I know, this chapter's short, but there's more to come.

Brenda got home, snuck the presents inside and wrapped them carefully. She hid them behind the cleaning supplies in the linen closet. Who goes in there anyway?

Brenda got to work on dinner: spaghetti and meatballs with a side of garlic toast.

Marcus and Fritz were out on a bike ride, and Joel was asleep.

Peace and quiet, Brenda murmured as she got the water boiling.

That only lasted a few minutes.

As soon as the boys got home, Marcus came barreling through the door. "Hi Brenda! Bye Brenda!" as he ran to shower.

Fritz came in more calmly after putting his bike away and kissed his wife on the forehead.

"Hey Babe."

"Did y'all have fun?"

"It was great. You should have come."

"I prefer indoor exercise," she said with a sly grin.

"Can't argue with that." Fritz headed up to take a shower.

David was on the phone with his parents. They wanted to meet Eliza this Christmas, so they were sorting out the details. Eliza was working on a present for his parents. She was thinking of doing a painting and a sculpture to go with it.

Eliza hadn't met them yet, so she had to use clues to try and figure out what they would like: the sound of their voices through the receiver, pictures, David's descriptions of them, etc. She sketched until she found a pattern that she thought matched their spirits.

Katie and Mikki were enjoying a quiet evening alone. "You sure you don't want to go home for Christmas," Mikki asked her.

"To whom? My mom will be going to Florida with her girlfriends, and my dad will be in some bar with some floozy. Nope, You're stuck with me."

"Excellent," Mikki said with a smile.

Andrea and Flynn were working on a list of what to bring to her parents' house. She wanted to bring presents for the kids, a bottle of cognac to bribe her father, and to make sure they had the right attire. It can get really hot during the day, but chilly at night.

Flynn got distracted easily. He was sure it'll all be fine. As long as he had Andrea, the holidays would suit him just fine.

Raydor Residence

Everyone was a bunch of stares at this point. How do you break the ice? What the **** do you say at this point?

"Dinner's ready," Charlie tried, and she moseyed over towards the plates. Rusty followed her. Sharon just sat there. My seemingly straight daughter is sleeping with my boyfriend's daughter. Is this a recent development? Has Sammie been waiting for the right time to tell me she's a lesbian? Did she think I would judge her?

Eventually, they all grabbed some food and made it to the table. People ate in silence, unsure of what to do or say.

Maybe if I pretend this is normal, it will be normal Bobby thought. "So Charlie. How did finals go?"

"They were fine, Dad. I had my last one this morning, biochem, and then I got the heck out of DC. Warmer weather, better food, I could enjoy this for a while."

"Rusty, has your break started yet?"

"Two more days, Bobby. Two more days." Rusty couldn't wait. School before Christmas was such a drag.

"Sammie, what is it that you do?"

"I work in general counsel for IBM."

"Which means?"

"Basically, I say no to people."

"You just say no?" Rusty didn't understand how that was a job.

"Well, the legal department has to oversee pretty much everyone to make sure we don't get sued, and when people come up with ideas for marketing or HR, or engineering, they're thinking about what they know which is not the same as what the law is. We usually, just say no, and tell them what they need to do to get a yes, which usually means we have to tell them a few times before they get it right, so most of the time, I just say no to people."

"How do I get that job?"

"Sleep with the chief legal counsel."

"Sammie," Sharon almost spit out her food.

"Just kidding. I got lucky. They had an opening as I was looking to leave my firm, and since my former firm used to work with them, I was able to get my resume in early. Don't worry, Mom. I do not have sex for money, only for free."

Charlie snickered at that.

Sharon shook her head. This was going to be a long vacation.

"Speaking of, should we soundproof the walls?"

"Rusty!" said pretty much everyone else at the house.

Across town, the Howard household was having a much tamer dinner.

"This spaghetti is good," Marcus was quite content. A simple, but tasty dish, and who didn't like garlic toast.

Brenda was smiling. She was glad that she would be spending this holiday with family.

Fritz kissed her forehead. "What has you in such a good mood?"

"Don't you worry about that?" Brenda was sure that she had picked out the perfect presents, and they would be a surprise. Her lips were sealed.

Marcus cleared the table. Fritz took out the trash and Brenda put away the leftover food and began to clean up the pots/pans.

Marcus headed upstairs to do homework and Fritz and Brenda settled on the couch together.

Bobby didn't know what to do after dinner. Charlie seemed too old for the talk, but it seemed like a father ought to do something right now, but what? "A beer?"

"That sounds amazing." The duo sat on the couch drinking beer watching some commentators go on about the Christmas football game. They were just letting the mindless fodder fill their brainwaves. Now, this is how Johnsons handle conflict.

Rusty went to his room. He had to text Kyle about this. Dramabomb!

Sharon and Sammie put the plates away. "Did you want to talk?" Sharon asked her daughter.

"Uh Sure." How could this get any more awkward?

Sharon grabbed a bottle of white wine from the fridge.

Sammie grabbed two glasses and a corkscrew and followed her.

"I think I'll need a glass," Sharon admitted.

"I might need two," said Sammie.

"So, I guess we should start at the beginning."

"Okay." Sammie didn't know what that meant.

"So what happened to Jason?"

Sammie snickered. "We didn't have good chemistry."

"So he was lousy in bed?"

"Yeah."

"So lousy you switched teams?"

"I don't know what team I'm on. Charlie and me, it just kinda happened."

"Well, you know you can always come to me, if you need..." How the fuck do I end this sentence? Screw it. Sharon just started drinking. Sammie followed her.

"I hope this isn't awkward for you and Bobby."

"Oh no. We're fine." Although, this could get weird. What if they start arguing? What if me and Bobby start arguing? This could be a lot of drama.

Sharon continued to swig. "I just want you to be happy."

"I am."