Friday, December 18th. 7 days 'till Christmas...

John was the first one to greet them when Odette and Proteus arrived at the party. Odette instantly tackled him in a hug.

"It feels like I haven't seen you in forever," Odette told him.

Like Odette, John also worked for their dad. But, he was the marketing director for the Swan Rose hotels and worked in the corporate office with their dad and not in the actual hotel with Odette. Their dad kept him busy and sometimes he traveled to the other branches. So, even though they both worked for their dad and lived in the same town, they could easily weeks or even a month or more without seeing each other.

A branch is opening in Canada next month and John was up there for a couple of weeks working on the marketing for the hotel since it's their first international branch. He left two weeks before Thanksgiving and only got back about a week and a half ago. Odette hasn't seen him since he got back.

"Yeah, I'm sorry I had to work on Wednesday," John said.

John was supposed to go shopping for the drive with their family on Wednesday, but he ended up backing out Tuesday night after he found out Eric wasn't joining them. He said it was because he still had some work to get done for the new hotel, but everyone knew it was because of Eric.

"It was your loss," Odette told him.

"Yeah, yeah." John ruffled her hair. "Are you going to introduce me to your friend?"

Odette smoothed her hair. "This is my friend, Proteus. Proteus, this is my older brother, John."

"Ah. You must be the Proteus," John said, shaking Proteus' hand.

Odette gaped at him. "What are you talking about?" She has never once mentioned Proteus to John or Aurora.

"Mom told Aurora and me all about the handsome boy you guys met on the elevator last week," John teased.

"Oh my God!" Odette covered her face with her hands, trying to hide her embarrassment.

Proteus laughed. "Good to know I made an impression."

Odette groaned. "I absolutely cannot handle this family."

"Speaking of things you can't handle, here comes Derek," John said. "I'll see you later."

"Yeah, see ya."

Derek walked up to her. "Hello, Odette."

"Hello."

"You look beautiful."

"Thanks," Odette replied. "This is my date, Proteus."

If Derek felt anything about Odette having a date, he didn't show it as he shook Proteus' hand. "Nice to meet you."

"You, too," Proteus told him.

An awkward silence fell over them until Derek finally said, "Well, I need to find your dad to discuss some business. Have a merry Christmas, both of you."

"Merry Christmas," Odette said.

Derek also worked for her dad, though he didn't work at the Maldonia branch with Odette. Her dad owns thirty hotels across the country. Two years ago he opened one in Hawaii and Derek is the general manager of that branch. But, he comes back to Maldonia every year to spend Christmas with his mom.

Her dad originally offered the general manager position to Odette, but her whole family is here in Maldonia and she didn't want to leave. Plus, Derek is far more qualified to be manager than she is.

Since their parents have been friends forever, she and Derek grew up together. When they were in middle school, her dad bought his first hotel. Freshman year, Derek decided he wanted to get into the hotel industry like her dad. Her dad hired him when they were freshmen; mostly doing custodian type work. Derek worked his way up and even went to school and training; basically worked his ass off right from the start. Whereas, Odette has only been working at the hotel since she graduated college a couple years ago.

Odette originally wanted to be a vet, but she never even made it to veterinary school. When she was a sophomore in college, their family dog got sick and they had to put her down. She had been in the room with her when the vet did it and she lost it. She asked the vet how she handles it and she said she has to put pets down a lot. That's when Odette knew she wasn't cut out to be a vet; she didn't think she could handle having to put pets down. But, all of her life that was all she wanted to be; she didn't have a backup career plan. So, she just finished her four years- bouncing from one major to another- and then went to work for her dad.

She doesn't regret it, though; she loves her job.

Odette led Proteus to the living room where most of the other guests were gathered. On the wall next to the tree, a stocking was hung for each employee; their Christmas presents, plus a little cash bonus was inside the stockings. After leaving the mall last night, Odette had gone to her dad's house to wrap the presents and stuff and hang the stockings.

"Are there any activities or games or anything planned for tonight?" Proteus asked.

"What do you mean?"

"In all of the Christmas movies, there's always games and caroling and whatnot at Christmas parties."

