Chapter 0037: Pleasantville
All seemed fine after Thanksgiving, after Hailey– After Hailey left Newport to shores unknown (Seth commented that she took off one night without telling anyone where she was going, as per usual; if Caleb knew, he certainly hadn't told anyone else), things settled, and before Ryan could even think about it much, Christmas was upon them all.
In the pool house, his presents stared back at him innocently, and his stomach flipped at the thought of giving them to his family and friends.
Anna was going away to Pittsburgh for the Holidays, much to Seth's annoyance, and they had all gotten together the day before she left, Seth pouting and whining, clinging to her (Ryan quietly thought she was something of a saint to accept it so coolly, because even Kirsten sent her son looks whenever she passed by the living room), Lindsay and Luke arguing about which movies they were going to watch (Seth was to occupied moaning about Anna leaving to interfere, and after Lindsay made a surprising wide gesture and nearly slapped Ryan's eye out, the blond decided it was best to leave the discussion to them, passionate as they suddenly were).
"Hey, kiddo" – Sandy greeted when Ryan escaped to the kitchen for a moment – "Can I offer you kids some Sandy Cohen sandwiches?"
"Yeah, sure, thank you" – he looked back and grimaced at the way his friends were still trying to discuss the matter of the movies they were to watch; it had been something like fifteen minutes, and he didn't know how Luke and Lindsay could possibly keep at it for so long.
"The kids sure are getting at it, huh?" – Sandy mused, quickly getting some plates together.
"I think Seth may have rubbed off on Lindsay"
"We Cohens do that, you'll see, I will have one of you be the next Sandy Cohen, mark my words"
"I think Anna is your girl, if anyone here is"
"Too right" – Sandy grinned playfully as he pointed a leaf of lettuce at Ryan – "My son has been very wise in his choice" – he stated solemnly.
"... Yeah"
"Sorry, I've been reading some of Kirsten's books"
"Ah"
"Does anyone object to mustard?!" – he shouted, and received several 'no's back – "You want some spicy mustard in yours?"
"Yes, thank you"
"So, about Christmas"
"Yes?" – Sandy looked up from his tomatoes for a moment.
"Look, I know that after Thanksgiving no one is exactly... Dying to have Caleb around, so... Are you okay with him coming over?"
"... It's the Holidays" – Ryan answered after a beat – "It's his right to... Want to see his family"
"Right. Well, between you and me? If you don't want him to come over, we'll figure something out, we'll– Make excuses, whatever, but it'll be okay, you don't have to worry about it at all"
"I... I don't mind it"
"You sure?"
"Yes. I, ah, I already got him something" – that made Sandy raise his caterpillar eyebrows.
"Really? Not an ugly tie, I hope, 'cause that's kind of my thing. I'll show you the one I got this time, it's a thing of beauty, bright red, with orange and light blue stripes, and gold and silver dots, it's the ugliest thing I have ever seen, and I couldn't be prouder of my find. Oh, and it's silk, so he can't even say it's a cheap gift" – that made Ryan smile a little.
"Do you always get him ugly ties?" – Sandy snorted and started pouring mustard on the sandwiches.
"No, sometimes I get 'im ugly sweaters. Oh, and one very special year, I managed to get the most hideous cufflinks known to man, and the very best part of it is that Seth was really little at the time, and he made Caleb put them on. I have photographic proof, it's one of my most cherished memories involving Cal"
"I look forwarding to seeing them"
"Oh, I know you'll get a kick out of them. I actually take a picture every year of Cal's face when he opens my present, maybe I'll make a scrapbook for him sometime, I should have enough by now" – Sandy's smirk was only this side of mischievous, and Ryan couldn't help but swell with fondness for him.
He looked on as Sandy continued doing the sandwiches for a little while. There was something soothing in it, in watching Sandy's experienced hands working so diligently on the 'Cohen Craft', as Sandy called it once.
"Ah! I'm gonna need your opinion later"
"On?"
"Kirsten's present. I mean, I usually go with a SPA day, or a book or something, but this year, well, this year I got her something I think she's going to love"
"Oh"
"I'll show it to you later, but you have to promise to keep it to yourself, that woman is very sneaky when she thinks she can find out what she's going to get before present time. Do not give into her baby blues, they lie"
"I promise I won't bend to her– Er..."
"I will hold you to that, sir. And, voilà!" – he presented the sandwiches with a wide smile – "Don't tell them" – he whispered – "but yours is extra special" – he winked teasingly and Ryan grinned back.
"Thanks"
"Any time. KIDS!" – he cried out – "Come get it or I'm giving it away!"
Ryan only barely managed to hold his own plate before the other teens rushes over to grab their food. Seth and Luke, in particular, bickered over the biggest one, though Ryan thought his really was a smidge bigger than all of them all. Sandy winked at him again as he wiggled his eyebrows, and after a moment, the lawyer used his Dad Voice to stop all fighting over food at once.
"Dad wasn't trying to recruit you to go and pick out a tree, was he?" – Seth demanded, sounding all too serious once they'd settled in the living room with the sandwiches and sodas.
"No, nothing like that"
"Good, because he knows that choosing a tree is very important to me, and he better not be stepping into my lane"
"Why do you sound like that?" – Luke snorted.
"Do not make me shove root beer down your throat"
"That's gross, shut up"
"You shut up"
"Both of you shut up" – Ryan piped up good naturedly.
"I second that. So, what're we watching?" – Anna asked.
"The classic, of course. Predator" – Lindsay stated, rolling her eyes – "I lost the toss" – she confessed, getting up to put the DVD in the player.
"You're gonna make us watch that French thing"
"Do not diss Amèlie" – the red head retorted at Luke, who grinned into his sandwich, making her gag.
"Whatever. Now let's get Schwarzenegger–ed!"
"I would fight you on it, but Predator is a flawless choice" – Seth commented, snuggling between Ryan and Anna.
"Stop touching me" – Ryan complained a little.
"I'm not–! There's no space! Luke's too big!" – said large teen snorted – "Shut up!" – and now Seth was blushing furiously as everyone laughed at him.
"Alright, alright, I'll move. 'm big and all" – Luke teased with a smirk, hopping onto the lone armchair.
"You suck"
"You wish" – Luke said after a suddenly awkward beat.
"I–! I–! RYAN! Defend my honor!"
"Excuse me?"
"Punch him in the face! Make him stop~!"
It was a good thing Seth and Sandy had already made Ryan watch it the one time, because the first few minutes of the movie were drowned out by Luke and Seth's bickering, Anna's practically audible eye rolls and Lindsay's quiet bites.
"Is your sandwich bigger?" – she whispered, with an amused grin.
"I have no idea what you're talking about" – Ryan retorted, and dug right into it.
I wanted Sandy to give Ryan an out, an option, though we all know Ryan would never tell Sandy or Kirsten that he'd be much happier without Caleb around for the Holidays. He's all about being a dutiful son, and he's also too nice to push Caleb away, no matter the circumstances.
People have said this twice, in different ways, so let me address it real quick. I know you guys are here for Ryan, I came in for Ryan, but I kinda enjoy creating a world around my main characters, so that's why you get Kirsten's soul searching and Seth's bullshit, even though you don't give a shit about it. I cannot write just about Ryan doing shit and shit happening to him, it's not how I roll, so bear with me.
Next up... More Chrismukkah stuff.
A little bit of good news – my job decided to break up with me at the end of this month. So... Unless I find something to fill all of my days, I should have more than enough idle time to either plan mass murder or write. Either way, I guess I should have a little more time than lately to continue with this story =D