For those who knew them only superficially or by mere rumor, hearsay or slander, it would be easy to believe that the Addams family would not celebrate Christmas.
That is, could there be anything more opposite? The epitome of a holiday colorful to chromatically criminal levels, sugar-coated to excess, oversaturated with pretended good feelings and laden with goodwill versus a gloomy family with notorious, terrifying or bizarre reputations even within the outcast communities. How could the Addams celebrate Christmas given the clan's clear affinity for death, the monstrous and all things macabre?
Well, as it turns out, the Addams family does celebrate Christmas. They've been celebrating it long before it was even called that.
Before Christianity and then capitalism got their claws into the ancient rites of the winter solstice and the roman Saturnalia, the Addamses were already celebrating the holiday. For along with the old celebrations of the passing of the year, in many cultures there were celebrations of family unity.
And if there was one thing the Addamses celebrated above all else, it was the concept of family in all its forms.
Enid still remembered her first Christmas with Wednesday and the Addams family. When things had really started to get tense with Esther Sinclair and her old house in San Francisco felt less and less like home, the Addamses were there to take her in, flatly refusing to let Enid spend the holidays alone at Nevermore with only the company of a few other students and only some of the faculty.
Enid didn't know what to expect at that moment. She knew that Weds' family celebrated El Dia de los Muertos all year long, and most likely Halloween as well in a very hardcore rendition of the holiday. In her mind, she pictured a Christmas celebration with a twisted, rotting tree, ornaments of black ribbons and little animal skulls, presents containing poisonous creatures, traps, voodoo curses or sharp weapons, strange Latin chants instead of carols...
And, well, she had been right about the color black and the occasional little bone. But the Addams had looked for a proper tree, a huge Christmas tree, the largest Enid had ever seen in the living room of any house. And they had decorated it also using traditional ornaments (perhaps too many, as if they weren't quite sure what the proper amount was), colorful paper for the presents (which turned out to be more normal than expected.... sort of: the shrunken heads of elves were not a common thing), appropriate sweets and treats (even if the gingerbread men were decapitated they were still delicious) and although the Addams didn't sing carols as a norm (they rather used to throw boiling oil on groups who dared to do so at their door), Lurch was a virtuoso on the organ and piano and Pugsley had been persuaded to sing some.
“They've done it for you,” Wednesday had told her, ”Normally our Christmas celebrations are usually a little more restrained in matters of color and there are no excesses until the big New Year's Eve ball with all the family gathering. But we wanted you to feel comfortable, we wanted it to be a holiday worthy of you."
Enid almost cried. Those people, who had barely known her for a year, were willing to accept her and even adapt some of their traditions to make her feel welcome. In retrospect, it was one of the first signs that the werewolf formerly known as Enid Sinclair had finally found a pack worthy of her.
After those came many other Christmases with the Addams. And after the particular adventures run by Wednesday and Enid throughout the multiverse, between the two young women a specific celebration had been established for Christmas Eve dinner when after their marriage they had begun to live on their own: that would be the night of reunion of all their “distant cousins”.
Curious but effective euphemism to describe people from another universe.
§§§
"Okay, we have to check that there are seats for everyone. We're not expecting surprise visitors, but after Yoko and Divina last year anything is possible. Oh, and the meat... ow, I have to count the ribs again, Nid always eats more than she should and..."
“Enid.”
”...And we have to re-secure the bar cabinet and keep the absinthe under lock and key. We don't want a repeat of Pup's incident with the cannon in the middle of dinner..."
“Enid...”
"Did I remember to change the clothing on the guest beds? Oh, yes, I think I did... wait, or maybe not. I did it last year and maybe I just think I did it this..."
“ENID!”
Enid Addams, lycanthrope, nearly seven feet of pure muscle and Volvaugr (cosmic dimensional warrior) jumped startled letting out a “Yip!” that wouldn't be out of place from a Chihuahua. She turned, slightly embarrassed, to look at her wife. Wednesday Addams returned her gaze with an expression of restrained amusement and a soft smile on her lips that years ago would have caused inconceivable levels of alarm in those who knew her.
