It’s the Most Contentious Time of the Year!
Title: It’s the Most Contentious Time of the Year!
Author: flowersforchuck
Rating: PG-13
Characters: LuRe, and a bunch of others
Summary: Reid’s not a Grinch. He’s NOT!
Disclaimer: I don't own anything but CSB/P&G do. No harm intended.
Author's notes: I’ve spent the last week having ITMoM kick my ass, so I thought I’d give this weeks Fun Fic Friday a try. As always this was suppose to be a short, little piece of fluff that got out of hand. Also I'm behind on fic reading, so I hope no one has used Krampus yet. Not beta-ed so all mistakes are mine (I don't know if it's holiday fatuige but I feel like this is more of a mess than usual {shrug}). Happy Holidays to all, and thank for reading! Enjoy.
A life with Luke meant a life where Christmas was the most wonderful time of the year. He loved the damn holiday while it set Reid’s teeth on edge; the jangle of bells, holiday music playing everywhere they went, and people constantly smiling and wishing each other a ‘Merry Christmas!’ or ‘Happy Holidays!’
He thought Luke was over the top with the decorating, but once Pons was born, Reid realized Luke had actually dialed it back those first couple years they were together. Reid remembered coming home, the Monday after Thanksgiving, to an explosion of lights and tinsel. Luke had greeted him wearing an apron with a Christmas tree on it, and a manic grin that scared the living crap out of Reid.
“Isn’t it great? This is going to be the best Christmas ever!”
Reid had looked around him and spied their daughter sitting in her highchair, wearing reindeer antlers on her head. He knew right then and there he had to put a stop to it.
It wasn’t that Reid hated Christmas. He didn’t. What he hated was fantasy and lies triumphing logic and fact. Like how they were supposed to warn the kids against strangers…unless he was a jolly, fat man in a red suit; that guy was okay. Or the woman who snuck into their room at night to trade teeth for cash, but the Tooth Fairy was another story.
But trying to reason with Luke, about the hypocrisy, was like trying to reason with a brick wall. There was no stopping Luke. Or, more to the point, Reid was incapable of saying ‘no’ to Luke. And with rising horror, Reid realized he was even less capable to say ‘no’ when Luke held Beth in his arms.
Reid loved control, even if it was just the semblance of control, so an entire month of his wants being dismissed had grated. Whenever he complained to Luke, Luke would roll his eyes and tell Reid to add his own tradition, so as to feel more involved.
Pissed, Reid grabbed his computer, and a half an hour later came up with Krampus.
Luke was horrified. His eyes grew larger and he cuddled Beth closer as Reid explained.
“I don’t think this is a good idea”
“Honestly? I don’t care. You want me to implement my own tradition? Well, this is it.”
“I meant something you remember fondly as a kid!”
“Luke, my fondest Christmas memory was when I was six. I busted my parents putting the ‘Santa’ gifts under the tree.” At first his dad tried to convince him Santa was sick, so he had to mail the presents, but his mom had just rolled her eyes and said ‘Fine, Santa’s not real. Are you happy?’
Reid smiled at the memory and told Luke, “It was a sweet victory.”
“There’s something seriously wrong with you.”
After much bitching and moaning, Luke had reluctantly relented, but with one caveat, “Promise me you won’t make it too frightening? I don’t want to scar her for life.”
Reid snorted but said, “Promise.”
To keep that promise he hired the least frightening guy in Oakdale to be his Krampus: Casey Hughes. Casey was a big loveable goof; even Reid would admit to that, and Casey was more than willing to play the part.
With less than a week of planning Reid slapped together, what he called, a ‘Party for the Parents’. It was a small gathering held on the first Friday in December. Katie brought Jacob and her youngest, Sadie. Ethan and Natalie were there. And because he was Krampus, Casey and Alison brought their son Robbie.
Luke spent the time before Casey’s grand entrance chewing on his thumb and looking nervous. It was all for naught though, because everything went pretty smoothly. Being five, Jacob was the only one of the kids wary of Casey in his ‘costume’, but he soon realized it was his cousin behind the Colonel Sanders’ mustache and goatee. It probably helped that Casey also talked like a pirate.
