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Chapter 3: How the Grinch Ruined the Feast Rudy and Oscar were buried under blankets and wrapped around each other when there was a knock at their door. Oscar woke up near instantly and began working himself free, Rudy grumbled and tried to hold him tight but the lion-dog was rather insistent on worming free. He was used to not caring whether he was dressed or not in the Rat’s house so he shambled nude to the door with eyes half open. Right as the knocking started up a second time he unclicked the lock and swung open the door. Mom Jenny was on the other side, a face of annoyance quickly loosening to shock and then embarrassment with the inside of her ears growing red. “Oscar! Put some clothes on!” “Mom!?” The lion-dog said, his ears fell flat and he rapidly closed the door enough to shield himself from his mother’s gaze. “Why’d you wake me up?” “It’s nearly nine in the morning! Not only are you being rude by sleeping in, but Rudy’s Aunt and Uncle are pulling up! I’m not going to let you hide in your fiance’s room all day. Get dressed and come greet them like you’re supposed to!” She said while looking away from the door. “Okay I’ll be down soon!” Oscar sped through the words to make her leave and shut the door the moment she turned away. As he turned he saw the rat sitting up in bed, staring at him. “Honestly, why do you put up with her being so stuck up?” Rudy’s voice was still a bit lifeless from waking up. “She’s my mother. I’m obligated to humor her, and she’s not that bad.” Oscar said as he moved to his suitcase to pull out fresh clothes. “Don’t start talking like her. Could she be worse? Yes, by a wide margin. But she can also be better, and is either choosing not to be or is incapable of seeing how to be better.” The rat stretched and moved over to his fiance to hug him from behind. “I know you love her and that she loves you, without her I wouldn’t have you in my arms! But every time I’m around her, I feel like she cares more about calling herself an ally than being one.” “Oh….” The lion-dog sighed and leaned back into the embrace. “I know what you mean, both of my parents can be exhausting to be around. But they’re my parents, what can I do?” “Well, they did get the room with the cuck chair. Maybe Uncle Romeo can seduce one of them?” Oscar laughed and turned, planting a kiss on those brown lips. “I would pay money to see that!” The pair laughed together for a while before gathering their clothes and getting dressed. They heard a car pull into the driveway while they did, followed by a second car. They threw on some sweaters and sweatpants and headed downstairs to meet up with everyone. Aunt Beverly, a rabbit with cream fur and an orange streak across her face, was in the middle of cycling through Rudy’s dads for hugs, and beside her was Uncle Elliott, Daddy Max’s wolf brother with a more brownish shade of grey fur, was greeting Mom Jenny and Dad Damon with pawshakes. Oscar caught the lioness’ eye and got an ‘about time’ look that he had to turn away to hide his eye-roll at. “Oof, who dragged you two out of bed?” Papa Troy whispered to the pair. Rudy just nodded towards the lioness and both of them saw the striped hyena’s jaw clench. “Oscar!” Aunt Beverly said as she hugged the lion-dog and then the rat. “And Rudy! Congrats again!” “Thank you Aunt Beverly,” They said together. “You guys didn’t need to get out of bed for us!” Uncle Elliott said. “We saw you like, last week.” “Well,” Oscar stole a glance at Mom Jenny, who looked more confused than anything. “We went to bed early last night.” “Oh! I get you.” Uncle Elliott winked. “By the way, Beverly, you left some of your antiboyotics in the fridge!” Daddy Max said. “Antiboyotics?” Mom Jenny said. “Yes, I’m trans.” Aunt Beverly rolled her eyes. “Thank you Max, do remind me before we leave.” “You’re trans?” Dad Damon’s ears perked up and his tail started wagging. “Congratulations! I’m sure you’ll be a handsome young man one day!” “Dad, do you ever get tired of sticking your footpaw in your maw?” Oscar said before anyone else could. “Oscar! Don’t talk to your father that way!” Mom Jenny said. “Aunt Beverly’s pronouns are she/her, okay? It’s not that hard to just ask.” Oscar sighed despite the look on the lioness’ face. Before either of his parents said anything else the front door burst open. “Heyo!” A white rat with dark brown hair threw open the doorway with a backpack over his shoulder and a black leather jacket over a pride shirt. “Uncle Romeo! I thought you were going to get here last night?” Rudy ran up and hugged his uncle tight. “Oh, you know me! I found a lonely trucker in a gas station and kept his bed warm.” Uncle Romeo chuckled without seeing Oscar’s