28. The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year
28
THE MOST WONDERFUL TIME OF THE YEAR
Alejandro
The Past
New York City
I t’s been years since we spent a Christmas in New York and much to my surprise, Lettie is the most excited of all.
“ Oh. My. God. !” She screeches. “ It’s an elf !”
She practically tramples past me in her pursuit of a Salvation Army Santa Claus and the elf he has in tow, whom I’m almost certain is a fifth grader in costume. About an inch or two of snow from last night covers the ground and most of it might’ve melted by nightfall if not for this afternoon’s flurry. Dahlia drags her hand along the edge of a decorative pot housing a pine tree to gather the snow there. When Diego passes, too engrossed with what’s on his phone to notice, she smashes the snow against the side of his face.
His head shoots up and before he can grab hold of her, Dahlia dashes down the street to catch up with me, slipping her arm through mine. Diego gathers a fistful of snow from a nearby tabletop in Herald Square but I shoot him a look of warning.
“Don’t even think about it.”
Diego gives Dahlia a menacing glance that’s more playful than sincere. “Your protector won’t be around forever.”
“Good luck!” she sing-songs over her shoulder.
She drags me along and we stop to admire the window displays.
This year an inflatable Tiptoe the Reindeer sits on the awning just below the clock and flanked by Christmas trees on either side. All the windows are different colors: red, pink, blue, and green, each featuring a different scene. On the blue display window is a massive button that Dahlia can’t help but press. She squeals with delight upon realizing there’s a camera inside one of the floating ornaments. Her childlike delight takes her to all the windows where she admires the penguin riding a hot pink carousel and a white bear dressed as a nutcracker.
She laughs and smiles and we continue our walk uptown, leaving Herald Square to where all of Fifth Avenue is lit from sewer to cellar with Christmas lights. Some buildings are designed to look like wrapped gifts while others boast impressive window displays, abundant with massive trees, angels made of light, and other holiday memorabilia. We pass Rockefeller Center where Lettie and Dahlia take hundreds of photos of the tree and Diego insists we make an attempt at ice skating.
By the time we finish what was supposed to be a stroll to see the sights, both Lettie and Dahlia have shopping bags lined up and down their arms and that’s only because Diego and I cannot possibly carry anymore—especially after back-to-back trips to Saks and Bergdorf’s. It seems my sister’s spending habits have finally rubbed off on my girlfriend.
Thank God.
“My favorite movie is It’s A Wonderful Life ,” Dahlia says on the drive to her aunt’s house. She examines a perfume bottle before spraying some on her wrist. “After we finished opening gifts, I used to lock myself in my grandparents’ room to watch it because their TV was the only one with a built-in VHS player.”
Lettie frowns and looks up from her shopping bag. “What’s a VHS?”
Diego and I exchange looks in the front seat. “ Oh my God .”
“I’ll show you when we get there. My aunt still has one in the basement.” Dahlia smiles.
“Speaking of, how far are we?” Lettie glances out the window but there isn’t much to see in the dark. “I feel like we’ve been driving forever.”
Dahlia glances out the window at the snow-covered trees and glittering houses. “The house with the obnoxious nativity scene out front.”
“Should I park on the street or in the driveway?” I ask.
“The driveway is fine.” She jabs a finger over her shoulder. “And tell the Secret Service not to linger. The neighbors are slightly racist and very suspicious.”
Diego digs his phone out of his pocket and types up a message. “Noted.”
I pull into the driveway behind a red SUV. There isn’t much wiggle room as there are two other cars, a black Jeep and a blue sedan. Upon seeing them Dahlia groans aloud.
“Fuck.”
Lettie frowns. “What?”
“Our cousins are here,” she says. “The ones we don’t like.”
Karina’s house isn’t what I expected. I’m not exactly sure what I expected but it certainly wasn’t this. It’s a charming, two-story all-American home with an attic and a wide veranda. As if plucked from a storybook, all the windows are covered in Christmas lights and holly and garland are wrapped around the white pillars supporting the awning above the front door. A stone path lined with bushes and plants I’m sure are vibrant with life in the summer months leads to the veranda. Scattered across the front lawn are inflatable snowmen, angels, and a large Santa waving at Mary and Joseph who look down at the empty manger.
