Chapter Fourty-two:
Christmas time at the Orton household. The Team Siblings family take turns hosting the holiday season. This time they have a new family to invite; the Bliss'.
AJ, Randy, and John woke up early to help decorate the whole house as the women cook and the men construct the Winter Wonderland in the backyard.
At school everything had gone smoothly. There are no hints of Kourtney plotting her revenge against them. If they see her, she gives them an evil eye and be on her way. They finally have a great journey through high school, well until AJ attends Impertinent High School.
"You guys are the worst." AJ tries to untangle the tinsel out of her hair.
"That is what you get for turning your back on us." Randy utters as they laugh.
"That is every year, I will get you both back one day." She promises.
"John, there is one thing missing to execute our duty every year." Randy hinting at it.
"You are right, Randy." They both pretend to ponder until Randy smirks.
"No!" AJ yells.
"Come on AJ it is tradition." Randy grabs the garland.
"No, please don't."
John holds her as Randy wraps her in garland. They both laugh until they hear the voice of Jack. "What's going on?" He enters being let in by Mrs. Lee.
"Hi, we are just having fun." They smile innocently.
"Let me join too." He smiles.
"Jack." She speaks in disbelief.
"She is right, come on let us untangle her." Jack starts to untangle her.
"Please don't tell me they have influence you." She helps her boyfriend.
Jack continues as AJ stops him. "I am sorry. They are my only friends here." He explains.
"I thought you would be grateful that I am close to your brothers. I am not fighting with them so you don't have to choose between us." He smirks knowing she can't doubt that theory.
"Oh Mr. Smarty-pants." She pinches his nose.
"Oww, that hurt." He holds his nose.
"While you three bond, I will hang out with your sister; my bestie." She walks away still having tinsel in her hair.
"Wait, not until you kiss me under the mistletoe." Jack lifts the mistletoe above their heads.
"And why do you think you deserve one?" She challenges.
"You won't get your present until I get one, that's why." He warns to persuade her.
"Then I withdrawal my present for you as well." She fires back.
"Fine."
"Fine." AJ walks away to find Stacey.
"You won't win man." Randy pats his shoulder. "I have tried that with Stacey moments ago. It is better if you just cave." He advises.
"Not this time, we need to stand up to our women." He says confident.
"Baby, can you come here for a minute?" AJ calls over.
"Coming, see I have already won." He trots there confident.
AJ talks to Jack as his expression changes.
"That doesn't look like he won." John and Randy witness the conversation. Jack returns to the guys discouraged. "What happen, man?"
"They want to inform all of us that they will not budge if we don't apologize." He states.
"What happen to stand up to our women?" Randy mocks his words.
"That is until AJ gave me a hint of my present, yours two." He mentions to Randy.
"What did they hint?" Randy eager.
"A very memorable Christmas full of unforgettable moments."
"If I come to the conclusion on what that is, you two are screwed." John figures out what it could mean.
"Well, Jack, what do you say?" Randy asks to plot their plan.
"I don't know." He shrugs.
AJ and Stacey are on one side with the parents of Stacey and John while the boys are on the other.
"This is quite a surprise placement. AJ and Stacey don't you want to sit with your boyfriends." Mrs. Lee observes.
"We are comfortable here, mom." AJ answers with a smile.
"Okay."
"Can't we just have one kiss under the mistletoe?" Jack speaks out.
"You know our terms." AJ answers as Stacey nods.
"Terms, what terms?" Mrs. Orton inquires.
"We girls won't kiss the boys until they apologize." Stacey states their terms.
"Apologize for what?" Mr. Bliss wonders.
"They wrapped me in garland, tinsel, and ornaments." AJ explains.
"Hey, there were no ornaments." Randy rejects.
"Fine, they held me so they can." AJ takes it back.
"Princess, don't they do that every year." Mr. Lee mentions.
"Yes, but this time they influence Jack to join as well. They brainwash him to join their side. Dad, I can't escape all three of them." She pleads her case.