parents exchange a look. “Oh Romeo, I wouldn’t have you any other way!” Papa Troy said as he hugged his brother. “We’ve got you set up in the basement this time, Oscar’s Mom Jenny and Dad Damon are set up in the guest room we usually have reserved for you!” Uncle Romeo smiled wide as he stepped up to them, the lioness offered to shake paws and he pulled her into the bro half-paw shake, half-hug thing Oscar had only seen on the fraternities on college campus. As the white rat moved to greet the golden retriever, who was holding out his paw and prepping for the same kind of hug, he instead took the paw and brought it up to his muzzle and planted a kiss on the knuckles like Dad Damon was a princess. Both of Oscar’s parents exchanged a small glance and stepped closer together. “Come on, let’s go get everything set up for dinner!” Papa Troy said as he grabbed the white rat and led him to the kitchen. There were a few moments where no one spoke but everyone but the straight couple tried not to laugh. “Why don’t we all grab some punch and catch up?” Daddy Max said while pointing to the large punch bowl and cups set out on the dining room table. Oscar’s parents were the first to move to the punch bowl and ladle out cups for themselves. “Oh and be careful with it, Shiloh spiked it with a bottle of spiced rum!” Oscar smiled when his parents paused briefly before getting in line himself. Rudy gave him a wink and ran off to do something, that Rat liked to scheme. Pawpaw was right in front of him in line, the elderly striped hyena had on a rainbow sweater and his glasses were held up with some old string. “Hey Pawpaw, are you excited to officiate my wedding?” Oscar said. “Oh!” Pawpaw turned around and smiled. “I am more than excited to, I’m just glad you two planned the wedding for the summer. I don’t much care for the cold anymore.” “We were thinking of a Christmas wedding, but the campground nearby has so much more space!” “A lakeside wedding! That takes me back to Beverly and Elliott’s wedding. How are your parents dealing with me officiating?” The hyena gave the lion-dog a smirk. “Obviously they would have preferred a priest, but I told them respecting Rudy’s family traditions was important to me, and once they saw my mind was made up, they reluctantly relented.” Oscar spoke in a lower tone of voice despite his parents being in the living room now chatting with one of Rudy’s brothers, the white furred otter Luca. “Good luck with them.” Pawpaw said as he passed Oscar a cup of punch. The lion-dog thanked him and moved away from the table. He sipped from it, enjoying the holiday spiced, bubbly fruit drink, when Rudy’s brother Wesley stood next to him. The bear-hyena hybrid was about Oscar’s height with dark brown fur and the faintest black stripes. “Hey Wes, invent anything new recently?” Oscar said. “Sorta, I’ve been playing around, trying to fix an old refrigerator in the garage. Have your parents been behaving themselves?” The bear-hyena asked. “Other than shoving their footpaws in their maws at every chance? I guess.” Oscar took another sip of the punch and watched Luca walk away from his parents with a sour look. “I didn’t expect them to be perfect, but I did expect them to be better than this.” “You can’t expect 80’s tech to run without a lot of modern upgrades.” Wesley took a drink of his own punch and nodded as he moved to the snack table. Dad Shiloh walked up while the lion-dog looked over the party. He had dark brown fur, a dad bod, and was a little taller than Oscar. He had a paper plate with cocktail weenies, and some chips with cheese. “Oscar!” The brown bear said. “Have you been having a good Christmas?” “Not as much as I thought I would. It’s like I’m being pressured to make sure everyone else has a good Christmas.” “Don’t worry about that,” Dad Shiloh said as he glanced at Oscar’s parents. “You have to be happy already to make other people happy, so sacrificing your own happiness for others never works.” “Thanks Dad,” Oscar said in a low voice so his father wouldn’t hear him. “Anytime!” The bear said as he passed the lion-dog a cocktail weenie on a toothpick. Oscar nabbed a plate and piled on some snacks before heading back to the living room and sitting down on the couch next to Uncle Elliott. The brownish grey wolf was a few inches taller than him and was smiling at him as he sat. “Uncle Elliott, how was the drive?” “Not bad, how are you doing?” He said while taking a sip of punch. “Well,” Oscar had a crooked smile on his face. “I wish I could have stayed in bed with Rudy until dinnertime.” “And why didn’t you?” The wolf did that confused head tilt thing canines do. “None of us would have cared.” “Because my mother didn’t want me to be rude.” The lion-dog rolled his