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While in Slovenia, Connor had been the host of all of his siblings and their families – if they had one – on various occasions. They had a lot of good moments and Connor would always cherish those memories. He would always remember fondly his last Thanksgiving as an ambassador there, about 2 weeks after Jeryd Mencken had officially lost the election, when Roman and Kendall, the latest with Stewy and his children in tow, had visited him for a few days. Officially, it was because they wanted to spend some time in Europe, but he knew that the goal was to make him forget that his ambassadorship was soon coming to an end.
Now that he was back in New York, Thanksgiving had been quiet. He and Willa had her mum, Sylvia, over as well as Roman. Prior to the dinner, Connor had to have a conversation with his brother about behaving with his mother-in-law. The response was so Roman-like:
“Don’t worry, I’ll wait after dessert to fuck her.”
But the conversation actually worked, because Roman behaved as much as he could. He just joked about how Kendall was probably miserable at that very moment, visiting their mother in Barbados. Apparently Peter’s back was having trouble and only the sun and air of the Caribbean could help him. It hadn’t been Kendall’s idea of course but when he had informed Caroline – 3 months after the fact – of his marriage to Stewy, she had called him ‘cosmopolitan’ and insisted for the two of them to come over. She had even guilt tripped him to come over, saying she wanted to meet his husband at least once before dying. Not that she had any health troubles but she was using her age as a blackmail tool.
When Kendall came back to New York, Connor, Roman and him had brunch together at Jean Georges the first Sunday of December. Kendall was tanned, their two days at Caroline’s having been followed by a few days at Saint Barth – his way to apologize to Stewy for putting him through that –. That was a thing now, since their wedding. Kendall and Stewy never stayed too long in New York. They always travelled somewhere. Sometimes it was just upstate or the Hamptons for the weekend and others a bit further like a few days in Paris in early October.
“Wow, you guys as so in love. It’s disgusting!” commented Roman when Kendall finished retelling his vacations to them.
Despite the face he was pulling, both Connor and Kendall knew it was his way to acknowledge his brother’s happiness.
“So, for Christmas, which one of you wants to come over?” finally asked Connor over his eggs Benedicts.
“Well, I have the kids this year. But we could come over, the four of us.”
“Yes Kendall, bring your racially diverse LGBT-friendly family to our brother’s Christmas dinner,” said Roman. “That will help Connor a lot for his next presidential campaign, having you guys around.”
If Connor had not run this year was because the President had asked him not to. But, for 2028, he was considering a run. He had the conversation with Maxim who was already putting together a platform and strategy – ‘it’s never too early to explore the opportunities’ –. Connor also knew that the conheads had still hope in him. And having a more diverse family would open a new electorate for him, a younger one, with more progressive social values but could get behind a libertarian economical platform. So of course he had thought about it, like any good politician would have.
“Well, if my gay husband bothers you, you don’t have to come Rome,” answered back Kendall.
“Your husband is great Ken. No issues with him. Frankly, the problem is that he is almost too good for you. You really don’t deserve him.”
And just like that, they were set for Christmas. His two brothers would join him for dinner at Christmas Eve in his Park Avenue penthouse. He didn’t feel the need to call Shiv. The previous years, she and Tom had made the trip to St Louis to visit his family and he knew that was the case this year as well. At least, that was the plan until December 15th.
Usually, Shiv called before she visited. But not that time. She arrived into the apartment, clearly shaken and holding her daughter Mia by her hand. After setting Mia in the living room with some crayons and papers, she sat with him in the other room, keeping an eye on her daughter from a distance. She took a sip of her coffee and then told him, with a rather matter of fact tone, that she was divorcing Tom.
“We have been done for a long time but… but I can’t anymore”, she felt the need to explain. “Mia deserves better than two parents who hates each other.”
Apparently, Shiv was here while Tom was moving his stuff from the apartment into a new place he had found. She didn’t want Mia to witness it, to have the memories of her parents splitting for the rest of her life. Good call. Connor remembered how traumatizing it had been for his siblings to witness Caroline’s departure. The shouting, the tears as she was banned from the Roy household by Logan. Awful!
“Of course you are welcome here. Anytime. And if there is anything you need, you know I’m here for you kiddo.”
