Going Home for Christmas

by E A Stripling

  The car parked in front of my parents’ two garage doors, and I saw my mother emerge from the doorway looking like a snow bunny. She was just as small and slender as my sister. Her long blonde hair was neatly tied up in a perfect bun with small tinsels framing her face. Behind her, my father followed in a nice sweater and khaki pants. He came beelining for the car with a cart. I looked at Ray, taking a breath.

  “You ready?” I asked.

  “Hell, yeah.” He nodded swinging the car door open and jumping out.

  “Hey, mom and dad!” He exclaimed

  I couldn’t help but laugh. Oh, this was going to be fun. I opened my door and stepped out to Ray hugging my mom and shaking my dad’s hand. He definitely was not shy, and my parents were grinning ear to ear at his friendliness.

  “Hey, guys.” I waved from the car

  “Oh, Alexia, you look beautiful,” my mom said coming toward me with open arms.

  I looked down at my old favorite sweater and jeans that she once said she hated and then back at her. She hugged me tightly and then was replaced by my father who did the same. Who were these people? My mother wouldn’t usually be commenting on my choice of clothes and my dad would be complaining about…something. But now, they were pod people.

  “Why don’t you ladies go inside and warm up? We can get the bags,” Ray said with a smile.

  My dad was beaming as he pulled his stupid wannabe hotel cart to the back of the car.

  “Such a gentleman.” My mom blushed taking a hold of my arm.

  “I will see you inside, darling,” Ray purred kissing me quickly on the forehead.

  I looked up at him in shock as he gave me a wink. I was about to say something, but my mother pulled me toward the house, squealing under her breath. I looked back at Ray and my father laughing and talking, putting our bags on the cart. We didn’t have enough to warrant the cart, but I know he was just humoring my dad.

  Once inside, I was greeted by the rest of my family. My grandparents were drinking coffee in the living room talking with Cecilia and Travis. As soon as Cecilia saw me, she sat up a bit straighter and linked her arm into Travis’.

  “Alexia.”

  My grandparents quickly placed there drinks down and came to give me hugs. Cecilia and Travis stayed on the sofa not moving an inch. I could see my sister looking around behind me searching for Ray. She had a huge grin on her face when she didn’t see him. Oh, I could not wait until that stupid grin was wiped clean off her face when Ray walked in. This was obviously a game to her, like most things were, but this time I had the upper hand. This time, I wasn’t going to be the fool.

  “Where is your boyfriend?” She asked.

  No sooner did she say the words than my father and Ray came through the door with the cart. Placing it out of the way, Ray quickly came and joined me in the living room introducing himself to my grandparents. It was clear as day that he won them over instantly with his charm and good looks. This man knew how to work a room. I looked over to my sister whose face had changed just like I figured it would. She was pissed. She looked at me meanly before standing up and yanking Travis up with her. She slinked forward behind my grandparents.

  “Ray, so lovely to see you again.” She hissed looking at me with hatred before hugging Ray and moving to me.

  Ray and Travis shook hands as my sister leaned into me to give me one of her infamous air kisses.

  “What did you do pay him?” She whispered in my ear.

  I shot back away from her.

  “Excuse me?” I growled.

  Everyone looked at us.

  “Oh, silly you know where the bathroom is by now.” My sister teased trying to act like she was innocent.

  Ray looked at my face and somehow knew something was up. He grabbed me by the waist bringing me to his side. I felt safe and confused. We needed to put space between us and between my sister and me.

  “Why don’t you guys put your stuff in your old bedroom, Alexia, and freshen up for dinner?” My father said. “We are doing an early dinner because I invited some of our friends over for game night tonight. I figured it would be a fun way to get to know your boyfriend and for him to get to know us before the party on Sunday.”

  “Sounds great, sir, and thank you for letting me stay in your lovely home.” Ray extended his hand to my father who quickly shook it.

  Grabbing our bags from the cart, I led Ray upstairs to my old bedroom. Once inside, I closed the door and let out a breath.

