Fresh out of helping her family save humanity, Katie returns to Kentwood for winter break as the Mitchells celebrate their first Christmas since their daughter got accepted into college. The trouble is, Katie's been an emotional wreck for weeks now, and her blue mood is about to bring down the family's holiday spirit. With the imminent festivities in grave peril, the Mitchells need to do something about her Grinch-ness, and fast!
DISCLAIMER: The following story contains mild spoilers for The Mitchells vs. The Machines. It is recommended to watch the movie itself before reading this story, but such is not required for enjoyment of it.
I know I'm supposed to be working through all the pre-paid commissions on my to-do list, but this story manifested all but fully-formed in my brain while I was trying to sleep two nights before Christmas Day with a raucous warcry of "OH BOY, 3 A.M.!" and wouldn't let up until I got it out there for everyone to see. What can I say? I love this movie with all my heart, and for my taste there's just not nearly enough tickling content for it (and it's so unfortunate that what little I've seen of it has me... concerned, at least from my standpoint). I figured that with its morals and the dynamics among the members of the titular family, it deserved a wholesome fluff story for the holidays, and what better way to go about that than to surprise a depressed Katie with some nice wake-up tickling? I'll admit, I've been writing "cheer-up tickling"-type stories for a while now, and admittedly that plot is a guilty pleasure of mine, but even if I really should try a different kind of tickle fic next time for variety's sake, there really was no other option that made sense for either the characters or the occasion. Whether or not you'll get to see Katie get wrecked again in the future, in written or illustrated form, is a matter of debate due to how busy I am overall, but I hope you've enjoyed what I've produced here and now - and if you haven't seen The Mitchells vs. the Machines for yourself yet, do it. It's available on Netflix if you want to give it a watch, and I promise you won't regret doing so!
There's one more seasonal work I have in-progress, as those of you who've been following me on Patreon have already seen, but I doubt I'll be able to get the final product done until after today, so hopefully this is a good Yuletide standby. Regardless, I hope you enjoy reading this, and as the old saying goes: Merry Christmas to all, and to all, good night! <3
The Mitchells vs. the Machines (c) Mike Rianda and Sony Pictures Animation
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Katie Mitchell Vs. The Christmas Cheer-Up
by Skaea Contains: */F, F/F, and MF*/F tickling, including both foot and upper-body tickling. SFW.
Word Count: 6,389
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Childhood nicknames and pinched cheeks: The two most annoying parts of family reunions. I mean, don't get me wrong, my family is a loving one and I’m happy to have people in my life who care, but believe me, as a college student, it gets old pretty fast.
My name is Katie Mitchell. You might know me and my family if you’ve seen the national news — it all started just last year, shortly after I was accepted into film school in California. I’d already booked a simple flight to Cali to get there, and that would've been that, but my dad just had to argue with me the night before, and then drag — erm, take me and the family on a road trip instead because he thought the relationship between me and the rest of the family was in jeopardy. Things got… a lot wilder from there, to say the least.
See, there was this rogue A.I., PAL, that decided to eject all of humanity into the depths of space, and from what I heard it was because she was declared obsolete by her creator, and was not happy about that. Alone among everyone in America at the minimum, the Mitchells — that’s us — managed to escape capture. In all the confusion, we somehow managed to befriend two of the shiny new androids that PAL had sent after us, and with Eric and Deborahbot 5000 by our side, we made it our mission to stop the killer program before it was too late. It was a long, hard journey, full of misery and feel-good moments and shiny-metal-butt-kicking and, of course, family bonding, but in the end, we managed to shut down PAL for good, saving both all of humanity and the love we had for each other.
So yeah, it had been one crazy week.
Once all had been said and done, we were celebrated as heroes, and rightly so. We got medals of honor and everything! But after that, things just… died down. There wasn’t much of anything that happened after that, at least not on the same scale as what PAL did. If I had to be honest, though, I’m grateful for that. I already had college, a girlfriend, and an amazing family I’d managed to reconnect with, and if anything else tried to take all of that away from me, they’d have another thing coming.
As it was, though, I was mostly away from Kentwood, Michigan, trying to enjoy my time in college, but holiday breaks, naturally, entailed visiting family for a weekend, maybe two. Such was the case for the winter break after that time when we saved the world, and this time, I arrived by plane.
