forever.

Combine that with her wide brown eyes and pouty lips and she has guys tripping over her. I do envy her figure sometimes and I can't help but wonder if that's something Abel would prefer. Do I even bring it up to him when he comes over? I immediately squash that idea when I remember all the reassurances, he's given me. I can't be that girl that's always causing problems simply because of my insecurities that Abel has put to rest many times; it's not fair on him. With that in mind, I move on from that idea and focus on my cousin in front of me.

"Girl, I haven't seen you in forever!" That's a bit of an exaggeration but I expect nothing less from her.

"I know right! How's everything over in London?" I ask her.

"Omg! I have so much to tell you, you honestly won't believe." And that begins her 5 minute rant about her gossipy friends and immature boys at her school. Since we're the same age, we're both going through similar things at the same time. That means normally I can relate to her but when she goes off like this, it can be seriously hard to keep up. I love the girl though; apart from my friends at school, she's definitely my closest. I know I can talk to her about anything; it helps that we're family too.

"Enough about me! I hear you've got a boyfriend now!" Her eyes widen in excitement and she claps her hands together in anticipation for my response.

"Yes, his name is Abel and you should be meeting him soon." I reply.

"Is he hot?" Of course that's the first thing she asks.

"You'll see him later Nikita just be patient."

"That means he is! Oh, I'm so happy for you." She pulls me in for another hug. She can be a bit um exuberant all the time but it's manageable.

About ten minutes later, Rolo and his family arrive making their usual amount of noise. Everyone says hello to one another, jumping straight into conversation. Since I've known Rolo and his family since we were little, so has everyone else meaning we're all familiar with each other.

Marcel immediately goes up to Tenaya like I thought he would and gives her a hug as if they didn't see each other the other day. Remember when he came to me asking if she had spoken to me?
Yeah, she was annoyed at Marcel for a silly comment he made about her and another girl. They're not going out but they kind of act like it in some ways. It's a complicated relationship.

I make my way to the kitchen to grab a quick snack when my mum yells that Abel is here. Immediately, I drop my food and head straight to the door to prevent him from being bombarded by my family.

I push past my parents to find Abel looking slightly bewildered at the company.

"Abel, you're here." I say to him.

I say a quick hello to his parents and siblings before dragging them all inside the living room to meet everyone.

"You have a lot of family here right now." He says nervously.

"Oh believe me, I know. It can be tiring sometimes but I love them all."

I lead him to my grandparents, aunties and uncles first because of the comment they made about respect earlier. First impressions are very important after all.

"Brace yourself now, my grandparents can be a bit mouthy especially when they're all together."

Abel nods at me and smiles, "I'll be fine Brown Eyes."

"Guys, this is Abel." I say to them while they're seated on the sofa.

Just like I thought, grams shoots up straight away to pull him in for a hug. Grams is my dads mum who's here with his dad, my grandpa who we call Gramps.

My other grandma is the mother of my mum; she lost her husband a few years ago sadly meaning I lost a grandparent.

Abel wraps his arms around her small frame to hug her back, "Nice to meet you ma'am."

"Oh hush you, just call me grams." She finally lets go and sits back down. "Keziah didn't say you were this handsome you know." She says.

"If I were 60 years younger, you'd definitely be on my radar young man." Grandma says.

"Grandma!" I yell at her in embarrassment. How could she say that? Lord help me tonight.

Abel starts laughing loudly, "I'm sure you would have captured my attention with your own good looks." He says charmingly.

I'm pretty sure my grandma swoons.

"So, you're the boy with my granddaughter." Despite his age, my gramps still has that big and intimidating stature and serious face. I can tell this makes Abel more cautious since he straightens up and stops laughing.

"Yes sir. She is amazing and I'm lucky to have her." At this, he grabs my hand and gives it a kiss.

"You know, when I was your age my husband and I were just like you; constantly touching. It's adorable." My grams says.

They all start reminiscing about the old days allowing me and Abel to escape.

"How'd you find that?" I ask him.

"Surprisingly okay. They're hilarious."

"More like chatty."

"I guess that's where you get it from then." I hit him square in the chest.

"Keziah! Come show us your boyfriend then!" My aunty shouts from across the room.

"Ready for round two?" I question Abel with my hand still in his.

"Of course. Your grandparents love me and so will they."

"Yeah yeah, don't be too cocky. My uncle will hate that."

We make our way to where my aunties and uncles are with the other adults.

"Abel, meet my family. Family, this is Abel." I gesture towards him.