And Beth? Well, Beth was less than six months old, so she was pretty oblivious to the whole thing.
As the years past, that changed. Now, when Reid announced he was starting to plan the Krampus party, Beth would crawl into his lap, wrap her arms around his neck, and whisper into is ear, “Do you think he’ll take me this year, Daddy?”
“You tell me, Pons. Have you been good this year?”
For the first time she looked worried. Reid knew she was thinking about all the times she had acted out this year, and between David’s birth and the move, it had been a lot. Reid wrapped her up in his arms and kissed her temple. “Don’t worry, you’re not going anywhere.” She looked relived and gave him a blinding smile that looked just like Luke’s
The ‘Party for Parents’ had become an annual Oakdale event, and people would constantly come up to him and drop hints about wanting to come, and this would be the first year they’d have the room.
Reid would never be confused for a social butterfly, and Luke usually took care of all party planning, but seven years in, and Luke still hated the Krampus theme. Reid felt vindication at the popularity of his idea, and decided this year he would go all out.
Reid hired caterers and had custom invitations made. With the help of Pons, and Medulla securely strapped into his baby carrier on Reid’s chest, the trio decorated inside and out with black and red. Reid put the finishing touches to the gate surrounding the pool and turned around to find Luke watching from the inside, jaw set and arms folded tightly across his chest. Reid smirked and waved while he followed a skipping Beth back inside the house.
Beth ran upstairs to put on her party dress as Luke pulled David from the carrier, and Reid popped a canapé into his mouth.
“I don’t like this.”
“Ho, there’s a news flash. You have a whole month of ‘good tidings and joy’. This is my thing, why can’t you let me just have it?”
Luke cuddled David closer and Reid ran a hand over the baby’s hair. Beth was so blond when she was born that it took over a year before it looked like she had any hair at all. Reid’s was the same way and he could already see Beth’s started to change to a light, auburn blonde. David came out with a shit-ton of dark brown hair, but in the past 10 months it had fallen out and changed to a fuzzy, light brown.
They grew and changed so fast, and for the first time since Luke brought it up, Reid was starting to feel his resistance to having a third start to crumble.
Luke wiped crumbs from the side of Reid’s mouth and whined. “It’s just so dark. Isn’t that what Halloween is for?”
Reid sighed and gave Luke a quick kiss. “But it’s expected then. Just think of it as Krampus’ Yin to Santa’s Yang…kinda like how I am to yours.”
“I think it’s the other way around.” Reid shrugged as Luke continued. “I don’t know, maybe I’d feel better if Casey was still doing it.”
Casey’s absence was the one hitch in Reid’s plan. He and Alison had planned a trip with the kids to Disneyland, and no matter how much Reid bitch, Casey wasn’t changing his mind.
“Dude…”
“Don’t call me ‘dude’.”
“Bro…”
“Don’t call me ‘bro’.”
“Fine! Reid, I’m sorry, I’d really like to do it, but this trip has been planned for months.”
“What the hell am I suppose to do?”
“You could always hire somebody, or do it yourself.”
Reid didn’t dress up, and the closest he got was wearing his lab coat for Halloween. Luckily, his assistant took pity on him, and offered up his girlfriend’s brother as an option. The guy looked barely twenty, but because he was in a community production of Othello, he thought of himself as a professional. Reid had started to get desperate so he was more than willing to fork over the $500, and told the guy what he wanted. The guy waved him off and told him he’d research the part, and not to worry, he’d be at Reid’s at 7pm sharp.
It was five ‘til and the party was in full swing. Reid was watching Beth played tag with Sadie, and kept a careful eye on the pair, hoping neither would run into the outside heaters he had rented. David was asleep in Lily’s arms as she chatted with Luke, and Reid checked his watch again and decided it was time to gather everyone into the living room.
“Sadie! Pons! Get your butts in here, he’s coming.”
Beth squealed in delight, rushed past Reid, and pushed her way towards the front door. Reid had made it to the door just as it rang. Reid turned to his guests and smiled before flinging the door open with a flourish.
