A Righteous Love

Chapter Twenty-Five - I Won't Be Hurt If You Don't Take It

Chapter Twenty-Five - "I Won't Be Hurt If You Don't Take It"

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Christmas Eve was when nearly a good chunk of the family – aunts, uncles, grandparents and cousins – would venture over to my house for dinner. My mom, her three sisters, my dad's two sisters, Melissa and I were in charge of anything that had to do with the kitchen and dinner. It usually took up the entire day before and the day of, but we always managed to get it done. Getting it done without a problem was the only thing we struggled with.

It was nice seeing family and all that, but it tended to result in my mother transforming into a frantic mess until everyone was seated with dinner on the table. There was going to be a lot of people in the house, half of them would be liquored up, and the other half would be young children. My mom could usually handle being under pressure.

But this was a different kind of pressure. It was the pressure of impressing our entire family, year after year for this big Christmas Eve dinner. I didn't know what the obsession was with making everything perfect because it was just our family. They knew we weren't perfect or normal, and they still loved us.

I guess if my mom had even one bad holiday dinner, someone else will want to take over and her dreams will be ruined. I assumed I would understand when I was older and had a house of my own with a family.

"Linds, get the door!" My mother ordered from the kitchen.

"Got it!" I hollered back. I hopped away from the dining room to the front door, swinging it open to see my grandparents standing before me with smiles. Always the first to arrive.

"Oh my... you look just like your mother," my grandmother gushed, squeezing me into a hug when she walked inside.

"Is that a good thing?" I joked. She pulled away from me and rolled her eyes with a smile, then gently stroked my hair.

"But you're just as silly as your father," she chuckled, then left to go find my mom in the kitchen.

"Of course you're like your dad, he's the best there is," my other grandmother grinned, nudging my arm.

"Well I do have his charming personality and sense of humor," I smirked and flipped my hair over my shoulder, making her laugh. Her and my grandfather confined me in a group hug, then I shut the door after them and went back to decorating the table.

The plates, silverware and glasses were all set up on the large wooden table in our dining room, covered with an appropriate table cloth. My sister was helping my mom cook, my mom's mom was watching over them, and my grandfather was watching TV in the living room with my dad. My other grandmother opened the door to my mom's sisters, their husbands, and their kids as they trampled inside. Within seconds, the house was filled with voices and ruckus.

"Lindsay!" A little voice called my name. I picked my head up from looking at the perfectly folded napkins, and saw my little cousin Chloe running towards me with a toothy grin.

"Hey Lulu," I smiled before she crashed into me. I picked her up, squeezed her in my arms and put her back down on the ground.

Chloe was eight-years-old and the cutest little girl in the world. We'd always gotten along growing up despite our age gap, and it made me smile that she looked up to me. She even wanted her nickname to be Lulu because it sounded like "Lindsay" to her when she was younger. Not really that similar, but still cute.

"You gonna hang out in here with your girlfriend?" My Aunt Trish, who was her mother, smiled at Chloe.

"Yeah!" Chloe cheered, bouncing up and down rapidly.