A/N: Thank you so much AliceCullenSisters, LongVodka, and Ladybrin for reviewing. You guys are awesome. Instead of "Oy to the World" this is the "Babcock Family Christmas Special." I'm mega-proud of this chapter and finally one that doesn't involve other episodes. So enjoy!
Niles looked at me as we walked up the grey stone steps that lead to the front porch. "Are you ready for this?" I asked as my hand grazed the stone column lightly. My other hand had a firm grasp on the handle of my black suitcase. I looked up at the black door that contrasted the white door frame. I pressed the button that rang the door bell and gave my boyfriend a reassuring smile.
"No," I heard Niles mutter before an older man wearing a standard butler uniform answered the door. A faint smile formed on his lips as he held the door open. We walked inside as I took a deep breath of the familiar air. I was finally home, and it never felt more right.
"Hello, Miss C.C.," my father's butler, Rochester, said as we took off our coats. " I presume this must be Niles." He hung up the coats in the coat closet before he went to inform my father that we were here. I gave Nile's hand a tight squeeze as I marvelled at my father's home. There was a large Christmas tree covered in white lights and old ornaments in the center of the living room. There were wrapped packages under the tree and a garland wrapped around the white marble staircase. I noticed there were two couches that lay perpindicular to one another around the tree.
"C.C." I heard two familiar voices boom. My father and brother walked in, and I strode towards them. I gave my father a hug and proved my strength to my brother with my handshake. Niles had followed me and shook my father's and brother's hand.
"Hello, Niles," my father greeted my boyfriend as Rochester re-entered the room. "This is Rochester, my butler." My father's butler bowed slightly, but Niles shook his hand and informed him that he needn't be so polite around him. Niles and I sat down on one of the couches, and Noel sat on the other and casually crossed his legs. My father puffed on his cigar. "So how was vacation?" my father asked putting down his cigar.
"Absoloutely lovely," I replied. I elaborated on the island we visited. I told them about the equisite hotel, and the horses, and the majestic waterfall. Niles nodded and further raved about the hotel's food and the dancing. The more we kept adding onto each other's stories, the more we started sounding like a married couple. Of course, Noel noticed this and was chuckling.
"I'm glad you had a nice vacation," my father said, "you two deserved it."
"So when's the next of the family arriving?" I asked glaring at my brother who was still laughing at us.
"Should be soon," Noel replied.
"Should I expect to meet members of C.C.'s coven?" Niles teased before kissing me on the cheek. I glared at him although my brother and father seemed amused. Of course, I have a reputation as "Bitch of Broadway." Every actor, dancer, costume designer, and choreographer fear my name, but the rest of the family has their own evil behavior. My mother needs no explanation, she is the devil. Noel has ways of manipulating people into doing something they would regret. My sister, being the self-righteous condescending bitch that she is, will explain how she was right and perfect and how your decision is wrong. Aunt Charice is brutally honest, and Uncle Alfonso will just make snide remarks. G.G.'s motto is seduce and destroy. You're in luck if you are a female unless she hates you. Then, she will tell you why you aren't getting laid.
The first to arrive was D.D. She walked into the room as if she was a queen. She believe she was perfect, and everyone should know it. Her hair was an unnatural golden color which looked odd against her pale complexion. She had a sharp angular nose like my brother's. Only my father stood up and greeted the woman with a warm hug, but Noel and I weren't going to give her that satsifaction so easily. Her blue eyes became slits when she noticed me. "C.C." she said with evident confusion in her voice, "what are you doing here?"
Niles came to my defense and replied, "We were invited by your dear brother, and your father approved of it." D.D. scowled as she realized who was putting her in her place. She placed a hand on her hip and looked at our father. Although he was glad we were altogether, he seemed worried. She flattened her red pencil skirt and noticed her luggage was still on the floor.
"Rochester," she said firmly, "take my bags to my room please." The butler nodded as he picked up the suitcase and took it upstairs.
Niles whispered into my ear, "I bet it's the first time someone complied to that request." I covered my mouth to stifle my laughter. I rested my head on his shoulder as he wrapped an arm around me. I could feel his breath in my hair, and I cursed all the people around us.
"So D.D." my father asked curiously, "where's your fiance?"
"We broke up," she replied coolly. She took a seat by Noel who inched away. "He decided to take a job in France, and I didn't want to leave my life behind." She shrugged as if the breakup didn't matter, but her ex-fiance was the only man she really cared about. I had my suspicions that she had to choose between our mother and him. D.D. believed she could always find another rich, successful business man in the city, but love was never a priority to our sister. She would always choose inheritance over making her own decisions.
