Friends-mas

[aggedy_ann]

The whole group gets together for a holiday celebration.   
 

Tim bustled in the kitchen, checking the ham, stirring the cornbread stuffing in the crockpots, checked the boiling potatoes on top of the stove – not quite ready to mash, he determined.   He heard the front door open and close and turned to see Ethan bringing in the beverages that had been requested for the evening.  He helped Ethan find room in the refrigerator for the beer, wine, and Diet Coke, then went back to preparing his feast.

 

“It smells so wonderful in here,” he commented to Ethan as he began slicing the bread he had baked yesterday – banana and pumpkin, along with the apple and pumpkin pies and cheesecake.  This was Tim’s element outside of his jobs, and he was reveling in it.   

 

“Yeah.  From what I can smell.”  Ethan commented, pulling a tissue from the pocket of his jeans. 

 

Tim frowned.  “Allergies that bad today?”

 

Ethan sighed.   “Trees love to torment me.”

 

Tim checked the pollen count on his phone and nodded.  “At least you won’t be the only one sneezing through the afternoon,” he pointed out.  “Between year round allergies and the cats…”

 

Ethan laughed, picking up Coco, who was rubbing around Tim’s legs, in hopes of crumbs.  “I have a feeling you’ll be in the minority.”

 

Tim finished arranging bread and fruit on a tray, then covered it with plastic wrap.  “Yup.  Probably should have a box of tissues as a centerpiece instead of the mini tree.” He chuckled.

 

45 minutes later, he had mashed potatoes – freshly mashed – keeping warm on the stove, the ham resting, gravy simmering, and the doorbell ringing.   Looking down at his clothes, streaked with remnants of the dinner he had just prepared, he called out to Ethan to get the door.

 

“HatChoo!” Came the response.  “What?”

 

“Get the door.  I need to change.”

 

Sniffling, Ethan made his way to the door while Tim slipped into the bedroom to change.

 

Freddie and Jamie were standing there.

 

“Hey,” Freddie grinned, “was worried you weren’t going to let us in.”

 

“Tim was tied up in the kitchen.” Ethan offered an explanation.  “I was in the bedroom…” he paused, looking down, “sneezing.”

 

Jamie laughed.  “I hear that right now.” She empathized, walking in.

 

They settled on the couch as Alex and Alyssa showed up, and were also escorted to the living room.    A freshly changed Tim brought out the appetizers he had prepared – the fruit breads and fruit along with beer bread and spinach dip.   

 

“This looks fantastic!” Alyssa exclaimed.  “Are you sure we’ll have room for dinner?”  

 

“Just don’t go wild,” Tim cautioned.  An aside to Jamie, “there’s walnuts in the banana bread, by the way.”

 

“Thanks for the warning.”  She reached for the safe pumpkin bread.  “I’ve forgotten how good your breads are.”

 

“Thanks.”  Tim slipped into a chair, pulling Ethan on top of him.  

 

“Hey, watch my food!”  Ethan laughed, holding onto his plate.  

 

“I was.”  Tim stole the grapes from the plate as Alyssa and Jamie laughed.    “Don’t eat too much.  I’ll carve the ham in about 15 minutes.”   He popped a grape into his mouth, surveying the room.

 

He wouldn’t have been this way a few years ago, but today he loved being the host.  He observed his friends enjoy the snacks he had prepared, the cats sniffing around.  He saw Alyssa pass Alex a tissue and watched him swipe at his eyes.

 

“Cats getting to you already?  We can move them to the bedroom.”

 

Alex shook his head.  “Eyes have been itchy and watery all day.  It’s just my regular allergies at this point.”  He looked over at Cashew who was pawing Alyssa’s leg, trying to get her to pick him up.   “Although if he keeps that up…”

 

Alyssa brushed Cashew away.  “No, pretty kitty.  No lap time for you.   Go find Ethan.”   

 

The cat stalked away, deciding to take a spot in front of the coffee table.  

 

“Hihhtschoo!  Ihhshoo!”  Jamie drew attention away from Cashew.   

 

“Bless you.”  Freddie rubbed her shoulder as she fished a tissue out of her purse.   