Odette shrugged. "I think that's more for family Christmas parties. Work parties are usually just everyone standing around and mingling and then eventually getting drunk and make fools of themselves. At least, that's the case for the Swan Rose Christmas party. Does your work not have a Christmas party?"

"They do, I just never go. I don't particularly care to hang out with my boss and coworkers outside of work."

"Don't you like your job?"

"I guess. It's all right."

"I'm sorry... I actually don't even know what you do."

"I'm a bank teller."

"And it's just 'all right'?"

"Yeah, well... It's boring, but it's consistent hours and consistent pay. After high school, I got a job as a server at the Benbow Inn. I worked there for a couple of years, but I didn't like not having reliable pay and my work schedule changing every week. After that I got a job as a cashier at Al's Toy Barn, but retail was even worse than being a server. I only worked there for a few months before getting the job at the bank and I've been there ever since."

"Did you go to college?"

"I got accepted into Maldonia University, but I never went."

"How come?"

"My parents died during my senior year of high school and our grandparents moved into the house to take care of us. But, they made it very clear that we were on our own once we graduated high school and they weren't going to help us at all. So, I decided to skip college to work full- time instead."

"I didn't know about your parents; I'm so sorry."

"Thank you. It was rough for a while, but I think I've finally found my footing."

"I'm sure your parents would be proud of how you turned out."

"Thank you. I hope so."

"How could they not?"

Proteus smiled at her. His smile made her blush and she looked away. That's when she saw her dad making his way towards them.

"Speaking of parents: incoming."

"There you are, Odette," William greeted her. "Your brother said you were here, but I haven't seen you all night. I'm glad you made it."

"We actually just got here a little bit ago. It's a great party, dad."

William nodded in agreement before turning towards Proteus. "Who's this?"

"This is Proteus."

"You didn't tell me you had a new boyfriend."

"No, Proteus isn't my-"

William wasn't listening to her. "It's good to meet you, young man." He held his hand out to Proteus.

Proteus shook his hand. "You, too, sir. Thank you for letting me crash your party."

William laughed. "Of course. Odette's boyfriends are always welcome. The more, the merrier."

"Thank you, sir."

"You two enjoy yourselves." William gave Odette quick hug before moving on to continue mingling.

"I'm sorry," Odette told Proteus. "I tried to tell him you're not boyfriend. I'll straighten him out later."

"Don't worry about it. If he thinks you have a boyfriend, he won't try to keep setting you up that Derek guy, right?"

Odette nodded. "Yeah. At least for tonight I won't have to deal with him pushing us together and endure his not-so subtle hints."

"Happy to help."

Odette looked up at him, Jasmine's original plan coming back to mind. "I have a crazy idea."

"You want me to pretend to you be your boyfriend until after Christmas when Derek leaves."

Odette raised her eyebrows. "Actually, yes."

"All right."

"Really?"

"Yeah. It could be fun. Besides, it's only for a week."

OOOOO

Meg was the last one to arrive at Anya's house. Anya's grandma greeted Meg at the door with a mug of hot chocolate. Meg shed her winter gear and kicked off her snow boots before going over to the sunken living room, where her friends were waiting. There were two couches across from each other; Anya and Aladdin sat on one and Meg joined Flynn on the other.

"Sorry I'm late," Meg told them.

"Don't worry about it," Aladdin said. "Flynn and I only just got here a few minutes ago."

Meg nodded. She tucked her feet under her and wrapped her hands around her mug. Every year she expected this night to have a solemn atmosphere, but it never did. Instead it was always cozy and comfortable.

Meg and her friends met five years ago at a holiday support group for people who have lost loved ones and have a particularly hard time during the holidays. Like Meg, Anya has lost both of her parents; Anya was eight at the time. Aladdin and Flynn both lost their moms when they were kids. At the support group, it was all about the other people talking about why the holidays were hard for them, which only made Meg feel worse and didn't help at all. It turned out, Anya, Flynn, and Aladdin felt the same way. The following year they held their own private support group where they talked about the good holiday memories they remember about their parents. After that, their private holiday support group became a tradition. Sometimes Anya's grandma joins them; Anya's dad was her son.

