There's Snow Place Like Home For The Holidays

Dinner Conversations

     The meal was warm. His mom's home-cooking that Win hadn't tasted in far too long started to loosen the brambles wrapped around Win's heart and his earlier mask of petulance and disdain slowly wore off. He fell back into his natural warm state, where he smiled quickly and laughed loudly.

     Tess warmed up quick, loving the cozy atmosphere of the roomy kitchen that they ate in. She loved watching her father slip into a more relaxed and comfortable state of mind than she'd seen him in for almost a year, since everything with her mother had blown up. Tess still didn't quite understand who the man was that was there with them, but he won her over quickly with his natural warmth. He treated her like an equal instead of just a child or something to be pitied because of the insanity that was her mother. He asked her questions, opinions, and permissions before just assuming he knew better.

     She also liked the gleam in his eye when he looked at her daddy. She was used to people looking at her daddy with interest. It was well known that he was a beautiful man, and he attracted attention wherever he went. But the look in Bright's eyes was something different, it was something warmer and deeper than the looks she was used to seeing people give her daddy. It made her feel reassured that she and her daddy were safe with Bright and she liked it, even if she couldn't really explain why.

     Much of the banter that went around the table was warm but controlled. The conversation was on eggshells. Win hadn't been there long enough yet for them to see how the waters would come through. There was a lot of bad blood, hurt feelings, and frayed emotions between them. But there was also an intense desire to fix their broken relationships and heal from past pain. The group steered clear of harsher subjects for the time being and stuck to blander subjects and simple childhood stories that brought a sense of nostalgia and childhood warmth back.

     Win felt more relaxed and at ease now than he had in months, and the easy conversations with his mother and the sense of home had worked wonders. Even Bright's presence had helped to ease the tension in Win's system, although he wasn't sure if that was great news or not. While it was good that Bright had obviously matured and had served as a pillar of support for his mom while Win had been away, that didn't mean Win needed to be falling back under Bright's spell again after all these years. One heartbreak from the man was enough.

     Tess' head started to droop after a while and Win took that as his queue to get her up to bed. She wrapped her arms around her daddy's neck and her legs around her daddy's waist and laid her head on his shoulder. Poor thing was exhausted after a long day of travel and with a warm belly full of pecan pie and hot cocoa, she didn't even make it all the way upstairs before she was snoring lightly into her daddy's shoulder.

     Win tucked her in and came back down to find his mom and Bright tidying up the kitchen. Bright was gathering the dishes up while Lita was putting food away and was being chatty. When she saw Win come down, she looked at him and asked, "Do you ever watch the Daily Gossip?"

     Win saw Bright roll his eyes at Lita, obviously annoyed that she had immediately jumped into the tabloid gossip of the last few months, but Win had expected it. "Not often, but every once in a while. Jenni and Godji are such fun personalities, but I prefer being around them off the show when they can gossip freely and not stick to scripts. They are both such lovely ladies," he said, trying to point out the show was scripted and not to be taken to heart.

     Bright shook his head at Lita. "See, I told you half of what is said on those shows is just idle gossip," he said disapprovingly. "I did you a favor by turning that shit off."

     Lita frowned as she looked over at Bright. "Language, Bright," she reprimanded, and earned herself an impatient shake of the head from the man.

     Win blanched at the familiar reprimand. "Oh god mom, you don't still do that language check crap, how old are we now?" he said in exasperation.