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The French house was bustling with activity as everyone was preparing for Christmas. Mrs. French had been gushing for days about her boys being home, and was even happier to see her “future son-in-law.” Kevin was glad to be back too. Andy, not so much.
Kevin had been planning for months to take the perfect Christmas photo with his family. He remembered all his favorite Christmas movies or TV episodes where the family takes the best Christmas photo ever and it's a great memory for everyone involved. He believed it'd go off without a hitch and he'd have his own movie-like memories to look back on. However, his idealistic brain refused to acknowledge that something would usually go wrong in the making of those photos, making it less than perfect...
"Wow Kev, this is actually good," Andy sighed as he drank some of Kevin's homemade hot chocolate. Kevin was very proud of himself. "Thanks, I came up with it myself." Jim took a sip of his before putting it on the table. "Y'know what'd make this even better? If we spiked it." Kevin panicked, he really didn't want his brother getting drunk before they took their family photo. "No, I don't think-" Before he could finish Andy yelled, "Hell yeah," and Jim pulled out a flask, pouring booze into both of their drinks. Kevin had to leave the room before he lost it on the two of them. He kept repeating, "It'll be okay, nothing will go wrong," to himself despite it doing nothing to help him feel better. He decided to help his dad with putting the presents under the tree.
Mr. French was nice and predictable, he kept all the presents in the attic and would take them down to display under the tree on Christmas Eve. He asked Kevin to stand in the attic and pass the presents down to him, which he obliged. Things were going fine until Kevin had to carry a really big present. "Careful now," Mr. French instructed, "That one's pretty heavy." Kevin tried to be cautious. He could barely hoist it up and instead opted to slide it across the floor until he reached the door, which was actually pretty smart. He was relieved when all he had to do was hand it to his dad. Way too relieved to notice it slip out of his hands before Mr. French was ready, falling square on his face and knocking him to the ground. "Dad," Kevin yelled as he rushed down the stairs, "Are you okay? I'm sorry, I-" Mr. French had to shush him while he pushed the giant present to the side. He wiped his hand around his nose and noticed that his nose was bleeding. "Guess I should've gotten that one," he chuckled. Kevin started tearing up and Mr. French went into comforting dad mode and made sure he knew it wasn't his fault. "I'll be fine. At least it wasn't breakable." That wasn't enough for Kevin and only made him feel worse about what he did. Mr. French decided it'd be best if Kevin focused on something else instead so he didn't burst into tears right there. "Why don't you go relax, I think I've got the rest from here."
Kevin made his way towards the living room with a heavy head. Nothing was going right, was it? Things got worse when Kevin heard his mom screaming in the kitchen. He ran in and saw Stogie on the floor with an empty tray. "That stupid dog ate all the cookies I made," Mrs. French shrilled. Jim and Andy poked their heads in and saw the mess. Jim just laughed, "Awesome," which was met by a glare and grumble from Mrs. French. The two fled before she could yell at them and Kevin felt himself worrying even more. First Andy and Jim get drunk, then Kevin gives his dad a bloody nose, now Stogie's eating all of mom's cookies? What's next?
...Is probably not something he should've asked, as Stogie projectile vomited all over Kevin in his Christmas photo attire. That was the final straw for Kevin and he burst into tears. Mrs. French was starting to worry now, "Oh baby it's gonna be okay," but Kevin couldn't stop crying. He felt like he had fallen into a hole in the center of the Earth and all he could do was run into the guest room and hide from everyone. His mom, dad, and even Andy and Jim were worried.
When Kevin finally cooled himself down he realized how late it was getting. He heard his mom calling for him to come down so they could take the picture. There was no use sulking around when he couldn't un-ruin everything anyways. He changed into something not barf-stained and reluctantly headed into the living room. He ran into Jim and Andy drunkenly making out under the mistletoe, but couldn't bring himself to make any snarky comments- he was too disappointed for that. He sat on the couch waiting for everyone else. Mrs. French grabbed Jim and Andy by the shoulders and gave them her best commanding mother stare, which snapped them both into shape as they tried to make themselves look presentable. "Now remember," she whispered to them as Mr. French joined in, now sporting a tissue up his nose to stop the bleeding, "Kevin wants the perfect Christmas photo and we're going to give him that. Don't do anything stupid or you'll all be sleeping outside in the snow tonight." Andy gulped, knowing his mom meant business. "Yes, mom," he sighed. Jim added, "You got it, Mrs. F." She smiled and nodded as she, Jim, and Andy gathered around Kevin. Even Stogie was on his best behavior as he laid in the front. Kevin forced a smile. Mr. French adjusted the camera and set the timer before quickly running to his spot. "Alright everyone, say cheese in 3, 2, 1..."
Click.
He walked over to the camera and checked out what the camera got. He smiled and motioned for Kevin to come look. Kevin sighed and got up from his seat and walked over, expecting the worst. However, when Mr. French showed him the photo, he was surprised to see that it actually wasn't bad. Jim and Andy acted normal instead of mooning the camera or something stupid, Stogie hadn't destroyed anything or got in the way of the picture, and his parents seemed happy. "This... Really is perfect," he said softly. Mr. French nodded. "Glad you like it." Mrs. French came over to get a look. "Sorry things didn't go the way you wanted them to honey." Kevin sighed a little, but this was more relaxed. "It's okay, I guess nothing can be absolutely perfect." Andy and Jim appeared behind him as well. "Y'know," Andy laughed, "We look fine for being drunk." He realized way too late what he said out loud as Mrs. French lambasted him and Jim for getting drunk in the house. Kevin couldn't help but laugh. That's his family. Maybe it wasn't perfect, but it was his and that's not something he can change. "I'll have this printed at the pharmacy tomorrow," Mr. French said as he put the camera away. "If the copies aren't done before you guys head back to Mission Hill I'll mail them to you." Kevin smiled, "Thanks dad." He felt much better now despite nothing going to plan.