Phew this was another scene that orginally wasn't in my story. But now it is! Woo! This here is the mega upload that took me so long to write, edit, and tweak. The next chapter which is being uploaded right after is part of this too. Anyways the Christmas special because its my second favorite holiday. Halloween will always be the best for me. The little drummer boy is the song that played in the background at Jake's grandma's house.~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~               

                                             Jake

More weeks went by and it was almost Christmas. That was something to look forward to. There was still that second date to go on with Danny.

So when Christmas came and as tradition we all had to dress up. It was rare to see both my parents off work but they always pulled through for Christmas. I mirrored my dad in a three piece suit. My dad finally decided to comb his wild hair.

“Eric you really need a hair cut,” my mom chided combing her own with her head hanging down to the side. 

My mom was stunning a floor length dress as we were all getting ready to meet at Grandma’s house. She covered her shoulders in a shawl and I could tell she was letting her black hair grow out more. Her skin had a natural tan to it but the dress made it almost glow. My mom was not a big make up wearing kind of girl. She had a natural beauty. That was what both my Grandmother and father always said.

The Christmas tree was a fake one but it was still beautifully decorated. My dad and I were the ones that did it. It was white with silver tinsel and red ordainments. We always had an angel at the top of our tree. And I think we did a pretty good job at it. It took three different stores one after another with my mom a week back. But we managed perfectly to get everything we needed. There were even a few gifts under the tree already. 

The doorbell rang and I ran to go get it.

Charles was holding some kind of mystery thing in his hand wrapped in foil that I almost didn’t take it. I knew better than to be that naive around Charles by now. But when Charles cocked his head to the side. I shifted my weight and he tried to look over me.

“Charles what the crap are you looking at?”

Charles suddenly looked at me weirdly because I used the word crap.

“My parents are right behind me, you want me to die?” I said maybe too irritably.

Charles could always see through my moods as he tried again to look over me.

“One comment on your mom,” he said.

“Um Charles she is like only seven feet behind me,” I said but he went on as if he didn’t hear me.

“M.I.L.F.”

My mouth did little weird noises and I felt my mom stiffen behind me.

Wait how did and when did she get behind me.

“Hi Charles,” she was suddenly smiling far too brightly at my right shoulder while also fixing and earring in her left ear. “Let me personally say a thank you to your mother. Isn’t that her in that van right behind you?”

Charles was stammering things and his face made a lot of silly faces.

I looked away letting Charles deal with his own mess he got himself into.

“I hear dad calling see you after, later, or never Charles,” and I left the front door.

“He deserved it,” my dad said readjusting his tie as he always did.

I don’t think my dad liked wearing ties.

I silently agreed and checked myself over one more time. My dad and I were sharing the same mirror in my bathroom. If only Danny could see me now! Which he would at my grandma’s house. 

“Ooh Jake you look hot!”

My dad snorted at my comment to myself because he believed in modesty.

I honestly loved dressing up.

“Leah? Did you need me to bring the shovel?” my dad called out.

I snickered at myself in the mirror firstly before announcing I was ready.

Charles looked like a dog with its tail between its legs as he sauntered back to the van. Obviously my mom didn’t do much past threats but that didn’t make her any less scary.

We pulled up to my grandma’s house which Ice greeted us first. My mom was the first one inside as my dad knelt down to ruffle and pet the dog. Knowing Danny wasn’t here yet I walked further into the front room to look at the tree Danny and I helped put up for my grandma a few days ago. 

While we did that my grandma being big on Christmas decorated the house. Daniel even stopped by to help put the lights up outside on the house. I would say it was fun but my grandma wasted no time with the whip when it came to work. 

“Hi grandma,” I immediately hugged her smelling of eggnog the non alcoholic kind.

My grandma hugged me as if it were months instead of days since I’d last seen her.

“Thank you so much for helping me put that damned thing up,” my grandma rarely cursed and my mom even perked her head up in surprise.

Grandma ignored that and went to go greet my mom with another hug.

“Jenny said she’d be here in half an hour,” my mom said to her.

