The walk was uneventful, Cady had tried her best to walk Rose but he had proved to strong and stubborn for her, nearly pulling his leash out of her hands on multiple occasions. If Janis and her dad hadn't been with her, they likely would be walking around for hours looking for the setter. As she stepped back into the house, Janis was greeted with a warmth and the smell of gingerbread filling her senses. Well, her grandmother must be awake. There was a clatter from the kitchen and Janis heard the soft footsteps she associated with her grandmother come around the corner.
"Janis! Love, how've you been! It's been so long since you've come down with Brandon!" Her grandmother grabbed her face and kissed her on the forehead before hugging her, she smelled almost overwhelmingly of gingerbread.
"Hey, Mawmaw...yeah, I've just been so busy with work and college, you know?" Her laugh was awkward and her hug was stiff, "This is Cady, by the way."
Janis reached an arm out to pull Cady closer, she hesitated before continuing, "She's my girlfriend."
"Oh. Hello, I'm Linda," Janis pretended to not notice the clear disappointment in her grandmother's face, "Janis, I just finished baking some gingerbread, you know where the icing and candies are if you want to decorate them."
Cady looked like she wanted to say something but her grandmother whisked away, out the door they came in from. Perhaps they should be grateful the old woman acknowledged Cady at all.
"Sorry, I don't really know what that was," Janis led her faux-girlfriend into the kitchen. Cady took a seat at the island while Janis dug through a few cabinets to pull out the decorations. Cady seemed content to ignore the awkward encounter at the door and simply watch Janis begin decorating the gingerbread people.
She paused halfway through to take a break, pouring herself some sweet tea she found in the fridge and making some oolong tea for Cady. When she returned from their room with the box of tea, Cady was studying the finished cookies on the counter.
"Are they all different artists and people you know?" Cady said without looking up.
Janis nodded as she began making the tea, "Yeah. Frida Kahlo, Marsha P. Johnson, Diana Prince, yunno...all the iconic women."
"Wonder Woman?"
"Hell yeah, Wonder Woman! Diana Prince was baby's first big lesbian crush!" She jabbed Cady in the side, Cady jumped, almost knocking into the tray of cookies, "No! Don't you dare, Jan!"
Janis eyed her suspiciously, weighing the risks, "Okay, fine. White flag, I surrender. But only because I haven't finished the cookies and I don't want you breaking them somehow."
"Ha ha, funny. What are you planning on doing for the rest of them?"
Janis handed Cady her tea, it was in a mug shaped like a cartoony polar bear in a scarf, "Usually I make the rest look like my family. Me, dad, Uncle Craig, Mawmaw, Pawpaw, Huggie, my Aunt Leslie, Phillip, Tanner, Viv, etcetera etcetera."
"That's cute! How many do you have to do for everyone?"
"Normally, I'd need like 15, but since you're here I'll need 16," She began decorating one to look like herself, she could see Cady staring down at the cookies confusedly, "Dude, you alright?"
"You do realize you only have 15 blank gingerbread left right?"
"What?" She set down her current one, counting the cookies laid out in front of her, "Fuck. Okay, uh...hm, okay well, Leslie can deal with not having a cookie this year."
"What? Janis no, just don't make one of me!"
"Oh, trust me. Leslie deserves it, "Unphased, Janis resumed her decorating, "Full intent to sound like an ass, but my Aunt Leslie is a bitch."
"Janis!" Cady smacked her arm, clearly genuinely unamused on the matter, but Janis couldn't help but chuckle.
Her dad walked in, making a beeline for the fridge, "What are we talking about in here?"
"Nothing!"
"How much of a raging biotch your sister is."
Cady smacked her arm again, her dad was smiling as he poured a cup of sweet tea across from them, "I mean...I shouldn't say but...Janis has a point, Cady."
Cady was looking at her dad like he'd grown a second head. Janis couldn't stop from laughing, leaning against the counter so she wouldn't double over.
"Tell her about the last christmas I was here."
"What happened last christmas- wait, when was the last christmas you were here?"
"Junior year," Janis picked up the next cookie, soon-to-be her gingerbread dad, "Fun year. You're lucky she wasn't here today. She pretty much lives here."
Cady winced at the mention of junior year, but if Janis' dad noticed he ignored it, "So here's what happened. Everyone knew about what had happened in middle school and Janis made sure they knew that Regina wasn't just making up stuff, that she was in fact gay. And she just kind of ignored or evaded their questions about boys all the time. Until junior year at least, when she met you"
Janis froze, nearly dropping the cookie in her hand, she forgot nearly the whole cause behind the entire fiasco that year could be traced back to Cady.
