I'll state my case, of which I am certain

 "I don't know what's going on with you. How can you be this way with Carmen?" Randy's question woke Justin slightly. They both looked as if they were determined to stay awake at the kitchen table back at the apartment, but Justin knew they both could hardly stay awake.

"I just can't go to sleep there," Justin crossed his arms and stared at what was left of his coffee.

"Well, you can't sleep here," Randy told him all about Monica moving in. She was organizing her room at the moment. It took her well over a day to get her bathroom to be perfectly hers.

"What did she do with it?" Justin grimaced. "How much is there to do with a bathroom?"

"Well, you know, a new shower curtain. She wanted carpet." Randy shrugged. 

"You helped her," Justin sighed, thankful that Carmen didn't want to remodel her Foster Parents' house.

"Yes, I did. I had to cut this rug up and seal it," he yawned.

"What color is it?"

"Pink."

"I should have guessed it."

It wasn't long until Justin went back to his pout, and Randy yawned, but opened his eyes wide and blinked a couple of times. "You've got to stop this, Justin, you really do. You know, Carmen is the best."

"Why do you say that?" Justin snapped.

"She puts up with you." Randy shot back and then went to get himself another cup of coffee. While he was at it, he warmed Justin's coffee too. Both were slumming today. Randy called in and said he thought he might have the flu, but his back hurt, and it didn't feel any better after Monica walked on it. 

Justin sulked, even if he held his cup.

"Just let her get the dog."

"I want a white chiwaha." Justin wailed.

"Look," Randy pointed a finger at Justin as if he might be caffeine drunk. "I had a dream about you the other night. Possibly, it was from the anxiety meds I take, but still..it just might mean something. You two were on the bus with all these old black people, and you were just like you are now about that white chiwaha. And they heard you. They were not happy about it, either. Especially, when you started to make Carmen cry."

"Well, she hasn't cried," Justin protested.

"Maybe she has, and you just don't know it." Randy festered a frown.

"I..I remember when I was a kid, my grandmother-"

"I don't even want to hear it. You're just jealous." Randy's eyes lit.

"Jealous?"

"I don't know who is worse?" Randy responded. "You are Jared. You two are so jealous of each other. You need to be here for each other. You need to be there for Carmen. Just like you said you would." Randy told him.

"When did I say all this stuff?" Justin fretted. He put down his coffee. It was going cold.

"When I moved in, the first thing you said to me was how important it was for Carmen to have an education. How you weren't going to be in the way of that," Randy remembered. "Well, you are in the way of her happiness right now. So get over the white chiwaha."

One Thing Leads to Another

 "How come I keep falling in love with pit bulls?" Carmen practically moaned at her laptop as she dreamed of adopting a pet. They had a big backyard now, and it was a new year. She and Justin were married now. Deep down, she doubted they ever had kids. However, adopting a dog would be the best option. Still, she knew she was just daydreaming. Justin wanted a white chiwaua. 

They'd had a fuss earlier, which she knew was bad timing to start the new year that way. Justin was so specific. Naturally, the one she found on the adoption page wasn't white enough for him.

"You know, how you are!" She'd snapped then at breakfast. "I would be taking care of it.  I don't want one like that. I want something that isn't a nervous rat. I want a real dog."

"You don't know the first thing about training a dog!" He'd been in a huff ever since he bit his buttered toast angrily.

"But..but they are already house trained. I'll get classes if I need to."

"You already have classes." He reminded her that she needed to complete her nursing program. Of course, there was a snag in her scholarship. Something about the fact that they wouldn't fund her if she were married. Definitely, another dead end she didn't see coming, but she was going to make 2026 her best year yet!

"I want a dog."

She left it at that, and he hadn't said a word to her since. Thankfully, when he walked away, he didn't see her do a karate move where she faked a kick in the butt.

Was this what married life did to you?

Later, she went to Sammy's. Carmen needed a pep talk. Of course, Sammy told her she should just focus on making her marriage a happy place. "Decorate."

"Really?" Carmen winced at that. She mentioned they did need more shelves. "But Justin hates putting shelves together. He doesn't like puzzles either. I don't know what to do with him."

"Is he drinking?"

"I don't think so." Carmen looked at her best friend as if that was way out there.

"OK, sorry I said anything. But he has anxieties, you know."

"Yeah." Carmen shrugged. "Who doesn't?"

"He's depending on you."

"For what?" Carmen didn't get it.

"To be his home. To be his assistant. To be his lover, which comes with a lot of mind-reading." Sammy shrugged.

"Mind reading?" What the hell was she talking about, thought Carmen? "All I want is a dog."

"OK, get a dog. But you'd better take him with you. It's something you have to decide together."

