Shortly after the movie ended, Taylor and I were arguing about what we should watch next. The basement door opened and my dad yelled down that dinner was ready and that our help was needed in setting up the tables. My parents always rented tables and chairs for the Christmas feasts. They pretty much didn’t have a choice, there were so many people there and they all needed a place to sit and eat.
Taylor darted up the stairs taking them by twos. I stood and stretched with a sigh. “I guess I should get up there and help…” I mused, although I didn’t really want to help.
Olivia stood, carefully folding the blanket. “Maybe you shouldn’t. Your hand is still sore, and the last thing we need is to spend the rest of the night in the emergency room because you’ve popped a stitch.” She smiled.
I crossed the room, carefully holding her face in my hands. “What would I ever do without you to take care of me?” I asked, gently kissing her. Olivia beamed happily, sinking her teeth into her lower lip. “I don’t know.” She answered. “But I think I’ll follow you up and see if your mom needs any help.”
“Okay.” I took her hand and led her up the stairs. The events going on upstairs were utter chaos. Taylor was helping my uncle move the arm chair, while my dad and two uncles were moving the sofa out of the way. Zac was bringing in a stack of chairs, and the girls were coming in with table cloths.
My drunken uncle Larry was trying to hold up one of the folded tables. He was still holding a red cup with a glass of what I could only assume was rum and eggnog, so he was only able to hold the table with one hand.
“Here, Uncle Larry. Let me help you.” I insisted. I released Olivia’s hand and crossed the room to catch the table before it fell.
When I turned back to see Olivia, she wasn’t standing where I’d left her.
Taylor came over and took the other side of the table, helping me awkwardly flip the table over and fold down the legs.
Once both legs were secured, I wiped my hands on my pants and set off to bring in more chairs from the garage. I grabbed a stack of chairs and brought them into living room.
“Here, son.” Dad came up behind me. He took the chairs from me. “You shouldn’t be lifting anything. I appreciate you wanting to help, but with a bum hand, you should be taking it easy.” He pat my shoulder lightly, with a smile.
I nodded, watching my dad leave with the chairs.
I assumed that I should have taken that as an apology. I knew my dad wasn’t one for apologies. We shared the same trait when it came to admitting we were wrong.
I crossed my arms and walked into the dining room. The table had already been set up in there, and two had now been set up in the living room. The kitchen table was set, and there was no more work to be done. I moved into the kitchen, and found Olivia helping my mom spoon food into fancier dishes with the proper utensils.
“Thank you for your help, Olivia.” Mom was saying. “I don’t know how I would have done all this without you.”
“Any time.” Olivia smiled sweetly.
“Okay, everyone!” My mom said, turning around. “Dinner is ready!”
The kitchen suddenly flooded with people. I moved out of the way, leaning casually in the corner. I watched as everyone moved around me, filling their plates.
I folded my arms over my chest, feeling more like a piece of furniture than a member of the family. It was a feeling I was used to a lot in this house. With all the kids running around and since I was the oldest I was kind of used to being in the background.
Once the kitchen had cleared out, my mom spotted me in the corner. “Isaac! Are you going to eat?” She asked me.
I shrugged. “I don’t know, maybe later.” I mused.
Olivia frowned for a split second.
“Oh, honey. You need to eat!” She insisted. “Come on, I made all of your favorites!” My mom looked absolutely devastated by the fact that I wasn’t hungry and didn’t want to eat.
In my family, not eating was the worst thing in the world.
I dropped my arms. “Alright, I’ll eat.” I offered. I pushed myself away from the wall and crossed the kitchen. I picked up a plate and started filling it.
Mom left the room, probably to ask if anyone else needed anything before she settled down with her own plate of food.
Olivia placed her hand on my back. “Are you okay?” She asked worriedly. The expression of concern on her face was clearly evident.
“I’m fine.” I insisted. “I’m just not really hungry.” I shrugged. “I’m not used to eating so much. In case you haven’t noticed, my mom feels the need to feed everyone.”
Olivia smiled. “I noticed. She keeps trying to talk me into eating some turkey. She’s insisting that it isn’t real meat, because it’s poultry.”
I smirked. “Yeah, that sounds like her.”
Olivia picked up a plate and started to spoon some potatoes on her plate. “I hope everyone likes the potatoes. I made them. They’re still a little lumpy though.” She frowned.
