Auld Lang Syne (Outro)

"And there’s a hand, my trusty fiere,
And gie’s a hand o’ thine,
And we’ll tak a right guid willie-waught
For auld lang syne!
For auld lang syne, my jo,
for auld lang syne,
we’ll tak' a cup o’ kindness yet,
for auld lang syne." Auld Lang Syne

"Staci, Amber, Ressa, Jackie- this is Christian. Everybody, this is Christian." I announced as we greeted the few girls in the living room.

"Hey everybody." Christian said, flashing his great smile as I took his present and put it on an end table.

"I'm Staci." Staci said, returning his smile and shaking his hand. "Can I just say you can do much better than Noelle? She comes off like a major bitch on her show. "

"Yeah... it's great TV." He said, his smile fading the tiniest bit. "Nice to meet you."

"Hey Christian. I'm glad you made it." Amber said, brightly, taking a break from wrestling New Year's suspenders on Robbie.

"Me too." Christian said, looking over at me. I smiled at him.

"We've met before. Good to see you again." Jackie sauntered over, giving him a hug which Christian returned. When she held him a nano second too long, I cleared my throat and hopped back on my hooverboard.

"Christian, let me give you the first official tour. Follow me." I said as he pulled away from Jackie.

"She was serious about that hooverboard."  Jackie muttered under her breath to Amber.

"I was. I need my theme song too. Christian, just imagine My House playing when I opened the door." I said to Christian.

When he turned around to face me, Staci gave me a thumbs up as she looked him over. He did look incredible in dark fitted jeans, a white v-neck and a teal suede bomber jacket pushed up, showing of the music bar tattoo that ran around his arm. I teased him mercilessly when I found out the notes were to Carol King's So Far Away. I quickly shut up and apologized when he explained he got it for him mom after she passed away. He laughed it off, but I couldn't help wondering what the rest of his tattoos meant and if he had any I haven't seen...

"Flo Rida? I'd rather not imagine any of his songs." Christian said, interrupting my thoughts.

"Whatever. You know you were all about the Apple Bottom jeans and the boots with the fur." I recited Flo Rida's song.

"I actually preferred baggy sweat pants and the Reebok's with the straps." He recited back.

I laughed before showing off all the renovations I did downstairs. Rocky was napping in my room, so we skipped it and went upstairs. I showed him the guest rooms before we stopped in the sitting area, watching Staci's daughter Cherish, Jackie's daughter Ressa, and Amber's daughters April and Krista playing Just Dance 2016.

"So I see where you got your dance moves." Christian accused me.

"That's right. I've mastered every Just Dance there is." I confessed.

Christian chuckled before looking over the banister to the front door. "You did a really great job with the house." Christian complimented me. "I'm sure your Aunt is going to regret that she didn't come."

"Yeah." I said, pushing away the lingering hurt I felt about my last conversation with my aunt.

FLASHBACK

"She kicked me out." Bianca cried when I finally called her back Christmas Eve.

I just got home from Monica's, an athletic trainer, and her husband Trent's Christmas Eve white elephant party. It was a tradition they started for everyone who had to work because of the basketball season. I didn't really know Monica nor Trent very well, but at the volunteer event, they seemed really nice and down to earth, so I decided to go. I spent my night socializing and getting to know everyone and ignored Bianca's call.

"What? Your name is on the lease. Those bitches can't kick you out!" I declared.

"Hey!" The voice I recognized as Gayle in the background protested.

"No. My mom." Bianca cried.

She explained that on Christmas Eve, tried of the whispers, disapproving looks and hiding her true feelings, she told her mom the truth: She is a lesbian and is dating a woman. Aunt Patty promptly kicked her out her house, telling her not to come back until she was ready to repent for her sins and stop her deviant behavior.

"I don't even know why I'm upset. I knew she wouldn't understand. I just don't get how she can preach God's words and forgiveness and.. repenting then throw me out her house in the same breath." Bianca sniffled.

"Because she's a fucking hypocrite B. You don't need her." Gayle spoke up.

I immediately spoke up to defend Aunt Patty. "I'm sure she's in shock Bianca. Let me talk to her ok?" I promised her.

I stayed on the phone comforting her until she fell asleep. It was too late to call Aunt Patty, but I called first thing the next morning. After wishing her a Merry Christmas, I brought up Bianca.

"Until she gives up her lifestyle, there is nothing to discuss." Aunt Patty said, finally.

"She's your daughter and she needs you. You may not agree with what's she's doing, but I know you love her-" I reasoned.

"I love the Lord. She can live in sin but I will have nothing to do with that."

"Patty, that's cruel. All she did is fall in love someone..."

"It's a sin, not love. I raised her to follow His word. She knows better."

"You raised Brittany too. She has kids and has never been married. Premarital sex is a sin but she's a part of your life." I pointed out, gently.