 

“Thanks.  I’ll apologize in advance.  There’s gonna be a lot of that today.”

 

Ethan and Alex nodded in commiseration.

 

“I have a feeling once the cats get to Freddie, you and I’ll be the only ones not sneezing.” Alyssa laughed, looking at Tim.

 

“Yeah, he sneezed two days ago, so he’s good for a week.” Ethan teased.

 

“Sounds about right.”  Alex chuckled, fiddling with his tissue, shooting Tim a jealous look.  

 

“What?” Tim asked.

 

“Wondering what it’s like to not sneeze 20 times a day.”

 

“Or more.” Ethan laughed.

 

Tim shrugged.  “Been this way for a really long time.  It’s weirder when I’m sick and sneezing non stop.”

 

“For all of us.” Freddie chipped in, pulling a tissue from the box on the end table.  “HuhhChushh!  Starting already.” He sighed, pushing Coco away from him.  “I like you baby, but nobody  wants me sneezing my way through dinner.  At least not any more than I already will be.”

 

Coco gave him a dejected look, then crossed over to Alex, paused in front of him and hopped in his lap.  Alex froze for a second, then tried to shoo Coco down.   Failing that, he looked over at the laughing Alyssa, giving her a pleading look.   She reached over, picked up the cat and set her down as Alex pressed his tissue to his nose.  “Hehh’Chuhh, Chhxxxttt.”

 

Freddie looked over at Alex, then back at Tim and Ethan.  “No offense, guys, but it’s a lot worse when there’s two of them.”

 

“Especially when it’s a weird winter, and pollen is bouncing all over the place.”  Alex sniffled.

 

Jamie nodded.  “Makes me miss sub-zero Minnesota.  The pollen,”she clarified, “not the cats.”

 

Alyssa laughed as Cashew, this time, poked around, trying to get on her lap.   “No, no.  I wish you could,” she sighed.  “But you know what you do to this guy.” She tipped her head at Alex.   

 

“He does know.”  Freddie grumbled as Cashew crossed back to him, looking up adoringly at his former owner.   He rubbed at his eyes, glancing at Tim.  “If you didn’t love hosting so much…”

 

Tim grinned.  “Any one want some Benadryl before they get too bad?”

 

“Right,” Alex grinned, “add that to the turkey, and you’ll have to carry us out of here.”

 

“Good thing I made a ham.” Tim laughed, popping a grape into his mouth.   He pulled Ethan against him, leaning back, enjoying the quiet Christmas music in the background.   

 

“Ahshoo!” Ethan twisted away from Tim.   

 

“Bless you.”  Tim murmured, rubbing Ethan’s shoulder.

 

“Thanks, babe.”  Ethan sniffled.   “Do you need to go check on the food?”

 

Tim checked his watch.  “Couple minutes.  I should get the table set.”

 

“Need any help?”  Alyssa offered.

 

“I’ve got it.   You relax.”  Ethan let Tim up so he could once again begin bustling around the kitchen.  

 

Tim began placing food into serving dishes, slicing up ham, setting the table, listening to his friends and boyfriend chatter and occasionally sneeze.  He stuck his head into the main room at Jamie’s trio of sneezes.  “Bless you.”  He called.  “5 minutes, ok.”  He began carrying the food to the table, excited to serve his friends this years meal.  

Everyone was sitting around the table a few minutes later, ready to dig in.   

 

“I think you outdid last year.”  Alyssa commented, passing dishes around the table.

 

“You’re going to have leftovers for a month.” Alex laughed.

 

“Not if we send them home with you guys.”  Ethan grinned.

 

Freddie laughed, then sneezed into his elbow.  “HihhChushh! UhhChushoo.”

 

“Bless you.” Jamie said softly.  Aside to him, “that zyrtec isn’t helping much.” She frowned.

 

Freddie looked down, fiddling with his sleeve.  “Um, I forgot to take it.  The dogs didn’t want to come back in, remember? So I was rushing, and it slipped my mind.”

 

Ethan overhearing, turned to Freddie.  “Bottom shelf of the medicine cabinet.” He murmured.

