Have a Holloway Jolloway Christmas

[Jenny Holloway]

((ooc: All ready for family drama, hope this is all okay with you girls for the setup.))

Jenny made her way up to her parent’s front door, clutching gift bags of immaculately wrapped Christmas presents and having to fight with them to raise her hand to knock on the front door. Being let in she smiled at her mother, “Hi Mum, Merry Christmas!” she enthused with her usual big cheerful smile as she pecked her mum quickly on the cheek since a hug would be much too difficult in the present circumstances. The (even for her) overly enthusiastic expression she wore was perhaps her overcompensating a bit for her nerves and excitement over the big news she had to tell everyone at some point that day, before it came out another way. Her family would probably just blame her maniacal happiness on Jenny’s apparent adoration of the holiday season, though. Shuffling into the living room she quickly placed the gift bags for her siblings underneath the Christmas tree and then turned, hands finally free, to take off her woolly beret, scarf, gloves and coat and deposit them over the back of one of the sofas. It seemed she was the first of the Holloway children to arrive.

“How’s dinner going? Can I help at all with anything?” she asked her mother as the older woman passed her the usual glass of wine the family enjoyed on Christmas morning. Hesitating, the smile falling off her face for a minute, she abandoned it on the side table, “Umm, you know what, I’ll drink this later, I’m not especially thirsty right now,” Jenny claimed, brushing past her mother to search for her father who was sure to be in his usual spot in the kitchen by the stove. “Morning Dad, Merry Christmas,” the redhead greeted the old man, crossing the kitchen to give him a big hug from behind as he chopped vegetables ready for the roast dinner. “Let me help with that,” she offered, moving over to the sink to wash her hands first, turning her head to ask over her shoulder to their mum, “So am I really the first here this year?”

[Janis Holloway]

Walking down the stairs at her grandparents place with her little brother in her arms, Janis smiled widely at her Aunty Jenny & practically skipped over to greet her.
"Aunt Jenny! Hey, Merry Christmas!" she smiled as she kissed her aunt on the cheek before holding Bowies hand and making him wave, "Say Merry Christmas Bowie!" she urged her brother, before laughing when he only gurgled.

"We were first, just us two...Mum is otherwise engaged with him" Janis scowled, rolling her eyes at her Grandad as he corrected her & dared to call Sean her Dad.

"I'll have your wine? Can I, Gran?" asked Janis, rearranging Bowie on her hip as she took the wine glass and sipped from it before smiling conspiratorily at her aunt.

[Lacey Holloway]

Lacey pushed the door to her parents' house open with one hip, headphones still on from the bus ride over and blasting music at full volume. She carried an assortment of packages, each neatly wrapped in a different solid color with matching ribbon. After unceremoniously dumping the gifts under the tree, she tensed up slightly when her mum went in for a hug and ending up patting her awkwardly on the shoulder (she wasn't much for hugging) before slinging her headphones around her neck. "Hey guys," she nodded to her sister and niece. "Where's Chas?" she asked. Not that she didn't enjoy Jenny and Janis' company, but all their Christmas cheer was a little much when Lacey didn't really feel up to it. Taking the darkest, coldest, greyest of winter days and declaring them the 'happiest time of year' seemed like a bit of a joke.

"I made this for Bowie," she said while thrusting a little stuffed lion toward Janis, dressed in a tiny costume she'd sewn to look like Jareth from Labyrinth. "I didn't bother wrapping it because, you know... he's a baby," she shrugged.

[Jenny Holloway]

"Janis!" Jenny exclaimed in surprise and delight as her niece skipped towards her, holding her little nephew too. "Merry Christmas to you too, sweetie... and to little Bowie of course," she cooed at him, leaning down to plant a soft kiss on his head, despite his squirming as she did so. Then, straightening, "Oh. I see," the redhead murmured, trying to be diplomatic about the whole thing with Chas and Sean, "But your Mum will be along later though," she pointed out, with a pleasant smile and trying to keep the peace, "Will Sean be coming with her this year or not?" she asked as she turned to take over potato peeling duty whilst her dad checked on the turkey already in the oven.

"Wine? Oh yes, help yourself," Jenny threw a smile at her niece before looking concerned, asking when Janis came closer and out of earshot of her grandparents, "What's wrong honey?" Janis' slightly conspiratorial smile worried her- did she know?! No, she was just being plain paranoid now! This was interrupted as another Holloway arrived, "Merry Christmas, Lace!" she enthused, knowing her sister wasn't one for hugs so she made do with smiling and waving awkwardly with the potato peeler in hand, "That's so cute! You really made that?"

