The Rules of the Game

Chapter 18 - 'Tis the Season

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CHAPTER 18 – 'TIS THE SEASON

Ah, Christmas time.

Christmas eve to be exact.

'Tis the season to be with family and friends.

'Tis also the season when family and friends are all up in your business.

Whether it be your love life, your work, your friends, your future plans, or even your weight, everyone has to know about it all. I sighed as I switched off my car's engine. At the same time, I prayed for patience to last me through the night.

Don't get me wrong, I love my family and I want to be with them. But sometimes, their questions are a little bit too much. With another sigh, I got out of the car and opened the trunk to retrieve the presents I bought for everyone. I also retrieved the bag which contained several bottles of wine that my mom asked me to buy.

It's showtime.

Armed with presents and wine, I went inside our house. We have a tradition wherein every Christmas, we hold a family reunion slash Christmas party. Everyone has to be there and everyone brings their own food. Before the party ends, the host for next year is picked by the current host. It's done by putting all our names in a basket and the current host picks.

The party will be organized by the winning family. The place will be picked by the host too. Oftentimes, the setup is that the party will be held at the host's house and then the host will call every family before Christmas to let them know what food or dish they should bring.

Right now, the garden was filled with small white tents. A large table was placed near the edge and it was filled with food. There was the usual spaghetti, barbecue, ham, lechon, macaroni salad, potato salad, fruit salad, fried chicken, and so much more!

Christmas songs played in the background but laughter and the sound of conversation almost drowned it out.

I closed my eyes and breathed in deep. Then, I pasted a smile on my face.

"Alexis! Hi!"

"Hi Aunt Christine!" I greeted. I kissed her on the cheeks. She is my mom's cousin. "Wow, you've gotten fatter! Easy on the rice, sweetheart," she told me. I kept the smile on my face.

Alright, observations about my weight... check!

"Yes, aunt," I replied politely. But deep inside, I was bristling. I actually lost weight this year! But no one notices when you lose weight. In their eyes, each year, you get fatter and fatter.

"Kids, come say hi to your aunt Alexis!" she called out. The kids stopped playing and they all went towards me.

"Hi guys! Look how tall you've grown!" I remarked. Truth be told, I don't even remember the names of more than half of these kids. I've got a lot of second cousins and these kids were mostly theirs. It was a big family and it was hard to keep track of names when there's always new members each year.

The kids all smiled politely while they lifted my hand and touched it to their foreheads. It's a Filipino tradition called pagmamano. It's how you show respect to elders. After that, they went right back to what they were doing.