"Chris, where are you going?" Roy asked as Chris started toward the door.
Chris stopped before he went any farther. "I've got to see a friend of mine. They're, uh, having a tough time tonight. I'm just going to go talk to them for a while, you know, drive around. Maybe check out some Christmas lights."
Roy didn't like how evasive Chris was being. On the other hand, it was Christmas Eve and they didn't have to go anywhere until the following afternoon. "Okay." He relented. "Just be home by midnight, got it?"
"Got it." Chris nodded. "Thanks. See you later."
With that, Chris was out the door and gone, and Roy let out a short sigh as he turned on the radio. One of the local stations was playing all Christmas music all day long, newer songs mixed in with the classics. It would be a pleasant way to relax from the chaos of the day.
Not that it had gone badly, not at all. But visiting Joanne's family always took a lot out of him. After all these years, Joanne's mother was still critical of him. Moving up a rank or two hadn't changed that. As far as she was concerned, he was still a lowly fireman rather than the doctor she wished Joanne had married.
He had to admit he'd been taken aback when Jenny had finally had enough and had told the old bat off. Well, not in a disrespectful way, but as far as Jenny was concerned, no one was going to talk badly about her father, and that included her grandmother. Joanne's mother had looked equally shocked, murmuring something to Joanne about how unladylike Jenny's behavior was, and really, she should know better than to be so mouthy.
"Dad." Jenny was suddenly in the living room, standing in front of Roy with her hands on her hips. "You said you'd help decorate cookies."
"That I did." Roy agreed, pushing himself off the couch and following Jenny to the dining room, where Joanne and Jenny had the cookies laid out, along with all the decorating supplies. "Is this really necessary? You know Sam is bringing cookies tomorrow."
"These are for us." Jenny announced. "And Santa, of course."
"Santa. Right." Roy was amused. "Didn't know you still believed in Santa."
"Well, not literally." Jenny answered with an eyeroll. "Just as, like, a concept."
"I see." Roy picked up a tube of icing and started decorating.
"Besides, it's tradition." Jenny told him. "Someone has to keep the traditions going."
"And it might as well be you." Roy replied. "Understood."
Joanne appeared from the kitchen and kissed the top of Roy's head. "Where's Chris?"
"Went to see a friend of his." Roy answered. "Suppose not everyone is having a merry Christmas."
"No, I suppose not." Joanne replied with a worried frown. "You did tell him he can't stay out all night, right?"
"Right." Roy nodded. "Told him to be home by midnight."
Joanne's hands drifted off his shoulders as she returned to the kitchen. The smells floated out to the dining room, scalloped corn, pecan pie, and possibly hot chocolate.
It was shaping up to be a fine Christmas. Breakfast in the morning and opening presents, then over to Johnny's and Diane's in the afternoon. Roy was truly grateful that Johnny and Diane were so willing to open their home to whoever wanted to come by when they weren't scheduled to be on duty. There was always an abundance of good food and good company. It was certainly a change from the early days of their partnership, when Johnny would often come to their house for holidays, but it was a good change.
Roy often found himself marveling at how Johnny had slowly changed from a skirt-chasing bachelor to a happily married family man. He hadn't been sure Johnny would have it in him, but then again, Diane was an exceptional woman, and the two of them made one hell of a pair. Now that they were parents, well, it was no surprise that Johnny had fully embraced fatherhood. He'd always been good with kids, and his own was no exception.
"Dad." Jenny's voice insistently pushed into his thoughts. "Did you hear me?"
"No, sorry." Roy replied. "Suppose I was off in my own little world. What were you saying?"
Jenny huffed. "Why is Grandma so mean to you?"
"She's not mean." Roy told her. "She just, well, expected your mother to marry someone better, that's all."
"Hmmph." Jenny scowled as she finished decorating one cookie and started another. "Well, she's wrong. You're a hero."
"I'm not." Roy laughed. "That's just the job."
"Well, not just anyone can go running into burning buildings and stuff." Jenny pointed out. "That's real courage."
"I appreciate that you think so highly of me." Roy replied.
"It's true." Jenny argued. "Grandma just doesn't understand. And she told me I wasn't ladylike. Like, what does that mean? I don't want to be ladylike. It's stupid. It's not the nineteen fifties anymore. It's the nineteen eighties."