And there was something he could do apparently. Obviously, Shiv wasn’t going to St Louis for Christmas anymore. And she had managed to have Mia with her while Tom would go visit his parents alone to break them the news. So she asked if she could come over with her daughter for Christmas dinner. It would be the first Christmas Mia would really remember and she wanted her to have good memories. Something that obviously was harder to achieve if it was just the two of them.
“Well of course but Shiv…”
“I know, Kendall’s coming as well.”
Connor would love nothing more to have his three siblings and their families at his table, together, sharing Christmas dinner. But he also knew that, apart from a text saying ‘Congratulation’ after she had sent him Mia’s baby pictures into the siblings group chat, Kendall and Shiv hadn’t spoken to each other for five years now. They had avoided each other in fact and both Connor and Roman had respected that, making sure they didn’t meet, inviting them separately.
“I can talk to Kendall. I will talk to him. But it’s a yes, don’t worry. Five years now, he has moved on. He is happy now.”
“Oh… Really?”
“Yes. Stewy has been good for him. It’s all behind him.”
On that last part, Connor knew he was somehow lying. And he knew that Shiv knew he was lying. But, both their sake they pretended she didn’t. Because yes, Kendall was doing better. He was smiling and he had projects now. But he also knew that Kendall always switched the channel when ATN was on or when any Waystar Gojo related subject was mentioned on the news. He also knew they had never talked about it. Not once. When Connor had breached the subject, when Kendall and Stewy visited him in Slovenia once, the later had glared at him, stopping him from pushing it any further.
As soon as Shiv was gone, he first spoke to Willa. She had the empathic qualities that he lacked due to being raised by his father. She would advise him on how to proceed with care. She listened and nodded:
“That would be great Con, having her around. But… You should really call Kendall, like right now. He has to get ready for that. The sooner you tell him, the better.”
Connor isolated himself in the newly redecorated library, sat on one of the dark purple armchairs – thank you Willa for that choice of interior design – and made his phone call. He hoped Kendall would be too busy to pick-up, but having nothing to do apart from being Stewy’s glorified stay-at-home husband, he picked up rather quickly.
“If you are calling to remind me to be on time on the 24th, don’t worry about it.”
“No, don’t worry about that. So Shiv just came by…”
He told him how Tom and her were divorcing, how heartbroken she was. Kendall just listened to him, not saying anything but Connor could hear him thinking even through the phone, the cogs in his brain moving at full speed.
“She wants to come over for Christmas with Mia. So what do you think?”
There was a pause, as if his brother was thinking about an appropriate answer.
“Con, you are the host. It’s not my business to tell you who you can invite to your house.”
Very diplomatic and not confrontational.
“I know, but I don’t want you guys having a fight during dinner.”
“No problem on my side. I can manage if they behave.”
They being Shiv and Roman. Both Connor and Kendall knew that putting those two in the same room could be messy. Some younger sibling union thing. Connor wasn’t so sure about that but he decided to trust his brother. He just hoped he wouldn’t regret it. So it was set. They would have dinner on Christmas Eve together. Willa made a seating chart with Kendall and Shiv sitting too far apart to be able to interact directly. Unless they yelled at each other of course. The staff worked hard on getting everything ready and he gave them time off from the 24th early afternoon until the 26th.
On the 24th, snow started to fall during early afternoon and only got heavier as the day progressed. His apartment looked like the Christmas edition of an interior design magazine had vomited all over the place thanks to Willa. There was a huge Christmas tree in the living-room and Christmas decorations everywhere. Also thanks to Willa. She had turned the whole place into “Park Avenue Winter Wonderland” with a white and light blue table setting to match the whole theme. His wife had really taken into her own hands the whole hostess side this Christmas.
When Sylvia arrived with her overnight bag, she thanked him for letting her stay the night because she didn’t want to go back home under such a weather. The snowfall was getting worst apparently and there were talks about closing some roads.
Roman was his first sibling to arrive, a bit earlier than the agreed upon time. He said something about picking the best spot to watch ‘the fight’. Connor argued that it wouldn’t be the case. Shiv and Kendall had moved on from all that. They had matured. Things would go well. Roman chuckled:
“I mean, a divorced bitch and a depressed homosexual, of course there will be a fight.”