"She was just...so excited and happy, not to imply she wasn't before but you know how she is. But there was this new student, a girl from Africa who was way too good at math and animal sciences to be so bad at talking to people, no offense to you, Cady, just telling it how I was told," That comment earned Janis an elbow to her side and a grin from Cady, "And Janis just thought you were the cutest thing since Rose was a pup! And she began answering and replying to all the questions, correcting them on pronouns and everything and telling everyone about you, and uh...some took to it better than others..."
Janis scoffed, "Yeah, Craig gave me a high five whereas Leslie threw a tantrum and wouldn't let Viv in the same room as me for the rest of the break. We'll see if that changes this year, I suppose."
"Yeah. Leslie said Janis was just crying out for attention or something, and when that didn't garner the reaction she wanted, then she started calling her dangerous and a predator and keeping her daughter away from or under heavy supervision with Jan. Thing is, she only says all this stuff behind Janis' back, she like pretends she doesn't mind to her face and..." Brandon let out a heavy sigh, "I tried talking to Pawpaw about maybe just...not letting her come over while we were here, Jan. He said he couldn't stop her if he tried, not unless Mawmaw also put her foot down..."
Janis hated his sad tone, she didn't want anyone's pity, "Well, I don't know if you saw Mawmaw's reaction when I introduced Cady, but she probably won't be putting her foot down anytime soon."
"I don't think it was that bad, Jan..."
This time, Janis did drop the cookie in her hands, "Cady. If I didn't force her to acknowledge you, she probably wouldn't have even said as much as she did to you! Did you even see how she looked at you? I might as well have trashed her precious little porcelain christmas town!"
She could feel tears beginning to well up in her eyes, "I'm going to my room, I'll finish the cookies later."
She stormed off, she needed to be alone. When she walked into her room, she saw Rose laying on her bed, his tail wagging as she came in and shut the door behind her. She kicked her shoes off and collapsed face down onto the bed, it smelled like wet dog. Her dad must've washed Rose after the walk. The old setter nuzzling the back of her head and neck, she began combing her hands through his still damp fur.
"Hey bud. At least they treat you right, huh?"
There was no stopping the tears. She buried her face in Rose's fur, ignoring the wet dog smell, and let out a choked sob. Try as she might, her family would probably never accept her. She would just always be broken or ruined or dirty or just not right to them. She doesn't know how long she laid there, crying. But she knows that next time she opened her eyes, the sunlight pouring in from the window was gone and Rose was no longer curled up in the bed with her. Groggily and slowly, Janis got up from the bed, changing out of her day clothes into some sweatpants and the first shirt she grabs from one of her drawers. The shirt felt a little tighter than it should have, but she shrugged it off.
She made her way into the living room. The first thing Janis realized is that her Uncle Craig wasn't the only one sitting in front of the fireplace roasting marshmallows. At first glance, she thought it might be the mystery fiancee for some reason, but in taking her time to actually think about it she noticed they were wearing the eyesore that was a Northshore lions letterman.
Cady.
That's right, Cady was there. The next thing she realized was her dad was very clearly staring and trying not to laugh at her for some reason. Janis already knew what he was smiling about and she absolutely didn't want to acknowledge it.
"Nice shirt, Jan," Good thing she didn't need to, Craig did it for her. She wanted to smack the smug grin off his face.
She looked down to see the shirt she was wearing was a white tee with "I am filled with CALCU-LUST" printed in bright, bold, pink across the front. A joke gift she and Damian had bought for Cady's birthday one year. She heard Cady cackle from the fireplace.
"It's Cady's actually. Now if you excuse me, I'm going change again," She could hear Cady come padding down the hallway after her so she left the door open.
Cady sat on the bed while Janis changed, "I made the same mistake when Damian was here. Put on one of his drag shirts on accident. Hopefully I didn't stretch this shirt out too much."
I probably did.
"It's okay, are you feeling any better?"
"Yeah.."
"Good. I figured you needed some time to yourself, I tried coming check on you earlier but you were asleep," A beat, "Your Uncle Craig's cool. He and your dad have been telling me stories about your childhood. Oh! And I...finished the cookies for you. Your Pawpaw asked me too? I think he assumed I had the same kind of talent you have."
Cady laughed, smiling up at Janis who was standing in front of her now after finally getting one of her own shirts on. Janis heard footsteps coming down the hall, she doesn't know what possesses her to grab Cady by the collar of her jacket and pull her close. She knows that halfway to her face, Cady closed her eyes and was definitely expecting a kiss. Instead Janis kisses her cheek, really close to her mouth, and with the tilt of their heads, it probably would look like they were kissing from the door.
