Work Text:
1994
Twelve years. David survived twelve years before he had to be subjected to any of... this. What was Adelina thinking? He looked around at the displays, appalled by the garish red and green fabrics, plastic garland, and obnoxiously bright LED lights that covered every square inch of the space surrounding him.
“Oh my God.” David’s mouth dropped open as he gazed upon the, frankly, horrifying life-size nutcrackers that lined the walkway up to a large, green upholstered chair that looked like it had been assembled from the cheap velvet of a Halloween costume.
“Isn’t this cute!” David’s mouth snapped shut at the sound of Adelina’s cheery voice. He spun around to meet her gaze. He was almost as tall as her now, but he tilted his chin up, gaining those final few centimeters needed to bring his eyes in line with hers.
“Is this…” David extended his arms out to the side to wave his palms at the decor surrounding them. “Is this really necessary? My parents...they don’t even want this. I promise you…”
“I want it, David. It’s just a picture, okay?” Adelina’s small, yet surprisingly strong hand found his shoulder and gave it a firm, loving squeeze. “You’re getting so big now. Next year you’ll really fight me on this, so just this once. Please. Before you’re too big.” Her warm smile deepened the wrinkles around her eyes, and, while David knew that wrinkles were incorrect, when Adelina smiled at him like that? He couldn’t help but see the beauty behind their intricacy, the way the lines around her left eye varied from those around her right, no doubt from the unsymmetrical muscles used to form her crooked grin when David was being just a bit much.
“Okay.” David gathered his lips to one side of his face and nodded his head slowly up and down. I can do this for Adelina, or so he thought before his eyes found the inflatable Santa Claus wearing a Hawaiian shirt and board shorts, strumming a ukulele.
“Nope.” He turned around to walk out of the short line that had formed in the last few minutes, but Adelina’s hands found his shoulders, turned him around, and pushed him towards the large, old man who had just sat down on that green atrocity.
“Come on, David.” Alexis laced her fingers through his and tugged him behind her. He looked down at their clasped hands, not remembering a time in the last six years when they had ever been connected in this way, but he couldn't help but notice how her small fingers fit nicely through his own.
Alexis dropped David’s hand and sat down on the man’s...well, Santa’s right, so David sat as close to the left armrest as he possibly could, just barely resting his butt on the edge of the chair to minimize the contact between his designer jeans and the cheap, worn velvet.
Santa looked at him for a moment, just long enough to take in his styled hair and black, skirted pants. Even behind his mustache, David could make out the sneer on the man’s lips. Well, I don't like your outfit either, Santa! The old man quickly refocused his attention on Alexis.
“Hello princess!”
Figures. David rolled his eyes, crossed his arms over his chest, and let out a huff that he hoped was loud enough for Santa to hear. A few moments passed, though, and Alexis still had not said anything, which was...weird. Alexis could talk to anyone. She was only six, but she already had a horde of adoring friends and could talk to any adult like she was much older than, well...six.
David leaned forward to get a look at her on the other side of the man’s round, red suit. Alexis' hair was in perfect ringlet curls as it was every day, but today, Adelina had tied a silky, red bow around the top half of her hair, pulling it away from her face, revealing her high cheekbones and pinkening complexion. The outside rims of her eyes had become slightly red, and David watched as aqua turned to bright green and tears puddled in her annoyingly long lower eyelashes. His eyes followed the path of the first few errant tears over her cheeks until they met the corners of her mouth as it wobbled, fighting to contain her…
“Waaaah!”
Oh God.
David stood up immediately. “Move.”
“Huh?” Santa looked up at him, confused.
“Scoot down.” David pointed to the spot he had just vacated, and Santa reluctantly moved from the center of the chair where the cushion appeared to have permanently deformed under the weight this man's backside. David sat down next to Alexis, wrapped his arm around her shoulder, and drew her into his chest. Her short arms circled around his waist almost instantly, holding on with a strength that her little body should not have been able to produce, but he held onto her just as tightly. She smushed her face into his armpit. Her tears started to wet the fabric of his sweater, but David didn’t care. At all.
“It’s okay.” His hand soothed over the top of Alexis’ arm. After a few minutes, her sobs quieted, and her grip on him loosened. She sniffled wetly one final time before she looked up at David with a shy smile. “Let’s get this over with.”
Alexis’ soft giggle was cut off by a groan from the man beside him. “Please.”
They finally looked over towards the camera person who took the shot as quickly as he could, and they were shuffled off toward the exit by one of Santa’s ‘elves.’
Adelina was at the checkout counter when they approached her. David watched her take a plastic, blue card from her wallet, a card that was noticeably different from the black one the Rose’s supplied her with to pay for David and Alexis’ meals and purchases. She stuffed it back into her wallet as quickly as she could as if she wanted to hide the fact that she had just spent her own money on what could only be a horrible photo of the children she nannies. But, David saw it, and he loved her just a little bit more for it.
“I’ll give you a copy, David.”
“Mmm. Thanks, I’m good.”
Adelina stuffed the receipt into the bag and grabbed Alexis’ hand. “Okay. Come on. Let’s go get some hot chocolate.”
“Yes, please,” David and Alexis said in unison.
Christmas Morning, 1994
David and Alexis sat near the base of the forty foot Norwegian pine, surrounded by piles of new toys, sated from the large brunch they had enjoyed and the lingering euphoria experienced from unwrapping gift after gift. David was flipping through all of his new CD’s when Alexis’ hesitant voice pulled his focus towards her.