“Mia lupa,” she said, “Breathe. Calm down and breathe."
“I, sorry, it's just that I...,” Enid began to say before closing her eyes and taking a deep breath. She had spent the last five minutes in a growing frenzy of worry regarding the preparations for the party that night. With a final sigh, she plopped down on the living room couch and brought her hands to her face, letting out a tired grunt. Wednesday sat down next to her without a word.
"Sorry. I always stress myself out with party preparations,” the she-wolf apologized, casting a resigned look at her wife.
Wednesday gently removed a few strands of Enid's hair from her forehead, leaving her vibrant blue eyes more clearly in view, before caressing her scar-covered cheek with soft, cool hands.
“I think it's an understudied facet of your competitive spirit,” Wednesday said, “But querida, every year you go through this and every year things end well. You know this.”
“Yeah, but there's always some incident...,” groaned Enid, “It's a little chaotic... counting us and the girls we're going to be eighteen people...”
“Hey!”
“Nineteen people, sorry Cousin Intruder,” continued Enid, “Assuming Shark doesn't bring another surprise boyfriend like the one two years ago.”
Wednesday's eyes lit up with sadistic amusement.
"Ah. The dragon."
“How did it occur to her not to tell him he had to come in human form?” retorted Enid somewhat exasperated, “Okay the golden scales looked very pretty, and the three heads were eye-catching, but...”
“The roof repairs were a nuisance, I'll agree with that,” Wednesday finished for her, “But by now you should know that a little chaos is always going to come our way.”
Enid took Wednesday's hand in hers and pulled gently, bringing her wife closer to her, “Don't get me wrong. I don't mind a little chaos now and then, especially if you're at the center of it all. But these days I'd like to just have a nice night in with my family, catch up on how everything is going, play with the kids..."
Wednesday let herself lie on Enid's lap, letting the she-wolf's strong arms wrap around her. Enid buried her nose in her wife's hair, letting the familiar scent soothe her. In spite of that, an expression of uncertainty caused a slight frown to crease her brow.
“And then there's that other matter...,” she started to say, before being silenced by one of Wednesday's fingers resting on her lips.
"I've got that covered, mia lupa. Don't worry,” Wednesday replied, looking up and pinning her dark gaze on her wife's.
Enid nodded. Wednesday's words had been firm and sure and that always reassured her, “We're never going to have a normal life at all, are we?”
"We're Addams, querida. Normality has never been part of the equation,” Wednesday replied with a half smile on her lips that made something tingle very pleasantly inside Enid.
“Yes, it would be très ennuyeux,” the she-wolf replied with a hungry growl reverberating in her throat as her gaze fell upon her raven's lips.
"Enid,” Wednesday muttered, suddenly breathless and with her pupils dilated like those of a cat resting its gaze on the most delicious of prey, “That's French.”
Enid leaned in as Wednesday lifted her face, their lips brushing and....
“Eeeww!”
The two women parted so abruptly that Wednesday nearly fell off Enid's lap onto the floor. The two turned to look to their left, where the door that connected the living/dining room to the entrance hall had opened, making way for two small figures.
“Why is it that whenever Rissa and I walk into a room you two are in we have to find you exchanging germs!” exclaimed Friday Saturday Addams, pointing accusingly at her mothers.
Beside her, Larissa Tuesday Addams merely nodded, her ever-unflappable smile on her face.
Enid growled, getting up from the couch, though there was no real anger in it, “Well, missy, maybe we wouldn't have that problem and hear you coming if you weren't sneaky like a cat,” Enid retorted.
Day snorted, indignantly, “We're not a cat like Aunt Nid!”
Enid put a hand to her chin thoughtfully and exchanged an amused look with her wife, “Mmm, true, true...you're more like two little wolfies...”, suddenly Enid lunged forward and caught her daughters in her arms, “Full of tickles!!!”