Naturally, the rest of the family was there to greet me at the airport, and Eric and Deborahbot 5000 were, too, attracting no small amount of odd looks as they displayed a giant hologram of my face with the flashing words “WELCOME HOME, KATIE MITCHELL!” above it. What surprised everyone else, though, was the look I had on my face a second before I saw them, forcing myself to smile and greet Mom and Dad and Aaron and the androids as cheerfully as I could. Even Monchi was there, on a leash held by my brother, and petting him as he nuzzled my leg did help me feel better, if only just a little bit.
The usual parental displays of affection (I mean, “Kitty-Katie”? Seriously? I hadn’t heard that since I was like, ten…) were already grating on my nerves, though. It was a wonder I managed to hide the irritation, but it was so uncharacteristic of me that it was actually pretty scary. But there was worse to come.
The car ride home was uneventful, and I did try to look like I was fine, but in truth, I… wasn’t. I didn’t want to get into it, though, because I knew the rest of my family was in much higher spirits and didn’t want to ruin it for them. It was, after all, Christmas Eve. I didn’t talk that much with the others, though, despite Aaron trying to pry me with dinosaur-related trivia as he was wont to do, or my dad worrying every now and then that something had happened that made me want to clam up more than usual. I’d insisted that I was doing okay, but we could all tell it had sounded increasingly forced each time.
It had been a rather uneventful dinner of stove-heated leftovers, since the turkey and other delicacies were being prepared for serving the evening afterward. Amidst the usual talk among everyone, be it human or robot, about their plans for Christmas day — including and especially what presents they were hoping to get — there was one question, coming from Mom, that silenced everyone:
“And what were you planning to get us tomorrow, Katie?”
My stomach practically dropped through the floor as all eyes fell upon me. I was completely unprepared for that question coming my way, and in truth… well…
“I… I don’t know,” I muttered. “I totally forgot.”
There was a collective gasp from everyone else involved. Even Eric and Deb sparked a little with body language denoting absolute shock.
“You what?!” Dad said with a scandalized expression. “How could you forget?! We reminded you every time we talked on video chat for the past three weeks!”
“Along with periodic reminders on your online calendar,” added Deborahbot.
I glared at the others defensively. “I’m telling you, there’s been a lot on my mind lately, and it never occurred to me that I had to get you something!”
“It never occurred to you?” Mom replied with a furious glare. “Seriously? Are you trying to tell us that you don’t care about this family? For the love of — We already went on an entire world-saving trip where you and Rick both learned to appreciate the rest of us better, as well as each other!”
“I said,” I growled, my voice increasing in volume, “that I’ve had a lot on my mind! And as for the presents, I’ll get to them! Tomorrow I’ll go to the store and buy each of you something or other! Happy?!”
“Katie, stop it.” Dad growled. “Right now. You’re not helping by being so angry like this, and arguing is only making things worse.”
I looked at Aaron for help, hoping he’d ask if I could buy him one of those remote-controlled flying pterodactyl drones they were presumably selling at the local mall, or defend or comfort me in some way. But instead he rubbed salt in the wound, looking more and more distressed by the second.
“Yeah, what is your problem?!” he cried in total dismay. “Don’t pretend we didn’t see your face when you got off the plane. You’ve had the same energy as a three-decker sauerkraut and toadstool sandwich with arsenic sauce since you got here!”
“AARON!” Mom snapped. “That’s not how to talk to your big sister!”
“Mom, look at her! She’s been unhappy all evening! This is supposed to be a nice, peaceful Christmas, not one where we keep fighting like she and Dad used to!”
“Aaron is right,” Dad replied, before turning to me once more and attempting to be as gentle as he could. “Katie, you’re supposed to be happy to be spending time with the family. I don’t know whatever is troubling you, but if you’re just going to sit around and sulk in your own personal corner of misery all day tomorrow rather than enjoying the festivities with the rest of us, then—”
Snap. I stood up and banged my hands against the table, looking absolutely livid.
“OF COURSE I’M GOING TO SULK AROUND IN MY PERSONAL CORNER OF MISERY ALL DAY!” I shouted. “I’VE HAD A HORRIBLE TIME IN COLLEGE BECAUSE EVERYONE’S BEEN BOTHERING ME! WHAT I WANT FOR CHRISTMAS TO SPEND TIME BY MYSELF, AND NOTHING ELSE MORE!!”
Oh, no.
I covered my mouth in horror as I realized what I’d said. The whole family stared at me with equal proportions of dread, furor, disgust, and most awful of all, disappointment.
The silence that ensued was like the grave. Then Mom narrowed her eyes, and spoke, slowly and calmly, in the lowest voice she could muster.