"I know that." Roy tried to hide his amusement at Jenny's indignation. "Don't worry about it. Grandma just has some old-fashioned ideas, that's all."
Jenny rolled her eyes, clearly unwilling to accept Roy's explanation. "And you know what else? She asked Chris if he had a girlfriend. I was going to tell her, but Chris kicked me under the table, and Chris made up some story about some girl."
"Well, that's Chris's business." Roy explained. "If he wants to tell Grandma, then he should do that. That's not your place."
Jenny seemed to consider that before sighing. "I guess. Chris thinks she'll get all upset about it."
Roy could well imagine his mother-in-law's reaction to that, considering how disparaging she had been about the subject when it had somehow come up during dinner. "He's probably right."
"I just don't see why it's a big deal." Jenny continued on almost as if she hadn't heard Roy. "There's nothing wrong with it."
"I agree." Roy told her. "And if he does decide to tell her, and she gives him a hard time about it, we'll be right there to back him up, right?"
"Right." Jenny nodded firmly. "Mom, do we have any more red icing?"
Roy merely shook his head. The way Jenny's mind bounced from one idea to another was truly exhausting to keep up with.
When Jenny didn't return, Roy decided to go into the kitchen to investigate. Joanne was pulling her pies out of the oven while Jenny talked her ear off about God knew what.
"Did you ever find that red icing, Jenny?" Roy asked.
"No, we're all out." Jenny sounded a little disappointed. "Hot chocolate's ready."
"That does sound good." Roy answered, coming up behind Joanne and lightly kissing the back of her neck. "Suppose we could take a little break."
"I know I could use one." Joanne huffed, turning around to kiss Roy on the lips. "Why don't you get us some mugs?"
"I'll get the marshmallows." Jenny turned around and opened the cabinet, finding the bag of mini marshmallows while Roy got mugs down for everyone. Soon they all had a mug of hot chocolate and snagged a few cookies before sitting down in the living room.
"Dad, will you read Night Before Christmas?" Jenny asked.
For just a moment, Roy flashed back to Christmases when the kids were little, when they would gather in the living room just like this, and he would read the classic Christmas tale to the kids. Sometimes he would only get a few pages in before one or both of them fell asleep, and he and Joanne would carry them off to bed to wait for Santa Claus to bring them presents the next day.
That seemed like a very long time ago now.
"Sure, kiddo." Roy told her.
She immediately raced off to find the book, bringing it back and plopping down right between him and Joanne on the couch and handing it to him. Roy pulled his reading glasses out of his shirt pocket and opened the book. "'Twas the night before Christmas, and all through the house, not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse…"
Jenny settled in, resting her head on his shoulder as he continued. In the back of his mind, he knew he only had a few more opportunities like this. For all he knew, this might be the last time Jenny would ask him to do this.
The thought made him a little pensive as he read on. But that was normal, wasn't it? Kids were supposed to grow up and move on, leaving childhood behind as they became adults. But part of Roy wanted to hold on to this just a little bit longer, just so that his kids didn't grow up quite so fast.
"…but I heard him exclaim as he drove out of sight, Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night." Roy finished the book and turned to kiss Jenny on top of her head. "Suppose you'd better get ready for bed. Don't want Santa to find out you're still awake."
"Dad." Jenny scoffed, though she didn't move from Roy's shoulder.
Roy nudged her lightly. "Okay, at least help clean up the cookie decorating mess, then get to bed."
"Okay." Jenny sighed, finally getting up and taking her mug with her as the three of them started to clean up and put away the cookies and the cookie decorating supplies. "Mom, can we take this over to Uncle Johnny and Aunt Diane's tomorrow? I'll bet Katie would have a blast."
"We'll see." Joanne told her. "Aunt Diane might not want all that mess in her house."
"Hmmph." Jenny responded. "Then can we decorate them afterward? Like, maybe have a cookie decorating party after Christmas or something?"
"We'll see." Joanne's tone was firmer now. "Now then, good night. Thanks for helping clean up."
"Okay." Jenny hugged them both. "Good night."
"Good night." Roy and Joanne told her each in turn.
Once Jenny's bedroom door closed, Joanne let out a sigh. "I don't know what we're going to do with that girl. She's a force of nature."
"She's fine." Roy assured her.
