TDOOK Holiday Bonus Chapter

Christmas at the Rodriguezes (Bonus Holiday Chapter)

Gianna stared at the box in her hands, willing herself to walk towards the post office with it. 

“Holmes!” The sound of the nickname had her jolting. Only one person called her that. Theo exited the door, smiling as he saw her. 

She raised an eyebrow. “Are you working at the post office now, too?” “No. Can’t be stealing all the jobs around here. Wouldn’t be fair to my community.” A grin pulled at his lips. “I was, however, just picking up some of our mail from our P.O box.” He held up the stack of envelopes in his hands.  He glanced at the small box in her hands, Valarie’s address scribbled on the front. “Still not talking to Valarie, huh?” 

She sighed. She had hoped that their disagreement would’ve passed by now, but Valarie was still angry. And she has every right to be. Gianna should’ve just went up to her house and dropped it off, but she couldn’t bring herself to, not ready to face Valarie after their argument. 

“She’ll–” Theo began. 

“If you tell me ‘She’ll come around’ one more time, I will punch you.” 

Theo held up his free hand. “Fine. But only because you asked nicely, not because I know you’ll follow through with that threat. By the way, what are you doing this weekend?” 

Her mind flashed to her conversation with Mason. She’d planned on going through her notes, combing for anything she might have missed that would be important. But she still hadn’t told Theo or Nathan she’d gone to his cabin–or that Unknown had been in her room. She would eventually,  she told herself. Just not yet.

“Nothing. Why?” 

“June’s throwing a little Christmas gathering this weekend. It’s supposed to be pretty small, just some of her friends in town. Nathan’s already on board.” 

She glanced at the box in her hands, hesitating. Theo seemed to read her mind. “If you’re worried that Liam and Valarie will be there–then don’t. Liam hasn’t stopped bragging about how he’s going to California for two weeks.” 

California. That must’ve been where the Duncans were going for their holiday break. Gianna didn’t even know Valarie had left for break. The thought of their fight made her stomach turn sour.

Perhaps it would be okay to go, just for a little while. To take her mind off things. 

“Okay,” she said reluctantly. 

Theo smiled. “Great. I’ll let June know. Oh, and your aunt and uncle can come, too. June says the more the merrier.” 

“Thanks for the offer, but Anthony’s not much of a party person.” Not to mention that Irene wouldn’t go if Anthony didn’t. 

Theo shrugged. “Then I guess it’ll just be us.” 

His gaze dropped on her at the same time he said us. Gianna swallowed as Theo glanced away, hand rising to the back of his neck. He cleared his throat. “Us, as in you, me and Nathan, of course. And my dad and June. And Bagel.” 

“Well if Bagel’s going to be there…” 

He grinned. “I knew that would convince you. So, I’ll see you this Friday then, six o’clock.” He started making his way back to his truck. “Oh, and don’t forget to bring a mug–the ugliest one you  can find.” 

Before she even had time to question that odd request, Theo was already in his truck, driving away. She let out a little scoff, glancing  at the box in her hands. It looked like she was going to drop the gift  off at Valarie’s house after all. 

***

Gianna arrived at the Rodriguez’s later that night, a fresh batch of cookies in her arms and the requested mug in her bagrbag. Theo opened the door, and Gianna fought a smile at the lopsided Santa Claus hat on his head. His brows furrowed. “Why are you looking at me like that?” 

“No reason,” she breathed, grateful for the warmth of the house. She barely recognized the living room after June decorated it. Wreaths hung from the windows, and the fireplace was decorated with a dark green garland and lit candles. Standing by the tree by himself was Nathan, glancing around the room full of people, as if he wished the Earth could swallow him whole. Well, she couldn’t tell if his discomfort was due to the crowded room, or how Bagel snuggled up to his chest. 

Relief passed through his eyes when he spotted Gianna and Theo walking towards him. “Thank God,” he said, craning his neck away as Bagel tried to lick his face. “I haven’t been able to get her off for the past seven minutes.” 

Theo chuckled. “I told you she was friendly.” 

Nathan made an uncomfortable noise in the back of his throat and Gianna handed Theo the tray  of cookies before holding  out her arms. “Here. I’ll take her.” Nathan didn’t argue, shoving Bagel into her arms as gently as he could. Gianna patted the top of Bagel’s head as Nathan wiped away the dog hair off his sweater. 

“How long have you  been here?” she asked him. 

“About a half hour. I thought I’d get here before everyone started arriving, but the moment my mom pulled up to the driveway it was already filled with cars.” He glared at Theo. “You didn’t tell me there was going to be so many people.” 

“Dude, it’s a Christmas party,” Theo said. “I thought that would explain itself.” 

“You said June was having a  small gathering. Key word: small.” 

“Where is June?” Gianna asked, glancing around the room in search of her. 

“In the kitchen helping my dad cook the food. Hey, did you bring the mug?” 

Gianna nodded, setting down Bagel  to pull out the mug she’d found in the back of the cup cabinet back home. 

Theo laughed. “Is that supposed to be a face?” 

“I think it was supposed to be a football actually. Mrs. Delgado went through a pottery phase. That was a thirtieth birthday gift to Anthony that never saw the light of day. It won’t be missed.” 

“What are the mugs for anyway?” Nathan asked. 

“White Elephant: Ugly Mug Version. Everyone had to bring one and then we’ll play the game later tonight.” He gestured to the table, covered with ugly mugs. 

Gianna arched an eyebrow. “Is this a Rodriguez Christmas tradition?” 

“It’s June’s tradition actually,” he explained. “She throws this party every year and since not everyone can  go  all  out for Secret Santa gifts, she decides to set a theme instead. Last year was ugly blankets and the year before was ugly vases.”