[Janis Holloway]

Janis nodded at her aunts question, "However long it takes for him to satisfy her or piss her off, whichever comes first" she spoke quietly, she didnt usually swear but when it came to her 'father', she had a looser tongue than usual.
Swigging the wine heartily, Janis looked at Jenny as she asked what was wrong & she shook her head, "Mum doesnt let me drink, even though Im 18 & you didnt seem like you wanted this...so..." she shrugged with a cheeky smile and drank more wine before her grandparents noticed.

"Lacey! Look Bowie, it's Lacey!" she bounced her brother on her hip as her aunt produced a small stuffed lion, "Aaaw! He's dressed like Jareth...like David Bowie! I want one!" Janis giggled, she loved her Aunt Lacey, she thought she was super cool & always wanted to be like her. "Mum will be along soon, there's too much oxygen in this air for me & Bowie, we need her to pollute it before we get too healthy" Janis deadpanned.

[Jenny Holloway]

“Janis,” Jenny interrupted quietly with a softly disapproving expression (yet still disapproving and disappointed all the same) as the girl swore carelessly. Sighing slightly she turned to look at her properly, lowering her voice so as not to invite her mother’s opinion on the matter which would be frank of course. “Look, Janis honey, your mother will do what she wants to do, she’s quite stubborn like that, she always has been. She’s always stuck with boys who maybe aren’t the best choices, in our opinion, but there must be some attraction. And even though Sean does have a tendency to disappear when it gets tricky, nothing can excuse him for that, your mother must see something in him that maybe you and I can’t understand and, like it or not, we have to respect that,” she concluded sadly.

All she wanted was for Sean to actually step up to the mark and prove he wasn’t the same man that had abandoned Chastity all those years ago when it all got a little too serious for him. All she wanted was for Janis to reconcile with him and him to prove himself a good father. All she wanted was for all this history and tension to be resolved nicely and them all to live happily ever after – such was Jenny’s hopeful, arguably too optimistic outlook on life.

Fixing her niece with a stern look for a moment she then dropped the act and smiled, “Your mother, Janis, was swigging the stuff in her early teens, it’d be naïve to think you never wanted to touch a drop of it, especially now you’re 18 and allowed to. Besides, it’s a special occasion,” the redhead conceded, “Just don’t let them catch you with another glass, hmm?” she softly nudged her niece in the side playfully. Then as her father moved towards her and Janis to see what was going on she cast the girl a warning, conspiratorial look and moved away, back to the vegetable preparation.

[Lacey Holloway]

Lacey shrugged. "It's no big deal, just some fabric and trim left over from my Halloween costume." She was decently skilled with a sewing machine and not particularly comfortable being emotionally effusive, and so she generally found it easier to express her affection by making things for people.

Lacey picked up the bottle of wine and poured herself a generous helping before walking up behind Janis and resting her chin on her niece's right shoulder. "Have another glass! Do iiiiiittttt," she whispered like the shoulder devil she was. Even though she was barely older than Janis, she liked to act like the cool worldly one.

[Ben Patel]

(ooc: Ben came dressed in this sweater, btw)

Ben knocked loudly on the Holloway parents' door, poking his head in when Lacey got up to let him in the house. "Merry Christmas!" he shouted, waving at everyone. He appeared tired and slightly ill due to the approaching full moon (it was just three days before his transformation -- the lunar calendar was always floating around in the back of his head) but was trying to hide it under a smile. He and Jenny had some very happy news, after all. Ben already knew that he wanted to be with her for the rest of his life, and he'd always wanted kids someday, but it wasn't until recently that it dawned on him: they were as ready as they were ever going to be, yeah? The news was unexpected, but it seemed... right. While he wasn't exactly expecting the same sort of bacchanalia his housemates had thrown him from Jenny's parents, he was sure they'd be happy for them.

He walked into the kitchen and rubbed his hands together. "Alright, put me to work! Whoa, who's that over there, Nigella Lawson?" he joked while pointing to Jenny's mum standing in front of the stove. Ben considered himself good with parents: he was warm and friendly, a little cheesy, and had a sort of wiry, long-limbed manic energy that made him entertaining to watch as he ran around the kitchen.

[Jenny Holloway]

Jenny smiled as Lacey was casual and uneffusive as ever, "Well I still think it's cute," she told her youngest sister surely. Eyeing her in a jokingly shocked manner she faux pleaded with Janis, "Please, honey, please don't listen to her, she's the devil in disguise!" The woman grinned, turning back to her task and looking far too busy to talk as their mother started asking what was so funny.

