Anne passed Amy's bedroom door; noticing it was ajar. She peeked inside and saw Amy sitting on her bed;her face contorted into a deep scowl. Amy made eye contact with her mother and quickly turned away.

"Amy, whatever is the matter? You haven't been yourself the last couple of days."

"I don't want to go downstairs. I'm just going to stay up here."

"No. We need you downstairs. We're going to bake cookies and make the snack mix you like."

"Can I just stay up here for five more minutes?"

"Yes. I'd like for you to at least look presentable."

Whatever had gotten into Amy was eating into Anne as well. She left Amy to get ready. Anne hoped Amy wouldn't dawdle.

"Remember, Amy, five minutes!"

"All right, mom!" Amy shouted back. Her anxiety rising. After tying her shoes, she quickly exited her room. Taking a couple of deep breaths, Amy sped down the stairs; joining the crowd in the kitchen. Sitting at the kitchen island were Helen and Victoria. At the stove stood Anne. She eyed Amy as she walked past.

"I was wondering where you went earlier." Helen inquired. Judging by Amy's scowl, Helen knew to leave the issue alone.

"Amy, you're here!" Victoria remarked. She looked to Amy to lighten the mood somewhat. The tension began to rise when Helen began to speak.

"I'd like to talk to you, mom. Privately." Helen dared. Anne looked at Helen, she could feel the contempt rising.

Anne and Helen went outside, leaving Amy and Victoria alone. Amy steamed; if she were a tea kettle, she'd have boiled over by now.

"Why does mom always act like this around Christmas?" Amy posited; her question more rhetorical than anything.

"Don't think about it, Amy. It only makes you mad. Remember your tantrums a few weeks ago, and how mommy threatened you?" Victoria countered.

"I know you're trying to help, Victoria, but could you not bring that up? I can't wait to go to school, I just want to get out of the house." Amy panicked.

Both of them caught a few muffled notes of the screaming match unfolding in the driveway.

"You never appreciated anything I did for you, Helen! NOTHING!"

"What YOU did?! Sure, mom, repressing all of my emotions is such a fucking achievement!"

"I told Helen that mommy wants me to have shock treatments."

"Mom wants you to have what?" Amy

"She let it slip a few weeks ago when she had her incident."

"Figures." Amy cried out in exasperation.

"I'm sorry, Amy! Don't leave me alone down here right now!" Victoria pleaded. The fear manifesting in her blue eyes.

"Let's go wait upstairs in the TV room." Amy suggested. Making their escape, they hurried up the stairs. Turning on the TV, they watched Channel 2. Soon their wait had turned to an hour. The front door finally slamming. 

"Amy, Victoria, come back downstairs!" Anne screamed.

"Be Saint Victoria!" Amy whispered. Victoria took on a Stoic look. She steeled herself as she reached the top of the stairs.

They scurried back down the stairs. Amy putting on a brave face. They approached their mother. She seemed heartbroken. Giving Anne enough time to collect her thoughts, she finally spoke.

"I don't understand. Helen knows I disapprove of her career choice. I would die if something happened to her."

"You still have us, mom." Amy uttered.

"Then again, Helen was always hellbent on justice." Anne confided.

"I want to make cookies!" Victoria shouted, lightening the mood.

"That sounds like a good idea, Victoria!" Amy countered.

The timer dinged as Anne took the first batch of sugar cookies out of the oven. Anything to take her mind off of what had happened earlier in the day. Victoria was having the time of her life; squeezing and kneading the dough. Noticing that her sleeves were falling, Victoria tried to roll them up. She struggled and floundered. The frustration rising. Luckily for her, Amy rendered assistance.

"I couldn't watch you continue to struggle like that." She mused. Victoria seemed to calm down. They rolled out the dough together; doing whatever they could to take their own minds off of the situation at home. Readying another tray, Amy put it on the counter by the oven.

"Uncle Jack and Aunt Carol are coming over tonight. They're bringing Alex and Nora with them."

"Oh no, not Alex! He's such a know-it-all. Nora doesn't talk, so she's no fun." Victoria whined.

"He always thinks he's better than everyone else. I bet he doesn't help Nora." Amy replied.

"He doesn't seem like a good brother. We haven't seen him since last year; he may have changed."

"Mom will make me keep an eye on you and Nora. I don't know how to do sign language; at least she can read and write." Amy sighed.

"She really likes you, Amy."

"I know, I don't know why."
The next batch of cookies came out of the oven.

A little after 4 PM, Jack Vandeventer pulled into the driveway. He took a deep breath as he got out of the car. Nearly sixty years old, he still felt as fit as he was when he was throwing snowballs with his brother Michael and sister, Anne. Lately, Anne had been worrying him. She had called him a few weeks ago, telling him that she had pulled both Amy and Victoria out of their schools. He'd nearly lost it, then.

"Anne, don't destroy their lives. They need an education!" He snapped.

"Relax. We've enrolled them at Plymouth Rock and Briarwood. Both are in Massachusetts, and in proximity to one another."

