by Bryce Oakley
"I had to tell you," Domino said, her voice cracking with emotion. She stopped, staring at Sabrina, biting her lip. "Am I too late?"
Sabrina shook her head, something warm filling her chest. "No," she said quietly. "I'm just... I'm just shocked that you're here and that you're saying this. Am I dreaming?"
Domino reached out and pinched her arm.
Sabrina yelped, holding her arm away from Domino and rubbing at the spot. "I guess not," she said.
She exhaled and walked past Domino to the minibar. She opened a $10 bottle of water and took a sip, then let out a sigh. "Okay, I'm ready for you to say it again."
Domino grinned, following her into the sleeping area. "Sabrina Meloy, I love you," she said, her eyes wide in earnestness and vulnerability.
Sabrina smiled. "I love you, too," she said.
Domino reached for her and they were in each other's arms before Sabrina could comprehend what was going on. Domino. Here. With her. On Christmas.
She clutched Domino tighter, afraid to let her go.
"Wait, you love me, but what does this mean for the future?" Sabrina said, pulling back enough to look in Domino's face. She lifted a hand to brush Domino's messy hair out of her eyes.
"As long as the future is with you, I don't care what it holds. I want to grow together. And I want to support your growth and I want to be there for your achievements," Domino said, her eyes glossy with tears.
"You do?" Sabrina asked, blinking in surprise.
"Yeah, like landing a week-long segment on a national morning show? That's amazing," Domino said with a wide smile. "I'm so proud of you, and I want to keep being proud of just how far you're going to go from here."
Sabrina hugged her again, tears slipping down her cheeks as she tucked her head in Domino's shoulder.
They stayed that way, holding one another with a kind of fervent intensity, as though they were afraid the other would slip away at any moment.
Eventually, Sabrina sniffled and wiped at her eyes. "Well, I'm glad to hear that, because my five-year-plan is now like my one-year-plan, and you would not even believe what my five-year-plan holds now," she said, laughing.
"I can't wait to hear all about it," Domino said, wiping one last tear from her cheek with the pad of her thumb. "After we get some other things out of the way first, of course."
Sabrina smiled mischievously. "Oh yeah, what did you have in mind?"
Domino held Sabrina's hands, pulling her backwards onto the bed. "Sleep." She kicked off her boots and held out her arms for Sabrina.
"No way," Sabrina exclaimed. "I'm too excited that you're here to let you sleep."
"Well, there are many ways to use all that newfound energy you have," Domino said with a comic, exaggerated wink.
"Oh? What did you have in mind?" Sabrina said, laughing as she climbed on top of Domino.
Domino took Sabrina's face in her hands. "Well, first, I'd really like my girlfriend to kiss me. Then, we can see where that leads," she said, her voice low.
And Sabrina was all too happy to oblige.
Epilogue
One year later
Christmas music played through the small alarm clock on the nightstand. The mattress creaked under Domino’s shifting weight as she wrapped an arm around Sabrina’s middle.
“You set an alarm?” Sabrina asked groggily, rolling over to bury her face in Domino’s chest.
Domino smiled, kissing the top of Sabrina’s head.
It had been one year since she had flown to New York City on a whim and confessed her feelings to Sabrina. Putting her pride aside had been terrifying — honestly, she wasn’t sure if she was doing the right thing until the moment Sabrina said that she loved her back.
Hearing those words made all of her worries dissolve. No matter what came their way, they’d get through it together.
And they had. Over the past year, The Shrikes had put out an album and gone on a promotional tour that lasted weeks.
At the same time, Sabrina was working on her first book, which was published in the fall.
She had become a regular guest on Pia, a popular daytime talk show led by a lesbian comedian, for all things home organization and decor.
She had a regular guest column in Decor magazine.
Domino was unbelievably proud of the leaps and bounds that Sabrina had taken. What made her even more impressed was the calm, confident way that she dealt with every next step.
Domino had been paralyzed by success, but Sabrina had been propelled forward.