"Ah too bad. We all liked him," Noel replied nonchalantly as we heard the door bell ring. I placed my hand on Niles's wrist to keep him from voluntarily opening the door. Rochester sped into the room and opened the door.
My Aunt Charice, cousin G.G., and uncle Alfonso had finally arrived. My aunt Charice had silvery wispy hair and dazzling blue eyes. She dropped her bags and rushed inside. I stood up as she pulled me into a bone-crushing hug. I hadn't seen my aunt in years, but she always treated me as if I were her daughter. "Goodness, C.C." she said putting me at arms length to get a better look at me. "You're a woman now!"
I laughed in response as Niles stood up and walked to my side. "Oh Aunt Charice, G.G., Uncle Alfonso, this is Niles my boyfriend," I said as Niles shook hands with all of the Babcocks who had just entered the house. I felt Nile's arms snake around my waist, and I looked up at him fondly. G.G. smirked as she shook her head. She always believed I would have the most successful love life out my siblings, and she loved being right. She had blonde hair that fell to her shoulders and an obvious fake tan. She looked like a Barbie, but plastic surgery will do that to a woman. I had even forgotten what she looked like before the tanning and surgery.
"Well, you did alright for yourself, C.C." G.G. said teasingly as she pulled down her green miniskirt. She was obviously impressed that I had the nerve to bring Niles, a butler, to a family celebration. Even at Nile's age, he looked handsome as ever. Leave it to me to snag a handsome, well-educated butler and show him off.
"Thanks," I answered as my grandfather and grandmother walked in. If you were a Babcock, you adored the ground they walked on. Even at their old age, they hadn't lost their wits. They didn't travel often because our grandfather was in a wheel chair and grandmama was sickly; however, they made an exception this Christmas.
"Hello, Grandmama, "I said walking over to her and giving her a hug. Before much conversation was brought about, we were shown to our rooms. Grandmama and Grandpa were sleeping in one of the guest rooms. Noel and D.D. were sleeping in their old rooms. My uncle, aunt, and cousin were staying in the guest house, and Niles and I were staying in my old room.
Much to Nile's surprise, we had a a fairly normal Christmas morning. We opened the presents before noon while enjoying eggnog and blueberry scones. We were kind and thankful for our gifts. Most of us had everything we could ever want or need,so presents tended to be frivolous. I have to admit I did love the horse Noel bought me. I was tremendously excited when my father informed me that he bought Niles and I a house in the Hamptons. Niles nearly passed out from all the joy and confusion.
However, Christmas dinner was a disaster. At first, we were eating and talking peaceful amongst ourselves at the dining room table. The white tablecloth's elegance was only heightened by the lit candles in the golden candlestick holders. Most of my family sat near my father at the head of the table, but D.D. had distanced herself from the rest of us. He sipped our glasses of wine as if the day was too perfect to make us into angry drunken Babcocks. Niles, Noel, and my uncle made jokes about class while G.G. and Aunt Charice informed me of my sorority sisters's plastic surgery.
"Well, well, well," a familiar icy tone said as my mother walked into the room. "Isn't this a Hallmark moment?" I downed my glass of wine like a few other family members did. Instructed Rochester to get me something stronger as I slunk in my seat.
"What are you doing here?" my father growled not leaving his seat.
"It's Christmas," she stated, "and I have every right to spend it with my family even if it's at your house." I noticed my aunt and uncle take long sips of their wine. Even my grandma and grandpa were drinking more than usual. I could tell a drunken war was about to take place.
I nervously glanced at Niles and whispered, "You might need to drink more to prepare yourself for the next world war." He followed my instructions as he downed his wine. Rochester brought him a scotch as my parent's argument escalated. My father did not want his ex-wife in his home and my mother claimed to be invited by D.D. All eyes rested on my older sister who meekly looked down at her food.
"Is this true?" my father asked. D.D. meekly nodded as the rest of us groaned. One thing you need to remember, we were a bunch of annoyed drunken Babcocks. All three factors are a lethal combination especially when you weren't on our side.
"Really Delores?" I snapped at my sister. "Do you feel completely invalidated without your mummy to dote on you? Couldn't take people seeing you as a normal human being?"
"That's rich coming from you," my sister snarled, "Maybe, you'll learn not to bite the hand that feeds you." I could feel myself rising out of my chair in rage. Niles tried to get me to sit down but with no avail. Of course, I gave him a sharp glare to keep him from getting involved.
"Yeah, cause she's biting something else," G.G. grumbled.
