A/N: The first part of this story is a sequel to "The Family Circle" and I recommend that you read it first.
October 2012, Los Angeles:
Brenda wheeled her small suitcase out of the airport and caught the shuttle bus back to where she had parked her car. After paying the parking attendant she soon was on the 105 headed for home. She tapped the button on her steering wheel to activate her Prius' bluetooth and gave the voice command "Call Fritz". Her husband picked up right away.
"Hi, honey. Welcome home. Did you have a good flight?"
"A little turbulence on the first leg but nothin' serious. Do you want me to stop to pick up somethin' for dinner?"
"I'd kind of like to go out tonight. Jerry told me about a new restaurant that sounds good."
"Would you mind if we did that another night? I'm tired and would love to just take these shoes off and get a foot rub."
"I'd love to give you a foot rub. Why don't you just go home and take a bath and I'll stop for dinner?"
"Oh, Fritzi. Bless you. That sounds wonderful. Get whatever you want. I don't care."
"Ok, I'll see you later."
"Bye."
While her bath water was running, she poured herself a glass of wine. Settling into the tub she sipped her wine and thought "Dorothy was right about home." She sighed as she closed her eyes and let the hot water revive her. As she luxuriated in the hot, steamy water and fragrant bubbles, she thought, "Recipe for a human bein': just soak in a hot bubble bath until the water turns cold. Add more hot water and continue soakin'."
Fritz heard his wife's humming coming from the bathroom so he quietly put down his briefcase and the dinner and tiptoed into the bathroom. After giving his wife a deep kiss, he wrapped her in a towel and carried her into the bedroom where he laid her on the bed.
Later, they both got dressed. While Brenda cleaned the tub Fritz reheated their dinner in the microwave.
Just as Fritz started to put dinner on the table, Brenda came into the kitchen. He looked at her bare feet and said, "Well, we're half-way to my goal."
"Ha Ha," she said in an exaggerated tone. "What did you bring for dinner?"
"Pad Thai."
As they ate, they talked about Brenda's father, Fritz's job, and about her latest case. Finally she asked, "How much time do you have off at Christmas?"
"I don't know. Since we're running short-staffed Dave said he is going to have to redo the schedule. I'm not sure I'll get all the time I put in for. Do you know your schedule yet?"
"I have off from the 24th until January 7th."
"Two weeks? I know I won't have that much time."
"When will you find out?"
"Probably this week. Why? What do you have in mind?" Fritz was sure he knew what was on his wife's mind but he asked anyway.
"This will be Daddy's first Christmas without Mama and I just think it would be nice if we were all together."
"You don't think he would want to come here?"
"Well, I think Joyce and Amy are plannin' on all of us bein' there. And Jimmy and Frank are plannin' to fly down to Atlanta, too. Wouldn't it be nice if we could all be together?"
"So does that mean that your father has accepted them as a couple?" There was an element of surprise in Fritz's voice.
"I think he's startin' to. He's probably never gonna be completely ok with it but all of his children are even more important to him now and he knows Frank is part of the deal." As she spoke she carried their empty plates into the kitchen.
The ringing phone interrupted them and Brenda asked Fritz to get the phone. "Hi, Jimmy. Are your ears ringing? We were just talking about you. Wait a minute. Here's Brenda," and he handed the phone to her.
"Hey, big brother. How are you?"
"Hi, Bindi. I'm doing great. Frank is going to pick up on the extension. We want to talk to you about our wedding plans."
"Ok. Hi, Frank. Are you keepin' my brother out of trouble?"
"I'm trying. But you know Jimmy," Frank replied with a twinkle in his voice.
"I know. You've got your job cut out for you but you're up to the task."
"Ok, you two. I'm perfectly capable of taking care of myself," Jimmy laughed. "Listen, I called because we've set a wedding date."
"Oh, wonderful," Brenda replied.
"We were talking and decided that there are New York State tax advantages if we get married this year so we want to be married just before Christmas. The morning of Saturday the 21st looks good to us. So we were wondering if, instead of flying directly to Atlanta, you could fly here. Then we could all fly to Atlanta on Sunday and all be together for the rest of the holidays."
"Tax advantages? Jimmy, I thought you had more of a romantic soul than that!" Brenda teased.