"Children are a blessing from God. She repented and God forgives her sins." Patty defended her.

"Brittany is living with a man Aunt Patty! Does she repent every Sunday? Is that all Bianca has to do to live in sin?" I argued, passionately, losing what little patience I had.

"And stop sinning."

"Come on Patty! Brittany is still having premarital sex- I don't care what she tells you! I've had sex lots of times and I never repented for it. Am I not allowed in your house now?" I snapped at her, frustrated by her hypocrisy.

"I didn't raise you! All I could do was pray for you like I did for your mother! You two made your own mistakes." She snapped back.

I don't know what was more devastating- being called a mistake or being compared to my mother. I hung up on her after that. I went to work, updated all the patient's chart, read and replied to e-mails and rewrote the huddle board. At lunch, I texted my friends and family to wish them a merry Christmas. Christian called me back. Since the clinic was empty, I answered and we talked.

I told him about the party I went to the night before. All the gifts had to be less than $10 and a gag gift. My gift was Beats by Dre- literally a can of beets with Dr. Dre's picture on them. The other gag gifts included a couple of bags of coal, Donald Trump bumper stickers, toilet paper (for all the shitty gifts), already scratched loser lotto tickets, batteries with a note that said: gift not included, a box of condoms with a hole drilled through the middle, and a potty putter. I picked a can of nuts with a homemade label that read: Deez Nuts.

Christian laughed as I described the party, then he asked me what was wrong. I tried to play him off, but he stopped me.

"If you don't wanna talk about it, just say so but I know something's up. I can hear it in your voice." Christian commented.

I sighed then vented to him about the phone call I just had with my Aunt.

He advised me to let everyone cool down and try to get them to work it out together. The immature me wanted to say fuck Patty and leave it alone, but I knew that wouldn't help Bianca at all.  I wanted to find out what she meant about my mother as well. That's where the idea of having a home warming came up- a way to get my family together, on neutral grounds, to air everything out.

With no reason, excuse or explanation, Aunt Patty flat out told me no. Bianca made plans to go to Las Vegas with Noelle. At first all I wanted to do was spend New Year's alone; wallowing in how screwed up my family is and how my plans to start my own family with Trevor tanked. I talked it over with Dr. Pereira and it helped me appreciate the family and friends I had even more. I decided to have the party anyway. 

PRESENT

"I need to go downstairs and check on the food. I still have some of Deez Nuts if you're hungry." I said, heading down the stairs.

"I'll pass." He smiled, following me.

I checked on the food, making sure everything was still warm, before the doorbell rang.

I hopped on my hooverboard to answer it.

"Hey Dad." I said, letting him and Beatrice in when I opened the door.

"Are you supposed to ride those indoors?" My dad asked.

"Who knows." I hopped off and gave him a hug before turning to Beatrice. "Hi Beatrice." I greeted her.

When she reached out for a hug too, I followed her lead. I tried to apologize for my outburst at Thanksgiving, but she wouldn't hear it. She just wanted to move forward, so I honored her request.

"You look so pretty. I love your hair short." She complimented me.

"Thank you. So do you. C'mon in, let me introduce you to everyone so far." I took her arm and led her in the living room. I introduced everyone, saving Christian for last.

Rocky emerged from her nap, surprised to see Christian.

"Did you tell Sammy he was coming?" Rocky asked when I retreated to the kitchen to grab drinks.

Rocky knew things were tense between Sammy and I. We had an unofficial truce- She never apologized or brought Trevor up again and I didn't call her out on her bitchy behavior.

"You mean, did I run my guest list by her? Nope." I scoffed.

Rocky just smiled, pleased.

My brother arrived next with Jenna and I gave them a hug before taking them on a tour. At the end, I eagerly turned to Cam to ask about Trevor's party.

"It was good. More low key than the Halloween party."

"How was he?" I asked, needing more information on Trevor, not the party.

"He's good Lily. Same old Trevor. Ready to get his life back."

I tried to stop my stomach from flipping excitedly. "He wasn't faking being excited, right? He might do that to hide his true feelings?"

"No. I don't think he was faking." Cam shook his head.

"What about you Jenna-you study behavior for a living. Did he give you a bad vibe?"

"No. You can tell he's uncomfortable with the colostomy bag because he brought it up, both other than that, he seems really fine."

My heart dropped. "Colostomy bag? He has to have one? Permanently?" I questioned.

"No, temporary. The surgery on his colon-" Jenna started to explain.

"I know why he would need one. He didn't tell me he needed one. He promised to keep me updated about his health." I said, disappointed that he didn't keep his word.

"He might have been embarrassed-" Cam said as the doorbell rang.

"Excuse me." I said, shortly, leaving. I hopped on my hooverboard, determined to stay positive and have a good time.

