Chapter Text
Brooklynn was convinced she was born for New York City. The hum of energy, the drama, the scandal, the coffee, each piece felt like a puzzle piece for a reporter. There was always something going on, and Brooklynn made sure she was the first one with the inside scoop.
The office of the press company she worked for was a classic high-rise, though she was rarely there, always hunting down a lead, but today was a bit different. The editor-in-chief of Bio-Tech Publishing, a woman named Soyona Santos, had requested a meeting with her bright and early.
A bit unusual, but whatever. Maybe it was about one of the many stories Brooklynn had been working on, or perhaps it was an update on some of the proposals she had submitted for future stories. Brooklynn grabbed her favorite cup of coffee on her way in, immediately surrounded by the familiar buzz of business. She passed a few familiar faces on her way to the elevator: Davi, a reporter for the fashion magazine, whom Brooklynn befriended pretty soon after being hired. He had become a good friend of hers, a direct, determined, sassy guy who quickly became one of Brooklynn’s editorial rivals in a far more fun context. Ernest, the loud dude-bro who wrote for one of the men's finance magazines. He was… dumb? If Brooklynn had to pick a word, he wasn’t bright, but seemed fairly harmless. He had asked her out a few times, and Brooklynn had been on a date or two with him, but he wasn’t really her type. The familiar security guard that Brooklynn can never remember the name of stood where she normally did, a few feet from the main elevator, pale blue eyes making her look a lot more frightening.
Santos's office was on the top floor, a well-decorated piece of luxury on one of the top floors of the building. Brooklynn strode into the room with her coffee and bag like any other day, causing the older woman to sigh in exhaustion.
“You're late,” Santos remarked as Brooklynn waved her off a bit. Santos, by most standards, was a frightening woman, but Brooklynn learned a long time ago that as long as you did good work, she generally backed off. And Brooklynn knew she did good work.
“Fashionably,” Brooklynn offered as she sipped her coffee.
“Do you know why I planned to meet with you today?” Santos asked without looking up from her laptop, “You have over 50 days accumulated paid time off that you haven't used.”
Brooklynn sipped her drink.
“Do I?”
“You haven't taken a day off in almost four years; the board doesn't like that, so you are being asked to take some time off.”
“Asked or told?”
“Your vacation starts today, December 17th, and we look forward to seeing you back in the office bright and early on January 4th.”
“You can't force me to take time off!”
Santos looked up, clearly not in the mood for arguing.
“Most people would consider this a gift. So enjoy it. Go visit family, go climb a mountain, just get out of my building.”
Great, a corporate vacation she was being forced to take.
“What about my stories?”
“I've already reassigned them.” Smugly, Santos smirked, “The board is very serious about this. We can't have employees not taking breaks or showing they can't have a work-life balance.”
“Thats a weird way of saying we don't want you to sue us.”
“Have a nice vacation, Brooklynn.”
Brooklynn stood in the middle of the office, dumbfounded, before she turned and headed back to the elevator. She felt like yelling the second the elevator doors opened back on the main floor. Brooklynn sulked across the busy area of cubicles.
“Leaving already?” Davi asked as he stepped closer, a concerned look on his face.
“Mandatory vacation,” Brooklynn grumbled, “Santos says I need to take time off since it’s been a while since I’ve taken a day.”
“Oh, nice.” Davi offered a smile that faded when he noticed that Brooklynn didn’t seem happy about it, “Aren’t you excited?”
“Excited for what?”
“A vacation?” Davi asked as if it should be obvious, “Girl, you’ve literally been saying how bad you feel every year when you don’t get to spend Christmas with your dads, now you get to, and you’re gonna sulk?”
“Ok, fair point, but I was really getting into this story about-”
“Nope.” Davi cut her off, “You’re going to enjoy a nice restful vacation, spending the holidays with your dad like you always say your gonna do, but never do.”
“Fine.” Brooklynn sighed, it wasn’t that she didn’t like seeing her dads, but she had a… complicated childhood that made seeing them and having normal family outings feel weird. She loved them to pieces, but spending a classic holiday with them sounded both fun and exhausting.
“You should book a ticket now,” Davi suggested, “Or rent a car, where did you say your dads lived again?”
“Colorado.” Brooklynn offered as she pulled her phone out of her pocket, “A little city outside of Evergreen. Pines Creek. They settled there a few years ago.”
“Sounds like a good chance to get a break from the city.”
“But I like the city.”
“Girl.”
“Yeah, yeah, I’m looking at flights now.”
