Love Will Find a Way

What's the first thing which comes to your head when I say Holidays? If you're one of those psychopaths who immediately imagines summer break and the beach then I hate to break it you but I don't think we're gonna get along. No offence, but if you ever happen to cross me on the street, don't bother waving. But, if you're one of the elites who imagines a chilly evening with overplayed Christmas songs pumping from the speakers a month too early and sipping hot cocoa and munching choco-chip cookies near the fireplace as you listen to your family tell the same old stories with a magical sense of wonder as if we are hearing them for the first, then maybe you and I have much more in common then you may think. Hi, I'm Lily Amelia Jones, pleased to meet'cha. Unless of course you're one of those weirdos I mentioned earlier, then I could've done without ever knowing you.

My family has had a tradition of hosting a cookie exchange the weekend before Christmas for as long as I can remember. And no, it's not some extravagant event with all the people in the neighborhood. It's just me, my elder sister Janet and my daddy- Frank. Yeah, I know he's got such a typical name, right? I blame gram-grams. I'm not sure if you've noticed but, in case you're waiting for an explanation, no, I didn't leave out my mother by accident. She left us when I was 5. Don't worry, I don't really miss her, Daddy makes an excellent mother hen too.

Each time before hosting the family exclusive event, he asks us almost rhetorically "Who all would you like to call for the Annual Jones' Cookie Exchange?"

"Everybody I wanna invite is already a member of the organisation committee", I always say which earns me a look of approval and a hug from Daddy. Hell yeah, I live for those pats on the back. My sister apparently hasn't figured out the rhetoric nature of the question even after her 17 years of life experience. Gosh she’s naive. "Can we call George Daddy, pretty please with a cherry on top?" She always coos in her best little angel voice. The name of her nomination might change about annually but the fact remains that the president of the OC doesn't approve. Does the word over-protective ring a bell?

This year would've been no different except for the fact that this time around there’s a new variable in the mix. For the first time since my birthday party in fifth grade, yours truly wants to invite her guy friend over as he makes killer cookies. Those dreamy eyes of his are an added bonus; I swear that's not the only reason. Everyone who knows me would know that I always get my way. I hope Santa doesn't put me on the naughty list for this. I'm really hoping to get a new purse for being a good girl for at least most of the year. How would I breach the Dad defense, you ask? Well between you and me, I have a plan.

I walk into my sister’s room and casually plop down on her neatly arranged bed. Why is her room so clean? Man I hate these honor students. She doesn’t say anything and continues reading this book about some weird creatures of the forest but I can see that I’ve got her attention. I mean I am intrusive but I don’t do this kind of perimeter breach every day. “Wouldn’t it be nice if George could come to the cookie exchange?” I muse. Alright, step one accomplished; now I’ve got her full attention. She raises up her neatly shaped eyebrow as she knows I’m up to no good. Maybe those 17 years of her life weren’t entirely useless after all. I still can’t believe she’s lived two years more than me. “What’s cooking in that devilish brain of yours” she asks accusingly. I grin in response to that “Under the facade of a cookie exchange, love will blossom. Operation Love Will Find a Way is in action” I declare.

So I’ve got two trump cards to play. First of all, Janet is leaving for college next year so there’s great potential for emotional blackmailing there. Second and most importantly, we’ve got Miss Jennifer Stacy. Miss Stacy lives right across the street and has been widowed from before I was born. She’s nice to me and my sister, fun to be around and really pretty. I’m not just forcing two random people on each other to get my way; the spark has always been there. I’m just gonna ignite it so that me, Michael and his epic jawli— I mean cookies can bask in its warmth. Daddy has always kept us away from boys, I mean come on, I’m a sophomore and I haven’t even had my first kiss yet. Maybe, if he found some romance in his own life, he could stop getting behind mine. Besides, I love him to death and I think it’d be nice for him to have a companion and some love. People have this very distinct and wide smile when they’re in love and I really wanna see that on my dad’s face.

“Daddy, I was thinking that since Janet might not be able to attend next year’s cookie exchange, why don’t we make this one the most memorable one she’s ever had? Besides, people in the neighborhood would also like to say goodbye”, I say in my own little angel voice and I must point out that my angel voice is on fleek. I think it worked because Dad seems to be deep in thought, conflicted about the realization that his little baby would be going away from him next year and the fact that I want to make the exclusive cookie exchange not so exclusive after all. I mean come on; it’s not even much of a cookie exchange if all three of us have baked all the three flavors together anyways.

“Do you think it’d make her happy?” he asks, still having some reservations.

“Of course, and we can call a bunch of people like Mr. Parker and his family, the kid next door, the lady across the street, a couple of friends from school and maybe the grocery store guy.”

This is enough encouragement for him as he puts on his game face. “Then let’s make this the best cookie exchange she’s ever attended. A real one this time”

After Janet hailing me as the almighty and me flexing like the little diva I am, the next couple of days roll by in preparation and invitations. Let’s go over the ground rules real quick. Everybody has to make like a dozen of one type of cookies, preferably holiday themed and of course we’ve got a mailing list ready for post party recipe sharing. We even decided to make it a little competition to see who makes the best cookies and the winner gets bragging rights and maybe a cup set. All the arrangements will be taken care of by the host family i.e the OC i.e us. We’ve got appetizers, decorations, mocktails and of course good ole’ coffee and milk. Derek, the kid next door who’s one of my best buds, is tasked with getting Michael along with him. I mean the reason I was able to meet this pretty boy was because he’s real close to Derek. Other guests include the Parkers and their daughter Patricia, who also happens to be my best friend. There’s my sister’s troupe of nerdy drama queens, namely Alice and Margaret. There’s also Miss Stacy of course. And lastly, the supposed guest of honor and designated ‘nice guy’ George, Janet’s boyfriend.