  “That bitch.” I hissed.

  “What happened?” He laughed putting the bags down alongside the wall.

  “She actually asked if I was paying you.” I shook my head and sat on the bed. Then it hit me; we were sharing the room. I don’t know why, but I figured my parents would put him in one of the other rooms.

  “I knew it had to be something because the look on your face was almost as bad as hers when she saw me walk in. I knew she wasn’t expecting me to come.” Ray said putting one of his bags on the bed taking out toiletries and a change of clothes.

  “Are you really going to change?” I scoffed.

  “Ma’am I am your man candy for the weekend so I have to keep up my appearance, and if you want your sister to stay green, I would suggest you change as well.” He said looking up at me through his eyebrows.

  I knew he was right, so I went to my closet to see what new stuff my mother had put in there. For once, I was thankful that she didn’t listen to me when I told her to stop buying me clothes. There were rows of new tops, pants, and dresses hung up neatly in there. I had to admit I did take everything she bought me every year and wore it back at home. I scanned the clothes for something nice but practical. But then I thought of my sister. She always took every opportunity to dress up, and now that she was out to one up me more so than usual, I knew she was going to be raising the stakes. I would have to play along. Going off of the outfit Ray placed on my bed, he was dressing up too. So, I grabbed a mint green pencil dress, a beige silk cover all, and some beige heels. Ray had already closed himself into my bathroom, so I gathered my toiletries and makeup bag and headed to one of the guest bathrooms.

  After a quick shower, I was standing in front of the mirror trying to figure out what in the world to do with my hair and makeup. Like clothes, my mother was always sending me beauty products, and most of them were still in their packaging. Oh, well, here goes nothing. I dug through the bag testing things and trying to create something.

  What felt like forever later, I couldn’t even recognize the person looking back at me in the mirror. I looked like one of my sister’s friends. A part of me felt ashamed, but the other part knew my sister was going to faint. The dress hugged my body just right. I was a lot curvier than my mother and sister—something I got from my father’s side of the family. Growing up, I use to hide in clothes thinking I was fat while standing next to my rail-thin sister. When I started to develop a larger chest than her, she tried to convince me it was more fat, but now I knew better.

  And in this dress…it showed. I definitely was not ashamed of my curves anymore. My mother did well, but then again, she was always trying to dress me to attract a man. She just wanted one of us to get married.

  I looked at myself one last time, let out a breath, and headed out the bathroom. Ray was waiting on the other side of the door looking very handsome in a pair of dark blue slacks, a light blue button up shirt rolled up to his elbows, and a dark blue vest that matched his pants. I couldn’t help but stare. He cleaned up very nicely. He was looking down at his cellphone, so he thankfully didn’t see me checking him out. But he must have heard the door because he quickly looked up and froze. I started to become very uncomfortable as he just stared out me without speaking.

  “Are you okay?” I finally asked

  “Yes, um.” He cleared him throat, “I mean, wow.”

  “Oh, shut up.” I blushed.

  “Shall we?” He smiled putting his arm out.

  I hooked my arm into his, and we headed to the stairs
. I could already hear everyone downstairs talking and laughing. I don’t know why, but I felt nervous. They hadn’t seen me this dressed up in a long time; I think the last time was graduation or even prom. To the Christmas parties, I usually wore a Christmas sweater and jeans. With every step we went down, I got more and more nervous until it was too late.

  “Oh my god.” My mother squealed almost sounding like she was going to cry.

  I was ambushed with hugs from my family telling me how amazing we looked, my sister, however, walked into the dining room not saying a word to me with her arms crossed, dragging a dumbfounded looking Travis. My nervousness was gone, and I hate to say it, I felt smug. Eat your heart out, Travis.

  Everyone headed to the dining room to start dinner. I was not surprised to see take-out waiting for us. My mother was never a cook, but she knew the best places to order from, and tonight we were having some of the best Italian in the area.

