Coming Home [Completed]

Ch. 19: exile

Charlie had actually convinced himself that he was looking forward to his and his mom's subdued, two-person Thanksgiving this year. Turkey Day had been one of Charlie's favorite holidays growing up. They usually celebrated it with his dad's extended family and there were regularly over two dozen relatives in attendance and often some plus-ones.

The whole day followed a schedule set by tradition. The day usually began with a pick-up football game in the vast field overlooked by the rather large home of Charlie's paternal grandparents. The guys played and the women in attendance were expected to act almost as cheerleaders. They would then all go inside and the guys would watch football and the girls would spend the whole day preparing the feast in the kitchen.

It was all very straight and very patriarchal and it's what Charlie thought he wanted in life. When he was younger, he'd even let his mind imagine that one day he'd bring his own significant other to this feast to meet his extended family, like in some often-played holiday movie. That dream was rendered impossible by the old-school homophobia of his father's family, who were old-money and fervently traditional Catholics.

Charlie thought he'd made his peace with losing all of that if it meant being true to himself, even if he missed it all dearly. He felt guilty about longing for the comforts of a family who didn't accept him, but the draw of family and tradition had a strong pull on Charlie. Lucas, on the other hand, seemed to despise having to travel out of state for his family's Thanksgiving celebration. What Charlie wouldn't give to have an extended family as loving and accepting as Lucas's seemed to be.

Again, Charlie had thought he'd made his peace with this lesser holiday, of just him and his mom probably ending up ordering take-out, but that all changed the Sunday before the big day when his mother dropped a bombshell on him. Mrs. Broussard had invited the two of them to the Broussards' Thanksgiving.

"And you said yes? Without telling me?" Charlie demanded, bordering on angrily.

"Well, yes, I know how bummed you were last year about missing the big feast and such, so I thought you'd be happy. Mrs. Broussard is such an excellent cook, you know."

"You don't think it'll be a little weird to spend a holiday with my ex?"

"Oh, come now, you can be more mature than that. And, Mrs. Broussard is my friend and she's done a very nice thing, so you're going to be on your best behavior Thursday."

Charlie couldn't manage the will to carry on an argument he knew he couldn't win any longer. Come Thursday, he'd be spending the holiday with Theo, in some strange perversion of that childhood fantasy that felt nightmarish.

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Wednesday night, Eva surprised Charlie just as he was about to heat up a frozen pizza for dinner. Without telling him where they were going, Eva got him in her car and they ultimately ended up at Julia's. He hadn't even known she was home yet. To his even greater surprise, all of his closest friends seemed to be there and then some.

Patrick, Tate, Jude, and Nolan were all huddled around the television watching some basketball game, while in the kitchen, Theo and Lucas appeared in deep conversation, which strangely unsettled him. Julia was busy hovering over the stove, tending to the meal preparations.

"What's all this?" Charlie finally managed to ask.

"Friendsgiving, of course," Julia told him as Tate entered the kitchen to pick off something to eat.

"Why'd no one tell me about this? I would've brought something. Now, I feel like an ingrate," Charlie said, as he noticed Theo's face contort in an indecipherable way.