"Oh, he has a practical side too, Brenda. You can blame me for that," Frank added.
"Yes, blame Frank. He is a bad influence. That's why I'm marrying him."
"Jimmy, I have to work right up to the end of the day on Friday. I don't think I could get there on time." Brenda was disappointed.
"Ok, then how about a Sunday wedding? We really want you to be in our wedding, Bindi."
"Hold on. Let me see." Brenda turned to Fritz. "Can you look and see if we can fly to New York either the Saturday or early Sunday morning just before Christmas?"
Fritz nodded and headed for the computer. After a quick search he said "It looks like the earliest we could get there would be Sunday afternoon at around 4:30 at Newark."
Brenda relayed that information.
"So we could probably have an early evening wedding," Jimmy said.
"If the weather cooperates, yes," Brenda replied and then asked, "Are the others gonna fly in?"
"Frank's family will definitely be here. I haven't called anyone else. I wanted to get things set up with you first."
"Fritz can definitely book the tickets for that day," she said looking at Fritz. He nodded back at her.
"Ok. We'll book a hotel room for you and call everyone else."
"Wonderful. Oh, wait. Before you go, what about my dress?"
"Just wear whatever you want. And let me know the color. We're having carnations and they can be dyed any color so pick whatever you want," Frank said.
"Ok. I'll go shoppin' this weekend and see what I can find. Bye, guys. I love you both."
"We love you too," Jimmy said and they all disconnected.
As Brenda hung up the phone and turned back toward Fritz, "I have the feelin' that this is gonna be the most unusual Christmas the Johnson family has ever had."
"You may be right about that. I'll book our tickets now and if I have to work I'll change mine and fly back home Sunday night and you can go on to Atlanta."
"No, Fritzi. If you have to work over Christmas I'm flyin' home with you," Brenda replied firmly. "But that's a busy travel time so we've got to book the tickets pretty quick."
"I'll talk to Dave first thing tomorrow."
The next morning, Brenda was meeting with some of her staff preparing for a big trial. As they examined the Sheriff's Dept. record for potential weaknesses in their case she received a text message from Fritz: "Xmas is a go. Booked tix to NYC and ATL. XOXO." Brenda smiled and went back to working on the trial preparation.
December 23, New York City:
Fritz and Brenda took a cab from the airport to Jimmy's and Frank's apartment. Since she had shipped her dress earlier, Jimmy had taken it to his dry cleaner for pressing and it was hanging on the back of the bedroom door waiting for her. The Atlanta contingent of the Johnson clan had arrived earlier that day and filled their tiny living room. Right after Fritz and Brenda arrived, Frank's family arrived from their hotel and everyone exchanged greetings and introductions. Brenda noticed that her father seemed to be putting on a brave front and only exhibited sadness when Bobby said he wished that Mama could be here to see the last of her children get married.
The wedding was being held at the home of friends so Brenda grabbed the dress and her shoes and they all walked to the subway and rode to the next stop and up the street to their friends' condo. Lisa and Caroline had moved all of their living room furniture into a spare bedroom and had decorated the emptied room for the occasion. Two large bouquets of carnations the same shade of blue as Brenda's dress stood at the far end of the room and they had brought in rental chairs for the wedding guests.
A judge performed the brief ceremony. As they spoke their vows, Brenda looked at them both. She was so proud that Jimmy could finally be open about who he really was. And she was happy he was finally able to marry the person he loved.
And she was especially proud of the rest of her family. Because, as conservative as they all were, their presence at Jimmy's wedding meant that love had won the battle. So even though Clay would never be completely reconciled to Jimmy being gay, his love for his son was most important to him, too.
After the ceremony and the pictures the men all set up card tables in a long row while the women busied themselves in the kitchen putting the finishing touches on the gourmet dinner Lisa and Caroline had started earlier in their restaurant.
During the dinner conversation it seemed to Brenda and Fritz that everyone besides her family was fascinated with the fact that Fritz was an FBI agent and that Brenda had been a Deputy Chief for the second largest police agency in the United States so they were both peppered with questions. Despite the barrage of questions Brenda really enjoyed everyone there and she noticed that her family all seemed to be at ease with Jimmy's and Frank's friends and family. Even Clay seemed to relax and enjoy himself and he seemed to develop a rapport with Frank's father over their shared interests in cars and hunting.