  We took our usual seats. I was about to pull out my chair to take a seat myself when I felt the chair already moving. I looked over my shoulder, and Ray was pulling out my chair for me. I smiled, tucking my hair behind my ear, and took a seat. While pushing in my chair, he leaned over and stopped next to my ear.

  “You look amazing,” he whispered leaving a kiss on my cheek.

  I felt flushed, but I tried to play it off as I smiled and tucked my hair behind my ears. He came around and took a seat next to me. I don’t know why, but I was a little embarrassed to look up at him, so I looked around the table at my family. For once, they just seemed happy. Was it my being defensive ever year because I was alone that made it seem so unbearable? I mean I didn’t just imagine all the comments and poor you looks. But I don’t know. Everything just seemed different. I watched my father grab his wine glass and stand up to make his annual “let’s start the holiday weekend” toast. He tapped the side of his glass with his butter knife as he rose, alerting everyone else that it was time. On cue, everyone grabbed their glasses and turned their attention to him.

  “I am so happy to see everyone here to start our Christmas weekend. I know it is getting harder and harder every year to come because of jobs, life, and just things that come up, but I am so very thankful that we are here. Also, a thank you to our new family member, Ray, for joining us. To your first family Christmas and to all to come.” He raised his glass.

  Everyone toasted each other and then took a drink. It was hard for me to look at anyone after a toast like that. My family was going to question where Ray went for months to come after this trip. But, let’s hope that now that they see me with someone, they will know that I can find someone else, and, when I do, they will meet him as well. I took a deep breath trying to relax my thoughts as I watched my father take a seat. Everyone started in on the food, but then I heard a glass being tapped next to me. I looked over to see Ray starting to stand up. What was he doing?! What was he about to say? Everyone grabbed their glasses again turning their attention to him now. My father smiling ear to ear.

  “I just wanted to thank you all so much for allowing me to be here with you all this weekend. It has been a long time since I have felt part of a family.” He turned to me. “Thank you, Alexia.”

  Everyone toasted again and took a drink.

  “Now, let’s dig in.” Ray laughed taking his seat again

  I looked at him in awe as the room filled with laughter and chatter as everyone started to fill their plates with fatty foods. Mid-sentence, Ray turned to me looking at my empty plate.

  “Eat.” He smiled.

  Blushing, I looked away and started to grab all my favorites. I did look forward to all the amazing food and didn’t care what I gained this weekend.

  ####

  Once dinner was over, we all headed into the family room to get game night started. My dad’s friends had canceled at the last minute but no one seemed to care. Everyone in a great mood from the food and conversations over dinner. I, again like I did every year, over-ate and was ready to just go to bed, but my father wouldn’t hear of it. He loved game night and now, with his new buddy Ray here, he was even more excited. We took our usually seats with two extras added for Ray and Travis. My sister was already prepping Travis for the games like she did with every guy she brought. “Competitive” was putting it lightly when describing how she got on game night. It was so bad that monopoly was banned from our house along with a few other board games.

  I can still remember the last time we played it; I almost died laughing watching my sister flip the game board over and send the pieces flying around the room. She was sent to her room, and the game was placed right in the trash, which only made me laugh harder. I, of course, got in trouble as well for not only laughing but for stirring my sister up. It was so worth it. Since then, when the rest of the family was over, we played charades. No pieces that could fly around…..other than my sister’s hands.

  One by one, I watched my parents, grandparents, and sister with Travis, taking their turns. My sister was already getting frustrated by Travis’ lack of enthusiasm for the game. Finally, Ray and I were up. I stood up to grab a card as my sister watched me angrily. I was always good at this game, and I guess we were about to see if Ray could help me keep my winning streak. I couldn’t help but laugh when I looked down at our card, and the words FRIENDS WITH BENEFITS looked back at me. I glanced up at Ray and then back down at the card. I have the weirdest luck. Alright, let’s do this. I let out a breath and squared my shoulder. I lifted up three fingers.