“Go. To. Your. Room.”
“You know what, fine! I’ll—”
“NOW!!!” she shouted abruptly, pointing at the doorway out of the dining room.
I didn’t hesitate. Storming out the door, ignoring the murmuring that had begun among the others about how to get me to feel better, I made for the restroom to brush my teeth, taking only two minutes or so, before heading to my room in a huff. There was a BANG as I slammed the door behind me as soon as I entered, stopping only to change into my pajamas and slip my feet out of my shoes and socks, throwing them against the wall with a yell of outrage. I wondered if Mom and Dad ever noticed the noise.
Panting, taking deep breaths, I felt tears begin to pool in the corners of my eyes. I’d been doing so well when it came to mending fences with my family, my dad especially… and now I’d ruined it all by lashing out at them at the worst possible moment. This was going to be a horrible, horrible Christmas, and it was all my fault!
Taking my glasses off and setting them on the nightstand, I promptly collapsed onto my bed, tucked myself in, and finally curled up into a ball under the sheets as I started silently crying. My pillow must’ve been totally soaked an hour or two in, but I didn’t care. I was miserable. I’m pretty sure my sorrow continued long into the night, until I finally fell unconscious under the sheer soul-crushing weight of my own self-loathing.
I didn’t sleep well at all that night. In my dreams, I found myself swarmed by a seething, slavering horde — not of robots, no, but of people. People who wanted my autograph, asked for my phone number or home address, or demanded that I tell them in detail about the legendary tale of Katie Mitchell, the girl who defeated the terrible PAL and saved the world. You know, typical celebrity fandom stuff, only a thousand times worse.
My family, my friends, and even Jade were there all of a sudden, and I tried to reach out to them as the fan horde piled up over me, but instead of reaching back, they gave me looks of disgust and turned away. All I could do was scream hopelessly as I found myself being rolled around like the contents of a burrito being prepared, the horde’s numerous hands and kissing lips forming a suffocating blanket all around me.
With a gasp, I woke up. I found myself struggling to move, but only one of my arms was free. Everything else, from my shoulders to my ankles, was completely bound in a fabric burrito. No doubt all that rolling around I did in bed must’ve resulted in this predicament.
“Ughhh… Nightmares, stuck in my blankets, fights with the family…” I grumbled, rolling around and reaching out to grab my glasses from the nightstand. Is there anything that could make this holiday weekend even worse—YAAAAAH?!”
Just as I felt my finger pads come into contact with the lenses of my glasses, leaving unsightly opaque prints, I fell out of the bed with a yell of shock and hit the floor with a thump. The glasses clattered to the floor in front of me, and with a scornful look, I tried to wipe them clean on the blanket before putting them on and realizing that the prints had been smudged and the lenses ruined.
As soon as I got out of the blankets, I told myself, I’d have to give these things a good wash…
As it happened, the door had been opened the previous night — it was likely that Mom wanted to talk to me but found me already asleep and decided not to bother, only to forget to close the door. The creaking noise alerted me, only for a huffing and a whimpering to alert me to the presence of Monchi entering the room.
“Oh, thank goodness,” I muttered. “Monchi, could you get Mom? I could use some help to get out of this. Uh… Monchi?”
The first thing he’d seen was my bare feet, still stuck in the blankets. As soon as he started sniffing the arch of my right foot, I gulped and braced myself, having realized exactly what was about to happen. Each time he’d nuzzled my foot in the past, there was only one outcome to follow.
Despite my (somewhat halfhearted) pleading and shaking my head, I was pretty sure the pug couldn’t see the rest of me even head-on. His cross-eyed look became totally irrelevant, though, as he moved in and started licking at the arch of my right foot, the slimy tongue making a series of quick strokes that got a reaction from me almost immediately.
“HAHAHAHHAHAAHHHAHA!! OH NOOHOHOHOHO!! GET ME OUUTHAHHAAHAHAHAHHAH!”
I struggled in the sheets, attempting to inch like a worm upon the floor, but I couldn’t escape this time. On previous occasions when Monchi had licked my bare foot, no doubt out of curiosity when I’d dangled it a bit too close to his face, it was easy for me to move it away or aim a very light kick to discourage him. Usually, though, I just let him do it. I didn’t want to disappoint him at first, but then I slowly started realizing that it… it actually felt pretty good, much to my surprise.