Ethan, his parents and EJ were at the door. I smiled, genuinely glad they came.

"Wow. Lily, can I ride that?!?" EJ exclaimed.

"If your dad says it's ok." I said, hopping off.

"I need to get one of those so I can get around the house faster." Al smiled at my hooverboard.

"Weren't those on the news recently for blowing up?" Ethan frowned up at me.

"Not sure. My brother got it for me. You can debate with him his intentions of blowing me up." I said, jokingly.

"Maybe later." He said.

"EJ, the kids are upstairs playing with the XBox. Wanna show them how it's done?" I asked.

"Yeah." He said, running up the stairs.

"Lily, this is beautiful." Deborah smiled, looking around.

"Thank you, but hold your opinions until I take you on the tour Deborah." I beamed.

I took them over to meet my dad and Beatrice. I knew my dad was anxious to meet the family I spent Christmas with. As they chatted, I pulled Ethan aside. "Come here. I wanna show you something."

I led him to my hallway closet. I opened the door and let him look inside.

"Very... clean." He said, confused by my excitement.

"I cleaned it out. I'm leaving this closet empty so if we have anymore severe weather, this is where Justine and I will be." I grinned proudly.

He nodded in understanding and stepped into the closet. It was under the stairs, so it was deep and had plenty of room. I used to keep my random storage containers in the closet, but I moved them to the garage.

"This is perfect." Ethan informed me, looking back at me as I followed him in.

"And look at this." I said, pulling out a battery operated radio, flashlight and first aid kit.

"See? Didn't take much to be prepared, did it?" Ethan asked.

"No. Know let's prepare you for party games. What are you drinking?" I asked him, grinning.

FLASHBACK

After my talk with my aunt, I was ready to spend Christmas alone. I was already feeling weird about intruding on the Carters' Christmas. My aunt's comments made me feel like a complete outsider with my own blood; how would I feel around someone else's family? Once Deborah found out I had to work and wasn't going home, she talked me into to coming to her house. The lure of a home cooked meal that I didn't have to cook finally won me over and I went as planned. I don't know why I even worried. The Carters always made me feel so comfortable around them. Amber and Will were there too, so I didn't feel like I was intruding at all. I had a great time. We had rib roast, crab legs, baked potatoes, broccoli gratin, asparagus, sweet potatoe casserole and pineapple upside down cake for dessert. Mrs. Carter even put meat aside for Justine. After stuffing ourselves, we walked off the food looking at Christmas display lights.

I spent the night and the next morning, I woke up before the sun to catch after Christmas sales with Deborah and Amber. I didn't put a tree up this year, but I bought an artificial one and ornaments for half price. I found the cutest "A Christmas Story" ornaments that I was so excited about being my theme for Christmas next year. I told EJ I was buying him a pink bunny suit, and he had no idea what I was talking about.

"You haven't seen A Christmas Story?!? We're watching it today!" I decided.

Amber and Will had to leave because they both had to work, but I stayed to watched "A Christmas Story". EJ liked it, but he loved Home Alone and Home Alone 2 much better. I made him watch those when I found out he hadn't seen them. I was getting ready to leave when Ethan stopped me.

"There's bad weather in our area. Why don't you leave after the storms pass through?" Ethan suggested.

After assuring him I would be fine, I reluctantly caved when he asked me to stay for his sake. I was so glad I did. The tornado watch turned into a warning as a storms touched down all around the metroplex. One storm was heading right in our direction. We made our way over to a neighbor's house and their storm shelter. While Albert called to check on his daughter, Deborah talked to the neighbors and Ethan set up the portable radio to a news station, I huddled next to EJ, feeling very much like a helpless child. EJ was too quiet, I got him to play thumb war, rock paper scissors, hand slap reflex game and anything else I could think of as we waited out the storm.

The tornado skipped over the area of McKinney we were in. The only damage was debris in the yard and pool. When we went back into the house and turned on the news, we watched as the tornado count and lost lives increased. It was disturbing, and I was definitely rattled seeing the vehicles on the road that were hit by a tornado.

I stayed another night. Justine fell asleep beside me, but I was having trouble falling asleep too. After tossing and turning, I got up, thinking about a slice of cake as I made my way quietly to the kitchen.

Ethan was already there, pulling out a glass when I joined him.

"I'm about to have a drink. Would you like one?" He offered.

"Yes please."

"What can I get you?"

"Whatever goes good with cake."

He cut me a slice of cake and poured me a glass of milk before pouring a glass of brandy.

"I don't think I've seen you drink straight alcohol before. Or mixed drinks. Or a shot. Anything not beer or wine."

"I normally don't." He said, coolly. I felt like something was wrong.

"Is your sister ok?" I asked. I already knew Brandon was fine.