At the end of the evening, as they were saying their goodbyes, Brenda took Jimmy aside and handed him an envelope. "I know you said you didn't want any presents but this isn't somethin' you've got to find room for."
Jimmy opened the card and read the enclosed IOU promising two round trip tickets to Los Angeles plus the promise of a rental car.
"You just let us know when you and Frank want a vacation and we'll book the tickets. You can stay with us and we'll give you the grand tour of the mystique that is the California life-style."
"Thank you, Bindi," Jimmy said simply and kissed his sister on the cheek.
Christmas Eve, Atlanta:
They arrived at the Johnson family home in Atlanta in time for Joyce's eggnog and homemade Christmas cookies. Brenda savored them as though she'd never had a Christmas cookie before in her life. In between cookies she asked, "Where is Charlie?"
"Charlene! Her name is Charlene!" Clay bellowed.
"Oh, Daddy. If she wants to be called Charlie, she's old enough to decide that for herself," Bobby said. Then he turned to Brenda and answered, "She's flyin' home this afternoon. She turned in a paper and took her last final this mornin'."
Brenda knew Georgetown University would not be in session on Christmas Eve but she said nothing. Brenda was sure that whatever plans Charlie had made for the first few days of her break probably involved a boy. But that could remain her secret.
Clay, Jr. and Amy's three children had been playing in another room but when they realized that Christmas cookies were on the coffee table, they quit their games and came bouncing into the room to help themselves.
"Trey and Debbie, just one now. You can have more if you finish your dinner," Amy admonished so they put the others back on the tray. "Alyssa, just one for you too." Alyssa looked disappointed that she had been caught and put her extras back on the tray too. All three disappeared into the study to continue their play.
"Daddy, did you bring the Christmas decorations down so we can work on them tonight?" Brenda asked.
"No. I started up the ladder but I decided I'd better not climb it so I left everythin' for all y'all to take care of," Clay responded.
"Ok, let's get everythin' down before Charlie gets here. Then we can all decorate after dinner, Joyce suggested. So Clay, Jr. Climbed the ladder into the attic and handed down the boxes of decorations to Bobby and Fritz who stacked them in a corner of the living room. The last thing to come down was an artificial Christmas tree.
When Clay saw it he said, "No, no. We can't use that. Willie Ray wouldn't approve. We've got to get a real tree."
"But Daddy, it's gonna be dark soon and I've got to go to the airport to pick up Charlie," Bobby protested.
"I don't care. We can't have somethin' your mama wouldn't approve of."
"We brought Amy's van. Bobby, if I can take your truck, I'll go get a tree," Clay, Jr. volunteered.
"Ok, that'll work," Bobby said and the two men exchanged keys and Bobby left for the airport.
"Fritz, why don't you come with me. I've got rope in my garage so we'll stop there first," Clay, Jr. said.
"Sounds good to me," Fritz said and he grabbed his jacket, then followed Clay, Jr. out the door.
The women busied themselves sorting out the Christmas decorations and Clay told them how to arrange them.
Clay, Jr. and Fritz returned with a large tree in the bed of Bobby's truck. They soon had it set up in front of the large picture window.
Soon the back door opened and Bobby and Charlie entered the living room where the entire family was decorating the tree. Everyone turned toward the newcomers but instead of greetings there was nothing but silence as everyone just stared in shock at Charlie. She had cut her long hair very short, spiked it, and it was dyed red and green. But their greatest shock was reserved for her face. She had pierced her nose, lip, and eyebrow. Clay looked like he was about to explode and Joyce looked like she was about to cry.
Charlie immediately felt uncomfortable and it was obvious she wished she was anywhere except with her family. She felt that they never really accepted her and they certainly didn't understand her.
The children were the first to close their mouths and rush up to greet Charlie. Alyssa asked if she could touch the piercings and Charlie gave her permission. Trey asked, "I bet they hurt, huh?"
"No, they don't hurt any more," Charlie replied.
"Did you cry?" Alyssa wanted to know.
"No," Charlie laughed.
Brenda then went up to her and gave her a hug. "Charlie, it's so good to see you again. After you have the chance to get some of your mom's eggnog you've got to tell me how you like Georgetown."
