Surprise!

The Gilmore family hadn't all been together in over 5 years. Lucy was celebrating the recent union of she and her new husband and decided enough was enough, it was time to bring her small family together. Lucy was the only child of her parents, Robert and Barbara Gilmore. Lucy hadn't seen nor spoken to her parents in about 2 years. They stopped speaking when Lucy decided to drop out of college and pursue her dream of songwriting. It was through songwriting that Lucy met the love of her life, Jack Massey. Jack was a very talented country singer on his way to stardom . He and Lucy met in a small Nashville club, she was looking for inspiration and he was performing. Their eyes met and it was pretty much a written song instantly. Jack was adopted and his adopted parents were mean and abusive people so when he was 18 he left and never looked back. Lucy became his only family instantly and they both longed to start a family of their own. Although small in number, Lucy's family was once tightly woven. Her father, Robert, was the oldest of 2 children from Lucy's grandmother and grandfather referred to by Lucy as Gram -gram Rita and Pop-pop Harry. Lucy's aunt, whom she had only met a handful of times in her 26 years was Emily and Emily had 1 daughter that Lucy had never met. Lucy's father and aunt had not spoken since Lucy was just a little girl because Emily never married her childs father, in fact it was a one night stand which brought great shame to the family's name. All Lucy knew was that she empathized with her aunts pain and it was time she meet her only cousin,Natalie. Lucy knew she and Natalie were just a few years different in age with Lucy being the oldest. After talking it over with Jason, Lucy decided to call her family and propose a game night. Something fun that would put everyone in the same place but take the focus off of awkward conversations and hopefully minimize criticism and disagreement. It would also be the first time Lucy's new husband met her parents and the rest of her family. Lucy sat on the edge of her bed and nervously dialed he mothers number, her mother had a soft spot for her look alike daughter and she figured going through her to reach the rest of the family was her best bet. After 3 rings her mother answered, hearing the soft melodic voice of the woman she once went to for everything was almost too overwhelming. Fighting back tears she finally spoke. It felt so good to hear her mothers voice again. Lucy could tell her mother was equally excited to hear her voice as well. After exchanging pleasantries Lucy told her mom about wanting to get the family together and she purposely left out the fact that she was recently married. After some hesitation, her mother agreed and they planned every detail of how the family game night would go. Two weeks later and the big night was finally here. Lucy was so nervous she had barely eaten a thing all day. Jason made her some toast and warm tea and assured her that whatever happened, the two of them were family forever. Lucy loved how supportive and loving he was, she was elated to call him her husband . Tidying up the last few things and making sure all the refreshments were set just right, Lucy and Jason finally took a deep breath and shared a passionate kiss with each other. No sooner than they parted lips the doorbell of their small but charming condo rang. Lucy swiftly walked to the door and to her surprise, her parents and grandparents had arrived together. After greeting them each with a hug, her father last because he made it no secret that he was still disappointed in his only daughter, Lucy walked them into the living room where Jason stood nervously. She could tell how he nervous he was because before every performance Jason would run his fingers across the bottom of his shirt repeatedly. Walking over and grabbing his hand Lucy introduced Jason, her husband. Immediately her mother and grandparents looked over to where her father stood waiting for his response. Lucy and Jason followed their gazes until their eyes met her fathers. Lucy's stomach felt as if it was about to boil over like a hot pot of water . Finally her father spoke congratulations and walked over to shake Jason's head. The remainder of the family followed suit. Lucy could have sworn she breathed a sigh of relief so hard that everyone saw her deflate. Just then the doorbell rang, Jason assured Lucy he would answer while she got her family settled in. On the other side of the door stood two women whom looked quite similar to his wife and and mother in law but slightly younger in age. Jason knew this had to be Emily and her daughter Natalie. As Jason, Emily and Natalie approached the living room, Lucy excitedly ran over to her aunt and gave her the tightest hug she could squeeze out. She then turned to Natalie and the two young cousins embraced and admired each other for what seemed like an eternity of time. Having already introduced himself at the door as Lucy's husband, Emily couldn't help but walk right up to her snooty brother and ask him what he thought of his new son in law. Immediately her brother jumped up and reminded her of her illegitimate child that brought shame upon the family's name. Lucy knew her mother would never correct her dad and that her grandparents agreed with him so it was up to her to stop the fight and try to get the family back on track. Lucy and Jason opened up with a round of pictionary. As Lucy drew and Jason tried to guess movie titles, poor cousin Natalie sat staring at her uncle that she never knew. Witnessing what she just did, she was glad her mother kept her away from him. Even though her grandparents didnt agree with how she was conceived they at least kept in touch with phone calls occasionally and holiday cards. The more Natalie sat the angrier she got until finally she stood and yelled that her uncle was a complete jack ass for disowning her mother and herself. Lucy dropped the marker she was holding, Jason froze in disbelief and Rita, Lucy's mother, charged at Natalie. Lucy couldn't believe she was watching her mother attack her cousin, her aunt charging towards her dad and her grandparents sitting in the couch sipping wine as if this was all normal. Lucy felt her chest tighten and her jaw clench and with the loudest voice she could muster she yelled for everyone to get out. GET OUT! She repeatedly yelled as they all stopped in their tracks . Jason grabbed his wife to embrace her as he watched her family gather their things. Emily and Natalie headed towards the door and suddenly there was a loud thud and a scream. Every one rushed down the hall to see Emily crouched down over her daughter crying and performing CPR. Jason ran to grab his phone and dial 911 as the rest of the family stood in shock. Emergency services arrived shortly after and pronounced Natalie dead on site. Emily collapsed over her daughters limp body as Lucy fell down behind her to embrace her. Tears ran down her grandparents face as they stared in disbelief. Lucy's mother was being held by Jason, her new son in law. As Lucy's eyes scanned the foyer for her father, she couldn't believe what she saw, there her father stood alone with a slight smirk on his face. As Lucy's eyes met his, she knew that she would never tell them about the child she was carrying. Her child could never know the Gilmores.