"Ben!" the redhead exclaimed in delight as she heard his familiar voice shouting a christmas greeting. It was only when she turned around that her delighted expression faltered, if only momentarily, as she noticed the telltale signs of his lunar-induced tiredness which he, as ever, hid with a huge grin. "Hey honey," she stepped over to him to give him a quick kiss hello and when they broke apart she then squeezed his hand, mostly for moral support and reassurance, and was about to let go when he joked about her mum being Nigella. Of course, her mum loved the comparison, regardless of whether or not it was sincere - her and their dad seemed to really love Ben, she thought, they'd always been so supportive and welcoming. "Hmmm, ever the charmer," she murmured with a soft giggle, nudging him playfully in the side before handing him a knife, "I could use root vegetable reinforcements," she asked, indicating for him to cut the carrots into circles after she'd finished peeling them.

[Ben Patel]

Ben squeezed Jenny's hand back, lightly running his thumb over hers. He had called his own parents as soon as he learned the news, and though there was a lot of shouting and commotion coming from the other end of the phone line, he quickly discerned that they were very happy. Nadine and Maya had been so vehemently anti-kid for so long that their parents were starting to think they'd never get to be grandparents, and so they just seemed excited to have a little Patel running around. Though he'd heard stories of the sort of judgment the Holloway parents had thrown at Chastity over the years, Ben naively figured they were over it by now. Chas' kid had turned out great, after all. And he did plan on proposing, but he wanted to plan it out, to do it up right. He didn't want it to feel rushed, like some shotgun wedding just because he'd knocked her up.

He took a knife and picked up a peeled carrot from Jenny's pile, briefly wiggling it in front of his nose. "Look, Bowie! It's Frosty the SnowBen."

[Chastity Holloway]

"Put the wine down, Janis" Chas scolded her child as she walked through the door of her parents house, a cigarette dangling precariously from her lip as she spoke.

Rolling her eyes at her father as he asked her not to smoke in the kitchen, Chas blew a steady stream out of the side of her mouth as she removed the cigarette from her mouth and nodded her head, having no intention of putting her cigarette out any time soon, infact, she took a cigarette out of the packet and offered it to Lacey, a small smirk on her face as she did so.

"I made mince pies" Chas smiled, chucking a tub onto the closest surface, the pies inside burnt to a crisp, mishapen & some even containing the ash from her cigarette. "Who do I have to kill to get a glass of wine aorund here?!" Chas exclaimed, taking the wine from her eldest as she gave her a kiss on the forehead, then kissed Bowie too, "Just us again" she shrugged, her subtle way of telling her daughter that her father wouldnt be around for a bit, if at all.

[Janis Holloway]

Smirking as her Aunt Lacey whispered in her ear, like a naughty devil, Janis poured herself a large glass and was just about to take a drink from it when she heard her mothers voice, her eyes wide as she was caught disobeying, which was a rare occurence on Janis' part.

"I wasnt going to...its my first" Janis lied, her face tinging pink as her mother gave her 'the look' and Janis handed the wine glass over without hesitation, her brows furrowing in confusion as her mum told her 'just us again', the telltale sign that her mum had been crying apparent in her eyes. Janis passed Bowie to Ben before putting an arm around her mum, picking up a burnt mince pie, dusting some ash off it before popping it into her mouth.

"That's a nice jumper, Ben. Mince pie?" Janis smiled at her Aunts boyfriend, holding out the tub of less than delightful looking treats to him.

(ooc. Sorry Ive taken so long. Feel free to hate me forever)

[Lacey Holloway]

"Oh my God, Chas, two glasses is nothing," Lacey observed before clapping her hand over her mouth, suddenly realizing that Janis deliberately hadn't told her mother about the first glass. Two glasses may have been nothing, but the half-a-bottle Lacey had downed while getting dressed was another story entirely. She'd convinced herself that Christmas would be a great time to finally come out to her family -- unfortunately, the simple joy of being her true self wasn't quite enough to actually get her through that conversation with her mum and dad, so she had to get a little bit drunk first. She took a cigarette from her older sister, raising a challenging eyebrow at anyone who dared tell her not to smoke it.

Lacey then rolled her eyes at Ben, who was definitely trying too hard to impress their parents. "Yeah, the Black Santa jumper was a bold choice," she told him while taking a mince pie. As unappetizing as they looked, she could tell that Chas was upset and -- having no idea how to actually comfort her in her situation -- eating one of her charred pies was the least Lacey could do. "Try not to drop the baby, dude," she responded helpfully to Ben's slightly panicked face, taking one of the un-chopped carrots from his pile in the hopes that it would cut the strong taste of ash from the pie.

(ooc: This is late, sorry! I'd like to finish this thread, if you guys want to skip ahead to the dinner trainwreck <3)

[Jenny Holloway]

((ooc: Ok so I'm super late with this reply, forgive me please! But I've moved it onto after dinner, hope that's cool? Jenny's a bit melodramatic here too, I apologise.))

