Of course it had to be one of those days. It was just Ava's luck that on her last day at work before Christmas her car didn't want to start. She was already late as it was because of her children bickering about she didn't even know what. Then she hit her elbow on the wall when she tried to avoid Charlie who was running with mugs of hot coffee in her hands and her headphones on her head.
Sara raised a questioning eyebrow when Ava came back after five minutes in the cold, frustrated beyond measure. "My car doesn't want to start," Ava said and looked at Sara's keys.
The other woman simply nodded. "Take mine then."
"You sure? What if you need it for some errands?"
"I'll walk, or I'll ask my dad when he comes here. He should arrive in a couple of hours." She smiled at her wife, took her wet scarf –because Ava didn't close her coat– and placed her own simple but dry black scarf around her neck before kissing her. "Go now."
Ava smiled, reached for another kiss and left before any of the kids could yell "get a room!"
As soon as she had left, Sara clasped her hands together and turned to look at her kids, all of which had suddenly vanished since they knew what day it was. Even Zari, for who it was the first Christmas within the Lance-Sharpe household, knew something was up and had followed Mona upstairs.
"Alright, so this is how it's going to be…" she muttered and made herself a cup of coffee, declaring that it was too early in the morning for that kind of bullshit. As her coffee was being made, she stopped at the bottom of the stairs and yelled "I want everyone down in three minutes. We've got work to do people! Anyone who is late is going to do all the chores, including cleaning the house, taking out the trash, laundry folding and doing all the dishes until further notice!"
It didn't take long for all the children to come running down the stairs, pushing each other so they wouldn't be last. In retrospective, Sara had to agree that it wasn't her brightest idea because they could really hurt themselves if they fell down the stairs. But at the moment, she was pretty smug about her parenting and figured that most her children were daredevils anyway –like her– and would be just fine.
The teens all started to talk at the same time, while Mick was the last one to join, walking down the stairs as slowly as humanly possible. Sara waited until the chatter died down to speak from behind the counter, her smug grin still plastered on her face.
"Alright, let's get started!"
She motioned for everyone to grab a seat, then began. "My dad will join us for Christmas just like every year…" Charlie excitedly lifted her fist in the air before highfiving Mona and Sara turned to Zari. "He'll be staying for a couple of days and he'll sleep on the couch in the living room. He'll be coming in a few hours." Sara laughed a little when she saw Zari pale. "Don't worry, Z. My dad is a nice guy. Stubborn as hell and old-fashioned, but nice."
"Yeah, you'll see! You'll get along with Grandpa Quentin just fine!" Charlie said, trying to reassure Zari.
"Alright, so, I need everyone to listen. I'm going to give each of you a task to do today to prepare for Christmas. You're all old enough to decide when you want to do it, but it has to be done today. We'll have pizza for lunch and you may eat when you want. You don't have to wait for me or anyone as long as there's pizza for everyone."
All the teens cheered at that. "Tomorrow, we'll be celebrating Christmas in the evening with the Christmas dinner. Now, you know how Ava gets all nervous before Christmas, so I want the house to stay squeaky clean until the festivities, no messes are allowed! Presents will be opened in the morning the next day and Quentin will probably leave the day after. Ah! And don't forget to place your secret present under the tree before tomorrow evening."
Zari looked at the naked Christmas tree in a corner of the living room and cringed. In the beginning of December, Sara and Ava told her about their family's Secret Santa tradition: they put all their names in a bag –including Quentin's since he would be celebrating with them– and each person picked a name randomly and had to come up with a present for them and put it under the tree. Zari had gotten Sara's name and since she couldn't think of the perfect gift for Sara at the time, she decided to figure something out later and completely forgot about it. And now, she had one day left and she still had no present whatsoever.
"So, I'm going to name every task we have to do today. Raise your hand when you want to do it. Remember, everyone has to do something."
Because at least three teens wanted to do the decorations, Charlie and Mona were tasked with decorating the tree and the interior of the house while Ray would take care of the exterior, lights and all. Mick would cook his special fish flambé for dinner and would clean after himself and do the dishes while John and Zari would accompany Sara to do some groceries that afternoon for the holidays. That way, Zari hoped she might be able to find a present for Sara, even though she had no idea what that would be.
During most of the morning, Sara dusted and vacuumed, while Charlie and Mona decorated the tree. Ray was outside all morning, trying to figure out how he wanted to set the lights and John agreed he would shovel the snow out of the way, so he was going outside every once in a while.
Sara had noticed that John seemed to spend an awful lot of time outside, which was unusual. Sure, he was probably chatting with Ray or shoveling snow, but still she had that weird feeling he was hiding something. Unfortunately, John wasn't the most talkative of teens and he was an excellent liar. But the weird lingering smell of tobacco that she felt every once in a while made her wonder if her son didn't start smoking and was trying to hide it. Ava had the same feeling and had told her about it a few days prior, but both women wanted to find the right moment to talk about it with their son and not just spy on him.
Sara was just putting back the vacuum in the closet near the entrance when the doorbell rang and Charlie yelled excitedly while Mona squealed. Ray opened the door for Quentin and Sara's father stood in the doorway as Charlie ran and leaped into his arms, almost making him fall backwards.
"Oh my god! What a greeting! I should come more often!" Quentin said and did his best to remain standing but thankfully Charlie got down and hugged him properly. Mona was next but Zari stood at a good distance, near the stairs behind Sara.