“Baby, focus,” Sabrina said. She was propped up on an elbow in front of Domino.
“Merry Christmas, darling,” Domino said, nuzzling Sabrina’s neck.
Sabrina giggled. “Merry Christmas,” she said. “Can you believe it’s been a whole year since you stalked me all the way to New York?”
“Stalked?” Domino said, feigning shock.
Sabrina smirked, raising her eyebrows as if daring Domino to truly argue with her.
“I don’t believe you thought it was a crime at the time,” Domino said. She wrapped an arm under Sabrina and flipped her onto her back, climbing on top of her.
“Think we have fifteen minutes to celebrate?” Domino said.
Sabrina laughed. “There is no way I am having sex with you in your childhood bedroom.”
“I don’t see why not,” Domino said, nipping at the soft skin of Sabrina’s neck. “I brought the harness and everything.”
“I would never accuse you of not being prepared,” Sabrina laughed as she dug her nails into Domino’s shoulder blades.
A knock came on the door, “You two up? I need Domino’s help,” Billie yelled through the door. She was suddenly reconsidering persuading the whole family to stay at Mom and Dad’s for the night so that they could all celebrate Christmas together again.
“My help? With what?” Domino called, climbing off of Sabrina and grabbing a pair of sweatpants off the ground. She pulled on the joggers as Billie opened the door.
“Sorry, Sab,” Billie said with a giggle, “Gotta steal your woman for a bit.”
Sabrina was holding the sheets up to her neck in modesty. “I’ll allow it,” she said with a grin. “I have to help your mom with the mashed potatoes anyway.”
Domino leaned down and gave Sabrina a peck on the lips — given that Billie was standing at the door, she kept the kiss sweet and rather chaste.
As she walked out of the door, Billie burst into planning mode. “Okay, so Zoey and Meg will be here in about an hour, and then we can set up in your bedroom to go live around noon,” she said, as though they hadn’t already planned out every last detail and moment of the live Christmas songs set they were playing on social media around midday.
“Girls,” Mom said urgently from the kitchen as they walked into the living room.
“Good morning, Merry Christmas,” Domino said, giving her mom a gentle hug. “Where’s coffee?”
A baby screamed from across the room, startling her.
“Coffee is already made, just grab a cup. And get a cup for Sabrina and Vero, too,” Mom said, kissing the top of her head.
Holly appeared at the entrance to the kitchen, holding baby Zara on her hip. “Is the bottle warm yet?”
Mom handed a baby bottle to Billie, who took Zara out of Holly’s arms. “Why don’t you go change your blouse?” She offered politely, holding Zara on her hip.
“What? Why?” Holly said, then sighed as she saw that spit up was crusted all along her shirt. “Oh, fuck.”
“Language, dear,” Mom called after Holly, who was stomping off down the hallway.
Vero walked into the room. “Coffee?” She asked.
Mom sighed. “Am I a beverage dispensary?” She said with a huff.
“You sure do look cute with a baby, baby,” Vero said with a grin, kissing Billie on the cheek, then kissing Zara’s chubby cheeks.
“Girls,” Mom repeated, looking to Domino. Domino was leaning against the kitchen counter, sipping from a mug of
coffee as the chaos unfolded around her. Sabrina was so lucky, getting to stay in bed for a bit longer.
“What’s wrong?” Billie asked, shifting her weight from one foot to the next to gently rock Zara as she assisted the baby with a bottle.
“There’s been a mistake,” Mom said.
Sabrina walked into the room, wearing a fluffy bathrobe with the Knickerbocker hotel logo embroidered on the chest. “What’s that smell?” She asked, her brow furrowed.
“What smell?” Domino asked. “Wait, what mistake?”
“Something is burning?” Sabrina said, looking around with a confused look on her face. “No one else smells that?”
Mom sighed. “That’s what I meant to tell you girls,” she said, her jaw clenched in frustration.
Domino sniffed the air. Sabrina was right. Something was burning. She looked around the kitchen, then opened the oven door.
