25 Days of Cadnis

Day 20 • Family Dinner

Cady checks the time right after she and Janis had set the table. They had invited their parents and Holly over for a family dinner, which will be interesting to say the least.

Cady hears footsteps on the porch and runs to the door, a smile on her face as she expects to see the Sarkisians.

As she swings open the door, her smile fades.

"Hello, Cady," her mother greets.

Cady inhales deeply and then exhales, stepping outside and closing the door.

"If you misbehave or act badly at all tonight, you will never step foot into our house again, understood?" Cady warns sternly, a threatening expression on her face.

Her mother and father just nod and Cady clearly doesn't believe them.

She opens the door and lets them inside, walking in after them, "Jan, sweetheart? My parents are here!" Cady calls upstairs. There's thumping and then Janis runs down, a forced smile on her face.

"Hi, Mr. and Mrs. Heron," Janis reluctantly greets, clearly hoping her parents would come first.

By a stroke of luck, the doorbell rings and Cady rushes to it, smiling excitedly as she envelopes Ms. Sarkisian in a big hug, along with Holly.

"Hi, guys! Come inside, it's bitter out," Cady says, still smiling.

Button comes yapping out of her bed, running to Holly and Janis's mom and panting excitedly.

"Janie, you got a dog and didn't tell us?" Ms. Sarkisian cooed, bending down carefully.

"Yep. Her name is Button," Janis says, running to the kitchen quickly.

She opens their oven and pulls on a pair of oven mitts, pulling out the shiny chicken and bringing it to the table.

"Dig in, everyone."

The dinner isn't going badly and everyone's getting along nicely.

Until the Herons had to talk.

"Cady, dear, might I ask the gender of your dog?" Mrs. Heron asks.

"She's female."

"Then why is she wearing a tuxedo and not a dress?"

Cady inhales deeply, closing her eyes.

"Merry Christmas to me," she mutters sarcastically.