"I've missed you so much guys!"
"We missed you too Grandpa!" Mona said and she and Charlie grabbed Quentin's bags.
"Dad!" Sara smiled and hugged her father warmly. Quentin was smiling when he was hugging the teens but his eyes sparkled in that special way they always did when he was seeing his daughter.
When Sara pulled back, she turned to Zari. "Dad, I want you to meet my new daughter, Zari."
The girl simply extended her hand awkwardly and Quentin frowned before shaking it.
"It's nice to meet you, Sir…" she said, uncertain.
"Oh for Christ's sake, come here!" Quentin then pulled her towards him and hugged her as tight as he had hugged Sara. "You're part of my family now."
For a moment, Zari didn't know what to do before she slowly brought her hands to Quentin's back, hugging him back. For a long time, she had trouble with gestures of affection. It had nothing to do with Sara, Ava or any of her siblings, but she had never been a touchy person, even less after her family's death. But somehow, it felt right to hug Quentin in that moment, as if she had found a new piece of herself, a way to start healing her wounded heart. Maybe it was the Christmas spirit, maybe it was the realization that she had a family that cared about her, maybe it finally dawned on her that Sara and Ava would never hurt her. Whatever it was, she simply sighed and hugged Quentin tighter.
After Mick greeted Quentin with a manly tap on the shoulder and then a bear hug, "Everyone means everyone, Mick, even you!" Sara placed Quentin's bags under the stairs and made them some coffee.
"What can I do to help?" he asked, rubbing his hands together.
"Absolutely nothing!" Sara yelled and placed a cup of coffee in front of him. "You just got here! I want you to sit down and relax." Charlie started speaking but Sara quickly shushed her. "You've got to do your chores on your own! It wouldn't be fair to the others otherwise." Mona pouted and Charlie simply shrugged before handing her the star that needed to be placed on the very top of the tree.
While Sara ordered pizza and went upstairs to resume her cleaning, Quentin invited Zari to sit next to him on the couch. He watched the girls put up the decorations, finished his coffee then turned to the teen. "So, how do you like it here, Zari?"
"It's cool," she answered. "Everyone's been really nice to me."
"That's good," Quentin said. "How old are you?"
"Fifteen."
Quentin nodded but didn't ask more questions and instead answered some of Zari's. Yes, he was really a cop. Yes, he had been shot, several times. Yes, it hurt like hell. He was in the middle of telling an embarrassing story of when Sara was little and hung on a fence by the back of her pants, a slice of pizza halfway up his mouth when Sara came down.
"That's not fair! You can't embarrass me like that in front of my children!" She said, falsely offended and covering Mona's ears with her hands.
"That's what grandparents are for!" Quentin laughed.
Sara ate quickly, called Ava to tell her that she was going out for groceries but that Quentin and most of the kids stayed at home. After the tenth apology from Ava, Sara quickly cut her off. "It's okay babe. I know your job is important and that's okay. You'll be home tonight and after that, you'll be home for Christmas! That's what matters to me, that you'll be home for the holidays. I know it's eating you up that you have to work today, but don't worry. We're not gonna burn the house down."
Sara laughed when Ava mentioned that it wasn't always a certainty with Mick, before she hung up after telling her wife how much she loved her.
"Alright, let's go shopping!" Sara said before Quentin gave her his car keys and Zari and John climbed into the back seat of Quentin's old but still functioning Mustang.
Sara had for once decided to do the groceries like Ava would do them: with a list and a –rather– strict policy of not buying things they didn't need. While she focused on the main items, mostly food, she gave John and Zari smaller things to find. Aisle after aisle, their cart got filled and it was only after they got everything they needed that Sara allowed her kids to grab some things that weren't on the list, like sodas and candy, chocolate and other delicacies that were too sugary for Ava's taste. But as Sara put it: "It's only Christmas once a year!"
As they were getting in line to pay, Zari looked at the different trinkets on display and was interrupted by John.
"Lookin' for something, love?" he asked, his hands buried deep in the pockets of his coat –which he hated but Sara had convinced him to wear it instead of his favorite beige trench coat by threatening him to ground him– looking mildly amused.
"No, just looking around."
"Right. And you wouldn't happen to be looking for your Secret Santa gift?"
Zari turned towards him, alarmed, before noticing that Sara was focused on the line of carts and wasn't paying attention to them, trusting them to follow her.
"How did you guess?" she whispered and John smirked.
"I placed my secret gift under the tree today and I noticed there was one missing. Which could only be either good old Quentin or you since you've never done this in our house. I'm also guessing you've never done this at all, right?"
After a couple seconds, Zari nodded.
"So, who did you get?"
"Sara."
"Ah, good old Mama. Well, that's a tough one, love."
"Don't call me love."
John simply ignored her.
"The thing with Sara is that she's not your typical woman. She might enjoy flowers and the occasional jewelry, surprisingly more than Ava, especially things like rings and earrings, small discreet things but she's not going to swoon over anything. I'm not sure knifes would be a good idea, she has enough of those around the house and Ava actually made her give up on buying more."
He seemed to think about it for a moment.
"But Sara will definitely like something personal, even if it's not necessary useful or not her first choice. It's more about the gesture than the gift I guess. But it should be something discreet, love."
