22 Chapter 22.

In the blink of an eye Christmas Eve arrived, cold times also began in New York City, this cold weather would last until April.

During this time, nothing very interesting happened in Alex's life, except for the fact that in mid-November Tony Stark told the public his classic words "I am Iron Man", in an interview.

And along with this also came the happiest days for a person other than Alex ... the happiest days came for Sue Storm when she saw that her shares purchased in Stark Industries increased in price every day, making Exodus Infinity also count. With a large amount of funds.

Alex will not forget that Sue upon receiving this news, took Alex and gave him a kiss on the cheek and a very strong hug, it is assumed that Alex due to his body should not be able to feel things like hugs, but even he felt the hug from Sue, that means that this hug was not weak at all...

Another important piece of news was when Alex told the Fantastic 3 that he had contacted someone who could help Ben with his appearance problem. Alex spent some time later explaining who the Ancient One was.

Benjamin couldn't help but be excited, and Alex had to take him to Kamar Taj right away, where Benjamin was taken in by the Ancient One himself, and had to undergo mystical arts training.

This is because when the fantastic 4 obtained their powers, it was as if they had made a forced pact with a specific dimension, that is why they all had special abilities out of nowhere, in order to regain his normal form, Benjamin has to learn To control the connection that exists between him and the dimension, once he controls it, he will be able to stop the connection at will and this will allow him to maintain his powers, but also have a human appearance again.

Only the Storm brothers remained in the tower of Exodus Infinity, along with Alex and Felicia. Ahri didn't count as she was everywhere technically.

Currently it was 7 pm, today they were supposed to finish work early and have a vacation period until January; Ahri would take care of everything related to League of Legends in Alex's absence.

Alex, Felicia, Sue and Johnny were sitting at the kitchen table while chatting about trivial things; this was just a break they were taking.

"What will you two do for Christmas?" Felicia asked Sue and Johnny, while she was taking a sip of eggnog ... and if she had alcohol, no one would give away that Alex and Felicia were underage drinking right now. Although Sue didn't approve of it.

Alex was not afraid of alcohol, since being drunk is something that he will never happen to him.

"Well ... usually the fantastic 4 spent our festivities together, although I guess right now it's just the 2 of us left while Ben returns from his journey of self-discovery" Johnny said while taking a drink of his beer, this was the lie that Sue and Johnny They had invented to tell Felicia, Kamar Taj is not supposed to be a place that should be known to normal people. Although if you find it they will not deny you the teaching.

"Well ... that in my opinion that is still better than what I'm going to do" Felicia took another drink from her glass and said with a little regret in her voice.

"Usually ... what do you do at Christmas Felicia?" Alex was curious, Felicia rarely talks about what life is like in her home besides saying that her mother sucks.

Felicia couldn't help giving a wry smile when she heard Alex's question, but she still answered.

"Normally my night before Christmas consists of eating fast food from any restaurant in the vicinity while I watch TV, meanwhile my mother goes to one of those Christmas banquets for rich fools, I stopped attending once I was finally able to refuse. After finishing my dinner I drink a full bottle of wine until I fall exhausted in my bed until the next day and wake up without a fucking gift under the tree and with a crappy hangover. "Felicia took another swallow of her punch.

"..."

Alex and the Storm brothers couldn't help the silence that formed after what Felicia said. In fact Alex was surprised that someone could say something like that without crying, so Alex learned that Felicia is very good at hiding her pain deep within her soul.

"I think enough of this is enough right now ..."

Alex took Felicia's glass from her hand and her bottle too, she was about to pour herself more, but Alex didn't want to see her made a drunken mess.

Felicia couldn't help but pout when Alex took the bottle from her hand.

* Ring Ring Ring *

A cell phone started ringing; everyone looked at each other until Alex realized it was his phone that was ringing.

"It's my mother, I'll be back" Alex got up from the chair and went into the bathroom to To answer, he closed the door behind him and slid his finger across the screen to answer the call, brought the phone to his ear and spoke.

"Hi mom, what's up?"

"Alex, are you coming home yet? Remember that we would have dinner at 8 "Asked May's voice on the other end of the phone.

"I know mom, I won't be late, you shouldn't worry"

"By the way, we invited the family of Peter's friend to have dinner with us, we are excited to release our new furniture and dishes" May's voice was excited, in previous years this could not be done, but at this time everything was different.

"I see…"

"Why don't you invite someone too? We still have a lot of space on the new dining room table, I also made a lot of extra food" May suggested to Alex, who was thoughtful for a moment, used his X-ray vision and looked at the 3 people who were in the kitchen and had an idea.

A few more minutes passed and Alex came out of the bathroom while he put the phone back in his pocket.

"Something important?" Asked Felicia who had already taken the bottle again and poured eggnog in her glass.

Alex stared at her, making Felicia sigh and put the glass and bottle back on the table, Alex nodded in agreement with Felicia's action, what Alex wanted the least is for her to develop alcoholism.

"My mother told me that she could invite someone to dinner tonight, so I told her to add 3 more dishes to the table." Everyone was surprised by what Alex said.

"But Alex ... I don't think that's right ... it's your family's Christmas dinner ..." Sue, she was reluctant to accept Alex's invitation, she didn't want her family to bother with them there.

"I would love to go ..." Felicia said although her voice showed a bit of hope, the truth is that she would like to spend Christmas with someone other than herself.

"No buts, I already told my mother they would go" Alex was not willing to give in.

"But…"

"Come on Sue, this is goodwill on Alex's part, we shouldn't turn it down" Johnny said with his carefree demeanor.

"You just want to eat for free!" Sue looked at Johnny with an accusing look.

"That's partly why I admit it, but I would also like to eat a real Christmas dinner and not Chinese food as usual" Johnny shrugged, since in his opinion a change in routine would not do anything wrong.

"Well ... okay ... let's go to Alex's house" Sue said defeated and Johnny just put on a victorious smile.

With everything decided, the 4 of them took a taxi to Queens to the address of Alex's house. Of course they did not forget to put on their warm clothes, they all wore coats, scarves and gloves, even Felicia wore a hat that covered her ears.

Alex did not need to warm up, even his body radiated a certain heat, but it would look very strange for him to walk in winter with summer clothes.

The 4 of them got out of the taxi, Johnny paid the driver and then he left.

Alex's house was now fully decorated for Christmas, with many lights and garlands in the characteristic colors of the occasion.

They all walked to the front door and Alex took the key from him, opened the door and warmth began to radiate from inside the house, bringing some relief to Felicia and the Storm brothers.

"We arrived!" Alex exclaimed as they entered the house.

End here.