the twenty-first century ellinghams

chapter eight: buffalo plaid

     with the four of them working together, carrying the bags into the house and upstairs didn't take long at all. the kids would be in the guest room, which becky had changed out the queen sized bed for a toddler and twin sized one. allison and jack would be in allison's old room, and stevie and david would be in david's. as she carries her bags into david's room, it still feels odd being here. she had been in it before, once or twice, but never for long. the walls were a blueish-grey color, and it was practically twice the size of her childhood bedroom. it was only slightly smaller than her current bedroom, actually, and it had a connected bathroom. there were also three tall bookshelves absolutely stacked with books along one of the walls. when she got the chance, she would love to get a good look at all the titles one day. she drops her bags on the bed unceremoniously, and david does the same. he sits down on the window seat, and she sits on the edge of the bed, looking around the room.
     "you're acting like you haven't seen this room before. like it's a museum," he says.
     "yeah, but only for a few moments, just a peak. i've never actually gotten a good look around. it's nice," she replies. while the walls were mostly blank, a few posters remained. arctic monkeys, the killers, wallows, tyler the creator. her eyes move from the walls to the bedside table where there was a lamp, candle, and framed photo. she gets up and picks it up to get a better look.
     "hey," she says with a laugh. "when was this?" it's them at some point during college, she couldn't remember when exactly. they're at a dimly lit bar, where david is standing behind stevie, guiding her in throwing a dart. her head is turned towards him, but she's clearly laughing, as is he.
     "i think that's when you came to visit me for thanksgiving. dylan took it when we weren't looking." dylan was a close friend of david's from college, one of his groomsmen at their wedding. it seemed like something dylan would do.
     "i cannot believe you've never shown me this. why did you never show me this?" she asks.
     "it was thanksgiving break, right before the spring that we..." he leaves the ending out, but she knows what he means. the spring they broke up.
     "oh."
     "yeah." there's a small pause.
     "well," she says, walking over to him, picture in hand. she sits next to him and holds the photo in front of them. "it's a good thing these crazy kids figured it out then. they're too good of a darts team to not have." he laughs and takes the photo from her.
     "they're a good team, it's true. but not at darts. i hear she's been known to completely miss the board and almost stab a customer. i hear she almost got them kicked out."
     "that did not happen!" she replies.
     "yeah, it very much did," he replies, laughing. "i can't believe you don't remember this. you had had a few beers and decided you were suddenly a pro at darts or something and-" he's interrupted by a knock at the door, and allison peaks her head in.
     "dinner's almost done, we're setting up in the dining room when you're ready," she says. she leaves and they get up. as she's about to leave, stevie's phone starts to ring in her purse on the bed. she pulls it out and sees that it's nate calling.
     "i'll be down in a sec," she says to david, picking up the phone.

     "hey, nate! how's your christmas e-"
     "we have a problem," he interrupts. "major problem. janelle isn't picking up, so i called you instead. oh my god, i'm so screwed."
     "woah, woah, nate. what's happening? what's going on?" she asks.
     "okay, so i'm at mudge's apartment in orlando, right? and for the past two days he's been saying that i can't go into the guest room because that's where my present is. so of course i did, obviously. and i saw what he got me." he ends it there, leaving stevie confused.
     "okay... so what did he get you?" she asks.
     "it's this really nice antique writing desk. i mean, like, really nice, stevie. it must have cost him over a thousand, probably a few thousand honestly. it's in great condition too!"
     "that sounds really nice, nate. i don't see the problem." then, she connects the dots. "what did you get him for christmas, nate?" she asks. the silence on the other end is long. "what did you get mudge for christmas, nate?" she asks again.
     "a pin," he says with a groan.
     "oh, dear god, nate."
     "i know, okay? i know! i'm the worst gift giver ever, he's gonna hate me. and the worst part is, he'll never say so! he'll just act like it's the perfect gift, and be perfectly pleasant, but still! it'll be the san diego zoo gift shop all over again."
     "okay... let's go back and discuss 'the san diego zoo gift shop incident' at some point. but, for now, i mean... is it at least a nice pin?"
     "it's this magnificent's dragon pin, he's had his eye on for years. it's super rare, not a lot were made, and it took a lot of work to find it. but still, it's a pin! and he got me a desk!"
     "well if it took a lot of work to find and he wants it a lot i bet it'll be fine." she does a quick google search on this pin. he's right, it is super rare. "nate, this looks great. you'll be fine."
     "you think so?" he asks.
     "yeah, mudge will love the pin and, even more importantly, he'll love how much thought went into it. it'll be good, promise." she hears nate sigh on the other end.
     "okay, you're right. i gotta go, thanks for the help."
     "anytime," she says. "tell mudge i say hi." nate hangs up, and she puts the phone back into her purse.

     when she walks into the dining room, the adults are placing different dishes on the dining room table. a present wrapped and sized identically to the others sits on each chair, the kids' presents slightly smaller.
     "what's this?" stevie asks.
     "no clue," jack replies. "but i think we're about to find out." once all the dishes are set out, everyone sits down at their place at the table, henry still in a booster seat.
     "mom, what are these?" allison asks, pointing to the present in front of her.
     "well, i just thought it would be a nice christmas eve gift. i saw this blog post about a tradition this family had, and i thought it might be something nice for us to do too. go ahead, open them, open them," becky replies. stevie glances at david, but his look is equally as confused. she rips away the wrapping and opens the box. inside of it are a pair of red buffalo plaid pajamas. her monogram is stitched into the front pocket of the button-up, long sleeved shirt. she looks over at david's box, his are the same, just his monogram. she goes to help henry open his, and it's the same situation with his too. "i thought we could all wear them tomorrow morning, and then get pictures in them for the christmas card. it's a little cheesy, but-"
     "no, these are... great, mom. don't you think so too, david?" allison says. she shoots david a look that makes it clear that he better not disagree.
     "allison's right," he says. "these are really nice. really."
     "agreed," stevie adds. she turns to jack, who's looking a little pale. he seemed really committed to his and allison's relationship, but matching pajamas on a christmas card was a lot. she knew twenty-two year old stevie would have been hesitant too.
     "me too," he says, looking up and smiling reassuringly at allison. she smiles back and grabs his hand, squeezing it.
     "well, let's eat!" allison says.