Zari nodded and looked at the baubles, but nothing spoke to her. As they were leaving the store, each person carrying at least two bags, Zari spotted another shop with more baubles and several objects caught her eye. She finally made her mind as they were about to leave the shopping mall and said that she really needed to pee. She gave her bags to John and ran back inside. She tried to look through the store as quickly as she could and spotted something in the keychain aisle.
One of the baubles was a metal canary key chain with beautiful bright colors. It didn't seem very fancy and had this traditional look to it which Zari liked. It also didn't look like Sara's style, more like Ava's, but there was something about it that really attracted Zari's attention. She had noticed Sara's affection for the bird, had seen a painting of one in the house and Ava had once said that it held a special place in Sara's heart, but Zari didn't know the whole story.
Nevertheless she bought it with the twenty dollar bill she had stashed in her pocket before they left home and made her way back to Quentin's car, keeping the key chain warm in her coat pocket next to the change and trying to act innocent although John kept sending her questioning glances during the whole ride back.
For once in his life, Ray didn't have a solution.
He had managed to decorate the exterior of the house, starting with small things like a couple of lights in some bushes, a reindeer statue that Mona adored and other such decorations. Charlie and Mona had promised him they'd build a snowman the next day, so that would also add to the decorating. After that, he focused on the lights right above the front door.
He wanted to have them run on the hard lines of the façade, to follow the shape of the entrance and frame it. He even chose the ones that had small diamond stalactites falling down. Setting that up was easy and he quickly moved to the framing of the windows. He had managed to frame the kitchen window before lunch and once Sara left with Zari and John, Ray went back outside to keep working but was quickly faced with a slight problem: he didn't have enough cord to do exactly what he wanted.
He tried running the lights through a different path, but it wouldn't look as amazing as he wanted. He could take another roll of lights, but he wanted to keep it in the same style. He looked through the stuff in the garage for a way to extend the cord, but nothing was really as long as he wanted.
So he stood in front of the house with several lights in his hands, looking at the entrance and completely lost as to what to do to fix this problem. He wanted to be done by the time the others came home from the grocery shopping.
After looking at the house for several minutes, so long that snowflakes got caught on his eyelashes, he found a way. He could slightly alter the path of the lights and switch two of them to allow the cords to all reach the power strip inside the garage but he needed to pull at them. He quickly realized that he couldn't at the same time hold it all in place, attach them to the wall, make sure there was enough room and pull on the cord, not with his injured hand. He tried and failed, almost falling several times from the latter he was using.
When Quentin saw his precarious stance on the latter through the living room window, he put on his coat and joined him outside.
"What do you think you're doin', boy? It would be a bummer if you fell."
Ray sighed and went down before he explained his problem to Quentin. The older man listened then quickly went back inside to grab his hat and gloves.
"So, what can I do to help?"
"But Mama said you couldn't…" Ray started, remembering Sara's warning.
"Sara's not here and I don't think a little help would kill. Besides, I don't want you to injure yourself further," he said, pointing at his fingers even though he couldn't see the bandages under the mittens.
So Ray agreed and together, they managed to set the lights in record time and just the way Ray wanted. Quentin climbed down the latter near the end and said "You want to place the last bit?"
Ray vigorously agreed and climbed the latter, which placed him in front of Mick's room. So he attached the end of the fairy lights while Quentin watched him but as Ray was about to go back down, he couldn't help looking into Mick's room and found the teen sitting at his desk and doing the weirdest thing he had ever seen his brother do: Mick was writing something in a notebook, a pair of glasses perched on his nose. Ray frowned, but before he could do anything, Mick turned towards him, grunted in anger and approached the window, ready to open it.
Ray got so scared –it wasn't the first time Mick's general behavior frightened him, the guy looked like a professional wrestler and could easily lift Ray off his feet and throw him against the wall– he fell off the latter. Quentin caught him and they both tumbled into the snow. Luckily for them, it softened their fall and they weren't injured besides a couple of bruises.
Quentin was about to go back inside to ask Mick what that was all about, when they heard a high-pitched squeal from somewhere in the house which sounded suspiciously like Mona.
It only took Quentin and Ray a couple of seconds to find Mona and Charlie standing in the entrance to the garage, since Mona squealed again, louder this time.
"What's going on?" Quentin asked.
Both girls seemed fine, although Charlie looked as if she was about to punch the wall or rather someone.
"Nothing important," Charlie said. She was clutching music sheets in one hand and her phone in the other. "It's just Mona and her antics." Then she left Quentin to deal with the situation and stomped off. Ray grimaced when he heard her bedroom door slam.
Quentin couldn't see what was in Mona's hands because she was facing away from them, clearly excited about whatever it was she was holding. Quentin took a step forward and was greeted with a small bark as Mona turned towards them.
"I can't believe they bought me a puppy!" she squealed and Ray couldn't help but melt at the sight of the small grey fur ball.
"What do you mean?" Quentin asked while watching the pup questioningly as if it was a bomb about to explode.
"I mean, I didn't really ask for it this year, because last year they said we couldn't get a dog, but I never thought they would buy me one for Christmas!"
Ray turned to Quentin. "It's true. Mona spent the best part of last year begging for a dog every other day." Quentin could see he was genuinely happy at the dog but the older man had a hard time believing Sara had bought Mona a dog of all things, especially if she had refused before.
"You sure it's your Christmas gift? Wouldn't Sara keep it somewhere else than in the house? You know, in case you found it like you did?"
