The New Year! (1/2)

This chapter has a song.

The song is [Somewhere Over The Rainbow - Israel Kamakawiwo'ole].

If you're going to listen to the music, play it when the name of the song appears. In case you haven't finished the chapter and the music ends, I recommend restarting the song, after all, it's very good and relaxing.

I recommend using the studio version of the song.

Enjoy and let me know what you think!

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It's been 15 days since Sylvie arrived.

During this time, Sylvie experienced Christmas, which was almost exactly 7 days ago.

Christmas was very fun and heartwarming. It was the children's first Christmas, so it was memorable.

Note to self: At some point, we should gather the family and have a flashback of the first Christmas.

Anyway, after Christmas, Sylvie felt more relaxed around us.

And today is another memorable event. Their first New Year's.

Vision made a lot of food, and it's two hours until midnight, and the children are already ecstatic.

"Dad! Let's eat! I'm starving!" Rocket said, pulling my pants and drooling over the dishes on the table.

"Okay, I want to eat too. But we have to ask the chef first. Hey, Vision, can we eat?" I said and then asked Vision, amused.

"Sure, this is the last dish!" Vision, who entered the room carrying a large and delicious piece of pork, replied.

The table was full, and the last space was the plate that Vision put down.

When Vision finished saying that, the previously empty chairs around the table in the blink of an eye already had some gluttons sitting in them.

"Let's have the gluttony count!" I announced, amused.

"*Munch* Ah!! No, Uncle Tony!! *munch*" Floor complained as she stuffed a carrot into her mouth.

"One glutton." I started the count with a mischievous smile, looking at Floor.

"*Munch* Here we go again." Rocket rolled his eyes and continued eating the french fries.

"Two gluttons!" I counted.

"*Munch**Gulp* Here! Here, Uncle Tony!!" Teefs raised his tiger paw excitedly while devouring a chicken thigh.

"Here too!" Yao raised her hand, having fun eating fries as well.

"Four gluttons, and last but not least..." I counted with a smile and looked at the last but not least glutton.

Sylvie, who had her face smeared with pork rib oil that she was eating, slowly lifted her eyes to me, and along with her eyes, she raised a middle finger.

Fortunately, Yao was already prepared and covered her middle finger with her hand as Sylvie raised it.

"The children are at the table, don't do that!" Yao said, shaking her head at Sylvie as she threw a potato into her mouth with her free hand.

Sylvie rolled her eyes and went back to eating.

"We have five gluttons. Count's over, let's eat!" I said, and Pepper, Carol, Lylla, Vision, Friday, and I sat down at the table.

"Meow!" A sudden meow interrupted me.

"Oh! Sorry Goose, 6 gluttons, how could I forget you." I said, amused, and started eating.

Goose proudly licked her dirty nose and buried her face back into her food bowl.

As we ate, there was already music playing in the background, but soon a new and special one started playing at that moment.

[♫ Somewhere Over The Rainbow - Israel Kamakawiwo'ole ♫]

"Love this song." Carol said, gently swaying her body to the music.

Then the children started swaying along while eating.

Soon, we all followed, and I saw Sylvie trying to hide it, but she ended up swaying along.

I smiled as I watched everyone smiling, eating, and swaying to the music.

Then I looked at Yao.

"Stephen didn't want to come?" I asked.

I had told her to invite him.

"He said he wants to have a nice party at Kamar-Taj, even though it's not New Year's there. According to him, Kamar-Taj was the family that took him in when he lost Christine, and he wants to do good things for them and appreciate them." Yao said as she filled her plate.

"Oh? That's alright, then." I shrugged and looked at Lylla trying to reach for the fish.

I stretched and grabbed some fish and put it on her plate.

I patted her head and asked, "Do you need anything else?"

"Mm-mm! Thank you, Uncle Tony." She gently shook her head and said in a soft, delicate voice.

"If you need anything else, you can always count on me, you know that, right?" I asked with a smile.

"Umm!" She nodded firmly and smiled at me.

Humming along with the music, we ate and enjoyed ourselves as a family.

We filled our stomachs in a festive atmosphere full of laughter.

"Kids, it's almost time for the New Year's countdown, put on your coats." I said as I put on my coat and a beanie.

We didn't feel cold, but it's not good to attract attention walking with children and women wearing warm clothes in the middle of a street with freezing temperatures.

"Uncle Tony, come on, let's go, let's go, let's go, let's go!!!" Floor hopped all over the place before landing on my shoulder.

"Haha! Hold on there, little one." I said amused, tapping the tip of her nose.

"Floor, before we go, you have to change to your human appearance, but you can keep the rabbit features if you want, like the ears. The same goes for you all too." Carol entered the room all bundled up she crouched down and helped Lylla put on her coat.

We have already talked about their appearance causing problems, as humanity is still a backward civilization and is not accustomed to other intelligent species. Fortunately, the children are smart and understood.

Of course, we did this carefully and lovingly so that the children wouldn't have any misconceptions about themselves.

"Quick, Friday, Vision, change your appearances too. It's five minutes until the New Year's." I hurried everyone and opened a portal in a discreet alley while generating illusions to disguise the portal and our entry from nothing for anyone passing by.

We quickly entered the crowded and bright streets of Times Square.

Everything was electrifying and festive. The streets were lit up by the giant luminous billboards and lights around.

I looked at the ball droppers, who were the hosts of the night making an announcement five minutes before the New Year.

["The show is about to begin, and we would like to once again emphasize that this unforgettable New Year's Eve and turn of the century will become even more magical thanks to the sponsorship of Stark Industries. There is no doubt that everyone loves Stark Industries and the good they have been doing for years for the whole country and the whole world. The name Stark has become synonymous with the pride of our country, and tonight will become even more special with the environmentally friendly fireworks created by Stark Industries, which promise to light up the entire city of New York in a never-before-seen spectacle."]

The host of the night announced with a smile.

I smiled at my family who looked at me amused.

We all stood together enjoying the festive atmosphere.

We had to hold the children, or they wouldn't see anything.

I carried Lylla, Yao carried Rocket, Carol - Floor, Pepper - Teefs, and Vision carried Goose.

Goose is family, so she couldn't miss it either.

"IT'S TIME! ONE MINUTE LEFT." I had to shout because of the noise from the crowd.

When I said that, the hosts pressed the small ball that activates the big New Year's ball of Times Square.

The giant luminous ball at the top of the clock began to drop as everyone shouted the countdown together.

Of course, my family didn't miss out and counted along.

"59!..."

"32!..."

"9!"

"8!"

"7!"

"6!"

... To be continued.