“I’m sure they’re delicious.” I mused.
Olivia smiled sweetly.
I added extra turkey to my plate, I figured that if Olivia wasn’t eating any turkey, I could have some extra turkey. I drowned half my plate in gravy. Olivia handed me a fork.
“We should find a place to eat.” I mused. “I’m sure we could steal a couple of seats somewhere.”
Olivia smiled sweetly. “Do you want me to carry your plate?” She offered.
“I’ve got it.” I answered. “Besides, I still have one good hand,” I smiled.
Olivia smiled, shaking her head.
We somehow managed to get lucky with the table in the dining room. There were two seats together, but unfortunately that meant I had to sit next to my brother Taylor. Just trying not to strangle him during dinner was almost impossible. He was shoveling food in his mouth like he wasn’t even chewing it. He was simply inhaling the food on his plate.
I placed my free hand on Olivia’s knee for a second. She smiled sweetly up at me.
I picked up my fork and started eating.
“You’re not having any turkey?” Someone at the table asked. I shot an irritated glare in the general direction of the voice.
“I don’t eat meat.” Olivia answered politely. “I’m a vegetarian.”
“A vegetarian?” My drunken Uncle Larry slurred. “Turkey isn’t meat. It’s a bird.”
Olivia worried her lower lip. “It’s still an innocent animal.” She insisted.
“It’s a bird.” Uncle Larry slurred.
“That’s what I said!” Taylor argued.
I kicked Taylor sharply under the table.
He groaned. “Ow! Ass.” He warned under his breath.
I kicked him again.
Olivia fidgeted next to me. I knew she was trying to be polite, and was having a hard time staying polite with the subject matter.
Vegetarianism was something she felt very strongly about.
“So, Uncle Albert… do you still have that vintage mustang in your garage?” I asked.
I knew this was a subject he couldn’t refuse. He would talk about the stupid car endlessly.
He launched into a lengthy lecture about all of the parts he’d acquired for the vehicle and that he was almost ready to finish it. He was thinking of selling it and getting another project to work on.
I turned to Olivia to make sure she was doing okay. The awkward expression had left her face and she smiled up at me. “Thank you.” She mouthed.
“No problem.” I whispered back.
She smiled and placed her hand on my thigh for a moment, then returned for her dinner.
I hadn’t started off hungry, but I somehow managed to eat all of the food on my plate.
I took my plate and Olivia’s into the kitchen and tucked them into the garbage bag my dad had prepared in advance.
Olivia followed me.
“Did you kids get enough to eat?” Mom asked.
“Yes,” Olivia said sweetly. “Dinner was delicious. I can’t thank you enough for inviting me.”
“Oh, honey, we’re very, very glad to have you here.” Mom smiled. “Actually, I was thinking… instead of you going home tonight and coming back so early in the morning, why don’t you just spend the night?”
Olivia glanced toward me. “Oh, I don’t know… you’ve got such a full house already… I don’t want to put anyone out.”
“You’re not putting anyone out.” My mom insisted. “We’d be glad to have you… there’s supposed to be a lot of snow coming tonight, I hate to think of you driving all the way into the city in a snow storm.” Mom protested.
Olivia chewed her lower lip.
“She could stay in my room, and I can sleep on the sofa.” I offered. “That is if you want to stay…” I countered.
Olivia smiled. “I don’t have pajamas or a change of clothes for the morning…” She mused.
“I could find something for you to sleep in. I probably have some old clothes somewhere…” I mused. “And for tomorrow you could wear what you have on, and after we open our gifts, I’ll go with you to your dad’s apartment so you can get a change of clothes.” I offered lightly.
Olivia smiled, and turned to my mom. “Are you sure?”
“Absolutely, honey.” She insisted. “We would love to have you.”
One of my aunts called for my mom from the other room. “Oh, excuse me for just one moment.” My mom said before fluttering out of the room.
Olivia drew in a deep breath and wrapped her arms around me, laying her head on my chest. “Are you sure that it’s going to be okay for me to stay here?” She asked.
“Of course.” I mused, lightly kissing her hair. “Besides, if you sleep in my bed, I might be able to sneak in there with you. I’ll make sure I’m sleeping in the basement…”
Olivia smiled. “I think I might like that.”
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