“Oh good.”

And I didn’t listen to much else after their small talk. Instead I sat in one of her chairs admiring the work my grandma had put years into. Mostly I just watched the lights flash and change colors on the Christmas tree letting it soothe me. Grandma’s house always soothed me with its smell. This time it had a spicy cinnamon smell to it. Right away I noticed the scented candle that caused it.

Time passed as my grandma switched over to some small talk with my dad after they shook hands. My dad had a way of making my grandma laugh at things. She just got him when he told his jokes. 

I was listening to the Christmas music that was playing on the radio when someone bumped into the front door.

“The doorbell doesn’t work I forgot. Hi grandma!” my sister Jenny Sampson sloshed her way through the door and into grandma’s arms automatically.

My grandma hugged her the hardest and I think she cried. And Jenny looked like she wanted to cry to. She was also drunk as expected. Let the night… begin!

Back before I was born when my parents could travel with Jenny because she was old enough. They used to come here for Christmas. But then I was born and when I was old enough my parents barely had enough time to travel. So it was no wonder my sister, blonde this time, started to reminisce out loud with my grandma.

“Oh gosh I really, really missed it here grandma and I love you sooo much!”

She swayed on her feet.

“Um Jenny,” my mom spoke up then, “You didn’t drive here drunk.”

Granted, Jenny is much loved by us all but sometimes my mother and she would bump heads.

Jenny waved her off saying, “Nooooo, don’t be silly I took a taxi.”

Then she belched dramatically and waved the smell from her face.

My grandma was fighting fits of giggles as she saw Jenny completely as her younger self.

Once that bit was over my dad was hugging her lifting her feet off the ground like he used to when she was a little girl. 

“So tell me,” I said once my dad set her down, “do blondes get more fun?”

“Come here you little brat and hug me!”

One alcoholic hug later there was a knock at the door which my mom answered. 

I was already in the mist of catching up with Jenny letting her know about Danny while she told me a tale about these two guys she knew that really needed to hook up.

“I mean the dude Derek really needs to get that stick out his ass and let Omar get his dick up there instead right-”

“-Oh hi Danny how kind of you,” my mom yelled over my sister’s rant.

“My mothers regards to your family,” Danny said looking dashing, divine, yummy, and tasteful all at the same time in expensive looking suit. He carried a bunch of finely wrapped gifts in his other arm. I knew my gift wrapping techniques could never match up to that. My parents both ran over to help.

He held a bottle of wine with a big red ribbon on it awkwardly in the air.

Jenny already giving me a devious glare was out of the chair in front of me like rocket as Danny stepped inside. She was in front of him just as he finished shaking my dads hand.

Danny flinched and his eyes widened a bit at the small space that rested between them.

I laughed knowing what was coming next while my mom awkwardly danced around the scene unsure of what to do.

My dad just looked amused by the situation. 

“Hi, I’m the drunk big sister,” Jenny said holding her arms up in the air for a hug.

When Danny didn’t react right away her arms clamped like a death trap around him. She held her head at his neck and sniffed loud enough for us all to hear. It was funny looking at this little blonde tornado curled up to Mr. tall and handsome. 

None of us knew what to do.

“Gosh you smell really good,” she said taking more sniffs and hugging him longer than necessary.

My mom made a little, “A-hem.”

And my dad coughed because things were starting to get awkward except for my grandma.

“T-thank you,” was all Danny could say.

I stood up to come to the rescue. If it were my mom in this type of situation instead of my sister. That would be a different story. I wanted to live to see what being nineteen was like.

“And did you get that from me?” Jenny’s face lit up with joy.

Danny was about say something when I cut him off.

“Yes,” I said to her, “Yes!” I said to Danny to get him to agree with me looking him up and down. 

“I told him you were coming and that you liked wine best so he did!”

My poor big sister looked like she was about to cry.

“Overkill,” my dad commented.

Whoops didn’t see that one coming.

She threw herself into Danny’s chest sobbing and thanking him over and over again.

