The table creaked under the weight of the food on it. Plates with cougar steaks, with potatoes in various forms; scalloped, pureed, and baked. Carrots, beets, green beans, and corn. Gravy boats with cranberry sauce and, obviously, gravy.

There was even a turkey. Insurance from Magnus in case the weather turned bad, and they were snowed in. Not that it would be needed anymore, with the hares waiting to be turned into a stew. The only omission was the ham, but since there was enough food on the table to feed at least three times the gathered people, Thomas didn’t think it would be missed.

The conversation was cheerful, more a discussion than interrogation, now that Ettore had been accepted by Magnus into the family. Much to Corina’s amusement, she recounted. Her fiancée had fretted the entire drive from the airport about making a good impression. Her reassurance they were getting married no matter what her father said didn’t seem to matter. Ettore needed Magnus’s approval.

While some stories skirted with sex, they were more chaste than Thomas had expected, especially after Thanksgiving’s dinner and after-dinner conversations. Ettore’s stories about the Lewiston were much tamer than what Thomas expected went down in that family, based on what Madoc had said and much of what Ettore had hinted at during the previous holiday. His parents managed to remain at the table for the whole meal.

Was being pent-up causing Thomas to project his expectations on those around him? He purposely did not glance at his brother.

Somehow, by the time the main course drew to a close, everything was eaten.

Thomas was mostly impressed with how much food he’d gotten through. Yes, he had put on muscles over the last few months, but he hadn’t done any heavy lifting since arriving. He hadn’t even had sex.

Maybe there was something to cum being nutritious; at least in the quantities he normally consumed.

Dessert was a collection of pies and cakes that survived mostly intact as they enjoyed coffees and hot chocolate and moved to the living room for the first handing of the gifts.

“Why, thanks, Aunt Corina,” Thomas said, holding up the sweater he’d unwrapped. Red and green zigzags as the backdrop to a garish brown reindeer on the front and singular, large snowflakes on the back.

Ugly sweaters were a first gift tradition with the Hertz dating back to his grandfather’s days, and Corina never held back.

“Put it on,” Ettore said, sipping his hot coco. He had on a white sweater with a Santa holding a wrapped present that looked suspiciously like a dildo.

“Yeah,” Roland said, grinning maliciously, unwrapped present on his lap. “Put it on Thomas. It’s going to look great on you.”

With a sigh, Thomas raised it over his head.

“No, no,” Ettore said, grinning. “You have to take off your shirt first.” He winked at Roland.

Thomas looked from one rat to this other. Were they ganging up on him just to embarrass him? He nearly looked at his parents, but he was eighteen and lived on his own. Hiding behind his parent, busy making out on the other couch, was beneath him.

If he wanted to tell the two of them no. He was more than capable of doing it on his own.

Really, he was.

With a resigned sigh, Thomas took off his shirt.

Ettore wolf whistled loudly, making Corina laugh. Thomas did not look in his brother’s direction, didn’t even glance. Roland was silent, and he didn’t want to see the superior sneer there. Madoc would have to try a lot harder to make Thomas look anything like resembling as hot as his brother.

The sweater fought him as he put it on and he almost choked as he finally pulled it down.

“I think,” Judith said, chuckling, “that you missed the memo about the working out Thomas has been doing.” She shook her head. “I didn’t think a sweater could be too small on anyone.”

“Happy now?” Thomas asked Roland, who looked away as soon as his brother turned in his direction, ears folded back.

“Oh, very much so,” Ettore replied, grinning widely.

“You purposely bought it a size too small, didn’t you, Hun?”

“Would I ever do such a thing?” her fiancée replied with the most innocent expression Thomas had ever seen on a man, and he had watched Limbani try to ‘innocent’ his way out of a lot of things.

“I think I might as well hand this to you now, instead of waiting.” Magnus said, offering Thomas an envelope. He had on a sweatshirt with a mister and misses Claus kissing primly. “Looks like you’re going to need it.”

Thomas pulled the card from it, showing the posing reindeers decked out in nothing other than bell harness and tight shorts. He opened it. “I can start to rebuild my wardrobe.” He showed the cash card with a $100 sticker stuck to it.

“Borrow what you can from Roland, first,” Eric managed to get out before Nadia pulled him down. His sweatshirt was on the floor. The muscle Santa flexing hadn’t lasted fifteen second on his father’s back before his mother, still wearing the Santa pulling a Marilyn Monroe over the Subway grate, had pulled it off.

