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Written for the eighth day of the 2017 "Holigay" prompt challenge.
The prompt was: "There’s nothing harder than having a polyamorous relationship during the holidays. Having two families come together for the holidays is hard, but when your three-person couple celebrates the holidays the house is suddenly much more lively than before."
Summary: Devin, Kay, and Shell decide to celebrate the milestone of moving in together by hosting Christmas for the families. This is great for Devin and Kay... less so for Shell, whose family refuses to support or acknowledge her relationship.
TW for themes of familial rejection and an instance of non-malicious deadnaming.
Slight angst, slice-of-life.
“Hiding?” Kay asked.
Shell laughed, hugging the pillow closer. “Is it that obvious?”
“Only a little bit. Devin said I should come check on you while he wrangles the guests.”
She sighed. “I’m sorry. I don’t want to be antisocial. This is just… a lot more people than I somehow ever imagined the house containing.”
Kay sat down beside her, and pulled her into a sideways hug. “Isn’t that part of why we bought this house?”
“I guess. Silly me, I thought even with three of us, we’d never be able to fill it up!”
The house was new, representing a big landmark in the trio’s relationship. For almost the first year that all three had been involved they’d been maintaining two separate residences: Devin and Kay’s small rented house, and Shell’s apartment. Eventually, they’d decided it was ridiculous for her to be paying rent on a place she only saw once a week or so when she stopped by for her mail. When her lease ran out, she moved in with them formally, and they’d all been surprised by just how little effort that had required. She’d been moving in with them for months, one bag of laundry and one stack of books at a time.
But that house had been small even for two; three of them fighting over the shower and trying to cram into the tiny kitchen had been a constant struggle during year two. But when even the frustratingly tight quarters didn’t reveal any incompatibilities of personality, they’d made a much more serious leap: buying a house together.
And to celebrate, they were hosting Christmas here for all their immediate families.
Which meant that both Kay’s parents, both Devin’s parents, and Devin’s two younger siblings were all downstairs, having arrived earlier en masse. It was chaos.
“Are you okay?” Kay asked. She sounded genuinely concerned, more so than when she’d first come in.
Shell sighed again. “I am. Just a little overwhelmed by the large group.”
To their credit, both families had been accepting and kind to her when she’d first met them, despite the fact that she was in some ways the newcomer; Dev and Kay had been together for a couple before she’d met them.
“You know they all like you, right?”
“I hope they don’t think I’m a homewrecker.”
“Of course they don’t! They’re probably thrilled that both of us found a nice girl to settle down with.” Kay winked at her, and stood up, offering her a hand.
She hesitated. “Do any of them think it’s weird that my family isn’t here?” she blurted. Shell wished she could take it back almost as soon as she said it, and bit her lip.
Kay paused, concern evident, before pulling Shell up to stand, and wrapped her in a warm hug. “Honey, no.” Then after a moment, quietly, “Are they really not coming?”
She shook her head, feeling tears sting, though she managed to blink them back. She’d sent out three invitations. Her brother had never said anything directly, but both of her parents had sent texts—texts—expressing their disappointment in her “life choices,” informing her that they would do nothing that could imply they supported her “living in sin” and that neither they nor her brother would be seeing her for the holidays.
Kay wiped the unshed tears from Shell’s eyes. “Well, you have two families down there happy to treat you as one of their own, okay? Do you want to help me rescue Devin before he runs out of ideas to entertain them?”
Shell sniffled a little, but nodded. She didn’t want to let the holidays make her miserable. She’d expected the response from her family, considering their actions toward her for the entirety of the trio’s relationship. She’d just still hoped for better.
Sitting everyone down to dinner had been something of a trick, involving lots of mismatched chairs and Devin’s younger siblings sitting on the floor at the coffee table. Somehow “we need more than twice the number of chairs” hadn’t occurred to any of them, even during their extensive planning for this visit.
Shell wound up sitting in between Devin and Kay. Kay squeezed her hand, and Devin kissed her temple, murmuring a quick “You doing okay?”
She nodded, leaning into his shoulder while squeezing Kay’s hand back. She was almost glad that her parents hadn’t decided to come. She couldn’t imagine them fitting in, being open and friendly. They likely would have just made everyone else uncomfortable, Shell most of all.
As it was, they managed to keep it to a grand total of one awkward moment (when Kay’s mother referred to her daughter as “Kevin,” though she apologized.) Otherwise it went remarkably well. Devin’s mother said she hoped Shell would share some of her recipes. She got to hear mildly embarrassing yet endearing stories about both Devin and Kay as kids.
It was late when the doorbell rang. No one was in bed yet, but they were done eating, and everyone seemed to be making plans to head to the guest rooms for the night.
Devin was the one to answer the door. “Hello, can I help you?” He sounded polite but impersonal.
“Uh, well… I hope this is the right place. Does Shell live here?”
“Mark?!” Shell nearly tripped over herself, running to the door as soon as she heard her brother’s voice.
“Shell!” Mark’s voice and face both lit up when he saw her.
Devin stepped to the side, vaguely cautious, but allowing Mark to come in.
Shell threw her arms around his neck as soon as he’d stepped in, and he hugged her back, nearly lifting her off the ground as his duffle bag fell to the floor.
“I didn’t think you were going to be here!” she said.
“Mom and Dad didn’t want me to, but… you’re my little sister, damn it. Is it okay that I showed up anyway?”
She nodded emphatically, finally stepping back. “Of course it is. I’m glad you did.”