eyes before looking around to see if his parents were near. “So you knew you weren’t being rude, but you listened to your mother insist that you were?” Elliott snorted. “Your mom and dad have been the rudest people here, I wouldn’t take their word on what’s rude or not. Granted it’s more from ignorance than malice but….” “But I still have to respect my elders….” Oscar sighed. “Pfft, no. Your elders need to earn that respect the same as everyone else.” The brown wolf drained the last of his punch and nodded to the lion-dog as he stood up. “I’m going to help in the kitchen, see you at dinner!” “See you!” Oscar took another bite of the finger food and then Daddy Max sat down on the couch across from him. The otter-wolf sighed and propped his footpaws up on the coffee table. It was hard to tell that the grey hybrid was taller than him at the moment, but the front of his shirt had a dusting of flour so he probably just got done helping in the kitchen. “Hey, how’s dinner coming?” “Hehe,” Daddy Max smiled wearily and grunted as he stretched. “We’re just waiting on a few things in the oven to be done, everything else is ready!” “So…” The lion-dog scanned the area to make sure his parents weren’t in earshot. “Are me and Rudy going to get another bondage lesson for Christmas? I saw a beautiful ropework video I’d like help figuring out how to do.” “You two are so encourageable!” Daddy Max laughed. “Send me the video and I’ll see if I can work out how it’s done for you two.” “Okay everyone!” Papa Troy came out of the kitchen with his ‘vore the rich’ apron on. “Everything’s ready, let’s gather ‘round the table!” Oscar stood up and held out a paw to help Daddy Max stand. Everyone meandered their way to the dining room table and sat down wherever. Mom Jenny and Dad Damon sat down near the end, expecting Oscar to sit at the last seat at the end. But Rudy was sitting at the other end where his dads were sitting, so he sat there instead. Everyone was seated when Papa Troy came out of the kitchen with a perfect looking turkey on a platter that he set down in the center of the table between all the other dishes. “As we have guests this year, I would like to offer the honor of cutting the christmas turkey to you, Jenny.” Papa Troy held out a carving knife to Oscar’s mom with a mostly genuine smile. The lioness looked around like she was about to start politely laughing at a joke but no one started laughing with her. “Oh no, I couldn’t possibly, I have no idea how to carve a turkey!” She said while trying to push away the knife with a golden paw. “I could do it instead if you like.” Dad Damon’s ears perked up and his tail started wagging. “Sure!” Troy let the golden retriever take the carving knife and stepped out of the way. Dad Damon began slicing off the breast and thigh meats into fillets for everyone and passing them around while trying to keep his tail from wagging hard enough to get fur on the meat. Everyone started piling on food onto their plates and passing everything around for who wanted what. Gravy, sweet potato casserole, mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, stuffing, rolls, cranberry sauce, and everything else was spread out on the table like it was an old Hallmark card. Already the conversations and eating had started when the golden retriever sat down. “Aren’t we going to say grace?” Mom Jenny said. “Feel free to take a moment to say it privately, but there are people of multiple faiths here, even some who lack faith in any god, so it would be respectful to not make everyone else join you.” Daddy Max had a way of saying delicately what everyone else was thinking with more swear words. Both of Oscar’s parents gave each other a quick glance and then looked at their son, who was already eating and talking without looking at them. So they took a moment and said thanks to their god together. “So, what was the name of this trucker that pulled you away from us last night?” Oscar winked at Uncle Romeo. “Oh…” The off-white rat thought for a moment while giving a wry smile. “I think his name was Hank? Or maybe Henry? It started with an H at least.” He shrugged and laughed, “He complained that I was too good, wore him out and made him late for work.” “Really, this topic at the table?” Mom Jenny butted in. “Would you prefer a demonstration for you and your husband? I could take you both.” Uncle Romeo said in his sultry tone of voice. Mom Jenny’s ears went red and she nearly buried her face in mashed potatoes to get out of the conversation. Dad Damon perked up at her movement and nearly asked what happened before everyone else at the table laughed. “You know, sometimes I wish I was aromantic like you Uncle Elliott.” Brother Luca sighed dramatically and his long conical