But Mona wasn't having any of it and had already named the puppy Wolfie.
It's at that exact moment that Sara, John and Zari walked through the door, their hands full of groceries. The puppy barked at the new noise and chose that moment to jump from Mona's arms and to run around the house, eventually bumping into Sara's legs. It's only thanks to Sara's ninja skills that she didn't fall, although a couple of items found their way on the living room carpet.
"What is that?" she asked after putting the groceries down and grabbing the dog by the scruff of the neck as if afraid it might drool on her.
"It's my Christmas present! Thank you Mama!" Mona screamed and hugged Sara.
Sara blinked a couple of times before shooting a confused look at Quentin.
"Don't look at me like that, I didn't find that dog in the garage," he said, crossing his arms while leaning against the door frame, an amused smile on his face.
"Mona," Sara said as she untangled herself from her daughter's arms and put the puppy on the floor. "I'm sorry, but I've never seen that dog in my life. It's not your Christmas gift."
The sad look on her daughter's face broke her heart, but she had to tell her the truth. "I know you wanted a dog and my decision and Ava's still stand. We can't afford a dog with our busy schedules. Who would look after it? And it's a lot of work. We've already talked about that." She placed her hand on Mona's shoulder but the girl didn't move, simply looking anywhere but at Sara.
"I know," was all Mona said.
Sara knew there was no magic solution to this, no immediate fix. She wanted to make her girl happy, more than anything, but there were certain things they just couldn't have or do. Caring for a dog was expensive and difficult and although she knew her children would be able to take care of it, every single member of their family was out of the house for most of the day five days a week during at least eight months a year. They also couldn't afford a dog sitter and Ray had the occasional allergy. Right now he was sniffing slightly but Sara couldn't tell if it was because of the dog or the cold since Ray had been outside putting up the lights.
"How about this, you hold onto that dog for now. We'll figure out what we do with it once you show me where you found it."
Mona nodded, grabbed Wolfie and led Sara into the garage.
"It was sitting right there in the corner, shivering," Mona showed. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary in the garage and everything seemed in its right place. They didn't have much in the garage besides a few pieces of furniture, some tools and boxes. The children's bikes and skates took most of the place.
Sara could see the roll of lights jutting out of the garage and the place where Ray had plugged the cord, leaving the garage door raised enough for a puppy to squeeze through. Sara shut the door all the way down, mindful of the cord.
"It probably went into the garage because the door was open and it was looking for a warm place to stay."
"I'm sorry Mama," Ray said. "It's my fault, I didn't check if the door was closed all the way."
"It's okay, no harm done. But we have to find where this dog came from. It might belong to one of the neighbors." She turned to Mona. "How about you check with the neighbors if it's not their dog? I don't think it traveled far in this weather."
Mona nodded and went to put on her snow boots and coat. "Take Charlie with you," Sara said but Mona let her know that Charlie was angry and would just flip her off for daring to disturb her. At that, Sara threw Quentin a questioning glare.
"I leave the house for one hour and this is the chaos I come back to?"
Quentin just shrugged. "You and Laurel made a lot of mess when you were teens. What did you expect of your own children and six of them?" He suddenly remembered what had happened earlier. "Oh and you might want to check on Mick. I wanted to ask him why he scared Ray and made him fall off the ladder, but I didn't get the chance because the puppy happened."
Sara's eyes went wide but when Ray assured her everything was fine, she sighed.
"I'll deal with Mick and Charlie later. John, could you…" But her son was outside, shoveling the snow. So Sara opened the kitchen window but before she could ask him to go with Mona, she saw him quickly throw something away and cough a couple of times while he slid something in his pocket. "John, could you go with Mona and see if this dog belongs to the neighbors?" John nodded and followed Mona into the street, his hands buried in his pockets as he dragged his feet, giving the impression he was utterly bored, a behavior Sara had learned to understand was his casual way of being while she promised herself she'll deal with John later as well.
Mona was utterly miserable during the whole walk to the closest house but tried not to show it, knowing that John wouldn't give a shit about her in that state. He was rarely emotional and never showed compassion, only pity. At first, Mona had tried to make friends with him, but his silence and general lack of interest in her hobbies and likes made her realize it wasn't the right way to approach him. So after a year of living together, she had learned that the best way to talk to John was by speaking only what was necessary and in the right moment. She knew he cared, but in a weird nonverbal and not communicative way and by now she had figured out when to approach him.
Unfortunately, it wasn't one of those moments. Clearly, something was on John's mind and Mona was actually surprised he didn't argue with Sara to go with her on this wild errand, almost as if he was looking for a temporary escape. But she didn't ask about it, too preoccupied by the fuzzy fluffy little adorable bundle in her arms that was constantly trying to lick her face.
They tried the Haywoods' house first. The Haywoods were their closest neighbors and the families got along great. Ava worked with Hank at Time, Dorothy was the most respectable and pleasant housewife you could imagine –which was great because both the Lance-Sharpe mothers got along great with her– and they had two lovely boys. Nate was sixteen and knew everyone in the neighborhood and was passionate about history and superheroes. Gary was fifteen and had been adopted after his parents' death and when his aunt Stacy couldn't take care of him, he was very loyal and followed Nate everywhere unless he was playing Dungeons & Dragons. Ava and Sara had known the boys since the day they moved into the house, way before they became a foster family.