Carmen sighed. Was Sammy for real?

It's gonna be huge 💙

 Monica was elated to move in. Of course, she didn't even care that her parents were moving away. Although they were happy she would be rooming with Randy.

"I know he'll take care of you.  He's been such a big brother to you," her dad reminded her when she was packing to leave.

"Oh, Dad, don't call him that," She winced with disgust. She didn't want to hear that. In her heart, Randy was the one. She saw him as her boyfriend in her eyes.

"Now, you'll call us at least once a week," her mom sounded as if she wanted her to take notes, but Monica only sighed and promised she would.

"Honestly, I'd call you every day, but I'm sure you wouldn't answer, and then I'd be worried, so you better call, so I won't worry." Her mother told her on the verge of tears.

Her dad said he'd given her extra money on her debit card. "But don't spend it all at once. We'll be watching how you budget."

Monica gave them an angry look. Why couldn't they trust her?

"Isn't that what a parent is supposed to do?" Later, Randy looked at her as if he'd been warned by her parents. But the walls were empty. She did have a bed, a queen-size as if it were really meant for two. She bounced down on it; it was firm, but not too harsh.

"I want to make this room my room," she informed him, all high and mighty.

"Oh yeah, didn't you bring all your boyband posters?" He knew. He hugged himself as if he could be just as smug.

She grimaced back as if those days were over. It was a new year, and she wanted to be a new Monica, too. "I just want it to be me."

"Well, think about that." Randy shrugged, leaving her to her daydreams. "Just let me know if you need any help."

Monica nodded.

"You're going to have to learn to entertain yourself," was the last thing he said before leaving. "I've got things to do too."

Monica wanted to say, "Don't go." But she knew she couldn't. It was frustrating and overwhelming. She could call her mom after all and see if she could give her any ideas. Monica wanted to be an adult, yet she needed an adult to help her.

I wanna be the one

 "You should really call Randy and apologize," Nori mentioned to Jared as they were tidying up the livingroom and bringing down her Christmas decor, which were her mother's hand-me-downs. Jared put the plastic container at the top of the closet, where she always kept them the rest of the year.

"Apologize for what?" He looked hurt that she would say something like that to him.

"You know, I saw what you did at the wedding. You were the one being the man-child," she gave him the eye, wondering if she really wanted to get the wine out this late in the afternoon, but she thought they both needed to relax while they could, because it would be back to work for both of them come Monday.

"What did I do?" He was being bitter, a side of him she didn't know about. It was like she was supposed to be on his side in all things. 

"Oh, come on, you know what you did. You weren't that hurt that Justin didn't ask you to be his best man. Why didn't you say something to him?" She knew Jared didn't like to argue, but he needed to know that she was argumentative. She sauntered past him in lounge tights and croptop (not even a cold front and snow was keeping this girl in a sweater) and got the white wine from the fridge. No way was she going to give him this to drink straight. She watered it down with mostly Fresca. If he hadn't noticed she was a bit of a penny pincher, but she made up for it. Perhaps, in bed. It wasn't that he'd complained and everything was much easier there than here, but they couldn't be in the bedroom all the time. "You shouldn't have taken it out on Randy."

Jared sighed as if she always won. Of course, he knew more about how the house worked than she ever did. And he said it would help the heating bill if she didn't keep the temperature so high. She knew she wasn't right about everything.

"Randy is sweet, and I know you two get along. Much better than you get along with your brother." She went on to get out the leftover cheese ball, cold cuts, and the carrots and celery she always had on hand.

"Fine, I'll call him," he reached for his phone in the back pocket of his jeans.

"Not right now." She handed him the glass of wine. "We should see what Kevin and Mel are up to. I heard they went to Vegas for Christmas."

And colder and colder, I miss you

 Randy didn't have to rearrange anything in his room, but Jared came over and got what was left of his stuff, and before Randy could say goodbye, Tristan was bringing in his stuff. It wasn't much.

He talked about how he kept downsizing, all the time. He told Randy that less was more. Randy nodded, not sure what to expect out of Tristan. He vaguely knew him, but he'd watched Tristan's charisma firsthand, planning Justin and Carmen's wedding. Of course, Randy didn't dare say he missed his old roommates. Actually, they were a family he never had, and now he felt he was the one on his own.

"Now, did you talk to that friend of yours about moving in?" Tristan wanted to know.

Randy looked at him blankly. First the wedding, then Christmas, Randy knew he was in the slow lane while Tristan hurried on to get moved in.

"Not yet," Randy shrugged and thought he'd better take the dishes out of the dishwasher and reload it, just to keep busy when all he really wanted to do was lounge around, going through his stacks of books from the library, or take notes on something he needed to note from a drama or an old TV show.