That had done little to assuage his doubts. He knew Anne would often have changes in her mood. Beside him, his wife of seventeen years; Carol also got out of the car. She was followed by their two children: 15-Year-Old Nora and 13-Year-Old Alexander. Carol stood between Nora and Alex, as if to protect her from him.

"Only people who can talk can go inside. You'll have to stay outside with the pigs!" Alexander teased. Nora shot him a look of immediate disapproval.

"Alex, enough!" Carol hissed. She also shot him a look of steel. He'd been firing off comments since they left home.

"I hope to god there's enough eggnog." Jack muttered under his breath.

They knocked on the door and Amy answered. The way Nora's eyes lit up when she saw her cousin would've made a great Kodak moment. She pushed past her parents and brother and threw her arms around Amy; practically lifting her up off the floor.

"Nora! That was rude." Carol scolded. Nora gave a shrug and moved aside.

Amy could understand why Nora liked her; she was a year older than Amy, and she shared many of the same interests. Amy brought her cousin into the living room. The tree, all ten feet of it, was decked out in over one hundred ornaments and tinsel. Nora took out a small memo book and wrote something down. She handed the note to Amy

"Your tree looks lovely. May I see your latest photos?"

Amy nodded; Anne, intervened however.

"Why if it isn't Nora! How are you doing, sweetheart?" Anne greeted; only the slightest hint of condescension in her voice. Knowing that her aunt refused to learn sign language, she wrote on her memo pad.

"I'm fine! I'm going to school in Stonington, Connecticut. It's nice to see you, Aunt Anne. Merry Christmas!" 

Carol approached Nora and signed

"Do you want something to drink?" She replied that she didn't.

In the kitchen, Alexander was beginning to pester Victoria.

Thirteen-year-old Alexander Vandeventer sat on the opposite end of the kitchen island. He glanced at his cousin, Victoria. She'd been humming a little tune she had cobbled together in her head.

"You suck at humming."

Victoria ignored him. She kept doodling on a piece of paper.

"Hey, I said you suck at humming! That means you shut up." He saw Victoria's "Ellie" shirt.

"I can't believe you like that baby show."

"Wonder Cats is hardly for babies." Victoria replied coolly. He was starting to get under her skin. First, he'd made fun of her humming; now he disparaged her favorite TV program.

"What do you watch?" She asked.

"I ask the questions around here. Vicky." He sneered.

"It's Victoria, not Vicky!"

"Whatever. You watch baby TV shows; so I'll just call you Vicky."

"I'm thirteen! I'm not a baby, Alex."

Victoria's anger began to rise. All she wanted to do was be on the edge of the gathering, so that she could run to safety if the gathering become too much. To her, the third floor looked inviting.

"How come you call your mom 'mommy'? Only babies do that."

That was enough. Victoria ran past her cousin toward the stairs. She heard her mother call out, but she kept going. Seconds later, she was on the third floor, hiding.

Anne watched her youngest daughter sprint past. At first, she thought Victoria might have been playing a game; but when she heard the door to the third floor slam shut, she knew something was wrong. Pausing her conversation with her sister-in-law, Anne stalked up the stairs. She opened the door to the third floor and trudged up the stairs. She could hear Victoria, but instead of laughing, she was sobbing hysterically. Anne ran over to where she was.

"Victoria, sweetheart; what are you doing up here?"

"I HATE Alex! He's so mean. He's been making fun of me since he got here."

"I see." Anne spat.

"I don't want to go back down there. He keeps calling me a baby! I'm not a baby." Victoria wailed.

"Why don't you go find Amy and Nora?" Anne offered. Victoria crossed her arms.

"But he'll find me and bother me."

"Amy and Nora are in Amy's room. He's been told NOT to go in there."

"Promise?"

"Of course, Victoria. I'll make sure Amy knows." Anne soothed. She reached out and hugged Victoria.

Grabbing her hand, Anne brought her down to Amy's Room.

Anne knocked on the door. Amy opened it coming face to face with her mother.

"Alex has been teasing Victoria; can she come in?"

"Of course." Amy replied.

"Can I grab Grimalkin?" Victoria pleaded. Her mother nodded, running into her room and back, Victoria held onto the Ithaca Kitty for dear life. Shutting the door, she ran over to Amy's bed.

"Alex was acting like a little shit again!" Amy bemoaned. Nora looked disgusted. She wrote something in her notebook and passed it along to Victoria.

"Alex has been bad all day. He hit me earlier. Amy and I want you in here. You're safe. You can sit between us at dinner."

Victoria smiled.

Amy had been showing Nora her new photo albums. 

"This album is photos I took of Victoria at the park. She's a good model." Nora flipped the cover open; Victoria's bright smile immediately greeted her. Nora grinned ear to ear. Her smile told Amy everything she needed to know. Scribbling, Nora handed her a note.

"I love her smile! You must really look out for her. Since Alex can't be counted on doing anything, mom and dad have to help me. You're lucky that you and Victoria are so close."

Amy smiled. She was about to show Nora her Byzantine drawings when a voice called up from downstairs

"Amy, Nora, Victoria; come down for dinner!" Carol yelled.