Sniffing slightly, Mona made her way towards the front door. Their gardens were only separated by a fence and bushes surrounded either side, although each family could see into the garden of the other.
Dorothy Haywood answered the door. "Good evening my dears! How can I help you?"
"We're sorry to bother you, Mrs Haywood, but we found this dog and we're trying to find its owner…"
As soon as she had said those words, Gary came rushing by and squealed.
"Beebo! What are you doing outside?"
Mona handed him the puppy and Beebo –although Mona still thought Wolfie was a better name– started licking Gary's face and wagging his tail in excitement. Then Hank came out of the garage.
"I was just looking into the garage, there's a hole in the wall, he probably went through there." Hank invited the two teens inside and told them the story while they sipped hot chocolate. The smell of sweet chocolate and marshmallows attracted a tired but happy Nate who took the time to greet his neighbors before retiring to his room.
"He's making his own costume for the New Year's Eve party that Hank is throwing with Time's resources. Nate is very excited and says that 'he respects the effort Time puts into his costumes, but he'd rather have his own more accurate version of it.'"
John seemed mildly interested by the talk, but grumpily sat down while Mona kept glancing at Gary who was playing with Beebo in the living room. She could see all the toys and accessories for the dog and knew he belonged there, but it didn't make the separation any easier.
"I bought this puppy for Christmas for Gary. Unfortunately, I had to take it home earlier than planned and Gary discovered it before the actual date. So he got his gift early. The inside door to the garage was open and the dog found its way there and also found the hole in the wall, squeezed through before any of us noticed. Since we're neighbors, I'm not surprised it crawled under the bushes and found its way in your garage. I hope it didn't cause you any trouble," Hank finished, honest beyond measure.
"It only scarred Mona emotionally for life," John quipped.
Dorothy looked at her sadly. "Oh but you can come visit Beebo whenever you want, darling!"
They spent a couple more minutes at the Haywoods' while Mona played with Gary and Beebo, delighted by her new friend, but John was still brooding. He kept looking around but tried to hide it, as if feeling that something was watching him. He politely refused any beverages or food from Dorothy and when she asked if he was feeling okay, he lied about maybe having caught a cold. When he coughed for good measure, Dorothy left him alone.
Meanwhile, Sara was determined to get to the bottom of whatever was going on with her children. It wasn't unusual for the teens to act out, they were teenagers after all and like Quentin had said, she and Laurel had also been a handful at their age. She took a look at the house, noticing that every chore she had given had been completed. The groceries were stocked, the lights and decorations were up and the only thing left to do was the cooking.
So Sara waited until it was time for Mick to get started on dinner. As he made his way to the kitchen and put on his favorite apron with a Grumpy Cat image on the front –courtesy of Ava from last Christmas– she cornered him there.
"So…" she started nonchalantly while sitting on one of the high chairs from across the kitchen isle. Mick promptly ignored her and simply grunted to acknowledge her presence. "Quentin told me you scared Ray so bad he fell of the ladder?"
"I didn't push him, he fell on his own," Mick replied, setting all the ingredients he needed on the kitchen isle.
"But you scared him and we've talked about scaring people, Mick." She left her chair and approached him but remembered to stay at a distance, in case Mick went to a bad place. He had hit her only once, when he got caught so much in his own memories and didn't notice her there. When Sara had tried to put her hand on his shoulder, he had elbowed her in the face. With someone else than a member of her family, Sara would have blocked, but he caught her by surprise. Ava was angry when she saw it happen and Leonard jumped into action, restraining Mick and talking him through his panic, even if he didn't need to, since Mick was immediately back. He apologized profusely and Sara brushed it off because she knew what it felt like to be somewhere else for a moment and to make a mistake. She had bruised Ava countless times during a nightmare and was always wary of how fragile the human body could be. Adopting Mona was actually good practice because the girl was tactile beyond measure.
"What did he do to make you react like that?" Once again, Mick was surprised at how good Sara was at reading others. It was almost as if she had a sixth sense.
"He saw something I didn't want him to see."
Sara blushed and Mick hid his head in the cupboard, pretending to look for flour. "It's not like that. I'm not embarrassed about my porn." Sara wanted to say something but remained quiet, letting him continue. "I was just… writing."
Since Sara remained quiet, he turned to look at her. "What?"
"I already knew and I'm glad you have other hobbies than just burning everything that stands in your way," she laughed and he laughed with her. "It's okay to be interested in something else, Mick, even if it's something people wouldn't expect." She smiled. "But please, don't scare Ray like that again."
"No promises, Boss."
Sara gently slapped him upside the head before checking on Quentin and Ray who were watching some kind of science documentary on TV. Ray was thrilled and Quentin looked puzzled but he kept watching.
Once in front of Charlie's door, Sara knocked. "Before you try to rip my head off, I'm here to talk. It's not negotiable so open up Charlie."
"It's open," came the voice of her oldest daughter through the door.
Sara entered her room and was surprised to find the room mostly intact, safe for several posters that had been ripped to shreds. When Sara got closer she actual noticed they were drawings of Charlie's band The Shapeshifters and not her Bowie posters. She picked them up and sat on the bed, next to her daughter who took her headphones off. Even Sara –who had a knack for listening to very loud music when she was working out– had to admit the music was a little bit too loud.
"What happened? Why did you suddenly tear The Shapeshifters' best posters?" Sara elbowed playfully her daughter when saying that.
