Freak Show // Billy Hargrove

Chapter Twelve: Promises

Chapter Twelve: Promises

DECEMBER 24, 1984 - CHRISTMAS EVE

Kaity smiled and looked around at all the decorations that surrounded her. She stood in the middle of her living room as she admired her work. Her mom was at work and Dustin was over at Mike's, having his Christmas with the boys like every year. Usually, Kaity didn't do much on Christmas Eve. She used to just stay in the house watching Christmas movies and ate whatever they had in the fridge and drank hot chocolate, but this year she decided to do something a little different. Kaity decided she wanted to start a tradition of her own and with her mom's permission, she could invite a few people over to have Christmas with. On Christmas Day is when she and her mom and brother spend time together but Christmas Eve they all had their own plans going on.

Kaity walked into the kitchen and opened the oven and slipped on some protective mits and grabs the tray and brought out the pan of ham that actually smelt quite good. She set it down on the stove and took off her gloves and set them on the counter. She began mashing the potatoes that were already cooked in a pot on the stove. She dumped in some butter and milk as she stirred it up and the doorbell rang. Kaity steps away from the stove and straightened her deep red sweater. She opened the front door and smiled. "Nancy! Johnathan!" Kaity cheered, wrapping her arms around the two then stepping aside to let them in. "Wow, it smells amazing in here," Nancy says and she looks around. "Did you do all this?" Johnathan asks and Kaity nods. "It looks great," Nancy says then holds up some gifts. "Where do you want me to put these?"

"Under the tree is fine." Kaity points and Johnathan takes the gifts from Nancy so he could put them away for her. "Thank you for inviting us. Where is everyone else?" As Kaity's about to answer a knock is heard on the door behind her and she turns and opens it. "Hey!" Kaity says, engulfing her best friend and a tight hug, being careful to not knock the presents out of his hands. Then she pulls away from him and hugs Page who stood beside Steve a large smile on her face. "Merry Christmas, Kate," Steve says as he shuffles into the house. "Merry Christmas, everyone!" Page cheers, she loved this time of year. "Hey, guys." Steve waves at Nancy and Johnathan who wave back. "You can put them under the tree." He nods and walks over to the tree and sets his gifts down. "So," Nancy claps her hands together, catching Kaity's attention. "What do you need help with?" Kaity motions over to the kitchen and Nancy follows her. "So, I need to mix up the batter for my famous chocolate chunk brownies-"

"Oh my god you're making your brownies?" Steve asks, peeking his head into the kitchen, an excited look on his face. Kaity nods and he cheers and she laughs at him. "And I need to finish making the mashed potatoes and corn."

"I can do that while you make your brownies if you'd like." Kaity smiles and squeezes Nancy's hand. "That'd be great." Both the lades get to work and Steve walks in and tries to stick his finger in the brownie mix and Kaity slaps his hand away. "Don't you dare, Steven." Steve frowns and Kaity rolls her eyes playfully as she grabs a spoon and puts some of the raw batter on it and hands it over to Steve who's face lights up emidatly making her shakes her head with a laugh. "You better share, Steven!" Page calls after him and he runs away from her. Nancy finishes up her task and wonders out of the kitchen. Kaity pours the mixed up batter into a baking pan then places it in the oven that was already set. As Kaity washes her hands she hears the doorbell ring. As she walks out of the kitchen she sees Page open the door and she gave the person that entered a hug and Kaity smiles. Billy sets the things down that he had in his hands so he could shake Johnathens hand. Steve and Billy shake hands then pull each other in a short 'bro hug' and Nancy give him a hug. Kaity walks over and Billy's eyes move to her and a smile forms on his face. He wraps his arms around her and kisses her cheek. " It smells amazing in here." He says as he pulls away from her. "She did all the work," Nancy said pointing at Kaity who shrugged. "I wanted to make it special for yall."