A Christmas to Remember

D.J.’s POV

“D.J., could you give me a hand, please? Joey messed up on painting the banner and now it looks like it says, ‘Congrats, Danny, on turning 74’. He won’t be very happy about that,” my mom said to me as she tried to pull off the banner that hung beneath the stairs. Dad’s birthday was today, and he was turning twenty-eight.

“Sure, Mom. What can I do for you?” I asked, walking over. As I looked more closely at the banner, I saw that it did say seventy-four. “Are you mentally challenged with a paintbrush, Joey?”

Joey looked up from where he was helping Stephanie putting more decorations on the tree. We had a ton of them. “Hey, Yogi was on, and I couldn’t keep my eyes away from it,” Joey said in defense.

“Of course, because all macho men watch Yogi Bear,” Jesse said while walking in. He was cleaning off his hands with a rag. Uncle Jesse was in charge of the cake and snacks. I could smell the dessert wafting in from the open door. From my perspective, it sure smelled good. I could hardly wait, even though I was patient.

“You two, be nice. Now, D.J., I need you to hold the ladder steady and catch the banner when it falls. The paint is a little wet, and I don’t want your father to have a heart attack on his birthday,” Mom instructed.

Carefully, I grabbed the ladder with a hand on each side. “Perfect,” Mom said, giving me an ok sign.

“When is Danny coming home, anyway?” Joey asked.

“Daddy usually stays at work to suck up to the higher people in the work place — well, at least according to Uncle Jesse,” Stephanie answered.

“Jess, be more kind to your brother-in-law,” Mom said sternly from the top of the ladder.

“Fine, fine,” Uncle Jesse said, putting up his hands. He flopped himself lazily on the couch and tore off his cooking apron.

“Is Michelle still sleeping?” Joey asked, not tearing his focus away from putting up a horse ornament on the tree’s lower branches.

“Like a baby. No pun intended,” Mom replied, adding the last part after a quick pause.

“Sure,” Uncle Jesse said with sarcasm.

“Mom, are you almost done? My arms hurt,” I complained. Now, if you’ve never held a ladder before — well, believe me, you’re not missing anything. To be honest, holding a ladder is a lot tougher than some people think.

“Almost done. And now... watch out below, D.J.,” Mom said as she leaned over just in time to see the banner land flat on my face.

“Thanks, Mom,” I said, pulling off the banner to see that I got red paint all over my hair and face.

“D.J., that is definitely a good look for you. It’s kind of an improvement,” Stephanie said in between snickers.

I rolled my eyes at her.

Uncle Jesse walked over to me. “D.J., come with me; I’ll help you with getting that paint out of your hair.”

I allowed myself to be herded away upstairs by Uncle Jesse.

I heard Mom say, “Now, let’s make a new banner. And Joey, you can’t help.” I heard Joey let out a little whine. Good ol’ Joey, I thought with a smile.

Danny’s POV

“Thanks again, and Mr. Foster, I love that tie,” I called out to some people at work as I left the building. Mr. Foster gave me a weird look and a small wave from the door.

“I’m an idiot,” I said to myself under my breath as I fiddled with the keys of my car, trying to get it in the lock on my door.

Once I finally got into my car, I cruised back to my house, taking in the sights of nighttime San Francisco. I turned on the radio and heard Jingle Bells playing. I hummed quietly to myself, occasionally singing every now and then.

“Now, this[/b is good music.”

It took me a while to realize where my house was because all the lights were off. Usually, you could see the light in DJ’s room and hear some kind of argument going on between Joey and Jesse.

“It must be my house. I can tell because my key fits in the front door,” I said after I parked the car and walked up the steps. However, the second I opened the door, I immediately jumped back, startled.

The reason why was because I had walked in to see a room full of people, decorations, my family, and friends and they all shouted, “SURPRISE!”

I walked back in nervously, expecting them to shout again. After I recovered from shock, I demanded, “What’s going on?”

“Don’t you know? It’s your twenty-eighth birthday today!” D.J. and Pam both shouted at me.

“I know that, but why a party?” I asked.

“Because, Danny, parties are a way of life, a culture, a way of saying hello and goodbye, the meaning of life. Plus, we needed something to do for a little fun today,” Jesse said as he walked over and patted me on the back, very hard.

I smiled and mouthed ‘Ow’ when he looked away.

I noticed the big banner that said ‘Congrats Danny on turning…’ I couldn’t make it out because there was an x over something and numbers rewritten on the banner.

Joey noticed my confusion and whispered, “It’s a twenty-eight.”

“Thanks, pal,” I replied. Joey is such a good friend to have, and to lighten things up whenever things are a bit too tough. After all, somebody did say once that laughter is the best medicine, and they sure were right, too.

“Well, what are we waiting for? Let’s party!” Jesse shouted. As if on cue, music started to blare from invisible speakers and everyone began to dance. Some people congratulated me; others said it was all downhill from here. One or two asked if I “had the will planned out already”. I suspected Jesse paid them to do that.

I hung out with a few of my friends from work, and we talked about our boss and what we were going to do with our families for Christmas. Some of Pam’s friends chatted excitedly to me, going on and on about how lucky Pam was to have a family already.

I managed to escape to the food area and grab a handful of chips before being pulled back into the dancing crowd of friends. It seemed like everyone wanted to shake my hand, talk to me, or ask if we could hang out later. I was panting and breathing heavily; I was a little too much danced out.

“Bye Danny,” said my friends as they each walked past me. It was around two a.m. and the party people had to go home. Jesse and Joey were eating cake and comparing phone numbers of girls they got. Jesse won… of course.

“Hey guys, I’m gonna go tuck in the girls,” I said to them, heading upstairs.

“They’re in bed already?” Jesse asked, surprised.

“Yeah, they crashed around ten,” Joey answered.

“Wow. When I was a kid, I stayed up until four every night,” remarked Jesse.

“Thank God my kids aren’t like you,” I said before heading upstairs and going to the girls’ room, humming Jingle Bells.