Some More Merry Samorys

The smell of the Atlantic hits so hard, Bishop has to take a step back from the weight of it. She takes a moment and smiles to collect her bearings. After another hit of the ocean air, she takes a step toward the place where she grew up.

Her old house is still sitting just the way she left it about three years ago. The last house on the right side of a dead-end street, as close to the water as the tides will allow. Bishop stands remembering how she and her youngest brother, Benji, would climb out of her bedroom window and watch the water go back and forth. She'd teach him everything her father taught her about mechanics and engineering. Benji was only a baby when their dad died, so Bishop took it upon herself to find someone to pass the torch to after her. And Benji was always eager to learn.

She finally musters the courage to walk up to the front door. It’s still cracked near the bolt from the havoc only a family of eight (now seven) could bring.

Dad would marvel at the craftsmanship of Bishop’s leg if he were still alive. Maybe point out a few flaws she may have overlooked. They would've rectified those flaws together. If he were here, explaining the loss of her leg would’ve been worlds easier.

Bishop rubs her hand on the smooth thigh of her metal leg. Then she remembers what her dad used to say.

"You have the power," she whispers, and opens the door. Waiting inside is her mother, her oldest sister Bel, and her youngest brother Benji.

"Merry Christmas!"

Her mom wobbles over toward Bishop. Her arthritis doesn't seem to be getting much better.

“Oh, my baby, how have you been?" She wraps Bishop in a monster hug, lifting her up to her toes.

Bel, stands up and approaches the pair. Her pace slows as she gets closer. The scrunch in her brows isn't lost on Bishop. Her heart rattles as her mom finally puts her down, and realization settles in Bel's eyes.

She readjusts and puts on her ‘oldest sister’ face. "Bishop... " Bel whispers, keeping her eyebrows furrowed.

"Um..." Bishop’s voice breaks. Each breath is becoming a little more hollow. She'll be alright, though. She won't faint, but the discomfort is prominent.

"What? What's wrong, baby?" her mom asks, sensing the anxiety in the air. "Why're you standing like this? Stand up straight."

All this time, Benji's eyes have never strayed from her leg. "What happened to your leg?" he asks, with more concern than Bishop expected a ten-year-old boy to show.

She laughs and responds in the only way she knows how: humor. "Hehehe. Oh, this?" Bishop pokes her leg out like a model. "Lost this bad boy in an epic battle with a business of wretches."

"Bishop..." Her mom backs up, tears welling up in her eyes.

Bishop gently pushes past her mom and sister. “We were fighting over an LLC," she says, zhuzhing Benji's hair as she walks toward the kitchen.

"Bish—" her mom cuts in as the siblings follow behind.

"Yeah, I sued them all and got my rights. Oooh, what did you cook? Smells good in here."

Bel grabs Bishop's arm and forces her to turn around. "Bishop! Stop playing and explain this." She crosses her arms. "What happened?”

Bishop's leg creaks a bit at the spring as she’s flung around. It makes her sister flinch; Bishop’s eyes reassure her that she’s okay.

"I-I just don't want to have to explain it a thousand times. I’m okay, really."

Bel grits her teeth, but seems to understand her point. "Alright. We’ll wait for everyone to get here, then we talk." She looks back at their mom and little brother for confirmation, then turns back to Bishop with a smile. "You've gotten so big, Biscuit!"

Bel wraps an arm around Bishop’s shoulder and leads the both of them into the kitchen. "I made sure we made your favorite,” she says, leaning over the dishes on the counter. They both let the smell waft up and introduce them to the pearly gates of heaven.

"It was my idea too, Biscuit!" Benji says, running up behind them. The jingles of the bells on his feet cut the last bit of awkwardness out of the air.

"Aht aht! Don’t touch that food until everyone gets here!" their mom shouts, struggling to keep up. She swats everyone out of her kitchen. "When are you gonna put a brush to that head of yours, Biscuit?" she yells, still putting the food together.

Bishop ignores her for the thousandth time. She’s got zero intentions of putting a brush anywhere near her head. There'd be no point anyway.

Bishop, Bel, and Benji herd themselves into the living room. Ralphie is on the big screen, writing an assignment to his teacher and asking for a BB gun.

