Sarah had stretched herself on one of the couches in her grandparents’ living room. Steffie had squeezed in the small space between Sarah’s feet and the arm rest even though there would’ve been enough room in the other couch as well. The tv was on, and Sarah’s grandparents were watching the news, nothing that would’ve particularly interested Sarah or her sister. Sarah’s mother was making final work related emails and calls before she would start her holiday as well. The post-lunch sleepiness threatened to pull Sarah into dozing off, but she fought to stay awake.

They had arrived two days earlier but hadn’t done much apart from relaxing and catching up on what was going on in their lives. Sarah’s aunt and her family were supposed to arrive today, and after that the Christmas preparations would start to progress in full swing. It was out of the question that decorating the house or Christmas baking would start before everyone would be able to participate. Especially Sarah’s younger cousins would make a scene if they were left out on the preparation. Sarah remembered how important it had been to be able to wrap garland on the staircase railings or cut cookies from the dough that grandma had rolled for them. Nowadays it wasn’t that big of a deal if she couldn’t take part in it. She gladly let the younger ones have the most fun.

Forty minutes later the sound of a car stopping outside got everyone to perk up. Sarah sat up properly and straightened her clothes and redid her ponytail that had loosened up to resemble a bird’s nest. Her grandparents headed to the door, and Sarah’s family followed close behind.

“Hellooo. Is anyone home?” A cheerful call sounded from the door as Aunt Gloria walked in followed by her four children: Amity who was a year older than Sarah, the twins Verity and Hope who were the same age as Sarah, the 14-year-old son Clement, and the youngest daughter, Felicity, who was a year younger than Steffie.

“Granny! Grandpa!” Felicity cheered and rushed to hug her grandparents.

Everyone exchanged greetings and hugs, with Clement trying to resist the out of embarrassment. He was fourteen years old already, clearly too old for hugs. But maybe one more wouldn’t hurt…

“Where is Jonathan?” grandma asked.

“Oh, he’s walking our puppy. He should be back soon.”

“Puppy?”

“Yes. Did I forget to tell we got one? I could’ve sworn I told. Well, anyway, Harlowe is the most adorable puppy. He just recently got potty-trained, so you don’t need to worry about accidents.”

“That’s good to hear of course. I just know Sarah isn’t fond of dogs so…” grandma glanced at Sarah’s direction, and so did everyone else.

Sarah felt awkward in the centre of attention. She shifted her weight and smiled a bit.

“I don’t mind it. I’ve been getting more used to dogs. And if he’s a puppy then it shouldn’t be too bad.”

Aunt Gloria smiled so wide her pearly white teeth flashed in her mouth.

“Perfect,” she said and started to command her children to carry their bags inside.

Her husband Jonathan arrived at the same moment, carrying a wriggling bundle of deep brown fur and needle sharp teeth.

“There’s my little baby,” Gloria exclaimed and took Harlowe from her husband. She gave the puppy a little kiss and put him on the floor. The puppy stood still for a moment and then started walking around, sniffing the tile floor.

“I think he’s going to⁠⁠–” Sarah started but couldn’t finish her sentence when the puppy already peed on the floor.

“Oh no!”

“Harlowe, no. Not on the floor!”

“You just came inside from a walk!”

“Clement, get paper towels.”

“Why always me?”

Sarah watched with quiet amusement how her cousins and aunt scampered around cleaing after the puppy while trying to keep him from stepping in the puddle. Gloria was in mild shock from embarrassment, but her mother tried to comfort her and assure that everything was fine.

“Puppies have fiddle bladders,” she said. “They’re like babies. Who knows when they’ll pee. Maybe he just wanted to mark his new territory.

When the pee episode was cleared out, and Sarah’s relatives had found their bedrooms, everyone gathered in the living room again. Grandma had cleared out her expensive rug from the floor as a precaution. Steffie was playing with the puppy on the floor with Felicity. They were sitting a short distance away from each other and rolled a ball on the floor. Harlowe dashed after the ball as quick as his little legs carried him, making silly jumps, and sometimes tumbling down. Sarah smiled and took a few pictures and a short video of the puppy.