"Of course sweetie, you three need to apologize." Mrs. Lee insist.
"Why, it is all fun and games?" Mr. Lee chuckles on the side of the men.
"I agree with your father AJ it is fun and games." Mr. Orton includes agreeing.
"3 against 1 is unfair." Mrs. Orton disagrees.
"It is not 3 against 1, Stacey is here." Mr. Bliss builds to the conversation.
"I was busy with Randy as he tried to execute the same situation on me. We are not women who kiss them when they just want to." Stacey defends.
"That is what a mistletoe is for, princess." Stacey father continues.
"However, you can refuse one if you want." Mrs. Bliss directs her daughter.
"I think we need to all calm down." Mr. Cena tries to prevent an acceleration.
"No, we stand by our daughters the guys will apologize or no kisses." Mrs. Lee concludes.
"We won't." Mr. Lee denies as the other men nod in agreement.
"How about we settle this by having some Christmas activities." John suggest having this discussion out of hand.
"What are the teams?" AJ inquires.
"Women vs. Men. The conditions are if the women win, they get the apologize from every man including me. If the men win, the women must kiss their men and admit they are wrong."
"Why do we have two conditions?" AJ objects.
"It is unfair, son." Mrs. Cena agrees.
"Okay, men we have to clean up afterwards." John adds.
"What?"
"Those are the conditions, sorry." John stands firm.
"Who are the judges?"
"My parents, they will be impartial in everything." John orders.
"Okay, what are the events?"
"We have to discuss this. We will resume in about one hour."
"Okay, we have come up with five events for you all the compete in, plus one if there is a tie. You each have to predetermine which events each person will participate in. You can't change the person when it is set. I will just list off the events and you will have twenty minutes to decide each person." John lays down the rules. "Is everyone in agreement?" They all nod in excitement.
"These events are not in order." He smirks seeing their shock faces that is part of their discussion to pick the order. "They are: gingerbread man and house, tree decorating, steak cooking, Anomia, and scramble words with word search; your twenty minutes' start now." John concludes.
"Okay, the first event is the tree decoration. We have Stacey versus her father, Mr. Bliss."
"You are going down, princess." Her father states.
"Oh daddy, remember what happen last year." She grins.
"This is my time to avenge myself."
"We will see."
"Okay, the rules are to decorate these mini trees as beautiful as you can by using the supplies in the box beside you. Since we couldn't really prepare you have to quite creative." John directs.
Stacey grins as her father focus knowing he is the underdog now.
They start with making a star out of paper to display on top. Each team cheers while providing guidance to perfect their tree. Mr. Bliss finishes first to have his daughter discourage, however finishes minutes afterwards.
"Both trees are done they look quite beautiful to me. The judges will determine a winner. Mom. Dad, please examine each tree and decide on a winner together." John's parents they both examine each aspect of the tree taking consideration of creative and time. They debate on all of their details until Mrs. Cena clears her throat.
"We have a winner with a small detail we enjoy. The winner is Mr. Bliss with the detail on the ornaments." She announces. "We like detail he put into each one."
"Yes." He high fives each of the men. "Sorry princess."
"Wow, how did you get those on without glue or sticky materials?"
"That is an excellent question." John examines. He digs through the box. "Ah-hah!" He picks up the tape.
"Fine, I use tape." Mr. Bliss admits.
"That is a penalty for the men. They still win, but the women have the advantage in the next round." John authorizes.
"What is the next round?" Mr. Orton wonders.
"Steak cooking. The competitors are Mrs. Lee versus Jack this is going to be an even match game. Now the punishment for Jack, he can't use the barbecue to cook his steak. He must use something else." John executes the penalty.
"What?" The men are overcome with shock.
"This is the punishment that certainly have the advantage for the women." John officiates.
"Now to conceal their secrets, they will enter the kitchen by themselves on different sides of the kitchen. The rest of you will stay out here until they are ready to cook." John authorizes. "Your time starts now." He announces.