The little dog continued his work, licking up and down the sole of my right foot. His tongue lapped against the tender spot where my arch met the ball of said foot, and I thrashed and writhed in my prison of fabric as a new rush of ticklish sensations assaulted me. My laughter could practically be heard all across the house as I tried uselessly to get away, even though I paradoxically also didn’t want him to stop.
Eventually, though, he did. Gasping and wheezing, I tried to make sense of what was going on, but I was quite sure he hadn’t left his spot. When he did move, it was only a couple of inches to the left…
“Wait, nononooo!” I begged in a somewhat more playful tone than I expected. “Please, not the other one! N-NOOOOOO!”
Monchi tilted his head, wondering where the source of the noise was, but after a moment he ignored my pleas for mercy, moved in on my left arch, and started licking again.
“WAAAAHHAHAHAHHAAHHAHAHAHAH! EEHEHEHEEHHEEEEEHH! OHOHOHHOHOOH NOOOOHOHOHOOHOHOHOHO!!”
So caught up was I in my own hysterical laughter that I was totally unaware of the footsteps now approaching my room. In that moment, all there was in my world was me, the blanket, Monchi, and the maddening sensations upon the sole of my left foot.
“M-MONCHIIIHIHIHI! STOP IT, STOP IT, STOHOHAHAHAHAP! HEHEHEHHEHH H-HEHEHEHEEELP!”
The door opened, and a stern yet gentle voice interrupted the scene.
“Monchi, what are you doing? Oh, looks like Katie’s awake…”
I sighed in relief as the dog backed off, running over to Mom and jumping up at her leg affectionately. She knelt down to pet him, and it was then that she noticed my current state.
“Oh, dear… You had a bad moment last night, did you? That floor couldn’t have been comfortable to sleep on!”
“I was on the bed last night,” I said after catching my breath. “I didn’t fall off of it until this morning. Monchi didn’t help at all, but maybe you could? I’m kinda stuck right now…”
Mom let out a snicker. “I suppose I could,” she said with a teasing edge to her voice, “but you were a very bad girl last night, and I never did get the chance to punish you for it.”
I blanched in alarm. “Oh God, I’m grounded, aren’t I?”
“What? No no, I respect that you’re old enough to make your own decisions,” Mom replied as she sat cross-legged in front of my thoroughly trapped feet. “But that being said, I can’t just let you mouth off to your own parents without any consequences~”
I wriggled a bit in place. “Uh… h-have mercy?”
Mom snorted in amusement. “Well, I was thinking of giving you your present for Christmas the moment you woke up, but you had a bad moment last night, and I’m sorry for being unhelpful. But as it stands, there’s one other gift I might as well give you here and now.”
“And that would beeeeee…?” I asked, waiting for the other shoe to drop.
She cracked her knuckles. “What did you think? A firsthand lesson on the art of reflexological scratch therapy!”
“Nonono, pleeeease! What did I do to deserve this?!” I whined in the absolute most tongue-in-cheek fashion imaginable. If the next stage of the tickling was inevitable, I might as well make it so Mom wouldn’t feel as bad making it happen.
“Setting off a certain someone with a knack for discipline, that’s what!” Mom replied, wiggling her fingers within a mere inch of my soles and making me start giggling uncontrollably even without any actual contact. “I am Linda Mitchell, mother of two and tickler of one! LOOK UPON ME IN FEAR!”
With that, she started lightly scratching each of my arches with two of her fingers per hand, stimulating both at once and beginning the torment(?) anew. And yes, I screamed, in case you were wondering.
“AAAIIIIIIIIIEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!! BWAHAHAHHAHAHAHHH NO! NO NO NO NONONONO NOOOOOOHAHHAHAHAHAHHAHAH!”
“Coochie coooooo~” Mom teased, digging into the plush balls of my feet and the bases of my wiggling toes. “You’ve been a very naughty girl this holiday season. Hopefully this will get you back on the nice list~!”
“I’M SORREEEHEEHHEHEHEHEHEEE! YAHAHAHAHHAHAHAH! PLEHEHEHEASE, HAVE MERCEEEEHEEHEHHEHEEHEEEEE!!” I wailed, squirming in place and spreading my toes in a useless attempt to free myself… Never mind that I wasn’t actually motivated to get away, knowing full well that Mom was trying to help me feel better after last night’s debacle.
“I’d rather doubt it unless you promise not to yell at us again,” Mom replied cheekily as she played a game of This Little Piggy with both sets of my toes at once, wiggling each toe in quick succession before picking at the littlest ones with more fervor than the rest.