Benji flops on the couch like a frog. His light-up elf suit seems to follow the beat of the curious blinking of his eyes. "So, Biscuit." He cocks his head to the side. "What really happened?" he asks, with a certain level of caution that was beat out by curiosity.

"Relax, Jiji. We’ve already established that we'll talk about it later.”

“But I—” he tries to cut in.

“Hey, why don't you go get everyone something to drink?" Bel shuts him down before he can get started. Benji moans and groans, but gets up anyway.

Bel sits comfortably, smiling creepily at Bishop (or at least, Bishop finds it so.)

"What? "Bishop finally asks, unable to focus on Ralphie and his Christmas Story any longer. She had been absorbed in her phone, smiling at a certain someone.

"Who you talkin' to?" Bel asks, grinning and waggling her head.

"...huh?"

Bel sits up, excitedly waiting to hear who's lucky enough to catch Bishop’s attention.

"What? Bishop like somebody?" Benji jingles into the living room, carrying two cups of something hot. Before the blood can settle in Bishop’s cheeks, Benji jumps at the sound of a car pulling up.

"Mama, Bishop’s got a—"

"Boyfriend!" says Benji.

"Girlfriend! "says Bel.

They look at each other and laugh devilishly, leaving Bishop with a warm face buried in her palms. How on Earth she'll tell them she's caught in a complicated love triangle with two of the most unlikely candidates, she doesn't know. But then Benji pulls down his beast mask and runs, giggling and jingling toward the front door, preparing an attack on whoever’s here. If Bishop wasn't so embarrassed, she'd have given him tips on how to scare them, depending on who was at the door.

"RAARR!" Benji yells from the front. Then…

Silence.

"Boo!"

"Ah!"

Bishop can hear the twins laughing. "Merry Christmas, shorty," they say, almost in unison.

"Merry Christmas, Mom," says Bo. Their mom says something in reply, but Bishop can't hear that well.

"You didn't scare me!" Benji tries his best to lie, but fails.

"Hey, don't push!"

"Smells good in here, Mom. Merry Christmas. Huh? She's in the car... why?"

They begin whispering, and Bishop’s anxiety makes itself comfortable again. Bel squeezes and gently massages her shoulder. Quiet reassurance. Bishop stands up.

“The twins are here!" their mom hollers from the front, over the sound of rattling dishes. Bo walks in first, but Billie doesn’t fall too far behind.

"Hey-y!" the twins yell.

All exchange hugs, greetings and Merry Christmases. Benji runs and jumps into the pile of hugs. If Bishop didn't know any better, she'd assume he thought he was actually one of those jumping hellbeasts.

"And y’all better stop tracking snow all in my house!" their mom yells. The half-respectful stares from the twins aren't lost on Bishop. She can't wait to get over this whole thing, so they can all just enjoy Christmas like any other year.

Bel, being the oldest and most mature, is the first to dispel the awkward silence. Bishop is grateful. She felt like she could hear the snow fall.

"So, guess what me and Jiji just found out."

Bel and Benji share another devious smile. They've got all kinds of models these days, Bishop thinks. Foot models, hand models, stock photo models. The devil could probably use their smiles for some kind of thing.

"Bishop’s, uh…" Bel smiles with her lips at the edge of her mug. "Spoken for," she says, taking a sip.

"She off the market!" Benji shouts.

"Boo'd up!" Bel playfully adds.

The twins are drinking it all in, surely adding it to their arsenal of annoyances for later. They laugh, hoot and holler.

"Bishop, you finally gave someone the time of day?!"" Billie yells, slipping to the floor to sit next to her.

"No way!" Bo chokes on his laugh. "She probably built some type of robot and programmed it to do whatever she says."

"I can see it!" Billie says, nudging Bishop. They laugh loud and fall to their backs.

This is annoying, Bishop thinks. But at least they didn't ask about her leg yet. The subject of love interests would normally be nothing to talk about, but Bishop isn't sure she wants to talk about this one either.

"They're all in the living room.”

It would seem the universe wouldn't be giving Bishop a gawd damn break any time soon.

"What do you mean?!" Barrie exclaims, holding no volume back. Everyone winces and freezes as they all look toward the kitchen, silently waiting for the drama. And the twins are living for it.

Bishop wants to make herself at home underground with the hell beasts who haven't come up yet. She wonders how much the rent is. Maybe the landlord of hell will be understanding if she misses a payment or two. Maybe they'll even accept a custom-made tech item instead of cash. Seems like a far better option than dealing with this.