Casey’s costume evolved over the years, but only slightly. He wore a white Van Dyke beard and three inch horns on his head. He carried a rucksack and a thin stick, that Jacob wrestled from him that first year and swatted him on butt. The clothes he wore were a bastardization of lederhosen, and he was the most benign looking Krampus imaginable.
The ‘thing’ that walked through Reid’s door was the exact opposite. The guy was in a full, hairy goat suit that included cloven hooves. He had on a prostatic that protruded his forehead, yellow contacts with vertical slits for the pupils, and three foot, curved horns. He waved a whip in one hand and thrust a large burlap sack in front of him. When he opened his mouth to hiss a, realistic, forked tongue slipped out. Reid watched in shock as Krampus leaned down to the nearest child to him, and was horrified to see it was Beth.
“Do you know what happens to bad little girls? They come home with me!” The Krampus laughed a sick sounding ‘ho ho ho’, and the room fell silent. Beth’s eyes were wide with fear as a tear slipped down, and her lip trembled before her face crumpled fully and she started to scream.
The sound was blood curdling, and Reid was fully ready to beat the guy to death. Finally, finding her faculties, Beth ran to Luke as other children started to run around in a panic, screaming.
Reid grabbed the guy by the scruff of his neck and pulled him outside and pushed him down into a bank of snow along the walkway.
“What the FUCK was that?!”
The guy tried to get up but his hooves made maneuvering difficult. “Whoa, hey! I was just playing my part!”
Reid was furious and felt spittle fly out as he yelled, “I told you it was for kids! I said ‘not too scary’! WHAT part of that did you not UNDERSTAND?!”
“Dude, I know, but I started to look into it and Krampus is practically a demon. I wanted to stay true, you know. It’s not like I told that kid I was going to kill and eat her!”
Reid lost it and straddled the guy, using his hands to push him, by the shoulders, back into the snow. “That ‘kid’ is my daughter!” At the word ‘daughter’ Reid released the hold of his right hand and used it to punch the guy in the side.
The Krampus whimpered and pleaded, “Please, I’m sorry. I’m sorry!”
Shocked at his actions and the depth of his anger, Reid scuttled back and landed in the opposite snow bank. He looked at the warm glow of the lights inside. Inside where his daughter was crying her eyes out, afraid she was going to be taken away from her family. Reid let out a choked off sob and buried his head in his hands. What had he done?
The Krampus made it to his knees, then up to his feet and clopped towards Reid. “Dude?”
Reid looked up angrily and told him, “Leave!”
The guy looked sadly down and scuffed a hoof. “I really am sorry.”
He shuffled off and Reid sat there for a minute, and tried to figure out how to fix things. Before coming to any decision the front door opened and guests poured out. Most gave Reid the stink eye as they filed past, and honestly, Reid couldn’t blame them. At the end of the line came Katie, Chris, and the kids. Katie gave a sympathetic smile as Sadie burrowed closer to her, and Chris sneered, tugging a lagging Jacob behind him.
Bringing up the rear was the Snyder’s. A stunned Lilly was being guided by an exasperated Natalie. Ethan winked and gave him thumbs up when he passed; which left Holden, who stopped in front of Reid and gave him a, “How’re you doin’ son?”
He snorted and said, “I’m fine.” Reid wiped a stray tear from his eye and, thankfully, Holden had the decency to look away. “How’s Beth?”
“She’ll be okay. Luke’s trying to calm her down. Don’t worry Reid, kids have a tendency to be resilient, and she comes from strong stock. She’ll forget the whole thing in a night or two.”
Holden held out his hand and helped pull Reid up when he took it. Reid brushed off his butt and winced at how soaked his jeans became. “I thought the whole goal of being a parent was avoiding trauma.”
Holden shrugged and smirked, “I have six kids, Reid. Drama, and all the crap that surrounds it is pretty unavoidable. It’s how you deal with it when it happens that makes the difference.”
Reid refrained himself from asking Holden what he did so he could do the opposite. For all the crap Luke went though he had turned out pretty awesome. Crap, Luke. “How’s he taking it?”
