A Very, Merry Christmas
Christmas at the Kane house was a tradition. Vera and Harry Kane had always opened their house to anyone who needed a Christmas dinner, didn’t have a family, or just wanted to come over, they didn’t discriminate. Marcus Kane made a conscious decision to continue this tradition into his life.
His friends, the ones who came over when his parents hosted Christmas, came every year without fail. Thelonius Jaha always brought a sweet apple pie. Jacopo Sinclair, Charles Pike and Callie Cartwrig, his three best friends, showed up before the sun rose and stayed late into the night, sometimes overnight (Vera didn’t mind that Callie slept over. She trusted Callie’s ability to stand up for herself, but had made it abundantly clear to all of the boys what would happen if they tried anything. Harry didn’t care). And Jake Griffin, whose home was less appealing than the Kane’s house on Christmas, would sludge in, a loopy grin on his face, sporting a bag of gifts and a black eye from one of his brothers (though all of them had their suspicions it wasn't a brother). Along with the occasional relative or guest, it was a happy gathering in the Kane household.
One year, Jake dragged Marcus’s nemesis, Abby Griffin, to the household and announced they were dating. Marcus had a feeling that this was revenge for him beating Jake for the captain position on the soccer team and sent sneers in the direction of both Abby and Jake throughout dinner. His mother scolded him sternly for this and he stormed off to his room, not to be seen again. The only thing that pulled him out of his fuming was Charles, Callie, and Jacopo noisily entering the room with a tin of cookies, a bottle of whiskey and a R-rated movie respectively. It was enough to lighten the mood, though Marcus didn't speak to Jake for a week afterwards.
Abby became a part of the family after that. She won over Marcus’s friends, who in turn convinced him to try to create a sense of civility. The more they spoke, the more they realized that they quite enjoyed each other’s company. Their rivalry turned friendly and bearable. Abby was invited over more and more, when the gang hung out on the weekends. He felt himself harboring a growing crush on Abby, who was clueless of his feelings.
Unfortunately, Jake beat him to Abby. They started dating senior year, went off to college together and then got engaged and subsequently married, the summer after they graduated (in Abby’s case, the first time). And then they moved.
They stopped coming to Christmas at the Kane's house. They exchanged a card and a present through the mail every year, but they never saw each other. Marcus watched as they faded away from him, no longer a part of the tight knit group they had established. He watched them travel the world together, have a baby together (a girl named Clarke, who was unmistakably Jake’s child), and make new friends through the annual Christmas card. Not much changed on his end, other than the death of his father and Jacopo and Thelonius getting married.
It wasn’t until ages later (many, many, many years after she had left, but Marcus was too lazy to keep count) that he saw her again, in the flesh. Two weeks before Christmas, the house on the corner was purchased by a single mother and her daughter. No one ever saw them go in or out, but the cars moved, so they were there. He left cookies and a note welcoming them to the neighborhood on their doorstep. He had tried a few times to deliver them to the people living there, but neither mother nor daughter ever seemed to be there.
He met the pair a week before Christmas. He decided to invite them to Christmas at his house. He doubted he would catch them while home, but he was going to try. If not, he would leave a note in the mailbox.
A response to his knock shocked him. There were muffled noises inside, then the door swung open.
“Hi, I’m Marcus, a neighbor. I was just wondering if….”
“Marcus?”
“Abby?”
There in front of him Abby stood, hair slightly disheveled and still in her work scrubs. She was older, but still as beautiful as the day she had left. He gaped like a fish out of water.
She must have been just as surprised, because she shared his expression.
“Mom, who is it?” A young woman asked from inside.
“Uh….”
Marcus snapped out of his stupor. “I’m Marcus Kane. Your mom and I grew up together. Back in Arkadia…”
“Yeah”
“So this is uncle Marcus!” Clarke beamed. “Mom talks about you all the time. She told me about all of the Christmas parties at your house”
“Speaking of Christmas…” he turned back to Abby, “We still get together every year. If you want to come over, I’d be glad to have you. You don’t have to come, if you don’t want to. But I’d love to have you over. They’ll be a few other kids Clarke’s age there, so she can come if she wants too. She can come even if you don't… I mean can’t...I mean…”
“Marcus”
“Hmm?”
“You’re rambling”
“Oh,” Marcus shuffled his feet. “Well, my doors are open”
Abby smiled. “We’ll be there if we’re available”
“Yep”
Abby closed the door, leaving Marcus on the porch.
