Glitter, Guts, Glory

"I just don't understand why you want to do this in the first place," I said, switching the phone to my other ear. Henry was purring up a storm and I sneezed. Daisy knew I was allergic to cats, but I didn't have the heart to throw him out when she brought him in from a tenant who was moving.

"It's just what we do, Leo," she said. I heard the beeps of things being scanned in the background. "It's our first Christmas as a married couple. Everyone is expecting me to play host and cook."

"But you don't have to," Henry jumps up into my lap. If he wasn't so damn cute, I'd push him off. His yellow eyes looked at me and I pet his gray head. "Just tell everyone they're on their own."

"On their own?" she practically shrieked. Once again, I was glad I hadn't accompanied her to the grocery store. I can only imagine the looks she must be getting, the loud woman in a sequined crop top and pushing a cart of who knows what. "Leo, have you met my family?"

"Yeah, and I'm pretty sure they can do without two people!"

"Well I'm pretty sure you can do without dinner tonight!" The line went dead. Shit. And she went to get food for dinner in the first place. Fanfuckingtastic.

"Henry, you don't know the pain in the nostrils you cause me, and I think you love me more than Daisy," I'm talking to animals now. Great. As if to prove my point, his tail flicks my chin. I push him off and curl up on the sofa, but he wriggles right back under my chin. He's such a pain in the ass. I don't know what wakes me up later, the feeling like I swallowed a cotton ball or something good. Chicken, I think. Garlic bread, too.

"Oh, you're up," she says flatly. We have a little window between the kitchen and the living room, so I notice the mountains of boxes she's stacked up on the fridge. Great. She went and got the food anyway. I cough a few times and stand near the window, the wall separating us.

"I thought you weren't making dinner," is all that I can think of. I can't even see her face. She's facing the stove, plopping strips of chicken on a frying pan.

"I got hungry," she said in a tone that made it clear none of it was for me. Scraps were for Henry, maybe, but not me.

"Don't make me the bad guy here. Do you think we even have room to hold that many people? We can fit like, ten. Maybe fifteen."

"Well it wasn't even going to be here, Leo! You never give me a chance to explain. My parents said we could hold it at their house."

"Christmas is in three days. Do you really think you can cook enough food for a hundred people?"

"Yes," she hissed. She still hasn't turned to look at me. "I don't know why you doubt me all the time. Don't do this, Daisy, don't do that, what do you think you're doing, are you sure, Daisy-"

"I don't do that all the time," I say rather indignantly. Does she really think-

"See? You're doing it again! In your head, and you don't even realize it," she finally faces me and right away I can tell she was crying. "I do think things through, believe it or not. I'm not an idiot."

"I didn't say you were!"

"You make me feel like one," I don't think she meant for me to hear that because she turns around and starts chopping up carrots. She sniffs and I can't stand seeing her like this. I stand behind her and wrap my arms around her stomach.

"You're the one who makes me feel like an idiot," I rest my chin on her shoulder. She stops chopping. "I always feel like I'm going to say the wrong thing around you."

"That's dumb."

"I am dumb, remember?" She laughs once and hugs me, pressing her face into my shirt. " I just- it's not fair for people to expect so much out of you."

"You just need to trust me, Leo," her voice comes out muffled.

"I know, I know. And I'm sorry," I kiss the top of her head. "You're not putting that squishy orange stuff on the chicken, are you?"

She tenses up and breaks away. "It's squash and yes, I am."

I shrug. "And I completely trust that you're going to do something delicious with it, as always." She rolls her eyes but lets me kiss her. I've been forgiven. For now, anyway.