[This got a minor SPAG and word choice edit in 2023 when it was posted.]
The prompt was: "There’s nothing harder than having a polyamorous relationship during the holidays. Having two families come together for the holidays is hard, but when your three-person couple celebrates the holidays the house is suddenly much more lively than before."
Summary: Devin, Kay, and Shell decide to celebrate the milestone of moving in together by hosting Christmas for the families. This is great for Devin and Kay... less so for Shell, whose family refuses to support or acknowledge her relationship.
TW for themes of familial rejection and an instance of non-malicious deadnaming.
Slight angst, slice-of-life.
“Hiding?” Kay asked.
Shell laughed, hugging the pillow closer. “Is it that obvious?”
“Only a little bit. Devin said I should come check on you while he wrangles the guests.”
She sighed. “I’m sorry. I don’t want to be antisocial. This is just… a lot more people than I somehow ever imagined the house containing.”
Kay sat down beside her, and pulled her into a sideways hug. “Isn’t that part of why we bought this house?”
“I guess. Silly me, I thought even with three of us, we’d never be able to fill it up!”
The house was new, representing a big landmark in the trio’s relationship. For almost the first year that all three had been involved they’d been maintaining two separate residences: Devin and Kay’s small rented house, and Shell’s apartment. Eventually, they’d decided it was ridiculous for her to be paying rent on a place she only saw once a week or so when she stopped by for her mail. When her lease ran out, she moved in with them formally, and they’d all been surprised by just how little effort that had required. She’d been moving in with them for months, one bag of laundry and one stack of books at a time.
But that house had been small even for two; three of them fighting over the shower and trying to cram into the tiny kitchen had been a constant struggle during year two. But when even the frustratingly tight quarters didn’t reveal any incompatibilities of personality, they’d made a much more serious leap: buying a house together.
And to celebrate, they were hosting Christmas here for all their immediate families.
Which meant that both Kay’s parents, both Devin’s parents, and Devin’s two younger siblings were all downstairs, having arrived earlier en masse. It was chaos.
“Are you okay?” Kay asked. She sounded genuinely concerned, more so than when she’d first come in.
Shell sighed again. “I am. Just a little overwhelmed by the large group.”
To their credit, both families had been accepting and kind to her when she’d first met them, despite the fact that she was in some ways the newcomer; Dev and Kay had been together for a couple before she’d met them.
“You know they all like you, right?”
“I hope they don’t think I’m a homewrecker.”
“Of course they don’t! They’re probably thrilled that both of us found a nice girl to settle down with.” Kay winked at her, and stood up, offering her a hand.
She hesitated. “Do any of them think it’s weird that my family isn’t here?” she blurted. Shell wished she could take it back almost as soon as she said it, and bit her lip.
Kay paused, concern evident, before pulling Shell up to stand, and wrapped her in a warm hug. “Honey, no.” Then after a moment, quietly, “Are they really not coming?”
She shook her head, feeling tears sting, though she managed to blink them back. She’d sent out three invitations. Her brother had never said anything directly, but both of her parents had sent texts—texts—expressing their disappointment in her “life choices,” informing her that they would do nothing that could imply they supported her “living in sin” and that neither they nor her brother would be seeing her for the holidays.
Kay wiped the unshed tears from Shell’s eyes. “Well, you have two families down there happy to treat you as one of their own, okay? Do you want to help me rescue Devin before he runs out of ideas to entertain them?”
Shell sniffled a little, but nodded. She didn’t want to let the holidays make her miserable. She’d expected the response from her family, considering their actions toward her for the entirety of the trio’s relationship. She’d just still hoped for better.
Sitting everyone down to dinner had been something of a trick, involving lots of mismatched chairs and Devin’s younger siblings sitting on the floor at the coffee table. Somehow “we need more than twice the number of chairs” hadn’t occurred to any of them, even during their extensive planning for this visit.
Shell wound up sitting in between Devin and Kay. Kay squeezed her hand, and Devin kissed her temple, murmuring a quick “You doing okay?”
She nodded, leaning into his shoulder while squeezing Kay’s hand back. She was almost glad that her parents hadn’t decided to come. She couldn’t imagine them fitting in, being open and friendly. They likely would have just made everyone else uncomfortable, Shell most of all.
As it was, they managed to keep it to a grand total of one awkward moment (when Kay’s mother referred to her daughter as “Kevin,” though she apologized.) Otherwise it went remarkably well. Devin’s mother said she hoped Shell would share some of her recipes. She got to hear mildly embarrassing yet endearing stories about both Devin and Kay as kids.
It was late when the doorbell rang. No one was in bed yet, but they were done eating, and everyone seemed to be making plans to head to the guest rooms for the night.
Devin was the one to answer the door. “Hello, can I help you?” He sounded polite but impersonal.
“Uh, well… I hope this is the right place. Does Shell live here?”
“Mark?!” Shell nearly tripped over herself, running to the door as soon as she heard her brother’s voice.
“Shell!” Mark’s voice and face both lit up when he saw her.
Devin stepped to the side, vaguely cautious, but allowing Mark to come in.
Shell threw her arms around his neck as soon as he’d stepped in, and he hugged her back, nearly lifting her off the ground as his duffle bag fell to the floor.
“I didn’t think you were going to be here!” she said.
“Mom and Dad didn’t want me to, but… you’re my little sister, damn it. Is it okay that I showed up anyway?”
She nodded emphatically, finally stepping back. “Of course it is. I’m glad you did.”
[This got a minor SPAG and word choice edit in 2023 when it was posted.]