"Well, why not?" Tristan was serious, as if he might be full of fury.

"I don't know." Randy couldn't help but be close-lipped about Monica. "Her family is..is moving to Arizona."

"Arizona?" Tristan's question made Randy squimish. Randy finished with the dishes and went to get his phone. 

Of course, Tristan went on for some time about how they'd share a bathroom, and Monica would have her own. Randy knew this. He'd shared the bathroom with Jared. Still, he felt his throat was parched as if he might be coming down with something. Had he gotten sick at the wedding?

He was happy for Justin and Carmen. He was Justin's best man, even if Jared didn't like it. "I'll be your best man, too," Randy told him before the wedding. "You've been a good brother to me."

It was warm then, but it was getting colder again. His head felt as if it were on the verge of a slow headache. Did he really want to do this? Did he really want Monica here?

Yes, they'd become friends, but he still thought of Cassie, who was still his first true love. No way did he want to forget that. Honestly, he didn't have a real Christmas. He'd given Monica the cold shoulder. He'd been home alone. A good portion of the day was spent going through his box of things that made him think of her.

He'd had a good cry. Yeah, that's when he started to feel sick, but he'd had two chicken pot pies he'd found left in the freezer and listened to some Leonard Cohen tunes. Later, he had a pot of hot coffee and wrote the night away on his laptop.

He knew even then what he had to do: make someone happy, even if Monica did invade his solitude. 

You've got it, ah, ah, you've got it

 Tristan planned to tell Nic everything about how he was moving back to the apartment. Only he couldn't get through. So he told Olivia more than he should have. 

"I'm not even drunk," Tristan promised. "It's just I'm so happy to move back home." He explained how he knew that might seem weird to her, but the old apartment felt like home. "Sure, I wish Nic was there, but that's OK. Really, I felt I grew a lot there, you know. If it weren't for my friend Nic, I don't know where I'd be." He hadn't meant to sound so sad, but she was listening, and he found himself laughing at Carmen and Justin's wedding. "I'm so glad you're here."

As soon as the music started with a whirlwind of a two-step, Benson Boone's Mr. Electric Cool, Tristan took her out to the floor as if he owned the place, and she took his lead. He knew then she was the girl for him. Spinning, waltzing, back to spinning again, it felt so right. He knew she was the one.

"Do you think I'm crazy?" He smiled at her after the dance. She only smiled, and she shook with laughter. He knew it would be wrong to tell her he loved her, but he didn't. He hoped she'd feel this sensation too, but it was best to keep going and just be himself. 

"I hope we can spend Christmas together," he said later when they'd run out of energy to dance. "I really like you." He finally confessed.

"I like you too," she said, and it made him laugh.  Honestly, he didn't think it would happen at a wedding in a pizzeria. 

"Are you crazy?" Tristan burst into laughter. This couldn't be happening. They were nothing alike. She was serious. He got by the skin of his teeth. "I mean, we work together. That doesn't put you off?"

"I know you. We make a good team." She said she couldn't think of anyone else she would want to spend the weekend with, especially at the Animal Clinic.

Tristan pulled her in. When he kissed Olivia, it felt like Christmas finally arrived.

Like a whirlwind of a winter blast

 "It's going to be a very small affair, you know," Carmen kept telling Sammie, who was helping get her wedding dress ready. It was simply white. Nothing fancy. 

"I don't even know why I'm here, it looks fine," Sammie told her.

"It's just, I wanted you to be in my wedding," Carmen said, wishing there was more time. She felt rushed.

"Tristan is rushing you two," Sammie informed her as she put her needle and thread away. Yes, the dress was a bit tight on Carmen, but it would be fine. She could breathe. "Look, what matters is that the two of you want to get married before the year is over, and you've got a house."

"I know, it's overwhelming. I feel like Justin is mad at me," Carmen finally admitted.

"Really?" Sammie looked at her, stunned. "This is supposed to be a happy time, you know. If you have doubts-"

"No. No, we're doing it. We are." Carmen told her it would get better. "He's just as overwhelmed as I am, you know."

"OK." Sammie nodded. "I hope you're right. I want you to be happy."

"I am. I love him." Carmen sounded certain.

"Good. Do you tell each other that?"

"Well, you and Gabe don't do that, do you?" Carmen snapped in a tizzy.

"We don't have to." Sammie chuckled.

"Well...we don't either."

"But you should," Sammie told her. They said it now after having the baby. "Sure, it was a struggle for him at first, because he never grew up that way. I didn't either. But now, we want our baby to hear those words coming from us."

Carmen nodded. She said she was certain she'd said it to him. She thought he'd said it too. 

"Well, don't think about it, do it."

"OK," Carmen said. "I will."