Kendall and his family arrived soon after. Sophie and Iverson were in their moody teenager phases so didn’t speak much and were a lot on their phones. As they were greeting each other, Stewy whispered to him:
“Just that you know, I told Ken this was a bad idea.”
Great. A second person who was convinced this would end up being a shitshow.
Shiv arrived last, holding Mia by her hand. She crouched to help the four years old take off her small coat. When she stepped into the living-room, everybody’s eyes went between her and Kendall immediately. She went around the room, greeting everyone. By pure luck, she arrived to Kendall last and everything stopped in the room for a second again. There was an hesitation before both siblings just nodded to each other politely. Mia was hiding behind her mother’s leg, grabbing the fabric of her trousers with her small hands. Shiv lowered herself to pick her daughter up, not an easy task anymore.
“Mia, this is your uncle Kendall. I showed you pictures remember. Ken, this is Mia.”
The little girl waved at him and Kendall waved back. Everyone in the room breathed a bit easier. Shiv put down her daughter, saying she had gotten heavy recently.
“She looks like dad,” stated Kendall, a bit emotional.
Yes, Mia looked like a mini female Logan Roy. She had her mother’s red hair and the same piercing blue eyes as both her and their father, as well as a similar face shape and nose as Logan. Mia was a Roy, no doubt. There was nothing from the Wamsbangs gene pool in her.
“She does yes. He would have loved that about her.”
There was another silence. Willa, a perfect hostess, decided to offer drinks and light bites to the guests at that moment, breaking the tension. The people mingled around. Connor could help himself to smile, listening to his wife and Kendall talk about her new play and Ken’s project of a foundation for urban arts. Willa was giving him names of organizations he could reach out to that would welcome a cooperation with such a foundation. Frankly, they would mostly welcome the money. Shiv and Rome were standing aside, doing their usual youngest siblings bickering, trading gossips. Mia was getting better acquainted with her cousins, who, despite their teenage moodiness were making an effort after their father had glared at them. And Sylvia was apparently learning what a corporate raider was, listening Stewy talk about his job at Maesbury and the recent deals he had closed.
It was almost a normal Christmas in a normal family. Things were going great and, at that point, Connor had hope that things would go all right all night.
Just before dinner was served, Kendall excused himself to go to the balcony to smoke a cigarette.
“With this cold? You sure?” asked Connor.
“I won’t be long. Don’t worry about me.”
As soon as he had stepped out, Shiv put down her glass of champagne down and followed him outside. Connor prayed silently that one wouldn’t use the excuse of the shitty weather to push the other over the railing. But through the window, Connor watched and saw Kendall offering his sister a cigarette and lighting it up for her. They didn’t seem to talk much, probably because of the cold. When Kendall came back in, Stewy looked at him worried. Connor couldn’t hear much of what Kendall said to his husband but he heard the word ‘bullshit’ a few times.
“Well guys, we could proceed to the next room for dinner,” said Willa.
As everybody was sitting around the table following the seating chart, Willa asked him to help her bring out the dinner from the kitchen. That was a change from usual. During his whole life, Christmas dinners were served by a large staff but Willa had decided that those people deserved to celebrate Christmas on Christmas as well, that we could do without them like most American families did. Of course, Roman felt the need to mock him about that:
“Well Con, are you too broke to afford staff now? Or do you need to buy another Napoleon fake dick.”
“We can manage on our own for one night,” jumped in Willa to his defense. “So we gave them the day off so they can be with their families as well.”
“Yeah, that’s why you pay them extra so you have them around for Christmas,” patronized her Roman.
“Well, Kendall insisted we do the same,” said Stewy. “Except I left him 5 minutes in the kitchen on his own this afternoon and now I have to buy a new cappuccino machine and toaster.”
“I told you they were faulty Stew.”
“Yes, of course they were Ken.”
Roman pulled a face but Connor found it heartwarming to see his brother being able to have a normal life, bicker about normal things with someone.
The dinner was a Virginia ham, roasted, with sides of various vegetables, mashed potatoes and gravy. Connor cut the ham and he felt his siblings’ eyes on him. Their dad used to be the one who cut the meat at Thanksgiving and Christmas, as traditional head of the family. Doing the same as him and sitting at his spot at the end of the table, like the oldest son traditionally did, it was strange. They exchanged a quick gaze and smile with Kendall. Over the years, thanks to their father, the eldest son role and duties had been put on Kendall, leaving Connor almost forgotten. But this, this felt good. And having everyone around, hosting them, that felt good.