“YAHAHAHAHHAHHAHHAHHAA! I PROMISE I WOHHOHOHOHON’T!! EEEEHEHHEHHE NYOOOOOHOHOHO OH GOD NOT THE PINKY TOOOOESSSS EEHEHHEHEHHAHAHHAHAHAH!”
“Yes, the pinky toes! Coochie coochie~” Mom replied, wiggling and scratching at the pads and stems as I lost what little composure I had left.
The commotion had already attracted additional attention. As the door swung open again, Dad and Aaron also entered with baffled looks on their faces. Eric and Deb brought up the rear, excitedly discussing what they wanted for Christmas like yesterday’s events hadn’t even happened.
“Honey, what’s going on here?” asked Dad.
Mom looked up with a smirk as she continued tickling my poor, suffering pinkies. “Oh, nothing. Just giving Katie what was coming to her after last night—”
“I’M SORREEEHEHEHEHEEE!” I cried, tears running down my face as I wiggled like a worm on a hook. “I WAS SO UPSET AND STRESSED AND LET IT OUT AND I FEEL AWFUL ABOUT IT AND I DESERVE THIHIISSSS! AHAHAHHAHH OHHHHGAHAHAHAHADDDDHAHAHHAH!!!”
The others looked among each other, though I would swear I heard a chuckle from Aaron.
“Linda, think you can free her?” asked Dad. “She’s been through enough, I think.”
Reluctantly, Mom finally stopped tickling me, leaving me gasping for breath again and curling and uncurling my toes to try and get the tingling out. “Oh, thank you, Dad…” I mumbled, trying to roll over again and get the sheets off.
It wasn’t until Mom and Dad assisted me that they finally got me unwrapped, though.
“So… How are you feeling?” asked Dad, helping me into a sitting position as the others gathered around me.
I looked at the others, and then hung my head. “Horrible. Awful. I still feel bad about blowing up at you last night, and I don’t know what I can do to make up for it—”
Dad let out a “hmm” of intrigue. “You know, you could start by telling us what led you to be so down when you got out of the plane…”
I looked up at him, my eyes widening in horror. What would they think if I told them?! “Uh… I dunno if I should—”
“Please, tell us!” said Aaron as he rushed over to my other side with Monchi in his arms. “You can’t just keep things from us like what you did the last time!”
Hot shame made me look down at my feet once more. “It’s not like that. I just… I don’t wanna talk about it…”
“You have to, though. Keeping it from us is only gonna make it worse.”
Dad couldn’t help but pinch my cheek once again. “If you’re not gonna tell us, then we might as well tickle it out of you, right?”
Ding. As much as I didn’t want to say it out loud, I was actually very close to slipping into another depressive episode. If I really went through with the moping again, what if I yelled at my parents a second time, on Christmas day no less?
“Well, then I’m not going to tell you,” I said teasingly. “Go on and do your worst. I’m ticklish as a robot!”
Eric and Deb glanced at each other, tilting their heads in confusion. “We’re ticklish?” the former asked.
“Boop,” Deb replied, poking at Eric’s side and getting no response. “My calculations are that Katie is lying. We clearly registered how she responded when Mother was stimulating her laughter buttons—”
“Oh, come on!” I jokingly protested as Dad grabbed my arms and held them over my head.
“And you know that lying about being ticklish is punishable by being tickled,” Eric replied as the two androids also moved in alongside Aaron and Mom.
There was a brief pause as the world held its breath — or, well, the entire household did.
“Uh… C-can we talk about this?” I said with a nervous smile, my heart a-flutter and my breathing quickening.
The others looked among each other, murmuring for a few seconds.
“You had your chance,” said Linda. “Time to show you that your actions have consequences!”
With that, everyone descended upon me. Eric and Deb took one ankle each in a headlock, Dad raised my arms over my head, and Mom and Aaron took up either side of me as six sets of fingers, two mechanical hands and four very human ones, started skittering like giant bugs up and down my soles and my pajama-clad torso.
“YYYYAAAAAAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAH! HEHEHEHEHEHEEEE! GET OFF MEHEHEHEHEEE! TRAITORS! TRAITOHOHORS! HEHAEHAHHAHAHAHAHHEEHEHEH NYOOOOHOHOHOOHOHO!”
“Trust me, sis, we’re not gonna stop until you tell us what’s wrong!” Aaron cooed as he wiggled all ten fingers into my right side and armpit. Mom mirrored his action on my other side with a similarly expectant look.
