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To say it was an odd holiday tableau was an understatement, but there was something heartwarming and endearing about a master lock tactician who was no longer technically human obsessing over a turkey and his brother assuring him that it was all going to turn out smoothly. Richie was meticulous in nearly every aspect of his life and cooking was no exception and since everyone was together for Christmas he was wanting to make sure that everything was even more exceptional. Growing up the boys had to learn to cook for themselves, and Richie proved to be good at it, hell, maybe even amazing. Passing that home economics class had been easy for him. Seth was on cleaning detail that morning and had left Richie to his devices in the kitchen. There was no need to bother the maestro at work except for a few words of encouragement when he popped in to make sure Richie hadn’t died of an improbable aneurysm. Thankfully, Margaret had offered to take dessert off Richie’s hands, and Seth was thankful because the last time Richie did dessert he went for crème brulee and one of them didn’t set correctly, and he considered the whole batch a failure. Richie was notoriously hard on himself, and often more nervous in private than he let show in public.
When everyone came filing in Richie was thankful the cooking was done. It even felt festive in the bar, which the brothers had closed just for this Christmas get together. Christmas had never been a huge event for them. Uncle Eddie tried to make sure the holidays were up to par for the boys growing up, but there was too much trauma and bad experiences there to try to erase. It went without saying that the holidays weren’t much to be happy about in the Gecko household while Ray was still alive. However, this year the brothers had wanted to make this a little special. It was the first time they had a semblance of a family outside of Uncle Eddie, God rest his soul.
Seth and Billie struck up a friendship almost instantly. Seth didn’t get along with many adults, but he loved kids. With kids there were no hidden agendas. So, it was no surprise to Richie when Seth sat down in the floor playing dolls with Billie, but the rest of the room watched him with a distinct interest and Freddie’s mouth had even dropped open, forming an O shape. Scott looked at Richie, an eyebrow quirked in confusion and interest. “Seth likes kids,” Richie said with a shrug.
Kisa was watching Seth and Billie play with great interest, a contented smile on her face. She thought it was nice that everyone was seeing a side to Seth that wasn’t so brash. After a few more moments of observing she finally approached them. “Do you mind if I join?” she asked Billie, who nodded enthusiastically at the promise of more playmates. Kisa sat down, legs crossed, while Seth looked at her, a smile playing on his lips.
Kate was even there. She’d been quiet mostly since Amaru. She was understandably distant. She watched Kisa and Seth play with Billie warmly and for a moment Scott could say he truly saw his sister for the first time in months. He hoped that she’d like the gift that he’d gotten her. She had been upset about her necklace, the little silver cross that had been her mother’s. Amaru had discarded it, and there was no way for them to get it back. Scott had made up his mind then that he was going to get her a necklace similar. He thought that maybe it would give her a sense of comfort.
When the time came for exchanging gifts before dinner Seth was more excited than everyone. Kisa watched him curiously, picking up on Seth’s uncharacteristic elation. He offered to go first and then excused himself. “What’s up with him?” Carlos asked. He had never seen Seth like that and had come to think that Seth was only capable of sarcasm and anger. Carlos had spent most of the evening being silent and trying not to draw attention to himself. He was sure that he was invited out of mere politeness and thanks for his help with Amaru. He didn’t want to draw any ire and get chopped up once more. Minutes later Seth came in with a squirming German shepherd puppy with a pink bow around her neck. He sat the puppy down in Richie’s lap and grinned with satisfaction. Richie looked down at the puppy like it wasn’t quite real and the whole moment was a dream. The puppy wagged her tail and looked up at Richie like even she was waiting for a reaction.