The conversation was flowing, talking about the various projects they all had. Sophie had started Yale this year, much to her father’s dismay who had wished her to attend Harvard like both he and Rava had. She was studying art history and had an active role in Yale’s drama club.
“Oh I went to Yale!” commented Shiv. “Best years of my life. I’m sure you’ll thrive there”
Connor saw that this as Shiv’s way of handing over an olive branch, to try make things right.
Things were doing great, people were congratulating Willa on the meal and organization of the whole event when Roman decided to be Roman and put some spice in their evening. No, not spice. He decided to drop a bomb because apparently his youngest brother thrived in chaos.
“At least nobody has to work. We can all thank Shiv for making sure of that.”
That got him looks from all three of his siblings. Stewy grabbed Kendall’s hand into his, glaring at the youngest Roy son. They all saw Kendall take a too large sip of wine.
“Rome, can we have a good night for once?” begged Connor.
“No, but I’m just saying. We should thank Shiv for her vote. I mean, she allowed us to have a nice Christmas dinner for once. None of us will be forced to work this year.”
Connor couldn’t hear what Stewy was whispering to his husband, but that wasn’t enough apparently to calm him down and keep him quiet.
“Yes, thank you Shiv for selling down the drain our family legacy,” commented Kendall, glaring at her.
“Oh you’re welcome. Glad to have been of help.”
“You threw away all our father’s work down the drain. And you think it’s a good thing?”
“You were ready to do the same when the buyers were Sandy and Stewy. Remember?”
“It’s not the same thing and you know it. And that was just after Dad threw me out of the company.”
“No, it’s different because it kept you in control. To make it worst, you two launched that hostile takeover at my wedding. Thank you so much by the way!”
“I had no choice. And I backed down.”
“Well, Rome and I both know why you had to back down.”
Connor didn’t know what they were talking about. He had been pissed at the time about Kendall’s actions, they would have put a brake on his political ambitions. But he had been surprised how easily he had backed down. Without any real reason. Kendall squeezed Stewy’s hand, looking for some reassurance probably. Shiv looked at the both of them and her eyes widened, like she just had a surprising realization.
“Holy shit! He told you about it?”
“Of course he did!” replied Stewy.
“And you still married him? Wow! Really? And I thought you were the smart one.”
“I’m not the kind of person to keep secrets from my husband,” told her Kendall. “I never lie to him. We are loyal to each other.”
The tone was full of implications. All the Roys had been made aware that before the wedding, Shiv hadn’t been the most faithful person. Most of them didn’t care. It was her business, not theirs. But apparently all gloves were off now. Connor was a bit taken aback and didn’t know how to react at first.
“If you have something to say Ken, just freaking say it!”
“You don’t get to have the moral high ground here Shiv. Not when you treated Tom like crap the whole time you were with him.”
“Please! Don’t lecture me on how to behave with your spouse. We all know you were screwing Stewy while you were still with Rava.”
Connor automatically glanced at Sophie and Iverson who seemed very uncomfortable. Just like Willa and Sylvia who didn’t seem to enjoy being put in the middle of a Roy family fight. It’s the hurt on Sophie’s face that made him act. He banged his fist on the table, attracting the attention of the room as Kendall was about to answer.
“Guys, you said you would behave! Can’t we have one nice night in this family?”
Kendall then excused himself from the table, marching out of the room, probably to calm down. Stewy quickly followed him, after a glare thrown at both Roman and Shiv. The dinner resumed awkwardly and nobody said anything when the couple came back, holding hands, a few minutes later. The dinner proceeded with an awkward silence.
Willa was serving dessert – a large plate of Christmas cookies and an apple pie – when the landline rang. Nobody ever rang the landline. Connor went to pick up. Apparently it was the doorman from downstairs. The snow was getting heavier and roads were closed until morning. The car service they were using had warned that they were stopping all service until morning. When Connor came back to the table to announce the news, there were groans and angry noises coming from all the guests.
Kendall had already his phone pressed against the ear and he talked for a minute before putting it down.