Look what I’ve got here with me, she messaged Castiel and attached the video. The reply came a few moments later.

Omfg. I love him. Or her

Him. His name is Harlowe. And he already peed on the floor once.

Lol. How old is he?

I don’t know. My aunt said he’s supposedly potty-trained already so not super baby, but he still looks kinda like baby.

Probably not much older than 13 weeks I’d guess

Maybe

You didn’t tell you’d have a puppy there

I didn’t know. And no one else did either, apparently. My aunt just arrived with it, lol. ‘Oh did I forget to tell you we have a dog with us?’

Wow. That’s one way to start a family fight on christmas

Ikr. But no one really minded. Grandma was just worried that if I’d be fine since I don’t like dogs. But even I am not that scared of them that I’d be terrified of a puppy. He’s so cute.

You’re so cute.

Sarah couldn’t stop a smile and a blush spreading on her face, even though she tried to bite the smile down. It wasn’t fair that Castiel threw compliments at her unexpectedly.

Shut up.

Never

“Who are you texting to, Sarah?” Aunt Gloria asked.

Sarah’s heart jumped and a deeper blush spread to her cheeks. She stuffed her phone in her pocket like she had caught on doing something illegal.

“No one.” The reply was automatic.

“Her boyfriend, probably,” Grace said. Sarah shot a look at her mother.

“You have a boyfriend? That’s lovely. The kids are growing up so fast. Ami has a boyfriend too. They’ve been dating for five months, right? I’ve been asking the twins about any possible friends, but they haven’t told me anything. Probably too embarrassed to talk to their mother about it,” Gloria said and laughed a bit.

Verity and Hope shifted in their seats and glanced at each other. Sarah felt a twinge of sympathy towards them. She probably wouldn’t have said much either if Gloria was her mother. Castiel thought his mother was imposing, but Sarah was sure Audrey lost that competition to Gloria very easily.

“What’s he like? What’s his name?”

Sarah blushed again at her aunt’s relentless questions.

“His name is Castiel. He’s…cool. We’re in the same class.”

“Do you have a picture? I want to see what he looks like.”

“Come now, darling. Don’t turn this into an interrogation,” Jonathan said and put a hand on his wife’s leg. “You’ll scare the poor girl. We don’t see her in almost a year and then immediately start firing questions to her.”

Gloria hummed in understanding and shifted the discussion to her new hobby, water polo that she had started a month ago. The teens tuned out of the conversation and focused on their phones. Steffie and Felicity hadn’t paid attention in the first place and continued to play with the puppy. Sarah took out her phone as well and returned to messaging Castiel. She felt somewhat exhausted already about dealing with her relatives. Sarah had a feeling this would be a long week.

When the sun had set and they had finished dinner, Sarah’s grandfather heated up the hot tub. It was one of the best parts of the grandparents’ house. Sarah loved spending time in the warm water when the air was cold enough to cause shivers.

“Do you girls want to go first?” grandma asked.

Sarah glanced at her cousins who all shrugged. Sure, why not? Steffie and Felicity didn’t show interest in the hot tub just yet since there was some tv show that kept them occupied. Sitting in water was boring for them anyway.

“You four could go first. Then we older ladies can go after and have some drinks without being a bad influence,” Gloria said and laughed. Sarah’s mother rolled her eyes at her sister. The idea wasn’t bad though. Grace couldn’t remember when she had properly relaxed and had a glass of wine somewhere that wasn’t the already old and lumpy couch in her living room.

The girls hurried to their rooms to grab their towels and change into their swimsuits. Sarah couldn’t say that she didn’t like the idea of hanging out with her cousins and catching up without their mothers hovering somewhere within an earshot. They had never been close since Gloria’s family lived quite far away and they basically only saw during holidays, but this time Sarah felt like they would have a lot to talk about.