“Um, David?”
“Yeah?”
“I...I made you something.” Alexis slid a small gift bag across the white marble floor until it landed in front of his crossed legs.
“Oh. Um…” David worried his lips into his mouth. They had never bought gifts for each other before. They were kids! It’s not like they could just drive to the store to pick something up without Adelina’s help. “I didn’t get you anything.”
Alexis grinned at him and shook her head quickly back and forth, causing her golden curls to bounce off of her cheeks. “No. That’s okay. I just...I wanted you to have this.”
“Okay…” David removed the sparkling, white tissue from the bag, and reached inside without looking. His thumb grazed over cool glass, and the pads of his fingers met smooth ceramic. He slid his hand to the corner of the item before he tightened his grip and lifted it from the bag. His other hand came up to support the other side, and he brought it up to his face for closer inspection. The first thing he noticed was the frame. Alexis must have gone to one of those ‘Paint Your Own Pottery’ places because there was no denying that this was a creation of Alexis Rose. The frame was covered with vibrant colors, pinks, greens, oranges, blues, and yellows. There was maybe a pattern of polka dots (maybe?), but the sporadic butterflies and flowers and rainbows detracted from any sort of order that David could see. He traced over the childlike images with his forefinger until it reached the top of the frame where it found the center of a large, red heart with his name written in squiggly letters.
He quickly glanced up at Alexis from under his eyelashes, and his heart burst at the pride swelling in her eyes and the broad grin that was taking over her entire face as she watched him examine her masterpiece.
When his eyes returned to the image in the frame, he couldn’t help the surprised laugh that passed freely through his lips. A very disgruntled Santa Claus stared back at him. With a different backdrop and a pair of scissors, this photo could easily pass for a clipping of this man’s mug shot. He looked tired, unenthused, and, aside from his physique, clothing, and white beard, he looked so unlike Santa Claus that David thought the photo belonged in an exhibit of ‘Worst Fake Santa’s.’ But, then his eyes panned over to them. Alexis and him. Holding onto each other like siblings who were much closer than they actually were. Alexis looked so small next to him. Her feet dangled in the air while his touched the ground. His hand covered her entire shoulder. Her eyes were still bright and red tinted, but none of her other features would have given away the fact that she was crying just moments before the picture was taken. Her full, white smile was on display, all except for the front tooth she had lost just a few days before. She leaned into David, and the outline of her bicep was visible from where she was squeezing him so tightly, her muscles fully flexed.
David rolled his eyes. Even after a melt down, his younger sister was adorable. It wasn’t fair. She was...God, she was such a brat most of the time. Just an hour before this picture was taken, she had forced him into Limited Too, a store with a plethora of bright, sequined clothes he found wildly offensive, and she made him carry the items she liked as if he was her personal shopper. Adelina, of course, didn’t help. She just laughed and enjoyed his grumbling. In this picture, though, no one would ever know they fought more than they actually played with or talked to each other. 'Ew, David’ or 'Leave, Alexis!’ made up probably more than half of their exchanges, but in this photo? In this photo, David smiled wide and held onto his sister like she was his favorite person in the world. Was that true? Who's to say? Knowing that this photo meant something to Alexis - that she painted a frame specifically to house this picture for as long as David intended to keep it - David was sure of one thing. His sister loved him, and he loved her too...sometimes.
His finger traced over the heart again before he looked up at Alexis who eagerly awaited his response. “Thank you, Alexis. I love it.”
2015
With his pearls clutched within his tight fists he bounded up the grand stairwell, taking the stairs two at a time. He knew he had forgotten something. His heart raced as he breathed heavily from the exertion of running back to his room within their final minutes. Bursting through the door, he headed straight towards his closet. He had already picked through his clothes, sadly leaving behind the pieces he could not fit into his large suitcases, but he would make room for this. Ugh. Where is it? Where is it? His hands scoured through the bins that lined the back wall of his closet. He searched through three, four, five bins with no luck. David pulled the sixth bin off the shelf, and set it down on the plush carpet beneath him. His right hand dove into the contents of the bin to meet soft, furry socks, plastic CD cases, and paper that had been ripped out of his many sketchbooks and diaries, but then, his thumb grazed over cool glass, and the pads of his fingers met smooth ceramic. Got it.
His lips curled up as he took in the details of the frame for the first time in years. There were several cracks in it now. One from when he had accidentally knocked it off of his night stand during one of his more physically active bad dreams. One from the time he had intentionally dropped it on the floor in front of Alexis when she told him his college boyfriend kissed her when David brought him home to meet his family for their annual Christmas party. One from when it was knocked over on his desk by the force of his chair slamming into it, as he frantically talked to Alexis on the phone and memorized the details of the palace she was being held hostage in, so he could repeat them to the authorities. One from...
“Sir. You have to leave now.” An unfamiliar voice disrupted the memories that had just started pooling in his mind.
“Yeah. Okay. I’m coming.” David clutched the frame to his chest with both hands, closed his eyes, and took one long, calming breath. He stood up from where he was seated in his closet, and followed the man into the hallway, walking out of his childhood room for the last time and leaving his collection of pearls behind, scattered across his bedroom floor. He figured he didn’t need them where he was going anyway. David looked down at the frame in his hands as he walked down the long hallway. His life was about to change, forever, but he was comforted by the fact that he’d always have this. He’d always have his sister.