Charlie remained silent despite a fleeting smile and Sara feared she might go back to her silent self just like when she was adopted. After a glare at the wall where one of the posters used to be, she propped herself on her elbows and whispered "Ricky left the band."
Sara immediately wanted to kick the kid's butt. She knew how much that band meant to Charlie and she was immensely proud that her daughter managed to set it up on her own, slowly bringing people along until she had formed a punk-rock band of four that rehearsed every Wednesday evening after school and occasionally played in the local parks and malls when people would let them.
"What happened?"
At this point, Charlie sat up and wiped the last of her tears. "He said that he was done with music, that he had to focus on his studies and just ditched us. But he knows that we have this new song that we want to try out for the concert in Saint Rosa's Park in a month and that we haven't finished writing it! He was chickening for the whole week and only today told me he's out."
"I'm sorry, honey. Come here," Sara said and hugged her tight. "I can't perform in his stead but maybe you'll find someone by then?"
"Even if we could, we'd have to teach them all our previous songs."
"Listen, why don't you focus on finding a new member and maybe we can help you with the song? I know time's running out, but if you find someone dedicated, I'm sure they'll be able to learn quickly. And even if it's not perfect for the concert in January, it's okay."
Charlie thought about that. "I'll post something on Facebook, maybe someone at school has some hidden guitar skills I don't know about."
"That's my girl!" Sara smiled.
The smell of cooked fish greeted Ava as soon as she entered the house. She smiled at Mick and squeezed his shoulder as he responded with a gentle grunt. Ray was watching TV in the living room and stood up to hug her when she entered the room, as he often did. He was sweet like that.
"Quentin, it's so good to see you again!" Ava said as she hugged her father-in-law. And just like every time they hugged, Quentin shook her hand as well.
"Likewise Ava! Thank you for having me for Christmas again!"
"It's always a pleasure."
Their small talk was interrupted by two events happening at the same moment: Sara walked down the stairs, a bright smile on her face and her body language indicating she was about to throw herself in Ava's arms and Mona and John coming home and slamming the door behind them.
As soon as Sara's gaze fell on John, she lost her smile and glared at him so hard that the young man actually took a step back. Mona, oblivious to all of that, hugged Ava and started retelling what had happened at the Haywoods'.
"So the dog actually belonged to Gary."
"John, you and I need to talk!"
"Shit…"
"What dog?"
All of those four sentences were said at the same time, making everyone in the room look at each other questioningly. Sara was the first one to recover –as always– and quickly kissed Ava before turning to John and grabbing him by the collar of his white shirt. "We need to talk about your little secret, Mister," Sara said and Ava understood immediately, following them to the garage after she shot the rest of her family an apologetic smile.
When Sara released John, he stumbled slightly and straightened his shirt, an air of defiance upon his features, almost as if he was ready to fight Sara tooth and nail. Ava closed the door behind her and crossed her arms on her chest, waiting next to Sara. With her work uniform and heels, she looked like a giant next to her wife who didn't even wear slippers.
"Show me what's in your pockets," Sara demanded and John shrugged. "Now John!"
John rolled his eyes and showed them the contents of his pockets. Among the various things he had was a lighter and a half-empty pack of cigarettes. Neither woman was surprised. Ava tried really hard not to face-palm herself.
"You knew?" John asked.
"Ava has the nose of a bloodhound and I was a cop for a while, of course we knew," Sara answered. "And before we ground you, why did you start smoking? This isn't like you John."
Both women hadn't seen John looking so lost and outright scared in a long time. His eyes looked haunted. He took a deep breath and sat down on a cardboard box, putting his face in his hands before speaking.
"I don't want you to think I'm crazy."
They had never heard his voice tremble so much. Sara got on her knees in front of him and tried to take his hands in hers. "John, look at me. Look at me please." She gently put her fingers under his chin and slowly lifted his face. "Whatever it is, we can handle it. Together, like we always do."
Ava knelt as well and John place one hand in Sara's hands and the other in Ava's hands.
"I'm… I'm seeing things. And feeling them too."
"What kind of things, darling?" Ava asked as she squeezed his hand and traced soothing circles on his shoulder blade.
"All sorts of things. Good things, evil things. Like a presence almost. I don't know how to describe it but sometimes, depending on the place and who's there, I can feel something else present. Like a ghost or a spirit. I also feel energy. I don't know what's going on really…"
"Is that what all your drawings represent?" Sara asked and John nodded.
"Sometimes I don't see them clearly. Sometimes it's just shapes and light. Sometimes I also see the energy inside of people, almost as if I had a sixth sense that allowed me to discover a new layer of reality."
"And how do you feel about that?" Ava asked.
"I usually don't mind it. I've read things about it but I just started. I think I've always been able to do that, but it's heightened now. Maybe because of puberty or whatever. I don't really know what to call what I see. Is it chi? Or chakra? Or the Third Eye? I don't know. But it's there, there are things out there."
"Do you feel threatened?" Sara asked and John knew she would be ready to kick the ass of whatever was threatening him, even if she couldn't see it, even if it couldn't be touched.
"No. I haven't met a… dark force yet."
There was a moment of silence before Sara spoke again. "You said you see things in specific places or with specific people? Are there things like that with us, with our family and in our house?"