Barrie rushes into the room, their mom slugging behind. "Bishop!" she yells, running over. Bel tries to stop her, but Barrie’s drama overpowers her. "Your leg! What is this?" she exclaims, gripping Bishop's prosthetic leg. She almost knocks Bishop on her behind. The Christmas tree lights gleam off the silver metal, changing from green to red and back to green.

"Oh my god, does it hurt? Did it hurt? What happened?" Barrie whines.

"Oh, I told you about those Troopers! You let that Cassel boy talk you into being a trooper?! Going out there to get killed?!" their mom panics, standing in the doorway.

"First of all, Cassel can't make me do shit," Bishop says flatly.

All the siblings look around at each other, nodding and shrugging in agreement.

"It was a simple mistake, really."

They all lean in to listen. The tear has yet to fall from Barrie’s eye. And Barrie has yet to drop Bishop's leg. Bishop takes it back and stands up. She breathes deeply as everyone stares at her and her leg. Secretly, she's enjoying this. Sometimes with five siblings, it's a little hard to get eyes on you.

"So you know how I been building tech, right? Amazingly good tech, by the way, "Bishop brags, forgetting her discomfort and welcoming the heat that fills her belly when she talks about her creations.

"So there I was, on the verge of completing an amazing new invention. One that would completely change the game for troopers." She throws her hands to and fro.

"So you blew your leg off," Bo puts it bluntly.

"Let me tell it!" Bishop whines. "So I needed a wretch to complete the—"

"You did what?! " their mom screams, holding her forehead as though she's about to faint.

"Bishop, you took on a wretch?!" Barrie stresses, reaching out to Bishop from the floor. Everyone shuffles in their positions, shaming Bishop for her actions.

"Alright, right?" Bishop controls the crowd. "So anyway, run faster, jump higher! Et cetera."

"So get to it!" Billie begins to lose her patience.

"Man, y’all are no fun. Alright, so boom! I accidentally cut into the venom sac and it exploded and I lost my leg."

Bishop scans the room. Everyone is looking at her, dumbfounded.

"So..." Barrie starts.

"You blew up your own leg?" the twins blurt.

"Awesome!" Benji's feet jingle as he springs up into the air.

"Wait," Bel begins. "So the sac just blew up? And your leg came off?"

Her hot chocolate is probably not so hot anymore. Bishop wouldn't be surprised if she had forgotten it altogether.

With all the stress, she sure forgot about hers. She looks down and watches as the last marshmallow melts. Soft Christmas music plays from the tree lights.

"No,” Bishop chuckles. “Venom sacs can't blow up your limbs. It ate through the armor.”

"What armor?" Barrie asks.

"The armor she was just talking about, weren't you listening?”

"Thank you, Benji. I was wearing the armor."

"Why were you wearing the armor?" Bo asks.

"Yeah, don't you have some type of assistant?"

"Mom, I'm seventeen! I am the assistant."

"Well, why would he have you doing such dangerous things? You know what," their mom says, looking for her shoes. "I'm going up there."

“Mom, no." Bishop rushes after her, followed by her siblings. “Mom, mom!"

She grabs her mother’s shoulder before she can grab her keys and go give her boss something to cry about.

"It was my experiment; I'm the one who did this," Bishop pleads.

"Should've known she'd done this to herself," Billie chimes in.

"Yeah, leave it to Bishop to literally blow off her own leg," Bo continues.

"I’m fine, though. Really." It was at this moment that Bishop decided against telling them that she destroyed her leg years ago.

"Oh, my love. I'm so sorry." Her mom tries to hug her, but Bishop backs away.

"I made it myself!" Bishop gloats, putting it out for her family to see.

“Wow, Biscuit!" Benji's eyes all but bug out of his head. He bends down to get a closer look.

"See here?" Bishop points to the knee.

"Hey!" Benji jingles. "It's your trademark! The African southern red bishop."

"And I gave him a little Santa hat. Just for today."

Everyone scatters out, collectively accepting that Bishop is okay. Bel follows their mom to the kitchen to help out, while everyone else piles in the living room. Bishop continues showing off her leg to anyone who will listen.

