Moving Closer - New Year Party Prep2

"Mum, Dad we have something to tell you guys "

Both the elderly couple got worried when they saw how Rachael had put across this statement.

"Sweetie, you are scaring us. Is everything alright?" asked her mum

"Yeah Mom, there is nothing to worry. It's just that" Rachael hesitated for a moment and continued "We have planned a surprise party for both of you. Although we planned to reveal it a little later, we had to let it out a little earlier than planned as we wanted to make sure you were prepared"

"But i thought you guys were planning to go out and party and not here. Have you changed the plans?" it was Mr. Samuel who spoke this time.

"No Dad, there is no change in our plans, but we did not want you guys to be left out. So we invited few of your friends to come over to our place so that both of you can enjoy the New Year too" said Ray.

"Oh my God Ray, I mean how could you do this to us?" his mom could be seen getting tensed and nervous already. She had no energy to cook for more than 5 people.

"Mum, Dad listen" Rachael interrupted "We have already planned and arranged everything for you. We did not want you to worry. Everything has been taken care from food to stay to the party arrangements."

Mr. Samuel was thinking deeply and then said "Okay tell us the details so that we will get prepared. I believe the guests may already have been invited and we cannot ask them to go back. It will be inappropriate."

"Dad, before that we would want to show you something" said Rachael and she got up.

Ethan and Ray also got up to get the Robot, while Rachael went to get the party suite and dress she had brought for her parents.

Rachael and Ray's parents were feeling a little anxious as they waited for the children to come out.

They saw Rachael carrying two packets with her while walking out of her room. She came and sat next to her parents waiting for the men to come out. In just few minutes she saw both of them carrying the Robot, the remote and the tab and walking towards the hall where she and her parents were seated.

Once the men were settled Rachael gave the packets to her mum and dad "These are your party wear. Try it it out and let me know if you need me to exchange it and I'll get it changed today"

Both of them went inside to try it. While both of them liked their daughter's selection only Mr. Pfeiffer's suit was a little loose near the waist and it took him seconds to fix it with a spell.

They came out and thanked Rachael and told her how they had loved her selection.

Now it was the turn to demonstrate the Robot and Ray took over from here.

"Dad, Mum, introducing "Darling" our Robo assistant. Mr. Ethan out here has been kind enough to reconfigure the Robo to meet your requirements" Ray as usual got his funny side out.

While Mrs. Pfeiffer burst out laughing Mr. Pfeiffer controlled his laughter and had a serious look on his face.

Ray, knew any time his dad would speak up so he quickly turned on the Robot.

"Darling, hmm. Who.. " before he could speak any further the Robot had chirped in

"Good morning, this is your personal assistant Darling. I do not find any tasks assigned to me. How can your Darling help you today? "

This was enough and Mr. Samuel could no longer hold back his laughter and burst out laughing. He knew no one other than his son would have come up with such a quirky idea.

"Ray, you mischievous fellow, I know it's your idea. I love the name but if we are planning to use this Robot for the party, it will be nice if you can change the name. I don't want the guests to think we are love struck couple. You can put back this name after the party if your mum is ok with it" with this Mr. Samuel winked at his wife and his wife face palmed.

"Sure Dad, and thank you for liking the name" said Ray while he winked at his dad now. "I'll now hand over the Robot to Ethan to demonstrate the rest of the features"

"Thanks Ray, I'll take it over from here" said Ethan. He loved Ray for this attitude of his. Always laughing always chirpy. May be his opinion about him would have been different, had he seen Ray in Mariam's shop.

Rachael was surprised as she felt her dad would get angry at the name and saw how his always serious dad, had changed. She knew it was Ray and smiled inwardly.

Ethan now got on to explain the features of the Robot and how to use it. He also told about the secret feature that the Robot had and told them it needs to be hidden from the rest of the world. He also made sure Mrs. Pfeiffer tested it so if she wanted anything more, she could tell him right away or within the next day.

While Rachael suggested that once the the old battery was replaced, they should start using the Robot so that her parents will get used to it and everyone agreed.

All of them decided to name the Robot as "Bob" till the New Year party was over.

Rachael then took help of Ray to get the presents which they had hidden in the garage to give it to the guests. Each present was neatly packed with the name of the guest on it. She gave the guest list she had prepared to her dad so that they will know who have been invited.

Ray then explained the food arrangements and the stay arrangements they had made for the guests and the guests will start arriving on the morning of the party day.

Mr and Mrs. Pfeiffer were amazed at how meticulously their children had planned the party for them. They were relaxed now and stopped worrying.

Post lunch Ethan and Ray left to check the final arrangements one last time before heading to buy a new battery for the Robot.

———-

Dec 30, 2022

The party organizers had arrived post lunch to set up the backyard for the New Year eve celebrations.

With just a day left, there was lot of hustle bustle in the Pfeiffer home. Rachael was helping her mom to organize everything for the party while Ray and Ethan were clearing the last minute doubts Mr and Mrs. Pfeiffer had.

Ray and Ethan had decided to load the tab with the party menu just before they left.

By the time the party organizers had left , everyone were exhausted and went to bed early that day. They had to wake up fresh

———-

Morning : Dec 31, 2022

Everyone had a good nights rest and woke up refreshed. Like Christmas day, Mr. Samuel had ordered both breakfast and lunch for the day, to make sure that his wife and daughter did not feel tired and be energetic for the party in the evening.

Ray, Ethan and the elderly couple were all excited for the day. However, Rachael had mixed feelings. She was excited and worried at the same time. As the evening approached she felt jittery.

The guests would start arriving by 6:00 pm at their house for their parents party while the youngsters had to leave home at least by 7:00 pm to make it on time for the party venue being organized by the famous Dance Bar in the city.

The food and the music band was to arrive by 6:30 pm and Ray had requested the party organizers to handle the arrangement of the food.

Ray had called up the food caterer's the previous day requesting them to text the menu, so that they could load it into the Robot which was now name as "Bob". Her mom had got used to the Robot in the last 1.5 days and she was confident enough to handle it.

Evening : Dec 31, 2022

Rachael knew she needed quite sometime to get ready and she had to speak to all parents friends while they were here. She started getting ready by 5:00 pm , so that she could do one last touch up of her make up just before they left for the dance bar.

The men got ready much ahead of time and were helping with the arrangements. The guests had started arriving one by one. Although very close friends were invited they were still quite a few in number. They were all looking for Rachael and Ethan as it had been years that they had seen Rachael, especially after she got married.

She put on a little heavy make up today to match her attire today. She looked breathtakingly beautiful . Gorgeous was an understatement.

When she finally got out of the room, there was a silence for a minute before everyone flocked at her and started conversing with her. They complemented her on how beautiful she looked.

As both the men were still busy with the arrangements, Ethan was yet to look at his goddess.

When Ray and Ethan finally got inside the house they were swamped with the guests. All had heard about Ethan but none of them could attend Rachael's and Ethan's wedding as it was a family affair. So they were curious to see the Royal who was very different from them.

Ethan was extremely handsome like the Greek God and the couple complemented each other with their looks.

Ethan finally glanced at his wife who was still helping her mother with the last minute preparations and he was stunned looking at how gorgeous and beautiful she looked. It looked like he had fallen in love with her all over again.

But he controlled all the emotions he had as he did not want to display anything in front of the guests. He looked dignified like any Royal and was giving a polite smile to everyone.

Finally it was time for Rachael, Ethan and Ray to head to the dance bar for much awaited New Year party. The three of them got into Ray's car and the car headed towards the dance bar.