Chapter 40 - Deck the Halls
published: Wednesday, 29 July 2020

sorry for not updating last week :( was swamped and had some writer's block

—*—

'Chaos' was the only word that could be used to describe the Chase household at Christmastime. Spending it in two different homes only made things more complicated.

"Do you have everything with you?" Helen shouted as she hustled Matthew and Bobby towards the entrance, each boy bundled up in layers of scarves, coats and sweaters to combat the snow. Their suitcases were lugged along the ground, bashing into the walls as they went. "Anyone forgotten anything?"

"No!" Matthew said enthusiastically. Bobby rolled his eyes.

"Okay, I love you!" Helen said, yanking both of her sons towards her and giving them tight hugs and kisses on the foreheads, to which Bobby replied disdainfully, "Ew, Mum."

"Oh, please," Helen scoffed. "No one's here to see you be embarrassed. You don't have any excuses."

"Wait!" Annabeth's yells echoed down the stairwell as she thundered down the steps, a box wrapped in silver balanced precariously in her arms. "Give this to Dad for me, okay?"

Bobby shot her a thumbs-up as the present fell into his arms, blocking his face from view.

"Don't die or anything," Annabeth told her brothers as they mobbed her with hugs that forced her to stagger back. "Love you two."

"Love you," they mumbled. There was a wistful moment of silence before the commotion returned, and Matthew nearly tripped down the front step and took a tumble.

"I'm fine, I'm fine!" he called back as he stumbled to the taxi, Bobby at his heels as they loaded their trunks into the boot.

Annabeth stood by Helen's side, leaning against the doorframe and waving at her brothers until they were out of sight, dispersing exhaust the only evidence of their presence.

Once the boys were out of the residence, an eerie, calm silence settled over the house.

"Feels weird," Annabeth noted. "It's like I've gone deaf." She turned to Helen, grinning, only to see her stepmother staring at the road. "What?"

"You can still go, you know," Helen told her. "It's not too late. You could pack your suitcase and be there for Christmas tomorrow."

Annabeth waved a hand dismissively. "Hey, I made my decision to spend Christmas here. You're here. My friends are here. I already spent Thanksgiving with Dad. Besides," she shrugged. "Couldn't leave you alone on Christmas."

Helen smiled, her shoulders visibly relaxing. It was barely dawn, but once morning properly arrived, Annabeth was freshened up, dressed in a red corduroy skirt and a stripy, long-sleeved shirt that practically screamed "Christmas".

She was bouncing on the balls of her feet expectantly when the doorbell rang an hour before noon. Annabeth raced to the door and flung it open with a beaming smile.

"Merry Christmas!" Piper exclaimed, smiling madly and carrying three tote bags filled to the brim with presents. She flung her arms around Annabeth excitedly, and they waddled mid-hug into the living room, laughing giddily.

Leo stood behind Piper, arms crossed. "I feel very left out right now." Annabeth skipped over to Leo, giving him a hug too.

"Thanks for coming," Annabeth said gratefully. "Just put your gifts under the tree. Bags can go on the couch."

Piper peered round the bend. "I brought something for Helen too, is she around?"

Annabeth shook her head. "She's spending Christmas Eve with her parents. She'll be back tonight; I can pass something along for you."

There was a whole flurry of activity as Leo produced the food he brought — dessert from the bakery near his house. "Cooking would have been a really bad idea," he insisted when Annabeth shot him a withering look.

"See, I brought actual food," Piper said emphatically, setting a container of sausage rolls on the counter.

"But," Leo smirked. "Did you make them?"

Piper swept her hair over her shoulder and flushed. "Well, our chefs made them. So...by relation, sort of."

"No," Leo said firmly. "Not at all."

A knock on the door pulled Annabeth's attention back, and she left her two friends to squabble as she answered the door.

"Hi!" Frank exploded once Annabeth opened the door. He was grinning toothily and more widely than Annabeth had ever seen.

"Don't mind him," Hazel said with an eye-roll as she stepped in. "He's crazy about Christmas."

"Join the club," Annabeth said with a chuckle as she wrapped her arms around both of them. "Piper and Leo are inside, you can go ahead and join them."

As Hazel and Frank stepped away from the door, Annabeth saw a flash of blonde hair at her front gate, followed by Jason hurrying down the path to her front door, grinning as he waved at her.

"Jason!" she cheered, attacking him with a hug at the same time as he yelled "Annabeth!" and launched forward. They whirled around in a circle, laughing loudly as Jason righted them before they could fall.

Christmas was their holiday. Jason had never had the most peaceful household. His father left when they were kids, his mother, a retired actress, was consistently absent and struggled with smoking and drinking, and Thalia was off at her military boarding school on the other side of the country.

Jason and Annabeth had bonded quickly over their shared love for Christmas, and it became a yearly tradition to spend Christmas Eve together. Piper and Leo joined them in high school, and now, Hazel, Frank and Percy.

"This is my second try at Percy's dumb blue cookies," Jason informed her, allowing her a glimpse of misshapen blue cookies inside a container.

Annabeth raised an eyebrow. "Appetising."

"I tried, okay," he complained. They shared another furtive side-look of eagerness.

Annabeth loved this. Loved what Christmas brought out in all of them. It was reinforcement that, no matter who they were dating or what happened, she and Jason would always be best friends. It also showed her that she had the luck of finding so many people who she considered family.

"Go inside," Annabeth gestured to the living room. "The others are there."

"Hm," Jason crossed his arms. "I don't suppose you're gonna stand here and wait for a certain green-eyed boy?"

