Not a Creature was stirring...

**Trigger Warning - This story has themes that involve kidnapping, murder, and child death**

“I can’t wait to meet her!” Jane said to her son with genuine excitement in her voice. She wasn’t one of those moms who thought no one was good enough for her son. In fact, she had prepared him his whole life to trust his gut in everything he did so that when he brought someone into the family, no questions or fears popped up. 

“Me too! I think she is too. A little nervous, of course.” Brian looked at his mom as they rolled the homemade pasta they make every Christmas eve.

“I mean, we’ve talked about marriage, but she said she wanted to ensure everyone in the family liked her before we went further. I respect that, but I would marry her anyways.” Looking back down at his hands, covered in flour, he sighed.

“Being alone without family for so long, I know she misses having one. Her parents died five years ago, and her brother died when she was in college. I know a big family Christmas will be perfect for her!” Looking up at his mom, he saw a tear run down her cheek.

He loved his family. His parents met in high school and were instantly both each other’s best friends and true soul mates. They raised their kids in the house they built with much love and joy. Brian knew that Michelle’s family dynamic was tense, and she felt guilty for not having a better relationship with them before they passed. She covered it up with hyper-independence, boisterous laughter, and charming social skills.

 But around him, she felt safe enough to let her guard down. She finally told him that what she missed the most was having a family, even if they sometimes fought or hated each other. A family that loves you, even if it’s messy, is so dearly missed when you have none. He remembers her saying that as she wept with her head in his lap, and he stroked her hair. 

They had only been dating for 8 months, but they knew they were each other’s person. They daydreamed of their life together while supporting each other’s personal dreams and goals. It was amazing. 

Smiling, he finished his dough pile and washed his hands in the happily lived-in kitchen. 

“I’ve never felt this way about anyone, Mom. I’ve never been more excited for a future with someone.”

As we washed his hands, he felt his mom come up behind him and hug him, resting her head between his shoulder blades. She was always amazed at how such a big man came out of her five-foot-four-inch frame. 

“Then we will give her a Christmas to remember and hope she likes us as much as I know we will like her.” She felt her son’s tension ease.

She knew what he was nervous about. All families have their own traditions. They weren’t any different than any other family. If anything, theirs made the world a little better.

“Have you told her?” She said, stepping away to finish the last of the pasta.

“No, I figured we’d do it like we did with Chrissy’s husband. Invite her in and see how she reacts.” Brian said, drying off his hands, the tension returning to his shoulders.

“How do you think she will react?” Jane asked and looked up at her son, knowing this was a big step for everyone in the family. The last time they did their Christmas Eve tradition with someone new was four years ago with Billy, Chrissy’s now husband. He joined in without question and never caused any worry to the family. Though he was a man, she thought. Men don’t need much information to do what they believe to be just and right, even if it is illegal.

Brian grabbed a beer from the fridge and looked at his watch; Michelle would be here in less than an hour.  

“I honestly don’t know. Michelle is smart and always likes to see all sides of a situation before making a decision.” Opening the beer bottle, he took a long swig, fully aware of his mother’s eyes on him. 

“But she has a dark side to her, and I know she has some choice opinions on our justice system which may lean in our favor.” He said, hearing his sister’s car pull up. 

Jane nodded and looked out the window. She knew her daughter Chrissy would calm Michelle if it got out of hand. Emotionally and physically. She had told her to bring something to sedate Michelle if things went tits up.

“I guess we’ll find out soon!” She said with an honest smile. “Your father will be home with our guest shortly. We should probably start dinner.”

“Ok, sounds good,” Brian said with a sigh. He loved Michelle so much he didn’t know what he would do if tonight changed everything for the worse.

___

After all the pleasantries, the four of them, Jane, Brian, Chrissy, and Billy, worked on dinner. Laughing and catching each other up on life and the usual family jokes that came up around the holidays. Though it felt cozy and familial, there was a slight tension in the air. And a bit of excitement.

Ordinary families don’t do what they do to ring in the holiday. Still, it made them feel closer and that they were making their community safer. They didn’t believe they were heroes or vigilantes. Just a family who had the means to make the world a little better and brighter when it was already so dark and scary. Especially on the young and innocent.

The doorbell rang just before Chrissy could toss a wet noodle at her brother. Everyone in the room froze and looked at Brian. 

“She’s here…” Chrissy said with a wicked grin.

Brian put down the knife he was chopping vegetables with for the salad and went to open the door. Taking a deep breath, he knew this was going to work. She was going to be a part of the family. He hoped.

“Hi, baby!” Michelle said and jumped into his arms. She had driven in from New York City to his parent’s home in the Berkshires. She was ready for a big kiss and a big glass of wine. Brian hugged her a little tighter than usual, breathing in her scent. Yeah, she was it. 

“Let the poor girl in. It’s freezing out there!” Jane said, coming from the kitchen.

 Michelle thought she looked exactly like a doting mother and independent woman looked like. Dr. Jane Schulz was dressed simply and classy as a New York Times bestselling author on childhood trauma she assumed would be. But she was wearing a tattered apron covered in flour that she took off and gave Michelle one of the warmest hugs she’d had in years. One that only mothers know how to give. 

Caught slightly off guard, Michelle pulled out of the hug to look at her potential mother-in-law. She looked at Brian and saw they were both thinking the same thing from different perspectives. It felt right.

Chrissy came out of the kitchen, hugged Michelle, and handed her a glass of wine. They’d met a few times before, thankfully. Some cheeky double dates and a tipsy girl’s brunch where Billy and Brian had to come to pick them up. She wasn’t going in as a complete stranger. But she reminded herself not to get too comfortable. This wasn’t her home or her family. Yet.

