She's My Sleeping Pill

By the time Cayenne and Stefan returned to the hotel, Monet's proposal was already over, yet the celebration lasted until midnight.

Only the nannies and bodyguards left the venue to accompany the children to sleep, including Jade - no matter how matter her thinking was.

"Congratulations," Cayenne expressed and have Monet a hug. "How was it? Did you like the surprise?"

"How can I not like it? I've been dreaming of this for so many years," Monet whispered to her while showing the rings she got. "I'm so happy."

"We're all so happy for you," Jillyanna also added before raising her glass of champagne for another toast.

"I thought I would wait for another - wait!..." Monet narrowed her eyes and turned her attention back to Cayenne. "You just asked me about the surprise."

Cayenne looked at her with nonchalance and answered, "Yeah, I did."

"You knew about the surprise?"

"We all know about the surprise, just like how they knew about my birthday surprise for Stefan."

"We all pitched in the ideas," Luna said with a smile. "I thought I should give myself a chance to join the entertainment industry. I didn't know my acting would be great!"

The four women continued to chat when people started coming over to Monet.

And as friends, they all agreed that Monet should show off her rings to her relatives who flew from France and the Philippines just to witness her engagement.

They didn't want to hog her to themselves. So, they gave her some space and allowed others to giver their congratulatory messages.

On the other hand, Stefan was watching others exchange toast with Thomas, yet the smile on his lips, for some reason, it wasn't for this occassion.

He looked silly.

"Wipe that smile off your face. You look stupid," Travis commented while knocking on the table to get his friend's attention. "You must have been very happy."

"Of course, I am. I know I am thirty now, but this is the fourth birthday that makes me so happy. Sometimes, I really wish my brother is here. I want to show him that this time, I have people who celebrates my birthday aside from him."

"Alexander would be happy."

***

The next day, except for the children, most adults woke up late. Stefan was no exception.

He drank too much last night while chatting with the others and before he noticed it, he was starting to get dizzy.

So, he and Cayenne left the venue first

Now, he has hangover.

Holding his head with his hand, he sat up on the bed and looked around to find his wife. She was nowhere to be seen.

He grabbed his phone from the bedside drawer so he could make a call, but he saw the message that she sent her early in the morning.

[I'm with the children. I got you hangover soup and a medicine. Take it before looking for me, or you can rest until you feel better.]

.net

Stefan replied with "I love you" before walking up to the mini kitchen and drank the soup along with the medicine. After that, he went back to bed.

Unlike him, Cayenne didn't drink much last night. She talked more and drank less.

Just as they planned, their whole vacation last until the 25th of December.

It was only at this moment when they realized that their women were actually very simple.

They shared their ideas for this Christmas celebration and they all agreed to rent a small family restaurant nearby and share a meal together.

Their gifts were very simple as well. You wouldn't know that they came from a rich family. It was Cayenne's idea to limit the gift amount to $50.

It's not the prize that matters but the thoughts that count.

Five days ago, before Christmas, Cayenne wrote everyone's name on each piece of paper before rolling it. Then, she asked each of them to pick a piece of paper except for the children. Whoever's name was written on the paper they got, they will have to buy a gift for that person worth $50.

Pretty cheap for someone earning more than a million now.

Now that they got to celebrate Christmas and exchange their gifts, Cayenne received her gift from Rey - her bodyguard.

"Miss Yen, if sir Stefan gets jealous, please defend me," Rey said while giving his gift.

They were all wondering what it would be that would make Stefan jealous, so they all waited for Cayenne to open it.

When she did, what greeted them were five pairs of socks with small reindeers printed on them. Two pairs for the adults and three pairs for babies.

Cayenne loved them so much.

Stefan only crossed his arms over his chest.

Indeed, he was happy when he saw the matching adult socks but his happiness lasted only for a second before it vanished upon seeing the socks for babies.

Ignoring him, they all continued to exchange their gifts until it was Kyle's turn. "Brother-in-law, here's my gift for you. I hope you will like it."

He handed him a small box that they started guessing what item could be so small to fit in the box.

Stefan opened it in front of everyone's interesting gaze and when he saw the items inside, he gave Kyle a thumbs up. "I'll give additional dating allowance later."

Not it was Cayenne's turn to roll her eyes. He was so easy to please.

Kyle gave him a matching phone charm with his and Cayenne's initials.

He immediately put it on his phone.

It was a stark contrast to his usual cold face to have such a cute item.

They could only sigh.

It was a Christmas well spent with family and friends. The kids received gifts from the adults and most of them were toys and clothes.

At the same time, whenever someone got inside the restaurant to dine with their family, friends or someone special; Travis and Stefan paid for the diners' bill.

It wasn't planned, just something that Cayenne and Jillyanna thought of randomly in the middle of their celebration.

***

Back in A City...

Celestine didn't have the mood to celebrate Christmas when he received the compiled report that Elliot got regarding Julia's activities in the past months.

If Julia wasn't her own daughter, she might have asked Elliot to end her life already.

"Arrange for her to leave the country immediately. Send her somewhere that Stefan doesn't have connections with," she said while massaging her temple from the stress. "For sure, Stefan would take action against her. After all, they weren't close to begin with and she had scrossed his bottomline multiple times."

"You should speak to her about that," Elliot answered while massaging her legs. "She's very stubborn. You may talk to her husband as well. He is sensible and loves Julia very much. He wouldn't let anything bad to happen to her."

Celestine nodded her head in agreement before throwing the report on the table next to her and closed her eyes.

She didn't know what else to do.

She lowered her pride for her. She reached consensus with Stefan for her. She did everything she could for her only daughter.

And Stefan was very generous to forgive them the first time, but with all the things that Julia did, she knew Stefan won't let her off unscathed this time.

While thinking of possible solutions, Celestine didn't consider Cayenne's involvement at all. She never connected her in getting Stefan's forgiveness.

She didn't know that, if it weren't for Cayenne's decision, Stefan would still be her number one enemy.

On the other hand, Elliot remembered what Rey told him in the past. He knew Rey. He would do what he said without batting an eyelid.

If Stefan would really find Julia dangerous for his wife and children, Rey wouldn't hesitate to dispose her.

Celestine and Elliot sighed at the same time in worry.

***

Mini Theater

Zeki learned to speak her mother's name but he noticed that she seemed unhappy about it.

His siblings had no idea of his dilemma and he felt that they couldn't relate to him.

While everyone was busy for the Christmas dinner, he practiced calling her "mama" but whenever he saw someone approaching he would stop talking.

Jade asked permission to visit the triplets and when Stefan gave her the go so signal, she went inside and watched the three of them in glee.

"Say 'sister'" Jade said while caressing their little heads. "To avoid your parents having a fight, you should learn to call me first. Sis. Say, 'sis'."

She was just making fun of them but then, something unexpected happen and she was left astonished.

Aziel was staring at her and reached for her fingers. When Jade reached out, a single syllable came out of his mouth.

"Sis"

Aziel learned to call her first.

"Sis."

Not just once but twice.

Jade blinked her eyes in surprise, then panic started sinking into her.

Cayenne will be sad.

She didn't know he would really call for her.

Zeki looked at his brother and turned over to the other side to avoid seeing his stupid face. He was already thinking how to find ways to protect his idiotic brother from getting hurt in the future.