"Hey, girls, Hug- Oh! Sorry, uh, sorry," Her uncle both entered and left the room, closing the door quickly behind him.
Janis let go of Cady's collar and took a big step back, Cady looked confused and maybe a little sad. Janis' heart dropped for a second until she remembered that she was just seeing things because there's no reason for Cady to be sad over that.
"We should...probably go see what he wanted..." Janis rushed to the door, the tension in the room was driving her up the wall already and it'd barely been a few minutes.
"Yeah...I guess we should."
Janis ignored the twinge of annoyance in Cady's tone.
A loud, wheezing laugh echoed through the house. Janis paused for a moment at the door, she didn't think anymore family would be showing up today. She made a mad dash through the house to the kitchen. Her dad and Craig were sitting at the island as another tall man picked up and examined cookies one by one. He had black hair buzzed down and was wearing a tank top that said "I Flexed And The Sleeves Fell Off" on it that looked like it barely fit.
Huggie!
"Hey, kiddo! Good job on the gingerbread, as always!" He said without looking up.
"Actually, I wasn't alone this time," She turned around to drag Cady in front of her and put the spotlight on her, "Cady did most of the ones of us and family."
"Yeah. I can tell, couldn't you have at least shown her some pictures of me? I mean," He lifted the cookie that Janis could only assume was supposed to have his likeness, "I kind of look like Kronk from that disney movie but with no hair."
Cady flushed bright red, "I tried my best...Craig and Mr.Sarkisian were describing everyone I hadn't met. Janis was taking a nap."
"Oh, well if you were listening to these two knuckleheads then you did great!" He reached across the counter to ruffle the hair of his brothers, "I'm Huggie by the way. The handsome one."
"Nope, already called that one, Hugs," Craig was quick to shoot down the title.
"Fine, the oldest."
"Got that one too, I'm afraid."
Huggie flicked his younger brother in the nose, "Too bad. I'm five years older than you, dick."
Cady looked awkwardly between Huggie and Janis, "Is your name...really Huggie?"
The large man guffawed at the question, leaving Janis' dad to answer, "No. It's actually Hugh Jr. It's just that....he looks like that and no one wants to say "Hugh Jr" all the time."
"Are you telling me it's not because I'm so lovable, Brandon?" The older brother shoved at Brandon, nearly toppling him off the stool he was seated on. He turned his attention back to Janis and Cady, "So, Cady, if that's your real name, what're you doing down here?"
"Oh! I'm just...Janis' girlfriend," Cady let out a nervous chuckle.
Huggie snapped the gingerbread in his hand in half, it was the blank one Cady had left for Janis to decide what to do with, "You have got to be kidding me. You brought another one?"
His voice was raising and Janis could see the anger and disgust morph on his face, she grabbed Cady's hand instinctively. Without missing a beat, Cady squeezed her hand and took a step back, like she knew what was happening before it even really started. Her dad and Craig were standing now as well, the tension in the room making it stuffy an uncomfortable.
"I heard you bringing another friend this year, but I guess it was just wishful thinking to assume it wouldn't be another faggot," He had a sarcastic smile.
Janis fought the urge to throw up. Instead just moving herself between her uncle and Cady as he stalked up to them. He was tall as hell, he would tower over Cady like a giant and that's what he wanted. He wanted to intimidate her. Her dad grabbed Huggie's arm, an attempt to lead him away from the girls, but Huggie just shrugged him off with a scowl.
"What's next, huh? A fuckin' tranny?" Janis could feel Cady's nails dig into her hand, she was shaking behind her, her uncle continued, "Maybe some lowlife who touches kids or something?"
She wasn't going to just standby and let him continue on relentlessly, Janis let go of Cady's hand and shoved her uncle. He barely moved an inch, he just smiled and laughed, "Oh did I hit a nerve? What are you gonna do? Hit me? Oooh, I'm so scared of the lesbian, oooh."
She balled up her fists at her sides, she wanted to hit him, that's for sure. He was in her face, staring her down, definitely waiting for her to do something. Janis wasn't going to back down, but she didn't really know what else she could do aside from take a swing. Her dad and Craig tried pulling their brother away again, he shrugged them off again.
"Huggie, that's enough." Janis could barely hear he dad trying to talk him down, all she could hear was the blood rushing in her ears and her thoughts as she ran through every possible course of action, "Back. Off."
Her own voice sounded foreign to her, it's not she never stood up to assholes before. But usually they were strangers or dickheads she's only known as the dumb shit they say in class or at work. This was her uncle, she grew up with him, he had been the one to teach her how to drive stick-shift and gave her Rose. A knot formed in her chest.