____

They were all in the kitchen chatting, drinking wine, and nibbling on the canapés. While Chrissy, Billy, and Michelle were laughing and discussing the latest Netflix show, Jane looked at her son. She knew this girl was the one her boy was choosing, and she couldn’t be happier. Michelle was everything he had said, intelligent, funny, charming, and absolutely lovely. There was no test she had to give the girl. The look in her son’s eyes was all the information she needed. 

Brian looked over at his mom and smiled, going over and putting an arm around her.

“Honey, I think it’s time,” Jane whispered to Brian.

“Ok.” He said with a pause. He looked at the photo hanging on the fridge. The only family photo they had of the entire family. The only one before that terrible Christmas. He grabbed it and pocketed it.

“Why don’t we all sit in the living room and open another bottle. Dad will be home soon, and I think we should tell Michelle what she’s in for tonight.”

Chrissy and Billy looked at each other with raised eyebrows and walked into the living room hand in hand. Brian grabbed a new bottle and held Michelle’s hand sweetly. Jane was already moving towards her chair in the living room.

Michelle knew his family had been through some sort of traumatic experience around this time of year, but she never pressed for details. Brian would share when he was ready. Clearly, now was the time. She gave his hand a quick squeeze and smiled up at him.

When they were all seated with their glasses filled, Brian took out the photo.

“Baby, I know you know Christmas is hard for our family, but I never told you why. Are you ok if I share that story?”

“Of course, but there is no pressure if any of you aren’t ready.” She said, looking around. They all smiled sweetly, but she saw the sadness in their eyes.

“We are. I want you to know.” Brian took a big sip of his wine and sat back on the couch, looking down at the picture.

“When I was eight, Chrissy ten, and this house was still being finished. We had the main rooms done, but the back half of the house was not finished. And we had a lot of workers helping on the house, so much so that they became a sort of extended family. So my parents invited them to join in on Christmas Eve pasta dinner.” His voice shook on that sentence.

“The night was going well, and everyone was enjoying themselves. Baby, I’ve never told you, but I had a younger brother. His name was Patrick, and he was seven. We don’t go talk about the details. It’s too difficult. But one of the workers was a fill-in for a regular who couldn’t be there. We, of course, asked him to join since it was such a long day and it was Christmas. With everyone sitting around the unfinished house in the chaos, we lost track of each other. It wasn’t until the last of the workers left full and happy that we noticed he was missing.” Brian looked at his mom, who was looking down at her hands. 

“I won’t traumatize your or my family hashing up the terrible facts, but that worker kidnapped my little brother. And the next morning, we found him. We had his funeral on new years eve. We didn’t want to start the new year with his death.” Brian took another sip of wine. Looking up at his sister she continued the story.

“Ten years ago, we found out who that man was and confirmed he had done what we knew he had done to Patrick. He didn’t recognize me, so luring him to a house in the woods for a night of what he assumed would be a pleasure was not difficult.” Chrissy said looking into her wine.

“When we got here, I told him my parents were very chill, and we’d just have a quick Christmas Eve dinner with them, and we could have the rest of the night to ourselves.” She continued.

“When he sat down for dinner, his pasta had something added to it that would hit his system slowly so we could remind him what he did. Crushed-up cherry pits. Which, if you don’t know, are filled with prussic acid, essentially cyanide. And when crushed and put in food, it is quite deadly. And in his wine was juiced nightshade leaves, which cause paralysis.”

They all watched Michelle calmly holding her wine and listening to the story. That was enough for Jane to know she could continue.

“He sat at our table, ate our food, thought disgusting things about my daughter, and broke our family with what he did to Patrick. Rotting in a cell, if we could get enough evidence before he ran, was too good for him. We knew evil was sitting at our table. We knew he could not leave this house. Breathing.” Calmly, Jane got up and walked over to the couch, and sat next to Michelle.

“That night, we reminded this vile man of what he’d done, and thanks to my husband, we found similar cases that had his same print on them around the northeast,” Jane said, sipping her wine.

Michelle recalled that Brian’s dad was a detective but mainly aided in research. She started to see where this was going.

“After we got rid of him, we all sat down together and realized we have the means and status to help our community. We don’t act like we are chosen judge and jury. We only know our pain, and the pain other families have felt because of these evil people’s actions. And we can stop this pain from spreading, one person disgusting excuse for a person at a time.” Jane looked at Brian.

“So, baby, every Christmas Eve, we have a pasta dinner. And my dad brings a guest. Luring him in with the promise of work or a good time. Whatever he thinks will get the person to our table. Then we remove a black spot on the world so they cannot hurt another person or break another family.” Brian put his hand on Michelle’s leg, knowing she was taking it all in.

Before she could say anything, they heard the door open and a joyful yell of;

“I’m home. I hope it’s ok that I brought a guest. But it’s Christmas Eve!”

All eyes in the living were on Michelle as they listened to Jane’s husband and their guest coming closer. She took a sip of wine and put her hand on Brian’s.

“So I’ll set the table for seven for dinner then, yeah?” She got up and went into the kitchen.

Brian looked at his mom and then at Chrissy, and they all smiled. They got up and went to the kitchen.

“Chrissy, why don’t you get our guest a glass of wine,” Michelle said with a look of knowing in her eyes as she pulled a glass for their guest.

Michelle walked over to Brain, kissed him, and smiled.

“I love your family.” She said and hugged him tight as she watched their guest take the glass of wine laced with nightshade.