“ ♪ Just hear those sleigh bells jingling, ring-ting-tingling too… ♪ “

“It’s July, Nur–“

“ ♪ COME ON, IT’S LOVELY WEATHER FOR A SLEIGH RIDE TOGETHER WITH YOOUUU! ♪ “

Apparently Bar Harbor has a couple year-round Christmas stores. Which… you can’t tell me Nursey wouldn’t go nuts in one of those. Dex, on the other hand, is a firm believer in “It’s not Christmas season until after Thanksgiving.”

This takes place in the summer between Dex and Nursey’s third and fourth year. The kids are Dex’s cousins, whom the two are herding around. There are more off frame, and all present were treated by “Uncle Derek”.

Prompt #3

Drinking dreidels / Adult Hanukkah games

~

The theme this week is Hanukkah.

Please tag ‘omgcpwinterextravaganza’ so we can reblog your work. You can also post to the AO3 collection.

Omg! I know it’s the wrong holiday but this totally reminded me of Manishvitz pong (instead of beer pong) that we played in college at a Jewish fraternity for passover. It was an awful idea, and everyone who played ended up puking (manishvitz is NOT made for drinking in any sort of quantity) , but it would make a great fic and I could totally see the Haus doing it and Holster leading the charge!

It may be the wrong holiday, but it’s a fun prompt :D

A New Beginning

There was a knock at the door.

Bitty and Jack exchanged a look, and Jack shrugged. They weren’t expecting anybody, and it was too late for door-to-door salesmen, if one had somehow managed to get into the building.

Jack was squeezing the excess juices out of a dish towel full of grated potatoes and onions, so Bitty put down the eggs he had been about to add to the dry ingredients and went to see who it was.

He opened the door and found his mother standing on the other side. She looked almost surprised to see him. She fidgeted with the strap of her purse and all he could think was when Jack had added his parents to the list of approved visitors, Bitty had never expected either of them to actually visit.

“Hey, Dicky,” she said softly, not meeting his eyes.

“Ma- Mother,” he said, and she winced a little. “I didn’t know you were comin’ to town.” Ingrained politeness took over, and he stepped back, opening the door wide. “Won’t you come in?”

She walked through the door hesitantly, as if unsure of her welcome. Bitty wanted to ask why she had come, but he wasn’t sure he’d like the answer.

“Jack’s place is real nice,” she said softly, looking around.

“Why don’t you have a seat? You must be all tuckered out after your flight. Would you like something to drink?”

She sat down gingerly on Jack’s fancy couch and nodded.

Bitty resisted the urge to flee and walked calmly back to the kitchen.

“Who was at the door, bud?” Jack asked, still wringing out the potato and onion mixture.

“My mother.”

Jack looked at him sharply, probably because of the little break in his voice that he couldn’t help.

“I didn’t know she was coming for a visit.” It was almost a question.

“Neither did I.” Bitty grabbed a glass from the cupboard and poured a glass of sweet tea he’d made that afternoon. After some thought, he poured a glass for himself, too. It was time for a sit-down with his mother.

“Do you want me to…”

Bitty wasn’t sure what Jack was offering to do. Talk to his mother for him? Throw her out? He wasn’t sure which he’d prefer. But no, he’d deal with this himself. He picked up the glasses and squared his shoulders. “I’ve got this.”

Jack leaned over and kissed the top of his head. “I’ll be right here, eh?”

Bitty nodded and went back out to the living room. He handed a glass of tea to his mother, took a seat in the armchair, and proceeded to make small talk with her. The stilted, awkward kind that was nothing like the way they used to talk to each other. After one prolonged silence too many, Bitty had had enough. He set his glass down carefully on the coffee table and took a deep breath.

“Why did you come here, Mother?”

She set her glass down as carefully as he had and looked him square in the eye. “I missed you, Dicky.”

He crossed his arms. “Okay.”

“I messed things up, and I’m sorry. I just want things to be the way they were.” Bitty started to say something and she said quickly, “When we could tell each other anything. Or at least I thought we could. And I’ve been doing some hard thinking, and it all comes down to one thing: You’re my son and I love you.”

Bitty blinked furiously as tears welled up in his eyes. “Mama, I-”

“I don’t understand the… gay thing, and it makes me uncomfortable, but it turns out that’s who you are. That’s who you’ve been your whole life. And I’ve loved you your whole life. So…” She was blinking away her own tears now. “I want to do better by you than I have been. I want us to get back to how we were, only this time we’d really be able to tell each other anything. I want to try, if you’ll let me.”

Bitty wiped the tears from his face. “That’s… that’s a lot, mama. I mean, I want us to get back to that too, but…” He shook his head. He had so many things he wanted to say to her. Would hearing them drive her away again? Could she really learn to accept the real him? Could he forgive her for not accepting him right away? He knew he wanted to. He just had no idea where to start. ”We can try. But I’m not hiding who I am anymore and I’m not hiding Jack. And if that’s too much for you, well, that’s that.”

She nodded. “Of course, Dicky.”

Another awkward silence descended. Bitty had no idea what to do next. Were they supposed to start right now? How? He looked around for inspiration and saw Jack standing in the doorway. He threw him a pleading look.

Jack took a few steps into the room. “Hello, Mrs. Bittle.”

“Oh.” She stood up and turned to face him. “Hello, Jack. Please, I told you to call me Suzanne.”

Jack nodded. “Suzanne. Euh, Bits and I were going to make latkes for tonight. For Hanukkah.”

“Oh. That sounds real nice.” She glanced nervously at Bitty.

“It’s my first time making my family’s recipe,” Jack went on.

“We figured we’d muddle through, seeing as I have some experience in the kitchen, and Jack has watched them being made dozens of times before,” Bitty added.

She nodded. “I’m sure you’ll do just fine, boys.”

Jack shared a look with Bitty, then told her, “You’re welcome to help, if you want. You could celebrate with us tonight, too.”

“Oh,” she said again. “If I wouldn’t be imposing?” She looked at Bitty, her eyes wide.

Him and his mama in the kitchen, the way it had been his whole life. Only now, it would be him and his mama and Jack in the kitchen, learning something new. Maybe that was the way to start.

“Please, mama, I’d like it if you stayed.”