Holden cringed and Reid sighed. “Ah, I’d be pretty quick with the apologies…not that this was your fault necessarily, but…”
Reid slapped Holden on the shoulder and made his way towards the house. “Thanks, Holden. You guys have a good night.”
“Night, Reid. Good Luck.”
When he finally made it inside Luke and the kids were nowhere to be found, but the place was still buzzing with servers. Reid closed his eyes and counted to ten when he saw the videographer make his way over with Henry, gleefully trailing behind.
“Dr. Oliver?”
“What?”
“Um, I guess the party’s over? I was hoping to get going?” That was Reid’s cue to pay him and he reached for his wallet, and he hoped the guy took credit.
Henry slid in close and chuckled into Reid’s ear. “You know, after all these years, I’m glad this was the one you invited me to!”
The guy took the card and said, “It’ll probably take a couple days, but which email address do you want me to send the file to?”
Reid snorted and shook his head. “Don’t bother. Just junk it; I don’t want to see it.”
Henry gasped. “No, no, I want a copy!” He looked to the guy with the camera. “I’ll pay you double!”
Reid looked to the stairs and made a quick decision. “Tell you what. I’ll have him send it to you if you do me a favor.”
Henry narrowed his eyes. “What kind of favor?”
Handing out his credit card, Reid gestured to the workers milling about. “Make sure everyone gets paid, and then get them out. I have more important things to deal with.”
Henry’s face momentary softened with compassion and snatched the card. “Deal, but don’t think I’m not going to lord this video over you, because I so am!”
Reid walk to the stairs and said, “Fine.”, before he made his way up.
Reid peeked into David’s room first to find the kid fast asleep. He took a moment to watch his little Medulla, happy in the knowledge he wouldn’t have memories of Reid’s latest blunder. Well, until Henry showed him the video.
Further down the hall he stopped outside Beth’s room and listened to Luke butchering ‘Silent Night’. Reid loved Luke in a way that was indescribable, and completely illogical; a good thing too because Luke couldn’t sing to save his soul. Reid was no Pavarotti, but Luke brought to mind the phrase ‘cats in heat’.
The door was ajar, but he knocked anyway. Privacy was to be respected. When Pons turned three she went through a phase of bursting into their room at all hours of the night. Thankfully, she never caught them in flagrante delicto, although she had come close. Reid would have explained the birds and the bees and all the variants in between, but that didn’t mean he wanted to.
He waited until Beth told him he could come in. Luke was running a hand threw her hair and gave Reid a dirty look. “Hey, Beth, can I talk to you?”
His daughter, still in her rumpled party dress, rolled over and nodded her tear streaked face. Reid crawled into the bed and pulled her close. After a moment’s hesitation, Luke got up and left them alone.
“I know he scared you pretty bad, but are you okay?” Beth wiped at her face but nodded, and Reid went on. “Honey, I don’t know if you realized it or not, but Krampus isn’t real. That guy tonight was just a kid who thinks he’s an actor, although I’m pretty sure he delivers pizzas when he’s not acting. It was just a guy in a really, really good costume.”
Beth was quiet, but Reid took it as a good sign that she wasn’t crying. Finally, she asked, “Like Santa right?”
Reid was surprised he didn’t agree immediately, but Luke’s voice was in his head expounding on how Santa brought an extra element of magic to the season. Still, she had asked and Reid was pretty sure she already knew the answer. “No, Krampus and Santa aren’t real.”
He watched as the side of her mouth quirked up, and just by her face, Reid could see her internal dialogue; ‘I knew it!’ Reid suppressed a smile and asked, “Who told you?”
Beth scowled at him. “No one told me. I just knew.” Then she told Reid in earnest, “Don’t tell Daddy though, he still believes.”
Reid did grin then. “Don’t worry kiddo, my lips are sealed.”
She nodded and laid down. “Will you stay with me?”
Reid made himself more comfortable and turned to watch her. “Sure.”
“Daddy?”
“Yeah, Baby?”
“It’s okay if we have the Krampus party next year, just…can Uncle Casey be the Krampus again?”
