Brenda smiled sadly as she finally managed to wrestle Keith from the box of ornaments, straightening his pipe-cleaner halo. This was the first family Christmas since Willie Ray had died, and it was going to be hard on everyone, especially her father, so she had decided to change her Christmas plans so she could support him and be surrounded by her family. It was also the first Christmas since her divorce from Fritz. Being surrounded by the familiar sights and sounds of her childhood home helped her feel better, but it didn't stop her from missing what her originally planned Christmas would have been like – a fake fire burning on the television as the smell of cookies wafted from the kitchen, Rusty teasing them as they screwed up something as easy as mashed potatoes or green beans while he presented them with a (probably) perfectly cooked chicken or set of steaks, that red negligee that she had bought for when Rusty was asleep and she and Sharon were alone together…yes, she was missing what she had envisioned was going to be her Christmas, despite the fact that she loved being surrounded by her family.
"I remember when the four of you made this," Clay said as he took out an old paper angel which had four different sets of handprints for the wings, "Your mother was so happy when she took it out of the box and hung it on the wall. It was her way of keeping you small, she always said."
Brenda smiled. I just wish Sharon could see this she thought, knowing that her girlfriend would probably tease her about the amount of homemade ornaments alone – A play-dough gingerbread man? From 1974? Really, Brenda, don't you think it's time to let some things go? She sighed and decided that it really was time to let the gingerbread man go as the lower half of his body fell off, and threw him in the trashcan.
They continued that way for the next hour, her father handing her various ornaments and reminiscing about how her mother used to be a whirlwind when it came to Christmas dinner and (jokingly) thanking Brenda for asking to make it a potluck so nobody would have to suffer from clam linguine on Christmas, Brenda reminding him that she still had four days in Atlanta after Christmas, thank you very much, and that she could make up for the loss then. The ringing of the doorbell interrupted them, she and groaned internally because she didn't want to deal with one of her parents' neighbours again.
"Go see who's at the door, Brenda Leigh," Clay grumbled from the couch, "My knee has been acting up again, and I want to have it nice and rested so I can run around with the grandkids in the yard before Christmas dinner."
But when Brenda opened the door, she was pleasantly shocked that she didn't have to deal with Mrs. McKaskill asking if she could bring over a bowl of her homemade grits (which were just lovely, thank you very much), but instead, Sharon and Rusty stood there, suitcases and all, with Sharon wearing a ridiculous red Santa hat. Brenda couldn't help but gape at them, wondering whether or not her longing had turned to hallucination, or
"Aren't you going to do something other than stare?" Rusty's question broke her reverie, and she stepped forward to embrace them both in a hug. "What are you doing here?! I thought you were in Park City with your family." She pressed a kiss to Rusty's hair, giggling to herself as he squirmed away in disgust (teenage boys were always so fun to tease), and let go of him so she could properly plant a kiss on Sharon's mouth before remembering her father was watching and stepped back reluctantly.
"Sharon! What a nice surprise to see you here," Clay chuckled, "I was wondering when your flight was going to land. Brenda's been awfully mopey without you."
Brenda turned around in surprise. "Daddy, you and Sharon planned this? But how…what...we haven't…"
"Calm down, Brenda Leigh. Your mother and I began suspecting that you and Sharon were more than just friends long ago, and after you left Fritz the only one you kept mentioning was her. If I've learned anything after losing your mother, it's to not reject anyone you love. I love you and I want you to be happy, so I invited Sharon and Rusty. Heck, we even figured out what's going on with Jimmy and his roommate, and he's assuring me that Chuck makes the best desserts he's ever tasted, that's why they're in charge. I'm very happy that all of my children found someone to share their lives with, even if it wasn't the ones we were expecting." He smiled, "Come on in, we've got to finish up decorating and I want to take your boy out skeet shooting tomorrow morning.
As Sharon and Rusty gathered their bags and walked in the door, Brenda sighed with relief and pulled Sharon back for one more kiss before leading the way to the spare bedrooms and Sharon to the tree so her father could start showing off the old ornaments to the tree.
It was a very merry Christmas, indeed.