Every night until Christmas, Abby haunted his dreams. She was there: senior class president, dressed up at prom, at Christmases past, even in her scrubs and messy hair as he had last seen her. Every night he longed to hug her, to hear her laugh, to return to how it had been before she left Arkadia,before she left him. He’d wake up sad and kind of horny for her which he would shake from his mind with a freezing cold showing, a negative reinforcement for the thoughts. Don’t be horny, Marcus Kane, he’d joke to himself. Horny boys get the cold shower of unfun to start the day.
Maybe it was worth it.
He was even more disappointed when Christmas day rolled around and Abby wasn’t at his house. The first few guests came in just before nine. It was the Blake siblings, children of Aurora Blake. Aurora was a past love of Marcus’s who had passed in a tragic car accident. He did what he could to support the siblings both because he had come to care for them like a father while dating their mother and because he had a sneaking suspicion that his extreme resemblance to Octavia was not the coincidence that Aurora had chalked it up to be. Either way, he loved the kids like his own. They were some of his first guests every year.
From there, others trickled in slowly. “The Delinquents”, as the ragtag gang of teens he had amassed as his own endearingly called themselves, rolled up just after noon with the promise that they would get the party started. A few adult friends, including Callie, Charles, and Sinclair, showed up in the late afternoon. He was glad they were, but as the hours ticked by the sense of dread that Abby would not show. Those fears were cemented when Clarke showed up, alone.
He greeted her at the door. “Hello”
“Hey, Uncle Marcus. I hope I'm not too late. Mom said it went into the night and people are still here, so I assumed…”
“No, you're good. This goes as late as you want to stay. It can go into tomorrow, if everyone decides to stay,” Marcus joked good naturedly.
“That sounds like a lot”
“It is,” Marcus finally gave into the urge, peering behind Clarke. “Is your mother coming?”
“She’s busy,” Clarke admitted. “But, she did send cookies”
Marcus shook off his disappointment. “Awesome, you can put them in the kitchen. Its right through there”
Clarke took off into the house. Marcus did one last sweep of the outside, hoping to see Abby, then closed the door. Dread filled his stomach. He knew that he had given Abby a choice to come. Evidently, Abby had chosen not to come. He couldn’t blame her, really. She had chosen to leave with Jake so long ago and Marcus had given her no reason to come back.
“Kane,” Bellamy’s voice snapped him out of his trance.
“Hm?”
“Are you okay? You don’t look like you're fully here with us,” Bellamy asked.
“Yeah. I was just hoping that a friend would be joining us, but it looks like that won’t be happening,” Marcus sighed.
Bellamy chuckled. “NIght’s still young”
“Yeah”
Bellamy scooted off to somewhere else. Marcus let himself get washed away by the crowd. He tried to stay engaged, but always felt like he was drifting off. He laughed at jokes and contributed to conversations, but he never felt fully engaged. Around 5:30, long after he had accepted Abby would not be coming, he heard a knock on the door. Curious to whom it might be, he answered it.
There stood Abby, looking tired but happy. “Sorry I’m late”
He grinned. “You’re not late. The party is just starting”
“Liar”
“Okay, you’re a little late,” he chuckled.
“Were you worried that I wasn’t going to show up?” Abby teased. Marcus blushed.
“Maybe a little”
“Well it's good to know that I’m missed” Abby stepped inside, letting the door swing shut behind her. “Now, who’s here?”
“A couple of teens from the neighborhood. I think Clarke knows a few from school,” Marcus gestured toward the couch. “Oh and a few old friends are here too. Callie and Charles and Jacopo. Thelonius was here earlier, but he went home. I think his son is still here, somewhere”
“I haven’t seen them in such a long time!” Abby said excitedly.
“Last time I saw Callie, she was making margaritas in the kitchen,” Marcus said. Abby swept past him and into the kitchen in search of her old best friend. Jacopo Sinclair stepped up next to him, taking Abby’s vacated spot.
“Was that who I think it was?”
“Depends,” Marcus turned to him. “If you thought it was Abby Griffin, you’re correct”
“When did she come back to Arkadia?”
“A few weeks ago. And her daughter is here too. She looks just like Jake”
“Okay, so it wasn’t just me”
Marcus laughed. “No, she's definitely Jake’s girl”
The night improved considerably after Abby showed up. The general atmosphere gained a sense of joy that Marcus was certain was missing before she showed up. Abby was a hit with the teens, playing the cool mom part and embarrassing Clarke with funny stories. Among the adults, Abby was a missing piece of the puzzle and they finally felt whole again. She became the center of attention as she lit up the room and Marcus was thrilled to bask in her glow.
