Holidays

Chapter 1: Thanksgave: Joel

Joel was sixteen now. He was almost an adult and he had a decision to make before he went off to college.

Thanksgiving day had finally arrived and Joel cleaned up his room just in case his family wanted to see it.

Around 1 pm, family members began to arrive. Joel took their coats and put them in his parents’ bedroom.

His parents showed his extended family the interior of their new house they had moved into a few weeks ago. It had three bedrooms, It had three bedrooms, one for Joel, one for a guest, and one for his mom and dad.

Aunts, uncles, grandparents, and cousins came from around the country to visit. Some relatives he didn’t know he had or hadn’t seen in a while. He greeted each member of his family with a “Hello”.

His grandmother greeted him back “Look how tall you got.”

“Happy Turkey Day,” replied his uncle.

As a teenager, Joel didn’t care about family get-togethers, he only cared about the food. And his cousin, William or Will for short, who came out to his immediate family as bisexual. It was important for Joel to talk to Will.

When Will and his parents arrived, Joel walked up to Will. “Hey, I heard you did something significant recently. Can I talk to you about it in my bedroom upstairs?”

“Sure, let me just tell my parents,” Will replied. “Mom, Dad, Joel wants to show me his room.”

“Okay, honey,” Will’s mother answered.

Will followed Joel up the stairs to his bedroom. Joel opened his bedroom door and sat in his desk chair. Will closed the door and sat on the bed.

“So, I heard you came out as bi to your parents and older sister,” Joel said.

“Yeah, I thought it was the right time. I’ve been holding it in for so long and I wanted to be myself around my family. So, I told them two Sundays ago at dinner.”

“Were they surprised?”

“A little at first, but they had their suspicions and assumptions. They were accepting.”

“Good.”

“Why do you care?”

“You’re my cousin and I thought I should know that about my cousin.”

“Really? Out of all the cousins you have, you wanted to know this fact about me. You know it’s not all that I am, I’m more than my sexuality.”

“I know, but you’re my favorite cousin,” Joel admitted.

“Ah, but seriously. How did you even hear about this? I just told my family a few weeks ago.”

“I heard it through the grapevine.”

“Okay, but again. Why do you care or need to know?”

“Will, I think I might be gay.”

“What?! How do you-”

“I’ve thought about this for a few years now and I think I’m ready to come out.”

“How do you know?”

“How did you know?”

“Well, I thought I was gay at first, but then I realized I still liked girls. I have a girlfriend now and I told her I’m bi. She’s accepted me.”

“I guess when I was a freshman, I saw all those jocks and hot guys and I just knew. I was turned off by girls and didn’t find them attractive anymore.”

“Interesting, but why are telling me this?”

“I want to come out my family too.”

“Okay, the first thing to do is-”

“I want to do it today!”

“Today? At Thanksgiving dinner? In front of our entire family?”

“Yes–Is that crazy?”

“A little, but how did you plan on doing it?”

“I was going to propose a toast and announce it.”

“Oh, this might be a bad idea.”

“Why? Why do you think that?”

“What if they judge you and some of them walk out?”

“What if they accept me for who I am and stay?”

“Joel, why don’t you just tell your immediate family next week?”

“I don’t want to. This way everyone in our family will know at once, instead of finding out through phone calls.”

Will walked over to the window and looked down into the backyard. He saw his little cousins playing football with his dad. He looked back at Joel. “I know I can’t change your mind, but be ready for anything.” Will re-opened the door and walked back downstairs.

Joel got up and sat on his bed. Should I really do this? Is it the right time? It is, I know it is. I can feel it.

He stepped downstairs and saw his uncle watching the football game on TV. He sat on the couch. “Who’s winning, Uncle Dave?”

“The Broncos, but only by a few points.”

“Good.”

“What are you, a Broncos fan?”

“No, but I-”

“Shh-talk to me during the commercials.”

Joel walked into the kitchen. His mother was checking the turkey, his father stirred the corn on the stove, and his Aunt Sally set the table. “Mom, do you need any help?”

“No, Joel. Go play football outside with your cousins.”

“Fine.”

He pushed open the backdoor and heard the laughter and screams of his cousins.

“Joel, come play with us,” his Uncle Al said as he stopped running with the ball.

“Yeah, be on my team,” one of his little cousins said.

“No, be on my team,” Will said sarcastically to imply a double entendre.

“You can be on my team,” Uncle Al said. “Here, you take the ball and punt it.”

“Okay,” Joel replied.

They got in position and Joel punted the ball to his uncle. Uncle Al caught the ball and held it as he ran across the field. He threw it to cousin Timmy and he took it to the endzone.