“NOOOOOHOHOHOO! I-I’LL NEVER TAHAHAHAHAHHAHALK!”
“Then we’ll just have to continue,” Mom replied. “Don’t make me break out the big guns!”
“YAHAHAHAHAHHAH TRY MEHHEHEHEHEEE!” I shrieked, thrashing in place and trying to kick my legs as the robots held an iron grip, their fingers deftly targeting all the weakest spots on my feet, twiddling my pinky toes and tracing circles around my arches.
“If you keep being defiant like this, Kitty-Katie, the extreme measures are gonna come out,” Dad responded playfully, holding my wrists with one hand and reaching down to pinch my cheek and tickle my neck with the other.
“UWAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAA! NOT AGAHAHAHAHAHAIN!” I twisted my head in a bid to dissuade him, but that just left my other cheek and the other side of my neck open for more tickly pinches.
“Perhaps she might divulge the requested information with a little help from Monchi’s methods,” said Deb, lowering my foot to the floor well within the pug’s reach. “Here, boy! Or dog, or pig, or loaf of—?!?” He sparked a little, but managed to regain composure in about a second, holding my ankle still so the dog could reach my foot unimpeded.
“EEEEEEK! EHEHEHEHEHE YOU MANIAHAHAHAHACS! HOW DAHAHARE?!” I howled in mock outrage, though it was quite clear that everyone was enjoying the whole thing, and we all knew it.
This all-around assault continued for a few more long moments, with the others prying and me continuing to be defensive — which only escalated the tickling even further. Of course, Mom was the one who broke through when she gave a most devilish grin.
“She’s still not giving up, huh? Well, how about we call it a Code Z and enact the protocol for that one?”
“CODE Z? OH NOOOOOOOHHOHOHOHO! HEHEHEHEHEEELP MEEEHEHEHEEEE!” I shrieked, though it was more out of excitement than dread… okay, maybe just a bit of the latter, but still.
“Oh yes. Here I cooome~” With that, she leaned in, pulling my shirt up a bit to expose my stomach, and—
PFFFFFBBBFFFFFFFFT!
“AAAAAAIIIIIIIIIIEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!! OKAY OKAY, I’LL TAHAHAHAHAHLK!!!”
As everyone else in the family burst into laughter, they all disengaged, leaving me to curl up in a ball on the floor, still giggling uncontrollably. Once I regained my composure, though, Mom and Dad helped me up to a sitting position again, their hands resting gently upon my shoulders.
“Go on, you have nothing to fear from telling us,” Mom said with a smile. “What was it that was bothering you?”
My stomach dropped again, though a little less than yesterday. I swallowed my apprehension, though, and decided to spill it.
“It’s just… I haven’t been having that great a time in college, okay? Everyone I speak to has kept on pelting me with questions and the like, about my adventure saving the world, what it was like to face off against PAL, and whether or not they could have my autograph, among other things…”
The others exchanged anxious glances.
“So, they were treating you more as an idol than as a friend…” Dad mused, rubbing his chin with a disconcerted expression. “I should’ve seen this coming. Well, rest assured that we’ll help you out whenever we can.”
“I mean, Jade has been great at that,” I replied, sniffling a bit. “But she’s visiting her own family this winter break, so I basically flew home solo. I didn’t tell you guys what I was going through because I thought you’d get upset at me for turning down all the good press…”
“What? No! We get it, sis!” Aaron held my hand and gave me his best puppy-dog eye. “There’s been lots of people outside our yard, asking for us to come out and talk to them for TV or papers…”
“Last we checked, there were two-hundred and fifty seven unsolicited visitors,” Eric added. “Most of which were from several second-rate news corporations…”
“The point is, you and Jade are welcome to talk to us about what’s been bothering you,” said Mom. “We’re all willing to help you however you can.”
And what happened, then? Well, in Kentwood they say… that Katie Mitchell’s small heart grew three sizes that day.
“Thank you, everyone,” I said, wiping a tear from my eye. “You’re the best. And I’m sorry for hiding all that from you and for blowing up at you yesterday…”
“And we’re sorry we weren’t more understanding,” replied Dad. “We’ll try to be in the future as long as you’re willing to meet us halfway.”
“I’ll work on that as best as I can,” I chuckled.
One group hug later, and the six of us had resumed talking excitedly about Christmas plans as we got up to prepare to go, from presents to last-minute shopping to the grand holiday dinner. I decided to hang back a little when Monchi nuzzled my leg. Once everyone had gone, he licked the top of my foot, and then gave me his best wall-eyed look with a whine of sympathy.