For the first time in the last couple of minutes, John smiled. "Yes, good things. There's this light to our house, especially in the living room and when we are all gathered together. It's warm and peaceful and it calms me. And no one in our family has ever brought something bad home. Like I felt shifting in energies, but there were neutral or positive."
Sara's voice chocked when she asked her next question.
"Have you seen… hum… Laurel? Or Leonard?"
John kept smiling. "At first, yes. A couple of times. Laurel I think. I didn't see her spirit clearly, but it felt like my aunt. I haven't seen her in a while though which is good because it means that she has moved on. But before she did, she… I don't know, blessed you? Blessed us? That's why the house is a luminous place, a protected place. Or if Laurel didn't do it, she asked a higher spirit, maybe an angel, to bless us and watch over us. I think that's it, like I've been reading things about angels lately. But I've never seen one though…"
Ava wiped Sara's silent tears and kissed her temple while they all hugged.
"Whenever you feel like you want to talk to us, about anything, please do John," Ava said as they all rose to their feet. "We might not be able to see it or understand it, but if it's important to you, it's important to us."
"So you believe me? You don't think I'm crazy?"
"We may not be able to see it, but I know you wouldn't lie about something that rattles you so much," Sara said as she brushed his unruly blonde hair out of his face. "And so what if the world is a little bit weirder than we thought? As long as our family's safe, I don't care if spirits exist."
They started to walk towards the door when Ava handed him back his cigarettes and lighter. "But I want you to promise me something. I know this whole situation can be stressful, but I'd like you to stop smoking. When you're eighteen, you can do what you want. I also know it won't be easy to stop and that you just can't decide that one day, so take those back for now and we'll figure a way. Like, mints or something."
John nodded, hugged his mothers and joined the others for dinner after wiping his tears away, as Mick loudly yelled that dinner was ready while hitting a metal pan with a spatula.
The dinner was surprisingly uneventful. Once Sara had brought Ava up to speed with how everyone was doing, they all sat down and ate. Of course, at some point, someone said something that upset someone else and Ava had to calm everyone down. Quentin told the kids more embarrassing stories of Sara's youth and even added one about when Sara and Ava had started dating, much to both women's embarrassment but also fun.
They ended up watching a film the nine of them sprawled in the living room before Sara saw Quentin yawn and almost had to kick everyone upstairs. John asked if he could smoke one last time for the day and Ava's lips were pinched, but she allowed him to, nonetheless. She knew it wouldn't be easy to help her son deal with this new thing, but she was certain they could overcome this together with the proper help and way to do it. Sara would of course laugh at her already forming a plan in her mind.
The next day was much calmer compared to the one before. Quentin was already dressed and making coffee when Sara went downstairs after Ava. Since it was the holidays, the kids were allowed to sleep in even though Ava kicked all their butts out of bed around noon. They all played games inside the house and eventually ran outside to play in the snow.
The teens formed two teams of three and threw snowballs at each other until Quentin caught one in the face while he went to fetch something from his car. After he had shaken the snow out of his hair, he grabbed a snowball and entered the battle. The teens then jokingly yelled for their moms to help but when Ava and Sara joined the play they sided with Quentin, making it teens vs. adults. Of course, Sara had the last laugh when she snipped every single teenager in the face, even nailing Charlie twice to prove her point when the girl challenged her to do better than that. John once again shoveled the snow out of the path before the Christmas dinner.
It was a custom in the Lance-Sharpe family to say a few words about the loved ones they had lost, a way to remember them after their passing and to allow future generations to celebrate them as well. So Sara mentioned Laurel and Leonard, Mick talked about his whole family that perished during a fire, Charlie said a few words about her twin sister Amaya, Ray mentioned his mom and Zari prayed for her whole family. A few tears were shed but as they all held hands and looked at each other from across the table, they knew none of them was alone.
After that dinner was full of joy and warmth and all the family later that night walked around the neighborhood to watch the decorations and lights. Teens were allowed to stay up a little longer than usual, but they all hang out upstairs.
It's only when Sara handed her father a glass of scotch that she noticed he was crying. The picture frame he was holding belonged on the shelf with the others and it was one of Sara and Laurel when Laurel was about to leave for college.
"God, I was about what… seventeen in that picture?"
Quentin remained silent as soft Christmas tunes played in the background.
"I miss her so much," Quentin let out and Sara put her glass down before she turned to her father and scooted closer to him on the couch.
"Me too."
"It was nice what you said about Laurel and Len," Quentin added as Sara nuzzled comfortably in her father's side, his arms draping around her small frame. "It's good you keep her memory alive with your kids. I'm sure Laurel would be proud of what you accomplished."
Sara laughed a little. "I'm sure she'd find things to criticize."
"It was your sister's way of caring."
"I know. I just wish she was here. I wish they were both here."
"Me too. Len was a good boy. He would have grown into a fine young man."
Sara simply smiled and held her father close until Ava walked into the room, smiling at the two of them. "We're gonna let you rest, dad," Sara said. "Because the kids will probably wake you early in the morning for their presents."
"They're teenagers."
"Yes, but they're excited."
Quentin waved her off, grumbling that he was too old for that shit while both women climbed the stairs. Once they locked the door to their room, Sara firmly pushed Ava against the bed before she straddled her and kissed her roughly on the lips, then descended to her jaw and neck.
"I have an early present for you," she whispered huskily above her breasts and all Ava could do was gasp when Sara went even lower.