"And you would know all about that, wouldn't you?" my mother snapped. Even though everyone knows about G.G.'s escapades, we don't draw attention to them. We all do things that are unacceptable, but we lie about them. We know everyone knows we're lying, but we have an image to uphold. G.G. straightened her posture, stood up, and gritted her perfect white teeth. Charice, deeply enraged, got out of her chair and stormed over to my mother.
"You have no right to talk to my daughter like that," my aunt growled. "Yes, she does unbelievably stupid things, but we show her the decency and respect a REAL Babcock deserves. Look at you. You cling to the Babcock name for dear life, and you have been divorced for ages. Just admit it, you'd be nothing without my brother-in-law. You aren't a real Babcock, and was never a social-"
"Don't even say it!" my mother screeched. Niles, Noel, and I exchanged glances in confusion. My mother's secret was about to be exposed, but my Aunt Charice was going to have to be pushed over the edge. We all believed it was possible because my mother is that infruriating.
"Please, the fact you kept it a secret for so long is only thing we should be discussing," my uncle Alfonso responded rolling his eyes. I leaned back in my chair and arched my eyebrow beckoning him to continue.
"The only secret is C.C. is dating a domestic," my mother growled in disgust. I rolled my eyes as I downed my Johnnie Walker. Leave it to my mother to try to make me the villian. She was shooting daggers at us, but I pretended not to notice.
Noel replied, "That was only a secret because of you, and it's definately not a secret after last night." Niles's eyes widened as I tried to fight the urge to laugh in my mother's face, wrinkled in disgustion. Nothing was too out of the ordinary, but I wished I remembered my brother's room was next to mine. G.G. was in fits of laughter which contrasted my sister's and mother's expression.
D.D. cleared her throat and gently placed her fork on the table. "Chastity Claire, you are staying with your family. You could have tried to keep your voice down." Yes, Fran, my name is Chastity Claire, let's not make a huge deal over my name. Anyway, her smug grin was detectable even behind her glass of wine. She had been waiting all night to show the whole family that she was the saintly, pure daughter.
"Oh, please," G.G. retorted, "You should be proud of her. Atleast someone in your family is getting some."
B.B. growled, "And you would know all about that."
Finally, my aunt Charice snapped, "That's it! You are a critical, hypocritical, condescending bitch. You have no right to call my daughter out especially since you have an estranged relationship with your own. You shouldn't say a damn thing about our family especially after we accepted you when you were just a housemaid. There I said it." The whole room filled with an uncomfortable silence. Every one of us looked at each other except for my grandparents, my parents, and my aunt and uncle. Nothing made sense anymore. If my mother was a housemaid, why was she so against marrying someone in a different class? My mother turned away and walked out of the dining room. When we heard the front door slam shut, we knew she was gone.
"Well, it's officially a holiday," I said as I pushed my plate away.
Fran's jaw fell in utter shock. A Babcock family dinner made the Fine Family seemed almost normal. She couldn't cope finding out what C.C. stood for and B.B.'s secret. "Are you okay?" C.C. asked as Fran wondered if things got better now that B.B. 's secret was revealed.
"Yeah," Fran replied absentmindly. "So what happened after that?"
C.C. replied, "Well my grandmother explained my mother's past. Other than that, my family acted as if nothing happened."
Grandmama called me to the guest house while Niles, Noel, and my father were chatting in the sitting room. I, of course, obliged and met her there. She was knitting as she sat in the wooden rocking chair. "You wanted to see me?" I asked.
"Why, yes," she answered softly as she started a new row on her knitting. "First of all, I wanted to congratulate you on your relationship. I can tell that you are happy with him and he's good for you."
I smiled and replied, "Thank you so much. I really appreciate your support." I smiled as I took a seat on the coffee table. I was thrilled to have my grandmother's approval. I could marry Niles for sure now that I had my grandmama's approval.
"I also wanted to explain what you learned about my mother," my grandmother said. I leaned forward in interest. Like every good Babcock, I listened when my grandmama spoke. Every move she made, and every word she spoke had a purpose. "Your mother was your father's housemaid. She was a kind woman who believed she was going to accomplish great things in her life. Stuart fell in love with her. He had refused to marry a socialite because they had no sense of human dignity. After your parents got married, all the money, the clothes, and the expensive lifestyle went to her head. Your father thought she would settle down after she had children, but she got worse. She was more uptight and tried to inforce her new beliefs on you. Of course, she would have nothing without alimony and a few short marriages that she never informed you about. I don't think she knows what to do about you."
"So what do I do?" I asked.
"Prove her wrong."