Chapter 16- Family Reunion

                                    

                                          
Hello! I am now back off holiday so here is this long chapter full of cuteness :) 
                          
I'm not kidding, it's over 3000 words. Strap yourself in and here we go ... 
                          
Melissa's POV
                          
           
                          
It felt like it was March before I had a chance to blink. Henry had taken the promotion and was away more and more. The kids had gotten used to seeing him less, but they were still sure he would always come home when they needed him. March was also both sets of parents wedding anniversaries. It also happened to be their 50th that year. To celebrate, everyone in the family was having a reunion. My siblings and their kids were coming into town, along with all of Henry's siblings and their kids. By the way the plans were coming together; there would be about 100 people there. Half of that was just immediate children and grandchildren. I just hoped the kids would behave. 
                          
They've never met their cousins in real-life; they've only spoken to them over the phone. They all knew of each other, but none of them had ever met. My parents had 13 grandchildren and Henry's parents had 17 grandchildren. Then there would be all siblings of mine and Henry's parents, with various other aunts and uncles. It was going to be a very big gathering. 
                          
When the day of the reunion/party came, I woke up early. It was about 7am when I rolled over and looked at the clock. Surprisingly, none of the kids were awake yet. Henry must have been excited to see his siblings after such a long time, as he was awake about 10 minutes after me. We quickly and quietly checked in on each of the kids and there were all fine. Kirstie was in Mitch's bed again, but we always find them curled up together. We revelled in the quiet and spent some quality time together before anyone else was awake. We hadn't been able to do that in a long while. Get your mind out of the gutter, it was just cuddling. 
                          
Unfortunately for us, it didn't last long. Mitch and Kirstie crept into our room, holding hands and rubbing their eyes, wanting to be picked up. The second they were on the bed, they lay down on us and shut their eye again, never letting go of each other's hands. I guess they just wanted to be closer to us for a little bit.
                          
When 8am hit, the rest of the kids had woken up and we had moved down to the kitchen to make breakfast. Mitch and Kirstie had fully woken up after a short nap with us and were full of energy and excitement. We were meeting at the hotel at 11, letting the kids meet and get to know each other a little before we sat down for food. Based on the way they behaved at the meal with Kevin's parents mine would all be angels, but I wasn't sure how they would react to being with all their cousins. 
                          
"What time are we leaving?" Kevin asked.
                          
"About 10:30, meeting everyone at 11." I answered.
                          
"Where we going?" Scott asked with a mouthful of cereal. 
                          
"Don't talk with your mouth full Scottie. We're going to a nice hotel for gran & grandpa's anniversary." 
                          
"Wha's at?" Mitch asked.
                          
"They've been married for 50 years and they want to have a party." 
                          
"Fun-time!" Kirstie said. I smiled and nodded. 
                          
"We will be eating there and spending a couple of hours there as well, so I want all of you to be on your best behaviour okay?" They all responded with 'okay' or thumbs up. I have the best kids. 
                          
We finished breakfast and got all the kids ready, just normal clothes but they were in better condition than some of their other ones; the right attire for a fancy hotel. Kirstie let me style her hair a little and pretty much all the boys wanted some gel in their hair to 'look cooler'. We had some time to kill before we had to leave, so we sat on the sofa watching the kids play together and chatter excitedly about meeting their cousins for the first time. Eventually 10:30 came and we had to get everyone in the car so we could get going.