The D-day rolled around soon enough and I found that I was more excited about my Dad and Miss Stacy than Michael and his eyes. I’m not sure if that’s a bad thing or what. Anyways, we’ve made a batch of spicy gingerbread men which was my dad’s input; Chocolate candy cane blossoms (which is basically a regular chocolate cookie with white chocolate and peppermint on top) courtesy Janet and Linzer tarts shaped like snowflakes by yours truly.

The Parkers are the first to arrive with their Christmas tree shaped cookies, a classic. Eventually, it starts to look more and more like a party. Alice and Margaret with sugar cookies shaped like assorted Christmas tree decorations; George with regular gingerbread cookies unlike dad’s spicy and feisty variety; the grocery store guy who’s name I can’t remember for the life of me with another batch of Christmas tree cookies (to be honest I’d forgotten he was invited but hey, he’s actually a good friend of my dad). Miss Stacy brought the all time favorite big and chunky choco-chip cookies and even if they aren’t holiday decorated, they definitely carry the holiday spirit and are absolutely delicious. Finally, there’s Derek with these adorable cookies which look like snowmen and the head is a marshmallow. I’m not sure if I have it in me to eat them.

“Wait a minute, where’s Michael?” I say as I try to look behind Derek as I thought they’d be coming together. “He’s running a little late, but he said he’s going to be here. Don’t worry” Derek reassures me and well that’s alright we’ve still got a party to tend to. It looks like a great celebration and of course we’ve got Christmas music blasting through the speakers on a neighborhood friendly volume though. Janet as expected is huddled up and closed off with her own group of friends, well mostly just George even though the part was ostensibly in her honor. George actually seems like a nice guy and he hasn’t even tried anything fishy. Sure, Dad is around but Me, Patricia and Derek are on Dad duty and we are hell-bent on creating situations where Dad and Miss Stacy end up getting alone time. It seems to be working great and as I thought the spark was definitely there.

I invited the Parkers and the grocery store guy in particular because it’s well known that they are a bit too strict about their sleeping schedules and they’re already leaving at around 7. We somehow managed to beg Patty to be allowed to sleepover though; she still needs to be my wing-woman when Michael arrives. Now that Dad and Miss Stacy are the only grownups left, Dad duty got a whole lot easier and thus Me, Derek and Patty finally are able to lay back and enjoy. As much as I’d like to say that my Linzer tarts are the best unfortunately, I have to give the crown to the choco-chip cookies from heaven. Even worse, the run up prize goes to Derek because those adorable snowmen are actually delicious and thankfully didn’t scream as I chewed on their heads. No, I wasn’t even second runner up, that’s Janet and so I don’t wanna talk about this anymore. It’s all about the pleasure of eating together and enjoying and not winning. I still wish I would’ve won though not for the cup set but for the bragging rights which Derek is gonna rampantly misuse now. “I think those snowflake tarts were the best. I’m glad I got to eat them” Derek states instead of bragging and I can’t help but jump around victoriously for a good while after that. When I bust my victory dance everyone seems really amused and that makes me conscious and confident at the same time. I know I didn’t win the competition but the fact that I made Derek happy with my cookies somehow feels like a bigger victory in my head.

I also learn that it’s not Michael who makes delicious cookies; it is in fact Derek who made those cookies which Michael offered me once. I mean it wasn’t much of an offering since I was the one who begged him to let me have a taste when I found him with a bag of cookies that he had made ‘all by himself’. That liar. Eventually we declare that Michael bailed on us and somehow I’m okay with it. I’m just glad to see that George seems to treat my sister right and my dad has been smiling like an idiot throughout.

Finally, Alice and Margaret leave and the final guests who end up staying for dinner are just the real special ones: Dad and Miss Stacy; Janet and George; Patricia, Derek and I. “You know initially I thought you were trying to trick me into letting you have a guy you like over, but turns out you didn’t have any intentions of that sort” Dad notes, and I act all proud making sure not to correct him. My dad doesn’t really have any problem with Derek and he sometimes seems to trust him even more than me. But I don’t blame him, Derek’s a great and dependable guy. Oddly enough my Dad seems to like George a lot. Then again, I do too. The dinner feels extra tasty tonight and regardless of the amount of guests around it all feels like home and they all feel like family.

After a while, George and Derek go home after thanking us profusely and they take their fair share of cookies with them. Miss Stacy stays to help dad clean up which I think is really sweet. Meanwhile me, Patty and Janet decide to camp out in her room and give the grownups some privacy. “You think Derek’s kinda cute?” is the last thing I say before I fall asleep and Patty and Janet just look at each other, then back at me, then grin and say “It’s about frikkin’ time”.

The next day after Patty has left and the OC is looking back at a successfully hosted event, I notice that it’s been a while since I’ve seen dad this happy. He’s apparently got a date with Miss Stacy and I am so excited for him. Janet and I even help him look the best. I am a disgrace to all angsty teens as I am not the least bit upset about the prospect of a new mother; in fact I am looking forward to it. I never even had an edgy phase. You should’ve seen Janet though, she had gone full emo chick in her freshman year.

We spend Christmas Eve together: Dad, Miss Stacy, Janet, George, Derek and I. It is a chilly evening with overplayed Christmas songs pumping from the speakers and we are sipping hot cocoa and munching choco-chip cookies near the fireplace while telling the same old stories with a magical sense of wonder as this time we are with people who were hearing them for the first time. As I look at my Dad and Miss Stacy smiling at each other, I wonder if next year when we’re preparing for the Annual Jones' Cookie Exchange we’d have a new OC member and maybe I’d call her mom. Janet huddles closer to George and I grip Derek’s hand. I guess after all, Love did find a way.