"I will, Aunt Brenda. Goodness, it's warm in here," and she took off her sweater revealing a tattoo of a butterfly on her wrist. Joyce, who had started toward her daughter stopped and gasped at this stranger who was now among the family.
Fritz saw her reaction and tried to cover for her by moving to Charlie and giving her a hug too. "Come on, Charlie, let me pour you some egg nog," he diverted her to the kitchen.
Joyce followed them into the kitchen. "Charlie, what is all this? What happened?"
Charlie gave her mother a hug, "It's nice to see you too, Mom."
"Oh, honey," Joyce said as she returned her daughter's hug. "The hair I can deal with, but that tattoo and those holes in your face are permanent."
"Mom, it's called 'body art'."
"But honey, you can never change your mind about it."
"Yes, Mom, I can change my mind if I want to. But I don't want to. I like the way I look." She turned to Fritz, "How do you think I look, Uncle Fritz?"
"You're a beautiful girl, Charlie," Fritz replied.
"I'll bet you see a lot of body art out in Los Angeles, don't you?" Charlie was looking for support.
"It is very popular now, Joyce," Fritz admitted.
"I seriously doubt that Brenda has any. Does she?" Joyce asked.
"What does Brenda have?" Brenda asked as she came into the kitchen.
"Tattoos. And piercings," Charlie said.
"No, I don't. Well, just pierced ears."
"See? Your Aunt Brenda wouldn't do something like that to herself," Joyce said.
"I once considered gettin' a rose tattoo but I was workin' for the State Department and it just didn't seem like a good career move. And it didn't when I went into law enforcement, either. Although some women at the LAPD have them now," Brenda explained. "Listen, I was sent in to remind everyone that we've got a tree needin' decoratin'. So come on. Bring your eggnog and let's get to work."
So they all went into the living room and were working on the tree when once more the back door opened and Jimmy and Frank came in. "Well, here are the honeymooners," Charlie said as she gave them both big hugs and kissed their cheeks. "I'm so sorry I had to miss the weddin'."
"We understand, Charlie. College exams have to come first. Don't worry about it," Jimmy said.
"I love it," Frank said as he touched her spiked hair.
"You do? Really, Uncle Frank?" Charlie sounded relieved.
"Oh, yes, honey. It's very festive."
"Thank you, Uncle Frank."
"Now don't go encouraging her, Frank." Clay was not happy.
Frank tried to reassure him. "Clay, don't worry about it. She can change her mind anytime she wants to. And hair grows. Let her have fun with it."
"Frank is right, Clay. She's young and she's going to experiment. She's a smart girl. She'll be all right," Fritz added.
"Ehhh. Young people. I don't know," Clay commented and turned back to the ornaments.
"Mama, can we color our hair like Aunt Charlie?" Debbie asked.
"Oh, good grief!" Amy said. "No, you cannot. You're not old enough."
"You know, Aunt Amy, you can buy a temporary color spray for hair that washes right out." Charlie was trying to be helpful.
"Thank you, Charlie," Amy replied in a tone that signaled the subject was closed. But she immediately felt guilty and said, "I'm sorry, Charlie. That sounded mean and I didn't want it to."
"That's ok, Aunt Amy, I'm used to it," and Charlie turned to her grandfather. "Grandpa, are we gonna put Frosty up tonight?"
"Of course we are. Come on, Bobby, Charlene. Let's get Frosty up and runnin'" and the three left the others to clean up the ornament boxes.
Brenda, Amy and Joyce went into the kitchen to set out the bread, lunch meat and salads. While they worked, Brenda asked, "Are there any dollar stores open that would have that color spray?"
Amy turned to her and asked, "What are you up to?"
"Well, I don't want Charlie to feel like everyone is rejecting her. And I think it would be fun to spray our hair tomorrow."
Joyce was surprised. But then she thought about it and said, "I think there's a costume store across the street from Lennox Mall, and I know that the stores are open for last minute shoppers. Let's go."
Amy hesitated so Brenda coaxed, "Come on, Amy. It'll be fun. And I guarantee the kids will remember it longer than they'll remember the toys you got them."
Amy sighed, then bravely smiled and said, "Ok. Let's go." And the three women headed out the door.
On Christmas morning when Brenda and Fritz came down the stairs sporting red and green hair, Clay was dumbfounded. "I think I'm really grateful that I'm bald today," he said.
