Against her instincts, Kate had decided to go home for Christmas break. She knew she would miss everyone, but she also missed her family to death. And her father assured her that her mother just might be in a better state of mind.

So far things were going well, mostly because she was spending her first night at home holed up in her room with a book. She was curled up in her favorite spot in all the world, her bedroom bay window, with a blanket and a little mug of tea. Only a familiar gentle knocking and equally gentle voice could have drawn her from her retreat – Lynn, peaking around her door with a nervous smile. "Katie? Do you have a second?"

Kate fluidly marked her spot in her book and shifted to make room for her baby sister on the comfy windowsill. "Always, kiddo. What's on your mind?" Lynn was quick to get up onto the little cushion and lean against her, but not nearly as quick to speak.

"You um... So... You and... your..." Poor Lynn was blushing heavily and Kate felt rather bad for her. Granted she still had her moments, but the others had done a lot of work making her less anxious all the time. "Your girlfriend. How did you figure out that it wasn't just... I don't know, like you were more than friends, even more than just a crush?"

Okay, well, now Kate was blushing, just a little. She reached out and placed her hand against Lynn's head, petting her gently with a warm smile. There was a part of her that was terrified that her baby sister was into girls as well, and being the second gay girl in the family wouldn't have been great on anyone's mental health. But she also wasn't going to give her anything other than proper advice and, well, the truth. Not that it was easy. "There's no guaranteed way. But I'll do what I can. Our history is complicated. She was one of the students who... um... was being less than kind to me at first. But after everything happened, she was one of the first people to change her pattern of behavior." Unknown to Kate, she had an enormous ridiculous smile on her face as she remembered the beginning of her romance with Victoria.

"So I'm not the best example. But I can tell you that once we got to know each other, the most important things have always been the smallest and the most difficult. Sometimes we fight but we always make up. She doesn't understand why I'm so religious, but it's one of the things she loves most about me. I almost leapt off the roof of Blackwell, and that was partly because of her, and she's apologized a million times over." Kate hugged Lynn tightly and smiled. "Chances are whatever person you end up with, you might not expect it. But you'll know it's them when you realize that pretty much everything is worth it. You'll try extra hard and never even notice."

Lynn giggled and finally stood up from the bay window. "I'm not sure if you've actually helped me, but I certainly feel better." Kate grinned and was ready to go back to reading her book when, as she left her room, Lynn cheerily said "Hey mom!" Kate shut her eyes tight, not sure if she was quite prepared for this moment. But with each passing second her mother was already coming into her room and taking a seat where Lynn had been moments before.

The two sat there in a heavy, awkward silence for a while. Kate was feeling the pressure to speak up. But what could she say? She wasn't sorry for anything she'd done. And it would have been equally awful to forgive the woman if she wasn't ready to ask for forgiveness first. Her heart was pounding and Kate could feel herself starting to panic.

And then, unexpectedly, her mother began to cry softly. The girl was positive this was the coming storm, the guilt-trip that her mother had been working on for over a year now. The video. The rooftop. Victoria. Running away to Portland. So she was quite surprised to hear her mother say the one word that she had perhaps never said to her, at least not lately.

"I'm sorry, Kate. I haven't been the greatest mother to you recently. I heard your conversation with Lynn. S-Somehow, even with my terrible behavior, you've still managed to grow into an amazing young woman. I don't understand how it is you've fallen in love with another girl. And I certainly don't know how you have managed to make it agree with your spirit. But... you have. And... and you're my daughter! It would be ridiculous of me to push you away any longer. I love you, Katie."

Against all sense and odds, Kate found herself pulled into a tight hug with her mother, her tea cold and forgotten on the floor beside her. "I-I love you too, mom..."

Things were not quite so storybook in the Chase household. The good news, if it could be called that, was that her mother was completely drunk. This meant that she was really only dealing with her father. Unfortunately, her father had enough asshole in him for two parents. Comments about her choice of living space. Comments about her classes and grades. Comments about her girlfriend (and jesus, thank goodness he didn't know about the other two!)

Comments. Comments. Comments. The man could talk.

Well, so could Victoria Chase. "Daddy! I swear, you are completely unbelievable!" Victoria stormed through the kitchen with every intention of getting herself something to drink as well before realizing this was probably a bad plan considering she was, y'know, underage. So instead she had to try and pour herself a glass of water aggressively, which was far from easy.

"It's always Chase-this and Chase-that!" Sipping water aggressively, it turned out, was also not super effective. But she was on her own warpath now and there was no backing down. "I'm not just a Chase. I'm Victoria Maribeth Chase! And I don't care what a Chase would study or where a Chase would live. Because Victoria Maribeth lives in a slightly grody apartment with her girlfriends – yes, girlfriends, because I am an adult and I'm proud of who I am! And Victoria Maribeth goes to Portlandia U, a mid-tier school where she is quite happy in her classes even if her professors suck and her classmates are idiots!"

She huffed and slammed the glass down on the counter at which point her father began to applaud, of all things. She was prepared to double-down on her rage until she realized he wasn't giving her a sarcastic 80's slow-clap and the confusion drained her of all adrenaline. "My baby finally found her fangs. We all have to leave the nest eventually. I have loved having you as my princess. But now it's time for you to go out into the world and dominate the shit out of it."

Victoria's jaw felt like it was nearly on the ground at that point. "So, you don't actually disapprove of where I am or who I'm with?"

The man gave a bright laugh, something that he almost never did. Ever. "Are you kidding? Of course I do! And the first step on the road to true greatness is realizing that what I think doesn't matter anymore!" This freaking conversation was basically going... nowhere close to where Victoria expected it to. Especially not the part where he walked up and hugged her, along with her very drunk mom. "You're still our daughter. And we love you to pieces."

"We're ol' and crusty and have no clue how anything works anymore, dear." Her mother cut in with a great deal of slurring. "Tha's what it means tah be a parent. If you wanna fuck all your friends and take pictures of runway models, we won't understand. Ever. But we still love you."

"Ugh. And I love you guys too." Victoria squeezed both her parents, rolling her eyes as she did so. Leave it to a Chase family Christmas to somehow be perfect and yet a complete mess.