“Richie, I want you to meet Grace Kelly,” Seth said, his voice gone warm, “I know she’s not Peaches, but I thought maybe you’d like her.” A smile creeped across Richie’s face, a genuine one that lit up his blue eyes and caused his brow to crinkle slightly. Grace Kelly wiggled around excitedly, sensing her new owner’s happiness. She jumped up, licking at Richie’s face, nearly knocking his glasses off. “I went ahead and named her for you because I know how you’ve got a thing for Princess Grace,” Seth explained, watching the puppy enthusiastically attack Richie’s face with her tongue. Richie’s hands buried in her soft fur, and he breathed in her puppy breath. Grace Kelly had been Richie’s first crush when he was a kid, and when Seth was looking for a puppy he just knew that he had to name her Grace Kelly as a nod to his brother’s first infatuation. Seth loved seeing Richie like that, smiling and totally taken with something. He had been taken with Peaches. He wanted Richie to experience that again. Seth felt like he had taken so much from Richie, had been selfish in his wanting life to go back to the old days where they were robbing banks. The dog was Seth’s promise that the old days were gone and the new were ahead, and that Richie would finally get some of that stability he craved.
“She’s perfect,” Richie managed between licks, “Just like Grace Kelly.”
The evening only got better from there. A lot of the presents were prefaced with ‘I didn’t know what to get you, but I thought you would like this,’ but there was a sense of warmth in the bar that was very real. It was almost like family. Richie had given a lot of thought in the gifts that he and Seth had gotten for everyone. Seth had always been the terrible gift buyer out of all of them, though he did manage to pick out a Les Paul electric guitar with flames painted on it for Scott. “The kid’ll like it,” Seth had said with a nod. Together the brothers decided to get Kate a nice Bible. They even consulted Scott and got it personalized. On the cover in gold ornate lettering was Katherine Rebekah Fuller. Freddie got a new hat, black and expensive. When they saw it they knew that it was destined to rest on the ranger’s head. Margaret was a little easier than say Carlos to shop for. Richie had decided on a nice perfume for her. After all every woman needs a bottle of quality perfume, or at least that’s what Richie thought, much better than some generic scented candle. Richie and Seth didn’t know much about toys for little girls, but they both settled on a Bat Girl doll for Billie, not wanting to leave her out. “Hell, I’d have played with this back in the day if we’d had things like this and, y’know dad would have let us played with dolls,” Seth mused when they were wrapping the doll. Richie nodded. He could remember a time when they had a Barbie that had found its way to them somehow. The boys didn’t think anything of it, it was just another toy like their GI Joes and superheroes. Ray made sure that Barbie was confiscated and acted like them playing with her was a crime against humanity.
Kisa was a difficult one to buy for, perhaps the most difficult one. Richie remembered giving her the tennis bracelet, the eternity bracelet, and how she felt trapped by it. He told Seth that whatever they got her it needed to be something that wouldn’t make her feel like she was owned. He had come to understand the woman the hard way, and one of the last things he wanted to do was cause her discomfort. He had trouble admitting it, but she was his first. In many ways it still stung him how it all had ended, but there was no strife between them, no ill will. He had resigned himself to the fact that he would always care for Kisa. Seth thought about what they should get Kisa. In a way he became obsessed with it. He had almost ruled jewelry completely off the table til it occurred to him what a good gift to get her was.
Seth handed Kisa a box with bright green metallic paper, a red bow perched on top. He hadn’t really called her Kisa. At first it had been because of a sort of angry spite, him not wanting to admit that she was growing on him, that they were two in the same. What lie in that little box was an apology for being that stubborn. When he told Richie what he had come up with, his brother agreed that he had come up with a suitable gift for her. Kisa delicately ripped the paper off the box and set it to the side. She pulled the lid off and for a moment stared at what was inside. It was a necklace, but it wasn’t like the necklace Malvado had given her, it was not meant to erase her, but to affirm her. It was plain, pure gold. A horizontal bar had lettering and a small sun pressed into the gold was the focal point of the necklace. It said Kisa. She bit her lip and then looked up at Seth and then to Richie. She held a tangible reminder that she wasn’t Santanico Pandemonium, and that she was Kisa. She was at a loss, but she was also flooded with words that she wanted to say. “Thank you, Seth. Thank you, Richard,” she said, running a finger across the bar, her finger touching each and every letter and then finally the sun as if to remember this was who she was now, that she was her own person, and here was proof of that. She didn’t ask anyone to put it on for her. She did it herself. No man would ever put a chain on her of any kind. This pendant didn’t feel heavy like Malvado’s. It was freeing.