Outside, steam was rising from the hot tub. The lights around the tub were lit and they cast a warm glow around the yard. On the small table there were few bottles of soda and glasses if they wanted to have a non-alcoholic drink. As if none of them hadn’t tasted some sort of beverage before whether it was cider, beer, or wine. But their grandmother was a woman of principle; no underaged drinking in her house.

Sarah shrugged of her bathrobe. Her skin prickled on goosebumps when the chilly air rushed in. Her cousins came out soon after. They took a few running steps towards the tub and shed their robes as well. They all climbed in the tub and slid down in the warm water. Relaxed and relieved sighs filled the air when the girls rested their heads against the edge of the hot tub and enjoyed the warm water that surrounded them.

They sat in silence for a while, working past the awkwardness from not talking for over a year. But soon Amity took charge of the discussion and asked how Sarah had been doing and how was school going. The discussion started rolling from there and soon they were talking and laughing to Amity’s story about a house party where one guest had ended up in the swimming pool. Verity reached to pour them all glasses of strawberry and kiwi lemonade.

“So, do you want to tell more about your boyfriend now that our parents aren’t listening?” Amity said to Sarah and took a sip from her drink. “Is he hot?”

Sarah’s cheeks flushed. Verity and Hope leaned in closer.

“He is”, she muttered and her cousins ‘oooh’d’. Sarah chuckled a bit. “He plays in a band with his friend.”

“Oh my god. A hot musician? I’m jealous,” Amity sighed.

“What’s your boyfriend like?” Sarah asked.

“His name is Aldo. He’s in the swim team captain.”

“Oh, shut up.”

“He’s the sweetest guy. He took me to a restaurant and bought me flowers on our first date.”

“He’s a himbo,” Verity chimed in.

“Yeah, not the smartest tool in the shed. It took him five months and a kiss to realize Amity has a crush on him,” Hope added.

“He’s not a himbo!” Amity huffed, “he’s adorable.”

“Definitely a himbo,” Hope whispered to Sarah, who laughed and sipped her lemonade again.

“How about you? Do you have anyone?” Sarah asked from the twins. They immediately got serious and glanced at each other.

“Umm, well…”

“You don’t have to tell if you don’t want to. It’s none of my business.”

“I’ve been seeing someone for a few months,” Hope said and blushed.

“Congrats. What’s his name? If I can ask.”

“Maribelle,” Hope said after a moment of silence. The sisters’ eyes focused on Sarah.

“Oh. Ooooh. Right. That’s great.”

It took a moment for Sarah’s brain to catch up, but at her words, the others in the tub relaxed visibly. An almost fierce look on Verity’s face smoothed away. She had been ready to throw hands if Sarah had had anything bad to say.

“We met in a beginner’s figure skating course,” Hope said, “She’s the cutest. She gets dimples when she smiles. She’s covered in freckles all over.”

“All over?” Amity asked with a crooked smile, one eyebrow slightly raised.

Hope’s face flushed bright red. She sputtered something as an answer and slinked deeper into the water.

Sarah smiled and sipped her lemonade. It was nice to talk and laugh like this.

“How about you Verity?” she asked then. “Anyone interesting in sights?”

“I’ve been texting with Maribelle’s brother.”

This time Amity raised her brows in surprise. “Really?”

“Only for a few weeks! It’s nothing serious really. I don’t even know if it’d work. He’s much older…”

“How old is he?” Sarah asked.

“Twenty two. But he’s super nice and funny. We like a lot of the same things. He plays soccer like me and likes the same kind of music. I just really like talking to him. I think we’ve clicked, you know. Everything feels so natural when I’m talking to him.”

“I don’t think that’s too bad of an age difference,” Sarah said. “I have a friend whose boyfriend is three years older. And they’ve been together for two years, I think, and they’re still going strong and have a healthy relationship. And he’s not some random guy from the internet you don’t know at all. You know people who know him, so you can be sure that’s he’s not a creep.”

“That’s what I’ve been trying to say,” Hope said and nudged her sister. “Maribelle’s said that Beau likes you too, at least from what she has managed to figure out.”

“Yeah, maybe…”

“Are you worried about the age difference or what other people might say about it?”