"Yes, they had roof damage but everyone's ok." Ethan answered.

"Serena?" I questioned.

"She's fine." He replied, finishing his drink. "Are you ok? You're not eating."

"Oh... just shockingly amazed by how unprepared for life I am." I admitted.

"How so?"

"I would have tried to drive home and beat the storm. I have no idea what I would have done if I was at home alone. I never plan for anything. I'm so impulsive. You know I bought a fire pit with your gift card? I told myself it was practical because it gave heat. I should have bought a tornado shelter... or a panic room." I spewed.

"You don't need those. If you're at home, go to the lowest floor, away from windows. The bathroom is probably the best place to be. In the tub with mattress on top of you."

"On top?"

"To protect you from debris."

"See? Why didn't I know that?"

"California doesn't get that many tornadoes."

"I live in Texas now. I should know this stuff."

"You know the things that can't be taught. Look at the way you keep EJ calm." Ethan complimented me.

"He was calm the whole time. He took my mind off everything by playing games with me." I waved him off.

"This was EJ's first time in a tornado shelter. He asked me numerous questions about tornadoes when I put him to bed. You comforted him when he needed it. He may not have shown it, but he was scared."

I smiled and took a bite of my cake. "He's kinda like you in that regard. Very... stoic."

"Is that a liability or asset?"

"Neither... both. You're always stay calm, but it's impossible to tell what you're feeling." I answered.

I ate my cake, the air suddenly tense between us, until I smiled."Except when EJ is mad. He gets a major attitude and throws a ton of shade."

Ethan smirked. "He gets that from his mom."

"Right. Cause you never lose your cool." I smirked back.

PRESENT

After I got Ethan a beer, I tended to the rest of my guest that arrived. Sammy and Corey came together. If she was upset about seeing Christian, she kept it to herself. Brandon, Jake, Omar, Kelly, and baby Octavia showed up together. Dino wasn't able to come because she was working, but Jake came with tamales I took enthusiastically.  Forrest, Blake and Jordan arrived at the same time. Monica and her husband Trent even stopped by for a couple of hours. After everyone got food and drinks, Rocky started the games. We played a 2015 addition of Who am I- one person had the nametag of a famous person on their back and they had to ask yes or no questions to figure out who they had. Every person was relevant in 2015.

Christian got Rachel Dolezal and was having trouble figurinh out why she was famous. When he found out she wasn't an actress, musician, athlete, socialite, Internet star, politician, or writer, he was stomped.

"Ask me if she's white!" I told him when he got to me.

"Is she white?"

"Yes, but she passed as black!" I responded, causing everyone to laugh. He knew who I was talking about, but couldn't recall her name.

Richard and Dominick came right before we played Taglines. Popular taglines and quotes from 2015 movies were read and you had to guess the movie. Christian apparently hadn't seen anything, including trailers. When he didn't get "The Park is Open" as Jurassic World, I kicked him off my team for sucking so bad.

I regretted it when we got to doo wop. It was a game where you had to sing the melodies of popular songs in 2015 singing only "do" and your team had to guess the song. He was the only one whose pop music knowledge was as strong as mine. Our teams were neck and neck. His team won when Amanda did the whip and nae nae while she sang.

"That's cheating! You can't dance!" I pointed at them.

"I'll allow it." Rocky decided. Since she put the games together, she was officiating.

"Bullsh- crap!" I cleaned up, censoring myself as I stomped my feet.

"You shouldn't talk to the referee like that." Christian smiled.

"Yeah. Minus 5 points from your team." Rocky decided.

"You know what? Party over. Everybody out!" I yelled, faux kicking them out.

After the games, I lit the fire pit and the remaining of us went outside to enjoy it. Slowly but surely, everyone left, besides my brother, Jenna, my dad, Beatrice and Christian. He was the only person who disobeyed my request of donating to the families that were affected by the tornadoes instead of giving me a housewarming gift-He did both. I opened his gift to reveal a remote control helicopter.

"I heard you... get excited about helicopters." Christian grinned.

I laughed, remembering the comment I made about fucking for helicopters, not buses. "Thank you, but I'm not fucking you."

"I figured because it's not real you wouldn't.  I was hoping you settle for a toy helicopter, I'll settle for friendship." He countered.

"We're friends Christian. I wouldn't have invited you if we weren't but I'm keeping the helicopter." I smiled.

"That works for me."

We sat outside a little longer, talking about our New Year's resolutions. I really didn't have any. Everyone says new year, new me, but I didn't need a new me- I just wanted to keep improving the old me. I felt like with Dr. Pereira, and my real friends and family, I was already on the right track. Christian and I set goals instead and promised to help each other with them. As friends.

*There weren't many details about the other storylines at Lily's party. I promise, they're coming! And I know I missed a post last week. I'll make it up this week for sure!