Margaret seemingly had a blast picking out gifts for everyone. Even the brothers were impressed with what she had drummed up for everyone. “I just let her do what she does,” Freddie said with adoration. Seth flipped open the pocket knife. It was stainless steel with wood inlaid in the handle, plain, but it felt right in Seth’s hand.
“Freddie insisted on picking out Richie’s,” Margaret said, looking at her husband wryly. Richie also received a knife, but the metal was dark and the inlay was not wood, but bone. Richie shot Freddie a look, while Freddie looked overly pleased with himself.
“Thought you might like that,” Freddie said, practically beaming, “We all know how you love knives. Especially a certain kind of knife.”
When it came time to give Kate her gifts everyone watched her cautiously, looking for a positive reaction. Kisa had put a great deal of thought into what to get the young girl. She did a little research, looking for techniques that could help Kate cope better with what had happened to her. The last thing Kisa wanted to see was another young girl taken over by the darkness. The world could use a little more light. It was just a diary, albeit a nice one. Inside was a note from Kisa, written in his smooth looping handwriting. She encouraged Kate to write her thoughts on the pages in this diary, and told her that if she ever needed someone to listen to that she was there. The note ended with an apology, for all that had happened to Kate.
Kate read the note carefully, tears welling in her light eyes. She looked up at Kisa, holding the diary to her chest. “Thank you,” she said, her voice thick with unshed tears. Kisa gasped when Kate popped up from her seat and pulled the other woman into a hug. Kate held her to her, hoping to convey just how much she appreciated the gift and the offer of help. The past months Kate had moved through them numbly, ignoring almost everyone that wasn’t her brother. Kate thought now might be a good time to start to try connecting with others to stop closing herself off from everyone, to attempt to heal the deep scars scored on her soul. Kisa hadn’t been hugged many times over the seemingly endless years in her life, not real hugs like this one. Kate wanted nothing from her, unlike others who had once held her in their arms. This was a simple hug of gratitude and to Kisa that was simply everything.
It was Scott’s gift that caused Kate to finally break down and cry. She held the glinting silver necklace in her thin fingers. Richie noted earlier that she had lost weight and hoped that she would at least eat well tonight instead of picking at her food like he imagined that she did. Kate’s breath hitched in her throat, and she was trying to find words before closing her fingers around the cross, gripping it like it were the most precious thing in the world. A tear spilled over, running down a pale cheek. Scott put a hand on her shoulder. “I love you, Kate,” he said, looking at her intently as if trying to communicate how much his sister meant to him.
“I love you too,” she murmured, leaning forward and kissing Scott on the cheek. She handed him the necklace. “Help me put it on?” she asked, pulling her hair up and turning. Scott put the delicate chain around Kate’s neck, the cross looking at home on her chest. She already looked more like herself with it on. That trinket of Amaru’s had looked unnatural on Kate, but this bauble was different. This was more Kate.
The brothers looked at one another, matching smiles on their faces. This was what a real Christmas felt like. The first one that they’d ever had. The boys looked at the people surrounding them, the motley crew. It was patchwork for sure, but it was something. It was a family whether they would openly admit it or not. After a somber silence Richie suggested that they move on to dinner. At the table he and Seth had set places for every person that they all had lost this turbulent year. There were places for Uncle Eddie, Jacob, Ximena, Manola, Burt, Venganza, and after a lot of taut deliberation they even set a place for Earl for Freddie’s sake. They wanted to honor those who came and gone and had aided each one of them along the way to where they were now, who had shaped them into this family and brought them all closer in a way. The boys hoped that wherever Uncle Eddie was right now that he was proud of the sons he had raised and the family they had created.