 

“Thanks.”  Freddie slipped away from the table for the pill, then returned to his meal.   

 

Tim, overseeing his friends’ enjoyment of his meal couldn’t help but notice how the cats were affecting his two friends.  Sure, Freddie was just now getting an allergy pill, but Alex was pink eyed and sniffling between bites.   He’d already left the table once to blow his nose, and as he slipped away again, they heard two muffled “EhhChuhhs” as he headed down the short hallway.    Alex paused in the living room on the way back to grab more tissues, then returned to his meal, only to step away again several minutes later.    Sneezing at the table, he didn’t mind, and besides, pretty much everyone was, but he couldn’t bring himself to blow his nose there.

 

Conversation flowed readily around the table.  Christmas plans for the following day, New Years plans, and reminiscing of past holidays.  Freddie was sneezing persistently, though by time of dessert, he was slowing in frequency, though growing in intensity.

 

Ethan and Jamie carried the conversation, peppering it with Ethan’s loud sneezes and Jamie’s quiet yet  forceful ones.   Alyssa jumped in but spent most of the meal casting concerned glances at Alex.

 

And Tim, Tim just enjoyed the moments.  

 

Everyone had finished eating and was eying the spread of desserts on the counter.    “Just what exactly do you have up there, Tim?” Alyssa asked, as he got up to start cutting the pies and cheesecake.

 

“Apple pie, sugar free pumpkin pie and cherry cheesecake,” Ethan answered.  “Plus we’re sending cookies home with you.”

 

Alex groaned.  “Tim, I expect you at the gym with me on Monday.”  Tim laughed.  Alex buried his face in his sleeve.  “HuhChussh, HuhhChuppt, Chhxxt.”

 

“Bless you.  What size piece?”

 

“I’ve already eaten more than enough today,” Alex groaned.  “Might as well have a big piece of apple with whipped cream.   And a sliver of cheesecake.”

 

“No pumpkin?” Ethan asked.

 

“He’s the reason there’s apple.”  Freddie said as everyone else laughed, know how Alex wouldn’t touch anything pumpkin.   

 

“Just like you’re the reason the pumpkin’s sugar free.” Ethan had had to skip out on dessert last year, and Tim had decided that would never happen again.   He put a slice on a plate and handed it to Ethan.  

 

“Ihhtschoo!” Jamie sneezed into her forearm, getting up from the table.  “Ihhhtschoo!” She took refuge in the living room where they heard a small fit and her, privately, blowing her nose.  “Sorry,” she apologized, returning.  “I was wondering when that was coming.  And cheesecake for me, please.”

 

“I should have guessed,” Freddie laughed.  “You’ve never turned down a piehhce…ehchushhuhh.”

 

“So are we still down for a Christmas movie marathon?”  Traditionally, each couple got to choose a movie, and they’d spend the rest of the afternoon and evening watching movies and eating.  He cast a glance at Alex, sniffing between each bite of his desserts.  Between his year round pollen allergies and the cats, Alex was clearly the most miserable, and Tim knew, everyone would defer to him.    

 

Predictably, Alex pitched forward into the paper napkin he held.   “EhhChxxt, Ecchsshht, Ehchussht, HuhChushoo!  I don’t think I’m in for 6 hours of movies this year,” he admitted.   “Usually, the other allergies aren’t a huge factor, but this year’s weird.   But maybe some short ones?” He offered up as a compromise.  “Ones we don’t usually watch together.”

 

“Yeah.”  Freddie paused, covering his nose with his own napkin.  “HiihChuhh, Chushh, huhhChushh-ushh!”  He matched Alex sneeze for sneeze.   “I think we can find some that are shorter that we can agree on.

 

“I’ll put Rudolph in for our pick.” Ethan agreed.  

 

“The original Grinch.”  Jamie chipped in.

 

“We’ll throw in Frosty the Snowman.”  Alyssa suggested.

 

Tim scrawled the titles on pieces of paper towel, folding them and putting them in a paper cup.   “Alex, you want to choose the first one?”