Joanne shook her head. "She's so headstrong."
"It's good for her." Roy told her. "It'll keep her out of trouble."
"Or get her into trouble." Joanne countered. "You heard how she spoke to Mom today."
"I wish you wouldn't let your mother get to you." Roy huffed in exasperation. "Sooner or later, she's just going to have to accept that you're not going to do any better than me."
Joanne did smile at that. "Well, if she hasn't after all this time, I suppose there's no hope."
"Exactly." Roy told her firmly as they finished cleaning up and putting away everything before moving on to the kitchen. "Don't worry about Jenny. She's fine as she is. So is Chris. We've got two great kids, and if your mother can't see that, well, that's her problem."
Joanne slid her arms around Roy's waist and hugged him tightly. "I knew there was a reason I've kept you around all these years."
Roy laughed as he started washing dishes, leaning over to kiss Joanne. "You mean it's not for my astounding wealth or my devastating good looks?"
"Your good looks for sure." Joanne replied. "Your wealth…well, let's just say there's more to it than financial wealth."
"I appreciate that." Roy couldn't help laughing at that.
Roy heard the front door open, and another voice along with Chris's. He wiped his hand off on a hand towel and went to investigate.
"Hello." Roy was somewhat surprised to see Matthew along with Chris. "Matthew, how are you?"
"Fine, sir." Matthew nodded, looking scared half to death.
Chris murmured something to him and approached Roy, half-dragging him into the dining room. He took a deep breath and exhaled, looking almost as scared as Matthew did.
"Chris, what's going on?" Roy asked gently.
Chris looked troubled for a moment before speaking. "Matthew's parents kind of found out about him. You know, him being the way he is. They kicked him out. Can he stay here? Just for tonight."
"The hell do you mean, they kicked him out?" Roy could feel his ire rising. "For crying out loud, it's Christmas Eve."
"I know, I know." Chris replied quickly, glancing toward where Matthew stood. The kid looked absolutely miserable. "Dad, he's got nowhere else to go."
Roy sighed heavily. What else could he do? "Yes, he can stay. I'll let your Uncle Johnny know we're bringing one more tomorrow."
Chris immediately looked relieved, grabbing Roy in an unexpected hug. "Thanks, Dad. I mean it."
"It's no problem." Roy answered, hugging Chris back. "You two should get to bed. It's late."
"Okay." Chris nodded, crossing back over to Matthew to let him know, Roy not far behind. "Dad said it's okay if you stay."
Matthew looked as if he might cry with relief. "Thanks, Mister DeSoto. I'll figure something out for tomorrow night, don't worry."
"Don't worry about it." Roy told him. "If you need to stay for a while, we can probably work that out."
Matthew suddenly grabbed Roy in a tight hug, catching him completely by surprise. Roy responded in kind, not sure what else to do.
Suddenly, Matthew let go, and the two boys started down the hallway and disappeared into Chris's bedroom. Roy returned to the kitchen, where Joanne was wrapping up the pie and the scalloped corn. "We have company, just so you know."
"Oh?" Joanne asked.
"Yeah." Roy answered. "Matthew's parents kicked him out. Chris asked if he could stay over. I couldn't say no."
"Of course you couldn't." Joanne replied as she turned to Roy and wrapped her arms around him. "I might have had something to say about that if you had."
Roy responded in kind, letting out a sharp sigh. "Who the hell kicks their kid out on Christmas Eve? My God."
"Well, fortunately, he had somewhere to go."
"Yeah, suppose you're right." Roy replied with a nod. "I'll call Johnny in the morning, let him know we're bringing one more."
"Johnny will welcome him with open arms, you know that." Joanne told him.
"Of course." Roy replied. "Just like he does with everyone."
They were quiet for a long moment until the grandfather clock chimed in the living room. "Well, Mrs. DeSoto, it's midnight. Don't think there's any mistletoe around, though."
"I don't need it, Captain." Joanne told him as she kissed him. "I'll meet you anywhere you want."
"Right here suits me just fine." Roy answered. "Merry Christmas."
"Merry Christmas."
After they finally retired to the bedroom, Roy couldn't help but reflect on how their family had probably just expanded by one. It seemed fitting, very much in the spirit of Christmas.
He could only hope that eventually, Matthew's parents would come around to that way of thinking.