“Even Fikret says he had to go home. Fuck… There is probably a way. I mean, we could call a helicopter. Get extracted.”
Of course Kendall had to get extra dramatic now. He was probably already making a list of people he could call to get back to his Hudson Yards penthouse.
“Or you guys could stay for the night,” offered Connor. “We have enough rooms.”
Even if Ken and Shiv had just fought, it would be nice to have everyone around. They could pretend to be a normal family for once. Or at least try. He looked at Willa who put on a polite smile but following today’s display probably wasn’t so thrilled about having her in-laws around for the night. Well, he didn’t have much choice.
“Great idea Con!” said Roman. “Then the spinster and the faggot can have round 2 around breakfast.”
After dessert, nobody wanted to linger around. Willa and him made sure everyone got a room. Sophie and Iverson had to share one and Mia would sleep with her mother, but everyone had a bed.
After making everything was sure upstairs, Connor came back down ready for a drink. He noticed Kendall, in one of the sitting rooms, sitting on the couch, clearly uncomfortable. Sophie was standing, her arms crossed, listening to whatever her was saying. Iverson was sitting a bit apart, on an armchair, looking at his sister. Apparently, Kendall was explaining to them some of the things that had been said during the night mostly the fact that yes, he had cheated on their mother with his current husband. There were screams, hear through the closed door, mostly coming from Sophie, who called him disgusting and awful. Stewy was outside the room, sipping on scotch, back against the wall, trying to ignore the fight and the fact that he was part of the reason why it was happening.
“Told you it was a bad idea,” he said when Connor passed him.
“Yeah thanks. They can’t spend their whole life ignoring each other!”
“Well, if Shiv had been my sister, I would have yes. But I am not you guys.”
The ‘you guys’ was peppered with other meanings. Despite the fights, in the ends, all the Roy siblings ended coming back together. This fight between Shiv and Kendall being the exception. Connor then felt the need to ask:
“Why did Kendall back down from the takeover?”
Stewy’s face became very somber suddenly and he finished his glass in one go. He shook his head and said:
“It’s not up to me to say.”
“But you know?”
“Kendall told me a few weeks after the vote yes.”
“And it’s bad?”
“You have to ask Kendall about that. Not up to me to say.”
Shiv, who had just put Mia to bed, came down at that moment. She glanced through the closed door at Kendall and asked:
“Is everything alright?”
“Thanks for that by the way Shiv!” answered her Stewy. “I didn’t need to be dragged into this.”
“He started.”
“Actually Roman did. And I will have a talk with Ken about how he reacted later. But guy… I really didn’t miss your bullshit in my life. Each time I see you, I age 10 years.”
Sophie stormed out of the sitting room at that point, opening the door violently, making the glass on it shake and marching toward the staircase. She was visibly upset. Iverson quickly followed her upstairs, passing them silently as well. Connor gently guided Shiv away as Stewy entered the sitting room to console Kendall. Back in the dining room, Sylvia and Willa were having a post dinner coffee, probably talking about the Roy family drama. Sylvia even asked him and Shiv how they were doing before thanking him for the lovely invite. Connor felt the need to apologize.
“Oh don’t worry. Every family has issues. Willa can tell you about the drama with uncle Rudy.”
“Mum…”
Thinking about the fight between Kendall and Shiv kept him awake all night. He tossed so much in bed, that he woke up Willa and they ended talking in the dark, Willa hugging him and trying to calm him down by petting gently his hair.
“Babe… Have you thought that, maybe, you can’t fix what happened between them?”
“I have to at least try. I can’t spend the rest of my life being careful that they don’t meet.”
“Do what you want Con. You know I’ll support you. But if you can’t fix them if they don’t want to be fixed.”
The following morning, he came down last for breakfast. Willa had taken care of making coffee for everyone. She and Sylvia were the only ones really talking. Shiv was helping Mia with her breakfast. Kendall looked at him as he entered the dining room and nodded to him.
“Did you guys all have a good night?” asked Connor.
Apart from a genuine answer from Sylvia, all he got was some grumbling from his siblings. They ate breakfast in silence before he invited his siblings to follow him. Kendall tried to protest, saying that he was trying to get a car to bring him and his family home.