Uncle G puts his hand out for Abel to shake and nods in hello. This is followed by another handshake with Uncle P.

"Strong grip you have there." He says to Abel.

"I'd have to agree." Uncle G says. "Points for that."

Yeah, I know that's a bit weird but they believe that your handshake says a lot about you.

"Ignore them." Aunty L says. "They say weird things sometimes. It's lovely to meet you!"

"It's about time as well. I was wondering when she'd bring home a boy." Aunty M adds.

Abel chuckles at them, "I'm glad to be here. Keziah is one of a kind."

Both of them 'aw' at him while my uncles pretend to make gagging sounds. You'd think they'd be more mature than that but obviously not.

My aunties whack them at the back of their heads, "Please act your age for once."

This causes my uncles to grunt in response while we shake our heads.

"Don't pay them any mind." Aunty L says. "Now go have fun with everyone else!"

Abel and I escape while we have the chance and I lead him into the kitchen which is currently empty.

"I've missed you." I murmur to him while wrapping my arms around his neck.

Abel places his hands on my waist and starts rubbing circles with his thumb, "I've missed you too baby."

"What do you think of my family so far?" I ask him.

"I love them all. They sure have a sense of humour." Abel chuckles at this and I can't help but notice how his eyes are shining. He has the whitest and straightest set of teeth that I've ever seen. He completely epitomises perfection and I'm so lucky to have him. I stare at him for a little longer while he looks elsewhere and take in his features once more. The way his light eyes and dark hair contrast is so compelling and enthralling it almost has me in a trance. I could stare at this boy for so long and never get tired.

"What are you thinking about so deeply Brown Eyes?"

"You actually."

Abel smirks at me, "Of course you are." I shove him away and scoff but I only create a small amount of space between us when he tugs me back towards him. "What I meant to say is what about me were you thinking about."

I shake my head at him but run my hands through his hair which is incredibly silky. "I know I don't say it much but you're so attractive Abel. I love your hair, your smile, your body, your hands but especially your eyes. When you look at me, I feel like I'm the only one that matters to you." I cradle his cheek gently and lean in for a kiss. "You take my breath away."

"Gosh Keziah, the way you make me feel." He kisses me passionately and intensely showing me what he couldn't put into words. "It's so good with you." He whispers.

Our moment of peace is interrupted when Omari comes in to let us know that all the kids are being forced into our game room while the adults talk.

We head out of the kitchen and down the hall to the room where everyone else already is. In total, there are 20 kids in this house and in this room. Most of which I have yet to introduce Abel to.

"I was wondering where you disappeared too!" Nikita rushes towards me eagerly.

Nikita finally realises that I'm not on my own and looks in Abels direction. "Omg! Are you Abel? You have to be him! My name is Nikita." Nikita hits my arm making me clutch it from the sudden pain,
"You didn't tell me he was this hot!"

"I really didn't think I needed to." I respond dryly. "Anyway, Abel this is Nikita one of my cousins."

"I cannot believe Keziah kept you away for so long! I've literally been dying to meet you! My aunty-her mum- said that you're the perfect gentleman and that you both really like each other which I'm obviously really happy about! I don't have a boyfriend because-"

"Okay Nikita! That's enough of talking Abels ear off, I think he's had enough." I jump in otherwise she'd go on forever.

"But I still had-"

I drag Abel away in the middle of her sentence to stop her from going on another tangent. I love the girl dearly, but really doesn't know when to stop talking sometimes.

"Sorry about that."

"You really don't have to keep apologising for your family Keziah. You forget that I also have a large and crazy family as well."

"Yours is more normal than mine."

Before Abel can respond, the rest of my cousins come to meet Abel.

"Abel this is Zola." I gesture to the little one hiding behind my leg.

"This is Zuri; she's 13. Tobias who is 16 as well and Andre who's 19." I gesture towards each person as I speak. Similar to her sister, Zuri also has a willowy shape; she's already taller than my 5 ft 2 height but basically everyone is. Andre is extremely bulky with wide shoulders and bulging biceps but that' s pretty expected for someone who goes to the gym as much as he does. His hair is done in those waves hairstyle that everyone currently loves making his already round head look even fatter. Kidding ha ha.

Abel says hi to all of them but bends down to reach the same height as Zola.

"Hello Zola, it's lovely to meet you." Abel says softly. He holds out one of his hands for her to put hers in. Zola hesitates to begin with. "It's okay, I don't bite."

Zola slowly places her tiny hand in his which he grasps gently. "Hi Abel." She finally responds quietly.