Brenda laughed and kissed him on the head. "You look wonderful just the way you are, Daddy."
After breakfast Bobby, Joyce and Charlie came over. Charlie took one look at her aunt and uncle and started to laugh.
Fritz pretended to be insulted. "Don't you think I look cool?"
"You're better than cool, Uncle Fritz. You're positively dope."
"I sure hope that's a good thing," Clay said.
"I think it is, Daddy," Brenda reassured him.
While the others were talking, Brenda whispered something to Joyce and she disappeared upstairs. When she reappeared she too had red and green hair. Charlie looked at her mother and doubled over in laughter.
"Don't I look 'dope' too?"
"Yes, Mom. You definitely look dope."
"I suddenly feel like I don't belong in this family. Where is that stuff?" Bobby asked.
"Come on, honey, I'll help you," Joyce replied and they went upstairs to color his hair too.
"Your mother would be shocked to see this," Clay commented when he saw Bobby come back downstairs sporting the same red and green hair.
"Daddy, you know darn well that if she were here she'd be doin' the same thing," Bobby said. "Shoot, she'd probably get a kick out of it." Bobby knew he was overstating his case so he stopped.
"I do not know that. I just know that I'm really glad I'm bald."
Clay, Jr. had been forewarned by his wife so when they came in they headed up the back stairs and made their grand entrance sporting red and green hair too. Trey, Debbie and Alyssa started to sulk because they had been told they were too young to join in the fun.
"You three, besides me, are the only members of this family who look normal," Clay tried to cheer them up.
"But we don't want to look normal, Grampa," Debbie explained.
"We want to look like Aunt Charlie too," Trey pouted.
"Well, come on upstairs with me and we'll see what we can find for you," their mother invited so they all trooped up the stairs. A few minutes later then came downstairs sporting, not only red and green hair but temporary tattoos on their faces."
"Now you kids just remember that all this comes off tonight at bath time," Amy reminded them.
"Aww, mom," all three whined. But Amy remained resolute. "This is just for Christmas Day fun."
And when Jimmy and Frank arrived Jimmy said, "Come on, Frank. We'd better join the Red and Green Revolution." So they sprayed their hair too.
"I think we're going to have the makings of a fantastic Christmas Day family portrait. Everyone gather in front of the tree and let me take a picture," Frank said as he got out his camera and attached the proper lens.
"Not without you, Frank. We have to have everyone in the family included," Brenda objected.
"But I didn't bring my tripod."
"Well, we'll just improvise," Fritz replied while looking around. He picked up an end table and he and Frank set it in the right place. Jimmy took books off the bookshelf and built a stack high enough to be the right height for the camera. Then Frank adjusted the lens and positioned everyone for the portrait. When everyone was in the right position he turned on the automatic timer and took his place next to Jimmy while the three kids sat on the floor in front of Clay.
After the photography session Alyssa proclaimed, "This is the funnest Christmas ever!"
At the end of the day and after they had closed their bedroom door, Fritz held a sprig of mistletoe over Brenda's head and got a warm kiss. "This is a deposit on what you'll get when we get back home," Brenda whispered.
The next morning they said their goodbyes and drove to the airport. When they boarded their plane for the first leg of their flight home and found their seats in the coach section they were disappointed to discover that the plane was full and that there was a teenage boy seated between them. So Brenda offered to trade her window seat for the one in the middle. The boy was delighted to make the switch so Brenda and Fritz were able to sit next to each other all the way back to Los Angeles.
When they were finally back in their duplex unpacking, Fritz put his arms around Brenda and whispered, "Thank you."
"For what?"
"For having the foresight to choose to be born into such a great family," Fritz smiled at her.
Brenda laughed. "I guess I do have good plannin' skills. Who knew?"
"Well, I've got good planning skills too," Fritz said with a rakish smile.
"Oh? Tell me more," Brenda returned his smile.
"I'm planning on a double bubble bath and then a very early bed time."
Brenda sighed and snuggled into his neck. "Ok, but you have to sit at the faucet end."
"I don't mind. I'm planning the bubble bath to be relatively short and the time in bed being very long."
"How do you always make the perfect plan?" Brenda asked as Fritz unbuttoned her blouse.
The End.