Without a second thought, I scooped him up and hugged him. “Thanks, bud. I owe you one.”
Christmas day went amazingly well, despite my concerns the previous evening. The main event was a day at the mall with local friends and neighbors, generally hanging out and doing the aforementioned last-minute shopping. Turns out, the whole rumpus with the paparazzi had resulted in one of the other Mitchells having to scramble to buy something, but we managed to in the end. Of course, Dad losing track of the presents thanks to trying to deal with the prospective interviewers meant that all he could get for us was a set of matching custom-fit torque wrenches, as you do, but I could live with that after last fall’s events. Mom was the real MVP, though — I’ll never forget the look on Aaron’s face when she presented him with a brand-spanking-new Archaeopteryx delta kite, perfect for those windy days outside. As for me, she’d ordered a new gaming system ahead of time for me to take back to my dorm so I could play with Jade when we got back from the break, along with a bunch of awesome games, all purchased weeks ahead of time. You know Mom, always prepared for things like this! And as for Aaron, well, he got us all plastic dinosaur toys based on what our favorite dinos were, though he did complain about that one poseable Velociraptor being entirely featherless. I guess you shouldn’t really look a gift prehistoric reptile in the mouth, but that’s beside the point.
Among the others who’d also come along, the Poseys had, as a gesture of “courtesy”, decided to try and connect with us in light of everything that had previously happened. Mom was still rather touchy about the subject, but Dad at least made the effort to mend fences with our neighbors and tried to encourage Mom to do the same. Baby steps, you know? Abby and Aaron being besties now was definitely helping, and after settling into talking about their respective experiences with parenting, Mom and Dad managed to remain on good terms with Mr. and Mrs. Posey throughout the day — not quite friendship like I’d hoped, but it was a start.
Once we got home, and after that long-awaited and positively delicious Christmas dinner, we had a fun evening of festivities to enjoy, including board games, charades, and of course, the present unwrapping. We even got on a video call with Jade’s family to wish them a happy holidays and fill them in on the issues I was having, and I was thankful for the words of comfort they provided, along with the obvious promise for both families to meet in person next time. Hopefully no emotional breakdowns would get in the way by then.
The highlight of the evening, however, was family movie night. Turns out, I did have a present for them, sort of, one I’d prepared for several months now — my most ambitious Dog Cop film yet got a pre-release screening in the living room TV as the first flick of the evening.
The movie was, of course, A Dog Cop Christmas. We had a fantastic time watching this ninety-minute project, in which Dog Cop, joined by his family and an ornery but ultimately good-natured Sarge, tracked down a rogue robot bent on stealing all the Christmas presents and decorations in town. This time, Sarge’s wife, a pink teddy bear with a vicious protective streak, came along for the ride, and my own mom couldn’t help but laugh at the resemblance as we enjoyed Mrs. Sarge beating down robot mooks left and right. Aaron also said that his character, a plastic pterosaur, provided some wonderful comic relief. But the best part of all was the heartfelt, emotional storyline where Sarge, coming to terms with how hard he’d been with Dog Cop, not only made peace with him for good, but played an integral part in defeating the main villain. By the time the credits rolled, there was a standing ovation all around, both for Dog Cop and for yours truly.
“You’re very talented, sweetie,” said Mom, tousling my hair affectionately.
“Thank you,” I replied, smiling. “So… I guess there’s gonna be a bit of an intermission before the second movie, right?”
“Yeah, about ten minutes while Eric and Deb refill our drinks and popcorn,” said Dad as he ejected the disc copy of A Dog Cop Christmas from the DVD player. “I think Aaron is now old enough to safely watch Try Hard 2: Try Harderer.”
“Oooh! I always wanted to see that one!” Aaron said excitedly.
“So did I, and to this day I insist that it’s a Christmas movie,” I added, laughing. “But before that, do you guys wanna see a nice little short film first?”
“Hm? What do you mean?” Mom asked, tilting her head curiously. “I don’t think we had any plans for that—”
The look I gave her was one of pure, sugar-coated evil. “Oh, I have an idea of what to watch, and I’ve got you to thank for it.” I nodded to Aaron, who instantly got the message. “Dad, do you mind joining us at the couch? You really don’t wanna miss… Revenge on the Ticklish Mom!”
Mom’s eyes widened in realization, but before she could react, I’d caught her right wrist and pulled it over her head, and next thing she knew, my fingers had swiftly dug into her stomach. The squeal she let out at that moment was unforgettable.