"Back off? Girly's got some balls, maybe she's the tranny," He laughed again and Janis felt sick, "What if I don't back off?"
Without hesitation, Janis kneed him in the crotch. It was an impulse, a literal knee-jerk reaction. Her uncle let out a hoarse cough as he reached down and slid down to his knees.
"Fuck!" He looked up at her, strong-arming through the pain, "You bitch! What the hell's your problem?!"
Janis ushered herself and Cady back a few more steps, never taking her eyes off of Huggie.
"What the hell is going on in here?" Her heart dropped again, her grandfather walked up behind her, he had been woken up clearly, "Hugh! What are you doing on the damn floor?"
He jutted a finger at Janis, "She fucking kicked me in the balls!"
"He was asking for it! He was getting in her face and antagonizing her!" Janis had never been more thankful for her Uncle Craig.
"No, I wasn't! She's the one who brought another fag here! It's not my fault she's going to ruin christmas again!"
Craig walked up behind them and whispered something Janis couldn't hear to her grandfather. The old man sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose, "Hugh Orville Sarkisian Junior, if you can't at least act civil, then you can forget about staying here. I won't ban you from christmas or new years, but don't even think about coming here otherwise unless you can behave."
Huggie mumbled something under his breath as he stood back up, he shoved harshly past Janis, knocking her into Cady. He grabbed his bag off the dining table, pausing for a moment, "I'll be at Ethan's if anyone needs to fucking know."
He slammed both the wood door and the screen door after it, storming out of the house. Janis let out a breath she didn't know she had been holding.She turned around to face Cady, taking her hands in her own, "Are you okay? I know that was a lot..."
"I think I'm gonna go lay down, I'll see you all in the morning," Cady leaned up on her toes to kiss Janis on the cheek before hurrying out of the kitchen.
"Give him some time, he'll calm down."
"He can have all the time in the world for all I care," Janis swears she can feel the smoke out her ears, she was so angry, Huggie was still going to be at the parties, he said she was ruining christmas and no one disputed it, "This is exactly why I haven't been coming for the past five years."
Her grandfather chuckled, "Oh come on, Jannie. Calm down, it's not that big of a deal. You can't expect everyone to support your choices, that's just Huggie's opinions! It's how-"
"What? How he was raised? He was raised by you, Pawpaw!" Her grandfather looked like he was completely shocked by what she said, she let out a huff, "I'm going to bed. Me and Cady are going into town tomorrow, leave the porch lights on. I still have my key, you can lock the doors if we're not back before everyone's asleep."
She didn't wait for anyone to say anything, she just made her way to the bathroom to wash her face and then to her own room. Cady was laying on the bed, the light from her ipad acting as the only source of light in the room. She had changed, she was wearing the shirt Janis had accidentally put on earlier and her favorite pair of holiday pants with candy canes and snowmen scattered on them. Janis smiled to herself, she was probably watching more videos from her parents. Janis climbed onto the bed, Cady moved an arm for her to wrap it around Janis as she curled up against her friend. They laid in silence for a long while, Janis almost fell asleep twice before Cady turned off the tablet and set it down on the nightstand. They shifted around, getting comfortable a second time and under the blanket. Cady was facing the wall, her back to Janis, and Janis simply stared for a moment, unsure of what she should do. The bed was more than big enough for them to both sleep through the night without even bumping into the other.
Cady let out a soft groan, "Janis, are you okay?"
"Huh?"
"I can feel you sitting up, are you alright? Do you need a vom-bucket?"
"No, I just...I was just thinking about where to take you first tomorrow when we go into town," Janis swallowed thickly as she scooted closer to Cady, draping an arm over her waist and tucking her other arm under the pillow, "Probably Booth's Diner, they have the best breakfasts."
Cady hummed happily, leaning into Janis more, "Sounds nice."
"Yeah...I'm sorry about Huggie. I-I knew he was bad but...honestly I didn't expect that. Not so soon at least..."
"It's okay. He doesn't scare me as long as I have you with me. Well, no, I was still scared but I knew you wouldn't let anything happen. And I trust your dad and Uncle Craig too."
Janis shrugged off the feeling of butterflies. She didn't respond and Cady didn't say anything more. It took Cady no time at all to fall asleep, Janis wasn't so lucky however. She stayed up a few more hours, listening to her dad argue with his dad and everyone say their goodbyes and good nights as Craig left. He was staying in a motel with his fiancee apparently. Eventually, she found sleep, lulled by the muted sounds of crickets outside and Cady's own soft snoring.