No Christmas for you

 Nora hadn't meant to give up the fight, but she guessed they'd all crashed in her basement together.

She awoke to wonder how long she'd been out. Of course, Alfie was snoring like a little dog twitching ever so slightly, and across from him was Gage who seemed to be having nightmarish thoughts but it didn't wake him.

How on earth did they get here? It had been quite a dance, taking turns with Alfie. Early on, she'd managed to get Alec to his cousins for Christmas. She knew Gage had drank a little with Alfie then as if to cheer him up.

Of course, Nora took the bottle of wine from Gage when she got back. "Enough," she grabbed it away from him and had the contents poured down Christine's sink before he knew what happened.

"And who are you?" He looked at her as if she shouldn't even be here.

"Oh, right, the guy who's supposed to call me," she shrugged with a yawn. "Yes, I don't know you either."

But they both knew Alfie who was one moment happy and the next not. He had an awful life or he said, "I don't even have a life." Of course, he had a lot to say about his Dad. In the next breath, he talked about how much he hated his mom. At every turn, he didn't want to be touched, but then he would grab either her or Gage to hug.

It was so consuming. Nora barely had the wits to endure it. Why did Alfie have to be so pathetic? She didn't even care anymore. At least, she and Gage managed to get Alfie out of Christine's place so she could call Tony and Ting home to have Christmas.

She felt a little sad about it now. She wanted to be there. She didn't have a Christmas tree of her own. It was just her, anyway. She'd looked forward to being at Christine's but here she was with hungover Alfie and Gage didn't look all that much better.

She went to put on some coffee and see if she could make breakfast from the fridge. At least, toast and eggs. 

Gage stumbled up the stairs once the coffee was ready. She poured him a cup and he thanked her. His blonde hair was ruffled and he was in his plaid shirt and jeans from last night. He plopped down on the kitchen chair as if he might go back to sleep again, but he nursed his coffee for a bit. 

"Have you ever done this with Alfie before?" He asked as if he'd just comemak back from some sort of all-night maneuver.

"Have you?" She shot back. He was silent. She went on with the eggs and dished him out some with buttered toast.

She got herself some too and sat down across from him.

"It'll be better if he's here," she said.

"Really?"

"I can make sure he gets to work."

Gage nodded. 

"He'll live in the basement." After all, it was a walk-in basement. It was like he'd have his own place. "It won't flood."

"I see."

She told him how it flooded the first year she moved in. It was an undertaking but she'd seen to getting it repaired. 

"Are you going to charge him rent?"

"I should." Nora nodded. She put some peach jam on her toast and pushed the jar toward him. She told him she made it last summer.

"You have a peach tree?" He said as he bit into the toast slathered in jam.

"No, I just got the peaches at the Farmer's market." Nora shrugged back.

"Do you like Alfie?" He wanted to know as he was finishing up his coffee and she warmed it with more coffee.

This cracked her up. "Hardly, but I tolerate him. He's got a good heart. Some of the time. Some of the time I just can't stand him, but I know he needs friends."

"Exactly." Gage nodded.

Nora almost smiled. Maybe they had something in common but she doubted it was enough to keep them comfortable around each other.