I open the car door for Dahlia and she takes my hand as she steps out. When she catches me looking at the empty manger, she explains, “We put Jesus in at midnight on Christmas Eve. It’s tradition.”
“The Santa is throwing me off. Why is he waving at Mary and Joseph?”
She manages a smile. “My family may not agree on much but the one thing they’ll never fight about is the legitimacy of Santa Claus. Apparently, St. Nick was Jesus’s cousin.”
In my surprise, a horrible sound leaves me—a cross between a laugh and a snort. “You’re joking.”
“I wish I was. A few years ago, we all got into a heated debate about how they were cousins. Karina drew a very impressive family tree, explaining how St. Nick is descended from John the Baptist.”
“But he was?—”
“Beheaded?” She grins. “I know.”
“Oh, I’m so excited!” Lettie rushes over to us carrying half a dozen boxes and bags. “Do they know we brought gifts?”
One of the boxes almost falls from the top of her pile and Diego swoops in to save it. He helps alleviate some of the bags lined up and down her arms and says, “There won’t be any gifts to give if you break everything.”
The sudden shift in Dahlia’s demeanor captures my attention. Without warning, her grip tightens on my hand and she worries her bottom lip between her teeth as she glances apprehensively between the house and us.
“Hey.” I give her hand a gentle tug. “What’s wrong?”
She sucks on her teeth before responding. “I just realized…this is the first time I’ve ever brought a boyfriend home.”
A smug smile crosses my lips. “Really?”
“Not to mention his whole family. Look,” she rubs her forehead, “you have to be normal.”
Lettie’s jaw drops in offense. “I am normal!”
Diego raises a hand. “I’m not. Should I sit in a corner?”
“Am I really the only boyfriend you’ve ever brought home?”
“I need everyone to focus! Please?” she urges. “Okay, quick, does everyone remember the ground rules.”
To our shock, Diego speaks up first. “Don’t bring up Karina’s parents’ divorce, if one of her brothers tries inviting us to play cards it’s because they want to con us out of money, and only speak to your grandparents in Spanish otherwise they’ll lose all respect for us.”
Dahlia lets out a little gasp and clasps her hands together. “Oh, perfect! You got all the highlights. Okay, judging by the blue sedan, it’s probably our cousin Emilce and her kids. Her mom’s the weird aunt and we don’t really like her or her husband. He’s a little, uh, what’s the word…an acquired taste? Don’t bring up politics, guns, vaccines, or Chinese food. Ironically enough, they take their Chinese food more seriously than a presidential election.”
She turns and leads us up the stone path to the veranda but halfway there she spins around and says, “And do not tell anyone we live together! Only Karina knows. Everyone else thinks I dorm at BIS.”
This catches me by surprise. “Your family doesn’t know we’ve been living together for the last year?”
She smacks my shoulder with her purse. “Shh!” she hushes frantically. “Keep that to yourself.”
“I’m very confused.”
“My grandparents are so Catholic the Pope calls them for advice. If they find out I’m living with a man I’m not married to they’ll think I’m a hooker. Or worse. Knocked up.”
Neither myself nor my siblings can help ourselves. The laughter comes naturally and without restraint, much to Dahlia’s frustration. She curses under her breath and stomps up to the front door where she produces a key of her own. As soon as the door swings open, the scent of gingerbread and cinnamon hits us in golden waves.
Inside is decorated with as much splendor and attention to detail as the displays we saw on Fifth Avenue. There’s holly and garland everywhere with mistletoe hanging over every doorway. To the right is a formal dining room and to the left a modest parlor with a fireplace adorned with brass hooks and stockings. A staircase directly across from us leads upstairs and a long corridor leads to the back of the house.
Before Dahlia can get a word in, a pair of boys no older than twelve or thirteen rush down the staircase with a pair of toy guns.
“Hey, Dahlia!” one of them exclaims. He lifts his toy gun and fires a foam dart in her direction. “Can I use your credit card to rent a movie in the living room?”
“Carlos, you little shit.” She yanks the foam dart free from the tangles of her thick, wavy hair. “Where’s your mother?”
“In the backyard!” the second answers, shooting off a few more darts in Dahlia’s direction as they dash down the hall. “Who’s that guy?”