***
Pines Creek, Colorado.
Brooklynn remembered spending a bit of time here when she was twelve, and her parents decided to take her out of homeschooling for a change and let her try public school. It was something she fought for after years of being alone and not being able to make any friends. She had fond memories here until her father made them move again for work. Unfortunately, there was a reason she had always done homeschooling: her father had a job that required them to move around pretty often, which usually meant not finding a place to settle down. When they finally did see the value in settling down, Brooklynn was already taking up her first job as a press reporter in New York. Even with fond memories of the small town, they felt a little bittersweet.
Sure, Brooklynn shouldn’t be too upset about getting some downtime; she just wasn’t used to it. She was used to going undercover, going through old paperwork, and taking sneaky pictures with her phone. Not… what she was driving through right now.
Brooklynn was familiar with Christmas in Pines Creek; The streets looked like something out of a Christmas movie. Storefronts decorated with green garland and sparkling glass ornaments. Snow piled against the sides of the sidewalks. Little food carts on the corners are selling roasted chestnuts and hot cocoa. Festive sweaters and colorful hats on almost every passerby. Some kids are building a snowman on the corner.
It’s all very sickly sweet. Brooklynn wasn’t surprised when her parents decided to settle down here, but she couldn’t really get used to all the sweet smells and pops of color. The bustle of the small town was different from the bustle of the city. The city had a bustle of purpose, people with set destinations, and they were in a hurry to get there. The bustle of the small town was like a lazy lull. People meandered and mingled in the streets, appreciating the decor, the smells, and the few street performers who performed Christmas songs or party tricks.
Brooklynn was early; she had planned to meet her dads for lunch. She had about an hour to kill before her dads would meet her at their designated restaurant. Brooklynn spied a familiar coffee shop storefront and decided to treat herself. She parked the car in one of the open spots on the street and prepared herself to be overwhelmed by Christmas joy.
The second she stepped out of the car, she was greeted with the smell of coffee, cocoa, and the roasted smell of chestnuts from one of the food carts. There’s the familiar buzz of laughter, chatter, and Christmas Carols. Brooklynn ducked quickly towards the coffee shop, Carnataurus Coffee Co., drawn in fancy artisan script on the window.
The inside of the coffee shop was a welcome silence, a jazz tune on low volume filled the space.
“Welcome to Carnataurus Coffee Co, specials are on the board, let us know when you’re ready to order,” An older gentleman called from behind the counter. Brooklynn offered a polite smile as she browsed the menu. Several seasonal suspects included a Gingerbread-themed latte, Peppermint Bark Cappuccino, and Roasted Hazelnut flavored coffee.
Brooklynn walked up to the counter as the tall man, his nametag reading “Brand,” smiled as he set down the glass he was cleaning to take her order.
“Hazelnut latte with almond milk?”
“Sure thing, name for the order?”
“Brooklynn?”
Brooklynn turned her head at the voice, a smile immediately spreading across her face as she recognised none other than Darius Bowman. Brooklynn remembered him fondly from the short time she had attended school here at thirteen. He was the dorky, dinosaur-obsessed kid she had befriended before her dads moved them again.
“Darius?” Brooklynn grinned wider as a smile spread across Darius’s face. Brand chuckled from behind the counter.
“Thought you looked familiar, long time no see,” Brand nodded as he turned to get the coffee ready, “This one’s on the house, consider it a welcome back gift.”
“Spending the holidays with your dads?” Darius asked, grin widening as Brooklynn chuckled. She pulled him into a quick hug.
“Yeah, turns out when you have too much time off accumulated, they make you take a vacation, so I thought I’d spend some time with my dads.”
“I’m sure they’ll love that,” Darius offered as he pulled away from the hug, “Oh, and you’ll be around for the Winter Festival.”
“You guys still do that?”
“Oh, hell yeah,” Brand laughed, “Darius and mom go hard on that Gingerbread contest.”
Brooklynn beamed. She remembered the Gingerbead contest. A town-wide contest is held every year to see who can create the most impressive gingerbread display. The winner got five hundred dollars and bragging rights until next year.
“Is it still just you and your mom on team Carnataurus?” Brooklynn asked as Brand made her coffee.
“Oh, no, we have a few more people on our team. Do you remember Yaz?”
Yasmina Fadoula, an Olympic prospect runner who was forced into retirement at sixteen because of a horrible injury that left her left ankle and knee damaged. Besides the fancy headlines, Yasmina was one of the cool older kids who was always nice to Darius. Stoic, stern, but kindhearted, and someone Brooklynn called a friend before they had moved. She texted Yaz every now and then… but now she couldn’t remember the last time she had reached out.