Sara was brutally awakened by a scream and jumped up, her hand already looking for something to throw at whatever was threatening them but there was nothing. Ava woke up as well, her arms still wrapped around Sara's waist and she groaned in her pillows when excited voices came from downstairs.
"Thank god it's just the kids," Sara sighed and went back to snuggle her wife, Ava pulling her closer and not wanting to let her go. But another excited scream erupted in the house and they could even hear Quentin's laughter.
"We better check they're not burning the house down," Ava finally said right before a third scream was heard, this time from Charlie and not Mona. Then something crashed and curses flew, quickly followed by shuffling and Sara wondered what the hell they broke this time.
Begrudgingly both women put on some clothes and went downstairs. The sweet smell of coffee and hot chocolate welcomed them and Ray grabbed them both by the hands and led them to the couch while everyone wished them a Merry Christmas. After noticing the broken mug on the floor that Mona was cleaning up, Ava sat down between John and Mick while the other two girls sat on the floor, present wrappings already stripped. Quentin then placed mugs of coffee in their hands while Sara sat in Ava's lap, her wife snaking a hand behind her to steady her.
Zari was floored by the latest video game she had received from her moms, John seemed to really appreciate the new drawing notebook he got along with some art supplies, Mick nodded happily at the brand new leather jacket he received since his older one was getting too small and chaffed him around the armpits. Mick actually got up and brought his old leather jacket from his room and threw it at Ray saying "Merry Christmas again, Haircut." Ray couldn't stop smiling after that and wore the jacket over his pajamas for the entire morning.
Ray got the science book he was looking at in the bookstore earlier during the year, something about quantum physics and Charlie was jumping up and down while she opened her Guns N' Roses original T-shirt and Mona squealed over a brand new set of makeup. Once Ava and Sara were comfortably seated, the teens gave them an envelope.
"What's that?" Ava asked while she held Sara's coffee so her wife could open it. There were two invitations for a dance party happening at the Verdant in a couple of months.
"We heard you talk about dancing a couple of times already but you never seem to find the time to go and we know you both love it. So now, you don't have any excuse!" Charlie explained.
"You know that I could just ask Oliver for those?" Sara said.
"We know. But where would be the fun in that?" Charlie answered and both women kissed their kids.
After everyone settled back into the comfortable atmosphere, Sara looked sheepishly at Quentin when she noticed his gift was missing from under the tree.
"I already opened it," Quentin said and nodded towards the DVD box of the entire five seasons of Brooklyn Nine-Nine sitting next to him on the floor. "Very clever."
Sara and Ava just laughed.
Next the teens opened the gift Quentin brought them, which were large bags of candy for every kid, much to everyone's joy –although Ava did cringe when she thought about the potential dentist bill that might follow that sugar splurge– even Sara's who sometimes was still a kid at heart. After that they opened the envelops from Oliver, Felicity and Mia which contained some cash and nice cards full of wishes. Of course, even if Ava had argued with her family when she moved and had a hard time talking to them, she stayed in touch with her mom and always sent her a Christmas card, also receiving one from her and Zari placed said card on the cabinet, next to all the others they had received that year, including the one Sara's mother had sent them.
Mona turned to the small pile of presents left under the tree, all of various shapes and sizes, all wrapped in different paper –if wrapped at all, right Mick?– that screamed Secret Santa. So Mona took out all of the presents and placed them on the carpet in the living room for each person to give.
Mona grabbed her gift and approached Zari. "I hope you like it, I didn't really know what to get you besides video games." Inside of the small packaging was a beautiful ruby necklace. Zari wasn't a big fan of jewels but the necklace was the most precious thing she had ever seen.
"I've never had something so beautiful and nice," Zari chocked.
"Do you like it?"
"I love it!" Zari said and hugged Mona for the first time since she was adopted.
Next Sara gave Mick a big box which was slightly heavy. When he opened it, he almost cried and Sara simply winked before beefy arms engulfed her in a surprise hug. Inside the box was an old typewriter.
Then Ava handed Quentin his gift, one of the best bottles of scotch she knew and Quentin thanked her and they clunk mugs. He liked simple things and that bottle was exactly that.
Next Quentin handed John a small long box, interrupting him in his drawing. Inside was a deep burgundy tie made of the softest material. "I hope you don't have that color yet," was all Quentin said.
John shook his head. "I don't. Thanks Grandpa."
It was then Mick's turn to present Charlie with her gift and she squealed louder than Mona and jumped on Mick while hugging him when she opened her original David Bowie's The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars album.
John then gave Ava a light present, which contained a pearly shirt, something a little more elegant and feminine than her usual work shirts and Ava smiled fondly after she thanked her son.
Ray couldn't let go of Mona when she hugged him to thank him for the Lion King T-shirt he had bought her which had Zazu on it singing the words "I've got a lovely bunch of coconuts".
Charlie gave Ray an Atomic Punk Game Boy cartridge which he seemed to really like even if he had never heard about the game.
Then only Zari's small gift remained and she stood up from her place on the floor and walked towards Sara. "I really didn't know what to get you, but I tried, because this tradition seemed important to you."
Sara then opened the gift and raised it to her face. The beautiful yet simple metal canary dangling on a key chain caught the light of the morning sun and was reflected in Sara's smile. "It's perfect," she said before hugging her daughter. "Thank you, Z."