At some point, later into the night after the sun had gone down, the party migrated to the living room. There were a million conversations going on at once, yet Marcus could focus on nothing but Abby. His pinpoint focus was eventually yanked away when Octavia’s loud voice took over the room.
“Okay, but what's the best Christmas movie?”
“Die Hard!” Clarke shouted.
“As much as I love the movie, it's not really a Christmas movie,” Raven pointed out.
“It's set at Christmastime. Therefore it's a Christmas movie” Clarke insisted.
“Okay, Clarke, we get it,” Octavia groaned, making a show. “What about everyone else? Any festive Christmas movies”
“I like A Dog Named Christmas,” Harper volunteered.
“What about you, Marcus?” Bellamy asked.
He sighed. “Well, Die Hard is a good movie, and a pretty interesting choice, but it's not the best Christmas movie. I’m not really sure. I have always loved the original Miracle on 34th Street, but if I have to choose a single best, it's going to be…”
“It's A Wonderful Life,” Abby finished for him.
“Yes”
“Never seen it,” Octavia declared.
“What?” Abby gasped. “There's no way. Vera, Marcus’s mother, used to make us watch it every Christmas. It was our tradition”
“That tradition hasn’t happened in years,” Callie offered. “After you and Jake moved away, things got less formal. We’d just get drunk and struggle our way through the movie. Eventually, we dropped the movie and just got drunk”
“Ah, yes. The good old days,” Sinclair quipped. “Getting so wasted that we forgot Christmas happened and woke up to a bare Christmas tree. Then going robber-hunting and nearly killing Marcus’s parents”
“Key word almost”
“It was one time!” Charles laughed. “And it wasn’t parents, plural. It was Harry and he almost deserved it”
Abby grabbed for the remote, mumbling about traditions and stupid friends and getting drunk. The movie flashed to life on the screen and the room went silent. It stayed that way until the end of the movie. As the end credits rolled around, people seemed to shake off the silent trance.
“I have to say, that's my new favorite festive Christmas movie,” Clarke admitted. “Die Hard is still the best Christmas movie, don't get me wrong. I just really enjoyed that”
“Now, I want to get involved in this other tradition you have. The one that involves getting really, really drunk,” Monty joked. The other teen cheered and looked at Kane.
“It's okay with me…” the excitement in the room grew substantially, but he stopped them before they could get too into it, “...but anyone drinking needs to surrender their licence and car keys. I am not having any of you drive home the tiniest bit drunk. There are more than enough places to sleep in this house, so go home completely sober or stay here overnight. Do you all understand me?”
A chorus of “ yes sir”s and keys jingling made it clear that he had gotten his point across. Almost everyone cleared out, except for Bellamy, Kane, and Abby.
“Are you going to join them?” Kane asked.
“I want to stay sober. To keep an eye on O. I don’t want anything to happen to her,” Bellamy responded.
“I promise I’ll stay sober and keep and eye on her if you want a drink or two. I won’t let anything happen,” Kane said.
Bellamy looked at the kitchen, tempted. “Are you sure? I don’t want to ruin the night for you”
“Go! Have fun. I’ll be fine”
Bellamy took off to the kitchen with one last “thank you”. That left Kane alone in the room with Abby.
“So…” Kane started.
“So…” Abby responded.
“How have things been?”
“Good. We’re adjusting well to life here. It hasn’t changed too much since I left,” Abby smiled politely. “I’ve got a nice job at the hospital as head of surgery. And I took Clarke to Sardo’s Pizza a few days ago. I can’t believe that place is still open”
“I may be the reason it's still open,” Marcus joked. Abby giggled softly. “It's nice having you around again. I...we really missed you”
“Awe, that sweet,” Abby’s tone made it clear that she was more than aware of how much he had missed having her around.
“Actually, there's something I want to talk to you about,” Marcus chewed his lip cautiously. “I know I might be overstepping a boundary here, but I couldn’t stop thinking about you. I like you, Abby, more than as a friend”
“Are you propositioning me, Marcus Kane?”
“No!” He backpedaled. “I was wondering if you might like to go on a date sometime?”
“Are you attempting to court me, Marcus Kane?”
“Yes,” he admitted. He stood from the couch, bowing and extending his hand. “With your consent, of course”
She took his hand, standing up. “Well, I consent, my good sir”
He dipped down and kissed her on the lips. It was a soft chaste kiss, testing the water.
“Now, I do believe that is a little forward of you,” Abby blushed.
“Mistletoe,” he said, pointing up. “I had to, its tradition”
She looked up to see he was right. Mistletoe was hung in the middle of the room. Whose insane idea it was, she had no idea, but she silently thanked them.
“So, yes to the date?”