Hours passed.

“Dinner’s ready!” Joel’s mother called from the open window.

The boys rushed into the house and sat at the dining room table. A big turkey sat on a platter in the middle of the table, along with Peas, corn, cranberry sauce, and mashed potatoes around it.

Joel’s father cut the turkey and everyone said what they were thankful for. Most of them said they were thankful for this family and this meal. They made their plates, passed the bowls around the table, and dug in.

Will’s mother sat next to her other sister, Janice, and asked, “So, how are the kids?”

“Good, Will is a junior in high school and Maranda is a senior in college. She’s visiting for the week,” Will’s mother replied.

“That’s great, the twins are freshmen in high school.”

Joel sat next to Will.

“Our aunts are talking,” Will said as he pointed his head toward them.

“I can see that,” Joel replied.

“Hey, don’t get snippy with me.”

“Sorry.”

“Do you think-”

“Maybe.”

Will’s mother whispered into Aunt Janice’s ear and she whispered back into her ear.

Joel glanced at Will as he stuffed mashed potatoes into his mouth and Will glanced back. Joel finished chewing and used his butterknife to clank his glass. He clanked it so hard, the glass shattered. A piece of glass flew into Will’s mother’s right eye. Her sister tried to remove it, but it was in too deep. She called an ambulance.

“Maybe this is a bad omen,” Will said before rushing to his mother.

Will, Joel, and Joel’s mother drove behind the ambulance as it rushed to the hospital. Everyone else stayed with Will’s dad and continued eating since they didn’t want to drive all the way home.

The paramedics rushed Janice into the emergency room and the party of three followed them. The doctor asked the three family members to wait in the hall as he attempted to remove the glass shard from her eye.

They heard Aunt Janice scream as the doctor removed it.

Later, they were told they can come back in and Janice’s eye was patched up.

The doctor told Joel’s mother, “She might not be able to see out of that eye again. We’ll just have to wait until it heals.”

“How long will it take to heal?”

“A few weeks, maybe a month. I want to keep her overnight, so she rest and we can watch her.”

“Okay.”

“You guys can stay if you want, but I understand if you have to go back to Thanksgiving dinner.” The doctor walked away.

“Joel, take Will and the car back to the house. I’ll stay here with Janice,” Will’s mother ordered.

“But I want to stay. This is my fault after all.”

“It was an accident, I’ll stay here and watch her.”

“Alright, if you say so.”

Joel’s mother tossed the car keys into Joel’s hand. Joel and Will walked out of the hospital and toward the parking garage.

“See what happens when you try to come out at a big family get-together, you make your aunt half-blind,” Will exclaimed.

Joel spotted the car and unlocked it.

“I know, I’m wrong and you’re right. I’ll try again the next major holiday,” Joel replied.

Will got into the car. “You mean during Christmas? Good luck with that.”

“Thanks, I’ll need it.”

Joel drove Will back to the house and everyone lounged on the couch as they were tired from eating so much food.

“So, how’s Janice?” Uncle Al asked the boys.

“Yeah, how’s your aunt and where’s your mom?” Joel’s dad said from the couch.

“She’s fine, they removed the glass piece. She’s with my mom. They wanted to keep her overnight for observation,” Joel replied.

The family members who lived close by or in the next state went home and the rest would stay in the guest bedroom or sleep on the couch overnight.

They stayed until Janice and Joel’s mother returned from the hospital the next morning.

Joel’s mother opened the front door, “Hey, everyone!”

“Hey, mom. Dad made breakfast,” Joel replied

“Hey, guys,” Janice said, holding her hand on her eye patch.

“How are you, mom?” Will asked.

“I’m fine, the doctor said it will heal in a few weeks.”

“She just needs a little R&R. This means she’ll be staying with us until her eye fully heals, so I can take care of her.”

Joel was excited his cousin and uncle would be staying with them until his aunt said, “Al and Will go home, I’ll be staying with my sister for a few weeks.”

“But mom-”

“Yeah, honey. We should stay here and help take care of you.”

“No, I’ll be fine. Plus, she also owes me for nursing her back to health when she got pneumonia.”

“Which you gave me.”

“Hey, I was on antibiotics. I thought I was fine.”

“Then you violently coughed on me.”

“I said I was sorry, but you’re right, now you can return the favor. What are sisters for?”

“Right.”

“Alright, but if you need anything or there’s an emergency, text or call me,” Al worried.

“Don’t worry, I will,” Janice replied.

The rest of Joel’s extended family packed up and went home. And Joel’s mother took care of her sister until she regained sight in her right eye.