Christmas With You

Nine Years Ago

TW: Alcohol addiction

Blaine hates christmas. It's the same every year. His mom is a workaholic and since he can think she never had much time for christmas. Business here, clients there, paper work and no time for family.

Every child in his kindergarden and primary school believed in Santa. He always knew there's no Santa and that it's all just an act. His mom and dad never gave him the chance to believe in Santa. Does that count as a childhood trauma? Accoarding to his friends in middle school it does.

Since Blaine started middle school his dad started drinking. Not some champange to celebrate a birthday or so, not a beer when watching a game and not a glass of wine during dinner once in a while. No. As soon as he came home from work he opened the probably first beer of that still young evening. Or maybe it wasn't his first. Until dinner he had a good amount of alcohol in his blood but still he keeps drinking during dinner and even after.

Over the christmas season mulled wine joins the variousity of alcohol Mr Anderson consumes on a daily base. At home, at the christmas party from work or from his wifes work christmas party. Mulled wine, champagne and whatever he can find.

After the christmas holidays the friends tell each other at school about their christmas. The whole family came over. They met with the whole family at some other place. They baked cookies. They cooked delicious and festive meals. They ate together. Spend time listening to christmas music, singing or playing it themselves. They watched christmas movies. All of that stuff.

There are presents and unwrapping. Sitting by the fire, laughing happily and being grateful for the gifts they got. A big christmas tree present in the room with lights and lots of other decorations.

At the Anderson house christmas is different. They don't have a tree. His mom doesn't have the time to get one and his dad couldn't care less. Sometimes there's christmas music playing in the background but it comes from the radio and most of the time someone turns it off after a while.

From time to time Blaine watches christmas movies on his laptop in his room. It's not too fun alone but he has no one he could watch them with. They don't bake cookies so the ones Blaine eats are the ones his friends bring to school for their friends.

Yes they eat together but there's no cooking. Blaines mom doesn't have time to cook and Blaines dad can't and won't. They always order from a good restaurant that delivers on christmas. The kitchen stays cold. They eat in silence. As so often. Blaine gets a present. There's no unpacking. His parents just give him some money and that's it.

This year it's really bad. Blaines mom sits in her study and said she'll come out once dinner arrived and they could eat. She always says that she works so much so they can keep living they way they currently do. But Blaine doesn't care about that. The big house and the money. He'd give up some of that if he could have more time with his family. In a normal way.

They didn't had time to get a tree or any other decorations. So while the whole street is covered in lights their house stays dark. He already got his christmas money this morning. Yay.

Blaine lost count on how many drinks his father had by now but while Blaine is in the kitchen to get the table ready already he can hear the tv playing something he can't identify. When the table is set and Blaine wants to go up to his room until dinner, passing the living room, he finds his dad passed out on the couch already.

Once back in his room Blaine lets himself fall face forward on his bed. He isn't in the mood for christmas. Christmas sucks. His family sucks. Everything sucks. Luckily he only have to stay here 6 more month until summer. Until he graduates. Until he finally moves out. He'll go to college in New York. Away from Westerville. Away from his family.