The making time takes about an hour. Mrs. Lee comes out of the kitchen first with her prepared steak. Jack follows twenty minutes later.
"Jack, where are you cooking your steak?" John interviews.
"On a frying pan." He answers.
"Interesting." John quite impressive. "Cooking time starts now."
Mrs. Lee heads out back as Jack stays in the kitchen. Mrs. Lee finishes in fourty-five minutes while Jack take an hour.
"We are ready for the judging." John announces when both plates are place in front. "Judges enjoy." Both of John's parents seen to enjoy each steak evenly; there is no clear winner on who wins until the final decision.
"Judges, have you made your decision?" John asks seeing their plates bare.
They look at each other as they nod. "We have decided that it is a tie. We enjoyed both steak to have no clear winner."
"Wow, that brings the men in the lead by a point. Women you still have a shot. Next event is the scramble words and word search. Mrs. Bliss and Mr. Lee will participant." John hands out the scramble words. "Okay, you first must unscramble words by yourself. After we approve that you have the correct unscramble words, we will tell you where to go to find those words on our big word search. When you find all the words, you ring the bell near me." He lifts it up. Oh, the sheet is two-sided. Enjoy. Your time starts now."
Mrs. Bliss and Mr. Lee are in deep focus trying to figure these out first to have advantage in the word search.
Mr. Lee finishes first to have it check first. "Looks good Mr. Lee." He yells in proudness. "However, there is another side." John flips the unfinished words.
"Damn." He rushes to complete it.
This doesn't faze Mrs. Bliss as she just focuses on her sheet. She is stuck on just one word she can't unscramble.
"Come on mom you can beat him. You are the smartest mom I know." Stacey encourages her.
"Hey, no helping." Mr. Lee frustrate as well. He has two words he can't figure out.
"We are just encouraging." Stacey takes offence.
Mrs. Bliss just breathes in and out to focus on the word. After a few minutes, she looks at the words and it just pops into her mind. "OMG, why didn't I think of it?" She writes it down. Afterwards, she gives to John to approve all of them.
"That is all correct, go the theatre room to find all your words. My father is there to make sure you found all the words." John sends her.
"Come on Mr. Lee you can figure out just focus." Randy encourage.
"Okay, let me see." He takes a deep breath. "What could it be? It is a Christmas word something to do with… OMG, why didn't I think of it." He thumps his head. He writes them down. "Here." He hands it to John eager to catch up.
"That is correct, go on to the office where my mother will be there to clarify." Mr. Lee rushes to the office.
"What do we do now?" The rest question.
"Just wait until they are done." John shrugs.
Twenty minutes later, Mrs. Bliss arrives to ring the bell. The men groan as they just call Mr. Lee to return.
"It is a tie at two apiece. Okay, two more events to go the gingerbread man and house along with the Anomia game. The next event is Anomia. The participants are a very interesting matchup, daughter versus honourary father; AJ versus Mr. Orton. These two are the most knowledgeable people in everything that I know. I am sad that this not the last event." Everyone is excited for this event. "Each participant must get five-in-a-row. If it is cutoff you have to return to the beginning."
"Okay, let start this." Mr. Orton excited pump up to take the lead.
They go back and forth only to get up three at one time. "Come on." Mr. Orton start to get frustrated.
"Dad, just calm down." His son, Randy encourage.
During the frustration, AJ just throws out the correct topics, she gets four in a row.
"Come on sweetie, one more." Her mother cheers.
The last one takes a while as there are no matches. Finally, they get one, but it is a topic that they use all their answers already. Everyone is on high alert for one of them to say anything. After two minutes, AJ smiles as she says the one last word for the topic.
"Finally." She sighs having her mind push to her limits.
"Congratulation AJ." Randy's father shakes her hand.
"I think this should be a tie, what do you think?" AJ suggests respecting the competition.