“EEEEEEEEEEK! HEEHEHHEHEHEHEHE KAAHAHAHHAATIEEHEHEHEHEE!”
Suddenly, Aaron was right there at her other side, scribbling away at her side and ear with a playful growl. “Raptor strike! T. rex chomp! Carnotaurus arm-wave with a side of coochie coochie coo~!”
“YAHAHAHHAHAHAHHA NYOOOO, STOP IHIHIHITTT! KIHIHIHIDS!!!” Blinking tears from her eyes, Mom looked at Dad who was sitting next to her kicking legs. “RIIIIICK! DON’T JUST SIT THERE, HELP MEHEHEHEHEHEEE!”
He thought about it for a moment, and then shrugged. “Nah,” he said finally, before proceeding to catch her ankles in a headlock and spider the fingers of his free hand across both bare feet at once.
“EEEYYYYYAAAAAAAHAHHAHAHHAHAHH! YOU TRAHAHAHAIAIIITOHOHOHORRRR!” Mom yelled, bucking and twisting in place, though I was quite sure she was enjoying this herself. “WHHYYYYYY?!”
“Heh, serves you right,” I teased. “Nobody tickles Katie Mitchell and gets away with it!”
“HEHEHEHEEEYYY! MONCHI STARTED IHIHIHIHIHIHITTTTT!” Mom snapped back.
I could think of only one response to this. I whistled, letting Monchi come over, and then held him up so he could lick her face at point-blank range. I swear, I didn’t know she could even make those kinds of noises!
“And now you know how it feels,” I said cheekily as I set Monchi down. “Oh, wait! Let me rephrase that…”
The inhaling noise I made a second later gave her only a moment’s warning. She tried to curl up, but too late, I pulled her shirt up just enough to expose her stomach, and…
PPFFFFFFFBBBBFFFFFBBFFFFFTTTTT!!!
“YYYYYAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!!! OKAY OKAY I’M SORREEEHEHEHEHEE! HEHEHEHEE I GIVE UPPP! AHAHAHAHHAHHA ANYTHING BUT THAHAHAHAAAAAAHH!”
PPFFFFFFBBBFFFTT!!! A second raspberry to her stomach got her to comply, and with a few final pokes to her sides, pits, and feet, we finally let Mom have some breathing room. It took her a few seconds to catch her breath, but when she looked up, Eric and Deb had already returned with the snacks for the second movie.
“Shall we come back once this makes sense again?” Deb asked, tilting his head in confusion.
“No no, stay!” I replied in an encouraging tone. “You definitely want to see this next movie!”
The bots looked at one another, then back to us. “Well, in that case, we might as well,” said Eric. “We’d love to know more about this movie night you enjoy.”
“I’ll load up the DVD for Try Hard 2: Try Harderer in that case,” added Deb, heading over to do so. “And then we will certainly enjoy the movie as humans do.”
That got a chuckle out of the rest of us. Once the DVD was loading and the previews for other future releases were playing, everyone gathered on the couch to prepare for the excitement to come.
I was still seated next to Mom, and without paying much attention to whatever trailer was on the screen, she gave me a half-stern, half-amused glare and a light punch in the shoulder.
“You meanie, you did that on purpose!” she chided playfully.
“Well, so did you,” I replied, grinning. “So that makes us even.”
“Aww, guess it does. C’mere, you!”
The next thing I knew, she’d headlocked me with an affectionate noogie. Then, as Dad sat next to Aaron, she pulled the two of them along with me into a group hug — a big pile of warm snuggles, including the bots on either side leaning gently against us, and Monchi in my lap.
“Merry Christmas, Katie,” said Mom, smiling.
I smiled back. “Merry Christmas, everyone.”
As the opening titles of the second movie of the night began playing, I couldn’t help wiggling my bare toes one last time, as though they were still tingling from that tickle session this morning. The ordeal had driven me totally crazy, but I’d needed a laugh after the emotional turmoil of my first college term, and there was no doubt in my mind that Mom had known that since the beginning. I was quite sure that the next time I visited my family, Mom at the least would spring something like that on me again, and I had a feeling it was gonna be more intense than before — possibly even more than I could handle at all. All the same, though, the payoff was more than worth it. And I can tell you right now that there really was no place like home for me, Aaron, our parents, Eric and Deborahbot 5000, and Monchi, enjoying our Christmas together as one big, happy family.
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