tail flumped against the floor. “Almost every top I come across gets jealous when we meet up and not only am I taller than them, I have a bigger dick than they do! The pain of being a 6 foot 6 bottom!” “You know,” Oscar chimed in. “There is a Corgi at my workplace that gives off dom top energy, maybe I could introduce you two?” “Hmm, I think I would like that, thank you Oscar.” The white otter smiled. “I’m so glad you kids have it easier today.” Mawmaw said. “It was only by sheer dumb luck that I found Pawpaw and now you can find each other in bars and online easily without having to worry about raids by cops!” “Well, it’s not perfect yet. We still have to worry about some right wing nut with a gun.” Oscar grunted. “It’s not that bad, Oscar.” Oscar could hear his mother’s eyes roll as she spoke. “You can only say that because it’s not directed at you.” Aunt Beverly stared down the lioness. Her large ears were focused on Mom Jenny. “As a straight, cishet woman, your right to marry is never going to be revoked, politicians are never going to debate whether or not you even exist, and you expect police violence is never going to be directed at you.” “It is not that bad! Just because they say they want to take away your right to marry doesn’t mean that they will; You obviously exist, they can’t deny that forever; and police violence is due to a few bad apples, we just need to filter them out and everything will be fine. It is not that bad.” Mom Jenny held out her paw, trying to comfort the bunny. “It’s not that bad? So you agree that it’s a problem, it's just not so bad that we need to do something about it?” Papa Troy said. The lioness saw that not only was she the center of attention, but that her son was nodding in agreement with everyone but her. “I’m sorry, the holiday dinner table is not the place to talk politics, let’s just move on to a different topic.” She offered. There was a moment of no one talking before Rudy stood up with a smile. All eyes turned to him and eating stopped. “Well, if we're switching to better topics.” The rat held out his paw to the lion-dog who instinctively took it. “Then I would like to announce that, after getting my dads approval, I would like to officially offer to have you move in with us, Oscar.” “Yes!” The lion-dog said immediately, and everyone but his parents started clapping. “I would love to live here!” Oscar stood up next to his fiance and gave him a kiss. A few moments later he sat down, and felt a familiar set of eyes on him. Mom Jenny had that pleading look in her eye. “Yes Mom?” “I thought you were going to get a place together, just you and Rudy.” “That was a plan. But if we stay here the rent is way cheaper, I’ll be around people that I trust that can help me with nearly anything that pops up, and I enjoy being here anyway. It’s a good idea.” Oscar started turning back to his fiance. “Oscar, you need to get a place on your own. You learn a lot that way, it’s what me and your Dad did and it taught us a lot of valuable skills.” The lioness scooted her plate away a few inches. “I think you would enjoy the experience.” “No. I’m going to stay here with Rudy and the family. I like it here.” The lion-dog stared down his mother. “I…” Mom Jenny brushed the hair out of her face. “I would feel more comfortable if you lived somewhere else.” “Mom, I am not going to sacrifice my happiness for your comfort. Not only is Rudy’s family awesome, they get me, they love me, and I love them. I’m not going to give this up just because you don’t like them.” “I like them!” She nearly yelled defensively. “I have been nothing but kind and accepting!” “You have been the rudest house guest we’ve had in my entire life.” Pawpaw said. “I have given you the benefit of the doubt because Oscar is an amazing young man, but you have: constantly forgotten to use the right pronouns, disregarded our thoughts and feelings, and have tried to make us all do things in the way that feels normal to you.” “I want you out of my house.” The elderly striped hyena said. The lioness turned to Mawmaw, then Daddy Max, then Dad Shiloh, and to Papa Troy. She found no one on her side. She scooted her chair back, and tugged on her husband’s shoulder. The golden retriever slurped down another spoonful of mashed potatoes before getting up and following her. “Come on Oscar, we’re leaving.” The lioness said as she started walking out of the room. “No. I’m staying, you’re leaving. Call a taxi.” Oscar leaned over and hugged Rudy before grabbing a spoonful of sweet potatoes. Mom Jenny huffed and marched up the stairs. Dad Damon turned around before ascending. “Thank you for the meal! The turkey was delicious!” The golden retriever said before he was pulled up the stairs by a paw on his shirt.