Together by This Christmas Tree

john o'callaghan

I kept a tight grip on Cally as we walked through the red front door of my childhood home, where Shane and Ross were anxiously sitting on the stairs, immediately perking up when they saw me. Ross yelled to my mother, who was cursing in the kitchen a few feet away, “MOM! John’s here! And he brought a girl!” Cally openly winched, but I just held her closer.

“Ross, Shane, this is Cally, and I really care about her, so shut your trap, Ross.” Their faces fell as Cally smiled, revealing her true beauty. I turned to her, pulling her even tighter as Shane began checking out my almost-girlfriend. “Cally, these are my brothers, Shane and Ross.” Cally smiled, and suddenly, there was my dad, six foot five and looking just like me with wrinkles around his mouth and eyes.

“John Cornelius,” He boomed, and Cally smiled at him, and his face instantly softened from its hard look. “I’m John the Fourth, and you are?” He said sweetly. Admittedly, I’m sure everyone was surprised. I never brought girls home, but Cally was such a game changer that, well, despite not being together yet, she deserved to have the pleasure of knowing my family.

“Cally McGregor, sir,” She said, reaching up to shake my dad’s hand, an instant sign of respect for my dad. He smiled, and nodded towards the kitchen, where my mother was now loudly singing.

“Nice to meet you, Cally,” He said honestly, truly, and his face took on that hard quality again as he looked at me. “Introduce your mom to this beautiful girl and then come see me, John. We need to talk.” And with that, he disappeared into the black oak doors that separated his world from mine. Cally looked up at me as we walked down the small hallway to the kitchen.

“You going to be okay, babe?” She whispered, her eyes sparkling beneath the chandelier my mother loved more than me and my siblings. I smiled, though fake, and nodded as we stepped into the brightly lit and smelling of cleaning fluid kitchen, where my mom had been cooking for what seemed like days.

“Mom?” I called out, and her mess of brown hair appeared from next to the turkey, her cheeks adorned with flour and her hands with stuffing. She smiled brightly at me, running across the kitchen and tackling me into a hug. “Hi, Mom,” I said with a smile, laughing a bit as she held me at arms length.

“Oh, John, you look so good, Johnny, oh, John!” She said, unable to find words, until she saw Cally. She smiled wider, and Cally smiled wider than my mother, and let my mom hug her. “What’s your name, miss?” She asked, formal, waiting to see what kind of girl Cally was.

Cally blushed. “Cally McGregor, Mrs. O’Callaghan,” And my mom smiled, winking at me as she brought Cally towards the cooking, talking as she worked, leaving me to deal with my father. I chose to watch.

“Call me Jenny, love,” She said, shoving her hands inside that turkey and molesting the fuck out of it, so much that I winced. Cally went to work on the pie, and my mom sighed, obviously not realizing I was still here. “John never brings girls home. You must be pretty special.” It was an accusation, but I knew my mom. She loved Cally. After all, she let her cook. Cally looked at her pie, blushing scarlet as I inched towards the hallway, towards the ominous oak doors.

“Well, I don’t know about me being special, but your son? Jenny, I swear, he’s unlike anyone else I have ever met, and I think I might be in love with him.” I smiled, suddenly on cloud nine as hell opened up with those doors.

“I’m waiting, John Cornelius.” I sighed, stepping inside the doors as sounds of laughter erupted from the kitchen and living room, where the boys were evidently playing Mario like they always did on Christmas. I balled up my fists. I should be playing with them. “John, we need to talk about your career choices. You can’t live your whole life being a measly music-”

“Says who?” I said, suddenly sick and tired of my dad trying to tell me that I wasn’t using my life well. I was happy, I had a beautiful almost girlfriend and I was having fun. Isn’t that what life was about? And honestly, it wasn’t like I was poor either. This was making me money. “Dad, I have enough money to get by and more. I have a beautiful girl who I could see myself spending the rest of my life with. I spend most of my year with my best friends doing what I absolutely adore. What’s the problem with that, Dad? I’m not a lawyer or a doctor? I’m not you, Dad,” I said, not even realizing I was yelling until I burst through the oak doors and everyone was silent.

In that moment, though, I didn’t care. I just wanted Cally. She was putting the finishing touches on the pie, and I wrapped my arms around her waist, leaning my chin on her shoulder as my mother bustled, murmuring something about washing her hands, walking halfway across the house to the bathroom to do so. “You okay, babe?” She whispered, putting the pie beside the turkey and leaning against the spotlessly messy counters, looking up at me with wide eyes. I was aware that Shane and Ross were listening, but I didn’t care.

All I needed was Cally. “Yeah, beautiful, I just needed to see your face,” I whispered, and she giggled softly, standing on her tiptoes to kiss my nose, smiling brightly. “You know you make me so happy, don’t you?” I whispered, and Cally bit her lip hard, smiling and nodding.

“John Cornelius, stop molesting the girl and let her bond with her new best friend,” My father murmured as he entered the kitchen, avoiding my eyes and looking at Cally. “Tell me, Cally, how did you meet my marvelous son?” Cally laughed.