Benji always wants to sit next to Bishop. He thinks the sun shines out of her ass. The whole house throws away its pent up anxiety and replaces it with warmth and laughter. Bel and Mama bring everyone a plate, and the Christmas dinner finally begins.

"So Bishop, did you ever get your birthday gift last month?" Bel asks, sitting down with another mug of soft hot chocolate. “I'm sorry I couldn't come down to see you this year."

"Aw, yeah! Freakin’ love crab cracklins! They're so bad for you but they're sooo good!" Bishop rubs her belly.

"Speaking of gifts…" Bo and Billie cut in. Bo tosses a wrapped box at Benji. They miss and hit Bishop in the metal leg. Everyone else flinches. She pulls her knee into her chest and puts on the most dramatic performance. Benji laughs, but everyone else rolls their eyes and ignores her.

"Good one, Biscuit." Benji slaps Bishop's leg. He picks up the box and shakes it. "What's in it?"

"If we wanted you to just know, we wouldn't have wrapped it," Bo spits.

"It's a Wretch turd!" Billie jokes. The twins laugh at each other.

"Yeah, yeah." Benji opens the box. "Whoa! Battle of the Beast Part B?! Thank you so much!" He gets up and starts to run to his room.

"Uh-uhh!" Their mom cuts him off. "You're not going to run off playing that game during family time."

Benji looks at her with his giant, pleading eyes, but she motions for him to sit down. Shoulders slumped, he retakes his place next to Bishop on the floor. She wraps her arms around him in reassurance. As usual, she's the only one who can cheer him up in a blink.

"So let's hear about this significant other," Bo teases.

Barrie’s face explodes with excitement. "Huh?" she starts.

Bishop guesses that the defining feature of anxiety is that it always finds its way back.

"Oh, my baby sister’s finally spoken for! But I hope you weren't dressed like you normally do when you met them... Well, I guess different people are interested in different things." Barrie looks Bishop up and down. “Oh! That reminds me."

She gets up and grabs a big box from under the tree.

"Here." She gently places the box on Bishop’s lap. "Open this." She then plops onto the couch, never taking her eyes off of Bishop.

“I'm not 'spoken for,'" Bishop mocks. “No one ‘speaks' for me."

She and Benji share a skeptical look. Barrie hasn't gotten a gift Bishop liked since, well, ever. Barrie has this thing about her where she keeps trying to force her idea of femininity onto Bishop, ever since she was a little girl. Bishop takes what feels like eternity to open the gift.

"Ugh, just get this one over with. We already know it's going to be some tone-deaf gift that Bear actually wanted for herself," Billie groans into her food.

Barrie rolls her eyes. "I'm not even going to dignify that with a response. And I told you, don't call me Bear." She adjusts herself on the couch. "Bears are big, rough, and mean. I, on the other hand, am soft, sweet, and good for everyone."

"Yeah, get your nose out of the air, princess,” Bo scoffs. “The only thing you're good for is bad Christmas gifts and the hospital visits all your customers had to make because your beauty products burned their faces off."

His venom must've landed, because Barrie's face turns the color of fresh squeezed grapes. She stands up and begins to say something that would’ve bounced off the twins and right into their hands, something that would've blown her gasket right off.

Their mom claps loudly. "Uh-uh, we not doing that today! Barrie, sit down. Bishop, let's see what you got."

“I fired the guy responsible for that… by the way.” Barrie slumps on the couch, crossing her arms.

Bishop finally rips open the paper, then the box.

"What is it, Biscuit?" Benji leans over Bishop's lap. "Oh... " He deflates.

Bishop puts on the most grateful smile she can muster as she showcases the box of makeup. The twins fall on each other in laughter. Even Bel tries to hide her laugh behind a generous sip of hot chocolate.

“What? My store was having a sale, and I thought you could use a makeover. Especially now that you got a little boyfriend." She smiles.

"Thank you, Barrie."

"Hey, doesn't makeup have glycerol? Is that what burned their faces?" Benji asks, and the twins snicker some more.

"What?!"

"Not unless she was making nitroglycerin," Bishop chuckles. Then, a lightbulb goes off in her head. "Actually, I have a blueprint that calls for glycerol!"

"Great," Barrie sighs. "Leave it to Bishop to find a way to blow something up using makeup, of all things. I hope your boyfriend or whoever approves of this behavior."

"Try not to blow off your other leg," Billie teases. Bishop throws wrapping paper at her, and they begin a war of paper and laughter.