Zola isn't normally a quiet child but when she meets new people, she clams up straight away. I definitely think it's something she'll grow out of though considering her usual spirited behaviour.

Abel smiles at her before letting go and standing up to his full height. He turns around to face me and grabs my hands in his. "Zola is adorable."

"So are you Abel, the way you spoke to her just now." I beckon him to lean towards me so my mouth is right next to his ear, "It was kind of hot."

Abel shivers slightly as my lips brush his ears showing how affected he really is by me. "Don't tease me like that baby. Especially with all your family around."

I let out a small giggle that makes him smile and walk us over to everyone else.
Immediately, Abel is pulled into playing a video game with Rolo, Andre and Tobias. While he does that, I go and quickly talk to Rolos siblings-except from Tenaya who is busy with Marcel as per usual.

I head over to Temi who is playing with Nolan, Tristan and Tatiana and pick him up before smothering his face in kisses causing him to let out a few giggles.
Looks like they're all friends now. Then, I make my way to Lamar who is hanging out with Zane, Omari and even Zuri. Zuri prefers boys over girls as they're and I quote 'simpler', so it's no surprise that she's with them. But what is a surprise is that Omari is laughing and talking with Zane. Looks like Abel was right about this being a good friendship. I say a quick hello to them all before sitting on the sofa directly behind Abel to play with his hair.

About ten minutes later, my parents come in to let us know that it's time for the talent show. Let me clear that up for you.

Basically, on Christmas Eve, its tradition for all of us to show off our skills by performing something we've prepared or just going freestyle. I originally hated this since it meant everyone watching me intensely but I've grown to love it. Normally, I perform a dance routine with Nikita, Rolo and Tobias since we're all of similar age.

We all chatter excitedly as make our way to the living room which has been cleared out to make more space.

"Okay, for the sake of Abels family, I'll quickly explain how everything is going to happen. Every child will perform a talent or skill-we'll start with the younger kids first and work our way up; you'll all show us whatever you want. Since we have a new family with us tonight, they don't have to participate unless they want to." My mum finishes.

It starts with Zola, Nolan and Temi who have decided to show us some of their karate skills from the classes they've all been doing. They quickly dress up into the white robes and then face one another before taking a bow and getting into starting positions. Nolan starts by doing a basic kick which gets blocked by Zola and then again by Temi which is then repeated by swapping the kicker. Once this is done, all three of them get into a line and do two punches in the air which are followed by loud shouts. Obviously being the youngest, Zola wobbles slightly but still does her best. At the end, we all clap and cheer happily at their adorable movements.

Next up is Zuri, Omari and Lamar who have gone for juggling and a magic trick. Zuri does the juggling with the pins while walking around-I have no idea how she managed that- while the boys perform a card trick that has us 'oohing' and 'aahing'.

Next up is me, Rolo, Tobias and Nikita performing a dance routine to 'Turn down for what' by DJ Snake and Lil Jon. It's one of our old routines form when we used to do street dance together and it's fast paced enough to get the best moves in. Rolo and I are on one side while Nikita and Tobias are on the other. The music starts, cueing the beginning of our routine. It starts by Nikita and I moving towards the middle first followed by Rolo and Tobias. Once we're all together, we continue on the rest of the dance and end it with Nikita and I being lifted up by the boys. When we're done, I'm panting from the exertion but also feeling satisfied at how it went. I lock eyes with Abel who is smiling widely at me making me feel warm all over.

We leave the floor to make room for Marcel who is playing the piano with Tenaya while they both sing. When they start playing, I realise the song they've chosen is 'When I was your man' by Bruno Mars. Throughout the performance, the both keep glancing at one another making the whole situation way more intimate than it would be. It is so clear how much they like each other but for some reason, they haven't made it official. I might have to question Marcel about it later, not that he'd give me an honest and clear answer but still. Once they're done, Marcel stands up and does a dramatic bow causing all of us to laugh.

That concludes our own mini talent show but before everyone gets ready to leave, my dad makes a toast. "To family, to love, to happiness and to meeting new people."

We all cheer loudly and quickly jump into conversation with one another.

"I didn't know you could dance like that Brown Eyes." Abel says to me.

"I didn't think it was important." I reply with a shrug.

"Anything you do is important to me." He says causing me to smile slightly. "But that was one of the sexiest things I have ever seen. The way you move your body.." He trails off.

My breath hitches at the intensity of his eyes making me gulp deeply. "Maybe one of these days you could dance for me?" He whispers quietly.

My eyes widen at his bold suggestion but I shove him away. "Keep dreaming Abel."

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