“I think she’d slap me if I forgot about her.”
Darius chuckled a bit, “She works as an art therapist at her mom’s practice and teaches art at the elementary school.”
“That’s so cool,” Brooklynn sighed. Of course, Yaz was always cool, and it made sense she’d be working about as hard as Brooklynn expected. “What about Ben? Is he still around?”
“Oh yeah,” Darius's smile got bigger, “He’s finishing college now and works at that floral shop down the street during breaks. He’s on Team Carnataurus, too. You should stop by while we’re building the display; you can catch up with everyone.”
“Not worried, I’ll sell all your gingerbread secrets to the competition?”
“I’ll send Yaz after you; she’ll catch you before you get a chance to sell them.”
Brooklynn chuckled,
“Right, right, forgot you had the Olympic prospect runner on your team.” Brooklynn checked her phone, “I have to meet my dads in a bit, but I’d love to stop by and see Yaz and Ben.”
“We’re building tomorrow at 7, stop by then.”
“Deal.”
“Hazelnut Latte,” Brand handed her the drink as Brooklynn took it with a grateful smile.
“Thanks, Brand, I really missed this coffee.” Brooklynn flashed another smile before heading to the door, “See you tomorrow, Dino Nerd.”
“See you tomorrow, Superstar.”
Brooklynn waved a final time before stepping back into the cold Colorado chill. The warm hazelnut latte called to her as she started walking down the familiar roads with a little more pep in her step. She forgot how much she missed her friends from back then, and now she’d get to catch up with them all. She sipped her drink as she looked at the decorated windows with renewed spirit. Maybe her vacation wouldn’t be that bad. Brooklynn walked around the corner to see a lot of Christmas trees, and a few people crowded around different ones.
Her folks never had a big Christmas tree; years of moving around meant that usually they’d get a small one that fit on their table or counter. Brooklynn wondered as she looked at a particularly full tree if her dads had a big tree ready to be decorated.
“Nice choice! That right there is a Guatemalan Fir, known for its fragrant scent and… Brooklynn?”
Brooklynn snapped her head at the familiar, charismatic voice.
It couldn’t be.
But it was.
Kenji Kon.
Last time Brooklynn had seen him was in California during the Summer of her eighteenth birthday. They dated all that Summer, and broke up before the Fall weather could chill the heat of warm September days. He looked different, in a way. A little more muscular, his hair was a bit different, and he stood there wearing a dark red plaid button-up over a black shirt and dark washed jeans. His expression surprised him before he did his best to school his features, resting on a familiar smile,
“So, the Guatemalan Fir, an excellent choice, this one is one of my personal favorites.”
“Sorry, I’m not really looking to buy a tree.” Brooklynn interjected, “Just passing by.”
“Oh, well, if you ever find yourself in need of a Christmas tree, my man Dave is the go-to tree farmer in all Pines Creek.”
“Yeah, I’ll keep that in mind,” Brooklynn offered with a smile before awkwardly shifting away and heading down the street at a quicker pace.
Kenji signed, shaking off the awkward encounter for a moment before turning back to the lot of displayed Christmas trees. He noticed a familiar tall, blonde head of hair walking closer, grumbling.
“Hey, Benny Boy, what brings you to Dave’s Dynamo Tree Farm?”
Ben blinked a bit before looking up.
“Oh, just walking, my mom’s getting ready for my extended family to come over for their annual Hanukkah visit.”
“Not looking forward to it?” Kenji asked as Ben sighed.
“They’ve been so pushy about me finding a girlfriend,” Ben sighed, “Especially my aunts, and my mom can only hold them back so much.”
“What if you had Yaz pretend to be your date?”
“Oh please, Yaz already has her hands full with all her work at the school, besides, my aunts know her, and my Aunt Shirley does not approve.”
“We’ll figure something out,” Kenji offered as he rested a hand on Ben’s shoulder, “we can brainstorm tomorrow night when we’re all at the cafe.”
Ben let out a breath, “Yeah.”
“Chin up, Benny Boy,” Kenji tossed his arm over Ben’s shoulders and turned until they were facing the trees, “you know what always makes me feel better? A balsam fir!”
“Kenji, I’m not getting a Hanukkah tree.”
“You could be a trend-setter.”
“No.”
“Eh, I tried,” Kenji shrugged as he checked his phone, “Oh, I gotta tell Dave I gotta split.”