 

Sniffling, Alex pulled out the first piece of paper.  “Rudolph,” he read, stuffily.   

 

“Ok!  Everyone take your plates and drinks and head back to the living room.”  Tim ordered.    

 

“Hold on sec.”  Ethan spoke up, getting up and picking up a cat from the water dish in the kitchen.  “Cats to the bedroom.   I spent the first half of the meal shooing them away from the table, and you know how insistent they are in the living room.”

Tim nodded, picking up Coco from the couch.  He and Ethan deposited the cats in their bedroom, then came back to cue up movies on various streaming services.   They curled up in front of the TV, Tim, this time, joining Alex and Alyssa on the couch.

 

Alex spent the first half hour of the movie, tissues clenched in his fist, either at his face or waiting at the ready.   “HahChuhh-CHehh!”  He sneezed for at least the dozenth series since the movie began.

 

Tim looked over at him, pink nosed now, and puffy eyed.  “Ready for Benadryl?” He asked in a low voice.

 

Alex nodded, blowing his nose, reaching for more tissues.   “Sorry; I haven been like this…”

 

“In a long time.  I know.”   Tim looked over as Freddie doubled over with a powerful sneeze.

 

“HuhChushheshh!”

 

“Bless you.”  He called over.  “Benadryl?”

 

Jamie nodded, looking at Freddie.  “You’ll be sneezing for hours.”  She pointed out at his protest.  “I’m fine to drive.”

 

Ethan nodded.  Jamie’s sneezing had remained at a steady pace, but they all knew she drove like this often enough.   If she were concerned, she’d ask Someone for a ride.    He slipped out of the recliner, pulling Benadryl from the bathroom and handing out the pink and white capsules.   

 

“Can I- Hatchoo! Can I get anyone anything while I’m up?” He asked.   He grabbed Tim another Diet Coke per request, then sat back down for the rest of the movie.    

 

They had finished the movie, and Tim was about get up to have Jamie draw the next one when Alex doubled over.

 

Hh’Chshh, Chushh, Chuhh-ushhh.”  Tim and Alyssa frowned as he continued sneezing.   

 

“I think we better go.”  She said softly.   Tim nodded, and he and Ethan got up to package up some leftovers for them.

 

After a few minutes, the fit had slowed, then subsided.  “UhhChishhuhh!” He sneezed a final time, then straightened up, wiping his eyes with the back of his hand.    

 

Alyssa handed him the tissue box so he could tend to his drippy nose and whispered that it was time to go home.

 

“No arguments from me there.” He whispered back.  To the group, he apologized for ending the fun early. 

 

“It’s ok, man.” Freddie reassured him.   

 

“Yeah.”  Jamie chimed in.  “I don’t think I’ve ever seen you this bad.”

 

“At least not without trying to move in here.” Tim cracked, bringing a grocery bag of food to the living room.  

 

“Feels worse than usual.”  Alex sniffled.   

 

“Think you’ve picked up a cold?”  Ethan asked, scrutinizing Tim for signs of illness.  “You are a little pale.” He finally decided.

 

“That’d do it.” Alyssa nodded.  “Explains why you’ve been so tired and grouchy.  Let’s get you home.”   She rubbed his back and led him to the door.  “Thanks guys.”

 

Ethan looked at Jamie and Freddie.   Freddie looked down at his lap.  “HuhChuhh!” He sneezed into the collar of his shirt.

 

“Bless you.” Tim laughed.  “You had enough or are you staying for another movie?”

 

“I think I should get him home, too.”  Jamie fussed.  “That way he’s not spending the whole night sneezing.”

 

Tim nodded, emerging from the kitchen with their food and seeing them to the door.    

 

He turned to Ethan in the empty apartment.   “You want to put the Grinch on and clean up?”

 

“HatShoo!”  Was Ethan’s response.  “I’m not getting a say in this, am I?”

 

“Nope.”  Tim shook his head.

 

“Even if I say I’m getting a cold…”

 

“You can say it, but you haven’t touched your right ear once all day, so…”

 

Ethan laughed.  “You handle the food; I’ll get the dishwasher.”