“I’m pretty sure it’ll be up to your dad.”
It took about 20 minutes before Beth was out cold. Normally, Reid sneezing in his office downstairs would have woken her up; today must have been especially taxing because he was able to get her changed and tucked back under the covers without her opening her eyes once.
He kissed her forehead one last time and went looking for Luke. The downstairs was dark, but a light was on in their bedroom so he wasn’t too hard to find.
Luke was sitting out on their little balcony, wrapped in a blanket. Reid thought about going to grab his coat or changing his pants, but realized going without was part of his penance. He sat in the second chair and waited for Luke to start. It didn’t take long.
“I don’t want have to say, ‘I told you so’…”
“So don’t.”
“Come on, Reid! I’m pretty sure one of those kids wet themselves!” Luke pulled the blanket closer and shot him a disgruntled look. “You know we’ve, pretty much, alienated half the parents in Oakdale. God, I have no idea how I’m going to look them in the eyes on Monday.”
Reid rolled his eyes and looked up to the sky. It was cold, and since the stars were shining brightly, it was going to get colder.
Luke cared. For Reid it was a double edged sword; Luke’s caring was one of the reasons Reid loved him so much, but he was so determined to make everybody happy that it made him hyperaware of other people’s opinions.
Besides his family, there were, maybe, a dozen people Reid gave two shits about; but the only person whose opinion really mattered was Luke’s. Of course, Luke was pretty pissed at him so maybe neither of their approaches at dealing with people was the right one.
Reid shivered. “Look, it’s not like I planned this. I was pretty specific that small children would be here. I literally said, ‘not too scary’. I’ve been doing this for years…you’re the one who said I needed to find my holiday niche, but you’re the one whose got their panties in a wad about it. What is your fucking deal, Luke?”
Luke threw him a bitch face, and stomps back into the bedroom. They’ve been having this fight for years, even if neither had said a word, and Reid thought it was about time to end it.
Reid followed him in and watched as Luke threw the blanket back onto the bed. “All I wanted was you to start some kind of tradition with the kids. Build a snowman, or string popcorn garland, and not be a complete dick about Christmas! It’s the same bullshit every year; we go to get the tree and you complain about deforestation, we go to buy gifts and you bitch about commercialization. Everything we do your coming up with a snide remark instead of just being with us. And, just to make a point, you have to come up with your own holiday!”
Reid knows it wouldn’t help, but couldn't help but add, “Krampus actually predates Christianity.’
Luke balled up his fists and scrunched up his face. “That! That right there is what I’m talking about! You know what? Fine, your right, it’s all bullshit! We’ll just cancel Christmas this year. Would that make you happy?!”
Defeated Luke sat on the bed and fell onto his back.
“Luke…”
“You know, as a kid, no matter what else was going on, it was the one day a year I could count on us being a family.”
And that was the moment Reid realized the meaning of Christmas. Maybe not for everyone, but what it meant for Luke. It meant normal. From birth, Luke was surrounded by a constant stream of crap, and he could envision a little Luke holding on to the promise that December 25th brought.
Reid had gone through rough patches in his life, some rougher than others, but nothing compared to the garbage Luke had been through. He was heartbroken for that little boy and, once again in Luke’s presence, felt like a complete dick. “I’ll do better.”
Luke laughed and shook his head. “You can’t change who you are, Reid. I don’t want you to, I…just wished it wasn’t such a contentious point for us.”
Reid hated to cry, that’s why he hardly did it, but he found himself wiping a tear from his cheek before crawling over Luke on the bed. “I love you.”
Luke tugged on an errant curl at the nape of Reid’s neck. “I know. I love you too.”
“Look, I’ll never be like the jolly fat man, but now that I’m aware, I can try and lay off the comments. We can figure this out. I don’t want you to feel like anything less then what you are because, God, Luke. You’re everything.”
Luke pulled him down into an embrace, and they held each other for a few minutes. Nothing actually had been resolved; Reid knew that they could spend hours saying the right things to each other, but unless he was able to make good on his promise it didn't mean a thing.
