Chirstmas Wonders

Huizhong’s home always had that holiday atmosphere. It had taken Kendall three years to realize that this wasn’t about the atmosphere itself — not about the apartment, the time of the year, or the food served, but rather about Huizhong himself. It was their third year coming to Huizhong’s for Christmas. They were excited about it, which they thought spoke volumes about the situation.

Kendall was the last one to arrive. When Huizhong opened his door, his dimpled smile and the ugly sweater were familiar and expected, and Kendall didn’t think twice about dumping their bag of collected goods at him. They’d visited the holiday market that morning and they’d gotten food, for the most part, and they got as many snacks as they could in hopes of appealing to everyone.

“Kendall!” Huizhong exclaimed happily. “I’m so glad you could make it—” as though Kendall had anywhere else to be, and then: “Come in, come in, everyone’s already here.”

Well — Kendall knew what Huizhong and Jinhai liked at least. Speaking of Jinhai, the Gleam was sitting beneath a horrifyingly decorated tree, shuffling three cups in front of him. Yanmei, tiny with bulging cheeks, was in front of him, pondering. Jinhai had been attending these celebrations as long as Kendall had. They were friends, and despite their age difference, they’d gotten along like a house on fire immediately. Yanmei, who’d been alive for longer than she’d known Huizhong, was another part of the man Kendall couldn’t overlook — and a part of him they liked as well.

It wasn’t Huizhong or Jinhai or even little Yanmei they were worried about. It was another person that would be present and that they knew about.

Huizhong was known for picking up strays. Kendall knew because they were such one stray. And well, first there was Jinhai, then there was Kendall and now, there was Talcott. And, well, Kendall had never met Talcott before this even though they’d heard great things about him.

“Kendall, this is Talcott,” Huizhong introduced. “Talcott, this is Kendall, I’ve been telling you about them. They work with me, Kendall’s the one who can surf!”

Kendall didn’t know if surfing was something worth remembering, but they were glad it was the thing they decided to focus on. For them, perhaps only ‘Kendall is my coworker’ would’ve worked.

“Hi,” they said, “You must be Talcott.” Well, it was a little obvious that the person was Talcott — they knew everyone else already present, after all. Kendall didn’t think themself to be an awkward person, but some hesitation was to be expected, they supposed.

If Talcott minded their attitude, he didn’t show it.

“I hope I’m not intruding,” he said instead. “I heard a lot about you.”

Only good things, I hope, is what Kendall should’ve said, and kept it all casual. But this was another person Huizhong’s sort of adopted in his family — even though he wasn’t that much older than them, and even though Kendall worried about him almost as much as he worried about them — and Kendall had a good feeling about them.

“Oh,” they said when their tongue was faster than their brain. “I know what Huizhong says about me. All those funny stories of me being a clutz, right?”

For a split second, Kendall saw the confusion on the man’s face, like he was debating whether he should dissuade them or not. And then, they saw their brilliant smile, adorned with the ugly sweater and deer headband. He looked like family already.

“Oh, lots of those,” Talcott said, “But I meant something else. Wanna sit so I can recount them?”

Kendall laughed and then made themself at home. They never paid attention to new beginnings, but they thought this just might be one.