“Oh god, Mom, what’d you do?” She asked.
“Well, Mrs. O’Reilly came by unexpectedly the other day, but I had such a mess everywhere, what with wrapping and gifts. I tucked some things away in the oven, and... well...” Her voice trailed off and her chin began to quiver as though she was close to tears. “I burnt your gifts.”
Sabrina burst into hysterical laughter. “So this is where you get it from, Domino,” she exclaimed, near tears herself with laughter.
Vero tried to hide her laugh behind her hand, but her shoulders shook with silent giggles.
“Mom, it’s okay,” Billie said, reaching over to pat Mom’s arm soothingly while still rocking the baby. By the strange expression on her face, it was clear to Domino that Billie was trying not to grin.
Domino chuckled. “Mom, it happens to the best of us,” she said, putting an arm around Mom’s shoulders. “What were they?”
Zoey walked through the front door without knocking, Meg in tow right behind her. “Why are there burnt shoes on the front porch? Is this a weird Christmas tradition I don’t know about?” She called out.
“Of course,” Sabrina said, slapping her leg as she continued laughing.
“I’m so sorry, Domino,” Mom said, her shoulders slumping in defeat.
“It’s no big deal, Mom. I’m just glad to be here,” Domino said, kissing Mom’s cheek.
Martha growled from near the front hallway.
Sabrina, wiping tears from her eyes from laughing too hard, walked to greet Meg and Zoey, scooping Martha into her arms. “Merry Christmas,” she said.
“Oh my god, are you... holding Martha?” Meg said.
“Isn’t that weird? Martha loves her,” Domino said, walking out of the kitchen after making sure her mother was appropriately calmed down.
“I didn’t think Martha was capable of feelings other than rage,” Zoey said, blinking in surprise.
Both women were giving Sabrina and Martha a wide berth.
Zoey had a keyboard slung under her arm and Meg was holding her drum machine.
“Wow, are we getting a private Christmas performance?” Dad asked, walking into the house from the back deck. Matt was right behind him.
“Is this going to be like that time when you played Battle of the Bands and butchered my favorite Paul Simon song?” Matt teased.
“Oh, even better,” Zoey said. “This time we’ll be butchering your favorite Christmas classics, too.”
Sabrina tugged on Domino’s hand, gesturing for her to follow. “Can I talk to you for a sec?” She had a strange, solemn expression on her face.
Domino stared down at Martha in her arms. “The dog has to come?”
“I love Martha. She’s basically my favorite of your relatives,” Sabrina whispered with a grin.
“I heard that,” Billie said from behind Domino.
“Okay, sure, one second can’t hurt,” Domino said, taking Sabrina’s hand.
Sabrina set Martha down, and the dog quickly ran under the Christmas tree. All of the ornaments on the tree shook, tinkling against one another.
“No one touch the tree,” Meg remarked.
“What’s up? Domino said as soon as they were down the hall and out of earshot.
Sabrina stood on her tiptoes, pressing a kiss to Domino’s lips. “I love you,” she said with a mischievous grin.
“I love you, too,” Domino said, confused by the need to pull her aside to say it. “Everything okay?”
“Yeah. I just knew that this day was going to get even more hectic, and I wanted you to know that I’m grateful to be a part of your family,” Sabrina said, taking Domino’s hand in hers.
Domino grinned. “Well, I’m glad that you’re a part of the Rush family,” she said.
Sabrina bounced on her toes in excitement. “And I wanted to give you your present,” she said.
Domino looked around the hallway. “Where is it?”
Sabrina opened the door to Domino’s bedroom. There was a box pristinely wrapped sitting on the bed.
“What is it?” Domino asked, glancing over her shoulder.
The present was fairly large and square.
She gingerly tore the wrapping paper — it looked too fancy to rip, and knowing Sabrina, it was some kind of imported special hand painted paper from a European country. Once the paper was off, she realized it was a plain brown box.
“Open it,” Sabrina said with a giggle.
Domino opened it warily, unsure of what would be inside. A puppy?