“Whatever." Barrie flumps back on the couch, defeated. "If they break up with you, don't say I didn't try." Their mom mouths reassurances at Barrie as she sulks on the couch.

"Oh, Jiji." Bishop wobbles her little brother’s head. "I got you a gift too!" She pulls out a little box from her pocket and hands it over to him.

“Wow, looks like Benji's the lucky winner this year," Bel says. “I still have mine."

The twins pull out their Bishop-made gizmos from their back pockets with pride. Barrie rolls her eyes, but everyone knows she still uses her gift and often too. It’s a rechargeable makeup multitool, like a utility knife but with a heated lash curler, automatic nail filer, lip gloss applicator and more.

Benji looks around the sides of the box, too excited to decide where to rip the wrapping paper first. Finally, he lets go and just has at it.

He pulls out a metal box with all kinds of fixings on it. At first he looks confused, but once he starts turning corners and twisting knobs, he realizes that it's a puzzle box.

"When you're able to open this box, come meet me in my shop." Bishop plays with Benji's hair.

" Aww , Bishop, that's so sweet," their mom says. "I'm just so happy to see all my kids together under one roof and getting along. I love all of you so much." Tears well up in her eyes.

"We love you too, Mom." Barrie puts a hand on her mom's knee. Everyone declares their love for each other.

"When I die," Mom starts, and everyone groans in discomfort. "Oh, hush and listen to me. When I'm dead and gone, I want you to stay like this. I want you to care for each other. To be there for each other." She looks at each of her kids, making sure to make eye contact with each one.

"We will, Mom. I'll make sure of it." Bel smiles and takes a sip of her cocoa.

"I know you will, baby. You are the oldest."

"Mom, we all pitched in to get you a gift too."

"Oh, you didn't have to get me nothin’. I'm fine with just the youngest getting theirs."

"Yeah, well, we got you a little somethin’ somethin’ anyway." Bo cheeses from ear to ear. Bel gets up and grabs a real big and flat box from under the tree. No one can sit still as they all wait for their mom to see her gift.

Tears fall from her eyes before she even gets the wrapping off. Barrie wipes away her own tears. Bel stands waiting, full of pride. The twins sit at the edges of their seats, grinning. Benji sits on his folded knees, leaning forward as though willing their mom to open the gift faster.

Mom gasps, then immediately bursts out sobbing.

"It's a collage, Mama!" Bishop whispers.

"Yeah, we're all in there," Benji continues.

"Do you see him?” Bel asks.

Their mom continues taking everything in. Every trip, every candid photo. The smiles of her family. And then she sees him; her heart swells, and her tears get bigger. She had thought she lost her wedding photo on the night of the incident. The night she lost her husband.

She looks up at all her kids once more. Too filled with emotion to speak, she thanks them with her eyes. They understand.

All the kids pile onto their mother for a nice, long hug. Benji's the first to peel away. One by one, the rest follow.

"Oh, hey," Bel sniffs. "There were two extra gifts under the tree. They're both unmarked, but they do have your name on them, Bishop."

Everyone breaks their necks to look at Bishop, and it’s as though every bit of oxygen escapes her body. Bel tosses both boxes over to Bishop, but she's too afraid to move.

" Ooouuu ," the twins intone. It's silent after that; the only noise is Bishop's shaky hands opening the first box.

First, a letter falls out. Even without a name, she knows exactly who it’s from, and everyone can read it on her face. Before she can hide the letter, Billie swipes it up and reads it out loud.

Inside the box, she pulls out a gift. It’s no bigger than the palm of her hand. A carved bird, painted in red.

“ To my little bird ," she starts, but Bel swipes it from her before she can read the rest. Bishop's life flashes before her eyes.

Billie's laughter stops. "Bishop..." She stands directly in front of her.

Bishop squeezes her eyes shut.

“At the bottom, it says ‘ see you soon in the free zone ’… Are you dating a Freezoner?!"

Not knowing what else to do, Bishop absentmindedly opens the second gift. As she tears it open, music starts to play, and two sculpted figures dance around the box. One figure is clearly her likeness. Big hair and curls and all. But the other one really sticks out. It takes a bit to register, but the purple gown and the crown tangled in her dreads really solidify it.

"Is— You're dating the queen?! "