Luke slapped at his wet jeans and mumbled into his neck, “Go get changed. Henry took care of, most everything, downstairs, and I put your card on the dresser. I’m going to bed.”
Reid nodded and got up. He went into the bathroom and started to plan.
The next morning he started with the kids and watched ‘How the Grinch Stole Christmas!’ He found it one of the least offensive holiday movie; the basic idea was about unity, and about halfway through Luke joined them. They sat together with the kids cuddled close; they were a family, and his love for them was the only thing that never wavered.
The tree was already set up and decorated, but Sunday Luke pulled out the boxes for the rest of the house and Reid helped without complaint. He even spent an hour with Beth cutting out strips of red and green construction paper and made garland.
Monday meant Reid was back at work. The first thing his assistant, Brian, did was set a caramel latte on his desk.
“Hey, Dr. Oliver. Justin told me what happened. I’m really sorry; he has a tendency to go over the top.”
Reid waved him off. “Don’t worry about it. Is he okay? Thing got…a little heated.”
Brian grinned. “He’s fine. He has an unfortunate tendency for getting the shit kicked out of him.” He pulled four, one hundred dollar bills from his pocket. “He wanted me to give this back to you. He said he spent a hundred on the costume, but he’ll pay you back.”
Reid stared at the money on his desk and rubbed a hand over his face. “What I did was wrong; take the money back to him. And I know it won’t make up for what I did, but I’ll add an extra hundred for pain and suffering.”
“Are you sure Dr. Oliver?”
“Yeah. If anything his appearance triggered an epiphany, it’s the least I could do.”
Even though they owned the condo, buying the house was a big deal, especially for Luke. Living together, getting married, having the kids, and buying the house led credence to the fact that they were solid. Luke needed that sense of stability like he needed air.
Reid wanted to show Luke that he understood; that he was on board. It was a little thing, but he knew it would mean a lot to Luke. So Wednesday, when he knew Luke had a foundation meeting, Reid took a half day, enlisted Ethan, and set about decorating the outside of the house.
He didn’t know if Luke would have preferred gaudy or tasteful, but an animatronics snowman was out of the question, so Reid went tasteful. Ethan did most of the work but they were able to get it done before Luke got home; and when Luke texted him that he was on his way, Reid set about turning off all the lights and waited on the front porch.
The lights blinded him when the car pulled in, and Reid jumped down and pulled Medulla out of the car while Luke got Pons. “Did you lock yourself out?”
Reid kept the grin off his face and handed the baby to Luke. “Wait here.”
“Reid, it’s cold and the kids haven’t had supper yet.”
“Just wait two freaking seconds, okay?”
Luke sighed, but waited. Reid rushed back up to the porch and grinned as he flipped the switch. All the eaves were adorned with twinkling white lights, along with the pillars and railing of the porch. He added a poinsettia wreath to the front door. It wasn’t much but Reid thought it was kind of pretty.
From the look on his face, Luke thought so too. Beth ‘ooh’d and ahh’d’, and clapped her hand in glee. David was making gurgling baby noises that Reid took as a compliment. And Luke? Luke’s face was awash in the yellow light, his eyes were wide, and his smile was brighter then the sun. He would always be the most beautiful person to Reid.
“I made hot chocolate.”
Beth squealed and ran past him into the house, and Luke followed slowly behind her.
“You did this?”
Reid shrugged. “Ethan helped. I’m thinking of making it my ‘thing’.”
“It’s a pretty awesome ‘thing’. Thank you.”
Luke shifted David, and pulled Reid into a hug. Reid wrapped his arms around both of them and whispered. “Merry Christmas, Luke.”
“Merry Christmas, Reid.”
The moment was broken by Beth yelling from the kitchen. “Where are the marshmallows? I want marshmallows!”
That Christmas wasn't perfect, Reid still bitched and rolled his eyes on occasion, but he also paid more attention. The spirit of the season was visibly infectious for Luke and the kids, and really, if they were happy, Reid was happy. Reid may still not love the idea of Christmas, but he loved his family so it all evened out in the end.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Krampus