“Carlos, Justin!” Dahlia makes as if to run after them when she remembers we’re still with her. “Shit, okay, sorry, give me your coats?—”
“Dahlia’s here? Where?” Footsteps echo across the house and Karina appears from the room to my right. She’s wearing a plush reindeer robe and slippers shaped like elf hats. Hair still in rollers, she looks at Dahlia with a mix of excitement and dread. “You’re so early.”
“You said six. It’s eight o’clock.”
They greet each other with a quick hug and kiss on the cheek.
“The polite thing to do would’ve been to show up at nine.” She looks over and smiles when she sees the rest of us, an expression of genuine joy filling her eyes with light. “You brought the gang!”
I smile before leaning down to accept her kiss on the cheek. “Hey, Kay.”
Lettie proudly holds up her boxes. “We brought gifts!”
Karina and Lettie greet each other but I hadn’t realized until now that Diego didn’t immediately follow us inside. He must’ve stayed out on the veranda to make a call because he enters a moment later, shutting the door behind him. Karina exclaims and embraces him tightly.
“They brought you too?”
Diego holds her with such tenderness I wonder if she even feels his arms around her. He looks afraid of breaking her. “They couldn’t leave behind the only fun one.”
Lettie spins around. “Hey!”
“Please, take off your coats! God, it’s sweltering in here,” she says. “Brent spent all afternoon in the basement trying to figure out what’s wrong with the boiler.”
“I can try taking a look,” Diego removes his coat but instead of letting Karina hang it up for him, he drapes it over his left arm. “I’m sure it’s something simple.”
Karina opens her mouth to reply but her eyes drop to his arm and the sleeve that’s ridden up to his elbow. She gasps and grabs his wrist. “Oh my gosh, look at all those new tattoos!”
Lettie shifts uncomfortably between both feet. “I really have to go to the ladies’ room.”
“Why the hell are Evan’s kids here?” Dahlia interjects.
Karina pulls away from Diego and winces. “Yeah…they’re not the only ones who showed up.”
Dahlia throws her arms up. “What part of only the family did you not get?”
Karina rushes to defend herself. “It’s not my fault! Mom opened her big mouth and told Emilce you were bringing your boyfriend over for dinner and Emilce, la mas bochinchera que es, went and told Rita when they were at the hair salon yesterday so obviously she told Evan who called my mom and was offended he wasn’t invited?—”
“Of course he wasn’t invited. Nobody likes him!”
“Bathroom!” Letti exclaims. “Please! I had a gallon of hot chocolate and we’ve been driving for over an hour!”
Dahlia points. “Upstairs, first door on the right.”
Lettie bolts up the stairs, taking them two at a time.
“Apparently, we’re still expecting people. Jessica is coming.”
“Which one?”
Karina winces. “Both.”
Dahlia’s gaze suddenly finds mine. She points a warning finger in my direction. “If I catch you looking at slutty cousin Jessica I’m kicking your ass.”
“What about the other Jessica?” I quip. “Is she safe to flirt with?”
“ Ha ,” she mocks. “Don’t be a smartass. The other Jessica is a conspiracy theorist who thinks the earth is flat and women who orgasm during sex are possessed by the Devil. Have fun with that one.”
Karina whispers conspiratorially, “She’s the weird cousin.”
“Karina, ?dondé está la?—”
Another woman enters the corridor, having come from a room I can’t quite see from here. She looks like a taller, older version of Karina with a bronze complexion, dark brown eyes, and straight jet-black hair she wears neatly tucked behind her ears. A soft gasp leaves her lips and she runs down the hall to meet us.
“Why is everyone standing there in their coats, ?Dios Santísimo!”
“Damn it,” Dahlia comes up to me and tries taking off my coat. “I’m sorry?—”
“Here.” I turn her around instead and help her slip out of her coat. I unwrap the scarf from her neck and carefully remove her gloves. “Are you always this jittery?”
She glances up at me, eyes softening. “Only around crazy people.”
I remove my coat and she guides me to the coat closet under the stairs while Karina introduces her mother to Lettie and Diego, likely saving me for last.
“Promise to still love me after this?”
I’d kiss her if I didn’t think she’d be humiliated by such a display of affection in front of her aunt so I drag my fingers across the apple of her cheek, letting my touch linger for as long as she lets me. “As if I could ever stop.”