Verity looked at Sarah like she had said something offensive. Then the expression mellowed out, and she sighed.

“I don’t know. Maybe bit of both? Like, he’s in college now and I’m just starting if I even get in. He’ll graduate before me and get a job. I feel like we might be in too different stages of life. And of course, people would say stuff about the age difference. I don’t want him to get shit over it.”

“It sounds to me like you really like him. I think it’s worth trying to see what happens. You can work things out if you really like each other. And if it doesn’t work out, at least you tried. You could still stay as friends.”

“Yeah, you shouldn’t throw this chance to waste, Ver,” Hope said.

“It would be a shame if you didn’t try and then regretted it,” Amity added too.

“Yeah, and it’s not like you’ll be judged forever based on your relationship,” Hope said then, “unlike some others…”

Sarah hummed in compassion. Right. It probably wasn’t easy for Hope and her girlfriend. Even if people were more acceptive nowadays, there always were narrow-minded people who couldn’t allow other people to be happy.

“Is that why you haven’t told your mother?”

“Part of the reason. Mainly because it’s a very new thing. I don’t want to announce anything before I’m sure it’ll last longer. Although I’m quite sure it will. I really like her. But I also don’t know at all how mum would react to it.”

“Do you think she’d be against it? Has she made any comments about gay people before?”

“I don’t really know. I think she at least thinks they’re weird. I don’t think she’s said any hateful stuff at least from what I remember. But you never know. People don’t usually say everything they think about out loud. Mum tries to keep a good image.”

Amity touched her sister’s shoulder. It was hard to tell how their parents would react. Their grandfather, Grace and Gloria’s father, had been a bishop in his youth, so religion had always been part of the family, even though no one from the younger generations was a devout believer anymore. Sarah’s family never went to church. Her cousins’ family did only on holidays like Christmas and Easter. But still, some beliefs could’ve stuck.

“Does your girlfriend’s family now?” Sarah asked.

“Yeah. She’s been out for years. They’re really supportive.”

“Maybe they could help you.”

“Maybe.”

“And like, you don’t need to tell until you’re ready for it. And whatever your parents might say, it doesn’t make you any less of a person. It’s their fault if they can’t accept you. There’s nothing wrong with you.”

Hope’s lower lip trembled as she listened to Sarah’s words, and then she lunged from the other side the hot tub to hug her.

“Thank you,” she whimpered. “You’re so nice. We see each other like never and you’re still so nice and supportive.”

“Oh, thank you. But it’s common sense to me. Like, if you don’t cause harm to anyone, why could you not love whoever you want?”

Hope nodded while hugging Sarah tighter. She patted her cousin’s shoulder a bit.

“I’m sure your mum will accept it even if it takes some time. I know she loves you all a lot,” Sarah said then. “I’m sure that in the end she just wants you to be happy.”

Hope nodded again and released Sarah from the hug. She scooted back to her own side looking slightly embarrassed but also very touched. Not many people knew about her relationship; actually, only Verity and Amity, and Maribelle’s parents knew. It had felt nice to tell someone else, and it was nice that she was met with support and acceptance.

“Sorry to change the topic but should we get out? Because I’m starting to turn into a raisin.”

On that remark, everyone checked their fingers to find that they had indeed started to wrinkle. So, they got out of the tub and shivered as the chilly air clung to their wet skin. They hurried to wrap towels around their bodies and then raced inside.

“Should we have a sleepover in our room? We can kick Felicity to Sarah’s room, and she can sleep with us. So, we can continue our chat. I want to hear more about this Castiel,” Amity suggested.

“That’d be cool. You’ll come, right?” Verity asked.

“If the kids are fine with it.”

Sarah knew it was sometimes terribly difficult to make children do anything, especially without much of a warning. She hoped Felicity and Steffie hadn’t started to hate each other while she had been soaking in the tub, so that this plan could succeed. She had never been to a sleepover, and even though this one barely counted since they were all in the same house anyway, it was a fun idea.