“AAAH! NO, MOM!” cried Day, trying to contain her laughter as she struggled without making a real effort to free herself, “I'M A STRONG PREDATOR, THIS IS UNBECOMING OF ME!”
Rissa, for her part, merely slipped like an eel from between her mother's arms and moved closer to her other progenitor until she stood beside Wednesday. The two watched the scene fondly for a few moments, with Day slipping away and Enid running after her, both of them hopping and skipping over the furniture amidst giggles and lupine growls laden with glee.
“I trust you have taken young Atticus back to his home,” Wednesday said.
Rissa nodded. She shot a glance at her mother and made a small gesture with her hands. Wednesday didn't hear any words in her head, nor did she recognize in those gestures any coherent signs like the ones Thing used. And yet, she understood her daughter's response immediately.
Yes. His mother will bring him and his clothes at about f̶̝̑ î̷͔̭̇́̀ v̸͙͚̼͛̈́̎͐͗͝ e̵̗̰̍͂̍̀̈͂̔ o'clock.
“Well,” Wednesday replied, shooting a questioning glance at her daughter, “And after dinner...?”
Retire to our room for the s̵̹͎̿̆ l̷̃̽͜ e̷̲̋̉ ȩ̵́ p̵͈̽̔ o̵̝̖̅ v̸̩̓͝ e̵̝̼̐́ r̶͕̕͝ and not leave it all night, no matter what we hear. And make sure Day doesn't decide to explore o̴̳͐ n̶̲̔ h̸̭͊ e̶͚̔ r̵͍̈ o̶͙͌ w̴̜̃ n̶̠̓.
Wednesday nodded, the steadiness in her gaze softening as she looked at the little golden-haired girl with the inscrutable smile, “I know you're probably wondering why we won't let you explore freely this year, but we have our reasons. And I promise you, you'll get answers."
Mamá... this m̶ o̴ r̶ n̵ i̸ n̸ g̷ in the woods...
Before the unusual conversation could continue, a rumbling in the next room followed by childish laughter and a wolfish howl interrupted it, drawing both of their attention. Wednesday laid a hand gently on her daughter's shoulder and shot her a small smile.
“We'd better rein those two in before they tear the house apart before the party starts,” she said, “When she gets like this your mother is like a giant puppy and all common sense evaporates from her head.”
A giggle escaped Larissa's lips. It sounded like the death rattle from a dying throat clogged with the fluids of decay. Like fingernails scratching on slate, if the slate were your very brain. A normal person would have felt nausea and inexplicable terror at the sound.
To Wednesday it was one of the most beautiful sounds in the world and she would kill anyone who tried to silence it.
§§§
In the woods, reality had momentarily broken down.
It broke when Larissa Tuesday Addams felt she was being watched that morning. And so she was...but the individual responsible was not at all on the material plane of existence until moments after the girls slipped away.
He was not there and suddenly he was, as if he had slipped through a narrow gap. Where there was no one before now a human figure wrapped in a hooded red cloak watched the Addams house from the safety of the trees in the adjacent forest.
The strange newcomer tilted his head slightly and brought a hand to his covered ear, as if he were attending to a message.
“Yes,” he said. And his voice sounded... mundanely normal.
“Yes, I know,” he continued, responding to a silent reply, ”Tonight.”
He inhaled, as if sniffing, almost tasting the cold winter air. Or maybe it was the anticipation, making his blood boil. The satisfied smile could almost be felt in his voice as he spoke again, before slipping back into a crevice between the physical and the inmaterial, disappearing once more from view.
“Normalcy will reign.”
NOTES
Well, I hope I'm living up to the title...👀 I'm afraid Enid's wishes for a peaceful evening with family and friends are going to remain just that: wishes.
Also, translations!:
Mia lupa (italian): My she-wolf.
querida (spanish): Dear, darling.
très ennuyeux (french): Very boring.
Mamá (spanish): Mom.
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