“And now it’s ugly mugs,” Nathan murmured.  

“Oh, Gianna, you made it!” June appeared in the entrance to the living room, the skirt of her  velvety red dress swaying around legs. She enveloped Gianna in a hug, the tips of her hair tickling her neck. “Have you eaten yet? Mitch cooked some burgers and hot dogs. They’re in the kitchen.” 

“Is the kitchen crowded?” Nathan asked. 

“Oh, no, it’s just Mitch in there–” 

Nathan was already halfway to the kitchen before she could finish her sentence. At June’s frown, Theo said, “He’s not much of a party person.” 

“Well, luckily for him the party is all out here.” June clasped her hands together. “Speaking of, where is the Christmas music?” She hummed to herself, picking up the remote and switching some music on before facing the room. “Who’s ready for a game of charades?” 

***   

Three rounds of charades and several cups of hot chocolate later, Gianna’s side hurt from laughing so much. She couldn’t remember the last time she felt like this–carefree, having fun. God, her cheeks hurt from smiling. 

“I  think my Deadpool impression was pretty  good actually,” Theo  was saying as they heard a crash from the kitchen, followed  by an ow. Theo and Gianna scrambled to their feet and rushed to the kitchen to find Nathan sprawled on the ground, ornaments scattered over the floor. 

Theo helped him up, but Nathan still stumbled. “...perfectly  okayy,” he slurred, pushing Theo away. 

“Nathan, are you okay?” Gianna  fought to keep the  laughter out of her voice. Theo, however, had no qualms with hiding the smile spreading across his face. 

He whispered to Gianna, “I think I know what’s wrong.” He glanced at Nathan. “Hey, Nate, you didn’t happen to eat anything out of the fridge, did you?” 

“Yeah.” Nathan hiccuped.  “I got some mayonnaise to go on my burger.” 

“And where’s the mayonnaise now?” 

Nathan pointed to a half filled jar sitting on the table. Laughter spilled from Theo before he could stifle it. He wiped a tear with his finger. “Nate–I  hate to be the one to break this to you man, but that’s not mayanaoise. That’s June’s special eggnog.” 

Nathan’s eyes widened comically. “You mean I’m drunk?”  

“Depends on how much you drank. June’s eggnog tends to be on the stronger side.” 

“Oh no.” Nathan clutched the roots of his sandy hair. “My mom’s going to kill me.” Nathan  stumbled out of theout the kitchen, rambling. 

“Should we check on him?” Gianna asked, poking her head out of the kitchen. Nathan was now standing by the fireplace, openly admiring the green garland. 

“Oh, he should be fine. I’m more concerned about how much mayonnaise he normally puts on his burgers.” He held up the half empty jar. 

June’s voice reached the kitchen. “Time to open gifts!” 

As they walked out to join everyone else, Gianna pulled Theo’s sleeve. “I thought you said everyone was playing White Elephant. I didn’t bring anything other than the mugs,” 

“No one expected you to,” Theo reassured her. “June likes getting gifts for everyone. Some people just happened to bring their own.” 

She pointed to the present he grabbed from beneath the tree. “Then what’s that for?” 

He  held out the present. “For you.” 

Her face warmed. “Theo–” 

“Don’t worry, I didn’t do anything too extravagant.” Theo bounced on the soles of his feet. If Gianna didn’t know better, she would’ve thought he was nervous. “Well? Are you going to open it?” 

“But the anticipation’s the best part,” she said, teasingly. 

They were standing so close she could feel the warmth of his breath on her shoulder as he swore. “You’re going to be the death of me.” 

She smiled, slowly undoing the wrapping, stilling when she saw that it was a book. And not just any book: The Bungalow Mystery. It was the same cover and height as the rest of her series on her shelves. 

“Now you have the complete set.” She tilted her head up just in time to see Theo’s warm  brown eyes flicker to her. 

“Thank you.” She swallowed. “I–I got something for you, too.”

She reached into her bag, pulling out the pair of safety goggles. “It’s not much,” she said, her face warming. “But I remembered the first time we met your goggles had a slight crack in the corner. It was barely there, I didn’t even see it until I was about to leave that day. Since you’re there all the time I figured it would be good to have your own pair instead of the school’s lousy–” 

“Holmes.” A beautiful smile spread across his face and her heart skipped a beat. “It’s perfect. Thank  you.” 

His fingers brushed against hers as he took the goggles from her and every nerve in her body came alive. Before she could process that reaction, June’s voice had them both looking over. 

“Theo, Gianna!” she cried, waving for them to join where everyone was crouched by the tree for a picture. The two dashed over, squeezing in besides Nathan. 

“Okay, on three!” Mitch said, holding up the camera. “One… two….” 

“Merry Christmas!” Everyone cried  in unison. 

***

The rest of the night seemed to pass in a blur. Laughter filled the air and endless chatter. But despite the light mood, a dark cloud still hovered over Gianna. Unknown’s threat still loomed over her head. If they were capable of breaking into her room and destroying it, they were capable of much more. And she wouldn’t let Theo or Nathan get hurt because of it. Because of her.

Looking around the room, Gianna savored the warmth radiating in the air and the smiles and laughter and holiday cheer. Because after today, things couldn’t continue the way they had been. She wouldn’t let her friends get hurt. Even if it meant pushing them away. 

“Gianna!” Nathan cried from across the room. At some point throughout the night, he’d acquired a santa hat and like Theo’s it sat lopsided on his head. “Come on!” 

Gianna smiled. The night wasn’t over yet.