“What’s up?”
“Picking up a friend at the airport,” Kenji explained as he shoved his phone back in his pocket, “I’ll bring her by and introduce her to everyone, but I promised I’d get her from the airport. Tell Dave I’ll be back in like thirty minutes?”
“Sure,” Ben shrugged as he watched Kenji give him a thumbs up before heading towards his car. Ben looked around the crowd for the familiar sight of Dave. The older man usually stayed pretty close, his charisma and friendliness rivaling Kenji on a good day.
***
“Brooklynn!”
Brooklynn smiled as she was quickly wrapped up in a tight group hug from both her dads. The two looked funny, Brooklynn thought, in their Christmas sweaters and jeans. Though deep down, Brooklynn was proud of them, they both moved away from social media at the time Brooklynn admitted how much it affected her growing up, and they’ve been trying to be more involved since… well, until Brooklynn moved to New York.
“We are so happy to see you,” her dad, Robert, offered as they pulled away, “it’s been so long since we’ve gotten to spend the holidays together.”
“Come, sit down, I bet you’re hungry from your trip.” Her other dad, Jacob, quickly escorted her to their table at the nice Italian restaurant they had insisted on taking her to for lunch.
“It’s weird to be back,” Brooklynn offered as she sat down. Jacob nodded sympathetically.
“We know we’ve said this before, but I just wanted to say again how sorry we are that we let our careers and social media get in the way of us doing normal family things,” Robert offered, a look of complete guilt on his face.
“Dad, we’ve talked about this,” Brooklynn insisted, “I know you guys were just trying to do what’s best for me.”
“We wish we had done better,” Jacob added, putting a hand over Brooklynn’s, “but you’re right, best not to keep digging into the past. Why don’t you tell us all about your adventures while we enjoy lunch?”
“Sounds great dad.”
“And later,” Robert offered, “If you're up to it after unpacking, we can pick out a Christmas tree together, make up for lost time.”
Brooklynn felt her chest warm at the idea, a smile quickly making its way to her face.
“Only if we can hand-make some ornaments for it too.”
“Deal.”
***
“It’s COLD!” Sammy squealed as she tossed her bags into the back of Kenji’s car before jumping into the passenger seat, “Why is it so cold?!”
Kenji only laughed, “Welcome to Colorado, Tex.”
Sammy pouted as she crossed her arms, waiting impatiently for the car to heat up as Kenji started it and pulled out of the small airport parking lot.
“Thanks for pickin’ me up, Kenji.” Sammy offered, “Even though it’s freezing.”
“You’re gonna have to get used to the weather! And maybe get a decent winter jacket? That’s not gonna keep you warm.”
“How would I know that? I’m from Texas! This keeps ya warm in Texas!”
Kenji laughed again as he turned onto the main road back to Pines Creek, tapping the beat of the Christmas song playing on the radio on the steering wheel.
“So, performing at our modest Winter Festival this year?” Kenji offered as he eyed Sammy’s sticker-covered guitar case from the rearview mirror.
“Yup, thought it’d be fun, and ya know, keep my mind off other things.”
“Yeah.”
Kenji sighed. Sammy had mentioned not having a place to go this holiday season, something that clearly bothered her, and since Sammy had done a few shows in Texas and was a bit of an amateur singer, Kenji had convinced her to come to Pines Creek to spend the holiday with the addition of having Sammy perform at the Winter Festival as one of their musicians. It had been easy enough to get approved since Roxie, the festival manager, was a close friend of Dave, whom Kenji knew very well from years of working on the tree farm during the holiday season for some extra cash.
“I’m excited for you to meet everyone,” Kenji offered, changing the subject, “You’ll love Darius and Ben, and Yaz! They’re all a lot of fun.”
“Can’t wait!” Sammy grinned, “You’ve talked a lot about ‘em, can’t wait to put faces to their names.”
“We’re meeting at the cafe tomorrow to brainstorm a gingerbread display, every year Darius and Mom compete in this gingerbread contest during the festival, and we all help out.”
“I don’t want to intrude.”
“No way, I insist! Plus, it will be so much fun to have an extra pair of hands that know how to bake.”
“Be happy to help then!”
The two laughed a bit as they passed the old Ski Resort, a large “For Sale” sign sticking close to the side of the road. Kenji frowned a bit, noticing the Mantah Corp logo on one of the trucks in the almost empty parking lot.
“You okay, Kenji?”
“Yeah,” Kenji shook his head, though he had a bad feeling in the pit of his stomach.