Ever After

Dylan and the Not so Merry Christmas

"After all these years you're still doing it!" I scream, slamming the oven door shut. I whirl around as best I can and face my mother. "I'm still not enough am? Will I ever be enough for you? Will you ever realize that the only thing I've ever done is try and please you?"

I'm vaguely aware of the crowd gathering around us. Cole steps up behind me, placing his hand on my arm. I shrug off his touch, "All I wanted was a happy Christmas. It's our first Christmas in this house, our first Christmas as a family and YOU. ARE. RUINING. IT."

My mother takes a step towards me, a fire in her eyes, "I will not be spoken to like this." She says in a low voice, "Do you understand me Dylan? You will not do this, not here, not now."

"Then when?" I ask, "When do you want to do it, when do you want to realize that I am your daughter? When are you going to realize that what you see is what you get?" She opens her mouth but before anything can come out of it I cut her off. "Get out." I say sharply. "What?" She asks, taken aback. "You heard me, get out."

"I will not..." I cut her off again, "GET THE HELL OUT!" She opens her mouth once more, seems to think better of it, and for once in her life actually listens. Grabbing my dad's arm and her coat she storms to the front of the house.

Yanking open the front door she turns to me, "Don't, for one second, think that this is over." She storms out and I lean out the door, "God I wish it was," I scream after her before slamming the door shut.

I turn around and find my brother, Lena, Annaleigh, her husband, and Cole all staring at me. I take a deep breath and then with tears in my eyes I flee to the bedroom.

Once alone, I sink down onto the bed and dissolve into tears. When will she stop seeing the daughter who's never enough? When will she just accept me for what I am, a broken, sloppy, mess of a girl... well not really a girl anymore.

There's a soft knock on the door and then Cole comes in, closing it behind him. "I'm sorry," He says, coming over and sitting down next to me. He settles an arm around my shoulders and I lean against him. "Just forget about her for now, it's Christmas."

"I know, I just hoped that maybe things could be different. I guess I just wanted to, I don't know, understand her better this year now that I'm going to be a mom too." I settle a hand on my growing belly.

Cole sets his hand on top of mine and we both look down at the bump that is soon to be our child. He leans over and kisses my temple, "I sincerely hope that you never understand her. You're going to be a great mom Dylan, nothing like her. I know it."

I look up at him and smile through my tears. He reaches over and wipes them gently from my cheeks. "Don't cry love," I curl closer to him, wrapping my arms around his neck, "I love you ya know." I whisper into his shoulder.

He squeezes me as close as the bump allows, "I love you too Dylan, I always have." After a moment he pulls away and peers down at me, "Are you ready to rejoin our guests?" He asks, "We left Kyle in charge of the kitchen and you know he can't cook."

I pull away from him and start to stand up. He quickly jumps to his feet and helps me up, "We better get back out there before my idiot of a brother burns the house down." Cole laughs, "There's the holiday spirit."

He holds the door open for me and then entwines his hand with mine as we step out into the hall. "Come on my beautiful wife, we have a Christmas to enjoy."