Roland reacted to his father’s suggestion with a horrified expression. Thomas understood his brother on that one. He wouldn’t want to share his clothes, either.

“Mom,” Judith complained. Her sweatshirt was completely white, with a red period on the back. “Can you take it to a bedroom? Or just any other room?” She had to be pent up too, if those two going at it was getting to her.

“We’re not done with the gifts,” their mother protested, then forced herself off their father with visible effort.

“You’re going to stay lying there, Son?” Magnus asked.

Eric had a loopy grin on his face. “Yes.”

The elder rat snorted and flicked an envelope at him. “Sit up so we can see what Roland got.”

Eric sat and snuggled to up Nadia, and hurriedly made his hands visible at Magnus clearing his throat. Roland looked mournful as he unwrapped the sweatshirt. He raised it, looking at the front and showing them the back, a 23 in red surrounded by white in the recognizable font of a jersey number. With a sigh, Roland turned it to show the front. A reindeer with a football helmet on, and nothing else, holding two footballs over his crotch, positioned as if they were his balls.

“Put it on,” Ettore said, leering.

Oh dear God, no, Thomas prayed.

“No,” Roland replied, putting the shirt on the seat next to him.

“Alright,” Nadia said. “Onto the second presents.” She took box from the pile. “This is from Corina,” she handed it to Eric.

He ripped the wrapper off and grinned, showing the box of hot and cold massage oil. “Thanks, sis.”

Magnus handed Roland an envelope. It contained a card too. His was a Santa in a sleigh, and a cash card to the same amount.

Thomas cringed as Corina handed Ettore a long box, then stared as the rat revealed a selection of ties. He gave Corina her present, a pearl necklace. She then handed Thomas a box slightly longer than his hand. He looked at it suspiciously, then unwrapped it.

“Thank you,” he said, looking at the phone.

“This one’s from me,” Ettore said, handing a box to Nadia.

She grinned and showed the strap-on.

Thomas’s ears burned. How could Ettore do that?

“Why thank you,” she said, smiling at Eric. “however did you know?”

“Great,” Judith grumbled. “We’re not going to be able to sleep through the tonight. This is for you,” she gave Thomas a card. He opened it and smiled at the blushing Santa. It was kind of cute, if off brand, for something his sister gave him. Then he noticed there was the lower part of present visible between Santa’s legs. A shaft with two balls in a candy cane wrapping. And were Santa’s pants lowered at the back?

His ears went alarm red as he realized Santa wasn’t meant to be standing in front the present, but in the process of siting on—

He shoved it back in the envelope to his sister’s laughter. Glaring at her only made her laugh harder.

Roland received a large box from Ettore, which contained a complete set of football gear, including the jersey in his school’s colors and with his number at the back.

Magnus received from Ettore a bottle containing pills. His grandfather laughed on reading the label. “I appreciate the thought. But I don’t think I’ve reached the point where I need help getting it up.”

The future son-in-law nodded and Thomas caught the smile he tried to hide.

If that was whatever his frat brother had to have been spiking his everything with, His grandfather and his many girlfriends were in for quite a surprise. 

Another round of gift got Corina fuzzy handcuffs from her brother, Eric a set of cock rings from Nadia. Judith got a card from Ettore that had her ears turn almost as red as Thomas had in response to her card to him, and she refused to divulge what it was, but she grinned the rest of the evening anytime she looked at it. 

Roland got a card with money in it, Thomas a suit in his current size from Corina. Magnus received a bottle of cognac from his children that had him whistle as he looked at the label. Thomas didn’t make anything when he saw it, other than the year on it was 1803. The older the alcohol, the more expensive it was, right?

Judith laughed as she took out the vibrator from the box her aunt had given her.

Then, their parents vanished, leaving their gifts by the couch, except the strap-on.

Thomas tried to stay engaged in the conversation between Magnus, Ettore, Corina, and Judith, but all that sexual teasing among the gifts had gotten to him. What he needed to do was get to the room and deal with it before it got to be too much to bear.

* * * * *

Thomas remembered Judith’s surprised expression as she opened the office’s door and their eyes met. Then, falling. Then the shock of the cold, along with how dark it was.

He turned his head in an attempt to make out something, but the world kept on spinning when he instructed it to stop. Then he was falling again, only this time, he made out the stoney floor approaching in the dark, because everything was black.