Chapter 20

After dinner, Xander’s mom took them to his grandparents’ house because his mom’s brother and sisters had arrived.

When they drove up, Uncle Andy was smoking a cigarette on the front porch. That habit would eventually give him emphysema. In his final years, he was on oxygen and slowly suffocated. Even knowing cigarettes were the cause, he never gave up the habit.

Uncle Andy was a late bloomer who didn’t hit his growth spurt until he was a senior in high school. Once out, he joined the Army, where he became a sniper; he spent his enlistment stationed in Japan. Uncle Andy had finished his time in the Army and was twenty-four. He’d moved back to the States and lived in Flagstaff, Arizona, working there as a carpenter, which most likely also contributed to his emphysema.

“Hey, Janet. It’s been a minute,” Uncle Andy said as he came down the steps and hugged Xander’s mom. “And this must be Xander and Izzy.”

Grandma Davidson stuck her head out the door and said, “It’s freezing out. Let them come inside.”

His uncle threw his arm around Xander’s mother’s neck, and they led the way. When they walked in, Aunt Marcy greeted them. She’d just started her ‘wacko’ phase, where she moved into a warehouse with a group of like-minded people. His mom claimed it was a cult, but Xander just thought it was a bunch of single people who liked sex a bit too much.

In her later years, Aunt Marcy turned out to be a truly despicable person. She would befriend someone on social media and move in with them. By the time they could no longer stand her sponging off them, she had another victim lined up.

Of his mom’s three siblings, Uncle Andy was the only normal one.

Aunt Wendy and his grandfather joined everyone, followed by Stephanie, Avery, and Andrew.

“Why don’t you kids go to the family room while we all catch up?” Grandma Davidson suggested.

Izzy and Avery found a corner in which to talk. Xander plunked himself down on the big leather sofa, and Stephanie sat beside him.

“You grew up,” Stephanie said, her voice sounding like warm molasses poured over fluffy brown sugar. “I’m cold. Why don’t you put your arm around me?”

She’d pulled this crap in his past life, and Xander’s response had been to scurry off like a scared bunny. Stephanie had thought it was the funniest thing ever.

Xander wrapped his arm around her and leaned in close.

“You’ve filled out nicely. I bet you’re popular with the boys.”

Stephanie tried to pull away from him, but Xander held her tightly, intending to make her uncomfortable enough to leave him alone. She didn’t react at first, but eventually, her panic grew to become almost palpable, and he released her. Stephanie moved to the far end of the couch and wouldn’t look at him.

’Mission accomplished,’ Xander thought.

Xander’s mom gave him the responsibility of blowing up the mattresses for Stephanie and Avery. He didn’t complain because he’d gladly do it if it meant they were in Izzy’s room and not his.

When he came downstairs, he found Izzy, Avery, and Stephanie decorating Christmas cookies. This was a family tradition. They considered Thanksgiving Eve the start of the Christmas season, which meant they baked cookies and other treats to give to friends and family, marking the beginning of their festivities.

Xander was tasked with layering each treat inside a tin and separating the layers with decorative paper. This year’s lid decoration was the Little Drummer Boy. Xander and Izzy each had tins to commemorate each year of their lives. It was something he looked forward to.

His mom was busy covering pretzels with white chocolate.

There was a knock on the door, and his mom answered it. When she came back, she had his dad with her.

“I brought walnut snowball cookies for the tins,” his dad announced as he walked in.

“Help me fill them,” Xander said.

His mom gave him an appreciative smile. Xander knew that no matter what, his dad was still his dad, and this might be the last time he saw him for the next few years.

With Christmas music playing in the background, conversation came unforced, and everyone filled up on too many treats and hot chocolate. His mom and dad even laughed, which Xander hadn’t seen in a long time.

On his way out the door, his dad announced he was moving back to Dallas. He asked Izzy and Xander if they would like to go to dinner on Sunday before he left. Xander was glad when Izzy readily accepted for both of them. They both enjoyed this version of their dad.

Before bed, Xander took a hot shower. His back, neck, and shoulder muscles were tense from the day’s stress. He put it down to the Brandi confrontation, seeing Stephanie again, and then praying all night that nothing would set his dad off to ruin the evening.

As those muscles relaxed, his cock awakened and got hard. Seeing Brandi again reminded Xander of what he was missing: sex. While masturbating and using the pocket pussy helped relieve his tension, it was a poor substitute for the real thing.

After Pam had broken up with him and so quickly gone out with Lucas, Xander had put all thoughts of finding someone on hold. Even though he had foreknowledge of what might happen, it was still a blow when it did. It seemed he couldn’t change everything.

On top of that, Connie’s use of him as her revenge prop reminded him of what he’d been missing. Then Tina seemed like the answer to his problem, but he couldn’t bring himself to corrupt her—it just didn’t seem right.

Xander grasped his member and began to stroke it.