After they got dressed, the girls headed to the living room to propose their plan to the adults and their little sisters. Their mothers had nothing against the idea, and Steffie and Felicity were also quickly won over. They were happy about the though they didn’t need to sleep with their boring older sisters. They too would get their own sleepover which was an extremely exciting thought. They already started planning to make a pillow forth, and grandmother headed to look for extra blankets for its construction.

Part 3.

Assembling the sleepover didn’t take long. Everyone pulled their duvets and pillows on the floor for casual lounging before sleep. Amity set up a chilly playlist on her phone while Verity and Hope raided the kitchen cupboards for snacks. Grandmother slipped in some healthy foods because ‘it wasn’t good for the body to eat too much greasy food so late’. No one remember that advice while showing crisps in their mouth.

“Alright,” Verity started and pointed a finger at Sarah when they had settled, “we want to see pictures.”

Her sisters nodded, and Sarah blushed furiously. She took out her phone and scrolled through the gallery to find the best pictures of Castiel. It wasn’t hard because all pictures of him were great. She quickly found her favourite one where Castiel was sitting on the bed and playing his guitar.

“Oh no, he’s hot,” Verity said when Sarah showed the picture, “like, super-hot.”

“Is that an earring? Oh my god, he has an earring.”

Sarah chuckled and showed a few more pictures that received similar approval. The ones were Castiel was with Ares brought even more adoring comments. Man with a dog just hit different.

“You have to spill the beans. How did you two meet? Like, no offense, but you don’t look like you’d run in the same circles.”

“We had to do a project together. In home economics, we had a project where we had to take care of a baby doll in pairs for a few weeks. And I got paired with Castiel. We actually sat next to each other that whole course, but we didn’t really talk before the project.”

“I bet the project woke up his daddy instincts,” Hope grinned.

Verity faked a gag. Amity laughed.

“Never say that again, please,” Sarah whimpered. She had blushed again just as the previous redness had faded from her cheeks.

“But yeah, we were kinda forced to spend time together, and things evolved from there. I hesitated a lot, but he was so patient with me. I’m happy we ended up together.”

“Aww, that’s adorable,” Amity said. “Reminds me of me and Aldo. We were put in the same group on one school trip. And then we got lost and separated from others in the crowd. We started talking more after that, but like Hope said, it took him ages to realize I had a crush on him.”

“Himbooooo….” Hope whispered next to Amity, who swatted at her sister.

Sarah laughed and popped a few crisps in her mouth.

“Do you have pictures of him?”

Amity’s face lightened up, like she had been waiting for the chance to show off the goods. She scrolled through her phone an turned it around, so Sarah could see a picture.

“Oh, that is a very tiny swimsuit,” Sarah said as she looked at the picture. Aldo was tall and muscular with short brown hair and blue eyes. He was like a stereotypical swim team member that appeared in movies. “He looks exactly like I imagined.”

“We’re thinking of moving together,” Amity said and showed more pictures, “probably next autumn if we find a nice apartment.”

“That sounds really nice,” Sarah said. It was easy to see the chemistry between the couple even through pictures. Sarah was sure they were an extremely cute couple in real life too, perhaps close to the sweetness levels of Leon and Amanda.

“Have you thought about the future with your sweetheart?” Verity asked Sarah.

“I have but there’s a lot of things open. We’ll apply to different colleges. He wants to go to Riversmuth, and I aim for Hammersmith.”

Hope whistled slowly. “That’s a long distance.”

“Yeah… It’s not even guaranteed that we get in the schools we want. And at the same time, I don’t really have other plans. I have no idea what is going to happen in next six to eight months. Basically, all I know is that we’re together until we break up. But I’m ready for long-distance, even though it’s probably gonna suck.”

It wasn’t much, and Sarah would’ve appreciated a bit more information, but that was all they had. There were so many things that could change before they graduated. They might not even be together when summer holiday started, although Sarah certainly hoped that wouldn’t be the case. But unless something catastrophic happened, Sarah doubted that their relationship would end so soon. She cared so much about Castiel, and she knew that the feeling was mutual.