  “Three words,” Ray said.

  I nodded putting two fingers down and leaving one up.

  “First word.” Ray sat up straight, getting ready.

  Oh, yeah, he was going to be good; I could already tell. I pointed to myself and then to Ray.

  “Lovers,” he blurted out.

  I gasped in shock and started coughing on air, shaking my head no and waving my hands. My family laughed at me. Again, I put one finger up.

  “First word.” He laughed.

  I turn to the side pretending to say hi to someone. I turned around saying hello back and opened my arm to simulate a hug.

  “Friends,” Ray said.

  I turned and smiled, letting him know he got it right.

  “Your first reaction when you saw the word friend was to point the both of you out,” my sister hissed.

  I whipped around to her giving her a dirty look.

  “What! I am just saying. It was interesting.” She shrugged.

  “Sixty seconds,” I heard my father say behind me.

  “Friends with benefits.” Ray added.

  I turned around, quickly clapping my hands together in delight, just in time to see him wink quickly at my sister.

  My sister and Travis were up next, and the game continued couple to couple until finally my sister and I were tied. This was a first, and you could tell by the vein in her forehead that her blood was pumping. She was determined to beat me. My father looked like he was watching a boxing match, his shirt sleeves rolled up, leaning forward in his chair. My mother was already falling asleep at his side, and my grandparents had called it a night thirty minutes ago.

  “Alright, guys, for the first-ever tie breaker, I will have you both trying to describe the same word. The first one that gets it right wins,” my father explained.

  My sister and I stood up in front of everyone preparing for battle. My father walked up behind us and showed us a card that read TWELEVE DAYS OF CHRISTMAS and then sat back down.

  “Alright, three minutes on the clock….go!” He announced.

  My sister and I quickly turned to our partner. I put up four fingers. I could hear Travis behind me guessing already. But I knew what I was going to do and with how spot-on Ray had been all night. I knew this was the end of the game. I let my sister go on for a few for minutes while we all heard Travis say some of the funniest things, her huffing and puffing increasing with each wrong answer. I turned to look at Travis who looked just as frustrated as my sister sounded. I turned back to Ray
putting up four fingers again.

  “Four words.”

  I then put up five fingers and pointed at my ring finger.

  “Five rings?” Ray questioned.

  I nodded. I then put up four fingers and pointed to a bird that my mother had on the Christmas three.

  “Twelve days of Christmas!” Ray exclaimed jumping out of his seat.

  “UGH!” I heard Cecelia growl behind me.

  I jumped up and down cheering, running straight into Rays open arms, and we hugged in celebration.

  “Dad, that is cheating; you can’t do the lyrics!” She pouted.

  “Actually, that was pretty good, I am surprised he didn’t get it after the ‘five rings’ with how on it he has been all night.” My dad laughed.

  “Don’t be a sore loser, Cecelia,” I teased.

  “Twelve days of Christmas?” Travis question “What the heck were you doing a cross for then?”

  “I had ten fingers up and the cross was supposed to be a plus sign to add two to make twelve!” My sister shouted.

  “Yeah, I didn’t get that.” Travis sighed.

  “No shit.”

  “Cece, it is just a game.” My father scolded her.

  “Sorry.” She put her head down, embarrassed.

  “Anyway, that was a great game. Congratulations, you two. I am going to drag your mother off to bed, and I will see you guys tomorrow.” My father smiled at Ray and me.

  I watched my father lead my mother out of the room and blow me a kiss with a visibly upset Cecelia following them. Poor Travis sulked behind his shaking his head. Once they cleared the room, I couldn’t help but laugh.

  “That was awesome!” I laughed hitting Ray on the shoulder.

  “We make a good team.” He smiled.

  “Thank you for this evening. I was so worried, but they love you.”

  “They really aren’t as bad as you made them out to be. Compared to my family, this a walk in the park.”

  “Even Cecelia?”

  He waved my question off. “Even her. She is just a brat, and I know how to deal with those.”