Annabeth maintained her nonchalance. "Of course, not." Jason rolled her eyes, but he obliged anyway, and Annabeth could hear the eruption of shouts when he arrived in the kitchen.

In the end, Annabeth didn't have to wait long before she saw Percy walking down the pavement outside her house, dragging a huge bag and sporting a wide grin.

"You're late," she informed him when he neared, but Annabeth couldn't help smiling.

Percy rolled his eyes. He swept her up in his arms, making her laugh, and twirled her around. "Merry Christmas," he sang.

"You're cheerful," Annabeth said, surprised. She cast a look over her shoulder. "We're alone, you know."

Percy grinned. "Yay." He leaned forward and captured her lips with his, teeth gently grazing her bottom lip. They drew apart, and Annabeth told him, "I love you."

"Love you too," he whispered back as he took her hand and dragged her inside, closing the door behind them. They walked into the living room, hands linked, to see their friends standing around the tree, gazes angled up as they speculated thoughtfully.

Percy exchanged greetings with everyone, and when he was done, scanned his surroundings. "What are you doing?"

"Trying to figure out how to put the star at the top of the tree," Hazel informed him, holding out the metal structure wrapped in fairy lights and dusted with golden glitter.

"There is a clear solution to this," Percy declared.

Annabeth nodded. "Right. Frank gives Leo a piggy-back ride."

Percy turned to look at her with an impresses look of respect. "That's exactly what I was thinking."

"Woah, woah, hold on," Leo held up his hands in a time-out sign. "Why me?"

"Because you weigh the least," Hazel said in a matter-of-fact tone, and even Leo couldn't argue with that. Amidst grumbles, he struggled into Frank's back with the star in his right hand.

Frank staggered to-and-fro a couple of times before he regained his full balance and slowly approached the tree.

"Get...a...shorter...tree...next...time," Leo said between pants as he strained to secure the star to the top of the tree. It took a minute or so, but once he flicked the light switch on the back of the star, the fairy lights lit up blindingly, twinkling in an almost magical fashion.

The others cheered, and using Piper's phone — which had the best camera quality — took a few pictures in front of the Christmas tree with the ten-second timer. It took a few tries, given Percy and Leo's ADHD and Frank's clumsiness, but eventually, they got one that everyone was satisfied with.

"Remember, if it's not on Instagram, it never happened," Leo mimicked Drew's voice. He cleared his throat. "I'm not even kidding, she said that to me once."

Christmas lunch was an easy affair, filled with lots of witty jokes and laughs as they passed the food around. Annabeth spent a minute staring at Percy as he seemed to shovel never-ending amounts of food onto his plate.

"I'm a growing child," he protested when he saw her looking at him.

After lunch was gift exchange, which was probably Annabeth's favourite part of the day. because of the amount of ridiculous presents they all got each other.

Frank got Leo a children's gardening set, apparently to pass his free time, to which Leo responded by flipping the finger. Piper got Percy a set of cheap nail polish, which Percy had become worryingly possessive of and had made Annabeth promise to show him how to do it one day.

Jason gave Piper a necklace with a small snowman pendant, to remind her of today, and in turn, she got him a travel mug that, when filled with hot drink, would reveal a picture of the two of them.

As the couple shared a hug, Percy turned to Annabeth, cheeks red. "Okay, so I kind of got you a funny gift. Like it's a proper gift, but I wasn't going for thoughtful as much as stupid."

Annabeth opened her mouth, then closed it.  "I also got you a funny gift." The two of them burst into low laughs, exchanging knowing looks as they pulled out their presents. 

She shook her gift from Percy, immediately knowing it was some sort of clothing. After Annabeth tore open the packaging and pulled out what was possibly the most obnoxious Christmas sweater she had ever seen in her life, she couldn't stop laughing as she unfolded it.

There was tinsel and small bells decorating the red sweater, which was oversized and went to past her hands and knees. The words "I'm with stupid" were inscribed on the front, with an arrow pointing to the side.

"Okay, I now think I got you the wrong size," Percy said sheepishly.

Annabeth checked the tag and furiously whipped her head up. "L?" she demanded. 

"I didn't know!" Percy said bewilderedly, dodging the smack she sent his way. "It looked right at the time."

Annabeth pulled the sweater over her head, immediately enveloped in warmth. "Thanks."

"It's actually because you keep stealing my hoodies all the time," he said accusatorially. "So now you have your own."

"Yeah, but," she shrugged. "I can only wear this at Christmas. Won't stop me wearing yours the rest of the year."

"Damn it," Percy muttered under his breath, but she knew he didn't really mean it. He pulled his gift out of the wrapping paper, eyebrows shooting skyward. "Oh my God."

He pulled out a onesie, furry and brown, that went from his ankles to his wrists and his neck. Percy exploded into laughs as he spotted the antlers that poked out from the hood.

"I'm proud of myself for finding that," Annabeth told him. "Especially in an adult size."

"I love it," Percy declared, grinning at her. "I think I know what to wear to our next date."

He pulled on the onesie, which looked both ridiculous and adorable on him, and they snapped a picture together — Percy with his antlers and Annabeth in the sweater that practically swallowed her whole.

When their friends weren't looking, Annabeth stole a quick kiss. Percy blinked, a slow grin stretching across his face. "You know I was never the biggest fan of Christmas," he admitted. "With Gabe and all, it was never very festive. We didn't have a lot of money, and Christmas day was usually quiet."

"What about now?" Annabeth said quietly. "Still don't like Christmas?"

Percy shrugged, but he squeezed her hand. "I think," he said slowly. "It's becoming my new favourite holiday."