Danny kept shooting me wide eyed looks and I just kept shrugging at him.

My mom urged him on to comfort her while she was shaking her hand at me as a see-what-you-did.

Once that was over Jenny was showing her thanks by opening the bottle herself and already drank almost half the bottle. 

She carried a bottle opener keychain with her keys.

“This is the best Christmas ever,” Jenny said so drunk that could barely keep her eye’s open.

So she was squinting us all down now with the sloppiest smile ever.

“That was a really good bottle of wine too,” my dad looked wistfully at the bottle.

This had to be a really funny sight to look into the window for someone that didn’t know us at all.

My grandma had the biggest smile of us all as she looked at us from her favorite rocking chair. My mom with half her shawl hanging sloppily on her shoulder was shaking her head with a glass of wine now in her hand. My dad was the only one standing by the radio over the television set as he reassured my mom. Danny was in one chair to my right that partly faced me as he was trying to stay far away from Jenny as possible. I sat on the couch laughing at the silly things Jenny to my left was telling me.

I totally lost track of time.

My dad turned the television on for us all to watch some Christmas special shows which Jenny fell asleep to. Her mouth hung wide open as her head hung back. At least she wasn’t drooling. My dad was laughing at Charlie Brown and my mom laughed with him.

“Gift opening time!” Jenny announced so loudly that my mother let out a little eep.

As tradition my dad passed out the gifts. There were impressively a lot of gifts under the tree. Maybe it had to do with grandma because she was always the biggest giver. She didn’t have take an airplane so there plenty of saved cash. Both my parents had always offered to play for her plane tickets but she always turned them down.

My dad called us all out by names as we took our gifts and set them in a pile. Jenny sat next to him to help out. Mostly she took a gulp from a flask she had hidden in her purse. We had to open them together after they were all passed out. Jenny let out a whoopee each time a gift was handed over to her. The bottle of wine that meant for everyone was finished then. 

My mom had pulled out the camera ready to take pictures. 

Once that was done I counted three gifts in my pile as did everyone else. In my family everyone gave equally. Somehow that rule didn’t apply to my grandmother all the time. 

“Okay now everyone open up!” Jenny shouted throwing her arms up in the air and started to sway to the Christmas music with a grin that looked kind of disturbing.

Danny had given a gift for both my parents that was two wine glasses filled with individually wrapped chocolate. My mom really liked that and my dad offered his share of chocolate to her. He didn’t really care for chocolate and that was something I forgot to bring up to Danny.

Even the dog got gifts such as a stocking full of milk bones. 

“Oh I really love this,” Jenny slurred a little at the end as she showed off her red scarf made by grandma of course.

I made a face wishing I had one too.

“Danny thank you!” My mom held up the box of wine glasses in the air.

I had gotten a music box from Danny which had a swan lake music tune to it. Then I spotted my mother looking away suddenly. Putting two and two together it was her that told Danny of my taste in music boxes. I used to play with hers all the time when I was a kid. She had originally thought I was after the jewelry hence my sexuality came up into discussion. Back then I didn’t know what gay even meant. Once she realized it was just because I liked the tune the subject dropped.

The second gift I got was a red scarf also made by my grandmother. I can honestly say that anything made by my grandmother was better than anything store bought. She also knew my favorite color was red. 

“Thank you so much grandma,” I hugged her tightly then the scent of cinnamon clung to me.

The last gift from my parents and sister was a Christmas card with a hundred dollars cash in it. The card was also in a box filled with crushed newspaper. Which held a smaller box with tissue paper this time. No one could ever have guessed. My parents are tricky that way.

I noted how Danny got a gift identical to mine which had him grinning ear to ear.

My grandmother had gotten a number of antique gifts from us all because those she always liked best next to homemade gifts. So there were a lot of hugs to go around. It took Danny and I ages to find the right kind of stuff for her. In fact it took almost a full week in field trips after school. 