"Who wants to start?" Anya asked.

Meg spoke up, "I will. I think it's time I tell you guys what happened to my parents." Meg was the only one who had never shared how her parents died. Aladdin's mom died of breast cancer. Flynn's mom committed suicide. And Anya's parents died in a house fire while Anya was at a sleepover. Meg's story wasn't quite as heavy as theirs.

"You don't have to if you're not ready," Anya told her.

"I'm ready." Meg took a breath and exhaled slowly before starting. "I was a junior in high school; Proteus was a senior and Vanessa a sophomore. It was a Saturday and the three of us had gotten in trouble and were grounded for the weekend. I don't remember what we did; probably something stupid. Anyway, our parents went out to dinner and made it clear that we were not allowed to leave the house. Well, Vanessa's best friend at the time, Ariel, was having a party and Vanessa refused to miss it. So, she snuck out to go. Proteus and I tried to stop her, but she didn't listen to us. We didn't really care that much, to be honest, since Vanessa snuck out a lot. Anyway, I guess there was alcohol and the party got pretty out of hand and someone called Ariel's parents. They came home early and ended up calling our parents to have them come pick up Vanessa. Everyone else at the party scattered to avoid getting caught." Meg paused and looked down at the marshmallows floating in her hot chocolate. Tears filled her eyes, but she didn't try to stop them. "One of the drunk kids leaving the party crashed into my parents' car as they were driving to Ariel's house to pick up Vanessa. Both of my parents and the kid died before the first responders even arrived." Meg frowned and tightened her grip on her mug. "If Vanessa hadn't snuck out and just stayed home like she was supposed to, our parents would still be alive."

"Oh, Meg," Anya whispered. "It's not-"

Meg looked up at her. "Don't say it's not Vanessa's fault and that it was just an accident. It was her fault. The accident was completely avoidable; all she had to do was stay home like she was supposed to. But, she refused; she just had to go to some stupid party to get drunk with her friend." Meg started sobbing.

Flynn took her drink and set both of their mugs on the coffee table between the couches. He took her hand and helped her stand up. "Come with me."

Flynn led Meg to the front room. The room was dark, except the lights on the tree. He sat down on the floor in front of the tree. He gave her hand a little tug to pull her down on the floor next to him.

"I get it," he told her. "I was at school when my mom killed herself. My dad was supposed to be home that day. He had the day off, but decided to go into work anyway. I always blamed him; like, if he had been home, he could have stopped her. When I got older I realized it wouldn't have mattered; if he had been home, she just would have done it on another day when she was home alone. But, I blamed him for a long time. Part of me still does. Maybe if he had been a better husband, she wouldn't have done it. I don't know. Truth is: to this day, I don't know why she did it. Losing a parent when you're young doesn't make sense; we can't comprehend it, so we need something to blame. Something concrete and tangible to pin it on so we can rationalize it. Would my mom still be here if my dad had been around more? Would your parents still be alive if Vanessa hadn't gone to that party? Maybe. Maybe they really are to blame. And, maybe not. Maybe what my mom was dealing with was mental and had nothing to do with her life. And maybe Ariel's party would have been broken up either way and your parents still would have gotten hit by one of the kids fleeing. But, either way; holding onto a grudge towards them isn't really making us feel better, is it?"

Meg shook her head and wiped the tears off her cheeks. "No, it's not. But, it's just too hard to be around her."

"I know." Flynn wrapped his arm around her. "But, that's what tonight is for: helping us get through it."

"I know you're right," Meg told him. "But, it doesn't change how I feel about Vanessa."

"It doesn't change how I feel about my dad, either."

Meg rested her head on Flynn's shoulder. "Thank you, Flynn. It makes me feel a little better knowing I'm not the only one feeling like this."

"Me, too, actually. I'm glad you finally shared with us."

They stayed like that for a moment before going back out to their friends. They sat down on their couch and picked up their drinks. Flynn stuck his finger in his whipped cream, then wiped it on the tip of Meg's nose. She laughed and the atmosphere went back to the cozy, comfortable feeling. The four of them spent the rest of the night sharing their Christmas memories with each other.