“Kenny, it has stopped snowing. Roads should be cleared this afternoon. Come on. Let me show you how we remodeled the library.”
He took his three siblings upstairs, to the library. He invited both Kendall and Shiv to sit down on the couch. The two of them looked at each other before they sat each end of the couch, leaving a large empty space between the two of them. Connor sat on the armchair opposite them while Roman went to stand somewhere behind him.
“Con, this won’t help,” said Shiv. “Whatever you are trying, won’t help.”
“You guys can’t spend the rest of your lives not talking to each other! You are siblings.”
Kendall was avoiding everybody’s gaze. He sighed:
“This whole thing was a mistake. Sophie isn’t talking to me anymore, thanks for that by the way.”
He glared at Shiv, the last sentence being directed at her.
“So it’s ok for you to imply in front of my daughter I’m a whore? But I should keep quiet?”
Connor watched the back and forth, pinching the bridge of his nose, closing his eyes. Insults and ugly truths were thrown at each other. Whore, traitor, liar, selfish… those were only some of the words used. Roman, rather unusually, seemed quiet, watching the verbal ping pong match between his siblings. Connor had enough:
“Guys! When I said talk, I meant, nice things. You haven’t seen each other for five years. I’m sure there were moments when you missed each other. Why don’t you talk about that?”
Shiv and Kendall looked quickly at each other, not daring to go first. Connor called on his sister. Shiv nodded and took a deep breath.
“About a year ago, before Tom and I were done, I showed Mia some pictures of when we were kids. And… And she asked about you.”
Connor encouraged her to continue. This was progress. If he managed to get these two to get back to a cordial relation, that would be better than any deals he managed to secure as an ambassador.
“So… I told her about you. And how you didn’t let me into the treehouse.”
“Shiv, he was 16,” pointed out Roman. “He was probably blowing Stewy in the treehouse. Which, gross by the way Ken.”
They all exchanged a smile.
“Actually, I caught them behind the pool house,” said Shiv.
“You caught us? I don’t remember that,” said Kendall, his cheeks getting flushed, embarrassed even 30 years later by the knowledge of his sister seeing him make out with his then best friend.
“Oh no you don’t! I wasn’t going to ask you about it. I was 13.”
She paused for a moment and extended another olive branch.
“I was really happy for you when Con told me you and Stewy got married.”
Kendall snickered but Shiv insisted:
“I was. You guys seem great for each other.”
“Yeah, you are so in love that it’s annoying,” said Roman.
“Thanks guys. It really means a lot to me,” Kendall finally replied, not really looking at them but looking at his wedding ring finger.
“I wished I could have been at the wedding. I mean, you launched a hostile takeover at mine, I wanted to return the favor.”
The tone was playful she and Ken exchanged a smile.
“You know I will never able to trust you again,” he asked.
“Yeah, I get that. But we should be able to see once a year for Christmas. For Connor’s sake. He is old, he hasn’t got that many years left. We should try to make him happy.”
“Thanks assholes!” Connor protested.
“I mean, she is not wrong,,” agreed Kendall with her. “You are close to 70 now.”
“I’m 66 years old but my body is only 50 according to my doctor. So screw the both of you.”
His three siblings exchanged smiles. Roasting each other had always been how they showed each other love. Maybe it wasn’t such a great idea to reconcile those two, for his sake.
The four siblings came down a bit more at peace with each other. They would probably never go back to what they were, but seeing Ken and Shiv smile at each other, unite to in bullying him, put some warm into his heart strangely. You are always more united when you have a common enemy apparently.
As they were walking down, Willa informed them that roads were getting cleared and they would all be able to go home in the early afternoon. She seemed relieved apparently.
Kendall got a phone call around 1pm, informing him that a car service could pick him up. He, Stewy and the kids said their goodbyes to everyone, promising to do this kind of dinner party soon – they all knew they wouldn’t for quite some time, that it was just words – before making their exit. Connor noticed that Sophie was glaring at her father and his husband, still not having digesting the news dropped the previous night.
Shiv, Mia and Roman left mid-afternoon, quickly followed by Sylvia who declined using a car service at first until Willa insisted on it. At last, there was peace and quiet. Willa looked at him, smiled gently and said:
“Please, let’s not do this next year.”