“Applying for schools sucks,” Hope groaned. “We’re supposed to decide the course for the rest of our lives, and I can’t even plan out the meals for the next day.”

“I had so much stress over where to apply,” Sarah sighed. “I still don’t know if I like my pick, but I don’t have anything else in mind. My mind draws a blank when I try to think what I’d like to do.”

“I feel that. One college offered me a soccer scholarship so that’s why I’m going there. I don’t even know what kind of subject I want to study.”

“Maribelle and I will probably apply to the same place. Somewhere that’s not here,” Hope said. “She’s interested in sociology. She wants to work with LGBTQ+ kids in the future. I’ll probably apply for something psychology related.”

Sarah was impressed. She knew there was no contest about who had the coolest plans, but she couldn’t help feeling a bit pathetic. Verity was chasing her soccer dream, Hope was able to follow her girlfriend and find an interesting field at the same time, and Sarah didn’t even want to think about Amity’s studies in marine biology. Her plans in graphic design fell a bit flat next to those fields, even though she knew graphic designers were very much needed everywhere.

The conversation lulled for a moment into a comfortable silence when everyone checked their phones and social media. Sarah’s phone buzzed with a message from Castiel.

I’m heading off to sleep. Promised to meet up with Leon early tomorrow. We might’ve gotten a gig for next week. Good night babe. Sweet dreams.

A smile immediately rose to Sarah’s face. Castiel rarely called her by pet names so it always caught Sarah off guard and made her heart do a happy flip.

That sounds really exciting. Good luck! And good night and sweet dreams to you too. Love you.

Love you too.

Sarah put her phone away and tried to calm her face muscles from the silly grin. She wasn’t fast enough, and Amity noticed.

“What’s gotten you so happy, hmmm?” she asked with a teasing tone.

“Nothing,” Sarah replied but a blush betrayed her.

Her cousins raised their eyebrows.

“It’s nothing,” Sarah repeated, but the blush got more furious, and she buried her face in a pillow. “Castiel just sent me a good night message.”

“Awww,” her cousins said in a choir.

“He misses you.”

“So cute.”

“He just said good night. It’s not that special,” Sarah mumbled. Her embarrassment just grew even though she tried to calm down.

“But you’re still blushing. I bet he sent some spicy message. Was there a picture?”

Verity’s guess made the others perk up in curiosity too.

“No! It was just a normal message. Gosh, you have such dirty minds.”

“I don’t see how you don’t with a hot boyfriend like that. I wouldn’t be able to keep my hands off,” Verity said and laughed a bit.

“Who says she can? Maybe they’re necking all the time when they’re together.”

“We’re not starting to talk about our privacy like that unless you guys are ready to spread yours on the table too,” Sarah huffed.

The siblings looked at each other and shrugged. Why not?

“I’ll start then,” Amity said with a wide smile. “Aldo is amazing. He was so shy at first but now he can–”

“What? No! It was a joke. I don’t want to hear about your sex life.”

“Shame,” Amity sighed but smiled, “I personally think there is nothing wrong about healthy discussion about sex. It is an interesting topic even purely from theoretical point.”

“I guess. But just, not today, okay?” Sarah muttered.

Amity patted her cousin on the arm.

“Of course. I was just joking. It’s no fun anyway if someone’s feeling uncomfortable.”

“We can share some dumb gossip instead,” Verity suggested, “our school is full of idiots.”

Gossip was something everyone could get behind. They settled into better positions on the floor and started sharing stories about the most embarrassing or shocking events that had happened in their schools. Sarah enjoyed being able to take her mind off serious topics and just focus on something funny. Maybe she could arrange a sleep-over and invite Amanda and Lucy. It could be fun.

The clock was well past midnight when tiredness finally caught up on the girls. They prepared for bed and threw duvets and pillows back on the bed. No one wanted to actually sleep on the floor when there were good beds to enjoy. Amity turned the lights off, but a quiet chatter and giggling continued for almost another half an hour before sleep started to finally claim the girls. They mumbled quiet good nights to each other before falling asleep.