A pink tuft of hair was all she could see.
She reached in and pulled out a Cheer Bear — a retro version from the 80s and the exact type that she had before. She hugged it to her chest to see if it had the same special feel. It felt even better than she remembered.
“It even has the hair tuft you used to put up your nose,” Sabrina said, standing beside her.
Domino smiled down at Sabrina. “Did you have to sift through the landfill to find this?” She asked, pulling Sabrina into her arms.
“No, just the internet,” Sabrina said, grinning.
“Well, it’s perfect. Thank you,” Domino said earnestly. She kissed Sabrina, then stared down at her beloved bear.
“Don’t show your mom. It’ll end up in the oven,” Sabrina whispered conspiratorially.
Domino grinned, covering Sabrina's face in kisses. The gift she had gotten Sabrina was wrapped under the tree: A key to her house, along with an offer to move in together, and of course, a very large gift card to The Organizer Store in order to make Domino's home feel more like hers, too.
Nerves swirled in her stomach at the idea that Sabrina might think it too cheesy, but there was no doubt that it wasn't one of the best decisions she'd ever made.
A knock sounded on the door. "We've got to set up in there, y'all ready?" Billie called through the door.
Domino squeezed Sabrina's hand in hers. "Yeah, we're ready," she called back, not taking her eyes off of Sabrina's.
Part III
Midnight
Prologue
New Year's Eve
Zoey
Zoey stared in the mirror of the bathroom, fixing her hair. Her classic twist had started to come loose, and she held two bobby pins in her mouth as she finagled a third back into place.
Someone knocked on the door. Her eyes flicked to the door in the reflection of the mirror.
"Jus' a 'inute," Zoey called out, unable to open her mouth with the bobby pins in her teeth.
The knocking continued. Couldn't they tell the door was locked, signaling someone was inside? Wasn't that common sense?
She spit out the pins in frustration. "Fucking hold the fuck on," she yelled.
The knocking stopped immediately.
She sighed as she picked up the pins again to finish twisting them into place.
Sure, she had made the guest list of Madonna's New Year's Eve bash, one of the most exclusive parties in LA, but she supposed they didn't include an intelligence screening test at the door for any other guests.
She had forced herself to come to the party stag, mostly because both Billie
and Domino were loved up, but even Mego had plans with a special someone. Zoey had always felt a bit uncomfortable going solo to social events, but with the increase in invites, she knew she couldn't convince her inner circle to go to every single one of them. Especially now that her wild child best friend, Domino, had settled down and was — to quote — wearing fuzzy slippers and drinking hot toddies at home.
Even Micah, their manager, had plans with her husband.
Ugh, couples.
Zoey cringed, looking in the mirror again.
When had all of her friends turned boring?
The worst part? She didn't even despise any of their partners.
Except Mego's, but only because Meg wouldn't tell her who she was seeing.
And now Zoey was alone at Madonna's New Year's Eve party.
Someone banged on the door again.
She turned, her patience completely gone. She opened the door, standing in the doorway, towering over a very drunk girl who couldn't have been over 18. She was wearing a designer dress that fit strangely around her chest — had she seriously stuffed them with toilet paper? Was this girl even old enough to drive?
"Is the building on fire?" Zoey barked.
The girl rolled her eyes. "Whatever. Just move, lady," she said, pushing in past Zoey.
Zoey scoffed, moving into the hallway as the door slammed in her face.
She walked back down the hall of the giant rental space. It was a ballroom decorated in blacks and reds and tulle, like some macabre ballet.
The music was loud with a bass that vibrated her ribs and drowned out all the thoughts in her head. She took a glass of champagne from a tray that a waiter was holding and resisted the urge to take her phone out of her purse.
No, she would be present. She would not just retreat to staring mindlessly at social media just because she was in a sour mood.
She knew plenty of people at the party from other parties she’d been to, or from photo shoots or magazine interviews or other designer's shows. She knew almost everyone at the party, excluding the annoying brat who had banged on the door while she was in the bathroom.