My mom ran around the room taking pictures like a mad woman. Mostly she caught candid’s us not even noticing what she was doing. Jenny on the other hand was the most observant. She flashed both middle fingers with her tongue out by the tree as a pose. My mother didn’t even argue with her knowing it was a lost cause. Most likely she would delete those afterwards. 

Then it was time to eat so I was the one that had to get my drunk sister up. She was under the Christmas tree and all we could see was a pair of legs sticking out from under it. Unlike the wicked witch of the East my sisters feet we pointed down.

“She’s been like that minus the drunk part for as long as I can remember,” My grandma commented.

“Always getting up in the middle of the night to catch Santa Clause but fell asleep every time,” my dad said smiling down at her.

“I remember you having to carry her back to bed but then there was that one year when you slept out in the living room with her,” my mom smiled at my dad and at the memory.

“Nooooo mother I don’t want to go to school today my tummy hurts.”

I continued to pull at her arm trying to not to laugh too hard when I dropped her arm and she fell face first to the floor. Danny had to help me along with my dad. Danny looked like he’d rather be doing something else while my dad glared at me. But I couldn’t help it.

For a while everything went fine. My grandma cooked the best meal yet seeing it had been years since she had us all over for Christmas. It was no wonder she pulled out all the stops. There was a buffet on the table and then another long table in the kitchen with snacks. Jenny was the first sample the snacks she was squirming in her chair with handfuls of pretzels. 

Danny once again took a seat far from her. Not that she noticed anyway because she forgot about him. Even my mom looked a little tipsy at the other side of the table. I Took in heap loads of turkey, green beans, Hawaiian salad, a slice of lemon cake, and mashed potato’s. Even some of grandma’s famous pasta because she is the best pasta cooker ever! Danny on the other hand took small portions of everything. Did the guy ever eat?

During the meal Jenny fell asleep at the table again. Her head banged into the table while she was still holding onto her fork which we all laughed at. This was an old story from back when she was a little baby that fell asleep in her dinner almost every night.

It started with my mom laughing girlishly. The wine really was loosening her up. Then my dad started to laugh because she was laughing which caused my grandma to laugh with them. Danny even joined in and of course I did too.

Danny was suddenly standing to my right looking down at me. My head was down on the table sideways when I felt him approach me. My stomach was so full I doubted the ability to move for a while. So when he put his hand on my shoulder my head snapped up.

“Oh, sorry guys,” I said out loud snapping everyone’s but Jenny’s snores attention to me. “But its time for me to get to another Christmas party.”

Then there were goodbye’s and I worried about what Jenny would say about me leaving without waking her up.

“Don’t worry she’ll be at our house in the guest room when you get back,” my mom assured me.

Her eye’s were glassy and when she looked at Jenny it was with unconditional love.

Danny held my coat out for me which I shimmied into. I made care to take another whiff of the air of my grandma’s house. I looked around the living room trying to take the memory with me. All the lights that were set up along the walls with the Christmas themed chairs and couch made me smile. The kitchen just a little past the archway of the living room had a cozy look with my family sitting in it.

I made another smile as I took a second look at my mom who was leaning on my dads shoulder running her fingers through his hair. It was no mystery why it was always messy now.

                                                        Danny

“I warned you didn’t I?” Jake was saying as we got in my car.

All the nice smells of his Grandmothers house seemed to come with us and fill the car with it.

“Guess I need to take you a bit more seriously,” I replied.

Jake chuckled at that.

We pulled up to my house and already I could tell things were going to happen fast.

“Oh boy,” Jake groaned holding his stomach like he was pregnant, “I am so full if I eat anything more I’ll-”

“-Danny hi!” my cousin Autumn was bouncing up and down on the side of the car with three of my other little cousins Drake, Adrian, and Laurie. They all had jet black hair besides Autumn which was the trademark of our family. Autumn was one of my eldest cousins only a year under me. Her hair was like autumn because it changed with the weather. Just ask the bathroom sink.

I opened my window first feeling Jake get anxious beside me, “Can you give us a minute? We just ate a lot.”

“Speak for yourself,” Jake piped up, “Hi I’m Jake!”

Autumn who had always