DECEMBER

December was somehow not the worst month of the year. Sora was chalking that up to patience and lessons well- and painfully learned.

She supposed, in the end, it wasn't the worst year after all.

...

"Dad invited us over for Christmas dinner," said Ravi over after-dinner drinks, and it was like déjà vu all over again.

"As if Diwali-Thanksgiving wasn't explosive enough for one year. A house packed with the extended Misra brood is probably not a great idea."

"Anthony might be there."

"Is that supposed to be an incentive?"

"Dhiren can spend Christmas Eve with his mom and Tommy with his dad. Gia's bringing Sam; Yelena invited the Parrillas. Evelyn and Ishir might be dropping in. It'll be a full house."

"Sounds like a recipe for disaster. Someone will be dead by dessert." He grabbed her around her waist to kiss the base of her neck.

"We'll leave after the main course."

Sora groused, "I hate it when you get persuasive."

...

...

By some scheduling error, it happened that the Misra and Himura Media Christmas parties were being held at the same time on the same day, therefore Sora and Ravi weren't able to attend either together. Sora thought it was important that her employees had a chance to clear the air after they year they'd had under her leadership. She wanted to go into 2017 free and unburdened by old insecurities; hopelessness could stay in 2016. But she had to face the music for that to happen. They had to believe that Sora could take the good with the bad; that she was as strong if not as ruthless as Anthony had ever been. So here she was, sipping spiked eggnog and debating whether demoting Michael had been a wiser move than firing him outright.

She and Sam had just ended a brief whirl on the dance floor to 'I'll Be Home for Christmas' where they spent more time conferring over gifts for Tommy and trading observations on employee morale than enjoying the music. She figured they both had people they'd rather be dancing with. They were debating getting mulled cider when a modelesque visage appeared, startling them bot h. Evelyn Misra was the perfect combination of her mother and father: Ravi's height and her mother's fair complexion. His passion and Jasmin's fiery tempery and intellect all rolled into a beautiful package.

When she beckoned Sora was helpless not to go.

The younger woman pulled her aside, though not out of earshot of eavesdropping employees.

"I came as close as I'd like to to losing my father last year, and I don't know what next year will bring. If you waste what time he has left on an ego trip or a jealousy game against Anthony, I'll make losing your job seem like the best thing that could possibly happen to you and certainly the least painful. Am I understood?"

"Perfectly."

"Welcome to the family." Evelyn nodded sharply, grabbed Sam's arm in a charming but vicelike grip and disappeared with him in the direction of Sam's corner office.

I'm not even curious. She hadn't invited Evelyn to the Himura Media Christmas party, which meant someone else must have. Sora washed her hands of the whole affair. She took Evelyn's warning to heart and let the rest go; it was out of her control and that was okay. In a distant corner of her mind, she thought Sam may be getting his umpteenth chance. They would all simply have to adjust.

...

The night of the Misra Christmas festivities, Noche Buena as her family in Philippines called it, Sora greeted Justine and Tracy with hugs on the round outside the Misra manse.

"You don't know how glad I am to see the both of you. I wasn't sure you'd make it with the weather in New York."

Justine swept her hair aside under her scarf. "It was a close call. We just made it out before JFK shut down for a blizzard."

Tracy nudged Justine. "Someone was very insistent."

Justine didn't take the bait. "You were! She hasn't stopped talking about Imogen and the baby for weeks. She set up a nursery at our place in case Imogen needs some help."

"I did that for you."

"You did that for you. I, on the other hand, will just get on a plane and take over her guest room until our granddaughter sleeps through the night."

"The motherly prerogative," Sora opined.

"She understands!" Justine exclaimed.

Tracy snorted.

"I won't keep you, I have to get Tommy and Ravi before Tommy turns him into a six-foot icicle." Ravi looked amused at Tommy's work ethic but very chilly at the poor excuse for snow being molded up his pant legs. "Imogen texted, she's already here and she's dying to see the two of you."

They exchanged another round of hugs with promises to catch up later in the evening before Tracy and Justine made their way inside with all due haste.

"If we were a little farther east, you'd be risking frostbite letting him do that to you."

"I don't mind it. I have clothes in my room upstairs. You've gotta admire his determination."

"That's the Himura spirit."

"Another thing the Gallegos and Himuras have in common: you don't quit." He lifted Tommy off his feet to hoist the toddler over his shoulder. "Though maybe you should now and again." He shook out a slushy pant leg.

Tutting in sympathy, she led the two of them into the house. The reception was much warmer than for Diwali and the crowd much more personal. These weren't merely colleagues and acquaintances, this house was full of family and dear friends. There were hugs to go around from Yelena and Imogen. She even hugged Hana when she appeared, brief as it was. Kisses were exchanged. There was exclaiming done over how wonderfully Tommy was growing. He was a big boy, strong and loved. He had the best shot of all of them.

Manendra and Ravi hugged, and it was like no time was lost at all. Father and son reunited because love was enough. Sora wanted love to be enough for all of them. She missed her mother suddenly and wished she and her father hadn't chosen this year to go home to Davao and leave the sisters to their own devices. They needed their parents to run interference, to knock all their hard heads together.

Sora retreated to the drinks table to get mulled cider for both of them. Dhiren and his younger cousins had toddled off with and Nyna to get at the Christmas cookies Auntie Nyna had made for them. Please let him run off that sugar high. She didn't envy Hana having to putting a hyper preteen to sleep after a night like tonight.

A smiling Ravi appeared behind her to pluck a tumblr of cider out of her hand to drink.

"Good so far?" she asked him.

"It's a good night for starting again, don't you think?"

"Feels like it."

He looked around. "Where's the little guy gone off to?"

"Anthony wanted some Himura male bonding time." She inclined her chin toward the Christmas tree where her ex-husband and former stepsons Sam and Diego were gathered together in a huddle with her little boy. Tommy seemed to be listening intently, expression as pensive as his father's save for Sora's bright brown eyes.

"Anthony may make a show pony out of him yet."

"No more stallion jokes, I think I've developed a phobia. My son is not going to grow up to be a stud horse. He'll be a workhouse, an honest one. He'll be a good man."

"He'll be his mother's son."

"You don't have to flatter me, I love you already."

"I know, I just like hearing you say it."

They kissed.