Crowned in the usual flimsy paper crown from the pulled crackers, Jenny searched for Ben's hand under the dinner table and gently squeezed it, mostly in the hope of gathering some kind of strength from it, as she tried to get up the courage to tell her parents their big news. They ought to be happy - they loved Janis and Bowie after all, even if they were quite vocal about the circumstances in which Chas had fallen pregnant with them. But Jenny and Ben were in a committed, loving relationship, and aside from the slight wolf issue, there wasn't anything to suggest they would find parenthood problematic. Thankfully her parents didn't know about that element of Ben; their approval definitely wouldn't be forthcoming then. After everyone had finished and their plates had been cleared after into the kitchen with tea, coffee and mince pies replacing the dinner things, Jenny took a deep breath. "Hey, umm everyone? I just wanted to take the opportunity, while we're all here to uh... to let you know... make a little announcement that is... uh Ben and I are..." she paused to glance furtively at him for encouragement, "Ben and I are going to be parents! So you guys get to be cool aunts and uncle, of course Andrew, and cousins, Janis and Bowie and... mum, dad, you're going to have three grandchildren now!" she finished with a big grin, looking particularly to her mother to see her reaction. It wasn't what she expected. Not that she expected party poppers and streamers and copious toasts raised to them (no, Ben's house-mates had well and truly taken care of that side of things), but she expected a favourable reaction.

Instead, her mother turned deathly pale and started muttering agitatedly about 'wedlock' and it being 'the wrong way round' and needing to be married before having children, lecturing Jenny on how she ought to have 'done this'. There was only so much a normally placid, timid redhead could take, however, and she finally snapped when her Mum sounded as though she was about to blame Ben, "Mum!" Jenny exclaimed loudly, breaking through her mother's now-shrill ranting. "I thought you were going to be supportive! I am really excited about this and yes, alright, I was really scared about it at first and I wasn't sure whether I, we, could handle it but Ben has been so supportive and I know he will be in the future. And we are going to love this baby so much and... I just thought it might be... nice if my own mother could put aside her pettiness to be happy for us! What exactly do you have to worry about in all this, hmmm? Do you ever think about other people?" she asked incredulously.

"Look, I'm so super scared because I hate not being in control of things and now I have another person inside me and they're going to affect my body and emotions in ways I can't control. That terrifies me more than you could ever know. And think about Ben," Jenny frowned sadly, reaching to touch his arm softly, "He's sat here being supportive and perfectly polite when really he's been scared because he thinks his child is somehow going to inherit his werewolf condition! And if we can put those fears aside, shouldn't you be able to put away your stupid standards for just a minute?!" she finally cried out, stopping to take a ragged breath and only then realising what she'd actually just said. "Oh, crap! Ohmygod... sorry, I-" she turned to Ben straight away, hand over her mouth in shock, "I didn't mean to- I... I can't breathe, I have to get away from this bloody table," she managed to stammer out, pushing her chair out unceremoniously and quickly fleeing through the door to the hallway where she flopped down halfway up the stairs, cheeks bright red in embarrassment and shaking with frustration as she tried desperately not to burst into tears.

[Chastity Holloway]

Leaning back in her chair, glass of red wine in one hand, lit cigarette in the other while managing to rock Bowie to sleep at the same time, Chas looked towards Jenny with a raised eyebrow as she began to talk, smirking to herself as Jenny revealed that she & Ben would be parents. Looking towards their mother, Chas smiled more when she started to mention 'wedlock' and 'the natural order of things' and rolled her eyes, daring her mother to mention her just once, she needed a good argument.

"Mum, fuck it up will you? I had these two out of wedlock and they're fucking amazing. She's the best fucking kid you could ever ask for, hell, I want her to rebel but she wont! She's in the top of every class, she doesnt want to go out getting drunk and shagging. She was born out of wedlock but she's a golden child, I expect this little shit will be the same. I...on the other hand....I broke every fucking rule I could, I smoked from when I started at Hogwarts, I got drunk with the subsitute Muggle Studies professor & got caught in the office....and I lost my virginity in your bed...and my parents were married. So...exactly...shut it" Chas ranted on, flicking ash on the carpet and practically growling at her mother, waiting on her to argue back but all she got was a stern "Chastity!" from her father, which only caused Chas to chuckle and shake her head before she turned to Jenny, sitting back in her seat once more with a smirk, "Called it!" she said simply, referring to their last meeting, here at their parents house before her eyes widened as Jenny blurted out Ben's secret, shaking her head slowly she smiled, "You gotta start thinking before you talk Little J".

(ooc. Chas is very protective of Jenny it'd seem!)